pait g Ctitya#4
THE PEOPXE S CHOICE FOR PRESIDED',
A Bit A- HA M LINCOLN,
HA.FRISBURG3 PA-
Saturday Evening January 23, 1864.
"A joint Comnintate.:97l.lthe Ocutdnet . _olt
the War.. 0.1
The Unifad States Satiate hai passed a reso
lution providing - - fors the appointment' of a
“Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War;" . '
With all due deference to the wisdom and,
statesmanship of those who compose the Seri.'
ate, we•feellthat we ard only expressing what is ,
well fiied and-deliberate public opinion, when
We declare that practical men, men who under
stand the vast magnitude of the work
lupe war to save the Country, from utter
are „browning hrirribly disgusted with these
"CoogressiOnal' Committees." They : Are the,
prolific sources of, much- evil,..the hot !bedis in'
which are grown the . rardwit kinds of foul cor
raption,-setting up one branch of - the Govern
ment against the other, and making develop
ments which, while they disgrace us as a Nation
in the eyes of the world and humiliate us in
our own estimation, do riot remedy, the evil
which they profets to treat or abate , the wrongs
which •they essay tcrtontrol. - '
We'are confident that the practical men of
the country will hear of the appointment of ,a
jointOongressional Committee to Conduct the,
War,with foreboding of real danger to thei
cerise of the Government The resqlt =lathe that
ant.sgonismsand jealousies will be created in the
army which should not - exist there, and which
can only be productive of disasters: Trained
soldiers, who are anxious and , emulous to do
their duty, will suddenly find themselves inter
fered with by, civilians who are totally ignorant
of 'the science of war. Politicians who have
nothing but selfish interests to servo by,the part
they' assume In this great struggle for national
life, will use this Committee on the-Conduct of
the War to promote their schemes and secure
their aggrandizement.- Jobbers and specula
tore will impose on the Committee with exag
gerations of evils that really have no existenoe,
until Pie labors of the Committee become, as
we - anticipate, the south of breeding diffarences,
disgraces and disasters.
If Senators and Representatives would at
tend.to their-legitimate business and leave the
donduct of ihe -- War to the hands where the
doristitution has placed such a ffairs,the countri
wonid'be vastly benefited. The .'Presldent is
the Commander-in-Ohief of the army and the
navy, and is the proper authority - for'the, con
duct of the war. Thus farithe policy adopted
has been at once =tired by the wisdom of the
statesman and the"prudence of the soldier.—
But if Congressional committees are to be ap
pointed, arrogatiogtn theroselvea_DOwer to in
terfere with the business 'of the' Executive,
branch of= the Government, we shall ,soon find
that the canduct of the war has become a con
fusion from which our enemies will gain their
victories and rittirly, - destroy.oni armies. And,
therefore, as we haveldready declared; with all
due:deference to the wisdom and statesmanship
of thdse who compose these Conimittees, we
tint that they will , be dissolved of theta-
selves by a confession of a want of power to
act, and the admission idea, that the conduct
of the war is already In hands fully capable of
conducting it to a triumphant end !
The Situation in the Senate—Senator
ConiteiVa Speich
We print today, the able speech of Senator
Connell, in reference - to the organization of the
Senate. We had supposed that this subject had
been exlmnsted, but on perusing the able re
marks of Senator Connell, the reader will dis
coverithat he makes many new 'and forcible
pointeould increases the odium' which the fac•
Cordite Aave aiready earned by their course:in
opposing the organisation of the Senate: Sena
tor Connell takes tl Constitutional position
assumed by all fair and honest legislators that,
the Senate is a perpetually organized.-body, and
.that the effort now making to change that or
pi:Assam is nothing more than an attempt to
obstruct and defeat legitimate public business.
—We commend the remarks of Senator Con
nell to our readers, i 6 a:Air expos°, also, of the
desperate designs of the . Democratic lenders.
He pulls the veil from the faces of those who
seek to hide their shame in pretensions to
justice and fair dealing while thus intcrfering
with thevogress of legislation.
Hon. William H. 'Meredith.
The re-nomination of this gentleman as
Attorney General of the State of Pennsylvania,
was due to, his valuable servrces as well as to
his eminent abilities., He is unquestionably
one of the purest and ablest men now in pub
lic life; and in a position where his vast legal
attainments are dally,hrflught into requisition,
therel a s not a - singlelnterestl of tie people or
of the Commonwealth w hich is not beneficially
• •
affected, by his exercises of power. Within
the last two yeare of his Attorney Generabhip,'
we think it is safe to aSieff, that he has col
lected more: money - due -the Ceinmcirlivealth,
than was ever before gathered into the coffers
of theStateTreasury from the same sources. The
man who is the debtor of !the State mint be
In a woful strait if he escape "
,the ,liigilance
and.promptitude of Attorney Geneses' Mere
dith; and, while he would scorn as the counsel
even of a Comuionwealth, to oppress any man,
the public Aeiltor, through his stern adminis
tration, is. taught to regard. his dues to the
Sate as of a like sacred ide debts
•,.
to an individual.
