The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1897-01-29

Legislatures. Marion De Vries of Cali.
fornia has never held public Office ex-
cept that of assistant district attorney.
@. b. Lands of Indiana has held nc
public office. He is n newspaper editor.
Captain John Lamb of Richmond has
been sheriff Of his county; but, though
OF wide experience in politics, he has
never assisted directly in the making of
laws. Jeremiah ID. Botkin of Kansas is
preacher, and he has never held public
Office. j. M. Robinson of Indiana has
been prosecuting attorney, but he has
held no other office.
The only positions w. +. Zenor and
r. w. Miers of Indiana have held were
ON the bench. William Connell Of Penn
sylvania has been an active, influential
politician. but he has never held an
elective Office. Neither has his col
league, James r. Young of the Phila-
delphia Star, though he was clerk of
the United States senate for years, and
he knows the ropes thoroughly. w. d.
Vincent of Kansas has never held an
office except that of railroad commits
sioner. Thomas M. Jet of Illinois has
been states attorney for eight years. He
has held no other Office. A. V. S. Coch-
rane of New York has been district
attorney and police justice. w. L.
Greener of Nebraska has been on the
bench for a yeNr. W. l.. Stark of Nebras-
ka Is teacher and lawyer and he was
on the bench for five years. Freeman
Knowles is newspaper proprietor. He
has never held public office. William d.
Vandiver of Missouri is teacher. He
has held no public Office. w. S. Cow
herd of Missouri has been city counselor
and mayor of Kansas City. John L.
Bremen of Ohio has never held any
office, save that of police commissioner
Of Dayton. James Cooney of Missouri
has been probate judge and prosecuting
attorney. DR.. John e. Osborne of Wy
oming has been mayor of Rawlins and
governor of his state. John A. Moon of
Tennessee has been on the circuit bench,
and twice he was elected city attorney
Of Chattanooga. David Meekison of
Ohio has been prosecuting attorney and
probate judge. G. w. Weymouth of
Massachusetts is business man and has
never held public Office w. L. Howard
of Georgia has been solicitor general of
his state.
The New Material.
These are the records of 30 of the 1874
new men who will be in the next con-
gress. pick them at random out of the
pile. At the same time L find the names
of 10 new congressman elect who have
been aldermen or members of legisla-
ture, and so have helped to make mu-
nicipal or state laws. If the proportion
holds good through the list, we will
have nearly 100 men in the next con-
gress guiltless of any practical expert
ence in lawmaking.
Whatever their past Legislative expe-
rience, though, the roster of the next
shows an unusually distin-
guished lot of new material, and the
house promises to exceed in intelligence
that of the Fifty-fourth congress or any
of its immediate predecessors. That
means great deal more to the country
than having men here who have served
in the making of laws.
Legislating for a country is different
from legislating for city or state. No
doubt, too, most Of the new members
are in touch with national affairs, even
If they do not know the rules of the
house or the duties of its members.
Hard to Outgrow.
But it is hard to get the old members
to give up congress. 1--WE could make
twice as much at the practice of law as
we get here, P" said one southern MEM
Der to another recently. Perhaps SO"
said the other, "but the So, 600 a year
comes in pow'ful regular -
The habits of q congressman become |
'pow'ful reg lar too. He would be mis- |
,rable if he could not attend the OPEN
ng of congress, sit in the cloakroom to |
nave his hair cut, go to the basement of |
he capitol to take bath, use govern
nent pencils and paper and send his let
ers without pay. Then there is the pass
privilege. The congressman carries an
luals on most of the railroads running
,ut of Washington. He sends his tele- |
grams and his express packages free.
Speaking of passes, they tell an inter-
sting anecdote of southern senator
whom jeff Davis described once as the
'ducated pig. This senator has always
made it his business to denounce the