THE KEW YORK TRESS. EDIIORIAL OriMONS OF THE LKADINU JOURNALS UPuN CURRENT TOriCS. COMPHED VKl!r JJAV FOB 1VKMNO TKLIfOP.APH. Southern Itntnratlon- Curious Array of Dlatui Muff Force. From tifi Herald. Wendell Phillips, In the Slate House nt Bostou the other daj, devoted htmpnlf to nn oreumout against the ratiiieatlon of the rending Constitu tional amendment by MaspachuHettR, on the ground that whilo its adoption will bo binding ou the North, it will be practically a dead letter lu the South. The third section, disfranchising? certain clu'ws of Uebels, he holds, cannot be executed In the South. The only remedy, he contends, Is to put coven hundred thousand uepro rotes into the sculc. He Is in fiivor of disfrauchisin;; prominent Rebels; but if he cun give the neuro the ballot he will be williujr to trust Wade Hampton. He pays nothing of !lx iiiK iu the Constitution, us this amendment pro poses, the binding obturations ot the national debt, and the repudiation (orevnnore, as utt rly illecrul, null and void, ot till lie be 1 debts und utl cliiiiiis lor emancipated slaves, ami lie overlooks tne condition which requires the con cession oi the mi timet- to the blacks by the seve rul Mates, in order to count them in the popular eutiiiierulion for Representatives to Conirress. In truth, from certain declinations of i'hillips heretofore, he is ready tor the alternative of universal repudiation, if he ciwinot obtain uni versal putfnige, as the all-healing panacea of Southern rpsiomtion. All this means that Phillips Is opnosed to any scheme which prolines a speedy settlement of this vexed question, lie bus his own theory of the advanttmes to be pained by delay. He has his own visionary projects of reconstruction, which can only be reached by reducing the country to cti.t s, and then in beginning anew. There are various other loaders and factionists and fanatics who are driving lor the same point of departure, although by different roads. The lead ers ol the Northern Democracy areoppo-ed to the pending amendment, because they tuink that in staving oil' ihis settlement "someiOing will turn up" to bring them, in conjunction with the South, ngaiu into power. The ruling old pro slavery class of the Soirh are opposed to the amendment because the v entertain similar ex pectations. Pre.-ideut Johnson htmselt may be placed in the same category. Greeley, accord ing to his last pronwiriamnito on the subject, is with Phillips as to the infallible specidc of universal negro sutlrage, but shrink j with fear and trembling from President Johnson's im peachment, which Phillins holds to be the tirst indispensable step to " liberty, equality, and frat'inity." Such are the disturbing forces operating auaiust the pending amendment the Northeru Abolition lunatics of the school of Wendell Phillips, the weak-kneed reformers represented by Greeley, tho old hide-bound Northern I)-mo-cratic leaders, the old ruling class of the R'-bl States, President Johnson and tne hold over Drcd Scott expounders of the Supreme Court. Thee disturbing elements, in many things con flicting, and arising out of didVrent objects, are all working topethcr for delav in the settlement of our exi'tinp troubles. Phillips and Greeley desire to sueritiJe the amendment in order to secure universal nepro suiVraae; Vallan jiirham and the Seymour, Wade Hampton, and all the old Southern political manacers still remaining on hand, together with the Administration, are laboring to defeat the amendment, because, if adopted, it will inaueurate a new dispensation and an entirely new organization of parties, and because under President Johnson and the Supreme Court the hope is cherished ot still another reign ol ihe Bourbons, State rights, blavery and all. Thus it i that the main body of the dominant party in Congress is confronted on every side by hb-ttiie tactions, and thus, among other dangers, this dominant party is threatened with dissensions and divisions which encourage all these opposing forces to hoid their ground. How is Congress to baffle and overthrow all these opposing combinations ' Not by delay nor masterly inactivity; lor this is their game. Wot by hedging and ditching to tho end of President Johnson's term of oflicp; for that is his policy and theirs, to bring the Rebel States, as they stand, into Congress and the uexc Presidential election, under a decree from the Supreme Court. There remains to Congress, then, ouly the policy of pushing through the amendment as the basis of Southern restora tion; and as it is now made manliest that the amendment is mainly blocked by President Johnson, his impeachment und removal will become the tirst and the main question with the new Congress whieh meets in March. What ever else Congress may deem necessary in the way of reconstruction, the securities of this amendment must be fixed in the Constitution. Otherwise, wiih Southern restoration a repudia tion natty will at once be developed North and South. It is hinted that Chief Justice Chase and Greeley favor a compromise on negro suf frage with the President; we know that Phillips goes for his impeachment to secure negro sullrage; but there can be no security for any thing short of the adoption of this amendtuut. How the Republicans now ttaud in the two Houses upon this question we canuoc tell, but with the meeting ot the