The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1884-01-25
THE eONGR ESSMEl

THE eONGREssM & i,
kWho and what 1h.y Are, asSl
by tho Now Conversational
tory.
Hashtngton correspondence os tbs Ci
Journal. SSa
The new congressional d d'rectory ~
interesting study. or the.40O tnembsl
Of the new congress. countins bogA
House m Senate, nearly 1901 ~ nv
men. Naturally there II : curiosity O.
sss what they have TO say u thes slvsSs
The compiler Of the directory sSaa6 out
notices to the members Of each nsW
congress asking them to sshi him
sketches Of their lives, their aas bull.
iness, the offices they hAys hold, ~.
THESE autobio2nphies. sndIyssd. aaas
pared With each other, and the ststs-
,nents they furnish aggregated, furnish
some interes Ing data. Perhaps fhS
feature most likely 70 strike tho ayer4Ae
observer in looking over tile long JiskI IT
the very large proportion Of lawyefss
VI tine 4G1 members othonse and sen3
go are lawySre. Parhaps it is quit
proper that the lawmakers 0f'
the nations should he the students
II the law. That Is thU
general impression, and probably ~
correct one. Next to the law the mRnt
faeturers seem to be the most avallablos
congressional material. There are about
forty manufacturers, IN congress. Sons
make pottery, some iron, some wood
pulp; journalism comes next in populaTs
favor, though the number Of Journalists
in both branches Of congress only reach.s
es about q bakers dozen, or 3 per cent
Of the whole. There are half dozen
armers, a couple Of doctors. three 0r,
four railroad men, and one drusgtst
There are no preaCtlcrs In this conxresgsss
though the preacher element Of 1T
as the average. In the south the law
makers than in the north, IL possibleS
scarcely any of the members from that
section representing any other calling.
1t is rather curious, and Q fact not -
pecislly pleasing to record, ttlat but dr!e.
third Of the members enjoy that reQuts-.
ito for accomplished law makefsj c0l~
legiate education. Out Of the 4Ol nem-.s.
l,efs less than l5) are graduates Of any
college. A larger portion of the south
ern members Hre gr ,dnates than the.
northern men. Of Che southern mem.
bcrs nearly 40 per cent. are graduates,
while in tile north as an aggregate, the
proportion is little over 30 per cent.
Iiven boasted New Eng!eel only sends
% per cent. OF graduates, anu
chusset's but ~ per cent. while New
York has 40 per cent. In the senate D
little over 40 percent are graduates.
While there are nearly zO0 new mem
bers, the aggregate Legislative expert
ence of even this congress is something
quite wonderful when taken in such
form. There are many men who have
seen as high as ten years In congress, In
have more than doubled that Randall.
first year In the house; Cox
has had twenty-one years there al
ready and Kelley twenty-five: In the
senate Anthony, Dawes end Sherman
boast twenty-six years In congress
apiece, part of each having beeh in the
house. before going into the senate,
willis Morris leads with twenty, ,ei sft
years service. The aggregate number
of years in congress of members OF the
senate il 27I, while the aggregate service
Of the house members is over $40 years.
making a total of congressional expoti.i
enee in house and senate of yearly l, 400
years. Besides this fully half of the
members have served in state legislas
lures before coming cong
their aggregate expefience there has
been nearly 600 years, making 9 grand
total of legislative expeEience In both
branches of congress of 2 600 years. And
yet we talk of this as new congress.
and one with little legislative ex0eri-
ence to guide 1t.
It is very easy and sounds very nice,
too, to talk about the North remember
ing her soldiers, but the fact Is that, 10
lar Us congress- goes, tho north does not.
remember her heroes with anything
like the affection that the south does.
OF the southern members Of the house,
over 40 per cent. were in the confeder-
ate army, while among the north errf
members only Is per cent. we're in the
Union army. In the senate the differ.
ence is still more notable, the percent
age of southern senator's who were in
the confederate army bein9 ever 6 and
Of the northern members only 33 per
cent. we're in thesl Union army. Nv6
members will have reason to refrain
from voting ii the bill to pension the
Mexican veterans comes up, for that
numser we're in the Mex ican w&r-Wil-
liams of Kentucky, logan Of Illinois,
Maxey of Texas, George OF Mississippi
and Forney Of Alaoama. One northern
hZ 6,th y lson i shs ss 6i st
He was born In Ohio, sand lived there,
1t appears, until after he became Of age;
was educated there. went TO Mississippi
at the age Of %. aud whom the war broke
out. thirteen years later, went into the
confederate army, serving through the
war on that side" /" % he puts Il.
| There are twenty men In tho house
who are over SO years old, and three
who are past 20, though Visits, Of Con.
necticut, who N "a, is still the oldest
man. Ir the senate. Morrill, u the old.
est man-73. The average Of members
of the house 10 43 yeara those from
the south averaEng IS and ffUm tn
north 81. The average OF the msMh4Is
when first elected to congress was II. !.
Arkansas sends full delegation d
snt teesasdsssss saS o% Az and sss Ans.%a
worth while noting there are six nm.
bers OF the confederate congress t
/! congress-Dunn, Singleton and fAyts
dale in the house, and Pugh, Garland
and Vest in the senate. There q alsoa
member of the confederate
cabinet, Reagan, who was pcstmastel
general. There are three or four whe
were members Of congress Of tho United
States when the war broke ont, who
withdrew and went with the Confodoc.
acy and now are back in their old seats.
There are twenty-four foreiGn-born
citizens in the h use and senate. SONS
fifteen Of them being from Ireland, The
remainder representing nearly MI part
Of the world, not emitting our neighbour
on the south q one OF the. new member
is native OF Brazil. New York % tn
birthplace Of IS members Of tho h0uee
Pennsylvania of 33, Ohio, 81; Kentuck,
aud Virginia, IL each; Maasachueett
and Tennessee, 13 each. $lSi
An Experiment In Surgery.
From the Philadslphia Pre-.
The condition Of Patrick ha3en
who was found BY tho police on 1ussda'
evening wandering, with bis throat &sul
in tho Park, near the Gresn-st. entrancl
and conveyed to the German Hospital
has somewhat improved, though th
chances for his ultimate recovery ~
considered, BY the surgeons astsndin
him, TO be very slim, owing to the pecs
H. - 4 a. n