out the name and Mr. Green wrote it on a slip of paper. This was
placed in the pneumatic tube, which flashed it to Mr. David Hutcheson,
who is in charge of the reading-room of the new Library. The book was
ordered by Mr. Hutcheson from the shelf-clerk and sent to the desk in
the center of the reading-room by the Library carrier. It was then
taken to the big carrier in the basement and started on its journey to
the Capitol. The time consumed from the moment of sending the order by
pneumatic tube until the leather case containing the desired volume
deposited its cargo before Mr. Young was exactly ten minutes.
Mr. Young then sent for a copy of “Faust” in German, Hugo’s “Les
Châtiments,” and Hildreth’s “History of the United States,” vol. i.,
all on one order, and for the London _Times_ of 1815, the year of the
battle of Waterloo, on a separate order. The “Faust” and the history
arrived in eight minutes and “Les Châtiments” on the next carrier. The
order for the London _Times_ was an extreme test, as the volume is so
large that the carriers in the Library connecting with the shelves
would not accommodate it, and a messenger had to be sent from the main
desk to the top deck of the south stack, where the newspaper files are
shelved. When the messenger returned he just missed the carrier, which
had been sent off with one of the other volumes ordered, and he had to
wait the four minutes consumed by the transit of the carriers before
he could start the _Times_ on its journey. It arrived at the Capitol
just thirteen minutes after the order for it was sent.
The carrier consists of an endless cable, with two metal baskets at an
equal distance from each other. These work on the cable, the power for
which is furnished by the Library dynamo. The books are carried
through the tunnel, and when they reach the wheels which change the
direction, the speed is automatically slackened, so that the delivery
is made gently and without the possibility of damage. Smaller books
are first placed in a large sole-leather case. The carriers are taken
through the tunnel at the rate of six hundred feet per minute. Should
any trouble occur, the mechanism can be instantly stopped by an
electric button, one at each end. The machinery of the carriers and
its instalment was largely the work of Superintendent Green.
All who witnessed the test were surprised at the ease and swiftness
with which the books could be sent for, taken from the shelves, and
transported a distance of about a quarter of a mile. Librarian Young
was very much gratified. He characterized the system as remarkable.
The test also demonstrated that the arrangement of the books in their
new quarters is perfect, as those sent for were selected at random and
were readily picked out from the enormous collection by those in
charge of the shelves.
In this labyrinth of beauty, known as the Library of Congress, I believe
a man would see no fault. But women, except as allegorical characters,
such as imaginary figures of history, science, pomology, art, etc., have
no share in the scheme of ornamentation. But men of all ages, of all
branches of art, science, commerce, and literature, are memorialized in
painting, sculpture, writing, or suggestion of some kind, either
concrete or abstract. It is true, Sappho (whom I suppose the artist
thought was a man), grown dim in the long vista of years, is a lone
woman among the world’s _élite_. No George Eliot, nor George Sand, nor
Harriet Hosmer, nor Rosa Bonheur, nor Mrs. Browning, nor Mrs. Stowe now
stands near Holmes, Whittier, Longfellow, Byron, or Landseer. This
omission is not like our gallant American men.
I remember once at a table in London some distinguished English women
were complimenting the achievements of American women. I replied, “I
have met the college women of almost every European country. I do not
find American women in any way mentally superior to the women of Europe.
But American women accomplish much more than their sisters east of the
Atlantic simply because of our men. Now here in England your husband and
brothers insist on silence, but with us if a woman sings or talks well
it is the hand of her husband or father that leads her to the front, and
it is the kindness of our men that starts us on our public life, helps
us at hard places, and encourages us everywhere. No, it is not our
_women_ who are superior, it is our men, our gracious, helpful men.”
Whatever women in the United States have accomplished beyond their
sisters in foreign lands has been done because of the friendly, cordial,
helpful encouragement of their husbands, brothers, and fathers; so in
this Library the womanhood of the world is slighted in the house of her
friends.
XXIV
THE PENSION OFFICE
The Pension building is situated on Judiciary Square, near G Street. It
is the largest department building in Washington, being 400 feet from
east to west and 200 from north to south, and 75 feet high.
