Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1909-03-12

I'LL y Abh LA 1Oo
" Langdon's. Un-
@I'nn gotng to send for der ordinary cir
JAKE Ste1nerL" cumstances we
could let him go ahead with his minor
ity report for Gulf City. but as things
stand he'll have every newspaper re-
porter in Washington buzzing around
and asking impertinent questions
eyes, and you and l would have to
go to Paris to live with u life insur-
ance friends from New York, wouldn't
WEI" laughed Peabody sarcastically.
"Im going to send for Jake Steinert,"
he added.
"steinertT' Stevens calculated
"What"-
"Oh, that's all right. Maybe he can
suggest something" said Peabody, GO
ing to the telephone. We've too much
at stake to make a mistake. and Jake
may see a point that we've overlooked.
Luckily I saw him downstairs in the
grill room as we came through to the
elevator"
"Steinert is all right himself" con
tinued Stevens, "but his methods
"Can't be too particular now about
his methods-or ours, Stevens, when a
bull like Langdon breaks loose In the
political china shop. Fortune and rep
utation are both fragile"
A ring of a bell announced the arriv-
al of Jake Steinert, whese. reputation
as a lobbyist 81 adyaeced ability had
sptead wide IN the twenty years be
had spent in Washington. OF medium
height, sallow complexion, dark hair
and dark eyes, his broad shoulders fill
ed the doorway as he entered. An lily
kept mustache almost hid a thin lip
ped, forceful mouth, almost as forceful
as some of the language he used. His
eyes darted first to Peabody and then
to Stevens, waiting for either of them
to open the conversation.
The highest class lobbyists. those
who Swing the biggest DEALS" con
Germ themselves only with men who
can handle" or who control lawmak-
ers. They get regular reports and out
line the campaign. Like crafty spiders
they hide in the center of a great web
a web of bribery, threat. cajolery and
intrigue, intent on every victim that is
lured into the glistening meshes.
Only the small fry mingle freely with
the legislators in the open, in the ho.
tells and cafes and in the capitol CORR
doris.
Jake Steinert did not belong In either
of these classes; be ranked somewhere
between the biggest and the smallest
He coupled colossal boldness with the
most expert knowledge of all the intri-
cate workings of the congressional
mechanism. Given money to spend
among members to secure the defeat of
a bill, he would frequently put most of
the money in his own pocket and for
a comparatively small sum defeat ii
by influencing the employees through
whose hands it must pass.
"Sit down, Jake. Something to
drink" asked Peabody, reaching for a
decanter.
NO." grunted the lobbyist; don't
drink durin' business hours; only durin
the day"
"Well, jake" said the Pennsylvania
'you probably know something Of
what's going on In the naval affairs
committee"
"You mean the biggest job of the
session."
eyes"
"Sure thing, senator. It's the work
of an artist"
"The boss of the senate" smiled
grimly.
"Now, suppose a committeeman
named Langdon absolutely refused to
be taken care Of and insisted on hand
ing in a minority report tomorrow
with a speech that read like the Decla
ration of Independencsf'
Steinert jerked his head forward
quickly.
you mean what would l do If ]
was-er-if / was runnin' the job?"
"Yes."
Steinert leaned toward Peabody.
Where do 1 come In on thisT" he
asked suspiciously.
"Come, come, man." was the irritable
retort. 81 never let a few dollars
stand between myself and my friends
Gan right, senator"
The lobbyist thrust himself down In
his chair. puffed slowly at a cigar and
gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling.
"Few years ago." he began after a
minute or two. there was a Teller who