The Southern herald., 1910-10-28

= as extinct In Wash
lngton as the dodo is said to be every
where, Not only is Washington not
"cluttered" with ofiee-seekers at any
time any more. but the rising genera
tion of young people simply do not
know what the old-time type of Office
seeker in Washington was like. They
used TO swarm here. of course. by the
thousands, and go broke while wait
ing for the Office that never came, and
camp out on the park benches and all
that sort of thing. but that is all an
cient history. The joke about the chap
who comes to Washington at a change
Of administration to get billeted to the
court Of st, James, and who, after a
long period Of hope deferred and I'M
productive waiting. finally accepts
job juggling waste-paper baskets in
one of the departments, is Just about
as live joke, in so far as It refers
to this town, as the sewing
on-the-shirt Joke is In these days when
all men wear collar buttons and don't
know what a shirt button looks like
There are people coming here all
the time from all sections of the coun
try to take Jobs In the government
employ, but they're not otfce-seekers
Of the old-time type that existed before
the civil service law. They're Office
landers. They've got their billets.
They've passed their examinations,
got their rating papers and. most Of
them, their appointments, before ever
setting foot in Washington. Once in
while, when a man or woman has
passed a particularly high examlna-
tion, he or she comes on to Washing
ton before actually receiving an ap.
pointment, having reason to feel pret
ty secure that the appointment will
be forthcoming in due time. And
most of these people, too, look around
for something to do outside while
waiting for their government appoint.
ments to materialize They don't
haunt the corridors of the depart.
ments, nor clamor at the doors OF
officials, or sit around hotel lobbies
telling their wrongs, because they
know just where they stand, have no
wrongs and are altogether just as far
apart from the old-time typical office
seeker as l am from a Papuan.
Change Of Administration.
Even when the administrations
change there are no clamorous
crowds here looking for the higher
appointive and unciassifed positions
professional place hunters, that Is
Men engaged in business or In the
professions come here, 1t is true, al
the request Of their senators or repre-
sentatives as often as not when ad
ministrations change, to be introduced
to the new presidents and to have
their claims considered for certain
positions; but after a visit or so a
the White House these men, unlike
the old-time brood of offlce-seekers
quickly go back to their homes, in
stead of hanging around the town Civ
ing utterance to their walls over thu
delay In giving them the high-pait
work A Washingtonian doesn't have
to be very old to recall the seedy hun
dreds and even thousands of profes
sional politicians who used to haun
the cheaper Washington hotels ant
boarding houses, looking for govern
ment billets, at all times, whether th
administration was in process o
changing or not They'd get away II
arrears in their board bills and afte
} long months and often years of wait
ing their few remaining friends woult
take them in hand and chip in to SEM
them back to their homes. The.
J hung on around Washington as Ion
J as they could, because they hated t
90 back to their home towns to az
. knowledge that their big claims hadn'
been recognized, but that was wha
most Of them we're forced to In tn
long run.
People With Claims.
"And in other striking respects tn
Washington of today is far differen
even from the Washington of doze
or twenty years ago. For example
there is no longer any brood of plaut
ible and eloquent people with claim
before Congress in Washington, a
there we're for a good 30 years G
more after the war. Some of theI
were noted characters, usually of
pathetic sort, but many Of them, IL
cluding the women of the lot, wer
grafters and cheerful workers of tn
most pronounced description. Som
OF them had actual claims, with, hov
ever little Or no prospect Of gettin
them through and as little reason VIII
they should 3e put through, but mo:
of them had claims before Congres
that we're as purely imaginary a
they possibly could be.
Some of these female claimant
used to hypnotic confiding old boar,
ing house mistrosses by narratin
tales Of the enormous wealth that we
bound to come to them eventual
from their claims before Congress
and to promise the boardlng-hous
y women that they would not only pa
' them all of the money they owe
!. them, but contribute generously
ward the education Of their daughter