The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1890-01-31
WASHINGTON Lerrer.


Kansas, receives on an average one hun
dred letters every day, there is seen at
least one reason why lie writes to his con-
stituents that private interests must take
him back to private life. Think of what it
is TO write one hundred letters IA day when
you know What to say, and then add to
that the labor of referring in many cases
to the various departments for information
upon which to base a reply. OF course in
some offices, as in the Pension Office, a
reply comes to the Congressman in the
shape of a letter to his constituent and all
transmitted, but even this represents double
labor.
OF Representatives from the central
States Mr.. McKinley's mail is the largest,
though this has only been true during the
present Congress. Owing likewise to his
position, Mr.. Reeds mail exceeds that of
any Eastern member. Mr.. Carlisle, of
course, receives the largest mail of any
Southern member. The Western members
are, however, the most richly favored
or cursed-with correspondents.
Apart from the letters received from PEN
sion and other claimants which always
have a legitimate purpose, there are a
wonderful number of idle and purposeloss
letters received by Congressman, and gen.
orally answered. In every community
you will inc some man who is always Of
feriDg the Congressman advice by mail.
In private life he may be the sou of mild
good-nature, but he harbors about him a
wild desire 10 write and in the secret
watches of the night be indites reams of
wisdom to his member. Perhaps he is an
influential man in his way and can control
| so the Congressman probably know it and
he gets a patient answer.
senator Ingalls, gets more letters than
any man in the Senate, his mail often
reaching three hundred letters in a day.
No other Senator gets nearly so many.
Senate: Plumb, his colleague, receives a
very large mail and SO one must conclude,
considering also Representative Peters inn
30 SHNt A''S
| great State for letter writers.
To a certain extent, Senator Ingalls, sue
| ceeded John X. Logan as the man to " HON
old soldiers most frequently write about
pension claims. Senator Logan's mail
was simply enormous as regards pension
matters. 1t grew so burdensome during
the last few years of his life that the major
ity of the letters of reply from the Pension
Bureau were never transmitted to him at
all but were mailed by the bureau directly
to the claimant.
The only men in Congress who escape a
great mass of correspondence are new
members from remote Eastern and South
efn districts and extremely unpopular old
members serving their confessedly last
term. The amount OF labor attached to
many years of such work is appalling.
The secret of successfully doing it lies in
never neglecting 1t. Up to his last illness,
"Sunset' Cox never retired at night until
the days correspondence was disposed of.
The letters that he could answer intelli-
| gently were answered at once, be the reply
ever so brief. To this unvarying prompt
ness and to the courteous character of his
communications, he owed in no small
measure his very long and successful pub
lie career.
Now that everyone is trying his hand at
civil service reform, Gen. Rosecraus has
turned up with a bill, which he has sub
mitted to several members of the House
committee and, he claims, has been receiv-
ed will favor. 1t provides that the cleri-
cal force OF the government shall be CLASH
fled according to Congressional districts,
each district to have its proper quota, and
when any vacancy exists the particu-
lar Congressman entitled to the appoint
ment shall be notified. He shall then
nominate not less than four candidates for
the place, who shall present themselves
for examination before the Civil Service
Commission aud the one passing the sue
cessful examination shall be selected
The period of office holding shall be six
years but the Congressman may renomi-
nate the man and he may, after submitting
again to a competitive examination, be re-
appointed. The government clerk would
by this simple and pleasing system be OBJ
| liged to hustle around and keep in the
good graces of his Congressman or take
| the consequences at the end of his six
years.
1t is difficult to realize that the giants
of the early part of this century often NOV
ed the Supreme Court to tears. Now
adays, if an ambitious young lawyer(those
old to the practice never hazard it) at
tempts oratory, he is cut short by the
chief justice or some associate with a
polite request to stick to the law and the
facts in the case. The arts of persuasion
are never permitted to be exercised. There
must be just as eloquent masters of plead
ing as there ever was, but The arguments
before the Supreme Court are dull affairs
to an outsider. The calm, colloquial tone,
the business-like relation of facts surprise
the visitor who is present for the first
time. WESTON.
comments On Our Anniversary.
The Woodstown MONITOR has just CON-