Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1867-03-20
Proaigaoy at the Capitol of the Republic.

Prohigacy at the Capitol Of the Republic
A Washington correspondent Of the
Boston Post has recently been giving
some pen.andink sketches and startling
disclosures Of the habits Of public men
belonging to the Rump, diyulging secrets
of committee rooms, and the gay and
festive proceedings Of the lobby, showing
their influence and modes Of operation,
exhibiting what would be a sad state OF
Generalization in any ether body than
the Rump cabal hanging on the verge
of the government" After disclosing
some alarming facts he writes:
"But after ALL this is very tame
affair TO what is going forward in dozen
different apartments, in juxtaposition
with this, and still further to the rear Of
the scene upon which Speaker Colfax
finds it polite to turn his lack. These
are sumptuous rooms accessible to men,
bers only, and ladies who confer with
them. Each one of them is dream Of
luxury, and representing during the
greater portion Of each day the appear
ance of an impromptu leUee, at which a
dozen or more of Congressmen may be
seen playing the host at one time, and
chatting with score or two of the
brightest and most striking specimens
of the sex divine. AS rule, the staid
and elderly occupants Of representative
desks have little call, find, to any one
of these ravishing precincts. Nor do
members escortlDg their wives and
daughters through the labyrinthine mag.
nificence of the capitol lead them
straightway to this most beautiful and
gorgeous of the suits of Congressional
apartments, and marvel not. Men who
have grown gray in political service, or
sent here to end life of public work
amid the dignity of statesmanlike sur
roundings, are not the ones to be whee-
died by woman's smile, or pledged 10
equivocal Legislation that questionable
gains may follow, because bright eyes
are bent upon their own deficient orbs,
and delicious perfumes are flung as from
a censor by the tender, bejeweled caskets
before them. Not so the young, the
jaunty, the larksome NJ. q. from State
and constituency remote from the capi-
tol.
They meet here those nameless
women of a nameless ton, congregating
from no one knows where, and going
during the recesses of Congress, no one
knows whittier, yet always in force and
potoer when legislation is going on.
They are at once the handsomest, most
remarked, scandalized and inscrutabe
of their sex, appearing upon the evan
escent surface of society in Washington.
Generally to be found at the principal
hotels and invariably occupying the royal
chamber of the inn, if it has one to boast
Of they there weave the meshes which
enthral the unwary gentle from the West
ern borders, meanwhile holding fast to
the honorable" Lotharios from parts
more contiguous. Most of these female
lobbyists are women Of rare culture, ex.
traordinary gifts, and marvellous tact.
Round and round their taper fingers are
wound the heartstrings Of the unsophis-
tcated delegate from an unknown Ter
ritory, and the members from the very
rural districts, while the selfreliant,
posted and diplomatic representative
from the metropolitan regions basks in
the presence of the dashing creatures,
Just to let them know that he is there,
and if made available, must be propitia-
ted To see how all these are continu
ously worked upon and rendered as
plastic to the will and schemes of each
bewitching intriguente, as though re-
election depends upon the success and
qualification of their lghtest whim is
rare fun to the initiated, and such as is
enjoyable every day, if you do but take
a saunter through the suites Of retiring
rooms in the rear of the Representative
Chamber. 1t is vista of magnificent
drapery and fresco, relieved and shaded
by the presence of bevies of the most
beautiful women of the day.. Charming
tete a tetes in alcoves, whereat an ecstatic
victim is being still further disciplined
to the requirements of an imperious
charmer.: Howbeit, in other quarters,
groups of half dozen Congressmen are
congregated, each tickled and titillated
by the sparkling badinage of the female
lobbyist. In not whit have exagger-
ated the fascination of and ascendancy
over these gentlemen Of the lower House,
gained by women whose designs and in
terests come to be made public sooner
or later. Themselves tho hired instru
ments of some corporation or individ-
ual interest, sometimes the recipient Of
regular stipend, but more frequently
made a sharer in the spoils to be tried
for they fit through the brief days Of Q
Congressional session, eyed with sus-
picion, ostracised by society, yet aped
in dress and air by half its leaders and
binding to their girdles the wills and
impulses of members sufficient to hold
an undoubted balance Of poWer over the
fortunes of the measure to be lohbied.'