new Congress fresh from the people we exnect that, mainly in behalf of this peudiug amendmeotas the great is'ue of the recent elections, the impeachment will be pubhed to the removal ot President Johnson. Upon this line there will be force and con sistency in the impea-hment; but in divergin" to nepro suOraRe as the ouly issue to be set leif, as the only security needed lor tb.8 future, Wendell Phillips, as of old, is a.'ain playing into the bands of Wade Hampton, aad Greeley is strengthening the rejected policy of Presi dent Johnson. Upon the basis of the amend ment the party in power will be supported by the North eveu, to the removal of the present Executive and a reconstruction oi the Supreme Court. Then, with the settlement completed aud with the South restored, we shail have a reconstruction ot parties involving new issues, new men, and new combinations of sections and factions and whites and blacks. Let Congress, on the Other hand, try the substitute of negro suffrage as presented by Phillins and Greeley, and it will prove to the Kepublicans the admis sion ol the wooden horse within the walls of Troy, and a restoration of the Bourions. Nay, more, we must tlx the amendment in the Con stitution or prepare for the new party and t be chaos of universal repudiation, as the price which Wade Hampton is ready.no doubt, to exact, and which Wendell Phillips is ready, we conclude, to pay for universal negro sullrage. Tlte Democratic Pnrtjr aud the Late ttebelllou. From the Tribune. The circumstance that a member of Congress is branded a liar for stating In his place that very many Democrats were sympathizers with and virtual allies of the late Rebellion, compels iis to ask attention to certain historical facts. If any one contradict them or break their force, we beg him not to hide his candle under a bushel: I. Secession was first Inaugurated in 8outh Carolina, directly after the popular choice of Presidential Electors early In November, 18C0, whereby the accession of Mr. Lincoln to the Presidency was assured. The men who Inaugu rated it were all Democrats that is, they had supported for Presideut Van Buren in 1840, polk in 1844, Cass in 1848, Pierce in 1852, Bu ehanan in 1856, and J. C. Breckinridge in 18ti0. There may have been one or two exceptions, but we know of none. There was certaiuly no Republican among them, whether tn that or any other State. And whatever their impulse to secession, their pretext for it was the tri umph ot the Republicans in the choice of Mr. Lincoln a'oreaaid. THE DAILY EVENING EGIULriI.---PIIILADELPniA TUESDAY, II. Olher States at least ten of thorn fol lowed South Carolina in t.erso-called secession. Two or three mere pretended or were claimed to have fl 'iie so. In every Instance this so-oalle i f ect'sion was substantially the act ot the De no ctntic party of those S'aies respectively. That is to i-ay, the prat body of those. erio bad pre viously "run" the Democratic machine were early and atdent icccssiouists, whilo the mass of the oppoHtP party was either ad verse or luke warm. Thus, every Democratic Governor of a St ile, those ol Del iwiiieand Kentucky etcepte I, was nt the head of the hunt for disunion; and, of the exceptions, each openly contemned all forcible resistance to the movement. III. The Federal Government was then wholly in the hands of the Democratic onrtv. save that the House of Representatives was tied William I Pciwinpton (moderate Republican) having at ' icnpiu ueen cnosen its speaker by one mijorlty. Hut In no single department did that Govern- ment oppose any earnest resi-tance to secession. ' President Buchanan, in bis message of Decern- I ber3, 1800, squarely proclaimed that Congress had 710 rinht to use force to mevent the with- drawal of a State from the Uriou, nor to com- j pel her to yield obedience to its laws. To do I this, he argued, would be to mnke war on a Nate, which Congress had no constitutional ' power lo do. (See "American Conflict," Vol. I, p. 370.) This proclamation of national anar chy was backed by a lormal opinion from his 4 Democratic Attorney-General, Jeremiah S. Wrick, who was afterward his Secretary ot State, w ho allirniecl that the use of armed men to en- ' force the laws, lu the existing state'of things, ' would be "wholly illeaal." He further urged ' that an attenpt to make a seceded State fulfil ! her Federal obligations "would be, ipse facto, ' an expulson of Mich State from the Union." ! (Ihe very Bop'uisty whiih we hear everyday I lrom the Democrats of 1mC7.) IV. During that memorable winter Demo- ! c "ratio conventions were held in several States i that in this State (held 111 Tweddle Hall, Albany, January 31, 18(il) being one of the nblest and stroneest that was ever convened. But from none of these conventions, nor from the Democrats in Congress, nor from Ihe thousand to ritteeu hundred Democratic lournals pub lished in the country, was a voiee raised in deprecation of, or dissent from, these disorga nizing doctrines. On the contrary, tuev were : generally re-echoed and almost universally ac quiesced in. j V. Seven States having seceded before Mr. 1 Buchanan's term expired, their Democratic members vacated their seats in Congress, with veiy rare exceptions. Ot their few anti-Demo- ' cratic members, nearly or quite every one re- I niained to the close. VI. Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated on ihe 4th of Marcb, 18H1; and nis Inaugural Address was I mainly devoted to the inculcation ol doctrines 1 regarding secession and coercion the exact j opposites of Messrs. Buchanan aud Black's. Mi. Lincoln was well known to hold (as we did ! aud do) the right of the people to modify or ! change their foim of government as tran- j scendinp alt written constitutions or charters; ' but he, with great clearness and cogency, yet in ' periect kiuduess, demonstrated that a Presideut j must, to the utmost limit ot his ability, cause 1 the laws of the Union to be respected and obeyed in every St Ate and Territory thnt, j should a collision ot forces result, bis position I would be strictly defensive nnd conservative that the consequent war would be made upon I him, not hi him. Never was a manifesto more j firm and lucid; never was one less irritating. Hither its doctrh.es were sound, or any State 1 might at any time dissolve the Union. Vet, of the live hundred Democratic journals within our 1 reach, wo believe no single one approved and sustained the positions ol Mr. Lincoln. VII. Th roughout that winter and the ensuing ' tpring, hII the organs of Democratic opinion ' within our observation reprobated Mr. Lincoln and the Republicans as disturbers and disunion- i ists, because ol their Intent to oppose force by 1 force, if that should become necessary to maiii- ; tain the integrity nnd authority of the Union, j We can recall no instance of Democratic rehuke to those who were openly, ostenratiouslv con- spiling and arming to resist the Union, which ; they proclaimed already dissolved. VIII. A Confederacy of the seceded States 1 liaviug been formed, leading Northern and j Western Democrats openly advocated thp seces sion of their several States from the Union and their accession to the Southern Confederacy. "It the Union is to be dissolved." said Jud.gc 1 George W. Woodward (Democratic candidate for Governor in l8(iJ), "I want the line to run north of Pennsylvania." Ex-Governor Rodman . M. Price, ot New Jersey, wrote and printed a letter elaborately urging that New Jersey ' should ionhwith unite her fortunes with those 1 of the slaveliollirig Confederacy. (!see it in "An. ericau Conflict," volume I, p. 430.) Aud ex-Governor Horatio Seymour, of this State, pri vately argued that New York should likewise unite with that Confederacy whose head was Jetleisou Davis. It was held by leading Demo crats that the Union uiisrht thus be recon structed without bloodshed or convulsion only New England, and perhaps two or tluee of the more fanatical States ol the Northwest, being excluded therefrom, as unacceptable to our Southern brethren. 1 IX. Actual hostilities were commenced by the Rebels not by firing on Fort Sumter, its is often asserted, and as Pollard now pretend3, but months before, while Mr. Buchautiu was yet 1 President. They seized and appropriated the lorts, arsenals, armories, ordnance, arms, muni- 1 tions, custom-houses, post-oilices, sub-treasuries, etc., throupboui nearly halt the Uuiou, without ; a shadow ot resistance his Demociatic Secre- j tarics of War aud the Treasury being conspicu ous, active disunionists, and he himself, with 1 most ot his counsellors, playthings in their hand:;. Before Texas was out of tb.3 Union, ' according to Rebel computation, the bulk of ! our little army had been betrayed by its com- ' niandcr, General Twiggs, and surrendered to 1 three Rebel Commissioners Feb. 18, 1861 a ; loTtnight before Mr. Buchanan went out of ' otlice. If ever a Government torbore till smitten on both cheeks, and till tobacco juice bad been spit into its ejes that did the Federal Govern ment before grapplii.g with the slaveholders' . Rebellion. And yet, from first to last, the ' Democratic journals and canvassers represented ! the war for the Union as waged by Mr. Lincoln I and tne ttepubiicaus, und assumed that the 1 Rebels were assailed and standiug ou the defensive 1 X. Democratic protests and remonstrances, public and private, against the war us cruel, fratricidal, wicked, revolting, abhorrent, etc. etc., were abundant throughout the struggle; not one of them, so far as we can recollect, ad dressed to the Rebel chiefs, but all assuming that Mr. Lincoln and the Republicans were waging hostilities needlesly, if not wantonly, and might have an honorable peace whenever they would. Thomas H. Seymour, of Connecti cut, was the author of one of the earliest of these paraljziDg missives; and he was nomi nated by acclamation by the femocrats of Con necticut as their candidate for Governor in 1803, and bis election enthusiastically supported by the party. XI. In this city, one of our Deoiocralc jour nals, the Daily Jfieios, was an open, unqualified contemner of the war on our side aud champion of the Rebellion, from first to last It did its best to prevent enlistments in the Union armies. eulogized the Rebel chiefs, and proclaimed that they could never be subdued; systematically magnified their successes and denied or belittled their reverses: and was well understood to be their stipendiary and tool. In full view of these facts, its editor was In 1h(2 made the regular Democratic candidate for Congress in one of our strong Democratic districts, running on the same ticket with Governor Seymour and re ceiving