Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-11-15

ton 10 tnat subject, tne chances are UnaU III
the opposition has been after him he will
mention the name of one of your rivals, or at
least make use of the same argument or ex-
preston used by them In this manner |
have sized up more than one man, and gen
orally correctly
"There are fifty or seventy five men in the
house, men like Randall and Holman, who
have to be approached through third parties.
They are habitually so close m0uthed that
you can't get thing out of them. To sound
these men we have to use other members of
congress, or n senator, If you are lucky
enough to have one on your side. a senator
who is earnestly for you always proves
great card. He can not only sound the sem
ate, but he is just the man to send after some
of the CLANS in the house. Here and there is
a man whom we have to work through his
committee clerk, or his private secretary.
There are plenty of secretaries who think it
all right to take ten or twenty dollar bill
for telling us how their employer feels about
certain measure And why shouldn't they'
He is public man, and his thoughts and his
opinions are paid for by the public. They
must be made known sooner or later, and if
he is an honest man what business has he
with secrets concerning the public's affairsl
at takes hard work to size up the house in
IA month To see four or five men in a night,
and sit down and talk with them, requires
lively hustling and the keeping of pretty late
! hours Some men you have to go and
| three or four times and strike up friendship
| with before you can worm word out of
them. You know it is a thing which you
cannot force. Your familiarity with men,
| Der, and his inclination to talk of what he
thinks and what he doesn't think, must be of
natural growth. If you try to rush things
you will spoil it all. Then, you have to talk
on every conceivable subject, and engage in
all sorts of family amusements and discus
sions AT one congressnan's house | had to
play whist with himself, his wife and daugh-
ter every time | called 1t took lots of time,
but had to stand it. One night, between
deals, | managed to draw him out to my
satisfaction, and as was pretty hard pushed
for time | did not stay to finish the game
With another old fellow | had to sit down
and play checkers, a game which abomi
nate.
"A religious member from New England
insisted that | should come around and go to
church with him. He had a pew, and was
very fond of his pastor, and took me for
stranger in town, as that was what | had
told him was. He was very courteous, but
/ | had to squander $40 on his clerk before |
could find out how he was going to vote.
made it a rule to call on the old man early in
the evening. while there was still a good
chance of catching them out of bed. The
Young men | reserved till later. often till
after the theatre. With these have had to
play poker, drink whisky, eat late suppers
and get into carriages and make the rounds
of the town. Prayer meetings and wine par
ties were all the same to me, just so | found
out how my men stood on the railroad bill.
"Wcll. in the case of which [ am telling
Won. [ found il necessary to buy 500 more
cigars before the end of the campaign was
reached. When had finished NV canvass.
and reports had been received from friends
who had undertaken to look after certain
members il was found that [ had been cor
rect in my surmise The bill actually had a
ma ioritv of the house for its friends and the
MANAGER had been wasting his time and
money On nv sizing up of the house the
bill was left to its fate. and it passed by n
comfortable maiority."
SLOW are members reached in a case where
somebody must be won over by fair means
or fouly
"There ore thousands of wavs of rettinp Mt
men in sucb cases. As soon as il is decided
that certain number of votes must he had
n canvass is made of the enemy to see where
his weakest men ere. Each mans character
and career. political. financial and family as
sociations will be carefully studied Now
and then something NAV be gotten hold of bv
which a congressman can be scared into com
ing YOUR way. More often YOU will be able
to discover who owns him, and as like as not
the man who owns n congressman will be
found To he n railroad president the president
of some big CORPORATION. or a political boss.
The managers of the enterprise decide in what
way the owner can be easiest reached. and the
first the congressman bears of the matter is
ON RECEIVING a letter from his hacker advis.
inc him to vote in a certain wav. You would
be surprised to learn. and the country would
be SURPRISED. if it knew. how many congress
men there are who cannot truthfully cal
themselves their own men. who have no in
dependence of action in cases wherein their
! patrons choose to exert themselves. some
times think that the congressman who has hi,
political opinions made for him by a marty
caucus and his oninions on nrivat. mans
!, ures often formed bv n capitalist or nolitica
leader whose good oninion he must retain ir