New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-09-20


OF Congressman offers little 10 conjure with. and
that social success at the capital be COM
nlanded only by those means and qualities which
insure 1t elsewhere.
THE NONICES ENTRY IN THE HOUSE
For week or more before the new Congress
actually assemblies the political novice, if he
happens to he majority member In the Clover
, house, is courted and nattered until he is ready
TO believe that his dreams of personal authority
and political consequence have come true. His
vote is needed by several rival candidates for the
Speakership. and a consequence he is invited
on all hands to accept campaign cigars and is
overwhelmed with promises. equally poor and
worthless. Of future committee assignments and
legislative preferment. 1t is only when he has
taken his oath of office. and. penned behind the
ran In the House chamber, has waited monot-
onously for an hour or two TO draw an obscure
desk in some far corner Of the hall amid group
of similar unfortunates. that the new member be-
gins to realize his own personal insgnihcance
and to appreciate the immense distances he must
travel before he be recognized as a real
force in the complicated play of National legsla-
ton.
Prediction promises of committee ''plums,
he finds. good deal like the pledges of a
Democratic platform-to be redeemed If wholly
convenient-and when his name appears at the
bottom OF the Committee on Nentllatlon ana
Acoustics. the Committee To Examine the EN-
penditures of the Postofiice Department, he feels
tina; his political life is already foredooned
failure in the eyes Of his mrthful and critical
home constituents.
When the House code OF rules is readopted the
new members last grip on the legislative busl-
he is supposed to be engaged in shaping ana
forwarding definitely vanishes 1t Is within the
memory Of the veteran employees OF the House
that one or two prccOclOuS beginners nave mas
tered within two years the intricate and cryptic
graphic code which governs legislation in the
popular branch But to the average neophyte IN
he r,1a fhg n
solved and unsOlVable myStcry-a chart OF acton
whose puZZling lines can be spelled out only ny
the "Od parliamentary hands. who reVe IN MS
mazes. Hedged in by the rules. deprived OF an
initiative in committee. the new member falls
gradually into the unthinking and irresponsible
attitude Of the political subaltern taking his or
derS from the Speaker and the little coterle on
the Rules Committee. which exercises an un-
checked and autocratic sway over all the bust
ness Of the House He votes on rolcals WIN the
party leaders on the floor. and during the inter
| mission between votes smokes his cigar in the
lobby and swaps stories with the other high po-
litical privates He is a voting machine. little
more or less under the present system. and there
is touch at once Of profound irony and sardonlc
humor in the tale, half-credited in Washington,
that q certain Speaker Of the House once mus
tered the necessary quorum to pass measure by
cvnically counting the hats Of half-dOzen alb
scntees of his own party who were chatting with
constituents other callers in the corridors out
side the legislative chamber.
IF He ACCEPTS THE SITUATION.
If the new member is an easy going and philo-
sophical politician he will settle down by the
middle Of the session to the simple work Of doing
his constituents errands at the capital. and log
I rolling for the passage Of his own private and
local bills The greater cares Of State he will
leave to other shoulders satisfied that he will not
have a chance himself to bear them. whether he
wishes 10 or no.
In the ennui induced by these first experiences
in politics many beginners show signs Of wear.-
ness with public life. After two terms the great
majority Of new faces disappear. many from alb
solute indifference to further political preferment.
Few men of the highest intellectual and prac-
teal ability can be induced 20 undergo the long
and hard discipline which must precede any not
able success or ovcrshadowinG reputation in Con-
gress Most Of them realize thai they can employ
their talents to greater personal advantage in
| law. or business and even those who remain term
after term in one branch Of the National Legis-
lature the other are disposed 10 complain in
the midst Of their political triumphs that they
have sacrificed the substance of material and
pecuniarv success outside the halls Of Congress 10
its shadowy political counterfeit within. Yet the
passion Of politics has too strong a hold on the
veterans in service TO be broken by mere phllos-
Ophy. They cannot retire while the spell holds
and drift Unfortunately. haf-discontentedly,
/ along until some adverse caprice or pique Of a
Ione-faithful constituency drives one after an
| other on the banks Of political oblivion
/ Reaction from the sense Of monotony and IN
| consequence in the new Congressman IS career
has the effect often. of driving nm 10 secure not
/ ice hv sensational methods. In the increasing
stringency and responsiveness Of the rules and the
! concentration Of power in the hands OF the
! Speaker and his few lieutenants. the plague OF
| hoy orators and theatrical demagoeues has mad
! its origin Tn Southern and Western agitator
/ who has come TO Congress on the crest OF a wave
/ Of revolutionary sentiment must make hlmself
heard in the halls Of Congress. even II ne cannot
! make himself felt in Congress- real work. New
/ REPRESENTATIVES like Tom Watson, "Sockless
e, and II
/ ley and new Senators like William 4. PETER,
/ William V. Allen. Kyle Tillman and Marion But
! Ter have accordingly pushed aside tradition ana
! decOrum and forced their personal pecullarltleS
! and demagogc OratOry with unwelcOme persist
ency on a disguised Congress.
PETER and Allen probably flied more space in
The Congressional Record" in the single two
| years Of the LIIId Congress than Blaine
Thurman Edmunds Bayard Beck and Conk-
ling did in the six years when they inquired as
! leaders Of the United States Senate. watson
| Simpson. Pence and Sibley set afloat in single
Congress more political vagaries and sand-io' ar
| guments than have been heard In the House IN
| decade Of orderly and dignifed debate. That al
or nearly all Of these noisy demagogues failed or
their evident purpose to push their polilcaI IoIt
unas is a tribute TO the conservative judgment
both ~ their fellowpoiticians and of their dis
! eliminating constituencies
ROY ORATOR BRYAN AND HIS TEXAS
MENTOR.
II IS noteworthy that the greatest of the boy
orators never fell into the vulgar error Of his less
! foresighted associates. Mr.. Bryan in his four
wears Of service in the House spoke rarely, ana
then only with a studied effort at self-restralnt
/ and elaboration II is said in Washington mat
| Mr. BRYAN owed this happy escape to the good
| Judgment Of Colonel William g. Steritt' IeXas
| vii and philosopher. who has long driDDed out
! sound advice to political tyros from his own ana
neighboring States who have the lucky inspira-
ton 10 consult him. According to this story
Rrvan on reaching Washington, fell In with
| Colonel Steritt and one evening in the course OF
| conversation remarked TO him: 49,.
Colonel. am about breaking mo pupiic nv
| ,S / ,,ari Won TO give me the benefit Of your
experience ltd,