Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-04-21
JUNKET LURE STRONG;
C0NGRESSMEN AFRAID
Many Places, Even Far Away
China, Beckon to Washington,
but Election is Near.

Washington. April 6.-To junket or
not TO junket, that is the most absorbing
problem for many members of Congress
Opportunity ~ iunket AZ government
expense Is officially knocking az tho doors
Of the House and senate, and though
when iunket opportunity knocks there
are not 80 many members afflicted with
deafness, this is campaign year and AZ
another door there is the possibility the
public will be doing a different kind Of
knocking
But the Congressman and the Sem
ator, oppressed by his arduous lahors
and utterly confused By the multiplicity
OF his problems is hearing tho old but
familiar "call of the wild" Bolsheviki
who may be at the very frontier of
Alaska, the Indian on the western res
ervations and the wild grass in the
Philippines
Congress has entered into degree Of
perfection IN 90 far as investigating
ability is concerned and or the benefit
of the Jap and the Chinese, and Incl
dentally to abide by the old Scriptural
Injunction mot to hide the light under
a bushel, this post graduate degree. oh
tanned after the hours spent in rom
nittee rooms. must be conserved and put
To account.
And 30 for this reason. or one reason
or another. or perhaps Just because. as
aforesaid, the old but familiar iunketing
opportunity IS knocking. and maybe for
the same reason the tired business man
Is supposed to journey "a tho light mu-
sicai comedy, many Congressman are
going a-iunketing.
The committees of the House and
Senate are planning a trip, an official
trip TO the Philippines, but the plans
may not be carried out, because Senator
Harding, Of Ohio, chairman Of the SEN
ate committee, has other problems to
which he is devoting his attention. And
then. again. 10 may be carried out. Many
members hope so 70 say the very least
Then ehere - provision made already
for trip 70 all the Indian reservations.
Some members Of the Senate and
House Committees on Territories are
planning a trip 70 Alaska this summer
perhaps official and perhaps "unofFi-
cial, but, whichever il Hsy be, perhaps
also about the time il becomes rather
embarrassing 70 wear last winters cloth
ing in this climate.
The most inviting, invig0rating and
insidious invitation TO lure Congressional
minds away comes from far-0h Japan
and China. Every one Of the 335 Con-
gressmen and everyone OF the % Sena-
tors have received invitations to make
this trip aunOffiCially" That means
small part Of the expense will be borne
by the traveller de luxe but this part.
indeed, will be small At present about
1l6 members have accepted this invita-
tion and accepted also. very gracefully.
in many instances, in behalf Of their
families. The expense for each Iunketer
will be about 81 % a day for meals con-
siderably less than is paid ordinarily BY
the stay-at-homes.
The Mount Vernon IS being prepared
for this voyage The members will live on
the big ship and with majority vote rll-
ing, the iunketers will have the ship stop
at certain ports so long as they desire.
About one week viii be spent in the Ha-
waiian Islands and another week in the
Philippines The vessel will accommO-
date about 1900 persons without crowd
ing and it will be turned over TO the
Congressional party.
Pressure is being brought to bear 10
have an official or unofficial" oppor-
tunity to inspect the Panama Canal and
the Pacific Coast as far north as San
Francisco. There is no ulterior motive
suggested for this Investigation, though
it is almost a coincidence that the Demo-
cratic National Convention will be held
at the California city az about the time
the Panama Canal tour would end there.
And there have been so many members
of Congress who have expressed the fear
that the long train ride and incidentally
the high cost of travelling by railroad
will prevent them from going to the
convention.
Already some members have investi-
gated the Virgin Islands and under the
spell of war investigating. numerous COM
mittees have permitted the startled pop
ulations along the Atlantic and Pacific
coasts to witness their national repre-
sentatives in the flesh. Ii is the common
saying about the House now that persons
in almost every State can describe GER
tain members of Congress and can relate
just what they had to saw and how they
work at their tasks. If for no other
purpose and if it ACCOMPLISHED nothing
else, the trips or the investigating junkets
apparently have served a most useful
purpose.
There has been criticism of this junkes-
ing in a year when economy" was al
legged to be the rule absolute, but well
there always will be criticism.