San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1886-05-21
FRIDAY, MAY 81. 1886.
UNDUE DELIsERATENESS.

The less boy has to do the longer it
usually takes him to do it. Boys are
only the fathers of the men they after
ward become, and what is true of the
boy is generally true of the man. The
man who feels a necessity squirting him
to action, like the boy who feels the i'm
pulse of strong parental will forcing
him to proper employment of his hours,
will usually accomplish his work in the
shortest possible time. Undue leisure
usually leads to Carelessness of habit in
meeting engagements promptly and
outstanding time wisely. There is no
class of citizens among whom this ten
dency is so general as among the pro-
fessional classes, notably the ministers
and the lawyers. These men are usual
lypersons of comparatively large leisure.
No matter how busy in the aggregate,
they have their own time to do their
work in. The legal practitioner who
turns politician has dOubly died himself
in this sea of leisurely motion, and when
tleCltu W OlllCc ue ChlIles Ills udDlte
into the halls of legislation, and seems
in no more hurry about transacting the
peoples business than he was about
winding up his own. The delays of
courts, the vexed matters Of another's
decisions and motions, all tend to give
the lawyer habit of taking things as
they come and not hurrying the process
sion. This habit grows by what it feeds
upon, and the leisurely life of his pro-
fession becomes the rule whereby he
regulates the conduct of public affairs.
The history of all our legislation shows
indubitable evidence that there is no
haste in clearing the docket of public
business. Here and there patient,
painstaking, conscientious committee
man is found who works hard, who
feels the pressure of necessity upon him
and really does all that the hours de-
mand of him. But these men are the
exception, not the rule, and in all our
legislative bodies their acts and pro-
ceedings are marked by what, for want
Of a better name, may be called an un-
due deliberateness.
There is no body Of statesmen in the
world in whom this habit of dragging
out long sessions in virtually doing moth
ing is so pronounced as in the congress
Of these United States. The less that
members of congress do the longer they
are in doing it. Watch the working of
these men; note how months are passed
in fooling around the great questions
that, when they do come up decisively,
are disposed of in few hours, or days,
at most. The faculty of rapidly dis
charging the public business is seen to
be there, the practice of promptly I'M
dertaking it is absent.
Our state legislatures when they met
every year took more time to do the work
before them than they do now. The ac-
cumulated legislation Of two years is
now disposed of in twO-thirds the time
usually spent when the sessions are held
every year.
The British parliament has a far
greater amount of work to do than the
United States congress, and its sessions,
as a rule, are not more than one-h half as
protracted. The inquiry is natural and
pertinent. Why is this so? There can
be but one answer; the members find it
pleasanter to remain in Washington, en-
Joy its society and privileges, and make
capital for the future, than in coming
down squarely to business, finishing it
promptly and returning home. Wash
ington is . delightful place during the
winter and spring and early summer.
When the heated term comes on it is not
so pleasant; therefore, as summer ap-
proaches the work Of legislation is done
more rapidly. May and June actually
see more real work accomplished by
congress than December January, Feb
ruary, March and April. The American
congressman is a queer product.
The Waco Examiner resents the i'm
putation of being Ross organ, or of
wearing brass collar Tabled "Ross."
The Barlow boy is merely the victim OF
a coincidence for which he is not re-