Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-01-11

The presses of the largest printing es-
Establishment in the world are now ISSUING
a book that will have a national. If not
an international, interest. And yet 1t Will
never be sold in bookstores or adVer-
tised in the literary journals of the coun-
try. 1t is the biographical directory OF
all the men who have served in Congress
from the beginning of the government
TO the end of the SiXty-first Congress
1t will not be a complete biographical
enclypodeia of American statesmen. Tor
while it will tell the life story OF NC
Kinley, 1t will not mention Roosevelt or
Taft. 1t is exclusively congressional
directory and it will mention only those
Presidents and other high officers VINO
have at some time in their careers served
in the House of Representatives or the
Senate.
Aside from these biographies the VOL
ume will contain a complete record Oh
the personnel and organization OF every
Congress from the First to the SlNH
first as well as of the continental con-
crosses of revolutionary and ante-constl.
tutional days. Its immense historical
value and its great interest to the STU
dent of American affairs are obvious
| line statesmen VINO nave entered upoii
the legislative stage and passed OH
| again a V e
Many Have Served been many.
on Legislative Stage. twenty thou
sand men have come to the Senate ana
House in the 137 years since the CONT
mental Congress first began its sessions
great many of these have come ana
stayed for one term and then have passed
out of national political life and the halls
of political fame have known them no
more.
: Then again there are others VINO came
| to Congress, dropped out again, and ul-
| timately re-entered public lite IN other
capacities. Some have reached the preSi-
dency-as Mckinley and Lincoln; some
! have reached the Supreme Court some
| the cabinet and some gubernatorlal hon
ors in their states. But these, of course,
have been few A greater proportion
| have become lame ducks, who could rely
on their friends who remained IN Con-
gress to provide them with crutches In
| the shape of good commissionerships and
divers and sundry other places. Inc
United States and Canada might get
| into a boundary dispute. a half dozen
lame ducks could be given commissioner
| ships And some even have been con-
tent, after their districts would return
! them no more, to return to Washington
| in subordinate positions at the capitol
| The doorkeepership, the superintendency
of the document room, journal clerk
| ship and many minor positions have ap-
| pealed to the men who lost out.
| Some of these things appear in the big
directory that is forthcoming, but many
of them do not
Statistical Study Yet there are
of Various Careers. ttoa,
study Of the careers of the 10000 men
who have crossed the threshold of Con-
| gress an exceedingly interesting thing
| Perhaps some patient statistician will
| have the time to sit down and figure out
| how many, many of these 10000 states
| men and near-statesmen have left Con-
gress as the result of personal or party
| defeats, how many have resigned or de.
clined reelection. how many have come
back In minor positions. and the like
1t may we'll be imagined that to gel
| together the salient features of the life
| histories OF more than 10000 men has
been no insignificant job. OF course
| much work has been done along this line
| in the past, but the forthcoming volume
| is much more ambitious than any of its
| predecessors. Senator Reed Smoot is the
| presiding genius who directed the collec-
| ton and preparation of the material. he
| being chairman of the joint committee
| on printing. The immediate work of COM
| piling, revising and editing the new edi-
+, ton was intrusted to Henry NJ. Rose
| assistant secretary of the Senate, and
| Ansel Wold printing clerk of the Senate
| With force of clerks they have beer
| busy for more than fifteen months
searching the journals, the official record:
| and old manuscripts. securing the coun
| try for information bearing upon the per
| sonnet of the congresses, following every
| avenue that would lead to the fixing OF
| an important date. the revelation of &
! given name, the correct spelling of a sur
name, the post Office address any Other
| fact Of Importance in the lives and ca