Wichita eagle., 1889-12-15

ment Of the senate wing, reminded the
initiated, a day or two ago, that there are to
be cakes and ale during the coming winter,
as usual. The senate of the United States
prides itself upon its great dignity and its
| high moral character. It affects to look
down just little upon lis younger and more
| commonplace brother, the house And yet,
curiously enough, the gay and festive hooks
| of the capitol are found in the senate end Of
that great pile of buildings There is no
house committee room given up entirely to
social uses, as there is in the senate wing.
Some OF the house committee rooms are &C.
cupied more for the purposes of con-
versation and story telling than for
the transaction Of public business, but
the giving Of swell luncheons and opening of
wine In committee rooms is q custom that
I has prevailed IL the senate alone. During
! the past two or three years it has become
quite the fad for rich or well-to-do senators
to take possession of one of the committee
| rooms for an afternoon, order a luncheon
| from fashionable caterer and invite couple
of dozen friends of both sexes to enjoy it.
RumCr had it last winter that one Of these
luncheons degcnerated into an orgie, In which
champagne flowed altogether too freely, and
IN which two aged senators lost the dignity
and repose of manner usually theirs.
There are number Of useless committees
Ia the senate, committees which have no
business to transact and which rarely or
never meet Two or three of these commit
tees occupy sunptuous apartments with
frescoed and gldsd ceilings and walls, and
silk curtains and Turkish rugs as thick and
soft IS field of clover. Better than all,
| these committees have clerks and messengers
| assigned to them The latter are walters,
errand boys and men of all work. The clerk
Is under the direct control of the chair
man Of the committee, and in the absence
Of ali public or committee work he
Of course attends to the private affairs Of
the chairman his patron. There is quite a
number Of senators who have clerks Of COM
rnittees to serve them at the capitol during
The day and at their homes in the evening, in
addition to the regular secretary permitted
each senator under the new rules.
When the senate meets week h,;ncs prob
ably an effort vii! be made to abolish some
of these useless committees. Such effort
always is made at the beg inning Of a new
congress, but it never amounts to anything.
All the senator's who have convenient chair
u,aisshipS stand together, and are REINFORCED
by others who are anxious 10 become possess
ed OF similar prizes The usual result, there
fore, is an increase of the number Of commit
tees and Of clerks and messengers and a hunt
for more rooms that can be opened up for
the purposes OF lounging and lunching. Now
that scores of new rooms can he opened I'M
derneath the great marble terrace which
skirts the western, northern and southern
fronts Of the capitol it will probably be but
few months till every senator has COM
mittee room OF his own, with clerk messen-
ger and sideboard. or course, the contents
of the sideboard are provided at tine expense
OF the senator's themselves, but everything
else is done by the government.
Some Of the senate committee rooms are
truly palatial in their proportions, decora-
tons and furnishings. The best that money
can buy, the richest in wall treatment, in
carpets, in furniture, in accessories, is pro-
vided for these rooms. Who cares for e1-
penses as long as the money comes from the
plethoric pocket of Uncle Samuel 1t Is one
of the trade traditions Of Washington that
an order from the United States senate is
prize worth striving for. The sergeant-at-
arms of the senate has charge Of the buying,
and he is truly magnificent in his notions as
to the policy which should be pursued in the
commercial transactions of the august senate.
Mr.. Canaday, the sergeant, walks into store
and orders so many dozen yards Of Wilton or
Administer. Nobody stops to ask the price
1t is perfectly understood that the most cost