nearly the full vote of his party; and be has since been chosen by that party to a seat in our State Senaie. XII. As to the propositions, speeches, acts and votes of Vallaudiphara, Bayard, Bright May, Josh. Allen, Jack Ropers, and other Dem ocrats In Coupress, Including Benjamin O Harris' vaunt that the Rebellion never could nor ought to be put dowD, we leave tbetn to Mr. Ashley, or whoever shall see fit to answer Messrs. Winfieldand Hunter, not according to their folly. Just a word, however, to the former of these gentlemen. One of the very foremost Democrats in his district is (or was) General' Archibald C. Niven, who, very early in the war wrote a letter to his nephew who meditated enZ listment to fight for the Union, nrping him not to do to, and representing tho war on our side as cruelly oppressive and unjust. That letter was published: and thereupon General Nivert wa made the Domoemtic candidate for Senator On Mr. Wmtield's pieeise district) and received the mil Democratic vote, try which he was re turned elected; but the Senate, on a contest Judge Low1'8' t0 b'8 hcI,ubliCttU competitor! -We might multiply such fact, to infinity but need wc? St.flicelt that, as the Lull 0t a most anxious, intent contemplation of the his tory of our great strupple, we do most undoubt inuly believe that the Democrat.;, hi a nartv weie not at heart for the Union in its terrible Mruegle with secession that, thov did not rejoice at its triumphs nor deplore its defeats We do not say that a majority of them wished the Union permanently dissolved we know and have often stated, that they did not but they believed that Union defeats and disasters would discredit and destroy the Republican asendanoy, and that they would thereupon come into power and coax tho Rebels back into the Union by all manner of concessions and prostrations to the slave power. They had no notion that the Union could (or should) bo paved otherw ise than by letting the slaveholders have their way in it; and the road to this, they realized, lay not through Union victories but the contrary. r irmly grounded in this conviction, are we at liberty to proclaim it? Do we deserve to be knocked down and stamped on whenever wc say what we believe ? or only to be branded as liars? What say you, Messrs. Win held and Hunter? Reconstruction Uuettlou In Congress. From the 'Itmet. It is evident that the reconstruction question is not making headway in Congress. Two thirds of the session are over, and the Consti tutional amendment still stands the only autho rized and tanpible form of sectional adjustment. Denials ot Its sufficiency have been heard In both Houses, but in neither has a single step been taken iu the direction of its repudiation. Mr. Sumner's resolutions explanatory of the principles which in his judgment should govern reconstruction, rest on the table of a Senate Committee. In the other branch an indefinite number of hills have been introduced, all pointing to reconstruction on a radical basis, but indicating by their diil'erences the areat diversity of opinion that prevails among those who deem the amendment too moderate lor the occasion. Mr. Stevens, Mr. Ashley, and the authors of th'j half-dozen other reconstruction bills oi which we have heard, agree simply in regard to the iusutliciencj of the amendment. The moment they attempt to embody their views iu specific provisions, the contrariety of opinion touching the means to be employed becomes apparent. The least objectionable ot all these measures the bill to estabhsn a loyal Government in North Carolina introduced by Mr. Stevens at the instance of representative men lrom that S'.ate.has seemingly been dropped. At any rate, it has made no sixn since the moment of its intioduction, und its sponsor has evinced bis dissatisfaction with its tempe- j rate provisions by devoting his energies to a general and more exireme measure. That he is not sanguine ot its success, and that be realizes the rinlicultv of uniting the Republican party on any radical plan, may be interred from his remarks on Thursday lust and again on Saturday. He feels that in the on-sent lemoer and posi tion ot Cougress, a bchemu for territorializing the South is a iorlorn hope, which he is hardly justified in prosecuting during the brief remain der of the session. For the consideration of this or any similar bill, Mr. Ashley calculates that but twenty working days are left: aud as it is clear that only a part of these days could bo devoted to the subject without neglecting much important work, we conclude that the adoption ot any new plan of reconstruction, prior to the 4th ot Maich, is virtually impossible. The circumstance is not a cause of regret, still less of reproach. O11 the contrary, it is a source ot satisfaction,, since it indicates the uuwitbng ness of the governing party to rush into ex tremes, ami the unwillingness of its fbost radi cal members to precipitate a rupture for the sake of testing their peculiar views. The party is in lo haste to throw overboard tho terms of restoration adopted lastses-ion; and Mr. Stevens and his friends nre less disposed than then to aflirm the mfullibiliiy of their own opinions. The diflicnlties of the reconstruction question nre more lully comprehended; obstacles are re cognized that weie before unheeded; aud the necessity is felt of so