New-York tribune., 1900-03-05
has incurred the en-

,,v Mr.. P. from -. has incurred the en-
-. ~ the leader. and when a bill OF his.
- roerjtorious measure, comes UP. General
= ot,,aots to il because of some slight defect in
..;,g The leader. with a cynical smile.
-. "a Mr. p and remarks, Il guess the bill
~, have TO go back for a reprint; while Mr.
u curses his luck and the printers devil. Fifty
-..s,,ar errors are corrected by the Committee
= Revision. but Mr.. p. was, as it seems. out
.,n one Of the powers that be. and his bill went
- n the committee whence it was reported
LOCKED OUT FOR A TIME.
The Member goes out of the chamber to send
.e1erram. When he returns he finds the door
,losed and the Sergeant-at-Arms refuses to let
-, in lust my luck" says the Member, and
- watts until the Sergeant-at-Arns, in search
for absentees on a call of the House. hauls
-. into the we'll and announces to the
cnealser that "Mr. N. is before the Bar Of the
gousa" Amid the laughter of the House some
40 moves that he be fined $3.50; but he is, of
.c,rse excused. although the motion is car
r,as by unanimous vote. The Member takes
his seat vowing inwardly to vote against the
hin under consideration. but quickly RECEIVERS his
.ar,ner and votes the other way
Ard when the gavel falls and the session
closes for the day, the Member. he goes to
GET his luncheon in the very inadequate res
taurant of the Capitol, is slapped on the shoul
der by his smiling up-country friend, E., Of
- who says to him in drawl: "Saay
why did you voooote fer that bill Of Aaaa's?
What will your constituents saay?" And the
Member as he sits down to luncheon with his
friend recalls the words of & ng-headed coun-
trvrnan who recently said TO him MY friend
you are going TO sit here and work hard for sew
eral months. You will watch for bad bills and
vote against many Of them. but some day you
will vote for one. perhaps only once while you
do this and the only thing that will ever be re-
membered of you will be that vote. All your
good work will be forgotten, but this vote will
always be remembered" So the Member goes
to his committee. after luncheon, feeling that
he is fast becoming cynic.
IN THE COMMITTEE ROOM
Committees are the place to learn how the
laws are made Here is a bill TO consolidate
lwo towns The Member reads it over is told
prvately by the introducer that the expense of
running a city Will be less than that OF two
towns; that the people want il, and-well, C
course this is merely incidental-'it will give
LIS a safe maj0rity in the united city" But to
the Members horror. when the opposition pre-
sents its side of the case, he finds that this is
another Job in fact, he concludes that ali bills
which opposed are iniquitous jobs. while at
the time they seem to be the most perfect
pieces of legislation imagnable-very much like
the two colored shields of the statue over which
the knights fought. He lives miles away from
The towns Of II. ". and does not know whether
they should be one or not, and begins to feel
that il is doubtful whether they should be, and
IL the end is inclined to say that he does not
care But the side in favor CT the bill is heard,
and he learns that the most active opponent Of
the bill does not want the union because ii will
ruin his business. and that he represents no one
but himself These assertions and others being
made with equal vigor the Members mind is a
EJ-fa al
local measure affecting my constituents only
says the introducer, ito which there is no op-
position This was the kind of bill he had
voted on this morning, and the Member feels a
little inclined to be cautious over little local
measures, after his earlier experience.
HAPPINESS NOT UNALLOYED.
Then comes I'D a very interesting amendment
to his own city charter-he is from one Of those
famous cities of the second class mot second
class cities; far from it,. He knows it is right;
he knows all about it; but be is told by the op-
ponents to the bill that it violates every prin-
ciple Of the constitution. from the Bill Of Rights
10 the Amendments of 1894. Here, however, he
uses his own knowledge. and is able to aid the
bill by his own information. He feels happy
and thinks he has at last done one piece Of
good work, when a messenger hands him tee-
gram, We note with sorrow your vote on As
Franchise bin. You have broken your pledge
10 us Signed by the secretary of the Civic
of the Second Ward. The words Of his country
friend come back TO the Member with renewed
force, and he wonders why he ever cast that
vote.
The hearing being closed the committee goes
into executive session What takes place there
the Member is not supposed to relate generally
but somehow good deal is reported, and he is
often criticised for what he did and often
did not do. The Member listens carefully TO all
that IS said, hears good deal Of politics and
much bad law. But after all. he decides that 1t
is Ike everything else in life. and that IL he
Sticks to his own idea of honor, which he has
practised for many years in his business
merchant. he must take the chances of casting
an occasional bad vote by mistake. He opposes
various bills in the executive session; he asks
10 have others reported. The committee is in
good humor and his pet bill is reported by the
committee along with lot Of little local meas
ures and he goes away. feeling pretty tired Gt
past Z O'clock) and very hungry. He wanders
down Safest. with his upstate friend with
the drawl and makes up his mind that, after
al there is a good deal of interest and no end
OF pleasure in being an Assemblyman. He
prepared TO swear at the Governor for not ap-
pointing his constituent to office but his up
state friend reminds him that there only
Two positions and two hundred applicants, and
NAT the Governor. of course. will place the ap-
pontment where ii will do the most good. and
soos I guess I'd do so, too; wouldn't you % a
and the Member has to admit that he would.
e-