The age-herald., 1898-01-11
POLITICAL GOSSIP
 FROM WASHINGTON
Special to The Age-HeraId.

ment is growing stronger every day that
 some action will have to be taken looking toward the abrogation of the civil service
 law. The opponents of the present system
 are gaining strength daily. and members of
 both houses, and especially the lower, who.
 when congress convened were willing to 1 leave the question open for action by the
 president, now say that something will have to be done. The pressure from their dis l tricts for some action is too great to with :, stand.
 Nothing radical, such as the repeal of
 the present law, will be permitted While a large majority is in favor of action, very few want return, or even partial return to the spells system, when a congressman's life was made miserable by persistent office-seekers. The concensus of opinion is that what is most likely to be done. is the
 passage of a simple bill which will limit the tenure of government employees to five years. This is, the plan of the bill recently
 introduced into the house by MT. Evans of Kentucky. This measure provides for tho continuance of the present system of appointments, but states that appointments shall be for the term of five years A num- Der of places, nearly all of those included under MT. Cleveland's blanket order are exempted. This measure has the support of large majority of the republicans in the house. While the democrats have stated time and again that they would vote only for an unconditional repeal of the Pendle- ton act, it is not thought that they could. in view of the utterances of the Chicago platform, refuse to vote for a bill, the main provision. of which was to break down the life and establish fixed tenure in office All during the debates last week, in which the civil service was the main and only topic touched, the galleries of the house were crowded as they seldom are. It is wonder to every one what an inter- est this discussion has evoked here. Every one you meet seems to be interested. What are they going to do with civil service? is the absorbing question. Silver, the curren- cy, even Mark Hanna and his troubles, are lost sight of in the face of this, to us, im- portant question. Washington is greatly interested in the disposition of this mat ter. The local merchants are all rule, a unit in favor of civil service, and life tenure. If the government clerks are se- cure in their positions. knowing, or believ- ing. that they will hold on to them for life, that they own them, as it were, they are
 most liberal with their money. There is plenty more where it comes from" is their | motto. Houses are purchased, and, all in all. the clerks are very lavish with their salary, which in the great majority of cases is greater than they have ever earned before. If fixed tenure in office was the rule, this would be changed Clerks would save for rainy day, which would be al- most certain to come at the end of the five years, when they would again be thrust on the cold, cold world, away from the patronizing wings of Uncle Sam. That | is why Washington is such strong civil service city.
 Speaking of the crowded condition of the galleries, one never knows there are so many idlers in the city until a popular subject of debate is up in the house. In the senate it is rarely that the galleries are uncomfortably full. The continual wrangling and fighting that is the delight of the onlooker, and that always lends
 such interest to the proceedings in the house, is missing in the senate. It is rare-
 ly in that dignified body that even an
 audible smile is indulged in. Even the hitherto irrepressible Billy" Mason, one
 of the few in the senate with any sense of
 humor, has been unusually quiet this ses sion. He is becoming impressed with the dignity of his position as member of the dignifed United States senate, and his broad and humorous sallies that were so potent in amusing the house when he was a member of that body, are seldom heard, unless it be in the lobby, when talking to some of the correspondents Jokes fall rather flat in the senate.
 In the house it is different. The witty and brilliant member, the one who is a good orator, commands the immediate attention of all around him, whether on the floor or in the galleries. Even the speaker occa- sionally unbends sufficiently to smile at an exceptionally funny story by one of the recognized wits of the house. On one or two occasions he has been known to so far forget himself as to really laugh But that is truly rare.
 Another thing the spectators enjoy better in the house galleries than in those of the senate is the greater lack of formality. While it is against he rules in both bodies for the galleries to applaud no matter how boisterous the people on the floor become, a sprinkling of hand clapping is often over looked in the house galleries. In the sen- ate the offenders are immediately called to order by the presiding officer and gener- ally asked to retire by the doorkeeper, who receives $1 ,440 per annum for seeing that the dignity of the senate is not hurt by this boisterous applause. The house gets It's dignity cheaper. It pays it's doorkeeper only 800 per annum. But then the house never did do a thing right.
 Col. Wm. G. Sterrett, the versatile and | able correspondent here of the Galveston | and Dallas (Tex.) News, has been made the
 butt of number of cartoons of Davenport
 in the New York Journal The colonel was pictured in his gray suit which he has worn continually in the memory of all the pres
 ent occupants of the press gallery, and the gray was made ultra conspicuous. Several days after, he appeared in the lobby of the house with bran-new black suit, and the Journal the next morning contained half page picture of Col Sterrett in his new black clothes. The colonel, of course, was unmercifully "guyed." "why don't you get