Christian Nation Vol. 18 1893 - Rparchives.org

Mar. 29,1893.A FAMILT PAPER.1 LOVE IT, I LOVE IT.AND WHO WILL DARETO CHIDE WIE FORLOVINGTHE OLD ARM CHAIR.BOLTING THE CAUCUS.BY WILLIAM lUTHEY GIBBONS." Bettah not go in dere, honey !""No. 26. Isn't this Senator Blunt's room?""Tes, but de senahtah's powerful busy jistnow. He done tole me he couldn't see nobody,'cept on impohtant business.""I think he would see me. I wish youwould tell him, please, that Ethel Wood, Mr.James Martin Wood's daughter, wants to seehim a minute on important business."JJ^A moment later the Senator glanced upfrom the pile of letters he was lookingthrough to say rather irritably, " Well, Sam,what now ? Be quick I'" A little girl wants to see you, sah, on importantbusiness, she says," and Sam smiledas he presented the daintily engraved cardEthel had sent in." Who is Ethel Wood, I wonder ?" said thesenator, pulling out his handsome gold stopwatch." She said she- was Mistah James MahtinWood's daughter, sah. She's only a littlegirl, sah."" Tell her I can see her for just five minutes."Ethel was not at all scared, as she expectedto be, when Sam opened the door to show herinto the great senator's presence. With verylittle hesitation she told him what she wanted." Papa brought me along because the doctorsaid I needed rest from school. On theway down to the capital I asked him what hewas going to do here, and he said that theLeague had sent h;m to see you and some ofthe other men about some law, I think it wasthe Davis law he called it. Anyhow he toldme it was to made it so that the folks couldregulate the saloons."" Did your father send you here ?" askedthe senator, looking a little annoyed ; for heremembered now that he had refused to seehis old classmate, Jamea Wood, on the groundof pressing engagements.Ejhel's face was so honest that he could nothelp believing her irhen she said, " No, sir ;he doe^'t know I came." Then, seeing thatthe senator did not want to talk, but busiedhimseif with biting the ivory paper-cutter,Ethel went on to tak about the Davis Bill."I wanted to tell you about Jim. If it wouldshut up the saloons, I think it would be agood thing for poor Jim. Jim is the man whocuts the grass in our yard, and plants' theflower beds in the spring. He used to be anawful drunkard once, aud one time while hiswife was sick he got drunk, and she died ofpneumonia. But he's trying to keep sobernow. Only sonietimes he says the temptationis one too many for him. Ton kuosv in Hortonwhere we live they make all the saloonsstay on the side of the railroad where Jimlives. And Jim has to pass 'em every one,before he can get up town to his work. I likeJim so much. He mended my trycycle whenit got broken, aud he's a real nice fellow.Only I wish he wouldn't ever drink. 1 knowyou don't believe in saloons. Senator Blunt;so won't you please get the men to have thislaw to let folks shut 'em up ? It would be somuch better for poor J im. I know I mustn tstay long nor bother you, but I thought themen would do this much for Jim, if you'donly tell 'em aeout him-"The hot, stuffy Senate Chamber had neverbefore seemed so uncomfortable to SenatorBlunt. The long speeches were uninteresting.Nobody paid any attention to them ; with afew exceptions, the members of the Senatewere domg anything but listening. The onlypersons, outside the galleries, who seemed tobe taking any interest in what was sa'd werethe shorthand reporters. One of these hadleft his own desk and taken his seat beside thespeechmaker.But in the gallery there was one listenerwho never took her eyes off the man who wasspeaking. Senator Blunt saw that she did notunderstand the arguments which the gentlemanfrom Sussex was using, but in an indistinctway she saw that he was speaking for theBill. When the dry, wordy speech was atlast ended, the senator saw her look at him asif she expected that the man who representedher father's district would speak.Now there was a movement in the front ofthe chamber, and the clerks went through theusual routine before calling the roll to decidewhether or not the Bill should become alaw. Ethel leaned over to her father andasked what it meant. The senator saw herface light up and her body quiver with suppressedexcitement when she knew that withinthe next few minutes the question would bedecided. He wished that he had not beenpresent when the Bill was to be voted on. Afew weeks before the senators of his party hadmet in caucus to decide what attitude theirparty should take towards the Bill. Then ithad been declared that if the Davis Bill becamea law through the help of their votesthere would be danger that