New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-05-28
ANONS NEW GRIEF.

Very few persons meeting the Hon. Amo
Cummings either at Washington, where he is
engaged in the arduous and responsible task
| of making laws. or here in Ncw-lCrk upon
his occasional visits 10 his constituents, would
suspect that under the light and airy manner
the chccrfulnc,s that rises at times almost tc
gaycty, with which he disports himself. he
carried n heart bowed down. Not one person
in thousand meeting Amos Cummings as II
were casually either AT the Hoffman House OF
John ChambcIlans, would dream for an IN
slant that underneath that charming and at
tractive exterior there was what has been ire
qucntly described by well-infcr'ned poets III a
| figure of speech derived in equal parts from
| the Gi,secting table and the apple orchard as
worm al the core II is hard t. believe
| that his laugh is hollow, and that it * only the
| scmblancc Of mrth he wears. 10 statesman
| of this period seems N first blush 20 be more
| hopeful for the future Of the race more will
| ing 10 lay even money on IL, III fac than Amos
Cummings Should he be pointed ont To a
stranger by one OF those active and energetic
guides who do such things for dollar an hour
and make money al il. ~ leading statesman
whose insdcs were all corrodod with anxiety,
the Hanger could not help SaynG-ndccd, tho
words would leap 10 his lips" Well, nc GER
tainly doesn't look it,
II was observed during the last Congress
that he was not feeling well about tic way
things were then going. But there was an
obvious occasion for il. During the whole Of
that Congress he was personally under the heel
of the opprcsSor. The proud privilege Of the
Democratic Congressman, which had been
recognized from the foundation Of the Gov
crnment, OF being present and absent at the
same time was denied him. Many time, as
he aftcrward said i'll a speech unburdcDlng
himself of much grief, he sat in his seat and
saw a tyTannio al and Oycrbcaring Speaker count
him as present when he himself knew that he
was not there, and was only prevented from
saying 50 by the certainty that the statement
would be greeted with ribald sarcasm and
brutal jecrs. 1t was not strange that under
such circumstances he should feel more or less
depressed in his mind and AT times trcnblc for
his country No man Ot patriotic impulses
could sit and see himself counted in this way
without a shuddcring sort OF prcScntmcnt that
free Institutions were liable 10 give way AT any
moment. II was a state of things that occa-
stoned great anxiety among statesmen. some
concealed their grief, others sat up nights with
it and tried 10 drown it.
But that was in the las; Congress- As soon
as Amos came home and began 10 disseminate
his views as to the general tendency of things,
people began to get excited and view things
with alarm and stand on their heads and ad
minister rcbukcs and play various games Of
that sort and the result was that they sent 10
this Congress about hundred and nifty ma
jorty Of statesmen who felt just as Amos did
about the trend of things In Massachusetts,
they even went far as 10 jerk George Fred
Williams almost by the hair out of the circle
he so much adorned and plant him in Wash
ington with explicit orders from the people Of
Dcdham to arrest the downward progress Of
things; 30 throw himself in the breach if neccs-
sary ; and come back like the Spartan, with
his shield or on it," lie has been on it ever
since. This state Of things one would suppose
should have encouraged Amos. After sitting
through a whole Congress under the tyrants
form and the OpprcSsOrs heel without daring
to rise up and refuse TO be counted because he
wasn't there, he had called upon the American
people to rebukc the whole business and they
had got up and rcbuked everything in sight.
lie ought to have felt better. We had sup
posed he did. lie certainly looked so.
But on Thursday he rose in his place and dis
closed new canlcr. There's another deSpOt |
loose The fingers of John l. Davenport are |
around the threats Of the citizens of Ncw-York |
Mr.. Cummings told the House so with evident |
emotion. The reason why few good citizens |
vote here is because they are afraid of Davcn- |
port. Thousands Of willing hearts are deferred |
by the mention of his name from passing the |
whole Of Election Day going from poll TO |
poll, exercising the high and ennobling priv |
ilege of the elective franchise, while tens Of |
thousands from other States and foreign coun-
tries who would willingly lend THEN aid in
meeting and overcoming the majority that
comes down to Harlem from the interior arc
hindcred and Obstructcd in their patriotic en-
deavOrs. The picture Of dOwntroddcn COM
munity was painful enough, but the disclosure
of Amos's deep-seated grief over it was, if pos
sible, still sadder 1t had not been suspected
before. The worm in the bud had shown no
ravages upon his daniask cheek. lie had ND
to that moment even seemed cheerful. The
House listened with dewy eyes while he i'm
plored it to release his constituents from the
grip of Davenport by cutting off the appro-
priation for his office, and then voted 10 do it,
Partly because Davenport is a despot. but
chiefly to assuage Amoss grief
Persons residing in the remote interior ON
reading Thursdays proceedings in the House
will conclude that if Amos should happen to
meet John |. Davenport anywhere he would
cry Make way for liberty (" and Immediately
lake up residence in Johns hair. Instead of
which, persons who know them both say there
would be two questions pending: one. Which