The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1949-03-10
,&:1X MsI
%1(hAEIRaREY 3

SAk<~A~~ "s
Somebody ought to come to the
rescue of Congressman. 1t is nigh
ty easy to say that Congressman
are not hurrying along with their
work. 1t is easy to say that they
are a bunch of buns.
The truth is that most Congress
men and Senators work hard and
too many hours day.
If you pass half day in the Of
flee of a Congressman you will be-
gin to wonder how he finds time to
study important issues and how he
knows which way to vote on them.
Bill Smith writes asking for
some favor for Uncle Frank. Jane
Doe comes in to ask help in getting
a job. Sam Somebody wants to
know why he can't get electricity
in his house and Joe Muffliins
wants help in putting through a
claim for his mules broken leg.
Everybody-almost - wants the
Congressman or the Senator to do
something, generally for purely
personal reason.
How on earth, you begin to wond-
er, does he get chance to know
what ought to be done about keep
ing troops in Japan, or what ought
to be done about Korea, or the
middle East, or anything else i'm
portant.
Congressman and Senators are
elected from geographical areas,
which they are directed to repre-
sent. The area is a District, or a
State.
The Hon. George Banker is
"MY" Congressman and by golly
I've got right to ask him for any
fool thing / want. That is some
thing of curse, believe it or not.
Congress is a NATIONAL legis-
lature, but while it must legislate
on national and even on interna-
tional issues of the gravest import
ance, it's members are importuned
daily to work not only for single
District, but for individual persons
in that District.
What's to be done about it is
probably nothing. But what ought
to be done is completely revolu-
tionary. Congress ought to be de-
localized and made truly national.
How? / dunno, but maybe some
day somebody will know.
The remedy will be long time
coming, because while Congress
men are compelled to do a lot of
things for lot of individuals, that
is also one of their sources of
strength, come election time. Thus
do they make friends-and votes.
4 X 4
1t is true that there are some
loafers in Congress. Some mem
bers do practically nothing. Usual
ly these are among those who
either do not want to be reelected,
or cannot be reelected. A very few
are just constitutionally too lazy.
But you can go into the offices
of a lot of Senators and find office
staffs of as many as ten persons,
all busy and all doing their best to
make their office point of service.
They are bright men and women.
And of course they take care of a
lot of the requests for favors, thus
saving the time of their boss man.
These office groups are well or
ganized units of efficient people,
with the customary allowance for
exceptions.
Not only do they run the busi-
ness of routine favors, but one
among them-at least one-knows
who should see the boss and who
is just a nuisance.
There are persons who have to
be seen and there are those who do
not have to be seen.
A personal secretary knows
which is which. And those secre-
taries are high diplomats, in most
cases. They have to make the un-
visitors feel important,
while the really important visitor
is made to feel like a highly pri-
vileged character.
\ J. K
1t is easy to call Congressman a
punch of dopes, but the truth is
hat high percentage of them are
nen of fine character and lot of
lbility.
If they don't know as much as
hey should about lot of things
he people themselves, in large
,art, can take the blame because
heir petty affairs take up so much
ime that there is little left for SER
Gus study of large issues.
1t is trait Of human nature that
We magnify the unusual and so we
nagnify the number of no-goods, )
ecause they stand out so sharply.
he no-goods give more than the S
light amount of color to the whole q
ody. One cow boy strutting Sena-
Or will spread kind of reputation I
reater than ten studious, careful 1
enators. And so it goes. t
The late Huey Long got lot of d
aputation for his dissertations on1 7