Mexico weekly ledger., 1889-12-26
CAPITAL LETTER.
Preliminary work In the organi-,
sation Of Tia National Congress-
especial wsaA,ngsoa Letter,

Especial washngson Lstssr.l
The constitution provides that ssCan-,
gress shall assemble at least ouce an,
every year. and such meeting shall bel
on the drst Monday In December. unless
they ahall BY law appoint . different
day" UnfortunAAeay, the Congress has
never, BY law. appointed . Different day
for the annual meeting, but II should be
done; and they should also change the
day for the Inauguration of our Preai-
dents, indifference to theolimate Of the
National capital.
The nrst Monday in December was
this year the second day Of the month;
and. on the preceding Saturday night
November 30. the Republican members
Of the House assembled In caucus In the
HAn Of Representatives, for the purpose
Of agrseing upon some one OF their num-
bsr for the Speakership. This is the
custom Of . party which obtains ma,
tortty at any ono Of tho bisnnial slec-I
aons, and every two years the Capitol
ts heated and lighted to receive the ad-l
Vance guard Of the Legislators. This
year 1t happens that tho Republican,
party holds majority Of the House for
the drst time since December, 1881. At
that time Mr.. Keifer. Of Ohio, Mr.,
KAason. Of Iowa. and several other rem.
uemep oonssnded for the Speakership,
and tho csucuA victory was won BY Mr.,
Keifer. Tho Dsmocratic party has sincsi
that time held poaeanlion Of the House.
and has continuously honored Mr.. Car
liale, Of Kentucky. With the Speaker
ship. No matter whom the Republicans.
may elect to succeed him. their best
man can not be the peer Of John q.
Carlisle as . presiding ofioer. Thisl
generation VIII not produce his Peer.
He IL, Jdcszs principe. tho prince Of par-I
hamentarians, and his Judgments in thel
chair have been - unprejudiced as theyl
have been concise. clear and Just. Mr.t
Carlisle win actively participate In thei
debates which are certain 10 enliven thel
coming session, for he 10 . natural forsn-!!
MO leader.
The Hall Of Representatives on the
night Of the caucus ia guarded by the
wstchmen and messengers who remainl
in ONCE from their appointments underl
the last Congress. Tho doors Of tho
House are closed, the galleries scaled 30
tight that not sound can escape, and
II the caucus b long one the air in
the Hall becomes almost unbsarsbly
vitiated, tor there viii be absolutely no
ventilation. The reason for all thia se-
crecy II that the Representative make
speeches, giving party reasons why this,
that or the other candidate shall be
chosen % the party leader. A great
fs S1l> H. !
In print, and very much OF the speech-
making Is personal, with the bandying
OF epithets, when the debate grows
warm. Two years ago in the DemocratioI
caucus, when the candidates for Door
keeper were being discussed, one Of the
honorable gentlemen call another hon
orAble gentleman 80 liar" whereupon
the last-mentionod honorable gentleman
raised his honorable clenched dst and
smote the yelvety cheek-of the other
honorable gentleman. and there was
commotion galore.
By the way, it Is funny to $50 the
statesmen making efforts to keep public
matters secret from the correspondents.
In . body Of three hundred men there
Is always from one to twenty men who
viii conAdentially tell some uewspaper
friend, or friends, all about It. Last
| winter, when . caucus was being held
and all points carefully guarded, re-
| membered that there was broken door
In the gallery; and It took but .
minute to have the watchman at the foot
OF the stairs deooyed to the restaurant
for minute, while I skipped upstairs,
tip-toed to the broken door, and quietly
sat there taking notes Of all that was
said and done by the entire caucus. ike
Hill discovered me, when 1t was nearly
over; but the report was all written out
In shorthand before he came upstairs,
ana his interruption did not prevent the
publication Of full report next morn
ing.
The Senate does not have 10 20
through this parliamentary tangie every
two years. Indeed, the ofaoers Of tho
Senate are seldom changed. Hon.
George c. Gorham was Secretary Of the
Senate for about twelve years, and Gen.
era1 McCook, who succeeded him, has
been In the same position for six years.
There Is some talk Of . proposed chanee
In the ofice Of Sergeant-at-Arms OF the
Senate this year; but 1t will probably
all end in talk. The Senate Is small
body, comparatively. and always digni-
fed and co9ssrvative. Tho Senate
Chamber il noAmore than half a. largo
as the Hall of Representatives, and il
much handsomer. The floor 10 going to
be somewhat crowded by the id minaion