The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-09-08
Frederic Haskin's Letter
What Is a Congressman?

are usually many applicants 70,
each one, and thus the congressmsn
is caught in the jam between The
job and the applicant, with Iitfls
patience exhibited by the earnes,
seeker for place on the federal
payroll If there is any delav .,
failure on the part of his congress.
man in landing him there.
The Imp0rtunate Constituent
The country congressman USUALLY
has harder time than the man
representing a city district In
many instances it is safe to saw that
very many city voters have no ra'
mote idea of the name of the ma,
they sent to Washington To repre-
sent their district in congress 4
! great many do not even know tbs
district in which they live. A man
gets a package of garden seeds sent
! to him from Washington and in
rare cases may note the name of the
! congressman up in the corner NJ
/ the envelope, which serves in lien
of a stamp. This man often is Ioud
/ in Genouncing congress for wasting
time and money, and charging il
with jneficiency in the conduct Of
the Nations business, but he doesn't
take enough real interest IN the
matter to know who he voted foy
if he did vote.
II it should happen that this man
wants something, though, he makes
haste to find cut his congressmau's
name, and writes to him as one NJ
his ardent supporters, demanding
this or that favor as a return for
his support He may want a Job
as consul at some remote point he
has heard of, he may want to be a
postman, or he may desire to come
to Washington to lend his expert
hand to the direction of the affairs
of state.
The man in congress having a
district which is not just a section
of a large city gets a continual
bombardment, however. The people
in his district know who he is, and
use their knowledge to the utmost
They make demands upon him by
mail for everything under the sun.
seeking political preferment, flower
seeds, business advantages, pass
y
can be imagined.
The mail deluge is sufficiently
trying, but often these constituents
come to Washington. Being entirely
strange to the city and its sights,
they do not scruple to depend upon
their congressman as guide.
There have been cases where visit
ing constituents have come to
Washington with plans consisting
only of knowing what day they
must leave, and calling upon the
man they elected as their represen-
tative to sit down and map out an
entertaining and instructive visit
for them while in the nations cap
itai
A state of mind of the nation has
come to add still further burdens
to the bending shoulders Of the
average member of congress. The
need for rapidly enacted Legislation
of all kinds during the war resulted
in building up the conviction in
many sections of the country that
there is a legislative cure for every
real or fancied evil that exists In
hard times, the naive suggestion
that law be passed to print more
paper money is not unknown. Fan
atics of all sort pour incessant
pleas upon congress for this or that
drastic law enactment, dolefuIly
the ruin of the nation If
their demands are not needed
This year all of this is taking
place in the midst of. the important
which invariably fol-
ows a change in the political com
Dlexion of the party in power. The
,ariff is being changed, and the tax
bill is being revised. This means
hat every kind of business being
carried on in the country wants to
lave its particular situation
placed before congress, either with
he plea that the raw materials es-
;ential to it shall be admitted to the
country free of import duty, or that
he finished product from foreign
lrms shall be excluded by tariff
vail. In tSr matter of taxes, it is
,ut natural that every kind of bus
ness should seek legislation favor
Lble TO itself, and this year has
,een no exception When it is con-
idered that congress will be held
in large part for any
egree of failure in the govern
nent's economy efforts, and that
elections are impending in
many states. it becomes difficult to
'elieve that the berth of a duly
lected member of congress is
nything remotely suggesting bed
f roses.