Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-04-11

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MET1. Eld III just at present that
A YAH ! there is new era at
WH lEMII D hand, with the old
IA ,RWyJ FR landmarks disap-
NEX>-$ pearing and new
Tt\fSS ones coming to De
" w recognized as such
by common consent.
This involves peculiar, almost indefinab,c
process, sort of growth of sentiment that
hhds no expression in words, and less like
~ stlll In acts, yet as the years go by and
the men who have stood at the same posts
Ior session after session succumb to ad-
Vanc1ng age and pass away, their places
not especially as office holders but as men
with records and histories, are filled by
others.
The last one of these long in the service
of the Senate to die was Mr.. Dennis Muir
ply, who for forty-eight years has been
connected with the work CT reporting the
debates. and fer twenty-three years has
been the chief contractor fer that task Mr..
Murphy's death occurred recently. The
last before him to die, after many
years Of labor in the upper house of the
rational legislature was Mr.. Shankland,
for thirty years and more one of the
executive clerks of the Senate The up-
per house Is peculiar in this respect. 1t
mas men who are competent and faith
1ul, and holds on to them 1t has a virtual
c e. service system, although with each
reorganization" there is more or less
cfanging. But the stand-bys, the men
whose long experience and peculiar fitness
make them valuable, are retained Until
ape,e mas 8 come 70 be sort of permaneacy
aIout a Senate place that is less and less
afrected by political conditions year after
year.
MIR. Shankland was at one time a parti-
a NINA \.
Foiney. who became secretary of the Sen
ATE during tie war. Forney went the way
OF the majority OF ynen who occupy such
nieh places that their heads are fair
hih.hs lor the spoiismen, but he left Mr.
shankland as an heritage to the public
service Mr. Shankland was not a man Of
herelc mold nor was there any special
MARX OF genius about him. There was lit
tie IN MS outward appearance to commend
MIN to special attention, or to cause him to
De selected as peculiarly fit suhiec, for
!ong retention In Office. Small and unob-
trusive, ne was the least sociabla Of men,
tHe least comDanloEaDlc And there Law
his very strength
He Could Keep Secrets.
He and his Office fitted each other like the
hand and the glove The office demanded
man who could keep his own counsels.
who could preserve the valuab,e eacr.-s
that Tell into his ears, and he CHANGED to
be just that kind of a man. Hence his
many years of service. This illustrates in
a special manner the kind of civil service
mat prevails in the Senate and that gives
1t working force that has often been said
10 DE one OF the most efficient in the
country. '"o
This Is true of other positions that have
oeen held by their incumbents during 1nany
years. Capt. Bassett is one Of the most
notable cases of long service that this ma
tion mas ever known. His life was prac-
tically spent in the Senate chamber. Tn to
within few weeks of his death his figure
was as much part of the. scene around
the rostrum of the Vice President as The
very furniture. Indeed, Capt. Bassett had
come to be considered as necessary as the
gavei with which the presiding officer occa-
sionally raps for order.
Just to the left of the great arm chair
that was occupied for so long by Cant.
Bassett. small black japanned snuff box
Is screwed down to the metal base of one
OF the pilasters that adorn the wall of the
Senate chamber. 1t is kept forever filled.
just as the everlasting light in the temple
is always burning. 1t was Capt Basset1's
particular charge to see that this box was
never allowed to fall empty. Sometimes
ne would be the only patron of this official
snuH box; again he would find among in
coming Senators cronies in the snuff habit
who could enjoy with him delicious pinch
of the exhilarating powder Then he was
happy indeed. 1t is a characteristic of fhe
snuH-user that he likes company in the in
diligence of his peculiar taste, and so with
Capt Bassett.
Like the Snuff Box.
Between that official box Of snuff and its
custodian there was strong resemblance.
They had both been there for years, both
permanently affixed to the Senate both odd
in their peculiar func tons, and both of
them always faithful to their trusts Just
as the SNUFF box was Of service to a COM
paratfve few SO Capt. Bassett in his later
ha
coterie of venerable Senators to perform
those delicate little tasks that can only be
performed by veterans like themselves.
Capt Bassett did very little in the last ten
or twelve years Of his life, for his strength
would not permit him to be active, and
then, too, younger men had been supplied
by the generous Senate to take the heavier
duties from his shoulders as his years adj
vanced.
The question naturally arises: Why, then,
did the Senate keep him in service? The
answer is plain. He had conformed his life
to the peculiar conditions that surround the
Senate and had become a part of it, his
retention was a matter of course. 1t was
sentiment, perhaps, that prompted the
writing Of his name in the appropriation
bills year after year as a mark of especial
esteem and the granting to him of an ex-
ira emolument, but there was tinse Of the
practical In with that sentiment.
Bassett was one of the very few men, be-
sides Senators, admitted to the executive
sessions of the upper house. It was a part
Of his duty to attend when the doors were
closed, and, Of course, he was in full pos
session of all that transpred within the
charmed limits Of the chamber at those in
teresting times. The Senate knew by ex-
perience that he could be safely trusted
with these secrets some Of them petty,
more of the greatest moment, and his re-
tention was matter Of self-preservation,
as 1t were;- on the part of the Senate
To displace him with a new man who
had not passed through a long apprentice
ship would be a dangerous experiment.
The Senate had in the past had some
serious experiences with experiments, and
as long as Capt. Bassett and Mr. Shank
land, who was, of course, always present
when the doors were closed, were able to
be on hand and attend to their duties the
Senators were content to let well enough
alone.
Secrets of Executive Sessions.
Now that these two men are dead the
thought naturally arises: What a vast
volume of interesting experience was theirsl
What a wonderful store Of information of
the keenest INTEREST," Probably no historian
writing the record Of this nation will ever
have access to the facts and the phrases
that were the daily food Of these two mems
minds Since the late war there have been