Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-05-11
A cONGREssMAN's DAY.
How a Conscientious Member is Expected to
Slave for His Constituents.

|
News. Length of service brings added
responsibility, until the member be-
comes overburdened and his work is
never done. Requests that We're at first
confined to his own district seem to
become national. and there is hardly a
nook in the Union from which he does
not receive an Importantly. His i'm
portance as a member has increased
| and his usefulness has been acknowl-
edged by appointment to the important
committees of the House. There, if still
governed by sense of duty, he works
| ike plough horse
The following accurately describes a
days work in Washington of con-
| gresham who has been a member of
the House for ten years: At O'Clock
| ms clerk called before he was out Of
| bed. Thirty-five letters We're answered
While he was dressing. His meal was
interrupted by an old friend who had
| dropped around to breakfast and i'm
parted some important information
concerning the death of Mary Queen of
! Scots
At 10 O'Clock, with his clerk, the con-
gresham began his rounds of the de-
| partments. His first visit was to the
War. Navy and State Department
building. An old soldier wanted to as
certain whether he was entitled to a
medal of honor. His record in the war
department was searched and a deci-
sion reached that the old soldiers gal
lahtry was in the line of duty and
therefore he was not entitled to a
| medal
AT the navy department a cons ituent
had applied to have his SON enlisted as
an apprentice. The information from
the bureau of navigation was that the
quota OF apprentices was full and no
more could he taken.
At the state department constituent
desired letters to American consuls in
Europe. lie was about to make a tour
! of the Old World and had been in
| formed that such letters were of great
value. general letter and passpor;
were secured at the state department
and promptly forwarded
On the way out of the war; navy and
state department building the congress
man met bridal couple, fresh from
his district. They were seeing the
sights and We're extremely anxious to
visit the White House. The congress-
man etSNOillI'iIileN llltll, anu lHtiE ut-
light at being introduced TO the Presi-
| dent of the United States was beyond
bound
y visit to the treasury department
| followed. Some constituent had lost a
United States bond and was looking for
! a duplicate. The chief of the bond
division replied that no duplicate could
| be issued without a special act of Con-
i gress and had the courtesy to draw up
a special bill for introduction into the
! House. From the treasury department
the congressman and his clerk rode TO
| the postofiice department, half a mile
| away. He bore request for the estab-
lisnment of a stamp agency in a phar
macy within the lines of his district.
| He was informed that the application
would have to be made from the home
| office, and if the application was APP
| proved by the postmaster it would be
| given favorable consideration by the
/ postmaster general.
| The round was only half completed.
| There We're requests to visit the public
| printer, to see the pension commission
| er, to call on the patent commissioner
and to look after some papers in the
! land office, but score of whistles an
| nounced the hour of u, and the Stars
and Stripes appeared upon both the
| House and Senate wings of the Capitol
| Congress was in session and the repre-
sentative turned his face toward the
! legislative building.
! On arriving he tried to reach his COM
mttee- room. A lady stopped him with
an introductory letter She desired en-
ployment in the public library. While
| she was urging her mission, six or
seven others gathered around. awaiting
| the congressman's release. One was a
| war veteran with an excellent record
recently discharged from the navy yard
for lack of work. Although coming
! from a city far removed from the con-
! CHEESEMAN'S district he urged the repre- :
sentative to visit the secretary of the
navy in his behalf. A third was
| anxiously hunting for u government
publication, long out Of print. A fourth
wanted a card of admission TO the
members gallery, and fifth was look
| ing for a map of the Klondike region.
| A sixth. bearing an Introduction.
wanted the congressman to visit the
superintendent of police in the District
| of Columbia to secure his appointment
as a policeman. At this instant fel-
/ low member said in passing that the
| roll was being called in the House on
party question. This was enough. The
| congressman excused himself to his
visitors and entered the House. He mad
no sooner voted than two or three
pages thrust cards into his hands an
nouncing more visitors outside. Before
| he reached the door he was stopped by
| half a dozen colleagues. One wanted a
| letter of introduction to a prominent
| lawyer in neighborng city; another
called attention to a bill in committee
and sought assistance in having it re-
ported favorably and placed upon the
| calendar. A third wanted to trade
| ethnology books for agricultural re-
| ports and a fourth was seeking hear
| ing before the congressman COM
nlittee. A fifth asked the representa-
| tive to go before the committee on
rivers and harbors and advocate an
appropriation for an improvement in
| Delaware bay.
The servant of the people finally
reached the cloakroom and passed out
i i - .ra.l,1a I'M