Telegram-herald., 1889-09-08

~ earb L11s stcuzlls c<41E Announced y
sauns. oo~1ng and pAsslag On At any
raes. capls4i society = will1ng and Az
i,..s - sss tns experiment tried
Speaking 0f the " 4shIAssons reminds
ms u ths recent appointment Of George
washington y DC policeman IN tia
ctry of ~ W4shL1zton, D. e. APpropriats-
u enough this cisy is headquarters II
ths " ashington family. There are act
aally 250 " ashingtons Ia the Washing
son ely directory, thirty seven OF them
being George WAshlagtons. three Mar
Ehzs and seventeen MArys How many
harthAs and Aarys there are who, "a
wives and daughters Of the George and
other WashIngrons. are not considered
OF sufficient importance 10 DC set down
Ia the directory one can only guess. To
sho~ Washington citys superiority IN
the matter II WashingtOus IL Is only
necessary 70 point out the fact that New
York. With eight times the population
Of the Federal City. has but one-haf as
many inhabitants who bear the h0nOred
name. while ia al Chicago, with her
million Of souls, there are exactly three
dozen Washingtons IN the city directory.
A large majority Of the Washington
Washingtons are negroes. For some
reason or other about half the colored
people who coae from the Virginia
shores of the Potomac nave acquired and
more or less proudly Bear the name of
the father Of their country.
-.
Washingtons Is employed IS messense
IN the state department l asked him
how 50 many OF ala race 10 this city
happened 10 bear the name Of the found
er Of the republic. He did not know:
had never heard anything about IL; had
no thoughts or impressions on the sub
lect, and was altogether disinclfned 10
open his mouth for fear ne would put his
foot III IL The result Of his long ex-
pertencs In the state department, |
thought Even the messenger and char
women In Mr.. Blains's baiiwick appear
TO have become iInbued with the diplo-
matte tradition and spirit. Diplomacy,
you know. Is sort OF agnosticisrn as 10
al the things In the world. The relig-
ious asnostic doesn't know any more
about the origin or end Of things divine
than q crocodile knows of chocolate car
amels. The diplomat Is the same way
concerning all things earthly. Not to
know Is a stock ia trade with the trained
diplomat. At least, Ike the agnostic. he
must pretend not 20 know. And If, In
order 10 maintain his pretensions TO
dense ignorance, IL becomes necessary
for him to lie. he Is In nowise abashed-
Lying Is part OF the trade Of diploma
ey-lying with a smooth. serious face. q
Glib sort Of counterfeit OF earnestness,
and with obvious relish
AL the diplomats OF the state depart
msnt are liars. from Secretary Blaine
begging mis- pardon-down to George
Washington. the colored messenger.
Think Of George Washington who habit
ually tells lies, Assistant Secretary
Wharton is an accomplished dissembler,
aud Walker Blaine could discount Ana
Mas. and do il so sweetly as TO make An
anias or any other man actually like it,
For it must DO understood that diplo-
matte lies don't count. either here or up
wonder. and the most frank, sincere ard
honorable Of men In private lffe often
make the most accomplished diplomatic
prevaricators. There Is no other way
out OF it, for when a newspaper corre-
spondent or some other curious person
comes around inquiring about this or
that. which the diplomat knows about
but must not talk about, what could we
expect him TO do but plead ignorance and
swear 20 its
An English gentleman whom I met
here few days ago was struck by the
small number of old men in public life in
this country, and. of course, by the cor
respondingly large number Of young
men holding high places ia government
service. The average age Of our senators
and representatives Is not much above
80. perhaps between that figure and 45,
while the average years OF department
officials. including bureau chiefs and
cabinet officers. is certainly not much
above S5. or 400 men in the last con-
xre-s only dozen have reached the age
Of three score and ten. the oldest Of them
all being senator Morrill, Of Vermont,
who will be ~ IL ne lives till next April
Mr.. Morrill, has been in the senate TWEEN
ty-twO years. and before that was in the
house for twelve years
Senator Payne. Of Ohio, who has de-
clared Ma intention to retire from public
life at the end Of his present term. is bu;
few months Younger than Senator Nor
riil Both were born in the year 1910
Senators Dawes. of Nassachusetts. and
SAWYER. - Wisconsin. are 73. and the
after declared last winter he would never
accept another term. Yet one OF his
senaf ->-fr>ids tells me he expects 10
scs SAWYER IN the senate as long as ne
ives when the time comes for him
-o decide. said this senator. "and ne be-
gins 20 think about what he is going 70
do after leaving public iife how aimless.
HOMOGENEOUS and rusty Ms existence vill
oe. he Vii. decide 70 remain in the senate.
venture. That Is WV our oldest men
stav in their seats Morrill, Dawes.
Hampton. and others could nsme-not
because they are am niti0us in the service
4 their country. but because they do
not snow what else % DO with them
selves Their usefulness il practically at
an end and it would 70 better for the
senate and better for their constituents
e they were to resign. but they dread 70
nsss me evening of life in idien-ss and
amid the hundr1m Of their homes
Other old msn IN congress are Repra-
sentative Nsndevsr. of California. who
IS -, Plumb ~ Illinois. who i q. as "a
siso senator Reagan. Senator's Evarts.
Hampton and Bates. and Rsprassnta-
I'VE h - ~ MInnesnra- aarh 4 and