The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1907-01-24
A WASHINGTON LETTER.
Washington, D. c.. Jan. IS. 1907.

During the week just past the
paramount issue in the senate has
! been the Brownville Affair."" Sen
/, ator Foraker seems to be determined
to utilize it to the utmost possible
extent in antagonizing the president.
Democrats occasionally contribute
their mite toward the general excite
ment, thinking that by aggravating
this fight within the republican party
they may reap some benefit. Many
of the minority. however. have shown
a friendliness for the president in this
matter. and have openly expressed
their approval Of what he did in this
connection. Among those so express
ing themselves is Senator Carmack.
of Tennessee, whose term expires on
March 18th. next and who was defeat
ed for reelection last spring by a
man whose chief claim to fame was
his skill as violinist. of which he
made profitable use during the cam
paign. Senator Carmack may be
classed with the fire-eating contingent
! in the senate. chief amongst which is
"Pitchfork" Tillman, of South Car
DINA. Senator Foraker. who in his
younger days was known as Fire
Alarm Foraker" is himself a pro-
minent figure in this class. Senator
Carmack in his speech this week
characterized him as "bifurcated.
peripatetic volcano in perennial erup-
ton Senator Carmack is an eloq-
uent speaker, and his defeat is one of
the inexplicable things which hap
pen in politics from time to time.
He is independent and forceful. and
if there is faint or flaw in his re-
cord in the Senate it has not been
| brought to light.
Your correspondent contemplates
leaving the city this week. and hence
will be unable to write another letter
from this point this season. This is
his fifth season in Washington. and
as he muses. upon the scenes and in
cidents which have come under his
observation here his emotions are
diverse and complex. He has been
a witness to the panorama of many
lives during a brief period of their
existence. He has beheld phases of
human life and activity which have
been new as they have been novel and
interesting to him. He has caught
glimpses of pagantry. and he has
looked into the monotony OF routine
existence in quieter spheres of action.
This city offers exceptional opportun-
tiles for studying human nature in
diverse and distinct settings. Pomp
and pretentiousness may be seen in
juxtaposltion to lowliness and huns
ility of rank and opportunity. The
glaring farce of political expediency
throws many strange pictures upon
the canvass. The civil service offers
a suggestive field for observation.
, go to the lobby of the pension Office.
f and watch the coming and going and
the monotony of the daily round of
the men and women who people that
edifce. Here is decrepitudee and
buoyant youth side By side. and all
ages intervening. A man crippled
and MANNED. with gray locks. APP
parently in the last stages of senility.
, is glancing over papers and docu-
d ments. and does not appear to know
just what he will do with them.
. Obviously he is an old soldier. There
: are many of them similarly disabled
: bv the loss of limbs or parts of limbs.
y Then there are others who have come
IL into the service sound and hearty
!, and who have in the course of long
and monotonous service lost theil
# vlgor, their eagerness and their enthu-
siasm. Their locks have gradually
fallen out or turned gray. and they are
: approaching the tide in their lives
\ when they view with alarm the time
when they shall be dismissed on ac
count of old age. And if they ar.
typical they have not laid aside any
of their earnings during their year.
IN the service and must expect to ac
cept the aims Of charity. Gray hair
ed. matronly women wander by. pass
ing from one room to another. some
pitifully decrepit; and they suggest
that something is wrong when grand.
mothers on the brink of the grave
must toll amid such cold and un
sympathetic surroundings. Then there
are the young and middle agee
women. In fact the human family
seems fully represented from extreme
old age down to mere youth. mer
and women. Perhaps their lives are
not so dreary as they appear to the
casual spectator. 1t may be that
years of monotony is resting to them.
rather than maddening, as it might
seem to the FESTIVE onlooker. But
this is only small part of the field