Mr. Chairman: It is with a degree of reluctance that 1 solicit the indulgence of the committee at this late period of the session. It is well known that, since I have had the honor of a seat in this house, I have troubled it but seldom with remarks of my own. Indeed, I have long considered it neither proper nor respectful in any member’of.any legislative body to engross the time to be devoted to public business in speechmaking, unless the speaker have it in his power to impart some important information, or shed new light bn the subject of debate. And here, sir, I feel bound to confess, that were I now to be governed strictly by this rule, I would have refrained from participating in this discussion. Mr Chairman, 1 regret to say, that such is the poor and unprofitable fashion of the times, that unless the people’s representatives occasionally make long and lusty speeches, they are but too liable to incur the people’s displeasure. And for this reason they often deem it expedient to make elaborate speeches on some given subject, that shall, when printed, occupy so many columns of a newspaper, or so many pages of a pamphlet. In order to comply with this requisition, the member is often compelled, especially when the subject does not happen to be a very fruitful one, or the speaker does not chance to possess that kind of creative power which can produce something' out of nothings so to draw out and dilute his ideas, that the reader, should he judge from their texture and gossamer properties, would be liable to conclude, that, like the spider’s web, they had been spun rather from .the bowels than the brain. The cause of this evil, sir, lies, in a great measure, with the people themselves. The representative, unless he inflicts some half dozen speeches upon the body to which he may belong, in the course of a session—whether called for or not, whether to the,purpose or not—returns to his constituents under the apprehension that he will not receive at their hands the gratifying welcome of ft well done, good and faithful servant.” The political aspirant, therefore, must either make up his mind to swim with the current of public opinion, and speak, often ; or to remain silent, arid sink beneath its waves. And as legislators, like other men, are more or less moved by self-love, pride, and ambition—passions upon which hang the fever of thi world, and which stimulate men to action—they are but too liable to consult their own rather than their country’s interest, and to embarrass the business of the nation, by making speeches designed for home consumption^ and their own political aggrandizement. Sir, I intend no disrespect to the members of this body, nor to the people who send them here. I but speak of a custom which I conceive to be justly obnoxious to censure.. I speak of men as I find them, and as they are. 1 am aware, sir, of the irrelevancy of these remarks, and will not further occupy the time of the committee by pursuing them. Previously to approaching the subject, properly before the committee, I will briefly notice certain remarks of 'the gentleman from Pennsylvania, (Mr. Naylor,) who has just taken his seat. He has paid high and deserved W0R20JW34
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