shaping legislative action that it shall command the support ot the whole party. These are not signs of change or in firmity of purpose. They in no degree niply an abatement ot the determination of Congress to retain the settlement ot the question in its own hands, or a relinquishment of its resolve to exact efficient guarantees as conditions precedent of restoration. Ihey merely show that the party which has power to set aside vetoes, and to carry into oiled any policy it ruiy enac, is conscious of its responsibility, and the wisdom 01 "making haste slowry" in 'the presence 01 formidable difficulties. Fortius hesitancy and delay there is ample justitKat'.on in the reception accorded to the amendment by the Legislatures of the aovern me States. The autumn elect ions were con tested ai.d won on the n-erits of the amend ment, as the t round work ot restoration; and already the Legislatures of eipnteen States have mined it, iu every case bv laree majori ties. Pennsylvania, Nevada, and 'California will as surely ratify it blore the session close ; more than completing three-fourths of the States which now cou poe the Government ot the Union. A plan which is thus indisputably indoistd by the people whom the majority iu Congress represent, cannot with propriety be superseded by other measures. In the majority of the States, ratification has taken place in lull view of the rejection of the amendment by the South. All that Conaress has been asked to consider as a reason ior going further than the amendment, was known by' the Northern Legislatures antecedent to ratification. They have, however, in good latth given effect to the declared will.ot their constituents, and it is not probable that the Congressional majority will recede from the position, or advance bevond it, without a more satisfactory discus?. on of the general question than has jet been had. The provisions of the amendment commend them selves to the iudement ot rim no finlo crt much is certain. They may not cover the euiire ground. An absolute guarantee against future attempts at secessioa, as Mr. Raymond has else where suggested, may be desirable in nddiiion. ne think, too, that the country would accept the enforcement of colored su'll'rape as more than an equivalent for a large modification in the disqualifying clause in tne amendment, aud as infinitely preferable to any scheme of Rebel disfranchisement, as now m practice in Missouri and Tennessee. But to discard the amendment altogether, and to begin the reconstruction question de novo, according to the territori alizing process of Mr. Ashley or Mr. Stevens, would not be justifiable m the present stage ot the discussion. It is hardly possible! to Co more this session than to consider the general aspects of the question, with the vitw of facilitating the labors of the next Conpres. The month that remains mipbtnot suffice ior the passage of any bill the details aa well, as the principles of which must necessarily bfe experimental; but it would admit ol some de finite understanding concern ing the general principle of the reconstruction policy. It Conpfress intends to set aside the amendment beculuse the South refuses compli ance, it should 0 declare. It it Is prepared, iu certain contingencies, to discard the Southern Mate organizations, and to reconstruct on the territorial priciple. it should proclaim Its in tention. Or ht it hold that the amendment becomes a pan t of the Constitution when rati fied by three fourths of the 8tates now repre sented, it shciuid put that interpretation upon record. TheJ eesential point to be gained is the adoption oti some distinctly defined line of action, that! the piinciples and purposes of the present Corjprets may be ititolligible to its sao cessor. Thfo question of reconstruction will not thereby be settled. But the country will be able to estimate the prepress mnde, and the new Congress will enter upon a path comparatively clear. Especially is Congress bound to declare whe ther it will consKter the ratification of the amendment hy three lourlhs of the governing Stairs all that is requited t i mnke it. a patt of the Constitution. Doubis and differences have arisen upon this head. Mr..Seward is censured lor limine submitted the amendment to thirty six Instead of twenty-six States, though he had no alternative in the absence of law to the con trary. It should now be stated, autuoiitattvelv whither the amendment is a luilurc because rejected by the South, or whether it is to oeetli caclous despite the south. The Conirress which submitted the amendment Is the prooer expo nent of Its will in recard to it: and until the point be determined, little will be trained by the discussion of olher measures. For ou the de cision must turn the question of adopting ulterior measures, or of accepting the situa tion as qualified by the adoption of the amend ment. Without venturing to decide the constitu tionality of Mr. Bingham's view of ihe subect we admit that It harmonizes with common sense, and with the unavowed but practically adopted theory of the Uovernmcnt during and since the Rebellion. The States which relin quished their share in the Government, and which are still excluded from it, can scarcely be said to participate In the sovereignty which is implied in a change of the Constitution. They w ere not consulted in