The Washington herald., 1909-03-07

ing his tail in the seven-year habitat OF
the fuzzy bear, the city has removed the
towel OF pulverized ice from its fevered
brow. and Congress has turned its shin
ing morning face toward the risen sun.
1t is no longer necessary to keep the
Avenue and elevators clear day and night
for special emergency messages, and in
the overf1owing JOY of their hearts the
late rebuke-drafting committees are cele-
brating their emancipation with vast IL
bations Of gaseous water in the once
again serene coat rooms.
The cooling bird of spotless plumage
rOOsts sleepiIy where only few days
ago the sword Of Damocles, or something
that sounded ike it, dangled, and the
stuffed club and the Ananias Club have
abdicated in favor of the white-robed
angel Of Peace with an upper case P All
Of which Is very sweet and delightful
Here's hoping that il may last
The past week has been one Of up and
in and down and out. Many of the old
familiar faces. have passed into the shad-
ows Of political life while others have
come quietly out Of the morning horizon
and taken their places In the one case
the account Is balanced and the book
closed: IN the other the account is just
opened. Men come and 50 with the years
like the shadows. but the government Of
which they are a part for little while
has no expired term. II IS a SOLDERING re-
Election. this observation OF the heeting
Httleness Of official life. The applause Of
listening Senates to command to-day, to-
morrow a hole I'm a mill pond. And the
ion, aFn Is IL all worth
while?
The names of many who have well won
national fame by years Of excellent serv-
ice were erased from the rolls Of the
House Thursday and viii be heard Of no
more. Some few will be retained in other
nelds OF national service, but the great
majority Will go back home and vegetate-
Their absence has caused them 10 lose
their grip on matters local and they md
themselves on the shelf. Their party
feels that they have received all that
they are entitled TO and has no further
use for them
few have found the life here so pleas
ing that they remain here indefinitely.
hanging on the edge Of things As rule,
however. retirement from the House IS
retirement from public life Whether IN
glory or in the passive mediocrity which
is almost failure, the story is written and
the book is closed
As in the House. so largely in the Sen
ate The man who is knocked out after
months Of desperate effort and resistance
is regarded rs is the unsuccessful man in
business life. He is Pitied in a disinter-
ested way. which is in itself a half in
suit Only the winner is supported and
respected. Lose. and you lose alone. PO-
litical friendship has no use for the under
dog. II "A Senator IS defeated by losing
the support Of his constituents, they at
tribute il 20 some ineXcusable weakness
on his part and disgUstedly wash their
hands Of him. As a rule, with hardly an
exception his hope Of further political use
fulness lies entirely with the Federal adj
ministration Illustrations Of this fact
are plentiful and conspicuous.
This practice has become so usual that
what is known as IN administration
man of either party is pretty certain
TO be taken care Of. George Gray. of
Delaware. whose hat covered a large sec
tion of the Democratic minority I'm the
Senate. WAS promptly made a Federal
judge with a life tenure by a Republican
President Francis Marion CockriH, OF
-NiccOull- tlO ~ htlN AfHICcCllLtu Ills
State in the Senate for many years. and
who always tried to be right, rather than
partisan wheu the two confiicted, was
given a most desirable position on the
Interstate Commerce Commission by the
same appreciative authority Joseph Q.
: Blackburn. Of Kentucky. whose State
discredited itself immeasurably by finally
rejecting him after years Of eminent
service was promptly given about the
L a..
Now il appears that Henry NJ. Teller
OF Colorado. who concluded thirty years
service in the Senate last Thursday. will
be continued on the monetary commis
sion at a very pleasant salary. Here are
the cases Of four iliustriOus Democratic
statesmen whose distinguished services
TO their country have been promptly rec
ognized by an opposition administration.
It is now semi-officlaIly stated that
Senator Fulton. of Oregon. who termi-
mated his first six-year engagement In the
Senate last Thursday, will be rewarded
for his faithful adherence 10 adminstra-
tiOn policies by an appointment to the
Federal bench In a district especially
carved out for him in his own State by
Congressional enactment this winter. Je-
ter c. Pritchard. of North Carolina, and
Louis f. McComas, of Maryland. were
both rewarded for fidelity with appoint
ments 10 the Federal bench.
But when one has been a Congressional
Senator rather than White House Sena-
tc- he is a horse OF another color When
his service terminates he bestrides a log
on the turbid waters OF Salt River while
the good boys loll under the plum trees on
the banks and echo the chortles Of deris-
ion from the master. Well-earned emil
nence. ability. qualifications. all are OF no
consequence II the lame duck has at times
dared question the inspiration Of the
divine uplift-
Is anybody so daft as to expect that
Joseph Benson Foraker will be given a
$4,000 sinecure for life by this ad-
ministration? Hardly Mr. Taft's pres
ent friendship for Foraker begins and
ends with the formers statement last
summer that he never kicks a man
when he is down" But Mr.. Foraker is
very far from being down. Nobody has
as yet Informed him OF it except Mr. Taft,
and he would not believe II If they did.
He is hot fighter to the end. and that is
not yet
James Alexander Hemenway, Of Indi-
ana. closed a term Of little over four
years in the Senate last Thursday. For
a long time there were no marks against
him on the books, but for some weeks
past he has said what he believed to be
right Hence he IS persona non grata in
the neighborhood Of Lafayette Park.
Congress is trying feverishly TO find a Job
for him within its province and will prob
ably succeed.
Chester L Long. the altltudinous totem
pole Of Medicine Lodge. State of Kansas.
has plodded along conscientiously and
supposed he was well thought OF by the
powers that be. but some months ago a
tennis cabinet analysis disclosed struc-
tural weakness and he was chalked for