The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-09-14
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC J. HAsKIN. Director.
Washington, D. G.
WHAT is A CONGRESSMAN?

q
errand boy, political agent, sight-see-
| ing guide, employment bureau, and
general adviser of the poor and
| needy?
If it be conceded that he is in part
a maker of laws, then how many laws
at one time is he supposed to be able
to consider and understand, and from
! how many different points of view Is
| he supposed to be able to consider
| and understand them?
These are questions that a good
many congressman are asking them4
| selves. The number of things that a
congressman is nowadays called upon
/ to do, besides attending to legislation,
is enough to appall any strong man.
Besides that consider the number of
vote his attention. The popular the
DRY Of government in this country is
that If there is anything the matter
with anything or anybody, the rem
edy is to pass law about it. We
have piled up a mountain of laws,
4 and each year the mountain grows
| more than it grew the year before.
| The faster it grows the less consider
alton does each OF the laws get The
legislators who are supposed to be
| carefully considering these laws never
heard OF most of them.
WHITTIER does this process lead?
In devising the American govern
| ment, it is highly probable that the
fathers of the country hadsno idea of
| the way in which the functions of
some of the officers OF the govern
| ment would be expanded and degrad-
ed. They had the idea in their inno-
cent fbewigged heads that congress
would meet once every year, each
second session being short one, and
I that each congressman and senator
would devote himself to making laws.
Some cynical present day members of
| congress suggest that these wise old
| statesmen intended that congress
should meet to prevent laws from be-
ing enacted-at least too many of
them. If this was their purpose, their
| successors in the halls of the national
legislature have failed miserably.
AS Once 1t Was.
A senator or a representative was
intended in the original plan to be
dignified gentleman who would come
to Washington to deliberate over the
state of the Union, and after sage con-
sultation with his colleagues, enact a
Few mastery statutes which would lay
the foundation for continuing the
peace, progress and prosperity OF the
nation. Naturally, the halls of con-
gress would be the outlet for more
or less oratory by gentlemen who felt
an irrepressible urge in this direction.
it was really good, applauded and
widely quoted thruout the then mar
row confines of the new nation.
From the very beginning the scope
of the duties falling upon the Shout
derS of those making up the Ameri-
can congress, particularly the lower
branch, has increased steadily. The
constituents making ap many districts
have fallen into the habit of using
their representatives in Washington
for every errand and favor they can
think to ask him. The volume of law
enactment takes SO muchN time and
has grown to such proportions, too,
that rarely indeed can a member find
time to devote to any private business
or enterprise. The long adjournment
of Congress from March 4 until the
first Monday in December is an al
most forgotten thing. In the rush of
present day affairs and for many
years past it has almost always been
necessary for the president to as
semble the congress in extraordinary
which would not wait. In the midst
of this rush, the members of the
house Have to keep in touch with af-
fairs in their home districts in order
that they may keep their jobs. as cleo
ton day for them comes every two
years.
Particularly at this time. with the
Inauguration of a Republican regime
after eight years of Democratic ad-
ministration, there is g. terrific amount
Ol dOulllOnd1 pressure on every
Der of congress. Constituents, usually
always lifelong Republicans" are
seeking to dislodge the Democrats
holding governmental offices and take
the position themselves. The jobs for
the most part are in the hands of the
executive departments, there are usu-
ally many applicants for each one,
and thus the congressman is caught in
Nthe jam between the job and the ap-
plicant. with little patience exhibited
by the earnest seeker for a place on
the federal payroll If there is any de-
lay or failure on the part of his con-
gresham in landing him there.
Tho Importunate Constituent.
The country congressman usually
has q harder time than the man rep
resenting a city district. In many in
stances It is safe to say that very many
city voters have no remote idea of the
name of the man they sent to Wash
ington to represent their district in
congress. A great many do not even
know the 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 of the
envelope, which serves in lieu Of a
stamp. This man often is loud in de-
nouncing congress for wasting time
and money and charging it with in
efficiency in the conduct of the ma
TONS business, but he doesn't take
wants something. tho, he makes
know who he voted for, if he did vote.
If it should happen that this man
wants something, though, he makes
haste to find out his congressman's
name. and writes to him as one of 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 postnap, or he may de-
sire to come to Washington to lend
his expert hand to the direction of
the affairs Of state.
The maA in congress having a dis
trict which is not Just section of a
large city, gets a continual lombard
ment, however. The people in his dis
trict know who he is, and use their
knowledge to the utmost. They make
demands upon him by mail for every
thing under the sun. seeking political
preferment, flower seeds, business ad-
vantages, passports, almost everything
else that ran ha I'm rirod