The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-05-22
THE THIRTY-FOURTH CONGRESS
Hon. Will CumbacIx Recalls Incidents
of Forty Years Ago.

/ The Thirty-fourth Congress met on the
first Monday of December, 1855. / was the
youngest member of that Congress. 1t has
memorable place in our national history.
1t marked the time when the old Wing
party ceased to exist as an organization.
1t met after the repeal of the Missouri COM
promise. No party had a majority in the
House. 1t took nine weeks to elect a speak
err N. P. Banks, of Massachusetts, was
chosen by plurality vote on the I'd of Feb
ruary, 1856. He was the first anti-slavery
man to occupy that important place. 1t was
the first victory over the Shareholders and
the initial movement for the abolition of
slavery. This fact gives that Congress an
important place in history. Horace Greeley
was the reporter of his own paper, the New
York Tribune, and was daily at his desk
in that Congress. He was assaulted by
Rush. of Arkansas, member of the House,
for some offensive statements in the Trib-
une. Charles Sumner was assaulted and
nearly killed by Brooks, of South Carolina,
for speech he made in the Senate on 1.-THE
Barbarism of Slavery" Many men in the
Senate and the House were armed with
deadly weapons, ready to fight to the death
for their section. Bitter sectionalism was
rampant. These were the grave and serious
phases of the then existing conditions. did
not take my pen to speak of them. They
are all written in the pages of our history
prefer to recall some of the humorous and
ludicurous doings and sayings of the men
with whom L was associated forty years
ago.
/ remember when Hon. Sam Galloway of
Ohio, was making his first speech in the
House he had the interested attention of
the whole body He was eloquent and mag
netic. In his speech he quoted the preamble
to our Constitution, where it says that we
ordain and publish the Constitution to per-
petuate the blessings of liberty for our
selves and posterity With powerful
emphasis, he said: Liberty, and not slav-
cry, was the intention of the makers of the
Constitution for their posterity" At this
point Mr.. Marshall, of Kentucky, rose to
ask Mr.. Galloway whether they meant mig
ger posterity.' Mr.. Galloway looked at
Marshall with an expression of intense con-
tempt, and then, turning to the speaker,
with a ringing voice, said: Mr. Speaker, /
have no posterity of that sort, but l will
not answer for the gentleman VINO inter-
rupted me-.
Hon. Henry Winter Davis, of Baltimore.
was one of the brightest and most eloquent
men of the House He was elected by the
American, or Know-nothing party, as it
was then called, When he made his first
speech he was holding the House with his
matchless oratory as few men can do. He
was showing that the Pope of Rome had the
power over the Catholics of this country to
such an alarming extent that he could issue
a bull that would absolve all American
Catholics from any obligation to obey the
Constitution or laws of this country. A col
league of Mr.. Davis from Maryland who
was under the influence of liquor rose, and,
by the courtesy of Mr.. Davis, was awarded
the floor for the moment. The House
waited impatiently to see the purpose of
= inf Tv1 drunken
in a very solemn and impressive manner.
informed the House that he had neighbor
at home that ha tbe P Poe oa 6s pun hs
ridiculous assertion, coupled with the man
ner of its delivery, put the House in such a
roar of laughter that it ruined the speech
In my mail one day found a letter from
one of my constituents informing me that
he had a land claim in Texas and asking me
to find the name of some real estate agent
in that State to look after 1t for him. l
went over to the Senate chamber and called
on Gen. Sam Houston, the distinguished
senator from that State, and asked him to
give me the name Of an honest real estate
agent in Texas. He looked at me with won
agent?" / told him that was precisely what
/ wanted. He said he could do nothing for
me. If 1 would oblige him by striking out
that word honest" he could fix 1t, but II L
insisted on my original proposition with
profane emphasis he declared that there
was no such agent as wanted IN all Texas
After the contest for speaker had gone on
for some weeks a sensational dispatch was
sent out that Western anti-slavery men
could not hold out much longer because of
want of funds; that the House would have
to be organized so they could draw their
salaries Soon after it's publication l had
a letter from a, radical anti-slavery man,
farmer in my county saying that he had
read the dispatch and Immediately put up
the best mule he had. preparing him for n' the
market and that If l was short of funds
he would sell him and send me the pro-
ceeds and put up another for the same pur-
pose wrote him that my credit was good
at the hotel thanking him for his generoS-
ity and commencing his zeal in the cause.
The very day received the letter Mr.. Mac
mullen, of Virginia, came round to my seat
in the House and boosted that we could not
hold out much longer for lack OF funds. ]
showed him the mule letter, and he gave 1t
up SO far as l was concerned. The feeling
in the whole country in regard TO the con-
test for speaker was as intense as 1t is to-
day in regard to the contest at this time
with the Spanish fleet.
NV colleagues in that Congress from this
State were Smith Miller, w. II. English
Geo. G. Dunn. David p Holloway, Lucien
Barbour, Harvey d. Scott, Daniel Mace,