Henry Cabot Lodge, a conservative Republican US Senator from 1893 to 1924, was talking about the ineffectiveness of most congressional investigating committees.
"Some of them," he observed, "remind me of Si Hoskins. He got a job at shooting muskrats, for muskrats overran a mill-owner's dam. There, in the lovely spring weather, Hoskins sat on the grassy bank, his gun on his knee. Finding him one morning, I said, 'What are you doing, sir?'
" 'I'm paid to shoot the muskrats, sir. They're undermining the dam.'
" 'There goes one now!' said I. 'Shoot, man! Why don't you shoot?'
"Hoskins puffed a tranquil cloud from his pipe and said: 'Do you think I want to lose my job?' "
亨利．卡伯特．洛奇一八九三年到一九二四年任美國參議員，屬共和黨，政見保守。他說，美國國會那些調查委員會一般都缺乏效率：「有些調查委員會，使我想起西．霍斯金斯。某磨坊主人因水壩有麝香鼠為患，聘用了他，囑他開槍殺鼠。當時春光明媚，霍斯金斯常坐在綠草如茵的河堤上，膝上橫放一枝獵槍。一天早上，我見到他，問道：『老兄，在這裏做什麼？』
「『麝香鼠破壞水壩，我受聘開槍殺鼠。』
「我說：『看，那邊有一隻。快開槍吧。怎麼不開槍呢？』
「他叼着煙斗，悠閑的噴一口煙，說道：『你以為我想失業嗎？』」