The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-11-22
CLAIMS AND CLAIM AGENTS.

A Washington letter writer tells of
the gathering of the clans at Wash
ington. They are of different polit-
ical faiths, and of more than one per-
sonal hue; they are after all sorts of
things, from congressional or depart
office. But the largest number, just
now congregating at the federal
capital, are after various claims.
Claims growing out of the war are
the more numerous class. These grow
with time. A war claim is equal in
value to the average of mining plants.
1t depends quite as much how such
claim is worked as Oh the character
of the proof supporting 1T. Some
claims ripen with age; the older they
are the better. A large claim stands
far better chance than compaT-
atively small one. A. claim that is
not large enough to divide up and
create the promise of good thing for
several parties, has poor show unless
1t has an independent money backing.
A claim that is large enough to
divide up has self-propelling power.
1t will find friends. A claim is often
farmed out to ring of lobby brokers,
which includes one or more able law
yers familiar with all the intricacieS
of that sort of practice. They go at it
Systematically, and are content If the
first time they can get the
claim before committee, even
though no action is taken. That
much is counted as progress, and so it
is. The next time report, with or
without recommendation, is OBJ
tanned, and nothing more comes Of it
for that time. Next time it gets a
setback from an unfavorable report.
But that does not discourage the syn
dictate, who are prepared for that. The
next time the attempt is made to have
the matter referred to select COM
mittee. If it succeeds it is piece of
good fortune; it is favorite method.
By this time some new proof has prob
ably been discovered. Papers hereto
fore missing have been found. After
while bill is reported, which, how
ever, is not considered for want of
time, or through persistence of some
objector at the only time when it
could be got up. But no one is dis
couraged yet, except the poor claim
ant who has spent his time
and money hanging around Wash
ington winter after winter, until
he can do it no longer, and
yet not knowing what else to
do. And so he comes and
goes year after year, and so do the
contracting syndicate, who, with a
number of jobs on their hands, man
age to make business of it and pay
expenses. But the poor claimant, the
victim of hope deferred, having no
such arrangement, is getting poorer
every year, though the syndicate as
sure him that the prospect is bright
ening. And so IL is in one view; for
now and then a claim of this descrip-
ton does go through, either by the
direct and conclusive action of Con-
gress or by being referred to the court
of claims. After that there is another
and peculiar experience. Managers
of claims consider the court of claims
good place to be. The resons are va
rieus and familiar to those who have
gone through the mill. How made
quately the government is repre-
sented in this court, outsiders little
understand.
Claims that have been pushed in
the lobby by women have had excep-
tional good luck. Women are be-
ieved to be mole persistent than men.
Cases are cited of claims abandoned
by experienced lobbymen after
faithful trial that have been
put through by female influence.
There, is one such case before the
court of claims at the present mo-
ment for large amount, which owes
its success, after repeates failures, to
this character of effort and influence.
Few claims are totally abandoned.
A claim for cotton or other property
destroyed in the war has ever been re-
garded as good property. Men have
lived for years on claim of this
description, obtaining money from
time to time by pledging an interest
in the claim. One case is
given where the original claim, which
was spread oyer every inch of fact
drawn out to its utmost capacity, has
been enlarged and pledged to pay ex-
penses, and enlarged again. One such
claim was put through ii few years
ago, after the original claimant had,
little by little, sold himself out. The
syndicate that floated it got the money,
and made a good thing by the opera
ton.
1t would not be right to infer that
all claims, or even majority of them,
are fraudulent. Some of them, many
perhaps, are founded in justice. What
heartacheS have attended the failing
endeavor to push them year after
year! But for professional claimants
the prospect this time is not good
one. The house is largely Democratic.