The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-12-10
A SENATOR'S IMPRESSION S
OF THE u. S. SENATE

am in receipt of The Journals re-
quest that 1 write an article for the
Holiday edition on either of the fol-
lowing subjects: How 1t Feels To Be
a United States Senator" or my First
Year In the Senate"
have my own reasons for not stat
ing to you how it feels, and inasmuch
as / have not been here year the
second title would be misleading.
that I write you of my Impressions of
the senate, and trusting that may be
of some interest, if not of value, to
your many readers, I will undertake to
comply with the request.
had never been n the senate
chamber until at the cbse of the last
regular session. My commission had
before that been signed by the gov
ernor and received as sufficient by the
senate; so that whateyer impressions
I had up to that time were formed
under the usual circumstances.
When I first came here I had the
privilege of forming he acquaintance
of all the Democratr members. and
most of the Republican members. At
this time there were many more than
usual retiring, and, therefore, many
more than the usual number Of new
members came in atthe extraordinary
session.
Any Seat IsDesirable.
A seat left vacant by a. retiring
member is given to the first applicant
for it. 1 was informed Of this by the
doorkeeper, and requested to make
my selection from among those not
filed upon. An OLD senator, old that is
In service, of coirse, who was with
me at the time remarked: 20. any
of them is desir2le!" 1 fully concur
lots h1f Y16f = 10
this is SO, sone amusing incidents
have occurred in claiming seats.
Those nearest ne middle aisle are
considered mos desirable. 1t is con-
sidered within proprieties to file a
claim upon a dsirable seat of another
senator, who, because of opposition,
may not be ale to occupy 1t beyond
his existing TEN. AT least 1t is some
times done.
speeche, BY New Members.
The prelude of the older members
Of the senategainst a new member at
once takingpart in the deliberations
thereof. to lie extent of delivering an
address. dos not exist to the extent
usually supposed. There is, however,
not an unrtura1 feeling on the part
Of the mebers who have served for
many year that 1t is more becoming
in a new fmber to wait a reasonable
time. A ew member frequently dis
regards is prejudice, however. and
almost tmediately delivers an ad-
dress. With one intimately acquainted
with poical campaigns rather sus-
poets befs close resemblance to his
campaig speech.
WhileOf course, a. new senator has
the rigi to speak the first day he is
sworn 4, and thus, as someone has
said, crease the wonder of how he
got the, better progress, it seems to
me, isnade by one who is not quite
SO veIuresome. There is this to be
said justification of the feeling of
which, have spoken: my observation
has own me that while 1t may be
truehat new member, especially
one no has never had legislative ex-
pertce in either branch Of congress,
ma10e as familiar with general prin-
cipl= of legislation, yet the older
meber speaks with more information,
noonly as to the details of legisla-
tic but as to the history of similar
pfr legislation and circumstances
sfounding it. This brings US to an
acknowledgement Of the fact that in
DER for a member of the senate to
able to speak with full confidence
/ a subject, he must have devoted
llch time and considerable study to
ist legislation.
The Senate and the People.
1t has been said, and justly so, that
he senate is not as responsive to the
popular will as is the house of repre-
sentatives. In one sense, in my judg-
ment, this is proper. 1t ought to be
true; it was intended so to be. I had
been here only a few days, when re-
ceived a letter from a college pro-
fessor in Florida, asking me to intro
duce or vote for resolution to abolish
the United States senate. The letter
had to me its humorous feature. Here
I was asked to abolish, so far as lay in