Imperial Valley press., 1922-04-28

1Copyrlght, l922, fby united PreSs)
4. (. /. CHAPTER il.
WASHINGTON, April 27-"So this
is the senate!''
That, the senator who is giving me
his actual impression of the senate said,
was almost his first word on the day
he became, member of the body at
the northern end of the Capitol.
II said it in that facetious vein in
which one says so this is Parish or
So this is golf!' Today, L say it again,
SO this is the senate But observe,
| am not facetious now.
"What is the senate? A good many
people in this country are asking now
adays, why is the senate?' L have
been member of it for more years
than ! am going to enumerate here,
and I confess l am stumped to give a
sensible answer to either question.
ooh, yes, know it's constitutional
function and place in our govern
mental scheme. / know it arouses
much righteous indignation when any
body casts aspersions on the ancient
and honorable body. Aspersions, crit
icism, ridicule hurt when they are
true. That is why senators get hop
ping mad when anybody asks, Why is
the senate?' and somebody else says,
'I'll bite; what it it p
"'The other day / read in a popular
magazine reference to congress as
that grotesque thing | nearly wrote
that author letter complimenting him
on his precise definition. Congress is
grotesque. In the abstract, it is great
institution, a wonderful forum, bull
wark of libevty. But practically, it
works with less effectiveness than the
ordinary borough council. Again l
ask, 'Why?'
"And again, I am compelled to
answer that / do not know. L can tell
you my own experience, and perhaps
that gives as good an index to the
trouble with congress as anything.
For some years past, l have had no
purpose in life definite enough to be
worthy the name. have been plugging
along in a rut. | never realized it until
recently. 1 haven't even had in mind
definitely, at least, the purpose of being
reelected. l find now, as l look back
that this is true. 1 have gone out and
gotten myself reelected, of course, but
without much knowing why. L have
made speeches to my people, in which
| have promised this and that in what
a friend of mine used to call general
glowingalities. But for the life of
me, l cannot tell you why L am in the
senate today.
"I have found that senators-all
legislators, for that matter-naturally
fall into two groups when they get to
Washington. In one group are the
men who keep their local sense, and
their close connection with their home
people; who devote themslvs to look
ing after individual wants. In the other
group are those who regard themselves
as servants of the nation as whole,
and who, as soon as they conveniently
can, forget all about the petty demands
of the separate voters back home, and
aspire to greatness as national figures.
Now, after q time, you discover
at least L have discovered-a third
group. / belong to it. 1t is the group
that sticks neither to the one nor the
other of the main ideas outlined above
the group of indefinites L call them.
And my life i'll the senate convinces
me that it is the largest group of all.
"The 'indefinites have only one
idea, if any. That is to get reelected.
Oh, they are honorable men, and some
of them are able men. But they get
lazy. The enervating climate of Wash
ington, perhaps-and its social eli
mate, is quite enervating. In my own
case it has been mostly gentle grow
ing old, l think
(Which brings me to the point. 1t is
not so much my fault that [ am not
great man as it is the fault of the folks
back home. They ought to have kicked
me out long ago. That would have
made me fight, or if / had been too
poor stuff to fight, would have settled
back where | belonged, and would
have grown old at my own expense
somewhere back home, instead of at the
nations expense here in Washington.
"There is tip for the voter, He
ought to clean out lot of the con
tended 'indefinites.' Then he would
have a better senate