New-York tribune., 1874-01-02
LAW-MAKING as 4 BUSINESS.

LAW-MAKING AS 4 BUSINESS.
This is the season of Assembled Wisdom
and Congregational Craftsmanship. The tlnk-
ers and the tallOrs of statutes are about to
come together in several States, at least to go
through the motions of earning their pay to
struggle with first and second and third
readings to speak speeches and to make
motions to wrestle with all questions before
the House except tho Previous, which Is
exempted from the ignOminy Of dishwater
debate. The National House of Represen-
tatives has already taken a good start, and
has gone home for the holidays to look into
the bewldered constituent face and to bam-
booze the credulOus constituent mind; to con-
fer with the pOstmasters and the collectors !;
and to lind out the sort of speech which 1t
will be proper to order from some Washing
ton ready writer-a speech which may or may
not be spoken, but about the printing OF which
there will be- alas no manner OF doubt
We await the good and the bad. what Is to be
desired and what is to be deprecated, with
mOurnful expectancy of missing the first and
of being treated to more of the last than
is good for our equanimity. We expect jobs. We
look for exposures. We anticipate investi-
cations, excellent in every respect except that
of investigating. We are prepared for any
quantity of shapeless, .clumsy, incongruous,
pointless, and prOitless work great many
laws will be repealed A large lot OF statutes
will be amended in such way that the head
and tail thereof will become inextricably con-
founded Quantities of the taxpayers money
will be expended in remuneratlng services
which have not been rendered, in settling for
stationery which has been nisused or carried
home without being used at all for travel
which has not been travelled, and for books
which it would be impossible for any human
! being. except a proof-reader completely to
peruse. Divers dishOnOrable men will become
by courtesy Honorable for the rest of their
more than worthless lives. Speakers and Presl-
dents will be proclaimed (by resolution OF
thanks) the very paragons of all that is lovely
| in human character. SO having done some
good (by accident) and great deal of evil
| Intentionally, the Solons will separate and
| leave the courts to interpret their engrossed
| conundrums!
| Such. we confess, are our apprehensOns; !;
! and nobody, we hope, will consider them cyn-
ical or idle. For the honest representative we
| have a great respect for the well-meaning
but stupid member we have warm sympathy,
knowing that If he had only been wise enough
he would have stayed quietly at home; for the
man of jobs, of intrigues and OF put up
legislation in general we have no affection
which we cannot easily control. 1t is hard to
comprehend hOwit is that voters who are both
honest and intelligent should send SO many
men who are neither, to represent them 1t is
painfnl to consider the probable sufferngs Of
White Sheep, certainly few and perhaps faint
| hearted, and doomed to consOrt with such a
| crowd of Black SOuthdOwns. Nobody In this
! world is more to be pitied than he who has
undertaken to do something for cOnsidera-
ton and who does not know how to do it
and no one Is to be more despised than he
who takes his wages, puts his talent in a
napkin, and then sells the whole parcel, cloth
and ALL for the best price which it will fetch.
What an infinite relief it is to find a Congress-
man declaring candidly, as Mr. Peters of Maine
| has just done, that the old pay was quite
enough, and that the Back Pay was altogether
| out of proportion to the services rendered .
1t is hardly of good omen when an adjourn
ment sine die of Legislature fills the whole
public bosom with sense of exquisite relief.
| They are Just now experiencing this psrtlcu-
lar kind of rapture In Alabama. Though
| thousands of dollars have been wasteo'
though much time has been squandered'
though not single desirable measure OF re-
lief has been adopted, though-to use the
words of The Montgomery Maa-" Alabama,
"shorn of her beauty and her credit, Is left
naked to her eneInies,' yet Alabama is ex-
ceeding glad only to be rid OF her law
makers Descending TO the far Down East,
We read that the Legislature Of Maine, which
will meet on the 7th of January, has really
little work to do. A correspondent at Au-
gusta writes that no grave questions are eI-
"pected to arise involving radical changes IN
existing laws" Does this make the Down
casters happy and hopeful Not in the
least. They expect business to manu-
fscture itself s,on after the organlza-
"hou.' They look for q good as
sortment Of special laws, and the
average number of jobs. They have no hope
of prompt action and q short session /; or that
members will consent TO tear themselves from
the delights Of per diem in less than eight
weeks. SO we 60 on everywhere and 90 on
very badly. The recuperative force OF society
aud tbe nVmberless resources Of tho COUNTRY