Daily Kennebec journal., 1902-03-27
YOUNG MEMBERS.
How They Fare When They Go
to Congress.
lhe Present Hour is Prolific in Young
Men.
A Few Stories About LessIer of New
York.

me new member of Congress always
mas ms troubles, but it is far better lor
MN IL ne isn't very yOung-lookiis
man. says the Washington Post. IN
dlSnities may be heaped upon hlm' II
ne mas beardlesS face that VIII
sung more than the air of superiority
Whlch tried and experienced statesmen
assume in monopOlizing the manage
ment OF House proceedings. Even the
doorkeepers, courteous lot OF men
generally, are apt to hand the new
member, who comes as a youthful
stranger, a cruel rebuff, and slam the
fine mahogany doors in his face until
he establishes his identity. 1t becomes
terrible when aged colleagues request
the new ones to run errands like page
boy at 81 day, but that is something
more than mere jest. 1t has hap
pened frequently in the few snort
weeks that this Congress has been in
session. There are, in fact, trials ana
tribulations galore for the young man
who rises from an admiring constltu-
ency and breaks his way into Congress.
| The House this year is very prollllc'
not so much, perhaps, in very young
men as in men who look young ana
possibly act young. Mr.. Fitzgerald OF
| New York, is one of the youngest men
| in years of all the House, but, al
though only twenty nine, he looks old
er, and he has had two years of SER
vice, during which he has become ac-
quainted. Far less fortunate in that
regard is Montague Lessler Republi-
can, recently elected from n neighbor-
ing New York city district, who was
thirty-three years old January l last
and who, in point of service, is the
youngest of all the 357 members of the
popular legislative branch.
| Mr.. Lessler has been fighting his way
rapidly to recognition ever since Mr.
Cummings and Mr.. Littauer, both OF
| New York, walked arm in arm with
him before the bar of the House a few
days ago, so that the speaker would be
sure he was not swearing in one OF
| the pages instead Of full-tiedged con-
gresham. Mr.. Lessler is quite short,
has smooth, but intelligent face,
which, in repose, could well belong to
boy of sixteen. But his brain, his
voice, and his manner of expression are
those of a well-matured man, and he
has been progressing into the affection
and esteem of his colleagues in rapid
fashion. In fact, he might well be
styled the boy wonder, for he captured
Democratic stronghold in order to
get to Congress, and his story of how
he did it is of enhancing interest.
There are lots of staidgoing old
members of the House who do not eX-
hibit any degree of anxiety to get ac-
quainted with the newcomers, but who
keep the page boys going till their little
feet are weary. This type of states
man likewise caused Mr.. LeSSler some
weariness for a couple of weeks by
constantly requesting him to go on err
rands.
Looking still more youthful than Mr..
Lessler, Asbury Francis Lever of Lex
ington, s. c., took his seat at the be-
ginning of the term as successor OF the
late DIR. Stokes. Although only
twcnty-seven years old, Mr.. Lever
came with experience in public life.
The doorkeepers did not frown on him.
for he had been here several years as
DIR. Stokes's private secretary, and
most of the guardians at the Congress
sional portals knew him. However.
several Of the Republican members
tried to send him on errands, and Mr..
Lever is such courteous little fellow
that he would execute any small re-
quests rather than embarrass his elder
| ly colleagues. He is slender, his
features are delicate, he is dark and he
is hardly any taller than Mr.. Lessler,
but it might be observed that both
these young men are whirlwinds on the
stump. The South Carolinian is a
graduate of Georgetown University
Law school and served as delegate in
the state conventions of 1896 and 1900,
in the latter year having been elected
to the state legislature from Lexington
county.
Il have been occasionally requested
to run'errands," said Mr.. Lever. who is
| the only member Of his family that
| ever accepted public office, but that
doesn't bother me. Perhaps the fun
niest experiences that I have had were
with the pages and clerks of the House.
| who knew me when l was here myself
as a clerk. Yes, they all come to me
| with their troubles, and they have a
great many troubles"
There is another young Democrat OF
the House who has had some difficulty,
not serious by any means, in lodging
the watchful doorkeepers. He is John
]. Feely of Chicago, who is twenty-six
years old. and who defeated the au-
burn-haired Billy" Lorimer for Con-
gress. The current rumors around the
Capitol are that Mr.. Feely became so
exasperated at the interposition Of
bulky doorkeepers between himself and
the portals of the House that he ac-
quired the habit of gliding quietly by
when nobody was looking.
In Congress, as elsewhere, it is often
a great advantage to look the part, and
so it is that when Mr.. Edmund Spenser
Blackburn Of Winston-Salem, N. c.,
passes the doorkeepers and employees
bow low. He is only thirty-one years
old. and came to Congress through two
vigorous campaigns, in which he made
the mountain section of the Tar Heel
state ring with eloquent Republican
doctrine. All points considered, Mr..
Blackburn is probably far and away
the handsomest member of the House.
and he has ability besides, all of which
should assure even greater things than
membership in the House Of Repre-
sentatives.