In Pennsylvania The General Assembly, As The Joint Legislature Is
Called, Sits Every Year, Commencing Their Work Early In January, And
Continuing Till It Be Finished.
The usual period of sitting seems
to be about ten weeks.
In the majority of States, the legislature
only sits every other year. In this State it sits every year, and
the Representatives are elected annually. The Senators are elected
for three years, a third of the body being chosen each year. The
two chambers were ugly, convenient rooms, arranged very much after
the fashion of the halls of Congress at Washington. Each member had
his own desk and his own chair. They were placed in the shape of a
horseshoe, facing the chairman, before whom sat three clerks. In
neither house did I hear any set speech. The voices of the Speaker
and of the Clerks of the Houses were heard more frequently than
those of the members; and the business seemed to be done in a dull,
serviceable, methodical manner, likely to be useful to the country,
and very uninteresting to the gentlemen engaged. Indeed at
Washington also, in Congress, it seemed to me that there was much
less of set speeches than in our House of Commons. With us there
are certain men whom it seems impossible to put down, and by whom
the time of Parliament is occupied from night to night, with
advantage to no one and with satisfaction to none but themselves. I
do not think that the evil prevails to the same extent in America,
either in Congress or in the State legislatures.
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