The Nespelem tribune. [volume] (Nespelem, Wash.) 1934-1936, 1935-01-23
U. S. Legislators
Move Into Action
Government Machine Moving
Now At Fast Clip; New Il
Solons Surprised

Solons Surprised
WASHINGTON, Jan. II. (Auto-
caster)-With the complete mach
inery of government in full swing
congress in session, the supreme
court on the bench and the execu-
tive departments, which never take
a vacation, functioning full speed
Washington today presents a scene
of unparalleled activity.
The city is so crowded that many
of the new senators and representa-
lives, who had no previous Wash
ington experience, have found 1t
impossible to get houses, apart
ments or even hotel accommoda-
tons within the reach of their
pocketbooks. Washington's attitude
toward the denizens of Capitol Hill
is that they are only transients,
anyway, and let them take a hall
bedroom if they can't find anything
else. New members who came en-
pecting to be welcomed at the sta
ton by a brass band and flooded
with invitations to social affairs,
are discovering that, no matter how
big they may be in their home
towns, they are only so many votes
for or against administration
measures when they get to Wash
ington. Only after years of service
does senator or q representative
establish. himself as a personality
in the Washington hurry burly.
Getting Acclimated
One of the first things a new
member learns, however, is that the
allowances" above his salary are
worth conserving. There is nothing
in law or custom to prevent q sem
ator or representative from putting
his wife, his son, his daughter Or
other relative on the federal pay
roll. Each member is entitled to q
secretary and to other clerical help,
and If he is committee chairman
he has the naming of important
paid employees of the committee.
A recent count showed A persons
bearing the same names as senators
and representatives, on the list Of
congressional secretaries. A frugal
member can save pretty nearly all
of his $4,000 a year salary, and
and many do just that.
Very few members ever get their
names in the big newspapers, buc
the corps of washington CORES
pOndentS now include scores of
young men who make speciality Of
getting these unkonwn members q
"break" in their home district news
papers.
All that is necessary for the ave-
rage member to do to get favorable
mention in home paper dispatches
is to introduce plenty of bills which
are calculated to impress the home
voters. Seldom do any Of these
bills get beyond the committee to
which they are referred, and it Is
one of the rarest of events for a
new member Of either house to get
q chance to make q speech. All he
is expected to do or has much Of q
chance to do is to be regular" ana
vote the way his party leader tells
him to.
Bonus and Pension
The new congress will play ball
with the president everything
but the bonus. Nobody can tell
what may happen when 1t comes to
the question Of old-age pensions.
The president opened the door for
that in his annual message. The
Townsend Plan advocates say they
have 25,O00,0cO votes behind he
scheme to give everybody over 60
a pension of 5000 month. That's
lot of votes, and if any such DEM
onstration can be made, it will have
a powerful effect on congress.
The administration plan of pro-
viding jobs for everybody who Is
able to work, at wages lower than
those current in private industry,
while throwing the burden Of caring
for the unemployables back on the
states, as outlined in the presidents
message, is well liked on Capitol