The walls surround an interior courtyard, two galleries extend around
this court, and from these galleries access is attained to the rooms on
the second and third stories. The building cost half a million dollars;
it is of mixed architecture, not beautiful in appearance, but the best
lighted, heated, and ventilated department building in the city. It is
sometimes called “the Meigs (name of architect) Barn,” because its
outline is not unlike a Pennsylvania red barn.
When the architect had finished escorting General Sheridan through the
building, just after its completion, the former inquired
enthusiastically, “Well, Sheridan, how do you like it?”
“I find only one fault,” said the General, solemnly; “it is fireproof.”
At the close of the year 1900 there were on the rolls 993,529
pensioners. During 1901 there were added 44,225 new ones, and 3,567 were
restored to the rolls, making in all 1,041,321. This number is 4,000 in
excess of that of any other year.
There remain on the rolls the names of four widows and five daughters of
Revolutionary soldiers. In the last report of the Commissioner of
Pensions but one soldier of the war of 1812 survived. He was at that
time (September 10, 1901) 101 years of age. Of the Mexican War, the
names of 1,086 soldiers and 3,479 widows are still on the rolls; of the
Indian wars (1832–1842), 7,568 survivors and 8,109 widows. The war with
Spain left a legacy of 2,643 invalids, 1,176 widows, and 650 nurses,
drawing pensions. Besides these there is the great army of Civil War
pensioners.
If the government would, at least twice each year, publish in each
county the names of persons receiving pensions, the amount paid, and the
alleged cause of disability, it would bring the blush of shame to the
face of many a liar who now draws a handsome sum from his government.
The money is largely paid into the United States Treasury not by the
rich of our country, but by the laboring class of men and women.
Patriotism which requires a life-long stipend is of doubtful color.
Soldiers of the Spanish War at the time of their discharge were obliged
to sign papers declaring any disability which existed. Then each soldier
was examined by the surgeon and his company officers, and these again
certified either to his perfect health or to his disability. It was
found that the health of many had been greatly improved by exercise in
the open air, free life, and plain diet.
Eleven years after the Civil War only six per cent. of the Union
soldiers and sailors had applied for a pension; now only a little over
three years has passed since the close of the one hundred days’ war with
Spain, yet more than twenty per cent. of the soldiers and sailors of
that war have applied for pensions.
The great majority of those mustered out had declared over their own
signatures, and that of the surgeon and commanding officer of the
company to which they belonged, that they had no disability whatever.
Yet thousands of these very men have applied for pensions, and in their
applications have set forth in minute detail the large number of
disabilities acquired in the service. One man within forty-eight hours
after his discharge as a sound man discovered ten physical ills, any one
of which should suffice to secure the bounty of a generous government.
I submit the following extract from Commissioner Evans’ last report:
A good object-lesson in this regard is furnished by the history of a
volunteer regiment which was recognized as one of the “crack”
regiments in service during the war with Spain. Its membership was
notably a fine body of men, and its officers were men of experience
and ability and skilled in military matters. Few regiments had as good
a record for service as this one. It was at Camp Alger for a time,
then at Camp Thomas, then at Tampa, Fla.; thence sailed for Santiago
de Cuba, where it was placed in the trenches and did good service
until it returned to Montauk. From there it was returned to the place
of its enrolment, and at the expiration of a sixty days’ furlough was
mustered out of service.
This regiment had a membership of 53 commissioned officers and 937
enlisted men. There were no battle-field casualties, but 1 officer and
22 men died of disease while in the service. _The published report of
the medical officer on the muster out of this regiment shows that 1
per cent. of the men of the regiment were improved by military
service; 5 per cent. were in as good physical condition as at time of
enlistment; 24 per cent. were but slightly affected, and, as a rule,
the troubles were not traceable to military service. Of the remainder
(70 per cent.), or 528 men, the general condition was as follows_:
Irritable heart, due to fever 365
Mitral regurgitation 4
Chronic bronchitis 214
Acute bronchitis 47
Phthisis 3
Gastritis 158
Enlarged or congested liver 116
Enlarged spleen 316
Inflammatory condition of intestines 53
Irritability of bladder and incontinence of urine 76
Nephritis 5
Hemorrhoids 11
Varicocele 61
Inguinal hernia 3
Rheumatism 26
Myopia 19
Slight eye strains 29
Slight deafness, due to quinine 17
Chronic nasal catarrh 9
Sprain of back 3
Old dislocation, right shoulder 1
Gunshot wounds, left forearm 2
Badly set Colle’s fracture 1
Secondary syphilis 2
Suffering from pains in the muscles, especially the calves of the
legs and lumbar region, loss of weight from 10 to 30 pounds,
accompanied by more or less debility 471
Relapses of fever continuing to recur up to January 4, 1899 87
Up to June 30, 1901, 477 claims for pension have been filed in this
bureau on account of service in said regiment for disabilities alleged
to have been contracted during the brief term of its existence.