We congratulatefthe people of the Common
wealth on the re-nomination of Attorney Gen
eral literedith. The presence in the Slate Admin
hitration will Ikave the tendency preserve its
zespectibllity; his talents will maintain its dig
nity and keep In manly force the infinence
which' the people design; it; ehould possess,
while his purity of - character will .shield it
freA til,Ostlepicion which, alas forthelimerican
people, 'too commonly attends the 'practical ;
opelithinii;of their State Governments •-';•:'
A. Treason Fund.
The CoPperheads in Clearfield county, of the I
ilk of the men who shot down United •States
officers -while in the discharge of their sworn
duty, and who tuned into the road and the
snovrOte defen6Oless -women Eipid children of
those who clidmed the right of-exercising,their
pont)* franalsas aieording to the diotates of
their own consolences, are now raising's fund
Ito supply thii.wanti of Vallandigham during
his exile in Canada' It is claimed by the Clear
field Cops. that the Southern friends of Val.
can no longer supply him with funds, and
hares the necessity of his Northern friends
going to his rescue. Will the Tory Organ inc'
-form _us when the hat will be passed around in
this city, or was a collection taken up to re
lieve Vallandigham at the meeting of- "the
Damonratic Members of the legislature to
consider and sign That preamble on the stthject
of the 'Union?
TUN PATRIOT DAMORTERS 01 , LAROASTSR are to
hold a fair, commencing on the 22d of Irabrn-.
ary next, for thibenfit of sick and wounded
soldiers. It le only due to charity and patriot-.
ism we shriuld-adrnit the fact that this organi
motion was among the first in the country pro=
posing to ascertain and minister to the marts
of the sick and wounded soldier. Confining
itself entirely within its own losallty, and de;
pending almost exclusively on the opulent
tiaderlmen, larmOre and Merchants oflaniairter
countydor means`to operate, the Patriot Daugh
ters have accomplished an immense amount
of •god, wherever they could reach a soldier.
sick and dying. And the great beauty of this
organisation consists in the fact, that all who
centribute to its support, know cert a inly the
individuals who are relieved bytheir bounty, so
that the good whieh is accomplished is at once
a matter of record and of knowledge. Though
we may not be able to take any part in the•
great work .of the fair as well as patriotic
daughters of our neighboring city, we can still
extend to them our applausci in their labors,
and set.forth their noble work as fit for the em
ulation of the patriot daughters of every town
and city in the Commonwealth.
Pus METHRELN PAPBB3 unwittingly admit
their dread of the influence of the President's
Amnesty Proclamation by their efforts to con
vince the Southern people of the impolicy of
accepting its provisions. The- Whig assures its
readers that if they continue-for a few months
longer to give but a portion of their means to
support, the army ; if they continue to hide
their pork and cern and lie about their profits,
the Yankees will be upon them and take all,
and their wives and daughters will be washing
clothes—their children working thirteen hours
a day in Yankee factories. In this strain It
continues at considerable length to demenitrate
the inevitable misary and,ruin to 'ensue' from a
Yankee triumph, and closes by the 'following
assertion ; in regard to the Amnesty:
"The conquered rebel may think to hold his
acres by.a cheap oath of allegiance, but that
little trick will not deceive the Yankee veterab
volunteer wholvaitts a farm, or the Yankee
- GOVOlllincriail , who wants mority, TothcLmiatai
belongs the spoils. • Beggarynd exile will be
our fate if we falter now."
Resolved, "Thg the senate Will Now Vo to
Work."
Hit 1 2 333 IX
SENATOR GEORGE CONNELL
IN SUPPORT OF THE ABOVE RESOLUTION,
IN THE SENATE OP
3E 9 32. os "y kv•ift. xi 1 et.
JANiTARY 20th, 1064.
Mr. CONNELL offered the following resole
Ion:
Resolved, That the Senate naw go to work.
On the queetion,
Will the Senate proceed. to the second read
ing of the resolution?
Mt. CONNELL said: . Mr.,Npeakee, I desire,
leave of the Senate to present my views in re-'
gard Va that "resolution
Leave was granted.
Mr: Speaker, for the lest sixteen days the
Senate has been engaged in the singular em
ployinent of holding an inquest upon itself. Is
this is a live Senate, or not P . A properly or
'grudzed body, competent to do business as one
branch of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, or ,
'are, we a lawless amemblage, without head or
organizition, bound to , content ourselves by
going on with ireaseless ballotings, forever with
the ume,result, sixteen to sixteen, for a pre
_siding officer?
While the other branches of the Government
.have recognized us as the Senate of Pennsyl
vania, in the plenitude of its' power, while the
Governor has sent us his annual message fall
of important suggestions for our consideration,
while the Attorney General, the distinguished
law officer of the Commonwealth; has sent -us
his annual report, and the various heads of
other departments have all recognized us by,
their official action, half the members of this
'body deny our own existence as an organized
*inch of the . Legislature, and graYelY tell as
that they, at least, can do nothing bat one
thing, namely, 'to ballot, ballot, ballot.
