The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-28
WASHINGTON, Aug. %.


FOOD FOR FUN.
The articles from the pen Of James Parton
which have appeared in the Atlantic Monthly for
August and September, entitled respectively
The Strikers of the Washington Lobby" and
"Log-Roling at Washington" have afforded
good deal of amusement to the knowing ones
among the old stagers of the lobby. 1t is mys-
terry even to those outside the lobby, and who
are but casual observers of its operations, how
Parton, who is usually a shrewd observer, could
have had the ''wool pulled over his eyes," to use
a common phrase, during his visit here last
winter, in the manner which the tenor of
his articles indicate. 1 am afraid he
came here with the impression that Congress
was an innocent, highly moral, and much abused
body, and that instead of seeking for competent
and disinterested witnesses, he went directly to
the accused to ascertain whether his impression
was not the correct one. Very few criminals,
when asked by the Judge, Guilty or not guilty"
are so utterly lacking in judgment as to answer
in the affirmative. Could Mr. Parton listen to the
criticisms upon his articles of those who know
something about the lobby and the connection OF
members of Congress Herewith, he would l
think, come to the conclusion that he had been
put upon the wrong scent. | saw the other day
an old lobbyist who has been here for many
years, and who has amassed fortune in the
business, reading the article on The Strikers OF
the Washington Lobby" Every few minutes
he would stop, lay down the Atlantic, and laugh
immoderatelv Upon being questioned rs to
the cause of his mirth, he said, 81 am laughing
at the idea of anybody being such a fool as to
suppose that members of Congress ever openly
take money for their votes.' And then he
added with knowing wink, ''If this fellow Par
ton had come to me, l could have shown him
that the business isn't transacted in that way"
WHERE PARTON GOT HIS FACTS.
Mr. Parton spent about three weeks here last
winter. and was the guest of General Butler
He was introduced to nearly all the Senators
and members. His reputation as a writer had
preceded him, and it was not unknown that the
object of his visit "to write up the lobby"
He was here in the midst of the gay season. and
he was feted, dined, and wined socially Gd H6i-
tam by Congressman. / have not heard that the
members of the lobby proffered him dinner, or
rendered him any information on subject that
they, of all Others may be presumed to know
most about In fact, Mr.. Parton confined his asso-
clations almost exclusively to Congressman, and
got his opinions of Congress from them. Now
it is natural to suppose that every Congressman
he met gave good account of himself; and if
Parton made any allusion to the reports of
.'iobs' which have been or were then being
put through Congress- the virtuous
member or Senator at once denounced it as
calumny put in circulation by those terrible
'strikers." If Mr.. Parton accidentally heard
that General Butler was deeply interested in the
Alta Vela claim, then before the House, as he no
doubt did, for it was well known here, suppose
he put that down as a "striker" story. The
truth is Mr.. Parton undertook to get his views
of the lobby from the silent partners of that
institution, and the result is apparent. He has
-, ,;to,ua moi ri of fha firm
and partially exposing the vice of the other part.
A FEW QUESTIONS FOR PARTON.
Everybody likes to believe in the virtue of the
National Legislature. 1t is only when the truth
is brought home by the most obstinate array of
facts that we begin to doubt whether all the
Congressman are virtuous. aThat there are some
men in both houses who are above suspicion, no
one will doubt, but that they are the most nume-
rous class is disputed by the number of enor-
nous "iobs" that are got through every session
How does Mr.. Parton account for the existence
of a lobby at all? What makes the lobby posi-
BILE but the existence of corrupt Legislators !?
The "strikers" whom Mr.. Parton writes about
are no part of the regular lobby. They
are miserable devils who exc out q preca-
rious existence by picking up odd bones
thrown them by the members of the
genuine, recognized power known as the lobby
keep elegant suits of rooms fitted up in pala-
tial manner with sidebOards well stocked with
the best LIQUORS, the choicest wines, and the
rarest and most costly brands of cigars. The
Congressional flies never come into the parlor
of the hungry spiders whom Mr.. Parton de-
nominates the STRIKERS AS ! mentioned in
this correspondence last winter, the most noted
lobbyists are the relatives Of Congressman, or
their friends. People as unsophisticated MS Mr..
Parton have often wondered how it is that Con-
gressmen who come here so poor that they are
forced to take their families to second-cass
boarding-houses, are enabled in few years
sometimes at the end of single session-to fit
up and maintain magnificent establishments.
Everybody who has lived in Washington knows
that fine houses, fast horses and liveried SER
wants cannot be supported on five thousand a
year. Perhaps Mr.. Parton can tell us how it is
done.
HAVE WE A CONGRESSIONAL HAREM?
In his investigation of Washington, Mr.. Par
ton seems to have been unusually superficial
and to have reached his conclusions in the mos
extraordinary manner When he wanted to fine
out whether the Congressman were all honest
he went to each member and interrogated hin
on that subject. SO, when he wanted to satisfy
himself that every woman employed in the Trea
sury was equal to Caesars wife in point of virtue
he visits the building when everybody was hare
at work, and of course on their good behavior
Did he expect to find the Treasury girls and thu
Congressman in fdgrGnte delictO then and there
As the veteran lobbyist to whom have already
alluded would say with that knowing wink o
40 husin iS mot Anua in tha