The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-11-05
CHE koANoKE rIMEs. SUNDAY. NoyEMBER 5 1883

! \ > Il y
exceedingly pleasant people to live with,
The air Of lightness, moderate prosper
ity, escape from anxiety and RESPONSE
bility which one feels he is in among the
smart gowns, good tailoring, gay bon
nets, Respondent neckwear and whiz-
zing wheels on the streets of the capital
city Is real air. 1t is the atmosphere
Of the place. Both the causes and the
effects have briefly outlined to you.
After the department people and the
school children have gone by my win
dow the higher officials of the govern
ment appear. Secretary Smith rides
horseback. Secretary Carlisle always
walks to the treasury. carrying in his
hands the bundle of papers on which he
worked the night before in his library.
Postmaster General Bissell drives
smart pair hitched to swell surrey. The
bureau officers walk to their work or take
the street cars. These people have in
their faces the expression which only
earnest work and long continued sense
of responsibility can give. But they pos
sess this advantage over men who have
similar cares in private life-it is not
their own money that is at stake; their
own fortunes are not in the balance.
Moreover, they have ample assistance
In their offices. Messengers, stenogra-
pliers, clerks. experts, are at their elbows
ready to obey their commands. Thus
even the men who occupy the most re-
sponsible positions in the great govern
ment machine are able to go on without
that breaking down Of the nervous forces
which is too often the fate of hard work.
ers in private life.
The Hard Workers.
AS as matter of fact, the cabinet off,
GERS are the hardest workers in the gov
eminent service. venture the predic-
ton that no other eight men on Uncle
Sans payroll in this city put in as many
hours Of hard, earnest toll as the eight
men who sit about the presidents coun-
Gil table twice n week. Compared with
them, the senators and representatives,
who next appear on the streets on their
way to the capitol, have an easy time of
1t. Once in long while, az on the occa-
sions of night sessions OF deadlock. it
is hard work to be q member of con-
gress. But for the most part it is a
rather idle life.
One is not surprised that our states
men look fat and sleek. The daily ses-
sions Of the two houses of congress are
mere picnics for them. They chat,
smoke, lunch, read the papers and enjoy
life each in his own way. COMMITTEES
meetings are infrequent and do not last
long. Excepting the ways and means
committee of the house, not single com
mittee of congress makes anything more
than n pretense of work. Formerly a
congressman's mail was the great bur-
den of his life. 1t was the one feature
Of q congressional career which called
for actual hard work. But now, thanks
to the generosity which the statesmen
have displayed toward themselves with
the public funds, every senator and rep
resentative has private secretary. who
draws his salary from the contingent
fund. Now congressman dictate their
letters to stenographers and then sign
their names to the epistles after they
have been written out.
1t is funny to hear some of these new
congressman roll the words "my secre-
tary" in their mouths. They love the
phrase. 1t tastes sweet on their tongues.
Country lawyers who have more knowl-
edge of justice courts than of orthogra-
ply or the art of correspondence, and
who used to toll over their letters like
schoolboys writing compositions, are
now fond of debating in loud voices to
their stenographers. They like to be
caught in the act, for they think it adds
dignity to their station. AT every op-
portunity congressman speaks Of ''my
secretary" 1t is my secretary" who
has forgotten this, or reminded him of
that, or done some other thing. When
@ new congressman goes to his country
home, the chances are his constituents
hear something about "my secretary"
every hour Of the day. They are like
the man who has just paid his first visit
to Europe.
Lazy Statesmen.
The department people, the executive
officials of high and low degree. the
statesmen of the capitol, are not tie
only classes of this favored community
who rapidly become lazy and indiffer-
emit, and who care more about dressing
well and having good times than about
any of the serious affairs of this very So
rious life of ours. The newspaper col
ony quickly falls into the same gait.
Our newspaper friends form an impor-
tant feature of life here. They are every
where, and, though they have left in them
about ten times as much energy as the
government clerk and five times as
much as the average statesman, they
gradually lose that love for hustling
which distinguishes their craft in more
wide awake, purely commercial cities.
About half the newspaper men OF Wash
ington keep their private secretaries
too. Self respect if nothing else, would
prevent them letting their friends. the