1. - can scarcely hope to throve any new light
upon'a subject already so thoroughly disouesed,
and yet I cannot refrain from reviewing our
action and giving a brief comment on mime of
the things which have been said and done
since we assembled here on the fifth day of the
present month.
I begin, thembrreminding you,Mr. Speaker,
that upon the 15th day of April last put you,
Jeme P. PENNIST, Were duly elected and quali
fied Speaker of the Senate of Pennsylvania, the
oath of 'office having been administered to you
by the Senator from - Berke, (Kr. Craliza,) In
the presence of whole Senate, and as such
you took the chair and ()lamed 'the eession of
the Senate on the 6th day of aka present month,
and haye continued to occupy the chair as
Speaker ever since, either in person or by ap
pointment.,
Since then what have we seen? It soon be
came evident that the Senate" could not agree
in its choice- for your suceekor. That fact has
been Os clear as the noon day's sun ever since
the Close of our first day's work. Indeed, so
resigned are we •to this inevitable result, so de
termined are we that such strait always be our
action that' we have agreed all round that if
by accident or otherwise any Senator should be
tibsent, thereby eying the majority to the other
Side and securing the chance of an election,
some other Senator upon-the other side shall
pair cuff with the absentee and thus defeat an
election. As we stead it present then, in the
Absence - of the SeUtOr from Indiana,,our
lOtii by ogomou consent are to effect po t Alec
Writ.
Every Senator.having WM sworn in, and tbk
Speaker ulreidtglittlified, if there be any' pre
cedent at for tire antion cif the Speaker, any
resoonable ground's to justify his occupancy of
the chair, col:Union - sense would seem to say:
"Drop your useless ballottinga ; go on with
something else ; take into consideration the or
' dinary business of legislation ; consider the
recommendations of the Governor; take up
and dispw of the bills:passed at the last ses
sion which he ' has ieturned with hie veto ;
FIND SOMETHING To no, but don't waste. your
time when the public interests demand that
you should work.
The learned and distiogulAted Senator from
Lancaster, Judge CumiceNfilll, has cited to us
the•construotion'of the fiounders of our Consti
tution, at the era contemporary with its adop.
tion, when a Speaker of this very Senate contin
ed to occupy the chair without re-election for
years ; and we were all familiar with the case
of Wm. F. dotnston, who, in 1849, wasforrnally
recognized: ISy resolution, entered upon the
Jourhal of. the Singe writs Speaker without
any re-election, and so continued for ton days,
when he resigned the office and his successor
was elected.. These cases were sufficient, 1 take
, it, to justify your course of action, rendering
impregnable the position which it seems to me
is self-evident, that the „Spiker of a confine
ons body shall remain as such until his 'en:-
cessor is elected, or so long as he continues a
member df that. body.
Well, sir, what have we seen ? Upon one side
—on the part of those Senators with whom I
act—there lute been every' disposition to go to
work. As soon as we eawlhat to elect a succes
sor to yourself was an impassibility, we began
with propositions to' do buelness. I Wt it'
my duty to offer a resolution adopting Offices
ternary rules for the government of the Senate
while we ,attempt to do businesis, the same,
rules which have governed here for years past. I
What could .be More proper of. reasonable?
Yet while everfFenator.with whom I act sup 7i
ported the adoption of those rules, the whole:
sixteen. Democratic Senators voted so. On,
our side it was proposed to appoint the custo
mary committees to inform the House and the
governor that we were here and ready to pro-
Curd to business, when again we had the sin
gular spectacle of annanimous Democratic Op
„position.
Iniportant amendments to the Constitution
baying been adopted by the last Legislature,
one of which is to confonthe right of suffrage
upon our disfranchised soldiers in the service of
the country absent. _from the State, the same
amendmenta wore proposed by the Senator
from LycoruMg for the consideration of the
Senate, preparatory to their being submitted
to a vote of the people, and while every Sena
tor supporting the Government gave his vote
to proceed to the consideration of those amend
meats, every Democratic Senator again cried
NO; -
In compliance with the will of my constitu
ents, so far as I have been able, to learn it, I
asked leave to introduce a bill providing for the
payment of bounties to every volunteer who,
under the.call.Of the President, shall be mu
te-rod into .a Pennsylvania re,gimentand serve
out the.term for which ha, was mustered in, or
who may be discharged by reason of disability.
net enlarge upon the meritorious services
or the •patriotic sacrifices of the men who risk
all for theiroonntry hee hou'r of need. Of
cornea Senators who support the Government
voted to grant leave to introduce this bill,
while again the unanimous Democratic NO de
nied me leave for that purpose;
The Senator from Erie, Mr. Lewar, with a
view to save the'people of the Ce' anmanwealth
the enormous sum ricrvarcquired - to buy gold to
pay the interest dae to the holders of the State
debt, offered the following resolution : -
Bemired, That the State Treasirer be directed
to pay. the interest :falling due on the first day
of Feb:
eat;
in 414,4, bumf egrarrooor-crt
tres - g ent collected of 'the people -for
taxes sad• now in his hands.
