Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-11-22
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL.
PREPARING FOR CONGRESS.

Il
peoses-1he Fight on Mr.. RandaII-y,r-
alma Consressmeu.
Especial correspondence OF the Dispatch. !
| WASHINGTON, ID. c., November 81.
AS former Governor OF North Carolina
had occasion to remark in the good old
an'e-bellum days, after being bored by
rural neighbors, at is long time be-
tween refreshments" This expression
OF his Excellency, apt as it may have
been AT the time it was made, needs to
be transformed to suit the denizens Of
the national capital into +" It's a long
time between Congresses" People
here i've largely on expectation. Not
only is this true of the lank, lean, ca
daverous oflice-seeker, to be seen on the
street, with hollow eye and sunken
cheek. proclaiming that it has been his
Diet since the new era was ushered in
March 4th last with booming cannon
and military pageant; but the mer-
chant, the milliner, aud landlord have
their eyes "sot" Congressman,
expecting harvest of shekels.
Meanwhile Architect Clarke has had
an army of painters, plumbers, carpen-
tiers. and scrubbers-black men and
white, old men and young, maids, ma
irons, and understanding away on
wall and window, carpet and ceiling,
picture and pillar, until the great mar
BILE palace has undergone a Thorough
renovation--at cost. however, that
will some day make the watchdog Of
the Treasury green with envy. One
item the dear people should know, in
order to appreciate what is being done
to pander to the aesthetic taste OF their
representatives, and that is that the
payroll of the dsy-laborers engaged in
the simple process of cleaning the gilt
moulding in the House chamber foots
up in the near neighborhood Of $500.
1t must not be allowed to detract
from this gilded goal for the re-
ception Of political ambition that a
practical man, with an eye to business.
told me that he would dearly like to
contract TO do the job for 500 "spot
cash" However, with bursting
Treasury vaults " we can afford to over
look the official incompetency of the
Republican architect, only regretting
that he is not an offensive partisan, I'M
der the circumstances, while at the
same time thanking Divine Providence
that the money is not all wasted. The
House wing Of the building is in really
fine form. New carpets on the floor Of
the Representative chamber and in
committee-rooms, desks for the MEM
beTs recovered and made TO shine anew
with coats OF vanish; bright freScoing,
ETC., have transformed the wreck left
by the Forty-eighth Congress into a
thing Of beauty once more.
While the House has been put in
order. the members are unusually slow
in arriving. A few congressman, the
signs Of whose constituencies for the
lecks and tesh-pots of political success
were too painful for their sensitive ma
lures, have endured the heats and land
lords Of Washington conSecutiyely since
March 4th. rather than face the dirge
on their ownlegitimate stamping ground.
To the credit Of the South loo j. al
that she has not contrihUs-.A 70 The m
faithful few. The ise' Of the matter is
the south has MOI contributed its quota
to the hungry horde Of office-seekers.
anu ~ ,. large majority Of cases the
pace that have gone to that
J region, it is said, were unsoli-
cited by the recipient of the official
favor. The impressions that prevailed
in the frigd regions Of the North, that
IT'S geographical antipodes would, in the
event Of Democratic success, seize upon
every avenue Of power and run things
to suit themselves. has almost entirely
disappeared. In fact, the largest corps
Of the grand army Of place-hunters
that have kept hotel lobbies filed and
provisions at the top notch were re-
cruited in the West. with Indiana as
the banner State. More than ever be-
fore the young man is coming forward
as a seeker after political favOrs.
There are at least one hundred young
fellows here from the States and Terri |
tories Of the far West seeking appoint
mcnts as registers and receivers Of
lard offices, suryeyor-generals, etc..
who have scarcely passed the twenty |
fifth mile.poSt in LIES journey. |
As showing how thoroughly Demo-
cratic Democracy really is take the
case Of William b. Webb, recently
appointed Secretary Of Montana. His
father, William T.. Webb. was an !
Indian agent under the first Republican
A administration, and the son unborn.
The old gentleman ieathered his nest
among the Indians. and attained to the
standing of a millionaire by minipula-
tons in Tennessee during the carpet
bag RHYME. There the son came into
the world, grew up, and was educated.
The father. mean time, fell among gam
blers Of the Mcdonald stripe in Chi
cago. and Wall-street sharks in New
York, and his money melted away and
left an aching void that could only be
palliated with the cup that cheers and
damns. The son opened a pie-stand |
at a depot, with d" Hot Coffee and
SandH iches-This Train Stops Ten
Minutes" for a sign and beacon
light Of success. The profit on pie
enabled him to keep up a $l0,-
900 insurance on the old mans life.
! he latter, after ringing all the changes
on the gamut from mint julep down
TO beer and benzine, at last joined the
majority, and William, Junior, having
mean time become a Democrat with
:l0, 900 in his pocket, went to Montana,
vs. here the pie-merchant has been trans
ormed into the honorable secretary.
The one absorbing topic of discus
ion at the capitol among the few MEN,
,ers that have arrived is the House
ules. The grumble and rumble that
'roke out in the last Congress has in
reased during the recess until it is now :
perfect roar against the parliamentary
over accorded to Sam. Randall and
is associates on the Appropriation
Committee. Ii seems TO be conceded on
il hands that the Pennsylvania will be
ne chairman of the committee in ques-
on, and that the only thing that can be
ora N curh HE nouer IL 70 ha .ccou, |