The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1880-08-17
TheiPOlitical Wrecks OF Washington.

# A lengthy article in the Philadelphia Times,
on the vicessitudes of public life at the
Federal Capital closes with the following:
One name among the list of Territorial
k delegates | will not mention. He was in the
House for four years, and from the time he
entered it until the expiration of his second
term he was greatly respected. He was an
, exceptionally able man, a profound thinker,
a chaste logician and brilliant speaker. He
was college-bred, had spent years in foreign
travel, was a lawyer and had been in many
responsible official positions. He had been
in the Legislature Of one of the Western
States, had been Receiver of Public Moneys
and Surveyor General. While in Congress
he lectured before church and scientific
societies here, and no man in Congress was
more generally respected. Would the reader
like to know where this great man is now
He is still in Washington and about as low
in the human scale as it is possible for a man
to be. He first became the victim of a
gambler, who was himself a distinguished
member of Congress from a great Western
State. Together they carried on what they
called private club rooms, and there they
tleeced their victims as they could catch them.
They were frequently raided by the police,
but they managed to get Off, but they sunk
lower and lower every year, until finally they
cot to the lowest game of "policy.' The eX-
Congressman from a Western State died Il few
years ago. The eX-Delegate is now keeping
one of the lowest dives in the city. His
place is osteusibly Il cigar store, but a thin
PARTITION separates it from a bagnio of the
lowest character. The man tlaunts his shame
in broad glare Of day and may be seen at
almost any time sitting in front of his dis
graceful abode in ms shirt sleeves, brazenly
facing people who knew him in better days.
Here is another case, that almost makes
one lose faith in human nature. lii 1874
-, there graduated from Harvard University a
; Young man Of wonderful promise. lie was
- Years old ard the world opened bright and
! promising before him.. He was, | believe,
for Il time a teacher in Harvard and
/ subsequently, he founded a very successful
school in Massachusetts,. Some time after
t wards he went South as principal Ct a State
normal School. Tie war coming on he was
! driven from the State and came North. At
tue close Of tie war he went back to the
Southern State AS Collector of Internal
= Revenue. When the State was reconstructed
- he was elected to tie United States Senate
and served with distinction for six years.
!, He was chairman of the committee on Gduca-
ton and labor and amembero of the appropria-
d tions and other important committees. He
was a very strong and pleasing speaker and
2 stood very high among his colleagues. After
his term expired lie was appointed Assistant
! Secretary of the Treasury ami was at times
- Acting Secretary. 1t was here he fell. He
was courted and tlattered and used. Wine,
. cards and women did their part to accomplish
his fall. There were some very crooked
transactions while he was In office, and some
way or other the Assistant Secretary lost his
s office and landed in Jail. He was speedily
got out, however, but he became wretChedly
i poor and got to borrowing ~ffty-cenL pieces OF
y his old friends. 1t was a pitiful sight to see
him about and know what he had been
5 Finally somebody had him appointed to a
$1,000 clerkship Che wrote a beautiful handy
and it was thought that he might pick up an(
recover but he didn't. He had got a passion
for gambling, and whenever he could Obtain
any money he sought the tiger and Of course
lost it, and soon he lost his little clerkship.
understand he now borrows a dollar or tw,
whenever he can and goes into the loves
. places and plays until it is gone. If he ha
no money, which is nearly always the case
i, he will sit where the game is going on an
keep the score for the low wretches that in
d fest the dives he visits. He once had
charming family OF boys and girls, but tn
!. Lord only knows where they are now. l
there is anything stranger or more revoltin
, than this in fiction | have never come acros
- it.
Washington is full of ex-Congressmen an
higher officers who, dropped out of publ
3 lie poor ana without egltlmate occupation
have been stranded here aud left by the reced
I ing tide. Rarely do they succeed, and yer
very frequently they suffer from the closes
,s poverty. | am happy in being able to recOr
j one exception. Georgh II. Williams,
: Oregon, who was Chief Justice of the Teri
. tory, a member of the State Constitution
Convention, six years a Senator in Congress
a member of the Joint High Commission tn;
IL made the treaty of Washington, Attorne
General of the United States and the nomine
!, for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, wei
He sent his family to Europe, where the
. could live very cheaply, he rented his han
some house and buckled down to the practic
8, OF his profession. AS a natural consequent
in a man of his ability and position he G
err some very heavy cases and he practiced
every court in which he could get a clier
n He worked night and day, he took no re
- and lived closely. The result is that he
now out of debt, his family is back fro
! Europe and he is living again in his han
house. He is now thinking of returning
al, Oregon and trying 60 get back INTO Il
Senate. If he succeeds, a few more yea
he may find him agar out of public life and
hundred thousand dollars in debt again.
Speaking so much of Washington pub
life reminds me that there is a new book,
novel with many characters and incider
u drawn from political and social life her
soon to be issued by Carlton. 1t has be-
my privilege TO read many of its pages in t
proof and unless am incapable of judging
will prove a powerful work H.. j. r.