The Progress., 1892-08-13

The speaker promised the Till should
hnvc a chance. but he did not think it NEG
esSary To rob AyrCS Of the reward of a.
work, though he felt confident this man.
lobbyist though hc was, would keep Lil
word. The bill bad it's chance IN court
was passed, aud when the news came out
To the corridor poor old Billy Mctiarrahar
Wcpt for joy. His blue eyes blazcd with =
peculiar light. Had the verdict been H..
other way no doubt nc would have died
within u week
Now this is n sample Of lobbying of the
hitter day style. Had the cause been any
thing but n just one it. could never have
won in the world. IT, could not have mus
tered n dpzrH votes in the house. For thirty
years IT, has been Hs mcritorious ~ it. j.
now and had failed u score Of times Al
honor, say ]. to the men who voted this
tardy justice All honor too. to Colonel
Ayres, who. though n professional lobby
list brought the American congress to n
realization of its obligations and rcspousi-
bilities Ayrcs 10y this one strul>" becomes
a wealthy man. II is the greatest victory
won by professional lobbyist IN many
years. As n character study it. i wort
while noting that this man could never
have made such n great success were hc
anything but n truthful, u just and faith
full man. There are scores of m,macrs
of congress and senator's who would take
his word M they take other mems bonds.
Honevcr went back on friend. lie never
failed TO help u fcllo;7 being in distress
So, you see. even in lobbying character il
worth something. and ! believe in givin:
the devil HIS due
i have more respect for tais nan tha1 I
have for some meglbcss OF congtcss who
refused to vote for poor oil Billy NcGar-
rahan's bill because they thought some
body might charge them with being cor
rupt. There is where the cotardi@r of
public life comes in. md the sclishncss OF
IL also. Voting for this measure subjects
me to possible criticism" thought the ay-
cragc congressman, "and Lcan't sec that Is
will help me in my approaching campaign.
1t won't popularzc me, because 'lcGarra-
han has no friends in my district 1t was
| lust such views rs this that defeated the
| bill time and again in the past; it is pre-
ciscly this narrow, selfish stand that defeats
| hundreds Of worthy measures and perpct-
yates hundreds of monstrous injustices
done in the name of the public.
| There arc plenty of demarogues in con
gress. If I dared ! would use some names.
| Take as nm illustration u certain measure
which attracted great deal Of attention
during the last mouth. tplsScd the house
| by ma jorty Of 100 and the senate by q
vote proportionatCly large. | personally
| have heard score or more of members OF
| the house and at least II dozen senators
who voted for il dcnouncc it AZ improper,
dangerous. foolish legislation. "And yet
| have rot TO vote for it, they addict,
"bccause the people ID my district or state
want it. and il | voted agHinst it they
would wreak;vcn2cancc upon me- 1hls
is only one case Qf nanny ! could name.
The truth u.s. public service il becoming
| In large measure n sort of actors profess
son. 1t is bid for popularity all the
time IT. il an effort. not TO do the right
thing, not to carry out ones convictions as
TO what should be done, but to do that
(which will bring the most votes and plCGse
| the largest number of interested and iniiu-
entail persons. know one senator who
| is IA able and eloquent as any other man
in that body. But he makes it n rlll
| whenever hC goes ont TO his state 10 mako
speeches tOinquirc what the sentiments OF
the people of chat particular locality are be-
fore commencing his address, and cuts his
cloth accordingly. To me hc has admit
ted. with n laugh, that in two days, in all
Joining counties, he has made two speeches
on the silver puestion-onc for free silver
and the other against. The smartcst men
differ on that question nc explained. ''sc
why should I quarrel with my coustitu
cntsY It is my duty to give them what
they want" And he gave them what tbet
wanted, just as an actor might have plnyc'
comedy mt one theatcr where comedy was
in favor and tragedy Mt another where The
audiences were given to passion.
know several members of congress whit
have organized regular systematic plat
for asccrtaning the sentiments of the PEG
pie of their districts on questions which
may arise. One member has about 3O
friends In his district To whom he sends ~
inquiry. when occasion requires. something
like this: "Sce dozen representative citi
zcps and ascertain what their views arc OF
the silver question" From the 900 reptile
lac tabulates the expressions and vote
with the majority. II there is not pro
nounced majority one way or the other b
lodges. In tlis manner he has held M
scat In the house for n COOL many years
, and for MI know will succeed in holdin
II good many more.
, or cotlrsp the encouraging side OF thi