The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1913-04-05
At The Na,lonal Capitai
Observations by Edward Keatins, Con.
gresham At Large From Colorado

Why shouldn't q Congressman-es-
pecially when that Congressman u
also newspaper man and the flrst Of
his tribe to be chosen by the people
Of Colorado to represent then In the
National Congress-make . report 70
his constituents just - any employs
gives an accounting of his stewards
ship to his employer? There are , lot
OF mighty interesting things down
here in the capitol Of this glorious
republic of ours, which 50 per cent Of
the people know nothing; scores Of
petty graft and some great big ex-
travagances; giants serving their
country for q pittance and the pure
love Of the work, aud pigmies strut
ting through q few hours of tempo
rary authority; patriots and politi-
clans rubbing elbows and being
constantly mistaken one for the
other. In word, the great American
drama Is being acted here on = stage
worthy Of the worlds most stu
pendous histrionic event. And ~
congressman from the imperial COM
monwealth Of Colorado, 1 am given >
parquet seat, permitted to meet ,
few Of the stars. and occasionally
just occasionally, mind you-treated
to a peep behind the scenes.
| That Is q situation calculated to
make one forget that he Is = Con-
gressman and to remember that he
is . newspaper man with an eye
trained to see and mind accus-
toned to recording what the eye has
observed. All OF which quite natur-
ally leads to the question with which
introduced this article = Why
shouldn't Congressman make . re-
port to his constituents? And to what
consider the only logical answer-
he should.
Having disposed OF the main
proposition, we are confronted with
the question OF the medium which =
Congressman should utalize in order
to place his report before his con-
stituents. At first I turned qnite
naturally to the big city dailies, hav-
ing been connected with them all my
life, but sober second thought con-
WINGED me that the country press
daily and weekly-resched the people
In i moss intimate and convincing
|1ashioh tllsn did their big brothsrs Of
the metropolis.
So I appealed to this paper, and to
one or two others in each county In
the state, to print my report in full
each week and the fact that you are
reading this article is the best evil
dence Of the kindly response
received.
There is q Democrat In the White
House. To my mind only four
genuine Democrats have occupied
the executive mansion in the history
Of of this country. The first was JEFF
ferson, then JACKSON. then Lincoln
and now Wilson.
A few OF our presidents trusted
none of the people any of the time {;
others trusted some of the people all
Of the time; but that great quartette
trusted all Of the people all of the
time. Hence, whatever party they
bore they were Democrats.
Although he has been In the White
House less than month Wilson has
wrought change which amounts to
q revolution. Official Washington
regards the problems of government
from an entirely new point of view.
The rights and interests Of the man
in the street are being given serious
consideration for the first time in
almost a half century.
1t is the fashion to be progressive.
Bryan as he rides through the streets
Is hailed as a popular idol; I.aFollette
is welcomed ut the White House and
Republican senators join with the
Democratic senators In doing him
honor; and the Bourbons of both
parties eagerly scan the morning
papers to catch the latest echo of the
peoples voice which they solemnly
affirm is the voice of God.
OF course there are those who wag
their heads dolefully and declare
that the new order cannot last and
that when we reach the tariff, Spe-
cial Privilege will have friends with
in the citadel Of Democracy. do not
question the truth of part of this
claim. The beast still lives In the
T.. n