Omaha daily bee., 1897-02-06
and himself again in contact with the great

find himself again in contact with the great
ness OF the country.
three hundred and ffty-slx members seem
IN he a large number to cole ct together LOT
nurnoses of elaboration, and numbers are a
great bindrance to that delioeration whlcn
means frequent speaking ard voting. Many
people wonder why each decade the numoer
is increased instead OF diminished, put tne
increase is likely to go on for some time
in the future.
Large as our number OF nelnbers is, Great
Britain and France, with half our popuiation'
have each a great many more.
Indeed, when you look at tie CONSTITUENCY
the wonder ceases. Each member oil con
gress represents $50, 900 citizens, and IN
many districts 200, 900. The business when
ALI these people have in Washington centers
in the congressman, and as | nave alfeauy
pointed out, 1t makes for MIN plenty vi
work. So great has this work become tnat
Inv law each member has a clerk. Although
the expense to the nation Is not trifling, ana
the assistance was voted with some rear anu
trembling on our part, there has not Deen;
so far as l know, the slightest critlcls" VI
the act.
MEASURES BEFORE CONGRESS-
or what congress does in the way OF pup,
lie acts, everybody has some idea' Al
great questions which agitate the nation
come there for final settlement. vi COURSE,
the settlement is always on some pasiS
which the members think VIII satlsly 81
mr. most of the people. That often turns OUT
10 be a mistake, for people often thlnK tney
want what they do not want at all, anu
they are always ready to punish leslsla,oLs
who give them the bad things they thougn'
they wanted. uonv
congressional questions. By them, Tor IN
stance. our great lake commerce, 1ostereu
by improvements in rivers ana haruors,
has been built up until II much SURPRISES
the great foreign wnicn we m a
with the whole outside world; ana what
Madison and Monroe thought we could not
constitutionally do at all we do every SEES
sion with the full agreement OF DOM po-
litical parties.
nile lust given, are known and noticed by
MANY of the people. But one great Dust
ness which congress does passes witnout
anybody's notice. Congress is the great ana
general court. All the complaints ue-
mands and wishes of the people come to II.
In the great majority of the cases nothing
is done. but of 5000 proposed laws per-
haps 6 per cent or less become law; 80 III
a court Of justice many cases are proush''
and but few tried.
nut the existence Of a court where COM
plants can be made with a chance OF re-
dress Is a great help to human lie. before
and after a man has brought his SUIT thg
fact that he can have even an unsuccessful
hearing goes a great way toward calming
his spirit. So in congress. If a man can
have a committee examine his case, even II
= no remedy is found. he becomes more recon
" ciled to the inevitable.
TEMPER OF THE HOUSE.
Members of congress, even when assem-,
bled in performance of their duties. DO no
: always behave amiably. Some people thlnF
II their behavior Is growing worse, but II II
), not so. Such collisions as occasionally taxi
i place have always taken place, from the
time when Griswold and Lyon encountered
y each other on the floor down to our day
u They all happen in the same way; men ge
u heated mentally, and sometimes physically
o then they are bad tempered, they forge
y where they are, and they make spectacles o
themselves.
house was only the elimination on a no
day in July OF the bad temper OF the no
months. A hundred degrees in the shade l
: the boiling point of men.
Perhaps there never was a house that S
II lived on the edge of a volcano as did tn
house of the Forty-flfth congress. Every
i, body was angry with everybody else. I'M
~ was the congress after President Hayes wa
Sc elected. when everybody thought e~verybod
u else had been cheating, and nobody coul
iis strike because in striking he must dellVe
~ his blow not orly at his enemies, but a
49, those with whom his reason taught MIN n
~ had to act in the future. Yet In that cas-
II that there was no row, because everybod
n' felt that we could not have one without
&c being too big a one.
Be 1t seems rather a misfortune that the ma
tion has so little idea of what really goes o
=. in congress. There are no regular reports
Na any of our papers which will enable even
vi student to acquire a knowledge of what goo
Iy on from day to day. Even a member non
~ for a week can hardly make out what n;
~ happened. In London you know every da
,s' what Parliament has done the day before.
10 The difference Is caused by two fact
England has but one center, and that IS Lol
don. We have New York, Boston, Chicag
SIS, San Francisco, New Orleans ana MAJ
Others. Then we publish at public expense
or journal of all we say and do, and make SUI
ow a waste-basket of the Record that fe
people have the patience to look at 1t reg
'or larly.
nd private enterprise, the public would insi
ng 1pon and demand and obtain regular report
k, condensed so as to be within the scope
human endeavor, which would be a go
no thing for both congress and the country. AS
I'VE is now it is rather a forlorn territorial legl
} a lature which is not as we'll reported as {
at congress of the United States. / speak,
Ike course, Of regular daily reports and not
! a special topics.
cry All legislative bodies suffer in public es
er; nation, because of the perpetual Critics
nal to which they are obliged to submit witho
any chance or opportunity of reply. Hen
do the popular idea of such bodies is mu
yea lower than Is just.
ing I can to reconcile with the terms OF
so proposed action all the prejudices of t
per whole people, and to take into account tn
GUS wrong views as well as their right view
on Hence II is that individual members seldt
are able to vote anything more than II
modification of their own Ideas which IT
possible to enact. OF course, this fails
Is short OF the freedom of an editorial, or
ing sermon. or the speech OF a reformer.
en, Where things are done in the minds on
~ the best can always be done; where thtr
ara done in a world full of conflicts and
a. posing opinions, results fall far short OF
ideal best.
the MORALE OF THE HOUSE.
,em That there are legislatures which are c
'm- rupt | hardly doubt, but that many OF tn
are corrupt | do not believe. So far as
house of representatives of the United Sta
om- ia concerned, | quit agree with what Sa
Ter uel ]. Randall once said to me after tive
nat wears Of experience: Il believe could ma
IRE, on the fingers OF one hand all the mel
'aiu suspect could be bribed."
MAJ OF course, all men are Influenced by
-ous opinions and power OF other men, anc
representative body Is no exception
men also men like to represent the views
'nal their people. for thereon depends the C
tinuance of their official life. or course
WIN good many of them in INES Of eXeitem
y 10 are deluded by mere volume or noise.
ence mistake stage thunder for the roar OF he
i IN -. .,,tlarv. htt az 81 rule they are