The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1892-05-25
Mistellanp.
The Real Lobbyist.

of intelligence, and believer in most of
the interesting stories he had read about
the number, ingenuity, holiness, skill
and usefulness of the body of lobbyists
that is supposed to be almost necessary
part of the legislative machinery.
showed my visitor lobbyist. He
was one of the best known of the lot
about the Capitol. He was leaning back
against the corridor wall, opposite the
entrance of the house of representatives,
with his hands thrust into the pockets of
pair of trousers that were so raveled
about the heels that they might be sale
to wear whiskers without provoking the
circumstances of the most thorough de-
tester of slang
If this man had an overcoat it was
hung up somewhere, but the dusty con-
dition of his rather thin frock coat,
which carried the polish on its back that
ought to have been ON his very disrepu-
table looking shoes, justified the conclu-
sion that he was not finding an overcoat
necessary this winter. He was spare
man, with gaunt face, crossed by a
white mustache stained at the ends with
tobacco juice. His shirt was not clean,
and he showed good deal of it, but he
wore white tie, which only added en-
phasis to his otherwise forbidding lack
of neatness. When he moved away
from his place against the wall to meet
member of congress who had come out
of the chamber upon the call of one of
the doorkeepers to see him, his gait was
a slouching one, and he might have been
mistaken for any other loafer about the
hall if he had not been SO much more re-
pulsive than the others.
My friend was disappointed. He
could not understand when | told him
that this man was one of the best of the
lot of lobbyists about the Capitol, that
he had been a member of congress, that
he was, therefore, entitled to the privi-
lege of the floor, and that the house of
representatives has never yet had the
sense to makes its rules so strong as to
keep out this man and several others
just like him who are well known to be
nothing more than strikers and lobbyists
who linger here to pick up odd jobs to
help them hang on to a miserable exist
ence. They do not, one ought to be
thankful, thrive as they are popularity
supposed to do. If the public knew what
mistake the professional lobbyist is
they would be driven to saving wood or
working on the railroads, or into doing
some other useful and laborious bust
ness.
Then l showed my friend another lob
byist. This was a thin, sliding fellow,
with gray close beard, who toed in as
he walked quickly along the passage,
and who glanced furtively about as he
went, as if watching to pounce down
upon some one. This man was not an
ex-member of congress; but he had
been an employee of the house many
years ago, and had been caught taking
money to enable corporation to reach,
through the door of which he had
charge, the men who were to be pur-
chased to get through subsidy bill.
He was dismissed, and he at once went
into the service of the corporation that
had led to his disgrace.
He is in that employment still, and he
associates with great many senators
and representatives who do not know, OF
have forgotten that others know, his
odious history. He is an errand runner
and sneaking watcher of members
who are to be encouraged to vote this
way or the other on bills to be reported
or killed. He would buy member
without hesitation if it were safe to buy
him, but he is cautious. He finds out
his venal man before taking any risks
He is not ingenious, nor is he bold. He
| fo11 ..e tl,,
tons that keep him here, and he gets of
in the course of the year very well in
deed if he does not get kicked out of q
gentleman's house more than half q
dozen times.
The female lobbyist is, generally
speaking, myth. The women who
come to the Capitol as promoters of the
bills for pensions or for claims, come or
their own account, and the only skill
they exhibit is that which consists in sc
persistently bothering the members who
have introduced their bills for them that
they undertake to have them passed il
order to get rid of terrible Affections
The marvellous woman of charming
manners that cannot be resisted is to be
found only in the syndicate stories. The
women who undertake to promote legis-
lation are, almost without exception
bunglers and failures. Few womer
know enough about the ways of legisla
ton or the ways of the legislators tC
qualify them to undertake lobby work
Or to approach members to direct theil
actions, except by the most vulgar spe
cies of blackmail made possible by con
tributory immortality.
Generally speaking, the lobbyist is 6
fraud and an unnecessary nuisance. He
exists mainly because most people dc
not know anything about the method;
eff legislation, and because nearly every
body interested in bill not public be
lieves that the lobbyist is creature who
can tide over difficulties and remove
them AS rule the employment of one
of the throng of disreputable lobbyists
and most of them are disreputable OF
their faces, is prejudicial to the legisla
ton they are employed to promote
They thrive on account of the genera