in many another, theory and practice wander wide apart; the
new member gives those thirteen months to a profound study of his own
needs, and concerns himself no more over the nation's than over
wine-pressing in far-away Bordeaux. It is the glaring fault of every
scheme of government, your own being no exception to the rule, that it
seems meant for man as he should be rather than for man as he is.

Every member of the coming House, among matters of personal moment to
himself, had given no little thought to what committees he would be
placed upon; and this, in the nature of House things, likewise compelled
him to a consideration of the Speakership and who should fill it. It was
by remembering those committee hopes and fears of members, and adroitly
fomenting them, that Senator Hanway expected to control the Speakership
election.

But he must go warily to work. Coming from the Senate end of the
Capitol, Senator Hanway, in his proposed interference in the
organization of the House, must maintain himself discreetly in the dark.
It was not a task to accomplish blowing a bugle. The House had
surrendered its powers to the Speaker; but it had retained its vanity,
and like all weak animals it was the more vain for being weak. The
members, were it once known and parcel of the common gossip how they
inclined to Senator Hanway's manipulation, would be compelled to rebel.
They would be driven to oppose him as a method of preserving what they
called their self-respect. Aware of this, Senator Hanway never came into
the open, never appeared upon the surface. He secretly pitched upon a
candidate among the older ones of the House and made his deal with him,
working the wires of his diplomacy from below.

There was peculiar demand for effort on Senator Hanway's part. His man,
when now he had selected him, would not find himself uninterrupted or
unopposed in his march for that Speakership. There was another, and if
native popularity were to count a stronger hand stretched forth to seize
the gavel prize. Had it lain in the cards, Senator Hanway, who always
sought his ends on lines of least resistance, would himself have pitched
upon this stronger one. But such was beyond the question. The strong one
claimed to be of that party clan which pushed the offensive Governor
Obstinate for the Presidency; and this not only offered a perfect reason
why Senator Hanway should make no alliance with him, but it multiplied
the necessity for his defeat.