Los Angeles herald., 1908-11-03

er it is advisable at this time to change
an old congressman for new one.
Herein are presented some arguments
on this question.
James McLachlan, the candidate of
the Republicans, has asked, in his
political speeches during the present
campaign, that his record in congress,
covering a period of ten years, be
investigated, and that if there are any
weak spots in it, they be pointed out.
An investigation, consisting of a thor
ough search of the Congressional Rec
ord, the official publication of the
congress, has been made, and its rev.
elations are herein briefly presented,
and the reader is asked to be the
judge of whether there are any weak
spots in Mr.. McLachlan's record or
not.
An office holders efficiency must, of
course, be judged solely BY RESULTS
OBTAINED, but it is something in his
favor If he has at least tried to bring
results. 1t would appear that, in the
case of Mr.. McLachlan, it cannot be
said that he has even tried.
Some High-Priced Words
In one of his addresses Mr.. Rush
has shown by extracts from the Off
cial record that during his entire term
as a member of the Fifty-ninth con-
gress, including both sessions, Mr.. Nc
Lachlan spoke total of 1877 words on
the floor of the house, and by reckon
ing his salary and expenses together,
it is found that these 1877 words cost
the people a trife more than $71 each.
Mr.. Rush also proved that during
the entire first session of the Sixtieth
congress, all the work done by Mr..
McLachlan in behalf of the Seventh
district could easily have been done in
one days time.
Again, Mr.. Rush demonstrated that
no bill introduced by Mr.. McLachlan,
other than pension bills, ever became
a law; that every appropriation for
public improvements in this district
passed the senate first, and was favor
ably reported by the house itself, and
that no one of them ever passed the
house through the efforts of Mr.. Nc
Lachlan.
No Results Are Apparent
Mr. McLachlan claims to have been
a great friend of the citrus fruit rails
ers, yet the record of his services for
the last four terms of congress fails to
disclose ONE SINGLE INSTANCE
when he ever mentioned or referred in
any way to citrus fruit. or the citrus
fruit industry, in congress.
Mr.. McLachlan has claimed to have
obtained large appropriations for San
Pedro harbor, and for public improve
ments in Los Angeles, yet during these
four terms of congress the official rec
ord fails to disclose ONE INSTANCE
in which he even mentioned San Pedro
or San Pedro harbor in congress.
BY consequence of Mr.. McLachlan's
strenuous claims as to San Pedro har-
bor, we fully expect a pronunciamento
from him ere the campaign closes,
claiming every accomplishment in that
relation, in spite of the indelible i'm
press of the Incompatible STEPHEN
M. WHITE.
Neglect of the Veterans
Mr. McLachlan claims to have been
a great friend of the old soldiers, and
to have faithfully represented their
interests in congress. Mr.. McLachlan
introduced IA pension and private re-
lief bills into the two sessions of the
Fifty-seventh congress. They were re-
ferred to the appropriate committee,
and, So far as the record discloses, Mr..
McLachlan never made one single in
quiry regarding them during that en-
tire congress. Two out of the "a were
reported by the committee, and finally
passed and became laws. The other 72
are still resting peacefully in com
nittee.
But Mr.. McLachlan was still faith
fully representing the interests of the
old soldiers, according to his ideas Of
faithfulness, and so he introduced 143
private pension bills into the Fifty
eighth congress. But SO of these were
duplicates of those presented into the
congress. FOUR of these
14S bills were finally passed. The 9TH
ers went over, and the old soldiers
waited and wondered. BUT THE OF
FICIAL RECORD SHOWS THAT MIR.
McLACHLAN NEVER UTTERED A
WORD ON THE FLOOR OF
THE HOUSE IN FAVOR OF ANY
OF THESE 143 BILLS, AND THE
FOUR THAT PASSED WE'RE PUT
THROUGH IN SPITE OF HIS 1NAC-
TIVITY AND INEFFICIENCY
Again, in the first session of the
Sixtieth congress, Mr.. McLachlan in
troduced his usual big batch of private
pension bills, most of them holdovers,
and then promptly forgot all about
faf