Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1899-09-07
NUMBER 5

made IN a 'Plckwlcklan sense, FOR
the benefit Of the galleries and the
country. Nothing could be wider Of the
mark They are generally spoken in
dead earnest, often with murderous in
tent.
Those who think that all the mem
bers are cheek by jowl with each other
and live happily together as sucking
doves are wofully mistaken. Rivalry
breeds dislike, success creates Jealousy.
competition engenders friction, opposi-
tion fosters bitterness, ambition-th
sin by which the angels fell and which
wrecks so many lives -excites detrae-
tion and sets all the mills of slander to
grinding out their disgusting grist.
Things are said there 'willfuIly, de-
liberately, premeditatedly, ON purpose
and Of malice aforethought, as the
indictments run, whose sole purpose is
to produce political death. Even polit-
ical assassination is not unknown and
Impractical in Washington. Poison for
the mind if not poison for the body, is
resorted to among some aspiring states
men who in public preserve all the con-
ventionaI forms of ceremonial etiquette
toward each other. The tomahawk and
the scalping knife have long since been
barred as weapons Of assault among
civilized people in all sorts of warfare
except political
Once | heard George w. Fithian of
Illinois III debate give the lie direct
without any eircumlocution whatever
to Hon. Elijah Adams Morse of Massa-
ehusetts, who was by the ungodIy nick
named Rising Sun Stove Polish
Morse, Fithian, like Marc Antony
claimed to be. is plain, blunt man
who had way Of speaking out in
meeting
Sometimes a pertinent inquiry or a
profound suggestion is answered in
words fippant, if not profane
John Allen of Mississippi says that
during the acrimonious and long drawn
out debate on the Fitz John Porter case
Representative Andrew G. Curtin, the
great war governor of Pennsylvania,
was billed to speak at 2 o. clock and. to
use John 5 precise lingo, had liquored
up for the occasion. The time of the
orator who Immediately preceded the
governor was extended indefinitely, and
the great Pennsylvania kept on ssliq-
uoring up Finally he took the floor
and began his speech In reply to one
of his statements concerning the posi-
tion of the troops at the second battle
Of Manassas some member said, f'Gov-
ernor, the maps show precisely the con-
trarys
.'Then l say d-n the mapsl" shout
ed the venerable statesman from the.
Keystone State, which. though not a
very logical, was an entirely effective
retort
Once in the Fifty-third congress one
Wilson of Ohio made some inyidious
remarks about Texas mutton. to which
Hutcheson of Texas, one of the finest
gentlemen who ever represented dis
trict in congress. replied in this wise:
''The gentleman from Ohio said that
the sheep of Ohio We're better than the
sheep of Texas, aud he presumed that
it was because they were better civil
lied. Mr., Chairman. thank the gen
tleman for the compliment which fol-
lowed it. He then said that the delega-
tion from Texas / appropriate none Of
1t to myself one Of the best in this
body. 1t explains, Mr. Chairman, the
difference between Ohio and Texas
While Ohio has cultivated the civiliza~
tion of her sheep Texas has cultivated
the manhood and the civilizations of her
citizens under free institutions.
Huteheson could always be depended
on to sound the praises of the, gueat
southwest. He was the pleasantest of
men, but brave as lion. He added,
largely to his fame by proposing on one
occasion to .,erform gratis a surgicaI
operation on Colonel Dick Bright Jug
alar with a bowie knife.