| Show washington LETTER t washington D C dec 1897 vew few people have any idea of the 1 aunt amount of work which devolves upon OL member of congress the popular impression is of a pampered and idle r individual who is paid a fat salary for making a spectacular show of himself s tn in tha congressional amphitheater for claying abing flaying fla ying aye and nay at his bartys call Als distributing a few seeds and documents and perhaps delivering one or two spread eagle speeches in course of session the salary attached to say athing of the perquisites is considered by the masses as much more than equivalent bivalent uI valent for the services performed aind ad mazy many are of the opinion that the honor of the position coupled with its t influence in securing positions for friends tends tr and political adherents is com pens atlon enough and that no salary ii should be required to be sure the fortunate M C has honors showered upon him and many emoluments outside his regular hire 1 as a servant of the people but he earns tbt Us a year every cent of it the i hod caroler would kick with vigor if compelled to labor mote more than eight hours bows per diem or ten at the most but the national legislators hours average eighteen out of the twenty four it if in 1 deed his work is ever done for his busy brain goes on milling schemes and political problems even in the land of f dreams let us follow a member through his usual day and see how he spends the time he rises at eight relock which is very early in wash ington baton where night is turned into day and 4 the hours de cregeur for social pleasure begin at nine p m and continue into the wee sma hours of the In morning orning long before he to is out of bed duds have been coming in and visitors waiting to see him vis his valet if he Is rich enough to indulge in such an appendage or a servant of his hotel or boardinghouse boarding house raps discreetly on his door when the pressure becomes too great to be longer withstood and at f ewe ce the sleepy M C is in harness and H e working day begins perhaps the first ars wol word d he hears is lady to see tv cwi sah been since sebben k tock sah so he dresses in haste wt tout of course with the care which his position rosi tion demands and descends break to the parlor where his tor mentors await him he finds them near the door a jealous looking party each glaring at the others ethers as who should say he is the t k member from my district and ever every y ane of them plainly feels if he or she does doea not may flay it in words a claim on the v Congress mans services because his or er relatives Iela t tives voted for him here is a s widow in weeds and woe whose pen slot alm tor for the long ago services of her husband ban I 1 uncle cle samuel should in crease in order to add sugar to the t yead and butter or whose boy must t ve de appointed as page in the capitol or vrho tes 16 herself an applicant for some easy to do in the pay of the there is the good looking young woman fashionably fashona bly attired and confidently smiling or rather there r atay be dozens of her every day she i ihas come up from his district expecting ing to lye be palt right into the treasury at salary of a thousand a year and she wants to consult him as to which particular place he would better get for her or she brings him a letter from some ff totten acquaintance residing a thousand miles from his district asking allm to please put her into one of the departments As it those coveted places were to be had for the asking how little people outside of washington seem to understand that for every vacancy actual or prospective there are hundreds of applications that congress as a body egged on by eager constituents are perpetually clamoring at the doors of the departments tor for places which they know cannot be obtained and that civil service has added a thousand fold to the difficulties in the way another caller may be a veteran member of the G A R who thinks he has been illegally discharged from government employ and wants to get back again others are college friends or army comrades who desire a personal introduction to the president others are merely constituents who are in town for a few days and feel fairly entitled to the service of the M C in showing them around for they vote for him sadder than all and not least numerous are the applicants for charity men and women who came here to urge claims of appointments which they have failed to get whose money and hopes have both disappeared and now entirely destitute they must be fed and sent home at the Congress mans expense disposing of all these without once mi slaying his temper the M C gets his breakfast taking his letters with him to read and digest along with the chops and eggs first of course the home letters from wife and children if they are not with him at washington and comparatively ively few congressmen can afford to keep them in this most expensive city from his aged parents breathing pride ride in their distinguished son which ae he vows in his secret heart to deserve and perhaps the devoted wife who is patiently bearing all the home burdens while her lord is away has guided the babas hand in some sc rawlings across the page which actually bring tears to the eyes of the polished man of the world right here let me enter my emphatic protest against the impression which prevails in the rural district anent the immortality of the average congressman why should a hitherto respectable citizen whom his friends and neighbors have trusted well enough to elect as their representative senta tive suddenly lose all sense ot or moral obligation when he comes to washington when you axe are in rome do as the romans is a wise old saw but the romans themselves may be decent people this is not the wicked est city as many suppose not by a very great deal the searchlight of publicity is turned too full upon its high placed to admit of shady doings and peoples minds are occupied by things of far greater importance I 1 am aware that the foregoing statement sounds a good deal like the placard which the good deacon posted in his melon patch boys let these melons alone they aint ripe and god sees you but there is truth in it nevertheless A Congress mans mail represents a great deal of his hardest labor it is not all received at his residence but the bulk of it goes to the capitol post office and is piled upon his desk by a page the wise M C answers all his letters if a veteran meff member iber of the house he may get from seventy five to one hundred a day on all manner of topics from the greatest affairs of state to the drivel lings of political cranks if he is a grand army man a great many of his correspondents request him to look up claims and use his influence in forwarding settlements scores every day are applications for office some of them strong appeals for worthy persons from mutual friends and endorsed by weightiest weight iest influence should he visit the departments and attend personally