subjects. The law library of over 92,000 books yet remains in the
Capitol building.
The Force Library is a fine collection of books, manuscripts, and papers
concerning the early history of America, especially of the Colonial
times.
Every picture, photograph, piece of music, engraving, dramatic
production, pamphlet, or brochure published in the United States can be
found here in the copyright edition. The collection is the largest in
the western hemisphere, comprising about 1,000,000 books and pamphlets.
The Library has forty-five miles of shelving, which is more than twice
its present requirements. There are in the book division 207 employees,
and in the copyright-rooms 49. The caretakers number 116. The
appropriations by Congress for service, and for the printing, binding,
and purchasing of books, amount to not less than $1,000,000 annually.
Any one can read or study in the Library, but only Congressmen, members
of the Supreme Court or their families, or the President's family, are
permitted to take books from the building. No pen-and-ink work is
allowed in the Library, for fear of stains.
In the basement, one room is set apart for the blind, where they may
read for themselves, and almost every afternoon they have a concert, or
some noted author reads from his own writings, or some distinguished
speaker lectures before a most appreciative audience of blind people.
[Illustration:
ONE OF THE BRONZE DOORS OF THE CONGRESSIONAL
LIBRARY
]
The present Librarian is Mr. Herbert Putnam, of Boston. The most
interesting personality in the building is Mr. Ainsworth R. Spofford,
who was the Librarian from 1864 to 1897.[7] He was appointed during Mr.
Lincoln's administration. He is a walking encyclopedia.
Footnote 7:
Mr. Spofford died at Holdness, Mass., August 11, 1908.
I once asked him for the names of a few books on anthropology. He poured
out such a stream of titles and authors that I was obliged to call for
quarter. He then wrote me out a list of fifteen titles and authors,
taking only a minute or two for the whole matter. He seems conversant
with every subject. His memory concerning books is simply phenomenal.
In the Library is a perfect copy of Eliot's Indian Bible, published in
Cambridge in 1661, the last copy of which brought $1,000. Here, too, may
be found the works of Cotton and Increase Mather (1671 to 1735), and
leading journals, all publications of our country from 1735 to 1800.
Bound volumes of many of them can also be found here. The first edition
of the Mormon Bible, published in 1830, and printed at Palmyra, New
York; Archbishop Cramer's version of the Bible, 1553; Martin Luther's
Bible; and the Catholic version of the New Testament, 1582, are among
the rare volumes in the Library.
An extract from a copy of the Washington _Post_ of 1897 well describes
the official test of the device for sending books to and from the
Capitol:
An official test of the device for transporting books between the
Capitol and the new Congressional Library was made yesterday
afternoon. Mr. John Russell Young, the Librarian; Chief Assistant
Librarian Spofford, and Superintendent Bernard R. Green assembled in
the small receiving-room, just off Statuary Hall, about 2 o'clock.
Mr. Young had prepared for the test a list of books known only to
himself until they were ordered from the Library.
The first volume sent for was William Winter's poems. Mr. Young gave
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 1908 there were on the rolls 951,687
pensioners. During 1908 there were added 413,017, with a loss from death
of 428,701, making a loss above all gains of 15,684.
The number of pensioners should grow less each year.
There remain on the rolls the names of no widows and but two daughters
of Revolutionary soldiers. In the last report of the Commissioner of
Pensions (1900) 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 2,932 soldiers and 6,914 widows are still on the rolls; of the
Indian wars (1832-1842), 1,820 survivors and 3,018 widows. The war with
Spain left a legacy of 20,548 invalids, 1,145 widows, and 510 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 lifelong 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; it was found only a
little over three years had 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 had 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 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 Colles fracture 1
Secondary syphilis 2
Suffering from pains in the muscles, especially the calves of the 471
legs and lumbar region, loss of weight from 10 to 30 pounds,
accompanied by more or less debility
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 lifelong 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 late Commissioner, issued the following table to
show the difference between the regulars and volunteers of the
Spanish-American War:
──────────────────────────┬────────┬─────────┬─────────┬──────────
REGIMENTS │_Killed_│_Wounded_│_Missing_│ _Claims
│ │ │ │filed for
│ │ │ │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 received $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.
Mr. Ware was Commissioner of Pensions from May 10, 1902, to January 1,
1905. Then, much to the regret of President Roosevelt, he resigned. Mr.
Vespasian Warner, of Clinton, Ill., was appointed Commissioner January
16, 1905. Mr. Warner had an honorable record as member of Congress from
1895 to the time of his appointment as Commissioner. During the last
four years fewer complaints have come from the Pension Office than in
former years.
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. Knox 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 erected
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.