St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-04-22

tyr Preslaeni-Excating Scenes
On the Streets.
tSNcial Washington Letter.l
at the close of every congress" say,
Hon. William Z. Spencer. the journa
clerk OF the senate. Il frequently fnt
myself in a reminiscent mood. To-da,
In looking over the senate I observed
Senator Stewart, of Nevada, and Sena,
tor Sherman, of Ohio, in conversation
near the cloak-room door, and do no,
know why, but my memory ran bach
through the many intervening years
and ! recalled the fact that those two
men alone Of all the members of the
senate at the time of the assassination
d Lincoln, in 1865, remain as member.
of this distinguished body.
senator Sherman took his seat IL
the senate on the esd day Of March,
1861. He had been q member of the
house Of representatives and was elected
to the senate to take the place OF Sal
mon p. Chase, whose election had but
recently occurred. but who had accepted
the position Of secretary of the trcasu-
~ ~ oPk1OsuAu1Cut IA IICSsucut Liz
coin With the exception of the few
years when he was secretary OF the
treasury during the administration of
President Hayes, Senator Sherman has
been continually a member Of the up
per house. When the new state Of
Nevada was admitted to the union,
Senator Stewart and Senator Nye were
the FIRST representatives of that state
In the upper house, and they began
their terms of service on February l..
1868. Senator Stewart remained in
the senate until March 4, 1875, and re-
appeared as q senator from the same
state March :, 1887.
Previous to the civil war the ses-
sions Of the senate were held in the
room which is now occupied by the SUI
preme court. This is very small room
compared with the present senate cham
Der; but it was large enough at that
time, because there were fewer states
and consequently fewer senators. jan
nary Z, 1859, the new senate chamber
and hall of the house were completed
and occupied. was in the treasury
department at the time and heard of
tho assassination about half an hour
after it occurred. ! Immediately went
down to the thcater and remember the
scenes Of that night as II they
had occurred but yesterday. knew
many of the senators, as ! was appoint.
ed to q clerkship in the senate a short
time afterward. was we'll acquainted
with Vice President Andrew johnson,
who succeeded Mr.. Lincoln in the white
house. At that time suspicion of com.
plicity in the plot for the wholesale as
Of Mr.. Lincoln and his cab
met pointed to every man whose loyalty
was suspected. Andrew johnson was
to the unlzindness and cruelty
of suspicion, too. OF course there was
absolutely no ground for that, and no
one who knew the man entertained the |
dea for a moment. He was one of the |
lblcst and most prominent men of his |
Time. His subsequent political career
became clouded, largely because Of his
Of his own good inten.
ions and his strong-willed determine
ion to have his own way in carrying
'ut policy which he believed to he
light.
There is another member Of the sen.
tic to-day who was prominent in cxecu-
i've life ut that time. but was not q
of either toasc Of congress. I
cfer to Senator William f. Chandler,
4 New Hampshire. who was at that
ime assistant secretary Of the treasury.
lie has not been in continuous public
ife ever since, but has been in WASH
ngt0q a great deal of the time. There
re other meWbers'of the senate to-day
Sh6wcte at that time members Of the
ousssSdt REPRESENTATIVES. They are
enstoSA MQSrill, of Vermont; Dawes,
MASSACHUSETTS; Allison and Wilson.
lowe; ssaiWyer. of Wisconsin. and
oorhees, Of Indiana.
Il think that Congressman O'Ncill. Of
who is now called the
father of the House. is the only men,
er of the house Of representatives to-
~ who was member of that body
pom the occasion of the assassination.
ne by one they have all been retired
ON public service or have responded ,