St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-05-21
GOSSIP OF WASHINGTON.

Special to the Globe.
WASHINGTON, May 1.-THE great
ness of a congressman varies directly
with the square of the distance from
Washington. Out on his native heath
he is great big man, with side door
pass to the treasury and a fifty-horse
power pull on the administration; but
when he comes to Washington, and the
boarding house keepers have whack
at him and the correspondents hound
him, land the lobbyists trespass his front
iers for a while and the administration
ignores him, and he sees what q lot
him there is here anyway, he dwindles
like toy balloon. A congressman is
only man after all. and, just as likely
as not, he's a very ordinary sort of man.
Ii his speeches went into the Congress
sional Record as he delivers them, the
shade of Lindley Murray would come
bowling around the halls of congress
and shrek protest but they don't.
The official reporters take down mans
speech after the fashion of Steno-
graphic reporters, with swiftness and
dispatch. Then, neatly typewriter,
with wide spaces between the lines, it
goes to the worthy congressman who
delivered it, for correction. Correction?
Why, he cuts out here, and puts in
there, and adds part here and there to
nail his fences to, and rubs it down and
pOishes it off till the speech as pub
lished in the Record has only faint
family resemblance to the argument as
it poured from the silvery tongue of the
particular favOrite sOn-and every man
in politics is fayOrlte son OF some state
or other these days.
And it isn't every congressman who
can make creditable speech even by
thus bringing his hindsight to the as
sistance of his foresight. There are
actually men in this same Fifty-second
congress who heap deadly insults on
their dear mother tongue whenever they
commit themselves to paper. Jerry
Simpson is one of them. Some people
may WOO the Muse, but he doesn't. He
just goes at her catch-aS-catch-can
He is fOrclble, but he is not ele.
CANT. Neither is he grammatical
Lucidity doesn't worry him. He jus
writes. His dander was up today. and
he sat himself down and wrote letter
to Kansas probate judge, who is a
friend of his, all about the Washburn
anticipation bill, and he grew wild and
incOherent and lost track of the estab
lished agreement between the noun and
the prOnOun. But in the main he aimed
to Stay the bill. He said: 1.-THE mill
iOnaire spectators want the farmers to
take this palliative measure as Substi
tute for the SubtreaSury bill. This bill
will simply license, gambling, and will
not prevent dealing in futures" After
that MIR. Simpson wakes wrath over the
conduct of one G. Wood Davis, whom,
he says. is i'll the employ of wealthy
Minneapolis grain men, who have him
here to lobby for the bill. 1t came to
pass last fall that the same Davis, going
craftily among the rural peoples in
Kansas, declared boldly and with willy
sOphlstrieS that wheat would be worth
$3.50 Il bushel before another harvest.
Whereupon Jerry Simpson specu-
lated SO that he lost $500. That's
why he's down on G. Wood Davis, and
he is against the bill. At the same time
he delivers yell or two of defiance
in the direction of the Republicans who
have made boast that with Simpsons
long and lank frame the gore Of the
battlefield will hereafter be mOpped up.
These men of new parties are queer
fish, anyway. What they do is not like
unto the doingS OF any men we wOt any
thing about. Now, good Senator PETER
spoke on the silver question the other
day, and on the authority of senator
who had it from an official reporter,
made an able speech. The faithful
know that, and the rest of us know that
it was long. 1t was written on ABOUT a
thousand sheets of paper. When it was
finished, and the senate had begun 10
reassemble from the cloak rooms again,
Senator PETER made shift to collect
those sheets that he might give them to
the official reporter. Then ensued such
a hustling, and shuffiing, and con-
fusion and uncertainty, and good
ness only knows what else, for
the speech wasn't PACED. They say a
third party man never pages speech.
because he wants to economic in ink
and muscular eXertiOn.and that it really
doesn't make any difference, for it reads
inst as we'll one way as another.
Senator Pettigrew is endeavoring to
secure for Rev. Mr.. Warren, of Rapid
City. chaplainship in the regular
army.