I am fully convinced that a small pension of $6 or $8 per month for
alleged obscure disability, such as diarrhea, piles, rheumatism,
impaired hearing, bronchitis, etc., is conferring a misfortune upon a
young man—in fact, a life-long misfortune—for the reason that it puts
him to a decided disadvantage in the race for a livelihood always
thereafter in the way of securing employment.
The fact that he is drawing a “disability” pension puts him on the
list as disabled and unable to perform the amount of labor that is
expected of a sound man, and it seems like misplaced generosity on the
part of our government to thus place a handicap upon the young
ex-soldier in his search for employment, as it is well known that a
large percentage of the young men that served in the war with Spain
depend upon manual labor for a livelihood.
Mr. Eugene F. Ware, the new Commissioner, has issued the following
table, to show the difference between the regulars and volunteers of the
Spanish-American War:
────────────────────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────
REGIMENTS │ │ │ │ _Claims
│ │ │ │filed for
│_Killed_ │_Wounded_│_Missing_│pensions_
────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────
Volunteers— │ │ │ │
1st—District of Columbia│ 0│ 0│ 0│ 472
9th—Massachusetts │ 0│ 0│ 0│ 685
33d—Michigan │ 0│ 0│ 0│ 573
34th Michigan │ 0│ 0│ 0│ 615
8th Ohio │ 0│ 0│ 0│ 652
│ —————│ —————│ —————│ —————
Total │ 0│ 0│ 0│ 2,997
│ │ │ │
Regulars— │ │ │ │
6th U. S. Infantry │ 17│ 106│ 17│ 162
7th U. S. Infantry │ 23│ 93│ 0│ 249
13th U. S. Infantry │ 18│ 90│ 0│ 87
16th U. S. Infantry │ 13│ 107│ 17│ 143
24th U. S. Infantry │ 12│ 75│ 6│ 123
│ —————│ —————│ —————│ —————
Total │ 83│ 471│ 40│ 764
────────────────────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────
It is believed that this spectacle, which indicates lack of patriotism,
is due to the solicitation of the pension agent, who receives $20 for
every pension secured. Now this condition of things is an outrage. The
name of every man who receives a pension should be published. If he
really deserves it, no other citizen will object; if not, he should be
scorched by the community.
Is it any wonder that with such a raid upon the United States Treasury
that the pension work is slow, and that many soldiers and widows of
soldiers of the Civil War have not yet received their deserved pensions?
It seems to me the following extract from the report of the Commissioner
of Pensions, in reference to illegalities connected with applications,
may be of interest as showing the condition of affairs in 1902:
The 226 indictments tried, which resulted in convictions, were based
upon the following charges:
False claim 64
False certification 26
False affidavit 16
False personation 5
Perjury 40
Forgery 18
Illegal fee 26
Personating government officer 21
Retaining pension certificate 2
Prosecuting claims while a government officer 4
Conspiracy 2
Embezzlement 1
Attempted bribery 1
It has been the uniform practise not to recommend prosecution in any
case unless the criminal intent of the parties was clearly shown; and
in the cases of soldiers and their dependents, to resolve every doubt
in their favor, and not to recommend prosecution where it was apparent
that they had been drawn into a violation of the law by others. As a
result of this practise, the majority of the convictions secured were
against attorneys, agents, sub-agents, magistrates, and others
responsible for the preparation and filing of false and fraudulent
claims and evidence, and those who falsely personated soldiers or
soldiers’ widows.
