The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1883-06-07
ssTHE HOUSE.N
AS yio,vod froln tho GaIIcI> cs.

Representatives popular government ape
pears to consist of confused mass of |
desks and desultory men--the desks lit |
tered with books and papers, and the |
men continually walking about in every
direction of q vast amount Of private !
correspondence, relay. of page boys !
obeying Turkish magnificence Of |
clapped hands from this and that mem-
bcr to do his errands, and q monotonous
droning by the clerks, together with a
minimum o. oratory. ALI this against q
dlgnifiod background of cigar smoke in
the lobbiCs, and of coat-rooms and bar
Der shops, where Congressman lounge
and Joke or confer on coming measures.
1t IS also apparent, from tho amount of
work dono with tho penknife, that tho
House is determined to have order as to
It's hnger-nails, whatever may be tho
tntc OF public business in this respect.
You hear some half-audible speaking.
but general walking, talking aud rust .
ling suggest how Demosthenes. if he had
enjoyed the privilege of seat i'm this
body, might have dispensed with the
aid of the sea.
Thon division takes place, and mem
bers pour in from tho lobbies, tho res.
ta'lrant, the committee-ruoms, to pass
ilkc drove Of sheep between two tel
lers. The efforts. of inexperienced or
unmportant members to got attention
arc pathetic. One is pcrpctually swag-
Berlng about, but never speaks another
gets up and murmnrs, but, being ig-
horcd by nll parties, sits down, with a
ghastly dIsappolntmcnt, and tries to
look as If he did not feel he was being
looked ut another, with Chadband hair
rises for information, asking, in bland
voice, question SO needless that some
one on the other side answers it, 10 save
the Speakers time, and Chadband after
ewaymS uncertainty on his toes for an
INSTANT, subsidies SO abruptly that nc
can't Mt once recover the uso of his limbs
sufficiently to steal away toward ii cloak
room. Yet ut almost any moment, rx-
crpt i'll tho 'morning hour" and on
"PnVatc-bill day" an exciting and mas
! tcrly discussion may begin, which
| promptly fills the chairs and enchnins
every listener. Tho general dcmrnn0r
OF the House, too, is moro business like.
excepting Tor the amount of prcoccupa.
ton, than that of the House
of Commons. Those who come to look
on, with ima8inations trained by history
and the press, arc gricvcd to go away
without seeing single member spring
Mt anothcr's throat, or even call him a
''''i' -iiN : Vi lllc laCtS ana
| persons on the floor Is another point for
remark. 1t is clear that Americans are
Americans, however, wido asundcr their
ahodcs may be, and it occurs to one that
II the representatives of different sec
tions were to got hopelossly mixed ND
and changed about the Samo day, it
would proticc no lncOngrlty so far as
their outward appearance is concerned.
TO imagine these comfortable gentle
men arrayed, i'll their frocl-couts of
identical make, on opposite sides in 8,
civil war, or rs the lawgivcrs of separate
cOnfcdrrncics, would be grotesGuc. if
the reality IL few years ago had not been
SO trag'.. A few distinctions of East and
South and West may perhaps be
traced in tho physiognomics, but
individual pcculiaritics assert them
selves far more strongly. The man of
the people, with his indifferent necktio
nnd wcll-mct" manner; tho SNUG,
wcll-to-do lawyer ; tho elegant speak
err" the richest members, with heads
partially bald and faces scanned with fine
wrinkles, wearing q look of long rcsigna.
ton to tho collection of dividends; or
the plcthOric, rosy-faccd man who gains
his point by private champagne rather
than public speech the quiet gentle
man OF refined manners ; and the CORY
Nntagonist-all these, and other types
beside, may be sharply Disseminated
without regard to State or geographical
lines. 1t has grown to be the fashion to
say that Congress accomplishcs nothing
except to disturb trade, but if that is so,
it is not due to idlrncSa Accomplish
ing nothing was never before SO labori-
oll$ Il task. louSo members are the
busiest people in the country, with their
cauruScs, their inccSSant committee
meetings, their speeches and prcpara-
ton, their dense correspondence with
constituents, and interviews with visit
ora.