Los Angeles herald., 1891-01-07
A MISERABLE CONGRESSIONAL EXPERT
ENCE.

with Genoral Vandcver, the representa-
tive Of the Sixth congressional district
in congress. He is very aged gentle
man, and that of itself is enough with
us to cancel any too censorious criticism.
We have therefore referred tohim rarely
because it would be scarcely possible to
do so at all, without the ungracious
kind of comment in which the HERALD
would prefer to indulge at very rare in
tervals indeed.
But, positively, there is something
very provoking in the disastrous luck of
this city in having General Vandever for a
representative. He seems to have cher
ished special animosity to Los Angeles.
He is honeyed in his talk about what he
would like to do for this place, but he is
very treacherous in his action. "The
hand is the hand of Esau, but the voice
is the voice of Jacob" We warn the
people of Los Angeles that they will get
good deal of this same kind
of experience for two years to
come. We seem to be blessed
with population that delights
in being honey-fugled, bamboozled and
side-tracked. The finest ramifications of
this entertaining process will be real
lied when our gifted friend Bowers ap-
plies his gigantic intellect to the game
of political thimblerig.
But, to return to our muttons: if Gen.
Vandever would only consent to keep
quiet, we could even support the spec,
tacle of the arrested development of the
federal building out on Main street with
some degree of equanimity. Our ne
elected harbors could be endured on the
same conditions. When great voting
constituency makes a fool OF itself it
ought to sing low, and undoubtedly the
people of Los Angeles placed themselves
in that category when they elected the
venerable peripatetic philosopher from
Ventura to represent them in Washing
ton. &
1t is when Gen. Vanedver gets up in
his place in the congress of the United
States and shows himself to be the facile
tool of lot of jobbing spectators in
Lower California-exhibiting in that
unenviable relation the only energy
he has ever been known to de-
velop in his two terms in
the house OF representatives-that the
ire OF the HERALD and OF the people of
Los Angeles becomes uncomfortable.
To fully understand General Vandever's
close affiliation with these jobbers in in
ternational complications and these gen.
eral confidence operators, it is only
necessary to know that General Van
dever has been an Indian agent. For
the average character of Indian agents,
the dying declaration of Father Crafts,
and General Miles's cautious remarks
in the January number of the North
American Review. are sufficient.
We have no intention to insinuate
any graver allegation that General Van
dever-probably from a slight taint of
speculation caught while in this warp
ing department of the government-has
a much-to-be deprecated fondness for
neglecting his exigent duties and stand
ing in with class of adventures who
are ready to become flipusters or any
thing else, with prospect of gain in the
near or remote future. We go that
far and farther in arraign-
ing our venerable representative,
and have no hesitation in
saying that his attitude indicates that
he would readily see the friendly rela-
tions OF the sister republics of the
United States and Mexico disturbed if
the gang of speculators and confidence
operators who desire to see Lower Cali
fornia annexed to the United States gave
him the hint. Fortunately for the
peace of two great countries, there is no
respectable following behind these ad-
venturers with congressional head. Ii
our venerable representative possesses
any large amount Of securities, whose
value will depend upon the United
States standing in with himself and his
associates, he may as we'll burn them
instanter. They will never be of any
actual value; and, if found amongst his
effects after death--and we hope he may
live as long as he shall think expedient-
they would only prove to be a postum
nous attack on his reputation, which
would do much to disturb the glory of
that dramatic incident, "Hold the fort,
for lam coming"
Meanwhile the people of Los Angeles
look with dismay, if not CONSERVATION,
at the way they are being left out in the
cold. Even at the best they were treated
to the spectacle OF a federal building
going up which was just about suited to
Milpitas or Grub Gulch. To have even
that arrested, to have San Pedro pro-
scribed, to sit on dump and pour ashes
of modification and rage upon their
heads at having elected the great exem-
plar of "How Not To DO It," as respects
Los Angeles county, to congress, is what
they have been doing for some years
past.
Will it teach us a lesson? Is there
any chance of inserting little wisdom
in our heads for the future? Or would
the operation Of getting little common
sense into the craniums of our people be
as violent as that which DR.. johnson
described as necessary to get joke into
the head of Scotchman-that is to say,