The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1883-06-06
"THI HOUSR.s
A. Viewed from the GALLERIES.

from the galleries OF the House OF
Representatives popular government APP
pears TO consist OF confused mass OF
desks and desultory men-the desks lit
tered With books and papers, and tic
men continually walking about in every
direction OF vast amount Of private
correspondence, relay OF page boys
obeying Turkish magniicence OF
clapped hands from this and that MEN,
Der to do his errands, and monotonous
droning by lac clerks, together with d
minimum o. oratory. All this against
dlgniiied background OF cigar smoke in
the lobbies, and Of coat-rooms and bar
Der shops, whore Congressman lounge
and Joke. or confer On coming measures.
II IS also apparent, from the amount Of
work done with the pcnknife, that the
House is determined 10 have order as 10
it, iinger.nails, whatever may be the
fate Of public business in this respect.
You hear some half.nudible speaking,
but general walking, talking aud rust.
ling suggest how Demosthenes, ii he had
enjoyed the privilege Of seat in this
body, might have dispensed with the
aid Of the sea,
Then division takes place, and mem.
beers ponr in from the Hobbies, the res.
tanrant, the committeeruoms, to pass
like drove oi sheep between two tel.
leH. The efforts Of inexperienced or
unimportant members TO get attention
arr pathetic. One is pcrpetually swag-
gerng ahOut, but never speaks another
gets mp and murmurs, but, being ig-
norcd ly all parties, sits down, with
ghastly disappointment, and tries to
look a. il lac did not feel he was being
looked at another, with Chadband hair,
rises for information, asking, in bland
voice, a question SO needless that some
one on the other side answers il, to save
the Speakers time, and Chadband, after
sWaying uncertainty on his toes for All
instant, subsidies 30 abruptly that he
can't at once recover the use Of his limbs
sufficiently to steal away toward cloak
room. Yet at almost any moment, Ca.
ccpt in the morning hour" AMI on
"prlyatc-bill day" an exciting and mas
tcrly discussion may begin, which
promptly fills the chairs and enchains
every listener. The general demeanor
Of the House, too, is more busincss.like,
excepting for the amount Of preoccupa,
ton, than that of tho House
OF Commons. Those who come to look
on, with imaginations trained by history
and the press, are gicvod TO go away
without seeing single member spring
at anothcr's throat, or even call him a
liar. The homogeneity Of the faces and
/ persons on the floor 10 another point for
remark. II is clear that Americans are
Americans, however wide asunder their
abodes may be, and it occurs to one that
/ ii the representatives OF different see
tions were to get hopelcssly mixed up
and changed about the same day, it
would produce 10 inconpuity so far as
their outward appearance is concerned.
To imagine these comfortable gentle
men arrayed, in their irock-coats of
Identical make, on opposite sides in a
civil war, or as the lawgiyers OF separate
confederacies, would be grotesque if
the reality a few years ago mad not been
81 tragic. A few distinctions OF East and
South and West may perhaps be
traced in the physiognomies, but
individual peculiarities assert them
selves far more strongly. The man Of
the people, with his indifferent necktie
aud well-met" manner; the Snug,
wcll-to-do lawyer; the ELEGANT speak
err the richest members, with heads
partially bald and faces scanned with fine
wrinkles, wearing look of long resigna.
ton To- .he collection Of dividends Or
the plcthoric, rOsy-faced man who gains
his point by private champagne rather
than public speech; the quiet gentle
man Of refined manners and the CORY
nntaSonist-all these, and other types
beside, may he sharply Disseminated
without regard to State or geographical
lines. 1t has grown to be the fashion to
say that Congress accOmplishes nothing
except TO disturb trade, but if that is 80,
it is not due to idlcness. Accomplish.
ing nothing was never before so labori-
Gus II task. House members are the
busiest people in the country with their
caucnscs, their incessant committee
meetings, their speeches and prepare
ton, their dense correspondence with
constituents aud interviews with visit
Ors