The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-12-19
THE Dnvor1oNs OF CONGRESS.

A hot fight for q chaplaincy in congress,
from which one candidate emerges tri-
rmphant though dlsheveled, having won
the official privilege of appealing 20 AL
mighty God in a representative capacity
for 5000 year, while the others retreat
in more or less disorder with a gloomy
consciousness that life is not one grand,
sweet song-thls is not an edifying spec
tacle. Such a contest has just been
waged In the lobby OF the house of repre-
sentatives, and we cannot believe that
those who took part in 1t or the public
who looked on really approve the per-
formance We have no wish TO censure
sharply either the candidates or their
allies. We prefer to believe that they
found themselves engaged in a more eager
struggle than they had anticipated, and.
growing ardent by insensible degrees, be-
came superheated without realizing how
indecent such scramble was for such a
place. Probably not one Of them would
care to defend all their proceedings. ana
some Of them, possibly, have since
offered to heaven personal petitions not
wholly unrelated to the subject.
But the biennial contest for the place
of chaplain is not the only scandal which
the custom of beginning the sess'ons of
congress with public prayer involves; nor
are we sure that 1t is the worst The
daily performance of an irreverent farce
Is not pleasing to serious citizens, and
there is no warrant for supposlng that
1t pleases God. It would be a surprise
to learn that the devotional exercises of
the legislature in any state in the Union
were uniformly celebrated in an appro-
pirate manner, though the new state of
Utah, so long as the Mormons control 1t,
may remain an exception to the general
rule. Certainly the habit of congress is
well known, and we'll known to be un-
becoming. A large majority Of the mem
bers are accustomed to llnger In commit
tee rooms and elsewhere for the express
purpose Of avoiding the prayer. or those
who are In their places a few are at
tentlve and devout, but the rest simply
employ the time In one way or another
with as little regard to the chaplain as
If he were an obscure and prosy member
pronouncing a perfunctory eulogy upon
deceased member. Undoubtedly the
conduct of the disturbers is worse than
that of the absentees but together they
reflect a general sentiment of more or
less contemptuous Indifference to the act
OF worship for which they provide,
The truth ia that the function has be-
come an empty formality and. being that,
It is mockery II It is not to be re-
Informed with the spirit which originally
made It real and appropriate appeal for
Divine guidance 1t ought to be abolished.
There may be force in the argument that
tlves OF a people who require no religious
test In any circumstance, for any pur-
rose. to join officially In a religious cere-
monlal; there certainly is no advantage or
propriety In their maintaining burlesque
of religion at public expense. 1t is not
impossible that some devout persons may
think that these observations savor of
irreverence, or at least tend to the en-
couragement Of impiety But we wish
them to believe rather that hypocrisy,
cant, the spurious symbol OF a nom exist
ent faith, and the preservation of cus-
tom which has ceased to express a gem
eral sense Of spiritual need and duty are
the things which appear to us offensive
We are far from assuming that all or
most of the congressman who virtually
ignore the religious exercises whlrh open
their sessions are habitual scoffers. but
they have come to regard Il as mere
formality. having no claim upon their
time or attention which any other inter
est or obligation may not properly super
sede, and its maintenance under such !
conditions is at once unproniabis and un.
seemly-