Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 2.djvu/192

 178 CONGRESSIONAL PAPERS.— ILLUSIONS DISPELLED.

��the people. The "evening session" member drops into obscurity after the customary "notice" of his effort by the local newspaper, and his popularity with such of his constituents as judge congressmen by their speeches only, is measured by the number of printed copies sent into his district.

Those who estimate the work of con- gress by the speech-making, or the pro- ceedings in open session, fail to do that honorable body common justice. The real work in both branches is done in the committee-rooms. Here is where the multitude of petitions are sent, pa- pers referred, arguments offered, wit- nesses examined, and all the details of legislation perfected. The "sacred right of petition" is being indulged in to an extent never before known in the history of American legislation, and it adds heavily to the burdens of com- mittees who are obliged to take cogni- zance of their contents. During the first five months of the forty-fifth con- gress, the number of petitions referred, daily, to the appropriate committees • varied from one hundred to three hundred, the bulk of which went to the committee of ways and means, com- merce, and invalid pensions. The humblest citizen in the obscurest ham- let in the land may petition congress for a redress of greivances, payment for services rendered, or for damages in- flicted upon his barnyard fence during our "late unpleasantness," and rest as- sured that his petition will be as care- fully introduced, referred, indexed, filed, and considered as if it were a mat- ter of the gravest national importance. During the five months previously re- ferred to, over five thousand bills were introduced in the house alone, nearly all of which were read and referred to committees. A few pass, under a sus- pension of the rules, but by far the larger portion are carefully considered in committee before being reported to the house. The house meets at noon, daily, and usually adjourns before five o'clock ; but the committee-man's work, like a woman's, is never done. The ablest men on all the leading commit- tees work more hours, and tax their

��physical endurance and mental powers to a greater degree than they would if at home in their counting-rooms or offices. The ability of the practical legislator is tested more in the commit- tee room than upon the floor of the house, for it has been found upon many noted occasions that fine oratory and practical hard work are not closely re- lated. Both are essential, and neither can well be dispensed with, particular- ly the hard work. There are many men in congress who seldom make a speech, whose names are scacely ever seen in the papers outside of their own states, who are comparative strangers to the readers of the Record, whose good judgment and practical sound sense has great influence in shaping legislation and enacting good laws. The daily sessions then, instead of being a true exponent of the work being done by our law-makers, are merely for the pur- pose of comparing notes, supplying omissions, perfecting details, or smooth- ing up work roughed out by the differ- ent committees. The "field days" are elaborately reported and highly colored by correspondents v/hose fertile imagi- nations are equal to any emergency ; but the business days and weeks when no "oratory" is heard or expected, are but little noticed either in Washington or the country at large. These are the days and weeks when the clear-headed and far-seeing practical men of business lay aside all nonsense and political bun- combe, and use their best judgment in devising ways and means whereby our good uncle, whose surname is Samuel, is enabled to provide for the support of his large and growing family, and to pay his honest debts. The appropria- tion bills are drawn with very great care and require many weeks of the severest mental labor to perfect them. To pro- vide /or the support of every branch of the government in all its details is the task allotted to the committee on ap- propriations. The army and navy, the consular and diplomatic, the river and harbor, the pension, the post-office, the Indian, the legislative, the deficiency, and the sundry civil are the principal ap- propriation bills that emanate from this

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