Eugene F. Ware succeeded Mr. Evans as Commissioner of Pensions early in
1902. Mr. Ware is a Kansas man, prominent both in the literature and
politics of that State for the last twenty-five years. He has stirred up
matters in the Pension Bureau by making even the humblest clerk feel
that good work will meet with promotion, and that no influence can keep
inefficiency in that responsible place. He has also announced that no
one who habitually uses intoxicants can be entrusted with the
responsibility of looking after the aged and indigent soldiers, forlorn
widows, and helpless children. The consequence is some have been
dismissed for drunkenness, others have resigned, others have quit their
cups. Mr. Ware comes from a state where prohibition has made the jail a
useless building except for storing the great surplus of corn. One of
his poems says:
The horse-thief went, the cowboy joined the church,
The justice of the peace is laughed to scorn;
The constable has tumbled from his perch,
The school has left the sheriff in the lurch—
The jail is full of corn.
His poem on John Brown, the hero of freedom, satisfies. The first three
verses read as follows:
States are not great except as men may make them;
Men are not great except they do and dare.
But states, like men, have destinies that take them—
That bear them on, not knowing why or where.
The why repels the philosophic searcher,
The WHY and WHERE all questionings defy,
Until we find, far back in youthful nurture,
Prophetic facts that constitute the WHY.
All merit comes from braving the unequal,
All glory comes from daring to begin;
Fate loves the state that, reckless of the sequel,
Fights long and well, whether it lose or win.
XXV
STATE, WAR, AND NAVY DEPARTMENTS
The State, War, and Navy departments are in one handsome four-storied
granite building, with a frontage of 343 feet and a depth of 565 feet,
situated on Pennsylvania Avenue, just west of the White House. The
building is one of the handsomest in the city, being of the French
Rennaissance, modified by American ideas. It has five hundred rooms and
two miles of marble halls. In the west wing of the building the
Secretary of War, Hon. Elihu Root, and General Miles, Commander of the
Army, have handsome rooms for themselves and their many assistants. In
the east wing can be found the Secretary of the Navy and rooms for the
Admirals and their corps of helpers, and in the south wing the popular
Secretary of State, the Hon. John Hay, with a comparatively small number
of assistants.
STATE DEPARTMENT
In the department of the Secretary of State one sees the portraits of
all the great men who have occupied the position of Secretary of State
from the time of Washington down to the present occupant. Most people
would be interested in the Huntington portraits of Grant, Sherman, and
Sheridan, and in a copy of Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of Washington. In
the State Department the most interesting are the portraits of Thomas
Jefferson, 1789, Washington’s first term; Daniel Webster, 1841 and 1850;
William H. Seward, 1861 and 1865; Elihu B. Washburne, 1869; Hamilton
Fish, 1869; William M. Evarts, 1877; James G. Blaine, 1881 and 1889; and
F. T. Frelinghuysen, 1881. A portrait of Lord Ashburton recalls the
“Ashburton Treaty” of 1842, which defined the boundaries between the
United States and the British Possessions in North America, and provided
for the suppression of the slave-trade.
In the State Department are some of the most precious archives of the
nation. Here can be found the original Declaration of Independence, the
Constitution with the original signatures. Here can be seen the
handwriting of most of the rulers of the world during the last hundred
years affixed to treaties. One of the most unique of these is a treaty
with Japan. The clear Japanese characters cover many pages, the royal
signature is at the top, and you read from the bottom. The treaty was
brought to Washington by two Japanese officials of high rank, who were
charged with its safe delivery on penalty of their lives. One day they
triumphantly entered the State Department bearing aloft on two bamboo
poles a curiously constructed box, in which was the precious document.
They were greatly relieved when they saw it safely deposited with the
Secretary of State.
Here are the papers of Washington, Adams, and Jefferson; here are all
the flags taken in all the wars in which the United States have engaged.
[Illustration:
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
]
The diplomatic rooms are of great beauty. Here Mr. Hay receives foreign
ministers, consuls, and special messengers from foreign lands. Here at
almost any time can be seen members of some of the thirty-five foreign
embassies and legations. Many of these legations own and maintain
handsome residences. A statement prepared by District Assessor Darneille
shows that foreign governments own over $500,000 worth of real property
in the District of Columbia, the estimated value of the land being
$330,776, and the improvements $284,500. The French and Chinese
governments have recently purchased valuable tracts of land, and will
erect magnificent legation buildings which will increase the value of
property held by foreign governments to nearly $1,000,000.