the framing ot theamond nieni and oa that ground deny Its constitu tionality; and if their right to aovcrn continues lorleited or suspended, their right to say yea or rihy to the ami ndruent is at best questionable The irima facie right belongs exclusively to the! States which formed the Government duriri" the Rebellion, which have enacted laws, and which dictate terms on which the excluded States shall resume their places iu the Union On this hypothesis three-fourths of the repre sented Stales may render the amendment valid iu perfect consistency with admitted tacts. The parties who impugn the constitutionality of such a proceeding are most likely to be those who deny the constitutionality of all laws enacted during the exclusion of the South; aud fheir opposition is not entitled to more respect in one case than in the other. But, whatever ft be, let. Congress so declare its purpose that there shall do no room for further doubt. The present uncertainty is pregnant with mischief to all parties. The South obstinately refuses to act, trusting blindly to w hat the Executive aud the Supreme Court may do In its behalf, the North, meanwhile, growing more radical and its interests more depressed. The Republican majority is strong enough lor the emergency, and should be prac tical enough to meet its urgent requirements. The Hour Itulc. From the Independent. It may seem paradoxical to suggest thatthere i.s any deficiency In the amount of talk at Wash ington. And, perhaps, in the actual quantity of words and syllables there is no lack. But it is ns certain a anything can be that the strcan ol talk is artificially and viciously forced into the wrong channels, and that what should be a fertilizing river, enriching even by its over dosing, has been cut up into sluggish ditches nnd pools, without beauty and of little use. Constitutional government is essentially a o70 cracy, or a government by speech, aud the freest liberty of speech is essential 10 the proper work ing of such a government. It may appear strange to many unobservant persons to say that there is less freedom of speech iu the House of Representatives than in any dehbe lativo body in any country where there is any pretense 01 having any at all. Wo think that the Corps Legtslati) ot France even is not an ex ception at least since the gag has been mea surably taken out of the months of the mem bers. There is more leal communication of thoi.plit und impulse from the French Tribune than troni the lloor ol the House. This state ot thiues oatcs lrom about a quar ter of a century h ick, when the Whigs came Hungry into power alter a long famine, aud were afraid ot lotlng some crumbs of the otlicial board. To limit intercHptiou lrom their adversaiies they adopted the oue hour rule, so as to apply the piocess of Procrustes to ihu mind, and reduce all uiterauces to precisely the same length. The consequence has be?n that there has been scarcely a leadable speech made in the House siuee then one that will make part of history. It was the application of the principle of the Trades' Union 10 debate; and, as the strikers demand that the clumsy artisan shall receive precisely the same wage's as tire skillful, so theoe statesmen ordained tl at the most powerful and lullest minds should have no nii.ie time to utter themselves than the dreariest ounce that an intatuated constituency might be K it, to nitiKe their representative. The consequence has been that there I11.8 been Laroly uch a thing as a debute proper in tue (louse since the adoption of the rule, although momentous legislation 111 our history has been had since then. There has been a certain amount of talk, pro and con, but without the lit'- aud liie-sustainiug inilucuces of a true oebate. All of that has to be looked ior in the , Senate, where fortuuately the attempt to intro duce the rule was not made not lor want of j wilt, but because it was understood, If we re- i member Mr. Benton's account of it, that it I would be resisted unto blood. It has made the House the paradise ot the mediocrities; but tnat is not the ohject tor which the House was I established by the people. j That object was legislation, after full delibe- ' ration and discussion a condition which it is safe to say has never been fulfilled since the adoption of the rule. It is absuredly impossible lor a man ot abilities and cultivation, who has made the study oi the subject a matter of debate which should qualify him lo treat of it, to discuss any topic ot great importance iu an hour. What great bpeech in parliamentary annals, on either bide the Atlantic, has been compressed into that space? Where would have been the lame of Pitt, aud Burke, aud Sheridan, ot Clay, aud Randolph, aud Webster, if they iiud made their greut orations with the hummer of the Speaker hanging over their heads, ready to fall the moment the hauds of the dial-plute showed that sixty iniuutes had pone? Aud where would have been tbe ed ucating power which inhered iu Congressional utterances of able men, on which side soever they spoke? All the stimulus to thought, alt the direction of opinion that has come forth lrom Congress for the last quarter of a century, has proceeded from the Senate Chamber, and not the House. And for the sutlicieut reason that there is freedom of speech at one end of the Capitol, and not at tbe