at the next electiontheir party might be defeated. But from SenatorBlunt's district there had been pouringletters and petitions asking him to vote for theBill. Ethel's face was now turned full uponhim, like a finalbeseeching appeal to separatehimself from his party. Personally the senatorwas not a bad man, although not as he saidhimself, " a temperance crank." Bat he knewthat failure on his part to support his party'smeasures at the capital might mean that theparty would not help him to re-election in theclcse district which he represented. On theother hand, herhaps the right in the case wason the Bill. There were doubtless many menlike Ethel's Jim.While he pondered, the presiding offlcer hadtapped the desk with his gavel and the callingof the roll had begun. "Allen?" "Aye!""Andrews?" "Aye!" "Baker?" "Aye!"Senator Blunt knew how they would vote ;they belonged to the opposite party. If hisown name had only come a little further downthe roll, then it would not have been so hard.But for him, a leader of his party, to start whatmight be a stampede,—could he do it? Theclerk was comine; to his name soon."Beggs?" "No!"Blunt would be called next. Ethel's face,the pile of letters—yes, he dared do it!"Blunt" "Aye!"A little flutterof excitement stirred thechamber. Several men of his party stoppedtalking and fixedtheir eyes on his face. SenatorBlunt tried to look unconcerned ; he tookup his pen and pretended to write a letter,while the rest of the roll was called. Whathe really did was to keep account of the votesas they were shouted out from the variousparts of the house. Before the last name hadbeen called, he saw that the Bill had beencarried. He dropped tbe pen and lookedtoward the gallery to see Ethel's face. Whenthe clerk read out the number of those whohad voted for the Bill and the number of thosewho had voted against it, the senator saw hergive one quick look at her father. He smiledand nodded down at her to assure her that whattney wished for had been accomplished. Asshe and her father left the Senate Chambershe looked back once more, smiling radiantlyat Senator Blunt, like an approving conscience.In the leading paper of flojton on the nextmorning the following comment appeared :" The, Davis Bill has finallypassed the Senateand will doubtless become a law. Up tothe last moment its fate was uncertain. Thebreak occcrred when the senator from Westmorelandrecorded his vote for the Bill. Sevenother eenators who had been kept in place heretoforeby the caucus whip followed SenatorBlunt's lead, thus securing a majority of threefor the Bill. This action of the Senate is along step in the direction of good government,and we congratulate the people of tbe commonwealthon the prospect that the Davis Bill willbecome a law."From another point of view the followingdispatch was written :" Through the unexpected treachery of SenatorBlunt and seven other senators that politicalmonstrosity, known as the Davis Bill, haspassed the Senate. There is slender hope thatit will be vetoed by the governor. In spite ofthe action of the party caucus four weeks agothese gentlemen nave seen fit to vote for theBill. How these caucus-bolters and pledgebreakerswill settle with their constituenciesremains to be seen. The opinion expressed byyour correspondent when the Bill was firstintroducedwas that if supported by us it wouldcost us several thousand votes next November.The odium attached to the passage of the Billattaches to these recreant senators alone. Ifthe gentlemen who have voted for the Bill wishto be thrown overboard, the party does not objectto their plaving Jonah."Forty Fort, Pa.THE INDIAN MISSION.From Department of Missions.That the church, Indian Mission, is nearingcompletion, is a cause of thanksgiving. Amission is illy equipped if without a church.The Cache Creek mission is taking on formand substance in a way which is specially gratifying.It shows what can be doue when thechurch enters into the work with a will ; for," Where there is a will, there is a way." MayGod hasten the time when the aborigines ofAmerica shall be no longer heathen. Thatthey have been so, so long, when under thevery shadow of the chnrch is remarkable, andwitnesses to great indifference and neglect onthe part of God's people. The present generationshould atone, eo far as this is pofsible,for the sins cf past generations in this effort tobring the Indian to Christ.TOO MANYto print ; that is why we never use testimonials in ouradvertising. We are constantly receiving tnem fromall parts of the world. The Gail Borden EagleBrand condensed Milk is the best infants food. Grocersand Druggists.