our bill. Her trial will be over before Congress has half purified

itself.--And doesn't it occur to you that by the time it has expelled all

its impure members there, may not be enough members left to do business

legally?"

Why I did not say Congress would expel anybody."

Well won't it expel anybody?"

Not necessarily. Did it last year? It never does. That would not be

regular."

Then why waste all the session in that tomfoolery of trying members?"

It is usual; it is customary; the country requires it."

Then the country is a fool, I think."

Oh, no. The country thinks somebody is going to be expelled."

Well, when nobody is expelled, what does the country think then?"

By that time, the thing has strung out so long that the country is sick

and tired of it and glad to have a change on any terms. But all that

inquiry is not lost. It has a good moral effect."

551

The Gilded Age