The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-01-04

rloy q the senate and house are fbree
cx-coEgress There are a dozen
ex-eon gressnsen In the derartrg.essts
and one ex-senator that I kr9w M
He vas pointed out 70 ms or the
streets the other day. His name i
Frederick A. sawyer. and though he
| was once senator Of the United
states and subsequently assistant ser-
retarg u the treasury. he nov holds
& second class cierkship in the war de-
| pariIneRt. There are seedy GA men
hanging around the capitol and the
notes, unfortunate old no5odies Who
need the services OF both cook aud
barrier when they are not doing in
the chairs which, BY sufseranee they
are permitted to occupy, they may oe
seen trying to look wise aud isag.or-
tant- Ask who they are and the clerk
Of the hotel viii tel you: -. he Is
one Of car regular sitterz. ! believe
ne Used TO be member Of congress. -
some Of these men imagine they are
| lobbyists, for they know righs well
ihere are ex-senat0rs and eK-repre-
sentatlves IN town who are lobbyists.
and who appear to gain little honor
aud much profit in that vocation.
Another bane of public lie in Wash
ington j. letter writing. Senators and
| representatives get bushels OF letters.
| Inquiries by tile thousand reach them
| about pensions. claims. land patents.
private bills, patents, everything under
the sun These must be answered.
| Many Of them require visit to the
departments for information. To the
departments the congressman must
| go, making the rounds from one 10 the
| other. or he must write q large num-
| Der OF letters 10 the bureau chiefs
| Usually congress does not sit On Satur-
day, and this day isimproyed by MEM
| bers for department work, The sena-
tors have private secretaries. paid BY
the government, to attend to this biisi-
| ness. but representatives have not
dared 70 provide themselves with this
luxury. Congressman who can afford
| to hire secretaries TO attend to their
letters, send out documents, speeches
| and seeds, but the majority are too
poor. A new concern in Washington
might be called q wholesale private
secretary. For = stipulated sum,
usually $50 month, il takes charge OF
all the letters and public business
which congressman may wish To
turn over Ia il, makes inquiries at the
departments, in each of which il keeps
| a skilled man, and after obtaining the
| necessary information writes letter
| OF reply which the congressman has
merely TO sign and send out to his
| constituent.
| Senator Cullom's experience in this
| letter writing matter may be taken as
fairly representative. | called on the
| senator one evening and found him
hard at work debating letters to a
| stenographer. A huge pile OF I'M
| answered letters lay before him.
This" said he, sis one of the
greatest burdens OF public life NV
| secretary and | have been unable 10
keep up with our mail. aud have
| been compelled 10 employ steno-
grapher. We dare not let our mail
get a day ahead of Us, for then it
| would be almost impossible 70 catch
up. When senator Logan died my
mail more than doubled. Logan, you
/ know, had more friends and admirers
| than any man in congress. His
| Grand Army connections were so ex-
| tensiye that he received a mail much
greater in volume than that of any
| other senator. After his death many
| of his correspondents turned TO me.
and have done my best TO serve
| them. But il is hard work, and in my
case largely precludeS social pleasures
and often prevents me making that
careful study of public questions
which | should like to make"
There will. of course. be the usual
rush to secure Office under the incom-
ing administration, but if the place
seekers could talk with a few OF the
men who were successful in getting
offices under Cleveland doubt il their
| ardor would be able To- hold its warmth
Nearly all of the men who took oaiee
| under Cleveland four years ago are
poorer in pocket than they were when
| they came here, and now when they
| have 60 face the rather serious ques-
ton of what TO do after Harrison
comes in. OF course reference is here
had only to the class OF officials who
are changed with every change o! adj
miuistration, not the clerks under
s. 600 year. who are all protected by
the civil service laws. Even in these
higher posts salaries are not great
enough TO allow of much saved out of
| them. and former business or probes
sional connections have been so broken
that il il not the easiest matter in the
world to resume them | was talking
| the other day with Second Auditor
Day of the treasury. Mr.. Day is one
OF the brightest and most popular
Young men who came here to enter
public life with the Cleveland adj
mini,tration. His post is a good one,
II have enjoyed my four years in
Washington very much, said Mr..
Day. 1T is a delightful city to live in,
with a charming society and round
OF pleasures to which no one can be
altogether Indifferent. Bat | would
not take Office If ! had il To do over
again. though four years ago | thought
myself very lucky. ! have simply lost
four years oat of my life, and must
now return 80 my home in Illinois,
build up my practice again, and strug-
gle hard for several years to get il IN
as good shape as ii was when left IT,
have enjoyed my life here and my
work during the last four years, but
thew bear no relationship 10 that which
is % he my future life Gad work, and
have not at all strengthened or equip
ped me therefor. Public office is
private mistake.
And vet | dare say that Mr.. Day VIII
improve the first opportunity TO get
back into the essy-goinE, somewhat
luxurious official life OF the capital,
probably as a congressman from his
district The subtle charm OF Wash
iuetou once in the ascendcncy l. not