The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1944-12-15
:|'!!l(:lI0Sy DIG
Congressional Machinery
Is Slated for 0verhau|inq
Bulk of Complaints Against Legislative Branch
Are Inconsistent, but Committee
Setup Needs Revision.
BY BAUKHAGE
Netus Analyst and Commentator.

Netus Analyst al
WNU Service, Union Trust Building
Washington, ID. G.
It Is an old American custom to
take q pot-shot at congress when
ever something goes wrong and no
body else is handy to blame, no
matter whether the trouble is dust
storms, sun-spots, jaundice or just
plain crouch.
You may recall that this feeling
reached an unhappy high in the ia
nous bundles for congressman"
campaign of 1912. Some practical
jokers in Seattle seized on the civil
service retirement bill which made
all government employees, includ-
ing members of congress, eligible
for pensions, as an excuse to start
the horseplay. BY the time the silly
season arrived, everyone with an
overdose of prickly heat was taking
1t out in one way or another on the
poor legislators.
That was very funny to every
body except the recipients Of the
bundles and a few thoughtful
people who know that the great
est danger to a democratic gov
eminent is lack Of confidence
in the parliamentary body. They
knew, too, that most of the sins
of congress are due to the fact
that some of the congressional
methods established by the
founding fathers have grown
out Of date.
AS one congressman put it to me
the other day: 1--WE can't be ex-
pected to handle billion-dollar bud
gets with penny-ante setup."
In July, 1913, Senator LaFollette
(Progressive) of Wisconsin intro
duced plan for the reorganization
of the committee structure of the
senate. This year the senate ap-
proved the appointment of joint
committee on organization of both
houses. The Smith committee in the
house, Senator Maloney and Repre-
sentative Monroney and others car
ried on, until today the chances seem
bright for consideration by the 10th
congress of a plan to streamline
the machinery of the govern
ment's legislative branch.
In addition, committee OF
lawyers has just completed a, four
year study on the reorganization Of
congress, the results of which have
found favor in congressional circles.
think 1t apropos at this point to
offer two quotations, one from the
works Of the historian Charles
Beard, mentioned by Senator LaFol-
lette in an article he wrote on the
subject, and another from the arti-
Gle itself.
This is what historian Beard said:
"As q more than casual student Of
the Congressional Record, I venture
this opinion: It is possible to pick
out Of the Record for the past 10
years addresses (not orations)
which for the breadth Of knowledge,
technical skill, analytical acumen,
close reasoning and dignified pres
entation, compare favorably with
similar utterances made in the pre-
ceding century by the so-called
great orators"
LaFollette, subscribing to this
opinion, adds frankly, "There is, to
be sure, more trash-bad poetry,
demagogic claptrap, and clotted
nonsense-in the Record Of the past
10 years than there was on the an
nails Of congress from 1889 to 1799."
(Aye, ayeD
The senator reminds us, however,
Of the extremely complex quality
Of the problems which congress has
to face today and the distractions
to which the members are sub
jected, and then, comparing the con-
gress about which he is writing (the
76th) with the first congresses, he
says he is convinced shat for dis
interestedness, absence of corrup-
ton, and concern with the public
good, the present body is of high
er order"
And that is a sentiment which,
in the humble opinion Of this writer,
is substantiated by the majority Of
objective students Of the two bodies.
All Democratic Institutions
Suffer During Wartime
The present legislators, IL they
wished to be as tritely exasperating
as many civilian slackers In this
our time Of national stress, could
answer some Of their critics with
q shrug and a reminder that "there
Is a war on" When war is on the
toughest fibered Of democratic in
situations suffer.
The inconsistency Of the bulk Of
the complaints against the legisla-