Again the old line was drawn, and every
Democrat voted NO.
Four times has it been proposed, mrdifferent
days, by formal resolution, to proceed-to con
sideration of the ordinary business of the ses
sion ; each time every ;Adminiatraton Senator
has voted aye, and eaoh time every Democratic
Senator has voted no. '
The.right of petition, "a right of inestima
ble value to freemen and formidable to tyrants
only,” was, Needled when - a memorial from
Bishop Potter and other distinguished citizens
of. Philadelphia was presented ; the reception
of the petition was objected to bya Democratic
Senator, whose act was approved by those en
tertaining the same views. If any Democratic
Senator feels aggrieved by this supposition, I
would be glad to have him disavow - it. Ihear
no disavowal—"then none have I offended."
So the doors of. this. Senate hall 'would have
been closed.to the prayers and voices of the
people, and the Bill of righta, the corner stone;
of the Constitution, adolated by the revolution
ary aetion of the Democrats of this chamber.
Resolutions thanking Generalgrantand the
heroes of Chattanooga, and General Meade and
the Army of -the Potomac for saving the State
from the devastation of rebel invaders, were
offered and supported by our side and opposed
by every Democrat, upon the ground that they
were ill-timed, Listen, ye gallant thousands
whose blood stained the bills of the old Key
'stone around', Gettysburg I The Democratic
leaders qf -this State,
"The choke and master spirits of the age,"
cannot now thank you for your services and
sufferings. The time may possibly come when
they can do so—in a month, or two months—
or some other period, a long way off, but new
they will not. While the war-worn veteran
stands upon the night picket,.let him console
himself in his solitary round by reflecting on the
gratitude of his Democratic friends at home,
who deny him even the cheap encouragement
of a-vote of thanks. "
General Andrew Jackson,' the hero of New
Orleans!
"But yesterday the word of Cmsar might
Have stood' against the would ; now lies he
there, .
And none so poor to dui him reverence."
On the anniversary of the Battle of New Or
leans, the Senator fie= Chester (Dr. WORTH
norm) asked the Senate to make an appropri
ate acknowledgment of the return of the day,
and pf the memory of tho hero whose name
is imperishably associated with it. Vow Meade
and Grant, the living heroes, could afford 'to
wait the tardy convenience of our Democratic
Senators, but thoeighth of. January comes b u t
once in 1884, and before its next return some
of these, unwilling brethren may not be here to
honor it. Theyhave lost foiever the opporiu •
nity they should gladly have embraced At
this limo there is a peculiar filsecas in keeping
alive the memory, example and services of the
gallant old Chieftain. At the very mention of
hianame one would have thought that the old
enthindaem would have been rekindled in
every Democratic -bosom. The Senate could
During
ha ing ve his ho l no rce red id a nobl er ency
heforesaw man or at truerdanger
ous
hero'
tendeneY / led the States' Eight doctrines
promulgated by many of his Southern support
ers, and,heavalled himself of the occasion of
the celebration of the birthday of Mr. Jefferson
to send his ceiebilsted toast, "Oualkeeasall
NION
••••/T MUST Bs museasa' vao.." It yen lik e a tomb
shell among those who were secretly plotting
its dismemberment; :it became the rallying cry
Of the-cOuntry and for long.years .treason was
Overawed and hashed. His sagacity foresaw and.
Oredicted.that the attempt of his-time 'would
be renewed again in after years, and that
"SUIVIIST MIXT *WOULD:BS DIN PRNIErr."
it be possible, Mr. Speaker, that any man
claiming to boa, Dentocrat can by any actlg
nore the memory and services of -the gallant
old heto,-who in the : expreesive language of
Mr. JeffsraOni,had 'Tilled the, mespre. of ad s
country's glorYe! .ithaidy . .the pre.
tiol of p r. 01; made on the floor of
IN!
jfioktiftet thwelose of the war, is falai
.ed by thelict4Oik of tide Democratic Senate.
So long, "saidlie in reply to the questkon,What
have we gained by the war?—"so long as the
father of , waters rolls his resistless flood to the
Gulf, so long shall the day of New Orleans be
gratefully remembered by the American people,
and for ages nerve the arms of unborn mil
lions." Eight in this chamber Democratic
Sebeteig refuse to honor the day or the hero of
it, oeto hear read a single word of his most
celebrated State papers, and the resolnion of
my friend, Dr. Woemenserm, is hustled out of
the Senate with the least possible respect. -
Every proposition coming . from our side of
the Chamber to consider any busineeri - whatever
has teen voted down lay our Democratic
friends. Now how comes it that such a record
is made up by themielves against themselves?
So black and damnable? Some of them have
sa id they were ready to go even further.
think I do not misrepresent their noontime
when 'filmy that as Senators they will do nothing
except ballot until a new Speaker is elected.
