A new member goes to the House full of enthusiasm, hoping to accomplish great things for those who have trusted him; he finds that he is scarcely permitted to open his mouth the first term. But he does his best in committee, which is little enough; he runs his feet off to get places for some hundreds of people from his district who must be taken care of. Then he keeps trying to be a good party man, and to do some favor for the leaders, who, he hopes, will reward him by giving him an opportunity to accomplish much-needed legislation for his district, till in his second or third term he becomes desperate, breaks out in meeting, and knocks things about generally. If he proves to be really an orator and succeeds in catching the ear of the House, he may then begin to be more than a mere party voter. On the other hand, he may be so squelched that he subsides into "innocuous desuetude." In the meantime he has borne all forms of unjust and unkind criticism at home. His opponents of his own party and of the opposite party point, in scorn and malice, to how little has been done for the district, and tell in startling sentences how they would do it and how they _will_ do it when they are elected. Then a "nagger" comes to Washington, who is still worse. He _demands_ a position, tells the Representative how the latter owes his place to said nagger, and insists on being immediately made chief clerk of some department accessible only through the Civil Service, and needing four times the influence a new member can bring to bear. A man must learn to be serene under nagging, misrepresentation, and even positive lies, and rely upon time and his own best efforts to vindicate him. There have been more caucuses held during the last term than usual. A caucus is a good thing, as it gives a man a chance to influence in a very slight degree the decisions of his party. (See Henry Loomis Nelson's excellent article in the _Century_ for June, 1902.) The House (in 1909) is ruled by Speaker Cannon, Payne, of New York, Dalzell, of Pennsylvania, and Tawney, of Minnesota. How long will such a hierarchy, dominating nearly three hundred intelligent men, be permitted to exist? The House is run like a bank, of which the President and a few clerks do all the deciding. Any correspondent who has the ear of any of these few can tell you the fate of a measure before it comes to vote. The chairmen of committees, and a few others who have been long in the House, are called into a committee room to decide on how much debate will be permitted, who will be heard, and whether or not the bill shall pass; and the rank and file, desiring to be good party men, obey orders, and the bill fails or goes through in exactly the form decided upon by the clique. This is most un-American. It is true, more business is thus accomplished; but the business does not represent the average public opinion of the House.