Show The decay of courtesy and sonorous periods in the U S Senate is both noteworthy and appalling A reading of the Congressional Record reveals some instances Senators now very commonly refer to each other as My friend from Georgia the Senator from Missouri or the distinguished Senator from Massachusetts and soon so-on But It was not so In the old days How impoverished It all sounds when compared with Stephen A Douglass deferential and oldtime reference to Jefferson Davis as My distinguished I friend the illustrious Senator from Mississippi We have gained In business I busi-ness strength but what a loss there is in grace |