The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1919-07-24
CONGRESSMAN
FROM TEXAS
IS In DUTCH

| 1t sometimes happens in congress that
a member,will make himself so extremely
unpopular with his colleagues that they
/ WIT unanimously line up and vote against
every matter he proposes even though
| in SO doing they defeat some meritorious
measure and vote contrary to their COLI
+, Fictions and interests.
That is the situation that now exists
| in the house of Representatives with re-
| gard to any matter in which Congress
| man Thomas L. Blanton Of Texas is in
terested.
Some members have Jokingly remarked
| that all that is necessary to make the
| country wet again and insure ratifi-
cation of the peace treaty is for Blanton
/ to vote dry and announce his OPPOSE
ton to the treaty
| The Texas congressman has created
| this situation himself through his utter
lack of consideration for the wishes of
| his colleagues and his constant heckling
of members who have meritorious prop
csitions to put through.
Blanton' was in Dutch with the house
| members even before ne came to con-
gress. Back in Texas ne had told the
voters In his first campaign for the
| house three years ago. mat when he
came to Washington he would make the
| members work instead of loafing most Of
the time. Speaker Champ Clark and the
other house members were unable to
open the sessions of the house until noon
each day, he told his constituents, because
trey went to pink teas panquets and a
sot of society stunts un.il the wee hours
| of the morning and could therefore not
rise early next day. But when he came
tc congress, he told them, things would
be changed and the members would have
To cut out the society frills and open the
sessions of the house by eight or nine
o clock each morning.
But Blanton after being elected kept -
st.n for the first few months that the
house members took his utterances back
home as only campaign CUFF and ''ver-
bal gas attack let loose to gain his seat
in congress and Speaker Clark and his
colleagues soon forgot all about Blanton's
criticism and threats.
A few months ago, however, he went
wild" and repeated attacks on all labor
organizations and things of interest to
them. worked himself into an hysteria
against all government expenditures and
has been generally against everything
everybody else was for.
A fair example of the attitude of the
the other members from Texas and all the
other house members towards Blanton
was given in the house the other day
when in over a dozen successive attempts
Ivy Blanton to amend and defeat bin
he voted alone against it and all the otner
members voted solidly against shim.
1t was against the bill TO add $4,000
to the $4,000 appropriated annually since
1879 to enable the American Printing
House for the Blind 10 provide more
books and apparatus for the education Of
the blind that Blanton made his vicious,
oI.e-sided and unsuccessful attack His
efforts to defeat the bill were unavailing
soon it was learned that the add
tional contribution was to assist In the
education of men who lost their sight
while wearing the American uniform on
the battlefields of France.
Failing to defeat the bill entirely, Blan-
ton moved to amend 1t so that it would
not stand as an annuar continuous ap-
preparation but would only be for enc
year. In this effort, too failed. and
then resorated to every possible parlia-
mentary moveto delay the passage of the
bill an annoy his colleagues by demanding
roll call after roll call in rapid succession.
With each succeeding roll call Blanton
became more universally unpopular.
Scarcely any of the other Texas con-
g-essmen are on speaking terms with
Phantom. 1t was but few months ago
that Congressman James e. Wilson Of
Texas knocked Blanton down and severc-
Wilson at the entrance to the capitol and
suggested that they make up
Blanton has narrowly escaped fistic en-
counters with four or five members on
the floor of the house in the past three
months. 1t would be no surprise to the
members of the house If he got into a
real fist fight or shooting affray with an
other member any day. Blanton poses
as TEXAS bad man." frequently totes
a gun on the floor Of the house and has
announced that he has rived too long IN
western Texas to be scared of any man
in the house,