Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-12-24
WASHINGTON LETTER.
The Lobby FeIIed. bui not Killed, by
Judge Holman The Third House .
tG our Legislative system,
From our r guiar Correspondence

From our Il guiar CorTespoudent.l
WASHINGTON, DeceIrbr 2I.-In it's
declaration against subsiGies, this ID snl-
ocratic congress, led by Ju1ge Holman,
Of Indiana, bas given the Io6hy the MOst
staggering Diow it has ever received. II
1t had fewer heads than hydra ard
fewer lives than cat, We nigh. begin
TO prepare its Obituary, aEd appoint
Garfield, Dawes, Coifax ard Bo:s
shepherd pall-bearers. But 'tis ros
dead; Though crushed 10 esrih, twill
Ti3e again" Il is tbe parasite OF every
great nation that effects and disburses q
lsrGe revenue; that is brrdeDed with q
large and expensive army and navy,
alien rSces Of NJ grOes and Indians as
wards, aristocTatic class schools like those
Rt West Point and Annapolis, and an ex-
crescent civil servIce. There ~ in tho
corps of CORE spondents who are at
Washington during the congressional
session, q young gentleman, who was
born at Copenhagen, and who writes
foE large Chicago paper published in
the Danish language. He desired in
OF of his letters to write about the l1b-
by, but to the credit of his yernaculsr,
and perhaps to the credit OF his natIve
ccuDtry. he could find uO Danish equiv
aleIt for the word; 50 alter laborious
pargpnrase. in which he sndeavored to
define the formidable dissylable, he
wrote the word in subsequent parts of
bis letter, in marked English. How the
cold austeTlty of the Danish language
must have been scsnGalized by the in
PRODUCTION OF the little mongrell 1 can
remember well the time when thought
the lobby was political nctioD, with no
existence in fact, tut the man who lives
long in Washington, without re-
aliGlng that ii is a powerful factor
in cur legislation and government, must
be Of very heavy perception. Last ses'
sion, in honor or its mature Importance,
it was dubbed the "Third House." The
lobby, from an architectural ndpoint,
1t is well known, is the hall or corridor
which usually surrounds the legislative
chamber; and the lobbyists are those
who frequent these corridors and seek in
various ways to influence and effect
spscial legislation, and push jobs and
subsidies through congress. There are
professional lObbyists-those who will |
for a consideration undertake any joo;
and there are amateur lobbyists, lees |
disreputable class, who seek to forward |
+ chemes of their own. They may be |
Setu nDJ uaJ uuIlAIS bhC SC0olOHJ SAlAAbS |
earnestly to senators or representatives |
in the luxurious rooms that are in |
the rear of both houses OF congress, |
in the Iobbies, or perhaps upon |
tie floors of the halls CT legislation, for |
many of them have the entree there. |
The lobby Is a genus Of many epscies. |
There is the ex-senator, whose voice and |
vote are silent in the chamber, but who,
in this clendestine way has more iBflu- |
ence, and is better paid for it, than when |
he was on the floor, backed by a sover-
eign State. He has been behind the |
scenes and on the stage till ne knows all |
the business Of the legislative drama, as |
well as the forte and fJible of each re- |
nairing actor, and now, like 3 manager |
who must forego the sweet clanlor Of the |
pit, he directs the 'staIsn and "supeIsn
from the side scene of the lobby. Then |
we have the pimp variety of lobbyists,
who lure Virtuous ~ statesmen, iDcoT-
ruptible by ordinary methods, and az
range assignaticns with a third class,
more beautiful than Venus, more ac-
than Portia, moro Sc.
ductive than Eve. When We ses q
LEGISLATOR in these soft tolls we are half |
in doubt whether to envy the man or
pity the statesman. There are other
species, aud mag have occasion to no.
tfce them AID their distinguished vic
tins in the future; but have time now
only to observe that the lobby, like
desth, selects the fairest mark. With a
perverse instinct it "goes for" our best
and puIest. Sundsy-school psrsgons,
like Cohax; heraldy OF sweetness and
light, like Garfield; millannial hsrbin-
gers, ike Dawes, have thsir lily-white-
ness smirched. The MorTiseys and But
eTs sre passed unscathei. There are
cut two ways to kIll the lobby-cut
down the appropriations till there is
nothing to st9sl, or send gritty men,
ike Holman, to Congress. FOUCHE.
Rates = Vanderbilt Inter-