Evening star., 1952-12-23
The Political Mill
Longer Term Is Good
For Representatives
New Yorker to Ask 4 Years
In Move for Better Service
By Gould Lincoln

BY Gould Lincoln
4 serious effort to extend the term Of
cf1ce Of members of the House of Rep
resentatives to four years is to be made
In the new Congress. Representative
Coucert of New York, Republican, will
introduce a resolution proposing an
amendment to the Constitution making
the change from two to four years. Al
ready members Of the House are giving
then approval to the plan. Chief argu-
nientS in support Of the proposal are
that the longer term will give an oppor-
tunity for better service; that member
ship in Congress has become a full-time
job, and that under existing conditions,
member Of the House is compelled to
give too much Of his two-year term to
campaigning for reelection.
The two-year term for House mem
bers was adopted by the fathers of the
Constitution to give the people an op-
portunity to register quickly their ap-
proval or diSapproval of the administra-
ton OF the Federal Government. This
will be the chief argument in opposition
tc the Coudert proposal. The New
York Representative has sought to meet
this objection by providing that one
half OF the membership of the House
shall be elected every two years. The
members Of the House are to be divided
by lot into two classes. in as nearly equal
numbers as possible-the House mem
bership is now 435-the first class to
serve for two years, and the second for
four years. Thereafter, each class will
serve four-year terms.
Many Would Like Change.
Many members of the House, who to-
day have to go back to their constit-
uentS for denomination and reelection
every two years, would welcome the
change. The average member gets about
one years time to concentrate on his
congressional work before he again is
campaigning in primaries, and later in
the general election. Too many members
are forced to keep one eye on legislative
busineSS-for which he is sent to WASH
ington primarily-and the other eye on
politics back home. A four-year term
would give member of the House real
opportunity to learn his job and make a
record-if he is capable-on which he
may be judged by the voters when he
comes up for denomination and re-elec-
ton.
One veteran member of the House,
who has served for more than 80 years
and has gone back to his constituents
every two years to seek their suffrage,
admits that it is we'll for CONGRESSMAN
to keep in close touch with his constit-
uentS, and that there is much to be
said for the two-year term. He says the
people like to see their Representatives
opd EooY, in fn11nh with thav,o t1a
other hand, the House member meets
conditions today that require his full
time. No longer are there long recesses
Of Congress, such as they had in the
earlier days-and indeed, up until the
time of the First World War. It was
possible for the Congressman then to
spend much of their two-year term at
home, because their presence was not
required in Washington. To do so now
means Congressman has to neglect his
task here in the Capitol. The high cost
of campaigning puts another drag on
candidates for election to the House
and their supporters.
Attraction to Adler Citizens Seen.
It is urged that a four-year term
would attract the ablest citizens to
the House; that many men and women
today are unwilling to seek job for
which they must seek reelection every
two yearS-inStead start campaigning
for reelection almost the moment they
take their seats. States have changed
in recent years from two-year terms
for their Governors to four-year terms.
Twenty-eight States elect their Gov
ernors for four-year terms, and 80 their
State Senators for four-year terms.
Members of the Canadian Parliament
are chosen for four-year terms, and
members of the legislative assemblies
in Western European countries are for
that period or longer.
There will be opposition to the pro-
posal. The latest amendment to the
Constitution was to restrict the tenure
of service Of Presidents to two four
year terms. In some quarters there is
a movement on foot to restrict tenure
of service Of members of Congress
rather than to extend it in any way.
The argument is that too many members
of the Senate and House-from States
that are either safely Democratic or
safely Republican-stay in Washington
too long. With some exceptions, how
ever. the members of Congress who
are alive to the wishes of their constit-
uents and who bring real ability to
their job are those who retain Office
for long years.
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