The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1922-08-23
A ~CONGRESSMAN'S MAIL

A congressman's desk is full OF mail
and propaganda.
What do the people write about? you
ask.
Well, about almost everything unuer
the sun The congressman is the bu-
reau of information for his district. He
is the direct representative for his us
trict of the great government at
Washington to which all people tGrn
when In need or distress.
Letters come favoring or opposing
legislation; asking for information on
every conceivable subject asking for
government aid in all sorts of enter
prises asking help to get people out
of all sorts of difficulties and troubles;
asking for information that will help
boys and girls in debates; asking Tor
decisions to help settle bets; asking
for literature on all manner Of sub
jects; asking for aid in getting post
Offices and rural routes established.
The homesteader seeks his congress
mans assistance in land office matters.
The old soldier and the soldier of later
wars brings many problems to their
, congressman. The mothers of soldiers
often have need of help in the way OF
delayed insurance adjustments, a dis
charge for the boy who enlisted under
age, and occasionally help to get
clemency for a boy in prison. The
farmer asks for bulletins, agriculture
year books. garden seed, rare field seed,
farm loans and a variety of other
things. One wrote in and asked for
the loan of a government bull. They
also write often about fence laws. road
laws and high taxes on real estate
with all of which the federal govern
ment has nothing to do.
Claims against the government pro-
duce much mail and some work. Some
of the claims are recent and cOllecta-
BILE, but many are for losses during the
Civil war and before, and these, how
ever just, are hard to do anything with
at this late date.
Many people write urging largersap-
preparations for various departments
of the government in which TIN
their communities are directly
ested. Some urge greater apprd1
lions and lower federal taxes at Inc
same time.
Some letters refer to jobs the writers
would like to obtain, but as a con-
gresham has little influence in procur-
ing jobs now since nearly all govern
ment positions have e but In the
civil service, this class of letters does
not crowd the desk.
There are many u~nclasified requests,
such as one from the citizens Of a GER
tain town alleging that the citizens. of
another town had stolen their court
house in the night and asking for its
return through government agency.
Propaganda Is Plentiful.
Then there is the propaganda, which
is in a class by itself. It. comes from
all quarters of the globe and covers
all subjects relating to life, from birth
control to government graveyards. 1t
Is delivered by wire, mail and messen-
gen 1t runs In volume from a tele-
gram or post card to bound books. No
subject is suggested in congress, 1t
seems, that does not bring forth a
shower of propaganda, and some sub
jects bring a deluge.
So you can see that a congressman's
desk Is apt to be full Of mail. His Of
fee is quite a business institution. IL
he had no legislative duties to perform
he would find his whole time well en-
ployed in taking care of the mail. and
the requests for service which the
mails bring In.
And withal let me say that a con-
gresham likes to hear from home. He
wants to be of service to his constltu-
ents. He courts the business, so to
speak. He is proud of the big bunch
of mail that comes in and is pleased
to see a big bunch go out at the close
of the day. A big mail indicates a
close touch with home. Most members
answer most letters. | have replied to
every letter that has come to my Of
flee from Colorado, except one. That
came from a sort OF anarchist, l would
Judge. Anyway, l could hardly die
tate a proper reply to a lady stenog-
rapher, so that single letter among the
thousands went into the waste basket,
unanswered.