The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1881-04-07
A Congress1nan's Mail.

Washington correspondence ,deScrib-
ing the vOluminous mail of the average
congressman, writes:
The real curiOsities of congressm2n's
correspondence are 20 be found in his
letters, though. These cover every
conceivable and many an inconceiyable
subject, and are the work of all sorts of
people, from every hole and corner of
the land. The oddities of one sessions
correspondence would make the most
amusing volume ever published, only
the readers would be likely to think
them not authentic, but made up for the
occasion.
People write for copies of congress-
ional reports, documents, and the like
publications, for information about the
government. which it would require
whole handbook to convey to them,
and for information of a personal char
acter, such as ..How old were you when
you were elected?" What was your
majorityP" ''What was your business
before you went into politics?' These
questions, as rule, are but for the pur-
pose of deciding bets. A very common
request from country people is for seeds
and cuttings of plants from the botanic
al gardens. So also is that for an
autograph. Many enthusiastic auto
graph collectors send their albums to
be written in. Others inclose a slip of
paper to bear the coveted signature.
Very common are the letters of trades
men who send presents of all sorts of
commodities, from hair pins and pearl
powder to pianos, with the request to
be informed how the recipient likes the
gift. the hoped-for answer to be, cf
course, used as an advertisement.
These communications 60 into the
waste-basket without an exception. The
presents are well taken care of, how
ever.
Requests for positions of all sorts are
of course common. These come not
only from the congressman to constit-
uents but from utter strangers. WOm-
en- are heavy correspondents in this line.
Many letters give advice of political
sort some of it very absurd and laugh
able indeed. Correspondents send pat
ents of inventions which they want
bills introduced into congress about. Of
fering prospective share of the profits
for the favor Once found a request
for the introduction of a patent clothes
wringer into the army, with a blank
check for my chief to fill out in what
ever sum he chose if he undertook to
put it through. A curious feature of
our congressman correspondence is
that there are people who seem to do
nothing else but write letters to them.
One man in Boston has become
famous since long before the war for
the liberality of his correspondence with
our lawmakers. He has no political
bias. writing to any one and every one,
irrespective of party. His hobby is adj
vice as to the conduct of the nation.
and he lards it with long quotations
from speeches by Webster, Clay, Cal
houn, and other departed statesmen.
Another lunatic in New York city
writes in the same extensive way to get
bill into congress removing the seat
of government to that city. A Chicago
man has invented balloon for war and
surveying purposes, and for ten years
has been trying to sell the government
the sole right to it.
l remember one man who wrote from
Utah, almost daily, for the entire ses-
sion, to get a bill into congress to af-
ford him government protection for
the working of a mine in that territory,
he being ut present greatly harassed
and annoyed in his labOrs by what he
called his .'onchristian and disgraceful
Another had gotten up
Il gorgeous sheme for the government
to assume control of all the railroads
and telegraph lines. The genius had
over hundred pages of printed cal
cuations, showing the cost of the
scheme, the immense profit to the nation.
and the benefit the people would derive
from its execution.