business. Among the intelligent mechanics of Massachusetts, there are many fully fit to be at the head of the arsenal at Springfield; but all these, by the existing law, are austerely excluded from any such trust. The idea which has fallen from so many Senators, that the superintendent of an armory ought to be a 'military that a military man only is competent- or even that a military man is more competent than a civilian, seems to me as illogical as the jocular fallacy of Dr. Johnson, that "He who drives fat oxen must himself be fat."

man

AGAINST SECRECY IN THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE SENATE.

SPEECH IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 6TH APRIL, 1853, ON THE PROPOSITION TO LIMIT THE SECRET SESSIONS

OF THE SENATE.

The following resolution was submitted by Mr. Chase, of Ohio :

“Resolved, That the sessions and all proceedings of the Senate shall be public and open, except when matters communicated in confidence by the President, shall be received and considered, and in such other cases as the Senate by resolution from time to time shall specially order, and so much of the 38th, 39th and 40th rules as may be inconsistent with this resolution is hereby rescinded."

In the debate which ensued, Mr. Sumner spoke as follows:

MR. SUMNER.-Party allusions and party considerations have been brought to bear upon this question. I wish to regard it for a moment in the light of the Constitution and in the spirit of our institutions. In the Constitution there is no injunction of secrecy on any of the proceedings of the Senate; nor is there any requirement of publicity. To the Senate is left absolutely the determination of its rules of proceedings. In thus abstaining from all regulation of this matter the framers of the Constitution have obviously regarded

it as in all respects within the discretion of the Senate, to be exercised from time to time as it thinks best.

The Senate exercises three important functions: first, the legislative or parliamentary power, wherein it acts concurrently with the House of Representatives, as well as the President; secondly, the power "to advise and consent" to treaties with foreign countries in concurrence with the President; and, thirdly, the power "to advise and consent" to nominations by the President to offices under the Constitution. I say nothing of another, rarely called into exercise, the sole power to try impeachments.

At the first organization of the Government the proceedings of the Senate, whether in legislation or on treaties or on nominations, were with closed doors. In this respect the legislative business and executive business were conducted alike. This continued down to the second session of the Third Congress, in 1794, when, in pursuance of a formal resolution, the galleries were allowed to be opened so long as the Senate were engaged in their legislative capacity, unless in such cases as might, in the opinion of the Senate, require secrecy; and this rule has continued ever since. Here was an exercise of the discretion of the Senate, in obvious harmony with public sentiment and the spirit of our institutions.

The change now proposed goes still further. It opens the doors on all occasions, whether legislative or executive, except when specially ordered otherwise. The Senator from South Carolina [Mr. Butler] says that the Senate is a confidential body, and should be ready to receive confidential communications from the President. But this will still be the case if we adopt

the resolution now under consideration. The limitation proposed seems adequate to all exigencies, while the general rule will be publicity. The Executive sessions with closed doors, shrouded from the public gaze and public criticism, constitute an exceptional part of our system, too much in harmony with the proceedings of other Governments less liberal in character. The genius of our institutions requires publicity. The ancient Roman, who bade his architect so to construct his house that his guests and all that he did could be seen by the world, is a fit model for the American people.

THE POWERS OF A STATE OVER THE MILITIA.

SPEECHES ON THE MILITIA GENERALLY ANd a colored MILITIA, IN THE CONVENTION TO REVISE AND AMEND THE CONSTI

TUTION OF MASSACHUSETTS * 21ST AND 22D JUNE, 1853.

The propositions of amendment on the general subject of the Militia being under consideration in Committee of the Whole, Mr. Sumner spoke as follows:

I SHOULD like to call the attention of the Committee to the precise question on which we are to vote. This does not, as it seems to me, properly open the discussion to which we have been listening. I do not understand that it involves the topics introduced by my friend opposite [Mr. Wilson], the present condition of Europe, the prospects of the liberal cause in that quarter of the globe, or the extent to which that cause may be affected by a contemporaneous movement for peace. Nor do I understand that the important considerations introduced by the gentleman on my right [Mr. Whitney, of Boylston], on the extent to which Government may be entrusted with the power

* The members of this Convention were not required to have their domicil in the places which they represented. Mr. Sumner sat as the member for Marshfield, for which place he was chosen while absent from the State.