That Is so, is it , non' It is admitted. Then
even though the cannon of Gen. Lee, tackedl
by his invading hordes, were in eight of this
Capitol, on the (Either side of the Susquehanna,
this Senate would adopt no measures of resist
ance whatever, hitt mustgo on eternally ballot
ing for Speaker. No money could be voted—no l
troops raised, nor fortifications erected for the
defence of the State; no, nothing, say our '
Democratic friends—nothing save only ballot,
ballot, ballot, 16 to 16, until the enemy bat
tered down the capitol over our heads or car
ried tul all down to Libby prison to keep com
pany with the Senator from Indiana. I im
pugn no Senator's motives or express a; doubt' '
of the conscientiousness of his opinions; I only
repeat what SI Senators they have done and
state what, as Senators, they would do under
certain circumstances; nor do I'question their
eight„, es it has been termed, to pursue any
course, as long as they assumed the responsi
bility of - their acts. They have the naked
right to neglect all public business and to go
on forever voting for their candidate—the Sen
ator from Berke, not now in his seat—tells
absence I may call him the Chevalier Bernd'
of 'Democracy, sans puer, sans reproach; but
the people will hold thane responsible for the
waste of time, for the delay in the public
business, for the lose to our Treasury, if by
their reined to act on the proposition of the
Senatorefrom Erie to pay out—lnterest in the
National currency, thereby. saving a million of
• dollars to the Treasury, at the present price of
gold; they will be held responsible for the de
lay in strengthening our armies in the field
and fcr procrastinathsg the bloody struggle in
which we are now engaged.
The public mind naturally Inquires, How
Is this? Why is this? What nececeasity is there
for it? Why can not the Democrats in the
Senate do anything but ballot? Why must
they forever forswear all other business and
attend only to this one thing. when you have
a Speaker already , folly (reunified and compe
tent to discharge the duties of the caw? The
, answer is very simple and plain.
As the strong man of Israel was bound with
green withs , even so our sixteen strong Demo
cratic Senators are bound - with red tape; with
this difference, that while Sampson brake the
withs as a thread of tow is broken when it ' ,
toncheth the fire; our Democratic Sampson are
clasped as if with bands and hoops of steel
and imagine they are powerless for all action,
save only the everlasting ballot.
Will it do to tell the country that because no
precedent can be found satisfactory to the
signers of the "Triumphant Vindication," as ,
the Senator from Washington called their de
fence, bat all the material interests of the
country are to be sacrifeied, its business ne
glected, its armies to dwindle aid suffer defeat,
+,..aueer-co purchrileigeraror for
sign creditors, and all our heroes to , be passed
over by them with ceeterepteons indifference?
I tell you, Mr. Spmker, the people will not
sanction each hair splitting, such vexations
trifling; they will condemn it with their
strongest censure. The American people are a
common sense 'people,' and they will take a
common sense view of this question—a practi
cal view of it, and they will sustain the course
of those Senators who are endeavoring to sup
port the Government, by at once adopting and
paiskig the measures demanded by the public
interests and by proceeding with the business
we were sent here to transact.
Why, what would Mr. Jefferson, thee great
apostle of Democracy, who, finding no warrant
in -the Constitution for the purchase and acqui
sition of Louisiana—no precedent to justify
the absorption of foreign territory, did not hesi
tate to pay millions for that province of France,
upon the ground that its acquirement was es
sential to the interests and prosperity of the
country. What,l repeat; would Mr. Jefferson say,
if he saw his nominal disciples here inthis Sen
ate bound harid and foot—powerless for good,
boggling about precedent, and only Able to
ejaculate, Ballot! •
I assert, Mr. Speaker, that the construction
of the'Constitution and of law by which you
are now recognized as the Speaker of the
Senate of Pennsylvania is the only tfuly safe
and sound construction, the only one that can
prevent a return to chaos in our political ele-.
mate. By that construction the objects of the
framers of the Constitution are secured; the
machinery of Government kept in motion ;
this branch of the Legislature is prepared to
transact business, and more than all, in case of
a vacancy in the Executive Department, that
vacancy is at once filled and the wheels of Gov
oriel:mut move on harmoniously.
On the other hand, behold what a ricketty,
'crotchetty piece of mechanism does the con
struction of our Democratic friends give us ?
In case Andrew G. Curtin had died any time
since January 6th, this Commonwealth, accord-.
ing to these sticklers for precedent, would have
no Governor and could have none until this
Senate elect ed a Speaker, be that time ever Ile
far off. A commonwealth without a head !
Tr) what a pitiable cenclition'would they reduce
us I No supreme executive ••power, no com
mander in -chief of our military forces, no source
from whence commissions for the thousands of
gallant officers in the field shall Issue—none to
fill vacancies in the judicial offices of the courts
of this Commonwealth; no one to take 'care that
the laws le carefully executed, and none to
approve the acts which this Legislature may
deem essential to the interests and prosperity
of the State ! Is this the entertainment to
which.they invite us ?
In view of the present unusual state of affairs,-
I _rejoice, sir ; that you took the chair at the
opening - of the;session as the Speaker of -this
body, and,that you have nontinned so to act.
ever since. Others who have -preceded you,
when parties were not so evenly bedewed, and
when tarty lines were not to silkily drawn as
now, have resigned the office and come down
upon the floor of the Senate without any detri
ment to the public( good. .And This, sir, reminds
Me that the language of the Senator from Berke
on Thursday last, In my winks., yields the
whole ground contested in this case. Speak
ing of the action of Byron D. Hamlin the
Speaker elected at the , close of the sessi on of
1864, be said that at the opening of the hessian.
of 1856, "he had resigned in conformity with
the prevalent custom. If he were not the
Speaker on that day, how could he resign ? Or
it he was not the Speaker, what _business had
he, or any other Speaker holding over, to go
into that chair at the opening of tbe.seasion f
I amert,eir, that ifhe were not the Kanter. he '
had no more business to enter that chair, of his
own motion, than any of his predecessors
nomore right there, sir, than Wm. Penn, or'
Wm. Penn's Exedutor. But, sir, it has Inan the
custom for the Speaker holding over to occupy
the chair, and in, several instances cited by, the
Senn* freth lecolning: he has °faith*,
ISpenktir's powinn by qualifying neiilY -abated"
members whilano occupying the chair. And,
sir, when he vtated the chair pending the elec
tion he resigned the office; the vacation of the
chair has always been regarded as tantamount
tro.e resignationof the'office. He does not re
`sign what has'altenoly bein?ended by limitationn
of law. No, sir; the Speaker who resigns his
office_ here on the first day of the session abdi
cates tip • power as fully and4ktirely as did
Charleit V. in the sixteenth matey. He does
not go out by virtue of the 11th &lotion of ar
ticle lof the Constitution, until displaced by
the action of the Senate in choosing his sue-
censor, according to the provisions of that sec
tion. He is the Speaker of a continuous body,
and unless ale resigns; ashes been enstomary,by
vacating the chair, he will remain the Speaker
imtil hie successor is chosen.
_ I listened with surprise, sir, to the letter of
Fa-Gov. Packer ' . read in the Senate on Friday
last, and with all due respect to those who
think differently, I must regard its main po
sition as the most singular which has been ad
vanced _by anybody, Senator or outsider, in
regard to this queslion, since its incepthm.
tells us that i the Speaker who holds over only
continues to be Speaker in case of the death
or resignation of- the Governor. He is riot
Speaker by virtue of his election and Aualifi
cation, but by the happening of a contingency
in another-Mai:L*6We
Were you, air, to define yopr position here
according to the wondrous logic of this Packer
lettrr you would do it thus: "If Gov. Curtin
be. dead then I find , myself suddenly made the
Speaker of the Senate; but if Gov. Curtin be
living then I am not the Speaker of the Senate,
but simply a plain Senator."
Why, sir, a man in your position would not
be able to iveserve his identity, if this new
fashioned political metempabycosis were gener
ally prevalent. It reminds one of the bewildered
E. B. Ammy,a well known cittssen of oar me
tropolis, who golna home at a late hour of the
night from a wine party and being refused ad
mission into a house in the middle of the
sqnare'where he lives, which appeared to be
his, and which he thought his own, thus solilo
quized: "Now, this is my house, that's certain
—or deal sin not B. B. Ammy; and if lam
not E. B. Ammy, why, then, who the mischief
am I?"
I confess, Mr. Speaker, I have not met in the
wide domain pertaining to theology, medicine
`and politics, any theory or exposition of a dis
puted point which equals the Packer absurdity.
Why, sir, right' reason and common sense
are -dead egainet his ex-Excellency. The ac
ceptance of , a much higher office by our Speaker,
and the attention required from him as the Ex-
ecutive of this great Commonwealth, is a potent
reason why he should awe to be Speaker of this"
body, not the special and only cause why he
should be continued in the lesser office, as the
Williamsport Luminary asserts.
What strange perversions of vision are
caused by looking through , the Democratic
spectacles ! The late President of the United
*States, Mr. Buchanan,' when treason first
marshalled armed boats against the lawfully
constituted authorities, and beleagured the
forts built by the common treasure of the na
tion, looked through those singular glasses,
when 10, to hls vision all power to protect the
integrity of the Ilnion by force of arms van
lahed; he saw but "a rope of sand;" the sword
dropped from the nerveless grasp of the Com
mander in-Chief of the armies of the United'
States, the sworn successor of Washington and
Jackson, an or a brief while
" Blood! treason flourished over us."
Our Democratic Senators look through these
magic glasses et the Constitution of our good
old Commonwealth, when, behold ! that in
strument; the bcested work of the sages of
of the era of the Refolution, revised and im-
I proved by the highest talent of the deowdo
ending in_l24o, this beautiful handiwork of
the brat and brightest Wilda of Pennsylvania,
this protecting mantle under which our State
has grown to greatness, becomes at once a
garment of shreds and patches, grievously die:
figured by what the Senator from Clearfield de
nominated the "cassus umlaut," and so fearfully
imperfect as not to ba sufficient to save us from
an interregnum in the Government, and pond
bly from civil strife.
