The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-16
Former AlabamiAn Writes of the Ma tiOnal Capital


 in passing, that some years since. met here. Ispache, the chief of the Creeks, who had come at the head of delega- ton of his tribe. He told me through an interpreter that he was born near We tumpka and was fourteen years old when the Greeks were removed to the West. suspected his ignorance of our speech was feigned but no further word could ex-. tract from him regarding his memories of Alabama.
 need not discuss the negro in Wash fngton; that would require letter to it. self. The place is commonly known 2as his paradise. Has he g paradise any where on earth? I believe, however, he Is man for man, happier here than any where and there are many reasons con- spring to make this so. Nor need at- tempt to do more than glance at Wash ington as the chosen home of the white man. his paradise as well. who is hbrelees, purposeiess, happy to grasp the skirt of circumstances, that circumstance gener- ally being a drink with a free lunch. oblivious though he may be as to where he will lay his head at night. Nothing was more firmly fixed in my own mind when came here to live than that there was notable element of exclusive socie- ty sitting aloof and looking with disdain upon the pomps and vanities of official life; that the doors opening into the home Of this Bfahmin cast swung upon their hinges at the touch and alone at the touch of lineage, culture and achievement. l now know this opinion was most absurd. The President and his family, cabinet of- fcers and their families together with a certain limited rich class dominate Wash ington society with the absolutism of an Emperor. The set, denoted by lineage, culture and refinement are found, if at all, fsilins over one another. striving, even begging, for attention. however slight from the greater official pe.sonages. Let me hasten to add that Washington like any other large American city furnishes innumerable instances of guilty ordered lives; of lives whose pleasure are simple, whose kindnesses are unaffected and whose duties are faced in Milton's fine phrase, As ever in the great Taskmaster's eye. These constitute no part of the eager driving crowd, called Society" who be- gowned and bedizened. scheme darkly and in the light to prosper their fortunes. The President does not need to preach a strenuous life to theso. Often in talking to friends from Alabama, I have com. mented on this particular impression, made by this element in Washington of city founded on one maxim, the devil catch the hindmost and these friends gen. erally assure me 1t is getting to be rue of home as we'll. Can this be 90?
 One of the most interesting sights 10 me in Washington is to see Secretary Hay and the historian Henry Adams taking their daily walk near Dupont Circle. Here is a friendship, you may reckon at once grounded in Catholic and 1 congenial tastes and the deeper affection | of man for man. Throughout the sea- son these two men can be seen, the one leaving his great office with its weighty | cares. the other. the stun air of delight l full studies and uniting their steps, make | straight away for the country as if they l had been comrades from their boyIlood. Manifestly Hay and Adams are friends and comrades. They lean upon one another and relish it. Is this Washing ton? Hardly.
 Another familiar sight until recently was the President of the United States l and his most intimate friend, the junior | Senator from Massachusetts. jogging horseback rotinl the circle, Mir. Roose- welt, talking in the quick, eager. earnest manner that marks him. Yet this is not Washington. It is unique. Like the | lovable walks of Mir. Hay and MT | Adams. tt furnishes an exception to prove the rdle.j Washingthon Is too ambitious, | Is too profoundly solicitous for an inn provem1ent in rank. an increase in pay, a betterment in social fortune to surrender itself in measure, however, small to the simpler joys of friendship. to comaraderie, What Is the old punning joke on lawyers? That their first principle is to get on, l then to get honor, then get honest. The application may be made,
 After Washington itself and the people looked at in the superficial way, Is the TN4s, AH RnA1 body has steadily grown in my admira- tion. The average intelligent American Is apt. think, to take a cynical, nay. a low view of the House of Representatives and as for the Senate, money-bags! money-bags-! I heard Senator Morgan recently voice with grave humor this popular opinion of the Senate. The ques- ton at table was whether If Congress remained in session until December 8th. mileage would be paid for both the ex- traordinary and regular sessions. Speak CT Cannon," said Senator Morgan, is keeping us here just to spite the Senate He knows we need that mileage"
 There are many rich men in both bodies They in no wise give the Houses their character and tone. The true character and tone of these is taken from the enormous quantity of business competent ly and carefully dispatched. I shall not go into the rather vain contention as to which is the abler of the two branches It is enough to say that on both sides of the dome picked representative men are engaged about the commanding in- terests of a powerful country. There are some mutton heads amongst them. but very few. The impressive thing Is the energy and address brought to bear in giving direction to the public business. It is wonderful to see this huge mass of men through which is surging the Demo- cratic spirit of our people and our time. driven onward in a struggle where the | weak must faint, many of the strong | fall out, leaving the strongest to survive and prove they can do or know, and this is quite as well, how to get things done.
 Judge Haralson told me once he call d on Judah P. Benjamin in NLondon soon after that eminent lawyer had removed there and settled to the practice of his profession. He asked the self-exilod Amer ican about his prospects and the reply was. What chance has a sardine at the bottom of box to get on top? My chances are equal to that sardine's."
 The young. ambitious statesman who arrives in Washington, animated by high hopes and ardent wishes for his country s welfare finds himself to his amazement Mir Benjamin's sardine. Like Benjamin some of them wrigg'e to the top. Short of genius, however it requires quantity