Perley's reminiscences of sixty years in the national metropolis, v. 1-2

by Benjamin Perley Poore

Another eloquent debater was Senator Lamar, of Mississippi, whose influence in molding public opinion at the South had been as healthy as it had been powerful. Senator Vest, youthful in appearance, was a fiery speaker, and always ready for a tilt with an opponent. The swarthy features of Senator Logan, of Illinois, with his long, coal-black hair and moustache, stood out like a charcoal sketch against the gilded wall of the Senate, and he seemed as ready to meet his political opponents as he had been at the head of his brigade to charge the enemy.

On the other side of the Senate Chamber the pater Senatus was Governor Anthony, of Rhode Island, a man of gracious presence and kind heart, whose eyes were dimmed, but who had not lost the fire and brilliancy which had characterized his early editorial and Senatorial life. Senator Hamlin, of Maine, was the eldest in years on the floor, and yet he did not display the first sign of the weakness of advancing age. Tall, slightly round-shouldered, always wearing a black dress coat, and never an overcoat, he was a remarkably well-preserved man. His forehead was somewhat wrinkled, his black eyes gleamed with vigorous vitality, and his large mouth, with its massive under jaw, was not concealed by a moustache or beard. He rarely spoke, but when he took the floor he always had something to say worth hearing, and he was always listened to.

Senator Edmunds, of Vermont, was an able man and a good lawyer, remarkably well posted in the current literature of the day. Another man learned in the law was the ponderous Senator Davis, of Illinois, who had left the Supreme Court for the Senate, thinking it was the better avenue to the White House, and whose political views were bounded by his personal ambition.

Senator Conkling, of New York, was then at the height of his brilliant Congressional career. Able, high-bred, and stately, he had defeated his home rival, Fenton, and he now claimed the disposal of the New York patronage that he might use it to secure the re- election of General Grant, to be followed by his own elevation to the Presidential chair. The words, "conciliation of enemies," were not in his vocabulary, yet no Senator had so many tried and trusty friends. Another prominent lawyer was Matt. Carpenter, of Wisconsin, one side of whom as described by Charles Sumner when he called him a "jester," while Mr. Edmunds, by a ready pun, as aptly described the other side of him by declaring that the Senator from Massachusetts probably meant a "sug-gester." Retaining the dragoon swagger, which he had acquired at West Point, a jovial nature, indifferent to the decorum of public life, he seemed to have been tossed into the Senate, where other people had with difficulty found their way by hard climbing or by costly purchase.

Senator Ingalls, of Kansas, whose remarks were a stream of epigram, eloquence, and euphony, delicately flavored with sarcasm, often showed a keen appreciation of the ridiculous. Remarkably well informed, and able to command the information in the storehouse of his brain, he never ranted, rarely gesticulated, and his ceremoniously polite excoriations of opponents were like dropping hot lead upon sore places. Very different was Senator Burnside, of Rhode Island, who was known as the "Kaiser William," and whose martial aspect indicated his straightforward honesty of purpose. He was at times restive under the trammels of parliamentary rule, and would speak his mind, no matter who was troubled thereby.

Senator Dawes, of Massachusetts, with clean-shaven cheeks and puritanical earnestness, had been transplanted from the House of Representatives with Senator Allison, of Iowa, a man of rare financial ability, who afterward took a prominent part in the proceedings of the Senate. Then there was Senator Plumb, of Kansas, earnest and straightforward, of whom it was said that he was "Western from the hem of his short pantaloons to the comfortable slouch of his hat."

Senator Blaine, of Maine, was one of the youngest Senators, yet when he rose to speak all listened. Compactly and strongly built, with a commanding figure, prominent features, watchful, gray-hazel eyes, and a rich, manly voice, he was very ready in debate. When the army bill was up, and it was argued that the South was in danger of intimidation, he showed the absurdity of such a position by giving the exact numbers of troops then stationed in each State: "And the entire South has eleven hundred and fifty-five soldiers to intimidate, overrun, oppress, and destroy the liberties of fifteen million people! In the Southern States there are twelve hundred and three counties. If you distribute the soldiers evenly there is not quite one for each county; when I give the counties, I give them from the census of 1870. If you distribute them territorially, there is one for every seven hundred square miles of territory, so that if you make a territorial distribution, I would remind the honorable Senator from Delaware, if I saw him in his seat, that the quota of his State would be three, 'one ragged sergeant and two abreast,' as the old song has it. That is the force ready to destroy the liberties of Delaware!"

In the House of Representatives that sturdy Democratic champion, Samuel J. Randall, of Philadelphia, was elected Speaker, receiving one hundred and forty-three votes against one hundred and twenty- five votes for James A. Garfield, and thirteen votes for Hendrick B. Wright. The Democrats were ably led by Carlisle and Blackburn, of Kentucky; by Morrison and Sparks, of Illinois; by Reagan and Mills, of Texas; by the stately Fernando Wood, of New York, and by Mr. Sam. Cox, who reminded one of those jocular festivities of mediaeval times, when the Abbot of Misrule took possession of his masters and issued his merry orders superciliously to those with whose insults his ears were still tingling.

On the Republican side were Aldrich, Conger, Frye, Hawley, and Lapham, qualifying themselves for service in the Senate; the burly Robeson, ready to defend his acts as Secretary of the Navy; Judge Kelley, of Philadelphia, who had come down from a former generation; Rainey and Smalls, emancipated men and brethren; the witty Tom. Reed, of Maine, who was always happy in his sarcasms; the able and effective Frank Hiscock, of New York, the effective Ben. Butterworth, of Ohio, with others known to fame, constituting a strong House, fresh from the people, and bringing their latest will.

The Democratic Congress again attached to the bill making appropriations for the support of the army an irrelevant piece of legislation aimed directly at the purity of the ballot, thinking that the President, who had so evidently desired to conciliate the South, would not dare to offend it by refusing his official approval. To their surprise, he returned the bill to Congress with a veto message, so dispassionate, yet so entirely covering the case, that it threw the Democratic majorities in Congress into confusion, and forced them to abandon the programme they had marked out. They consoled themselves by turning out nearly all of the officers of the Senate, many of whom were old and faithful servants, and dividing the places thus made vacant among their relatives and henchmen.