The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1910-01-06
LINDBfRGH WRITES.
Letter From the Sixth District
Congressman
ADDRESSES The PUBLIC
Proposes to Tell Constituents Some
thing About How Things Are
Done in Washington

Congressman c.. A. Lindbergh has
sent out letter to the newspapers in
his district, the first of series which
he proposes TO issue. In these letters
the congressman will treat of condi-
tions in the national capital in an. in
teresting and entertaining way. The
first letter arrived at The Herald
office on New Years day. After a
few Introductory sentences the con-
gresham says, among other things:
"There is broad field for improve
ment in the character of the official
work that is being done at our capital
city. l believe that progress will be
achieved sooner by the people con-
trolling their representatives in con-
gress than by leaving it entirely to
the initiative of the representatives;
for unless the people assume more
active control, experience shows, the
selfish interests will do so, and for
selfish purposes. The secret of public
success is to know how to vote. Tine
secret of selfish success is to prevent
intelligent voting. / do not attempt
to indicate how one should vote; that
must be determined by every voter
individually, and when the voter,
guided by his own intelligence, casts
his vote without prejudice, most of
our difficulties from a governmental
viewpoint will be simplified.
1.-THE governmental Washington is,
in a large measure, separated from
the people by organizations that
operate independently of their con-
troll. With the organizations it is
not so much question of what the
people like as how much they will
stand. These organizations are pow
erful enough to intimidate many
representatives who are really honest,
by making it appear to them that
they, as representatives of their dis
tricts or states, are incapable of Sc
curing results except through the or
ganization. The machine, SO far as it
can, creates conditions to make re-
representatives. afraid of their own con-
stituencies, and to place them under
the protection of, and obligation to,
the machine rule. In exchange for
that protection, they are granted GER
tain personal favors through the COM
bination, which it is their privilege
to exploit at home as an inducement
to their constituencies to reflect
them. But the price of this privilege
to representative is that he must
stand by the machine. The practice
of the organization has been princi-
pally to work along the lines of
personal interest, though that has not
necessarily implied personal dishones-
ty on the part of members who have
voted with the organization. 1t
has rather been a conformity by
members to what they have deemed
to be unavoidable conditions.
"These conditions themselves and
their remedies must be considered.
The method, for method it is, of
maintaining organizations has been
reduced, at Washington, to science,
but the effect, if not the purpose, OF
that science, is to control for personal
purposes rather than for the public
welfare. The remedy lies in the
knowledge by the general public of
the actual conditions and their re-
suits. Public sentiment, shaped
through such knowledge, would work
the correction. 1t is that knowledge
that certain interests seek to keep
from the public by forming systems
for the purpose of moulding public
opinion. Agencies have be n
established, not by the political par
ties, but by the interests that have
usually controlled the. machinery of
of the parties" -: