Disserations by Mr. Dooley (1906) - Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt

SEN AT OKI AL COURTESY
" "TTT'S a question iv Sinitoryal courtesy. What's
that? Well, Hinnissy, ye see, there ain't anny
M rules in th' Sinit. Ivrybody gets up whin he
wants to, an' hollers about annything that comes into
his head. Whin Dorgan was in Wash'nton he wint
to hear th' debate on th' naval bill, an' a Sinitor was
r-readin' the Life iv Napolyon to another Sinitor who
was asleep.
"
Sinitoryal courtesy rules th' body. If ye let
me talk I'll let ye sleep. Th' presidin' officer
can't come down with his hammer an' bid wan iv thim
vin'rable men, grim with thraditions, to chase himsilf
fr'm th' flure. In such a case it wud be parlyminthry
f'r th' grim Sinitor to heave an ink-well at th'
presidin' officer. Undher Sinitoryal courtesy it is
an' even affable to call a fellow-Sinitor a
proper
liar. It is th' hith iv courtesy to rush over an' push
his cigar down his throat, to take him be th' hair an'
dhrag him around th' room, or to slap him in th' eye
on account iv a difference iv opinyon about collectors
iv intarnal rivinue. Southern Sinitors have been
known to use a small case-knife in a conthrovarsy.
It is etiket to take off ye'er boots in th' heat iv debate.
It is courteous f'r a Sinitor to go to sleep an' swal-
low his teeth while another Sinitor is makin' a speech.
But wanst a Sinitor is on his feet it is th' hith iv
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