The midland journal., 1946-03-08
HEADACHES FeR UNITED
NATIONS
BY j. e. Jones n

months ago 1t affirmed that "We,
the peoples of the United Nations"
are determined to save succeeding
generations from the scourge of war
!. to affirm faith and fundamental
rights to establish conditions
under which justice and respect for
the obligations arising from treatie s
| and other sources of international
law can be maintained" The docu-
ment was very long and covered nine
teen different chapters. In effect it
was what we would regard as a Dec
laration of Independence and Con-
stitution.
But the plan isn't working salts
factorily. Russia has gummed up the
| machinery.
No one ever supposed that policies
and principles OF World Government
would he reduced to a common un-
derstanding, inasmuch as different
peoples in all parts of the World
have their own habits and customs,
as well as many forms of govern
ment. Russia misbehaves so badly
and is so brutal in it's defiance of
the rights of the peoples of the Uni
ted Nations that our Americans are
losing faith in the big Bear We
never expected the Russian mind to
| be the same as ours. But we expected
honest cooperation to keep the peace
and in establishing permanent peace
throughout the World.
Unless there is an Improvement in
international relations our Congress
| will certainly strike back That
might, unfortunately, reduce the i'm
portance of the United Nations to the
same level as the lamented League of
Nations.
How Much Pay For congressman?
Ten thousand dollars year is a
downright handsome salary that
would permit many of us to live the
| life of Riley, or at least a reasonable
approximation of it, but this does not
hold fer the men who represent up
in Congress, Democrats and Republi-
cans alike.
| Take the story of Ex-Congressmen
Robert Ramspeck of Georgia, who,
after 16 years in Congress, recently
resigned and became executive vice.
president of the Air Transport Asso-
citation. This offered him an escape
from a poverty-ridden old age as a
political has-been
In signed article in the current
| Of Gol1 ID
list of expenses suffered by the Con-
gresham, expenses that are net part
of our daily lives. But let's let him
tell the story:
| "a member of Congress can barely
skin through on the $4,000 salary
he gets. He must maintain two homes
one in his district, one i'll WASH
ington. He must pay most OF his trav-
| cling expenses, part of his communi-
cation expenses, and every two years
he must run for reelection if lie is a
member of the House; and running
for office is not free exercise My
campaigns have cost me between
$2,500 and $1,000
Ramspeck reports that four out of
! five congressman, who recently re-
signed felt forced to do it; they had
to provide some financial security for
| their families.
! Speaking as private citizen who
| is devoted to my country and to my
| personal liberty and who wants
Congress strong" Ramspeck declares
that Congress itself, because of a
fear of public criticism, has failed to
give its members degree of finan-
cial security. "After ALL" he says,
Congress spends less on itself than
1t does on Indian Affairs
He calls for bold, adequate'
move on the part of Congress to give
each member $4,000 year. to
create a liberal retirement plan, and
to provide an administrative assist
ant for each Congressman and a re-
search staff for each branch Of Con-
gress. Ramspeck's arguments suggest
the need of a statistical study to de-
termine the legitimate average ex-
penses of Congressman. If it's OBJ
vious tkat $4,000 does not give
them any financial security, then it's
time for the richest Nation in the
World to pay them adequately and to
make Congress strong.
The Strike Problem
There aren't enough people work
ing today in the United States to
keep the wheels going round. Why
work? "The critical strike situation
throughout the land blows hot and
cold, mostly hot; one strike ends, and
another strike begins, but always
the public is kept on the hot seat"
Senator Alexander Wiley reports to
Wisconsin editors The Senator sums
up the situation in these few words:
"The consumer is hungry for autos,
radios, refrigerators. washing ma
chimes; the farmer is desperate for
new machinery" But our Senator re-
gretfully notes tke outstanding fact
that the news of the times concerns
idle men and ever more strikes in