Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-04-03
Old Bills Return to CONGRESS
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Continued from page 9

Tic Du1ld1ng Dill should be passed: but not all
| three. This news he sent to the people through
the newspapers Then he wrote to the people,
| telling them that they must get together and
| agree on which one of the three bills should be
passed first.
Privately. he suggested to the leading men of
the two larger cities that they agree on Haver-
sham. saying tf 1T inasmuch as that the
smallest town. and only fifty thousand dollars
was asked. he could get that bill through more
easily than he could either of the others and
that the passage of bill for Haversham would
form good precedent for the others, and they
finally agreed on Haversham.
Old Bill secured the passage OF that bill and
when he went home at the end of his term he
was almost unanimously nominated to succeed
himself and his election was simply walkover.
Nobody knew how he did it; but this is the way
it was done.
Old Bill never appeared before committee
to make an argument in favor of anyone of his
bills Instead of doing that which so many
were in the habit of doing, he went to the homes
of the members of the Committee on Public
Buildings and Grounds. went to their homes in
the evenings, and talked to them about his pub
lie building bills. He explained that his politi-
cal life depended upon the passage of his bills.
To each and every member of that committee
he pledged himself to vote for every bill that
each member of the committee had in hand.
and he pledged himself to cooperate with each
and every member of that committee on every
political policy that was desired Thus he had
secured his favorable reports during his first
session of his first term.
Now the people at home did not know. but
Members of Congress all knew, that no public
building bill would be passed during that Con-
gress, and so it was easy for those who wished
to be helpful to agree on the favorable reports.
You see. it was on those favorable reports that
he secured his second term: and it was on the
passage of the Haversham bill that he secured
his reelection for third term in Congress.
Letting the People Settle 1t
lnURING his third term in Congress he easily
secured favorable reports on the bills for
public buildings at Burlington and Winona.
because the original favorable reports were used
as precedents. Then came the announcement
that only one public building would be allowed
for his district That fact he sent out through
the newspapers, and he wrote that the Bur-
lington and Winona people should get together
and agree on which should have the political
pie"
Old Bill offered no suggestions this time. He
wanted the two towns to squabble and quarrel
and disagree. They did SO. Old Bill wrote
but he was hoping that they would continue to
disagree. He finally wrote letter which was
published. in which he said
1t is pity that my hands should be tied in
| this manner by my own people: Here am l
hard at work, and successfully. No other men,
Der of Congress has secured such success. and
l am promised that one of my bills shall be
passed Time is rapidly passing. and in few
more weeks it will be too late. l shall be
ashamed to come back to Congress if my peo-
pie leave me thus in the lurch. For Heavens
sake you people agree on which town shall have
this buildingl The appropriations are exactly
alike. one hundred and twenty-five thousand
dollars EACH If you do not let me pass one of
| these bills, shall not only be ashamed to come
back to Congress. but shall absolutely refuse
| to be candidate"
Bold bluff, that But shrewd Old Bill knew
| that the people would not want any other man
| for Congress; for he was the only man that had
secured any success at all They could see
plainly that if no public building bill was passed
it would be because the people at home could
not agree, and that was not his fault.
Well. the squabble went on. No agreement
was reached, and Old Bill came home furiously
angry, to all appearances. He told everybody
that he had been deeply Inundated: that the
other Congressman had laughed at him. sneered
at him, on account of his people: They were
| all getting appropriations: but he could not
get any, because his own people were crazy
lot" He almost wept with modification as he
he told these stories
Renominatedl Of course! Reelected? Well,
by the biggest majority ever!
Then. in his fifth term the people agreed on
Burlington for the appropriation. because Bur
lington had about five hundred more votes than
Winona Then Old Bill secured the passage of
that public building bill, Thus, he had been in
Congress for ten years on an issue of his own
making and by shrewdly fostering that issue