Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-03-07
rRy oliver owen Kuhn.I

subject can dHuouoS0 g JILL IA a.
sessions the older statesmen In the
house and senate probably cogitate and
declare "well, / haven't introduced
bin for some time. Now this matter
should be dealt with. III see II we can
get a measure thru
whether all national statesmen go
tbr,, this process of thinking or not.
the fact remains that as sessions speed
hv tho. number Of bills and resolutions
introduced in congress grows by leaps
and hounds. Today the question OF
handling the business connected with
the introduction and passage Of various
measures has assumed staggering pro-
horizons. During a single congress 3D.
00O measures of varying character
were introduced in the house and SEN
ate. Fifty years ago $500 bills were
considered an enormous number, but
today tons and tons Of paper and thou"
sands of hours are spent In the prep
aration. Every year tens OF thousands
of dollars are considered wasted thru
useless introduction of measures, hun
dreds of tons of discarded printed bills
being carted away and sold-bills on
which no action ever had been taken,
and furthermore on which favorable
action always had been matter or
doubt. But this introduction OF bills.
Which is modern days has almost be-
come a fever, is deemed imperative by
, members of congress, for, during the
years, there has grown up the beiet all
over the United States tina. any ma
tional legisla tor, whether ne be IN tne\
senate or house, Is not an efficient
statesman unless he introduce bills All
manner of strange requests and all
81 n a fi0na1
on purely local problems are presented.
, Oftentimes bills germane to these sub
, iects are introduced by a member OF
; congress, he full we'll knowing that
they Ia ok merit, but he wishes to cater
tn the fancy of an influential con-
! stituent Therefore If there be waste
in the Introduction of bills in congress,
the neople all over the country are
partly 70 blame. They should firmly
! irnnress the fact on their own minds
/ that not IS per cent Of the measures
! introduced in congress ever get beyond
q committee and that before any are
I actually written into law they must
! successfully negotiate tortuous path.
,rhere arr. ali manner Of steps 4; CON
gress which tend to retard and NOT
! facilitate legislation. 1t is easy at all
times to head off any measure intro
! duced.
| But the life of a bill from the time
of its Inception in the mind of mem
| Der of congress until the time 1t IS
! signed by the president and bound and
! permanently filed in the state depart
| ment Is one o" the most interesting
processes in connection with any phase
of the American government.
-
= IL = n 70
it's life story something like this:
Yes, it's hard road for the inno-
cent to travel. Take my own case. My
very being, effects the welfare and
prosperity of, something hike hundred
millions of people. In my earlier days
/ was branded q 'no1accopnt.' Members
Of congress- that is, many Of them,
! didn't see good, i'm me anyway! 1 would
be q prodigal son,b they shouted. But
lI honestly believe that l have lived
I down that unfairly bestowed bad rep
utation and have justified the faith
placed in me by those who gave me
+, their o. X in that vital hour when it
was to be decided whether 1 was to
be forever snuffed or placed on the
statute books Of the nation to work
out the good which every one now adj
mtts has been wrought by my very eX-
istence. MY life resembled that OF
sickly child. was extremely i'll at va
rious stages. These attacks either were
brought on by inattention or too much
attention. Not infrequently during the
course of my early life in congress
was about to draw my last gasp and
expire. 1 finally got thru, but only
when the president of the United
States finally took me in hand and en-
dorsed it did l then become an example
Of sturdy billhood-in fact completed
act-that status in life which we bills
consider maturity. But it is the pro-
gress of myself and others OF my kind
during the early days Of which | will
tell you.
"As YOU know, thousands of my fell
congress and they follow the law
makers ideas or are introduced at the
request of some constituent or other
party. In many cases bills originate at
the suggestion of departmental Off
Ger or the president himself and are
drafted by the committee to which
their communications are referred. De-
lis Of such measures generally are
worked out as the result of several
committee conferences and much
souabbling. These sessions sometimes
cover period of weeks. sus
I'm my case I was originated by
CONGRESSMAN who saw need Of me. l
was dressed UP by his secretary and In
order that I might not get lost and In
order that every one who was to
handle me, after 1 made my debut in
the house. might do SO expeditiously,
there were written several things
across my back, among them being.
the congress and particular session in
which l was to be introduced; big
TYNE line plainly said ! was bill. The
name of my author was neatly written
on this placard and q space was left
whereon the clerks, who later were to
give me such manhandling, might
scrawl the name of the committee to
which I was referred. The boss, 1 re,
member looked me over carefully be-
fore I finally was pocketed and started
on nv trip towards the house. At an
suspicious moment was dropped in
basket before the speaker. I couldn't
quite understand why there were no
L uss and feathers attached to my de-
bit but then 1 found out that others
suffered a like fate. / however was
forced to lie ignominously under the
weight of about $50 bills, sresolutions.
memorials and petitions, all introduced
| the same day. I didn't quite like this
/ b,h then I guess didn't amount to so
1890, i,,st then. Later a clerk took me