Our political judges look through this won
drous lens when the Conscription Act to their
sharp optics looms up a.gross violation of State
policy, and inconsistent with the sovereignty
of the State.
Fernando Wood and his sixty odd compeers
on the floor of Congress, including nearly a
dozen Pennsylvanians, peep through this won
derful stereoptician—their knees sink under
them at the alarming violation of the rights
of the revolted States, in the President's pro
cbunation of amnesty to rebels, and his invita
tion to reconstruct the chaotio.exunmunities of
the South.
One, one figure, strange to say, im
proves in beauty bpd graceful art when seen
through this wonderful glare. "
The dark figure of slavery, human slavery,
changes at once its hue and posture and stanthf
forth to the admiring eyes of George W.
Woodward, so - matchless and 03 heaven
endowed that nit is a sin to talk against it and
a crime to abuse it." Its blessings must be
spread through all our broad territories, where
the white'emigrant from the North and from
the Old World must stand aside to give a fair
chance and an open field to "the peculiar in
stitution."
And you, Mr. Speaker, when seen by Sena
tors from that`stand-point which has of late
been denominated the " Southern side of the
Chamber," as they raise their glasses dimmed
with Musty precedents and the cobwebs of sev
enty years you, sir, most singular to say, ap
pear In the character of an usurper ! I con
-1 firstulate you, sir, upon your good fortune. In
every free State, from thedaysbf =Sada to the
present hour every statesman wholes firmly
resisted anar chy, i who has shut the door upon
confusion, who has repressed the tendency of
the fierce Democracy to unlicensed disorder,
and who has prevented the excesses of revolu
tion by a constant adherence to .fixed principles
and unswerving administratibn . oiflce-
every such statesman has been stigmatized as a
tyrant or an usurper.
"The tyrant Of the Chersoneae
Was freedont's fastest truest friend , "
and the "useursa" of the present hour w ' ill be
gratefully remembered hereafter as the keaker
of the Senate of Pennsylvania, who fearlessly
exploded a mischievous dogma '
dangerous to
the peace of the State, fraught with evil, and
which, under Jess favorable circumstances,
might convulse the Commonwealth with all the
miseries of civil war.
• Mr. Waimea (Senator from Chanted) having
replied, at length on behalf of the Democrats,
preteiting against the legality of the present
`organisation of the Senate,
Mr. CONNELL. I desire to ask the Senator
from Clearfield a question--whether any act
I.passed by the present Legislature, and attested
by Jona P. Pear, the b'petiker of the Senate,
s and approved by the Governor, would not be
held to be a valid law in any court in this
Commonwealth.
Mr. WALLACE. What may be the rightsfl
of parties who obtain legislation it the him&
of this Legislature, conceding it to be erg
s one
is thing. Whether we have an
body is another thing? Youmaybe the Speaker
de fado, and not the Speaker &Ore. We know
that you are net the Speaker hi accordance
with the law and , the Constitution. Whilst
your acts may be sustained as those of the
Speaker de , fado—that does not prove anything
in the argument. Thequestion here is whether
we are to have a Spmher that Is to live for
ever—or whether wa . are to stand by the "musty
records of the pad," 'and have- a right to
a Speaker at the commencement of a,
If you are for tisurpition—if you chcioieho'call
it ri 4— qtese are your words not /24142—if
itTe , foriliti4l4l* and yotimmii
.
upon the name of _usurper. you are
to •
Mr. CONNKLL. I think that.the answer ~
the Senakiidralts the validity of say law
may be peered by the Legieleture, atfeetel i.
the Speaker and approved by the Governor
therefore the propriety of the resolution urni , f
consideration la manifest.
After further debit* in whichfienatore
sent, Kneefr, Commui sad•FMK= partici;g
ted, the question was on proomding to a eeco. - .
reading of the resofiation offered by Mr. c
am., when the yeas and nays were as for.oz- €
Yaw—Messrs. Champneye, Connell,
Fleming,Grabam, Hoge,Householder, Johcsol.
lirCandlesa, Ridgway, Turrell, Wilson, Wort'.
ington and Penney, Speaker-14.
Raze—Messrs. Beardelee, Bucher. G la,
Hopkins, Kinsey, Lumberton, Latta, /I.*StkerrT
Montgomery, Reilly, Smith, Stark, Stein at
The Union Senators voting in the affirmat..
and the Democrats in the negative.
So the question was determined In the Ete.ii
tive.
Teregrapii
Ar, P
HOUSE OF BEPRESENTATIVI,:3
The House then-proceeded to the considers
Hon of the bill to increase the internal revour;:
and agreed to the amendments reported troll
the Committee of the Whole on the State
the Union.
