A Congressional committee selected to examine and report upon a new
cannon, produced so voluminous a tome that Lincoln, reviewing it,
dropped it in disgust and commented:
"I should want a new lease of life to read this through! Why can't a
committee of this kind occasionally exhibit a grain of common sense? If
I send a man to buy a horse for me, I expect him to tell me his points,
not how many hairs there are in his tail!"--(Authenticated by Mr.
Hubbard, member of Congress of Connecticut, to whom the remark was
addressed.)
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