The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1910-06-14
READY LETTER
WRITER'S PLENTY
congressman Find Answering the
Folks Back Home Their
Biggest Task.
By Brnost q. walker.
Anal special q The Advertiser.l

Washington. Although congress has
generously provided almost every pos.
sible facility in the way of clerks,
stenographers, monographs, typewrit-
ing machines and even mimeograph ap.
paratus for facilitating the letter writ
ing tasks of congressman, a goodly num-
Der of senators and representatives
have to put in many hours of hard
work getting ideas and answers down
upon paper.
Representative Victor Murdoch, the
Kansas insurgent, said the other day
that letter writing was really the big
task of holding seat in congress for
many men. The letters come pouring in
at the rate of score or even hundreds
day in some cases.
"And vast number Of people write,
who have no particular reason to write
except that they like to receive letter
from their congressman, was sug-
gested.
ooh, yes, suppose So" said the
Kansas insurgent. "With some people
letter writing is form of laziness.
l am satisfied that there are men, who,
when urged to go out and chop some
wood, declare that they are too busy.
They must write to their congressman. -
Much depends upon the constituency
and upon its location in the country.
There are many thousands of people in
Mr.. Murdoch district, of course, who
occasionally have legitimate excuse
for writing to Washington. That is
true of nearly every district in the
land. But there are varying numbers
of people, who write to Washington
asking all sorts of freak questions and
also making all sorts of freak sugges-
tions and giving advice of more or
less freakish character. The wise cen.
gresham, be he a senator or repre-
sentative, generally acknowledges all
t those letters, no matter how freakish
the communications may be. 1t has
come to be almost automatic that moth
ing strengthens a man more in public
office than prompt and detailed atten.
tion to his correspondence. And when
Bill Jones writes down to his represen-
tative at Washington his denunciation
of legislative act or his opinion that
such and such law ought to be passed
or his complaint against given condi-
to receive back in few days an en-
+. velope, bearing the frank of that rep
resentative in the upper righthand cor
: ner. AND when he tears the envelope
i open he will find courteous, although
!. often non committal, communication OF
:, reply.
Most of the congressman sign theil
4 letters, but not all of them sign every
v thing. Senators from some of the more
(. populous States and representatives
from some of the urban districts have
clerks who sign their names to ordinary
routine letters. And then there is the
n handy rubber stamp with fac simile
n signatures. Scores of senators and rep
resentatives have these at the Capitol
: and the rubber stamps can be used will
: certain kinds of ink so that one must
+ look a second time to determine that il
u is not the real handwriting of the mar
y it purports to be.
u As matter of fact, there is many {
senator nowadays whose daily CORE
= spondence is quite as large as was tht
correspondence of the President of thu
! n United States fifty years ago. Letter
writing has been made easy in modern
J. times, and the occupants of congress
sional offices have been as progressive
:. in keeping pace with it as have bust
- ness men in other walks of life. i
! ! was not so many years ago that senator
l. and representatives were able to answe
'e large part of their correspondence b.
10 hand. Within a dozen years it was nj
J, unusual thing to see a member of TIN
u house sitting at his desk writing letter
! most of the afternoon. 1t was not re
81 garded as the most courteous thing 70
him to do while the house was in SEES
"a sion, but he did it nevertheless. Now
d adays it is very rare to see repre-
N sentative writing letter from his desl
L in the house. He goes to his Office, call
for his clerk, dictates the letter an
IN later calls around to find that it is writ
Gu ten and ready for his signature.
is The people who make a business o
re writing letters to Washington on al
10 sorts of questions which they reall
le have no business to bother public off
ne Gals about are undoubtedly CROWN
more numerous. They have been COS
ne died so much that they have been ell
p couraged At the same time they gerry
lu an excellent end. They are sort 0
err barometer by which senators and reI
a resentatives down at Washington meas
lg ure public sentiment at home. Tha
h fact alone would suffice to make thes
On letters more or less welcome. In tn
ng olden days the senator or represents
on tive who wanted to gauge public sent
ment had to go home and circulat
a among his constituents to find on
X Now he reads the newspapers in cite
is and towns and watches for the teno
ne of comment by the professional lettt
ct writers. They take their cues som'
he what from the newspapers, but at tn
as same time they have ideas of their owl
Is, and so it happens that occasionally tn
M congressman knows something abou
ly public sentiment at home which tn
editor in his sanetnm may not know
But some of these letter writers ais
keep up communication with newspape
editors and duplicate the expressions
Is their views.
TEE ANNOYING COUGH.