the performance. A member proposes that certain lots be provided with
curbstones; another, that a free drinking hydrant be placed on a
certain corner five miles up town; and another, that certain blocks of
a distant street be paved with Belgian pavement. Respecting the utility
of these works, members generally know nothing and can say nothing; nor
are they proper objects of legislation. The resolutions are adopted,
usually, without a word of explanation, and at a speed that must be
seen to be appreciated.

* * * * *

At almost every session we witnessed scenes like the following: A
member proposed to lease a certain building for a city court at two
thousand dollars a year for ten years. Honest Christopher Pullman, a
faithful and laborious public servant, objected, on one or two grounds;
first, rents being unnaturally high, owing to several well known and
temporary causes, it would be unjust to the city to fix the rent at
present rates for so long a period; secondly, he had been himself to
see the building, had taken pains to inform himself as to its value,
and was prepared to prove that twelve hundred dollars a year was a
proper rent for it even at the inflated rates. He made this statement
with excellent brevity, moderation, and good temper, and concluded by
moving that the term be two instead of ten years. A robust young man,
with a bull neck and of ungrammatical habits, said, in a tone of
impatient disdain, that the landlord of the building had 'refused'
fifteen hundred dollars a year for it. 'Question!' 'Question!' shouted
half a dozen angry voices, the question was instantly put, when a
perfect war of _noes_ voted down Mr. Pullman's amendment. Another
hearty chorus of _ayes_ consummated the iniquity. In all such affairs,
the visitor notices a kind of 'ungovernable propensity to vote for