The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1900-12-21
OUR CONGRESS-.
1t is the most Interesting Body Of Men
In the World.


is>the most interesting body of men in
the world writes L. A. Coolidge in
Ainslee's. SIT comes nearer to being
representative body than any other
that ever existed. 1t is the microcosm
of the republic, presenting in concen-
tration all the extraordinary peculiari-
ties of the nation whose work it is
selected to perform. Its average of
liability is higher than that of any
other parliamentary body, on earth.
Each of its members represents a
larger constituency than is represented
by any single member of European
parliament, and with very few excep-
tions each member is a good represen-
tative of the constituency for which he
stands. Those who sneer at congress
and congressman sheer at the voters
who selected them. Luckily that sort
of thing is going out of fashion. Peo-
pie are beginning to appreciate con-
gress for what it really is, and it is
getting better all the time.
"There are very few members either
of the house or of the senate who are
not of native birth. To be exact,
there are just Is representatives and
senators who were not born in the
United States In the Fifty-sixth con-
gress, curiously enough, one of the
members is Henderson, the speaker,
who is Scotchman. But he is as
genuine an American as there is in the
land. Considering the proportion of
foreign to native born in the United
States, the percentage is insignificant,
especially when it is remember ed that
the average member of congress is one
who has been given to moving about
the world and shifting his environ
ment. Out of 352 members of the pre-
sent house oily 217 represent the states
in which they were born, and of this
number only few live in the con-
gressional district where they first
saw light. The average congressman
is hustler. He has been ambitious
or else he would never have found his
present place. That he has been sue
cessful in some measure goes without
saying, and the fact that so many of
them have broken away from early
surroundings and have gained new
successes in new fields simply goes to
show something of the energy and
force that have helped to make the
American congress what it is.
'The average length of a career in
congress is four years. At the be-
ginning of every congress about one
third of the members of the house are
new to the bu siness. 1t is rare thing
for member to make any sort of
a mark in legislation before he has
been in the house at least two full
terms, and those who have forced
themselves above the surface before
the close of a single term can almost
be counted on the fingers of one hand.
The ordinary congressman comes and
goes and leaves no trace behind him.
except on the salary vouchers. The
man who stays in the house for more
than two. terms has a fair chance of
wieldinsg a little influence. He gets
his name into the Congressional Re-
cord once in while, he is recognized
by the speaker occasionally, and if he
is unusually lucky the newspapers take
him up and sometimes give him a
headline all to himself, There are 1874
members of the present house who
are serving their third term or better.
Of these %, at a generous estimate,
are so we'll known that their names
might carry some meaning outside
their own state. The work of con-
gresham is thankless enough. 1t
brings nothing in the way of money,
little in the way of reputation, exec pit
in rare instances, and a vast amount
of drudgery. A man must be in the
harness for years generally before he
amounts to anything, and by the time
he begins to count in legislation he has
lost his enthusiasm and spirit and be-
comes a pack horse. Once in awhile.
at rare intervals, there is a flash
across the dull legislative sky like
meteor, and sudden reputation is
made for new man. That was the
way with Bryan when he first came
to the house in the Fifty-third con-
gress and sprang into instant motor
iety with speech on the tariff that
dazzled everybody. Littl efeld of
Maine made an even more effective
stroke last winter with his argument
against the unseati ng of Mormon
Roberts. These are the most striking
examples in recent years of regulations
quickly made. Away back in the
Fifty third congress LATE Pence
caught the house in the first week
after he took his seat with free silver
speech. It is significant that those
who thus make dramatic entrance in
the house rarely count for much in
Legislation afterward. Bryan never
had any influence, and all the while
he stayed in congress he was looked on
as good talker and nothing more.
Towne frittered himself away after
his silver speech, and as for LATE
Pence, who had black type in the
newspapers for few days after his
maiden effort, it is hard nowadays to