Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1902-06-27

HAVING A HIGH OLD TIME.
gress it might be well. for them to in
quire concerning the moral lives OF
their representatives Good and up
right men ought to be kept in con
gress as long as they live, because
the longer they remain the more
capable they become. But the grea:
and good men are very few. The i'm
moral are many. They should be
weeded out.
Taste of power increases appetite
for position. Members of the house
of repres entatives all aspire to the
senate. Therein the people make
many mistakes, by sending represent
atives to the senate after they have
been sent to Washington long enough
to contract luxurious habits, as we'll as
acquaintance with the leading lobby
lists for trusts and corporations. Ro-
tation in office is~a good thing. Men
who hold Office long become shameful
ly Indifferent to the rights of their
people.
The personnel of the senate should
be changed oftener. One term of six
years is enough for an ordinary states
man. They who are elected for two
successive terms, making a total of IL
years, are too far removed from the
plain people. Of course, it may be said
of them, as it has been said of the
represent atives, the exceptionally able
and good men ought to be kept in po-
sition as long as they live, but the
people should be very sure that their
public servants are wholly worthy be-
fore bestowing upon them such hon
ors.
1t would be useless to suggest that
presidents should not be elected to
succeed themselves except in time of
war or in the case of an exceptionally
great and good man, such as Washing
ton or Lincoln. It would be useless
to make such a suggestion, because
the common people of the country
have substantially nothing to do with
the selection of their presidents-but
little more than the people of England
have in selecting their chief executive.
The men who are named by national
conventions are not so named because
of the love of the people for them.
but because political managers with
plenty of money at their disposal Sc
lect the delegates; and sometimes
select them two years in advance OF
the holding of the convention. And.
once in the white house, with all OF
the power of patronage at his disposal
the quest of a second nomina ton is
not so hard as the quest of the first
nomina ton.
Returning to congress, it is appro-
pirate and timely to say that while
the committee on ways and means pro.
vides legislation for raising the rev
enues for the support Of the govern
ment, the committee on appropria-
lions has the great responsibility OF
directing how the revenues shall be
expended; and there has not been a
total abstainer as chairman of that
committee for more than quarter Oh
a century, if ever.
What is said of the house of rep
resentatives may also be said of the
senate. There is not a member OF
that body who is reputed to be total
abstainer. Nor is there a member
there who has the reputa ton of being
a lost victim of the demon of the still
So far as temperance is concerned the
senate has greatly improved during
the past 20 years.
The hotels here are run during the
sessions of the congress for the pur
pose of making as much money as pos.
sible, just as seaside and mountain re
sorts are managed during the summer
season, and high prices are charged.
exorbitant prices. But the better
the spender at the bar, the better the
prices for room and board.
x-b
who spends upwards of 500 per month
at the bar is not lonely. There are
others. Every hotel has its coterie OF
liberal statesmen who drink or buy
that amount every month. To give
their names would shock the communi
ties at their homes, where they lead
exemplary lives. But it must be re
membered that, as the whole country
improves, the representatives of thu
people improve. We are going for
ward instead of backward, after all.
SMITH d. FIX.