other, it may be well doubted whether amthing has been gained even in the way of the suppression of bores, by this smothering of men who really had some thing to say. in ellect, the one hour rule has delivered over the House to the dominion of the bores, instead ot limiting them to their legitimate share of its time. Bores are essential concomitants of free discussion; but they are abundantly compen sated for by the life and animation given to debate by abe minds, and the benefits flowing therefrom.. Compare the debates of even thirty jral'3 aeo not to say ol iilty and sixty with those of the lust filteen, when the crucial test has been applied to our institutions, and see the difference ! The debates iu the Senate dur ing that limn bear comparison very well with those of any former period. The ellect of this tyrannical limitation of dis cussion, combined with the more tyrannical abuse of tbe previous question, has been to clange the House from a true deliberative body to a mere large committee to accept the laws moTiosed to it bv the sub-committees. The laws of the country, as far as the House is concerned, do not proceed irom me representatives 01 tne. people; but from a handful of them, appointed by the Speaker, who sit in secret conclave, ani oulv report th" rebults of their discussion!, without the discussions themselves being before tho public. The committee-ioom, and not tie chamber of tho Houee, Is the seat of politbal oYcourse, there Is a certain amount of .alk about the propofed legislation when tbe ba'teu ug end ot the session and the sharp edge the JANUARY 29, 18G7. previous quet ion do not cut it utterly short; but it is curtailed ot its tair proportions and its innate vigor by the constraint which these at, uses put on the powerful minds, an I the free dom which they rive to the weak ones. Hence has come almost all the crude an I discreditable legislation, which has to bo done over again, or ch e remains an intestine and cleaving mischief, It la truly astonishing that the hour rule and the previous question, as an instrument 01 almost dally use for the crushing of debate, should have been permitted to continue In loice so long. It is only because no majority is wil ling to act as if it could become a ininoiity again, and give up its power ot silencing and overpowering its adversaries. No other coun try, possessing a representative body, would sillier it thus to put the pag into its own mouth, and to destroy the very reason ot its existence. The only reason why greatT mischlet'B than mire hasty and foolish lecislntion have not feme ot it la, that free fdiscusslon does exist outside the walls of tho House, and makns itielf felt through them. The Representative will do good service to his country who shall make it his business to make continual claim for freedom of speech in the House, and record a continual protest airalust its suppression, until the sense of the public shall be enough enlight ened to demand that men whom It appoints tor deliberation and discussion slmll deliberate and disciihs In public, and not merely register the edicts of their committees, in whose lavnrthey have renounced their own inalienable rights of thought and its utterance. FINANCIAL. 7 3-lOs, ALL SERIES COKYEKTED INTO 5-20s of 1365, January and Jul v, WITHOUT CHARGE. BONDS EELIVERED laiHEDIATELT. HAVEN & BROTHER, No. 40 SOUTH THIRD St. "TILLIAM PALNTER & CO., BANKERS; No. 3G South THIRD St. JISE. JULY, and AUGUST 7-3 Os CONVERTED INTO FIVE-TWENTIES Aud the Difference in Market Price Allowed. COKES J'Ei.JVEKED I X! SI E D I ATELT. CH 263iu V 3 tb gfc. Sd gfi., 3 JSaSi tit fL, in fil .1.1 tn.ariL.eU af ' acfc rtrJl .cld xc!icLn.g,cA. uz uciii. cities. C 'LcccLunlS. af gaiilcA raid DA VIES BROTHERS. No. 225 DOCK Street, BANKERS AND BROKERS! BUT ASD BELL UNITED STATES BOfJDS, ILL ISSUES AUGUST, JUfiE, and 3VL1 7 3-10 KOTE8. COMPOLKU INTEKiBT NOTES. AUtiUBT .10 NOXEB COAYEJUED INTO BEW 5-20 BO DB, MercantUeVapcrand Loani on Collaterals negotiated Block Bought and 6old on Commission. 131 c I R C U U A K. OFFICE LEUIliHVALHV RAILROAD COMPANY. tio. 41i Mieet, ' FmLAKLPHiA, January, 1h67. Tbe Stockholders of tld company are uert-o; uotiiled ihm tbe; are entitled to subecnbe. at par, lor one elm re oi new atoik lor cacti live share 01 acock atauil ibK m tlielr reinective nmneit ou the book! 01 the Com pany m the tirst tfaj ol January, lisb7, to be paiu a. lolU.w. : 'ien dohars per share at tbe time ot ub scrihlnc wlilch must be on or before the fltteenth ay 01 February next and ten dollars per share on or beii.re the hlteenth dnyaot April, July, and October, lbt7. ana January, lobS. ' Instalments will pot be allowed Interest nor dlvl (le nd until converted into stock, which, when all the tim.almuitH are pal, may be done by presentation at this otlice on tnd aiier the fliteenth day 01 January, lH&t. 