New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-04-08
SOME WASHINGTON TYPES.
MEN WHO LIVE IN PECULIAR WAYS.


spEcuLAToRs IN NEws-DEALERs IN PUBLIC
DOCUMENTS.
,rpou THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRiBUNEl
WAsBINGToN April 1.-The publication III a re-
cent Latter of sir gle days crop of advertisements
in the WASHINGTON papers offering pay icr appoint
ments In the departments has caused conSlder"pIo
discussion of the matter over the country anu 'o
Washington papers themselves have told one OF TWO
interesting stories OF confidence men in connection
with these advertisements The Star tells OF n
younQ man who had a Senator WORKING lot h'H'
and had been promised an appointments but INC
young man grew tired OF waiting ana ADVERTISE"
that he would pay for place. One VI the ollco
brokers nromptly appeared the terms were liked,
and the applicant was assured that he should have
n place soon. The broker then inquired casually
&c he had any "references, " etc. "Oh, yes" said
the yerdant Young man, Senator - Is my
frIe,d. and - has promised me a place. nam
irp thu Department chief who had done so Inc
next dav the broker called upon the Senator III the
capacIty of friend OF the young man VINO was anA-
ious to help him, and could do 30 IL the Seha'oi
vond let him know just how the matter stuod'
The Senator was er1ant also, and promptly sur
rendered all the facts in his possession 1he broker
now had the entire situation in bis grasp. lie got
from the Senator q letter to the Department chioi,
and thus was established MS mediator. lie was told
mind. and that q vacancy would occur in q lew
DAYS Finally he carried to the young man the
| . otiication of his appointment, and claiming, OF
cour.e to have secured 1t for HIM. received from
him 800 a month for eight months, or $500 III ALL
| The clerk is still in the Government employ. The
more usual method is for the broker to tell the
| place hunter that an advance pay nent o. say
$25, will he necessary. After time he Is probably
told that there must be another payment OF $2o
or $50 The bleeding process Is continued as long
as possible, on pretext or another III the Nichm
refuses to pay any he is told that he cannot
expect to get the place unless he pushes the matter
through and if he threatens exposure is tod tha'
| he will only damage himself
| This IS one side of the shield; but there is an
other There can he little doubt thai there have
been cases where money has been paid Tor appoint
| ments and where subordinates have been taxed
percentage of their salaries by superiors How many
| il would be impossible to say. So far from this
| being astrange thing. it would DO strange where
there are so many employees and il is 80 easily in the
mower OF the head of a division, say, to make or
| unmake n clerk, If there had not been some such
| ARRANGEMENTS They have not certainly been I'M
| known in private business where large numbers Of
| persons are employed.
The confidence man who pretends to get appoint
/ ~
queer occupations that grow out of the peculiar
| Iife of the capital Personal acquantanceship and
influence" IS more of . commodity among men
who have mountaineering but no influence than
would be generally supposed A number of men OF
| this class are rather conspicuous about the Wash
ipgton hotels sone of them even in this dull time,
who have no apparent business here. They are NOT
applicants for office probably for the good reason
IL at they couldn't get any. They are not lobbyists
in the moral sense of this term, and are seldom seen
Mt the Capitoi Their field OF operations seems to be
| the departments and the hotels. They are men
who have been more or less prominent Ill poltlca
and can claim to be on good terms with oihclal- Oh
all GRADES I'D TO Cabinet officers. and will no doubt
claim to he on much better terms with the Presi-
dent than they are. Their acquaintanceship gives
| them an entree in some OF the departments winch
1t Is suspected they put value upon when they
| take ia a friend to be introduced and commented
| Some of them IRE on tho lookout for contracts,
| either for themselves or for OILERS. People who
have some patent contrivance which they want TO
| have pushed in some Depart ment have been KNOWN
| TO e,oploy some Of these with the idea that
tbeir acouaiutanceship with leading officials wonld
make their aid valuable. There are many ways n
which such men can market their supposed inilu-
encen Their faces are probably not unknown at
the White House. whore they may drop IN I" IN
troduce friend who is pressing for place Moan
while heads of departments and others may have an
uneasy sense that all is not right but they cannot
Law their fingers on anything. 1t is the right aud
privilege OF patriots to live at hotels ia expensive
| style without any apparent occupation except TO
discuss the state their country and the fact that
these patriots do IT. however impecunious they
may lie supposed to be- is no proof that they are
doing any wrong-ccrtanly no proof that makes Il
| easy to cut oil intercourse with old political ac-
quaintances.
Another of the peculiar occupations OF Washing
ton is ,ne in which some of this class OF men
are supposed to be engaged. This is the collection
of secret news for brokers and spectators in Wall
Street. II any action is about TO lie taken by any
| committee of Congress by the Treasury Depart
ment which IS at all likely to affect the stock mar
ket it IS of great importance to brokers there to get
an advance intimation of it, If possible. Men who
have large political acquantanceship have f9cii-
tiles for dropping the secrets OF committees and
departments which are not so likely to be enjoyed
bv other people; but rs a rule the men employed
for work of this kind arc keen newspaper men who
do not correspond with papers requiring all their
time Some of them have grown rich at this work
and operations growing out of 1t. and keep up a
connection with newspapers only in order to he
abe to call then selves correspondents. They keep
Wall Street well showered with points" and II
the news is of a nature requiring it to go to the
public also, they usually manage. as one OF them
once testified before a Congressional committee, to
let the broker have it, "a little ahead" They
work in unison with speculative Congressman. the
number of whom is greater probably than the pub
lie supposes, and is apparently on tho increase.
Perhaps the way in which mon of IL latter class
look upon their responsibilities as Legislators can be
illustrated by the response one OF them is said to
have made to question by newspaper cor
respondent not long ago as to the acton of his COM
mittee on measure which would probably affect a
certain stock II you want to know for the news
papers, won't tell you. If you want to know for
yourself, will. Well you see, the committee will