Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-03-03

In observation-disclosures
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FROM the galleries. of the House OF
Represent titesA topalaK government
APPEARS u Cd 1feist . ascd 6fused mass of
desks sndaesu.t6ry MEM the desks lit
tered With hookssxAnd ssRaaers, and the
men continualIT walking about in every
direction; of vast amount of privat0g
correspondence, relay of page b0Ysl
ObeEing Turkish magnificence Eef'
claSped hands from this and that men.
bersto do his errands; and a monoton0uss
droning by the clerks, together with a
minimum of oratory. All this ayaiuzt q
dighified background of cigar smoke in
theslDbbies, aud of coat-rooms and bar
bersshops, where Congressman lounge
and joke, or confer on coming measures.
1t il also apparent, from the amount of
work done with the pen-knife, that the
House is determined to have order IS to
its Efnger-nais, whatever may bs the
fate of public business in this respect.
You. hearsome halfsaudib ale speaking,
but the general walking & talking and
rushing s6egasts how Demosthenes, 1.-The
had enjoyed the privilege of seat in this
body, might have dispensed with the aid
of the sea.
Then division takes place, and MEM
bers pour in from the Hobbies, the res
taufant, the committee-rooms, to pass
like drove of sheep between two tellers.
The 4fpfts-of- inexperienced or unim-
portanh nembdrs Is Get attention are
pathetic. 0ns ID perpetnally swaggering
about, but never speaks; another gets
up and murmurs, but being ignored by
all .parties sits down, with 4 CHASTITY
disappointment, and tries to look as if
he did not feel he was being
looked at; anotherr with Chadband
hair, risey for information, asking in
bland fvoices d question SO needless
that some one on the other side an
swers it, to save the Speakers time,
and Chadband, after swaying Uncertain
ly on his toes for an instant, subsidies SO
abruptly that he can't at once recover
the use of his limbs sufficiently to steal
away toward a cloaksroomg Yet at al
most any mementse4cept nthe .'morn.
ing hogrs's and on z private bill day, q
an exciting and mastery discussion may
begin which promptly fills the chairs
and enchains every listener. 4 The gen
eral demeanof Of The House, too, Is more
business-like, excepting for the amount
of pre0ccupation, thin. hat Of the Houses
of Commons Those who come to look
on. with imaginations trained by history
and the press are grieved to go away
without seeingFa single rnember Spring
at another's threat, or even call him a
liar. The homogeneity of the faces and
pefsonsapn the Aoor is another point for
remark. II Is clear that Americans are
Americans, however wide asunder their
abodes may bes ana it occurs to one that
if the Representatives of different Sec
tons were to get hppelessly mixed up
ana changed absoatIsome day, it would
produce no incongruity SO far as their
outward appearance is concerned. To
imagine these comfortable gentlemen
arrayed, in their frock-coats of IDENTICAL
make, on opposite sidesin a civil war,
or as the lawgiyefs Of separate confed-
eracies, would be gfotcsque, if the reali-
ty q few years ago had not been so
tragic A few distinctions of East and
South and West may perhaps be traced
in the physiognomies, but individual Pc
culiarities assert themselves far more
strongly. The man of the people, with
his Indifferent neck-tie and swell met -.
manner; the SNUG, well to-do lawyer;
the sselegant speaker - the richest
members, with heads partially bald and
faces scanned with fine wrinkles, wear
ing a look. of long resignation to the col
lection of dividends /. or thu Plethora,
rosy-faced man who gains his point by
private Champagne rather than public
speech the quiet gentleman Of refined
manners; and the CORY antagonist all
thesess and ether. types besides may be
sharslr discrifninated without regard to
State or geographical lines. It has
grown to be the fashion to say that Con-
gress accomplishes nothing, except to
disturb trade, but If that lis SO, it is not
due to idleness. Aceomplishing nothing
was never before SO laborions task.
House members are the busiest people
N the country, 4 with their eau
.uses. their incessant committee
meetings. their speeches ~prepar-
ton, th7ir dense correspondence with
onstituents, and interviews with visit.
,:s. The House, too, turns out aVvast
mount of work, its committees being
efficient agencies sforS transacting bust
ness. Every day you find in the Docu-
ment Room a fresh armful of newly
printed bills, many of which are trash,
to be sure, but harmless. Thesreal and
great defect of the popular branch is its
fatal capacity for dstorting, manning.
orsd6stroyings good measures matured in
committee, by Unforeseen amendments
carried in general debate. A few laud-
able enactments, however, always sur
yive this general massacre of infant bills,
and we must reYifeai Der that the amend
ments often represent a wholesome
WA chfalness against special class OF
private legislation Whatever the 'evils
of Congress. finally, they are faithful il
reflections Of the avarice, ambition, OF
low sense of honor in the communities
there represented; and the people dc
not dowWiselyy to sneer at their own ex.
posedsd eforhity, Withp ut trying TO- Fem
edy it by cultivating morals more assid'
uously in business and in political opin
ion.@Gco. r. Luthrop, tn HARPER Mag
0zi72e.
. n
A Princel1 GfVer- Distrihution q ths
Stone Estate.