'iboie btockholders who tall to subscribe within the t'nie mentioned, or neglect to pay the several Instal ments at er tie lore the time they severally lad due, w ill lose theirrlaht to the new stock. Mock bolden who have less than Ave shsres or who l.ave iractiens o live f bait a. may, at the time ot sun bulbing, pay lor a proportiona e part of a share, tor t 1.1c h scrip will belxsued: which scrip, alter the Ut tetnih oh 01 Jaiiuaty, 1H6R, may be converted Into sti k wh! presented at this ottice in sums of flity ot liars; hu: tbe s rip will not be entitled to interest or uhldend until alter conversion In'O stock. L C'UAAiliEKLAlV, I 15tuta12t Treasurer. FIREAND BURGLAR PROOF SAFEb gVANS & WATSON MANCi ACTtBEIl8 OF PRE AND BUROLAR-PS00P B A F E B. DESIGNED FOB I Ba.k,Mrcntll, or Pwalllmf-Hom f ae. Established Oyer 25 Tear. Over 24,000 Safe In Um. The only Saiet with Inside Door, Vever lote their Fire-Proof Quality. Guaranteed free from Damptum Sold at Price Lower than other maker. WARDROOMS 1 No. 811 CHESNUT Street, PHILADELPHIA. : tttp WATCHES, JCWELRY ETC :vrYu:: i..Acor.?usac6 : ' :,: n n v. a lkrs & .1 f.w klers. W A .I II f H, Ji ll H.UV a Ml.l;ll w AUK. 77 VTCIim fiud JEWELRY REPAIRED "03 Chestnut Bt .Philft- CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY AND KRIDAI, I'll USE NTS. Ilave on hand a large anu beautiful Watches. Jewelry, and hllverware, suitable Cbrl n aa Holiday and Bridal 1' resents Particular attention solicited to ottrlarre assortment of lilamonds and Watches, Gold Chains tor ladles' and gentlemen's wear. Also, Sleeve Buttons, Studs, and cal Kings, In great variety, all ot tbe newe ttylei. FANCY SILVER-WARE, ESPECIALLY SUITED FOB BRIDAL GIFTS. We are dally rerelvlng new goods, selected upressly for the holiday sales. Our prices will be ,.und as low, 11 1 not lower, than the same quality can be purchased elst where I'uicbasers Invited to call r' lilann n0 and all precious ptones. t'le old Gold and PI ver. purcliaBtd or tsken In exchange. M4p WA1CHES, JMVLU. W. V. CASSIDY. No. la SOCTII SECOND STREET Ofcrs an entirely new and n.ot carclully selected stock ot AMERICAN AND EN EVA WATCHES, JEWELRY, MLVtRWARE.anJ FANCY ARTICLES Or EVERY DESCRIPTION, suitable fo BRIDAL. OR HOLIDAY PRESENTS. An examination will show my stock to be an parsed In quality and cheapness. l'artli u ar aitet.tion paid lo repairing. 61 BOWMAN & LEONARD. MAHCEACTURER8 Of AND WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DZALXB IN Silver and SUvcr-riatcd floods, Ho 704 ARCH STREET, r n I LAD KLFHr A Thoee la want ol SILVER or 6ILVIR-PLATED WAKi timi li much to their advantage to Tlalt our N i OKE heiore making their purchases. Our long experience lu tne nirnuiucture ot the above kJiids ol fci lis t nublrs us to delv competition We keep uotovCt I ut those which are of the FIRST C i, ASM, all ! ur ow n make, and wil ibesaldat reduce Laigeandsmallalzes, playing lrom t to 12 airs and costing from (Sto em Our assortment comprises sue choice melodies as 'Home, 8 weet Home "Tbe Lan Roue of bummer. "Auld Langfyue. 'Star Spangled Manner." "J!y Old Kentucky Home, "etc. etc, Eeciiles bcautl ul fcleciluos from the various Operas. imported direct, and tor sale at moderate prices, by FARR & BROTHER, Importers o Watchcs etc., J 11-mthSnO No. 3.4 rn EWNVT St.. bolow Fourth. SILVER-WARE FOR BRIDAL PRESENTS. G. RUSSELL & CO., No. 23 North SIXTH St., Invite attention to their Choice Stock of SOLID SILVER WAKE, suitable tor CUUIHTM Aft andBRlOAL I'Url&K.N lt. 3L II E N E Y HARPER, JNo. C20 AKCIt Street, llanutuciurer and Dealer la Wwtchps, i' ine Jewelry, Silver-Plated Ware, SKD B1S Solid Silver-Ware. CLL JEWELRY. JOHN BRENNAN, DEALER IV DIAMONDS, FINK WATCHES, JEWELKY, Etc. Etc. Etc. ' J '8 13 S. EIGHTH ST.. PHIL.ADA. MEDICAL. DU. J. K. RUSE'S A L T E it A T 1 V E. THE VltKAT BLOOD FIKIPIKR. if you nave compi, bordered, or vitiated blood, you aie sick all over. It may appear as pimple , sores, or as some aciive dlhease. or It may onlj make you leel lan guid or depressed ! hut jou cannot have good bean b If jour blood la Impure. Dr. Ho.e's Alterative leinoves all iltese Impurities, and la the remedy that will lesiura you to health It la unequalled for the cure of all diseases ol the. glands, scrolula, tubercular couHUinpilon, aud all eruo lion, of the akin. 1-rlce 1 Bole agents, p UYOrTACO.. To 23a North ntCOSD Street DH. DTOTT'S ITCH OINTMEST will cure every lorm of Itch, and is superior to any other remedy lor the cure of that disagreeable and toruientimr complaint, trice 26 cents bent per mall, 40 cents. . DYorrAco., o. 232 Horth bKCOSTD Btreefc DIl. J. 8. ROSfc'8 KXPUCTOUAnT. Kor the cure ol consumption, coughs, colds, asthma catarrh, influenza, splumg ot blood, bronchitis, aud all disettxes ot the lunus. " 1 his syrup Having gtood the test of many years' ex perience ui n neii) lor Irriu ion or any Inflammation i . V""' th.oat. or bronchia, la acanowledged br all to be a remedy superior to anv olher knowa com pound nscd tor the rellei and cure of coughs and con sumption, l'rlceal. boleagenu. w PYOTT & CO "in Ko.232 North SEC'OSD Btroet. 1867. DIARIES. 1867 60 Styles' and Sizes, At Low Price. Visiting and Wedding Cards, the latest novelties. Initials, Vonogiams, etc., stamped on paper and envelopes, In colors, gratis. A large stock of English, French and American Papa and Envelopes. BLANK BOOKS oi the best anufacture, on haul and made to older. R. HOSKINS & CO., Manulactuiers of Blank Booka, 8tatIoneraMKn8raveia, and Printers, ti 6m rp Ko. 918 ABCH Street. v UNlTfD BTAl'ES REVENUE STAMPS Principal I epot, No. 804 CHESStJr Street Revenue Stamps ot every descrlu.lon mn.i.ni. -band In any amotvtit P'1M constantly on Orders by Mali or I xpress promptly attended lo. . , fftL
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers