Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1881-02-24
A view OF the House from the Galleries

Uttered with books and papers, and the
men continually walking about in ev-
cry direction; OF vast amount of priv.
ate correspondence, a relay Of page /
boys obeying Turkish magnificence
of clapped hands from this and that /
member TO DO his errands; and mo-
notonous droning by the clerks, ,togeth- |
er with a minimum of oratory. All |
this against a dignifed background. of /
cigar smoke in the lobbies, and of coat
rooms and barber shops, where Con-
gressmen lounge and joke, or confer
on coming measures. 1t is also appar
ent, from the amount of work done
with the penknife, that the House Is
determined TO have order as to its
finger nails, whatever may be the fate
of puolic business in this respect. You
hear some half-audible speaking, but
the general walking, talking, and rust!-
ing suggest how Demosthenes, if he
had enjoyed the privilege of seat in
this body, might have dispensed with
the aid of the sea.
Then a division takes place, and
members pour in from the lobbies, the
restaurant the ommittee-rooms, to
pass like drove of sheep between two
tellers. The efforts of inexperienced
or unimportant members to get atten-
ton are pathetic. One is perpetually
staggering about, but never speaks
another gets up and murmurs, but
being ignored by all parties, sits
down, with gEastly disappointment,
and tries to look as If he did not feel
he was being looked at; another, with
Chadband hair, rises for information,
asking in bland voice question so
needless that some one on the other
side answers 1t, to save the Speakers
time, and Chadband, after swaying un-
certainly on his toes for an instant sub
sides so abruptly that he can't at once
recover the use of his limbs sufficiently
to steal away toward cloakroom.
Yet at almost any moment, except In
the morning hour and on private bill
day, an exciting and mastery discus
sion may begin, which promptly fills
the chairs, and enchains every listener,
The general demeanor of the House,
too. is more business like, excepting for
the amount of preoccupation, than that
of the House of Commons. Those who
come to look on, with imaginations
trained by history and the press, are
grleved to go away without seeing a
single member spring at another's
throat, or even call him liar. The
homogeneity of the faces and persons
on the floor is another point for re-
mark. 1t is clear that Americans are
Americans. however wide asunder their
abodes may be, and it occurs to one
that if the representatives of different
sections we're to get hopelessly mixed
up and changed about some day, it
would produce no incongruity so far as
their outward appearance is concerned.
To imagine these comfortable gentle
men arrayed, in their frock-coats Of
identical make, of opposite sides in a
civil war, or as the lawgivers of separ
ate confederacies, would be grotesque,
if the reality few years ago had not
been so tragic. A few distinctions of
East, South and West may perhaps be
traced in the physiognomies, but indi-
vidual peculiarities assert themselves
far more strongly. The man OF the
people, with his Indifferent neck,tie
and 'well-met' manner; the snug, we'll
to-do lawyer; the elegant speaker the
richest members, with heads partially
bald and faces scanned with fine
wrinkles, wearing look of long resig-
nation to the collection of dividends;
or the piethoric, 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 these and other
types besides, may be sharply discrimi
> mated without regard to State or geo.
graphical lines. 1t has grown to be
the fashion to say that Congress &C
. complishes nothing except to disturb
e trade, but if that is so, it is not due tt
, idleness. Accomplishing nothing was
!, never before so laborious a task. HOUSE
i members are the busiest people in th'
country, with their caucuses, their in
cessant committee meetings, theil
speeches and preparation, their dens'
:, correspondence with constituents, ane
1 interviews with visitors. The House
e too, turns out vast amount of work
: its committees being efficient agencie
q for transacting business. Every day yo'
: find in the Document Room fresl
1 armful of newly printed bills, many o
l. which are trash, to be sure, but harm
e less. The real and great defect of thu
1 popular branch is its fatal capacity fo
!; distorting, manning, or destroying
!; good measures matured in committee
u by unforeseen amendments carried II
S general debate. A few laudable enact
: ments. however, always survive thl
general massacre of infant bills. and W
# must remember that the amendment
0 often represent wholesome watchfu
e ness against special class or prlvat
t, legislation. Whatever the evils G
a Congress, finally, they are faithful re
Elections of the avarice, ambition. @
e low sense of honor in the communitie
= there represented; and the people d