Probably the most characteristic feature of both political and social
life in Washington is afforded by the presence of these legations. The
members are more conspicuous here than at any other national capital in
the world, except, possibly, Peking. Not to speak of Asiatic costumes
and customs, European manners and morals, if we except those of England
and Germany, which are much the same as our own, contrast most decidedly
with their American correspondents. Most of the men are pure
pagans—cynics and materialists. They look upon a profession of
Christianity at its best as a mark of intellectual weakness, and at its
worst of hypocrisy. Their own faces, however, do not indicate that they
are exceptionally broad-minded or good and sincere men.
I have seen them in public receptions stand on one side and chatter in
French, Spanish, or Italian, poking all sorts of fun at the hostess and
her entertainment, and then, as she approached, rush to greet her with a
mock homage which made my flesh creep. I have heard them declare that
“all Americans are cads,” and the next instant prove the less sweeping
proposition that “all cads are not Americans” by fulsome compliments to
a distinguished Justice or Senator.
They, however, dispense a generous hospitality, and society, which has
learned to estimate them by their own cynical standards, and is neither
elated by their smiles nor annihilated by their snubs, cultivates them
as best suits its own purpose.
The United States supports abroad thirty-eight embassies and legations,
consisting of ministers, secretaries, and attachés, besides about one
thousand consuls.
The Congressional Directory gives the personal history of Secretary Hay
as follows:
JOHN HAY, of the District of Columbia, Secretary of State (800
Sixteenth Street, Northwest), was born in Salem, Ind., October 8,
1838; graduated at Brown University in 1858, and studied law in
Springfield, Ill.; was admitted to practise before the Supreme Court
of Illinois in 1861, but immediately came to Washington as Assistant
Secretary to President Lincoln, remaining with him until his death;
acted also as his Adjutant and Aide-de-Camp, and served under Generals
Hunter and Gillmore, and was brevetted Colonel; was appointed
Secretary of Legation to France, March 22, 1865; retired March 18,
1867; appointed Secretary of Legation to Austria-Hungary, May 20,
1867, where he acted as _chargé d’affaires_ until August 12, 1868;
appointed Secretary of Legation to Spain June 28, 1869; retired
October 1, 1870; then became an editorial writer on the New York
_Tribune_, remaining five years, during seven months of which he was
editor-in-chief; removed to Cleveland in 1875, and took an active part
in the Presidential canvasses of 1876, 1880, and 1884; was appointed
Assistant Secretary of State November 1, 1879; retired May 3, 1881; in
that year he represented the United States at the International
Sanitary Congress in Washington, of which he was president; was
appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Great
Britain March 19, 1897; retired September 19, 1898; appointed
Secretary of State September 20, 1898.
THE WAR DEPARTMENT
In time of war or just following a war the most interesting department
is that which is now occupied by the Hon. Elihu Root, of New York City.
He is noted as a great corporation lawyer, and at first seemed to
consider that the government of the United States could be run on the
same principles as a great corporation—that is, “We shall do as we
please in spite of public opinion.” But when he was severely brought to
task several times he found his limitations.
In spite of this, the report of this department, dated December, 1901,
shows difficult, conscientious, magnificent work performed by the War
Department since the close of the war with Spain. Possibly the quiet
prejudice which exists throughout the country against Mr. Root is
largely the result of his treatment of General Miles. He does not like
the old General, but the country does. Mr. Root may do many splendid
things before the farmer, who only reads his weekly paper and to whose
brain new things come slowly, forgives him for rudeness to a man of the
people, whose merit has placed him at the head of the army. Any one who
thinks he wins favor by calling General Miles “old fuss and feathers,”
as some newspapers do, quite forgets that the American people like fuss
and feathers. In spite of the above, Mr. Root is a great patriotic man,
who, with mental ability enough to earn $100,000 per year, gives his
country the benefit of his talents for what must seem to him the paltry
sum of $8,000. As an organizer and great executive officer he has no
superior now in the government employ. His last report shows the army
located as follows:
DISTRIBUTION OF THE ARMY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1901