The Republican., 1900-12-06
Interesting Facts About the Present Con

Interesting Facts About the Present Con-
gress.
A recent number of AjnSlee'S Mag
Gzine contains an interesting array
of facts contributed by Mr.. L. A. Cool
idge concerning the membership of
the present Congress. One of the
first things which will strike a reader
of Mr.. Coolidge's article is that out of
total membership of 43S in the pres
ent Congress 23S are college gradu-
ates, circumstance which will go far
to dissipate the popular idea that the
average member of Congress is a
rough and ready individual who has
attained to eminence in politics by
sheer force of character and without
the facilities of college education.
OF the total membership 299 are
lawyers. Many Representatives and
Senators, however, are what are COM
monty denominated self-made men.
Representative Tawney, of Mime
sofa, worked for many years at the
blacksmith trade; Brownlee, of Ten
nessee, was railroad engineer; Bailey,
of New Jersey, was at one time a
moulder; Cusack, of Illinois, was a
successful sign-painter; Robinson, of
Indiana, was newsboy; Hepburn, of
Iowa, was typewriter; Amos Cum
mings, of New York, started life as a
locomotive engineer; Adamson, of
Georgia, was a mule driver Senator
Sewart, of Neva la, was stage-driYer;
Senator Thurston, of Nebraska, was
fireman's apprentice; Perkins, of
California, began life as cabin-boy
at sea and was sailor for twelve
years; Lorimer, of Illinois, began his
career as bootblack, and for a short
while drove street car.
Mr. Coolidge's statistics are also
calculated to dissipate another ropu
lar idea-that the Senate is practi-
cally a millionaires' club. He esti-
mates that, as matter of fact, only
a few members of that body are to be
enumerated as belonging to the rich
mans class. The most of the Sena-
tors have won their present positions
by long careers of meritorious con-
duct, and are simply enjoying the re-
wards which belong to genuine worth
and to popularity. While the major
ity of the Senators have worked their
way up through successive offices to
Senatorships, there are numbers of
them who stepped from private life
into the upper house of Congress.
These include Pettus, of Alabama;
Kyle, of South Dakota; Butler, of
North Carolina; Cockrell, of Missouri;
Beveridge, of Indiana; Chiffon, of
Texas; Parker, of Kansas; Talliaferro,
of Florida, and Turley, of Tennessee.
Twenty-six Senators had previously
been members of the House of Repre-
sentatives; twelve of them have been
Governors of their respective States;
thirty six held important State offices
before being elected to the Senate.
OF the Senators ten are over 70
wears of age. These are Allison, Cul-
lon, Hoar, Hawley, Morgan, Pettus,
Platt, of Connecticut, Jones, Stew
art and Teller. OF these Pettus, of
Alabama, is the oldest, being now in
his 80th year, and, despite his vener-
able age, made humorous speech at
the last session that set the Senate in
a roar The youngest Senator is But
Ter, of North Carolina, who is only 81,
with Beveridge as a close competitor
at 3S. In the House of Represents
tives there are four members who ere
over 20 years of age, the Oldest of
whom is Galusha Grow, of Pennsyl-
vania, who is n years of age. The
House has four members under 30
wears of age. The wealthiest man in
that body is Representative Connell,
of Pennsylvania, who is reputed to be
worth $1O,OOO,OOO. Other rich men in
the House are Hit, of Illinois; Stew
art, of Wisconsin; Sibley, of Pennsyl-
yania; Lee, of New York; Sprague, of
Massachusetts; Cannon, of Illinois;
Wadsworth, of New York; Lowering,
of Massachusetts; Burleigh, of Maine;
Adams and Dalzell, of Pennsylvania;
Chanler, Mcclellan and Rupert, of
New York, and Babcock, of Wiscon-
sin
Mr.. Coolidge's Investigations have
shown that the majority of the mem
bers of Congress have little beyond
their salaries upon which to live. In