Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-07-23
Congressional Decadence.

against the charge of dccadence.
Very slIrewdly the Senator avoids a
comparison of the Senate of to-day
with that body OF the past. He in
sists, though, and there are but few
who will question him, that no Sena.
tor of to-day is in danger of being as
saulted, as was Senator Sumner; that
shareholders do not threaten to hang
Northern Senators visiting their
States; that no pistol is likely to be
drawn in the Senate chamber; that
no Senator is tempted to use the
scholarly billingsgate that was in
Obliged in 10y the immortal author OF
that matchless Grafton on "The True
Grandeur of Nations" and his last
speech on "The Crime Against Kan.
sas';; that probably no Vice President
will again be inaugurated while in a
state of maudlin intoxication.
Undoubtedly all this is in the direct
line of improvement. It marks a de.
cided advance in the moralities; but
it marks, also, general progress OF
the times we live in, with the result
that the Senate has been affected by
the improvement in the public tone
and feeling. But little, if any, credit
for this improvement falls to the Sem
ate. Rather it is due to that develop
ment of the public conscience, the
sentiments of the better part of the
press. In this work Congress has
done little, and what little it has done
has been more than offset by its work
in other directions.
Let us return to the Senate itself
and inquire what that body has done
to improve itself? How, for example
does it compare in point of ability
with the Senate of former times? How
the days of Benton, Wright, Marcy,
Webster, the deathless Expounder Of
the Constitution, Clay, the Mill-boy
of the Slashes," Calhoun are forcibly
brought to mind! The debates were
in truth, battles of giants. We have
no such men now. We have no such
oratory as We had then. The classic
style, with its ore rotundo method, is
wanting; the walls of neither the Sen.
ate nor the House ever send back such
glowing. such magnificent periods, as
they echoed in those days of the Ii
tans. On the other hand, there are, il
is true, some strong men in the Senate
to-day, but few forceful, brilliant
statesmen, if any. Now and then we
may hear burst of eloquence from q
Morgan, an Allison or a Gray, but
great orations are relegated to the
dead past. Those mentioned, and 9
few others, might be named, represent
an age of advance, and an expansive
comprehensive survey Of public affairs
to which the great men of other days
were measurably strangers. Even the
immortal Dan" once asked in the
Senate, "What concern have we in
the territory beyond the Mississippi
But were only such men in the Senate
to-day, possessors of the ethical ant
intellectual stimulus of the present
we may we'll believe they would shame
even Tillman and German into
silence.
But it is not to be forgotten thai
the test by which to measure Congress
is, not Uhat is said, or how it Is said
but by what is done; DEEDS, not words
are the gauge. Measured by thil
standard what shall be said of Con
gress-Uhat can be saids One thins
to be said is, that it is not bad oratory
but bad and venal legislation that hal
brought that body, and especially tho
upper house, into disgrace before the
country. Look, for example, at it.
public bounties to private sugar inter
ests. Then consider its playing for g
series of years the game of battledool
and shuttlecock with the tariff ques
ton. Bear in mind, too, its failure te
regulate the finances of the country
And last, but by no means least, think
of the arbitration treaty by the Senate
Degeneration? What else shall we
call it? Decadence of the Senate,
Who can deny the fact? Painfully
and regretfully, but frankly let, us ad.
nit that Congress has degenerated
that during the past five lustrums il
has been undergoing a lamentable
state of decadence. But there is rift
in the clouds. The cause of reform
of the public service, not alone
limited to clerks and subsidiary help
but which looks to securing better
Senators through popular election, il
rapidly advancing. The concern oil
the people for better legislation is
also, progressing. The drift of popula,
sentiment, the tendency of the people
to solve political problems, is decidedly
marked, and it seems clear that in
time much of the incompetency seen
in the members of our national leeis.
lature will, in obedience to the public
demand, give way to greater ability, to
a more elevated and comprehensive
view of public questions. Then we
shall have better legislation, and Con.
gress will evidence marked advance
whether the days of Senatorial giants
return to us or not.
Col. Chas. F. Croker, Vice Presi.