The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-01-28
THE KING OF THE LOBBY.


OfGoOd Dinners-A Humorous Scene.
WASHINGTON. Jan. 1.-THE Ways and
Means Committee resumed the Pacific
Mail investigation to-day. Sam Ward.
famous for his grand entertainments and
conYivial qualities, was the most amusing
and frankly-spoken witness that has yet
helped to enliven the proceedings of the
acommittee. His testimony is as follows {:
BY Mr.. kasson-I suppose you were
summoned in consequence of your name
having been associated in connection with
the edistribution of money for the Pacific
p, Mall subsidy? Al received subpoena
about an hour ago, particulars not speci-
fled. ~ 81
rQ.-Therefore the committee desires
YOU to STATE how much money you re-
ceivel in connection with the Pacific Mail
subsidy? Al think it was after the
first failure of the measure in the House
that MIR. Berret called at my rooms one
afternoon and said that he had been re-
qEested TO see if would accept retainer
to help this subsidy along. / asked him
how much, he said $500, and $1,000 con-
tingent on success. | said ''all right
He sent to me that aftereoOn or next morn
ing check for $500 signed by a gent
had never seen, Mr.. X. Is. Irwin, and
some days after Congress adjourned, |
was agreeably waited upon by Mr.. Berret,
who said to me, They have cut US down
$4,000 and there is 81 900 paid, shall we
insist on more?' | said ''no; let us take
what we can get; it is all right" He
handed me $500 in bills and 1 went to
New York that same night.
OIL suppose it is unnecessary to ask
you If YOU retained all that sum and ap-
piled it to your own use? Al did.
must say that it was very liberal COM
49, for fhn panlarafa nf
work which that subsidy seemed TO re-
quire.
WHAT SAM DID FOR HIS MONEY.
Q.-State the nature of the services rem
dered by you? A.-Simply stating on all
occasions where it was proper to do so
that was in fayo- of the measure; that [
thought it good measure. | had right
TO say that, because, as an old Californian,
having sailed often on those steamers, L
had sort of friendship for them. |
thought well of the line. | thought that
it was a national undertaking; that our
shipbuilding was going to the dogs, and
that ii these ships were to be built III this
country it WOULD give an impetus TO iron
ship building. | thought that subsidy to
the Pacific Mail Steamship Company was
proper thing, particularly as the Cunard
Steamship Company had subsidy from
the English Government. and had attained
a colossal success. | wanted TO see the
American flag dying again on the seas,
and would have helped the Pacific Mail
Company without one penny of compen-
sation. -
Q.-You used all your influence to Sc
cure the passage ofthc subsidy? A.-Cer-
tainly. There was not much time to act /;
only fortnight, | think. | was rather
agreeably surprised at being retained, be-
cause that clinched my determination to
do what could for what | regarded as a
great national enterprise.
Q.-Do you know of any other sum OF
money being paid to any parties for their
services in prOcuriRg that subsidy A
Ineyer heard of-and until L was surprised
the other day by Mr.. Abert's list, which
saw in the STAR never knew who was
in the combination. l did not know that
there was any combination, except that L
found that people generally were very
1ayorably iHclined toward the bill. L did
not know MIR. Albert; | had never seen
him to my knowledge. / never saw Mr..
Irwin till the day the vote was tai. n, when
1 saw a pale man standing around this cor
ner and was told that ii was Mr.. Irwin.
Q.-My question was, if you knew of
any other sum of money being paid, di-
rectly or indirectly, in connection with the
subsidy? A.-Not a penny. l might
have been at liberty to suppose that the
whole thing was confined TO MIR. Berret
and myself.
Q.-The $500 which, you received was
paid by ehecks A.-Hes, payable to my
order on the Metropolitan National Bank
of this city.
Q.-Do you know of any money being
paid to any member, officer, or employee
of either House of Congress in connection
with that subSidV? A,-NO sir.
WHAT SAM KNOWS ABOUT LOBBYING.
Mr.. Beck have heard it suggested that
you had remarkei that there was great
difficulty in gentleman living in Wash
ington on the oxygen of the atmosphere,
and that a gentleman was obliged to do
something.
Witness-This business of lobbying, as
it is called, is as precaTiOus as fishing in
the Hebrides. You get all ready our
boats 90 out-suddenly there comes a
storm, and away you are driven. Every
body, who knows any thing about Wash
ington, knows that ten times-aye, fifty
times-more measures are lost than are
carried; but once in a while pleasant
little windfall of this kind recompenses us,
who are always toiling here, for the dis
appointments of the session. l am not at
all ashamed-I do not say that am proud,
but am not at all ashamed of the Occupa-
ton. Ii is a very useful one. In England
it is a separate branch of the legal profes-
sion. There they have Parliamentary
lawyers, who do no other business. There
the committees sit all day to bear these
lawyers, and they sit ia Parliament all
night, whereas here committees are only
allowed to sit for an hour and half, and
so IL is very hard to get through 1900 bills
in a session. The disappOintments are
much more numerous than the successes.
| have had many a very pleasant "c0n-
tingent . knocked away llaughterl when
every thing appeared prosperous and GER
tain, and would not insure any bill if |
were paid fifty per cent. TO secure its pas
SAGE. That is the general rule in this sub
sidy matter. l think that the gentleman
(Mr. Irwin paid more money than he
need have paid.
Mr.. Niblack And he distributed il
rather badly.
Witness-I am satisfied with what got.
Laughter. r. -ae ~ 81
MIR. Niblack-You got much less than
Others got.
THE UPS AND DOWNS OF LOBBYING.
Witness-I do not know was retain
ed, | suppose, because the "king,s name
is tower of strength" [laughter] and l
am called the - king of the lobby" but l
am not the treasurer of the lobby, that Is
certain. If you were here for entertain
ment. could entertain you with histories
of well concerted plans which all disap-
neared at the crack of one members whip ;
perhaps q matter of caprice; perhaps a
matter Of accident; Won cannot tell which.
we who are OF the regular army know
when we are whipped [laughter], but gen
tlemen of little experience come down
here, and peg and peg on till the end OF OF
the session, and never understand why
they had better go home. lLaughter TO
Introduce bill properly TO nave II re-
Some me l,ber in that committee under
stands its merits; to attend to it, to watch
it, to have a counsel go and advocate i be-
fore the committee; TO see that mem oers
of the committee do not oversleep tnem-
selves on the mornings of important meet