Rensselaer Union, Volume 5, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 March 1873 — Speeches of Messrs. Colfax, Wilson and Blaine. [ARTICLE]

Speeches of Messrs. Colfax, Wilson and Blaine.

The following are the valedictory remarks of Vice-President Colfax before the Senate, on the 4thSenators : The time fixed by the Constitution for the dissolution of the Forty-second Congress has arrived, and with a few parting words I shall resign this gavel to the honored son of Massachusetts, who has been chosen by the people as my successor. Administrations terminate and Congresses expire as years pass by, but the nation lives and grows and prospers, to be served in future by t hose equally faithful to its interests and equally proud of its growing influence among the nations of the earth; to he called by the representatives of the, people, and afterward by the people themselves, to the responsible duty of presiding Successively over the two houses of Congress far the past ten years, from the era of the war through an era of reconstruction to an era of peace, more than fills the measure of an honorabiejambltion. Looking back over these ten exciting years, I can claim not only that I nave committed no act which has proved the confidence misplaced that called me to this position, but also that I have striven in its official duties to administer the parliamentary law with the same Impartiality with which an upright judge noon the bench decides in questions of life and liberty, to faithfully protect the rights of the minority, as well as to uphold the rights of the majority, in the advancement of public business, to remain calm and unmoved amid excitement of debate, to temper and restrain from asperities and to guard against personal antagonisms. To perform acceptably the complex and often perplexing duties of the Chair without partisan bias has been my constant endeavor. It is gratifying, therefore, > that of the manyhundreds of decisions made by me, often on the instant, none have been reversed and scarce any seriously questioned. How much I owe to the uniform kindness and support of the members over whom I have presided is difficult to expres in words. It has been bounded by no party lines and controlled by no party affiliations, and I rejoice that I have been able to attest my appreciation of this support. While jealously defending principles before the people, this defense has never been qoupled with personal assaults on any of the eminent public men with whom I have differed. No aspersions on their character have dishonored my tongue, no epithets or invectives have fallen frommyllpt. .... But the clock admqnishes me that the Fortysecond Congress has already passed into history, and wishing you. Senators, useful lives for your country, and happy lives for yourselves, and thanking you for the resolution spread on your journal, and invoking the tavor of Him who holds the destinies of nations and of men in the hollow of His hand, I am ready to administer the oath of office to the Vice-President-elect, whom I now introduce to you. Vice-President Wilson then addressed the Senate as follows:. Senators: In assuming the position assigned me by the voice of the nation, lam not, I trnrt, unmindful of the obligations it imposes, . A service here, somewhat prolonged, covering a period crowded with great events, and an association here with nearly two hundred agd thirty Senators, many of them statesmen of large and varied experience, have impressed npon me exalted ideas of the responsibllltiesresting upon the occupant of this chair under the rules of the Senate, parliamentary law and the constitution. In passing then from the seat I have held for more than eighteen years to this chair, I trust, I comprehend something of its just requirements, something, too, of the tone and temper of the Senate. In presiding over your deliberations I shall ever strive to be free from persona] prejudice and partisan bias. A sense of public duty and obligations of personal friendship alike require that I shall be as considerate, as just and as impartial as the lot of humanity permits. To the justice, generosity, and friendly regard of the Senators I trustfully appeal for that cotnsel and encouragement, that for- ’ bearanceand Indulgence which Lam sure I shall often require as yonr presiding officer. At the conclusion of the proceedings of the House on the 4th, Speaker Blaine said: Gentlemen: For the forty-second time since the Federal Government was organized its great representative body stand on the eve of dissolution. The final word which separates us is suspended for a moment that I may return my sincere thanks for the kind expressions respecting my official conduct which, without division of party, you tyaye caused to be entered on your journal. At the c ose of four years’ service in this responsible and often trying position it is a source of honorable pride that I have so administered my trust as to secure the confidence and approbation of both sides of the House. It would not be strange if in the necessarily rapid discharge of daily business I should have erred in some of the decisions made on points unexpectedly arising and often without precedent to guideme. It has been my good fortune, however, to be always sustained by the House, and in no single instance to have had a i ruling reversed. I advert to this gratifying fact, to quote the language of the most eloquent of my predecessors—“in nd vain spirit of emulation, bnt as furnishing a 'powerful motive for undisscmbled gratitude”—and now, gentlemen, with a hearty God bless you all, I discharge my only remaining duty in declaring that the House of Representatives of the Fortysecond Congress !s adjourned without day.