Mr. Stevens offered a substitute far to
amended bill. He said it was similar to to
bill as originally reported from the Committ.'
of Ways and Means, but makes more dietlr.-.
the feature that a tax of sixty cents per galkl
OR spirits shall be levied on that which may t .
distilled and sold, or distilled and removed f
consumption or sale after the 12th of January
1864. He said the legislators of 1862, whe
the internal tax b !I tem was inaugurated, aft
a free and fell n. distinctly declar, :
that all our taxes should be prospective. TLC.,
principle was decided by those who at the Um
bad cantrol of the legislation of Congros
They had a right to suppose that that was tL
policy of the country. To depart from it roe
by adheroing to the amendments agreed to to
diet, would be rank injustice to those who ha,
governed themselves by this principle.
House then voted on and rejected the east:
tote—fil agaicst 100. The amended bill wa
then passed—yeas 86, nays 68, as follows :
The bill as passed provides that after
passage of this satin lien of the duty in th
act of July 1, 1882,and in addition to due
payable for license s, there shall be levied, co .
Meted and paid on all spirits that may be d.,
tilled and sold, or removed for consumptlo:.
and saliof first proof—this duty of sixty ern:
on each and every gallon, and said duty eh-:
be alien and charge on such spirits, and al
on the interest of all persons in default in ti.
distillery used for distilling the -same, with ti
stills, vessels, fixtures and tools therob
and in-the lot or tract of land whereon tI
distillery is situated until the duty shall
paid, and all whisky or any other spirits, o .
being rectified or mixed with any other - aphe
or Said. whatever may be infused, and to be so?
as whisky, brandy, rum, gin, wine, or by no;
other name, and not otherwise provided for b.
this act, %Aim act to which it is amendatory
shall pay an additional tax of 20 cents per sal
ion Provided,. That the said duty on spirit:.
one liquors, and all other spirituous bevene,,
enumerated in this act, shall be collected at a.
lower rate than the basis of first proof, or
shall be increased in proportion for any great -
strength than the strength of first proof: P-
Wed. That all spirits on hand for sale, ahett
distilled prior to the date of this act or no•
shall be subject to the rates of duty provide :
by this act from and after the twelfth day
January, 1864, except that spirits which ha:
been already taxed under the law of July firi
1862, shall not be more than the additional -
increased tax provided by this act.
The second section provides for the seize.
and forfeiture of spirits or other articles talc
in this „bill, when there is reason to belies
that ttd same are possessed or held for tfl
purpose of being sold in defraud of the late
nal revenue laws, the penalty is, on oonvicti:
to be five hundred dollars, or not less the
double the amount Of duties fraudulently -.•
tempted to be evaded.
The third section provide's that all diet ;!!:
spirits upon which an excise duty is imposed I
law .may be exported without payment of dot
and when the same intended for export
may, without being charged with duty,
moved. Ho Ho drawback shall in any case
lowed on any distilled spirits upon eeb:, L
excise duty shall have been paid, either
or after it shall have been placed In a bou t
warehouse, as aforesaid ; but no provielen
this act sh all be construed to repeal asig.l.
laws.
FROM OINOIR NATI-
CINCINNATI. Jan.
The Kentucky Legislature took two ball:
for 11. S. Senator yesterday, without result.
Special dispatches from Indianapolis
that the recently published statement th 3
150 of the Indiana six mouths' soldiers dit
from exposure, enronte from Tazewell. Ten:.
is false. They have arrived at Indianapolis.
The 66th N. Y. veteran volunteers arrived -
Indianapolis yesterday.
From two to three regiments pass throu,
Indianapolis daily.
The 44th Ohio arrived bore yesterday ;
re-enlisted.
Two hundred thousand dollars have bee
paid over to the sanitary commission by t
officers of the fair- Funds are still coming IL
It is thought the net total will reach ti
hundred and ten thousand dollars.
Illness of a Member of Congress.
The Hon. D. C. Littejohn -is quite in, at_
will be tumble to resume his seat in Congre
for a month.
Earritb.
At Dauphin, on the 19th that, by the
8. 7...lCeinble, Mi. Cloonan Haman to
Suns 'Kumla, both of litnepfehannatownabli
Dauphin on , Pa. •
On the 21st inst., by Rev. B. T. Eemble,
Onauoan H. • Wikberm to Miss &man JA'
Synniura c all of Dauphin, Dauphin eo., Pa.
}€litD.
Ecnw This morning at 4 o'clock, Faunal
zrzza.
Funeral Sunday morning at 10 o'clock, ti
t& refildence
e on Third street above North.
Diem 2thriertistmatts.
WEAVES& AND EPNEEI23I rl-]
v v FRANK. TENDERS WANTED at Shett
Eamsnutn, CairponteT & Co.'s, No. 3 Mill,L =elder ' l'a•pal having been increafe :
girls oan now toskegtaid waged.
jan23 Aiwa - C. B. D&VIS, 300
fitilare PEAK ,
eVrao re°thelfat
WM. DOOM, Jr., & Cc
Wassiaxams, Jan. 22
Haw Your, Jan. 22.