The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1922-09-15
A COAGRESSMAN'S MAIL.

A congressman's desk h fun of natl
and propaganda
What % the people write aboutf you
ask.
Wei, about Utmost everything under
the sun. The congressman is the bu-
reau Of information for his district. He
Is the direct representative for his dis
trfct Of the great government at
Washington to which all people turn
when In need or distress
Letters come favoring OF opposing
legislation: asking for information on
every Conceivable subject; asking for
government aid In all sorts of enter
prises; asktng help to get people out
Of all sorts Of difficulties and troubles;
asking for information that viii help
boys and giris In debates; asking for
decisions to help settle bets; asking
for literature on all manner Of sub
tects; asking for aid in getting post
Offices and rural routes established.
The homesaeader seeks his congress
mans assistance In land Office matteea
The old soldier and the soldier of later
wars bring many problems to their
congressman. The mothers OF soldiers |
often have need Of help in the way OF |
delayed insurance adjustments, dis
charge for the boy who enlisted under
age, and occasionally help to get
ciemency for a boy In prtsOn. The
farmer asks for bulletins. agriculture
year books, garden seed. rare field seed.
farm loans and variety 6 other
things. One wrote In and asked Tor
the loan Of a gD~ernnsnt bull They
also write often about fence laws. rpad
laws and high taxes on real estate
with all OF which the federal eDUexn-
ment has nothing to do.
Claims against the government pro
duce much mail and some work. Some
Of the claims are recent and cOllecfa-
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 larger ap-
for various departments
# the government In which they OF
heir communities are directly inter ,
,sted. Some urge greater appropria-
Ions and lower federal taxes at the
anne time.
Some letters refer to Jobs the writer's {
would like to obtain, but as con- 8
,ressman has little influence in procur- :
ng jobs now since nearly all govern /,
nent positions have seen but in the :
ivil service, this class Of letters does
OF crowd the desk. r
There are many unciasifed requests, a
UGH as one from the citizens Of GER t
ain town alleging that the citizens Of b
mother town had stolen their court
ouse In the night and asking for It's
eturn through government agency.
Propaganda 10 Plentiful. '
Then there is the propaganda. which C
In a class by itself. 1t comes from
II quarters of the globe and covers p
Il subjects relating to life, from birth 8
ontrol to government graveyards. 1t a
delivered by wire, mail and meesen- Il
DR.. II runS In volume from q teie- o
ram or post card to bound books. No n
inject Is suggested In congress. 1t e
Gems, that does not bring forth
lower of propaganda, and some sub
'cts bring deluge.
So you can see that congressman's n
esk is apt to be full Of mail. bis Of N
20 La quite business institution. II ir
; had no legislative duties to perform Il
. would find his whole time well en- cl
Dyed in taking care Of the mail, and &c
70 requests for service which the 1,
ails bring In. Il
And wdthal let me say that a con- &C
esman likes to hear from home. He
ants to be of service to his constitu- Z
It's. He courts the business, so to
eak. He Is proud of the big bunch |
mail that comes In and Is pleased
see big bunch go out at the close j.
the day. A big mail indicates
ose touch with home. Most members
Iswer most letters. have replied to p'
cry letter that has come to my Of ti'
e from Colorado. except one. That 81
me from a sort Of anarchist, would oil
dge Anyway, / could hardly die oil
tie a proper reply to lady stenog-
pher, so that single letter among the
ousands went into the waste basket, Ia
90