to all these requests that alone would assume his entire time and then the requests request made for seeds mid and maps and public documents and goodness knows what occasionally a constituent writes to say that he has invented a wonderful thing and that he understands that it costs about 75 to get a patent as he is a little short just now he desires his member to advance the money and secure the patent and he will repay him richly from the enormous profits he expects to reap and probably next day a big box express charges unpaid is unloaded at the M C s door and becomes a regular white elephant on his hands other writers plenty of them are grumbling about their post master and want him removed forthwith and no end of them desire books printed and mailed at government expense now and then a man who would perhaps refuse the earth as a free gift mentions the titles of books enough to fill an express car and winds up by adding and all the other government publications besides the letters are bushels of newspapers new most of them containing articles marked for his inspection spec tion to ignore one of which might cost hint him his reelection election re then there are baskets full of public documents and pamphlets on all conceivable subjects semi lunatics present visionary schemes for righting all human wrongs and persons interested in private bills flood him with circulars he is invited to banquets and receptions galore asked to remit good sized checks for tickets enclosed to entertainments given for charitable purposes which he cannot attend and among the sterner stuff are scented billetdoux billet doux from female admirers whose greatest fault to is ineffable silliness and a few which are practically bids for favors about which the least said the better usually the member hurries to the capitol as early as 10 a m although as everybody knows the session of congress do not begin till 12 if he is on some important committee he must attend all its sessions with unfailing regularity and also the sessions of the subcommittees sub committees to which he is assigned on the way to his com cittee room to take part in discussing some pending bill of national consequence he is waylaid at every step by the importunities of visitors ile he to is buttonholed buttonholes button holed by delegations urging him to use his influence toward changing the tariff schedule or to exert it against a bill believed to be damaging to the commercial interests of the city they represent he is urged to favor this measure or to oppose that A friend begs him to urge upon the committee on claims some personal bin bill another wants him to see the committee on military affairs and use his influence on behalf of some soldier wrongfully disgraced another tells a harrowing tale of a poor woman who 4 has lost her place in the department and must have it back right away before the wolf at the door devour her flock another insists that a bridge must be built across the creek at podunk and demands that the member gives the measure his personal attention others merely want to cajole out of him his views on the cuban question or civil service or the annexation of hawaii newspaper men waylay him numerously for interviews and the scarlet woman with painted cheeks and luring eyes presents her card to him on one pretext or another the meeting in the committee room lasts till high noon when the speaker calls the house to order and like the schoolboy school boy with shining morning face he must be at his desk to answer roll call and he has to run the gauntlet of all the above mentioned and many more to do it then the legislative mill begins its slow blow and tedious grinding in bordere to vote intelligently telli gently he mst pay close attention to all that is going on and understand thoroughly every subject under discussion cus sion but he finds it most difficult to remain in his seat five consecutive minutes so many cards come in with urgent calls from people outside if tired nature demands a luncheon and he goes to the congressional restaurant to get it he is seized upon en route like a disabled crab and figuratively devoured by his hungry fellows those with most pressing cases case s insist upon lunching with him at his expense sometimes and if claims or appointments are pending upon which action must be taken at once they catch a cable car after a hasty meal and hie to the treasury or some other department where perhaps they wait an hour or more before the secretary can be seen and then return no wiser than they went and at every step even in the department corridors men and women spring up everywhere to besiege the devoted member the minute he sets foot in the capitol his troubles are augmented a thousand fold and to get away from the button holers looks like a physical impossibility like a pebble dropped in a brook he finds himself the center of an ever widening circle and all with axes of some sort to grind suddenly there comes relief A page of the house scampers through the corridor shouting yeas and nays the cabalistic call is imperative and the congressman breaks away but his hax harassed assed aad and bewildered brain has only a vague idea of what to la go going ingon on in the legislative chamber so he looks to the leaders of his party to see how they are going to vote and adds his voice to theirs the same scenes are re enacted outside when congress Congre sd adjourns yet however worried he must preserve the semblance of good humor even polite cordiality toward those who have no earthly claim upon him but persist in making him the grindstone upon which to sharpen their individual axes at last he reaches his private apartment and seats himself to go over another accumulation of mall mail to study congressional records ana and coming legislation or maybe to prepare the coming speech which to is to make or break him politically for life his secretary attends him if he can afford the luxury and they go through a lot of business in the course of two or three hours at eight or nine he gets into his claw hammer coat and goes to dine and then come social duties which must by no means be ignored if lie he has ambitions of his own his engagements gage Sage ments are usually several deep of an evening and if he sees bed by two a in he Is a lucky man even then the sweet restorer is hard to woo too many cares and worries have settled on his hie mind to say nothing of late coffee and maybe something stronger on his stomach and that speech like mac beths conscience doth murder sleep 11 this is only a faint portrayal of the daly da y walk and conversation converst conver stion lon of the envied member of congress senator 3 awes once said the pressure upon senators and representatives for assistance si in securing public offices imposed a work that is never finished and involves them in a warfare from which there to is no discharge their time la is consumed and their vitality is exhausted in the service of place hun PANNIE FANNIE BRIGHAM |
