Evening star., 1937-02-06

congress Oh Llle OIllUeO States, par.
ticularly in its Upper House, has at
tracted the very cream of our citi-
zenry.
THE fact that Senator's achieve this
honored status only after long and
distinguished careers in their own
communities and come to Washington
equipped with all the experience,
Judgment, wisdom and matured view
points that life has crowded into their
youth and early middle age is Of un-
deniable benefit to the country as a
whole. They have, so to speak. ar
rived at period in their careers when
they may be adjudged most compe-
tent. physically, mentally and psycho-
logically, to pass upon the laws that
are to govern national destiny. 1t is
doubted that any country in the world
can present finer examples of devoted.
talented legislative service than the
body of United States Senators as a
whole, from the first Congress to the
seventy-fifth. One has only to make
a careful and unbiased study of our
legislative history to confirm this i'm
preston.
True, we have had our picturesque
characters in these $50 years, but
what group Of men over so long a
period has not? And, when all is
said and done, what imprint have
these made upon the permanent des-
tiny of our country? We need a
sense of humor, as well as apprecia-
ton. when We scan in reStrospect
these $50 sessions. A man inspired
with democratic ideals makes the
front page without benefit Of dra-
matte appurtenances and without ef-
fort by the sheer force of his ac
complishments.
These latter our Congresses have
never lacked. They have been re-
sponsible in $50 years for placing
upon our statute books 58,422 laws,
975 of which were enacted in the
Seventy-third Congress and 339 in
the Seventy-fourth. They have zeal
ously guarded our interests at nome
and abroad, protected our foreign
commerce, steered US through the
horrors of war and eras of read
justrnent; fostered and preserved our
domestic interests; advanced ma
tional education; coped with national
emergencies and disasters; and, with
an eye set always on the future Sc
curity of our Nation, built with
soundness and vision. A great deal
has been said about congressional
verbiage, but I, for one. would like to
point out that 1t takes lot OF words
to do all that.
Since the first Congress We have
had 1856 Senators in Office. There
have been "a Negro members of Con-
dress-22 in the House and in the
Senate. The two Negro Senators
were Hiram r. Revels of Mississippi,
who served from 1870 to 1871, and
Blanche K. Bruce, also of Mississippi,
who served from 1875 to 1881.
FEW people know. perhaps, that a
slave actually sat in the Senate
chamber. But Blanche Kelso Bruce
was raised as slave. He was born
near Farmville. Prince Edward Coun-
ty, Va, March l, 1841. He was tu-
tored by his masters son. At the
beginning of the Civil War he left his
master and taught school for a while
in Missouri. Later he attended Ober-
lin College in Ohio. When the war
was over he went to Mississippi as
a planter. He was a member of the
Mississippi Levee Board, sheriff and
tax collector, and was elected as
Republican to the United States Sem
ate. His color, apparently. was no
handicap to his career, for he served
as delegate to several Republican ma
tional conventions and was appointed
register Of the Treasury by President
Garfield in 1881. From 1881 to 1898
he was recorder of deeds for the
District of Columbia, and served again |
as register Of the Treasury from 1897 |
until his death in Washington in
1898.
Almost a dozen men have served |
since the first Congress in the United |
States Senate for more than 80 years.
Among them are Francis E. Warren |
Of Wyoming, William B. Allison of |
Iowa, Justin s. Morrill, Of Vermont,
John Sherman Of Ohio. William p.
Frye of Maine, John T. Morgan of
Alabama, Shelby McCullom of Illinois,
Eugene Hale of Maine, Francis M.
Cockrell of Missouri, John p. Jones of
Nevada and William E. Borah of
Idaho.
The man who holds the record for
The longest continuous service In the
House and Senate Is Justin s. Morrill,,
and Senator from YER
mont, member for 43 years, 8 months
and "a days. Mr.. Morrill, was elected
rs q Whig to the Thirty-fourth, and
to the five succeeding Congresses,
when he became Senator. He was
the author Of the tariff act of 1861
and Of the land-grant bill which
passed both Houses of Congress and
was vetoed by President Buchanan.
but became q law in 1862. In 1866 he
vas elected to tne Senate q O Union |