Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1907-01-19
"GENTLEMAN'S JOB"
DEFINITION Of
%SENATORSH|P
WHY THE TOGA is
GENERALLY COVETED
Greatest Statesmen Feel Hon
ored to Attend Gridiron Club,
Rumored Pinchot May Gel
Wilson's Portfolio,

~ was Il pefSplCaCtOuS person who
first defined a United States senator
ship as a gentleman's job. A senator
ship is fully hat Any person famil-
lar with Washington, with the WAYS of
the government and the intricaciea
ana rewards thereof. will unhesitat-
lhSly say he would prefer to be a sem
dloI lhah TO occupy any other elective
OF appOlntlVe post, provided, of course.
he could serve long enough to imnress
ms ability on that tremendous body.
Nor does this decr.- the presidency.
NO man lives in the United states who
would not be president if he could. but
lew men can. There is but che presi-
deht at q time and there are ninety
senators, and, moreover. a president
can serve but four or eight years.
while q senator can serve indefinitely
II ms abilities warrant and his con-
stltuents agree. That is, he has a
chance to serve indefinitely, it all de-
pending on the local circumstances
that govern office-holding in this
country.
Many observers Of the senate. fa-
miiiar with its history n its work.
agree that il is the bulwark of the
American republic. 1t stands between
the oligarchy of the United States su,
preme court on one hand, and the per-
sonal and party ambitions of the exec
utlVe on the other and it has so stood
since it was created 1t is the pepsin
OF the legislative branch, there to
digest the undigeSted legislation
thrown at ii by the house. and it does
its work in its own time, in its own
way and, usually, with the best results
that can be obtained subject to human
limitations.
When YOU dig into the senate and
examine its membership closely you
ind there is always a reason. and a
powerful one, for the presence of ev-
cry man there who is of any conse~
quenCe. Nobody maintains that the
senate is not an unequal body, with
men sitting in it who are not fit to sit
there, but even the unfit men are there
for a reason that was potent at the
time they were elected. The American
political system viii not permit the
selection of ninety Of the best men
from the vieWDoint of the best citi-
zenShip as senators, but even if it did,
1t is extremely doubtful if these ninety
men would be of much service to the
country as the present ninety.
Ihc present scnatc's defenders say
1t compares with any senate that ever
assembled ct the nations capitol,
The glamor that the time has thrown
about the giant figures of the old SEN
ate is lacking. The perspective is
newer, and the fact that the United
states now has eighty millions of peO-
pie instead of twenty. makes a diff
ference 1t was easier to get among
twenty millions than it is among eighty :
There was not so much +
competition. =
One of the bromide criticisms of the g,
is thet it IS a mil!ionaire's club. g.,
When the critics nave nothing else to g.,
say the" hur! that terrific indictment =
at the upper house. 1t is true that :,
there are mil!ionaires in the senate, i,
several of them. but they do not pre-. -
ponderate, and coming bach to the a
statement that there is ~ reason for +
he presence Of every senator in the :,
body, most Of the senators who are -
n"illionaires are there because they -
are m"illiOnaircs, and for no other Il
'eason, This isn't the fault Of the SEN =
tie. 1t IS the au!t of the political
iystcm that elected these milliOnaires. 4
The senate is great despite the mil II
ions Of some of its members. not be- X
of them.
The process of reasoning of the man
With millions who wants to be a sena-
or is not complicated. He has all the
rooney he needs. and he casts about
for . now field that Will afford
an occupation and give him an adj
led responsibility. The most pathetic
hing about riches is the constant
earch Of the men Of great fortunes
or resnectability, for some heritage
or children. family. or for history
side from the record Of the mere
N III AAldAiDA VI wealth. 1N0h a.
.undred-millionaire recognizes the A.
of the senatorial! office. and ii IN
$ not surprising that so many men
With millions try for a seat. II sounds
'etter in the family record to say that
head OF the line was a senator OF
he United States than to have moth
ng to nut down save that he made
n enormous fortune in mines, in steel,
lsurance or some other WaV.
Thus the ambition has developed a
ne of senator's, not large in propor-
on to the entire membership Of the r,
ody, but large enough to prove the =,
lain, who are there because they are ~,
ich. New mes come from time To ~
me. There are plenty of men who are eJI
tanning to get into the senate for this d.
eason: because the,' want TO be con- n,
Idcred more thar merely rlch. -
1t is a sad reflection on our political HHo
that there should be any 9n
lerely money senator's, but after we n.
shed our bitter. bitter tears over u"
, il might be well to cheer uD and ~
that there are five times as A.
any poor men i'm the senate as there va
re rich ones. and that the number of vi
who use their official posit- n'
ms to make money for themselves Il ~ ~
nall enough to be counted on the nm 10
ars of one hand. one Of the men who .a'
a senator and tried it is in jail, 50,
nd another is dead. and dead after al'
,nviction. And even when making 9",
.er count there is no proof. nothing
II implication, for if there was proof. a.
e senators would be in Jail also along IN
nh the unhappy Burton. ~
When Herbert Hadleg, the attorney NJ
neral Of Missouri. called at the white 70
some time ago and met for the ~
st time the president Mr. Roosevelt ~
lied him as one of the rising politi- "hV
] stars of the west. Mr.. Hadley was :
his way to New York TO resume his an
animation. of the big Standard on ~
agnates in the suits he has brought m
that giant concern under the ~
rporation laws Of Missouri. Mr.. ~
is as youthful in appearance az Du'
is in wears. He is not Vet thirty -
III years old. Soon after being grad ma
ted from the Kansas state uniVer- :
V al Lawrence he located in Kansas ~
This was not more than ten ocL
go. He was elected prosecuting ~
.0rney of the county In which Kan opl
3 City is located. and i'm that otnce "
a record which singled him out Nd
the community as "A marked man. ~
s ambition after holding that office u
e term was TO come TO congress, but Pui
the district was thought to be safely
mocratic. he did not seek the nomi- =
ton hard. In that year. 1905 there I
Is 2 Roosevelt landslide in Missouri. elt