The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-02-26
Walter NincIleII
rh Neze, YOrk

little them, but that's policy--siot their own choice in tho matter. Last election the nations daiiies were eb per cent or more against the presi- dent. But a private poll showed him favored by some Of the cor- respondents who walioped him hardest on their typewriters.
 How do you account for Che blCk- ering and turmoil In Congress?
 That's easy. Because lt's Congress.
 How would yOn go about making it work better?
 Listen, stranger, live here. You can't saddle me with Congress. You sent the members here--you and the ether out-of-towners. Why should worry about your problems2
 Do you agree with Pegler, who wrote that Congress Is . sorry c0un- tcrfelt of a legislative body? No. Congress, as department of govt, is pretty admirable outfit. You'll find some of the most high- minded, unselfish, patriotic men and women in the world. They try to keep their campaign promises of better govt for the benefit of the many. At the same time a hand- full of hams and heels have crept in and shamed the whole body. As for the pickering and tumult, you should be grateful for that, mister. The minute you ain't got 1t, you ain't got Q govt.
 Bt the busiest trOuble-makers are the hams you mentioned.
 Then don't elect harnsl
 Hut Sou say they're In the minor. ity. How do they carry so much power? Why aren't their nonsensl- cal bills voted down?
 Lots of reasons. There's a lot of rse-trading in Congress. A guy with a good bill--useful to the cour,- try = will swap favors to get 1t passed. Pretty soon a lot of mel1l- oers owe favors, and zoom, here comes a vicious measure they have to pay off on. Lots of times the b,others don't know what they're favoring. The wallop is squeezed in the bottom of the thing, and by the time that comes up for gab the opponents are bored or asleep or maybe taking the air. Absenteeism passes a lot of bills that nobody wants.
 1 gather the other members arc hep to the slsullduggery that goes on. Why don't they blow them down, point the finger at them?
 They don't like playing copper When you work alongside a guy, you don't feel like telling teacher on him. They figure the public has brains and will catch on to the trouble-makers soon enough.
 What's behind all these shenani. gans? What makes 8 member spOn. sor . bill if it's going to bring the hammer down on him?
 You're something of Q cluck your. self, aren't you? Who says 1t brings the hammer down on him? The N. Y. papers, or the Boston, or other town sheets may skin the member alive. But as long as hls constituency likes 1t, he's in clover. He works strictly for votes-af1d back home is where the votes come from.
 Maybe they should Do limited Co one term--then there wouldn't Do any jockeylng for reelection, soft sOaping the home.tOwnetss
 Figure 1t out for yourself. You'd get rid of the lunatic fringers after one bellyful. Which is good. But you'd lose Q great man like Sena- tor Norris, who served In Congress nearly forty years. Stacking Sena- tor Norris against the yowlers, he figures to offset about 50 of them, and that's not giving him his true rating.
 What happens to the members who start out with great promise and then wind up screaming drivei? You know the ones I mean. They're changed from statesmen to petti- fOggers.
 It's sad about them. Ambition wrecked them. They all got White House hopes. When the hopes were smothered they got jealous, quarrel some and picayune. The idea with them summed up to: If they won't put me in, the White House, I'll do my damnedest to make the place as uncomfortable as l can for the one who is there.
 But that can't be the only thing behind all the opposition to MT. Roosevelt. Some, I grant. But the President has been 30 right about so many things-especialIy the war you'd think these sore-heads would rally around-at least until the war Is won.
 You don't catch on. Their spite is greater than ever. The PreSi- dent can't win them over just by being right. In fact, that's the one thing they can NEVER forgive.