The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1921-04-28
ACTIVITIES
By Senator E. F. Ladd

tory that it was the practice Of those
who conquered a country and carried
away its Inhabitants as captives to
give them the fruit of the Lotus tree
to eat. The Lotus fruit was supposed
to have the effect Of causing a state Of
dreamy content and complete forget
fulness Of home and friends. Since
coming to Washington I have been
frequently told the Washington spir-
it in some cases had a similar effect
on those elected to protect the inter
ests Of the people.
| know of no better way to keep in
touch with my constituents than to
send an open letter through the press
from time to time giving my observa77
tons as to the doings Of Congress and
the activities of the different depart
..ments of the Government. All legisla-
ton should be the product Of the COM
bined effort Of the. people and their
representatives. The better a Senator
knows the public the better he can
serve them.
I shall always be glad to hear from
those who are weighing our country's
needs and studying what is best for all
concerned. I shall be anxious to know
what they think is the right thing to
do in our present chaotic condition..
1t will be my ambition to stress the
different views on questions pending
in Congress instead of emphasizing
my personal opinion with regard to
such matters. I firmly believe we can
always trust the people to do the right
thing provided they know the facts.
The new administration commences
it's duties under most favorable con-
ditions. Politics is adjourned for the
present and those who strove for the
mastery in former days seem to have
come to q realization that in the last
analysis service is the true measure Of
greatness.
Our Indian tribes have a habit Of
referring to Uncle Sam as tn e"Great
Father" Their use of the appellation
shows they have a truer conception OF
what the relations of government
should be towards it's citizens than
many of the pale faced brethren. The
last census shows the Great Father
has a family Of owe 105 100000 child,
rem scattered throughout the country
covering an area of 3,O26,789 square
miles. They are divided in groups of
laborers, farmers, professional and
business men and owing to geologi-
cal, geographic and climatic advan-
tages a confliction of interests is to
be expected. It is the duty of the Great
Father, speaking through Congress, to
see that no n group or groups is
benefited to the injury Of other group
or groups. That much the Great Faith
err should do-more he should not do.
Like most fathers his expense bill is
much larger for the year 1921 than
formerly. The grand total for all X
penses for 1921 is given as $4,78O,-
1929, 51O.35 which makes the annual ex-
pense per capita for the people Of the
United States over $45.00.
While we agree with jefferson that
that Government governs best which
governs least, we also believe that
that Government governs best which
meets the. conditions. In this nnec
ton, I was much interested in a state
ment made by DIR. John A. Ryan, Pro-
lessor of Ethics in the Catholic Uni
versity, Washington, D. c. while adj
dressing a Farmers Conference,
namely, that in order to meet the
questions that now confront our ma
ton it would be necessary for the Gov
eminent to enter more into competi-
ton with private industries than it.
has done in the past.
There seems to be a growing senti-
.ent that farming (our basic indus
must receive more consideration
than it has in the past. If the farmer
is to continue to produce at cost or be-
low cost there is very little hope for
the future. / am glad to know the
has at last come to the con-
that the only way he can make
his influence felt in matters Of legis-
lation is through organization. Every
other business and industry has BEEN
thoroughly organized for years-why
not the farming industry?
While it is impossible to enact a
law which will have exactly the same
bearing in the different localities
throughout the country, the farming
interests will find that they have
many things in common and il they