Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-07-14

mentation. Before that there used to be
sma asIayed on plend
speaker. more logical than dramatic, while
Conkling was very dramatic and his ora
tory was of the highest.
THE Senate has contained for q number
of years-indeed, ever since l have been a
member of it-and contains now, a large
amount of decided ability: In my opinion,
the personnel of the Senate today gives as
much assurance of safety to the country as
regards well-considered legislation as at
any other period in the history CT the ma
ton. The brains of the Senate control it
they always have, and they always will
despite the fact that now and then we have
Senators whose millions have been their
only recommendation to a seat in the body"
Senator Sherman's Views.
Senator John Sherman of Ohio, who has
| been in the Senate nearly thirty years and
who came to Washington as a Representa-
tive in the Thirty-fourth Congress. had this
to say regarding the "decadence OF the
Senator
There has been no deterioration in ora
tory that I can see. Webster. Clay and
Calhoun were not reported verbatim, as
Senators are now. and people only gave
their Impressions of the effect Of their elo-
| quence. Telegraphs. telephones and big
newspapers were not In existence in those
days to print not only the entire speech,
but also to give pictures Of the scene from
the pens Of skilled correspondents. Be-
sides this, the Senate was q much smaller
body than 1t is now. There were no states
west of the Missouri. Iowa and Minnesota
were at that time knocking for admittance
into the Union. The expenses of the gov
eminent were not more than forty millions,
while today they are four hundred millions.
| There is ten times as much business trans
acted in the Senate nowadays as there was
| before the war. The Senate then had only
| fifty Senators in 1t compared to eighty
] eight at the present time. Then. too, they
| held night sessions quite frequently, where
| as, in these latter days. in spite of the
! rules about which we hear so much fault
found. 1t is seldom that night session oc-
| ours. To sum up, think that the Senate
| of today will compare very favorabiy with
| the bodies that gathered together IN the
Capitol thirty or more years ago."
| Senator Hoar Describes the Change.
Senator Hoar of Massachusetts. whose
wide learning in legal, literary and political
lore has received recognition in SO many
public ways. but especially from the Ameri-
can universities. is perhaps well quail
| fled to speak with authority regarding this
matter as any one by reason of his long
congressional career. dating back to the
Forty-first Congress.
"A very marked change has taken. place
In the Senate within the last twenty years."
| said the great Massachusetts Senator.
| From a big debating society on a velvet
carpet It has passed into a business body.
The Senate Of two or three decades ago has
| been hkened by one writer to the birth of
baby with its all-night session, animated
| discussions. more or less suppressed ex-
element. and finally. the new addition to
the family OF laws.
TT is a rare thing nowadays" continued
the Massachusetts statesman, for the Sem
| ate to have a night session. The work of
legislation Is nearly all done in the day
| time. l think that this Is a decided gain
| over the old way. as II gives Senators the
| evenings for study and social recreation
1 Further there has hoo i'm.
provement in the matter OF sociability and
| friendly feeling among Senators, SO that 1t
] Is becoming literally true that there is no
politics In politics.. I remember when Mr..
4 Conkling was In the Senate that his enc
! mics charged him with acting like the bad
| boy at school. who goes about concealing
| thorns In the chairs of his classmates. much
| to their amazement and his amusement
| when they sit down. Mr.. Logan was also
| charged with similar disposition to stick
pins in his fellow Senators. Unquestion-
| ably the Senate of today will compare IA
vorably with any Of its predecessors in
| every respect"
Mr.. Crows observations.
Galusha A. Grow, at present Congress
man-at-large from Pennsylvania, and who
was Speaker Of the House of Representa-
tives in the early eos, said:
| 1.-The recent discussion of the tariff ques-
| ton in the Senate will compare favorably
with those of any previous time in the his
| tory of that body. Times have changed
since the ante-bellum days of 60. Nova
| days the newspapers discuss things SO
| exhaustively that the average member OF
| Congress doesn't begin to have the chance
] of making an impression. or bringing to
the front great questions, he did once.
| Newspapers have, in a measure. taken the
place of orators What is more, We did not
| have so complete census reports on which
| to base speeches as We now have"
| What Senator Stewart Says.
- 10 10
! elected to the Senate in 1864, had this to
say on the subject: Il don't think that the
Senate is as patriotic now as it was when
| first came to Washington. The govern
ment is fast becoming a despotism. Every
| thing is run by one big trust; the syndicate
of bankers and all the other so-called trusts
are subordinate to this one. We don't have
| the great questions we used to have. The
House of Representative merely registers
] the DEGREES of the executive department.
while the Senate makes show at holding
| out. Hence there is a difference between
| the oratory of today and thirty years ago."
As senator Palmer Sees IL.
Senator Palmer of Illinois, who was
candidate for Congress In 1850. gave his
| opinion as follows:
Il do not think that the Senate has
| changed in the least. The only change has
been in subjects. and not in the ability of
the men who compose the upper house
| Where the orators instructed the people
| forty or fifty years ago, the newspapers
have taken their place today. Hence We
| look to the newspapers instead OF our
statesmen as was the custom three or four
decades ago, for enlightenment and In
| forma ton on public questions. Six men
| on either side Of the chamber direct the at
fairs Of the Senate. and these do the ma
tortty of the work, The newspapers. with
| their telegraphs, cables and special writer's,
| do the rest" -
FRANCIS LEON CHRISMAN.
! The Detective story Nippcd I'm the
bud.
From the Chicago Record.