The Lincoln times., 1954-03-04
Report From
Washington
BY REPRESENTATIVE c. r. JONAS
of the 10th North Carolina
Congressional District
Lincoln -Catawba-Rurke-
Mcckienburg-Avery-
Mitchell Counties
COLUMN READERS

| NlSitS uOllt, UlE SplTlIS are always
given a boost when l hear that
this column is being read. Oc-
casionally someone tells me he
finds it interesting and that it
helps lot.
l have a number of letters too.
among them compliments from a
couple of people l respect very
much. and about which I will tell
YOU later. but the comments I
prize most are those simple. earn
est ones from the homefolks.
| After turning out this little
piece week after week come
heaped up schedule and high wa
ter-it does me good to find out
that any number of 10th district
newspaper readers don't Just let
their eye fall on my Washington
Report, grunt and turn the page
My feelings about why I should
make point of sending out
weekly report are described very
well in couple of sentences I
ran across recently in a book
about Congress written by an out
standing scholar. DR.. George B.
Galloway of the Library of Con-
greSS
Interest in public affairs" he
said, does not automatically come
with the right to vote. One of the
important Jobs of Congressman
tN ctt LOT it,t
to this end many CongresSmen
submit periodic reports to their
constituents.
In other words. political inter
est. like heroes. is made. not born.
STIRRING Up INTEREST
l have been working on the
notion that stirring up interest in
public affairs is about like win
ming new fans for baseball. The
best way to do it is to get the
folks to 90 out to the corner dia-
mond and play the game with the
neighborS.
Next best is to give them a
chance to know one of the play
Nl pCL PAN Out
some of his more interesting inn
ings and do the best you can to
describe them in such way that
the listener can get into the spirit
OF the thing and end up asking
for more.
The innings OF my CongreSSion-
a, life, even the ones pick out as
the most interesting. don't have
the natural appeal of a baseball
inning. TO 0ut it mildly. and l
don't even hope to come anywhere
near the sportSWriter' drama. He
has an elusive little ball for you to
keep YOUR eve on. and I have an
awkward line of numbers trailing
like a comets tail behind a dollar
mark
But I try to describe the week s
chosen Congressional play in such
a manner that the not-very-lnter-
cSted d-inpolitiCS readers will at
least skim through it. and the
readers with a spark Of interest
in what goes on in Washington
will find something to fan the
spark brighter and feed it.
These reports mostly turn out
to be esSavs-a word I hope won't
frighten off theme-hating high
Schoolers. They might like better
what another Congressman has
come up with - cartoons.
l. l.. -
how Congress works. but after he
saw how the story looked IN words.
he decided that something must
be done to liven it up. He tlied
"stick-men' pictures.
I might say here that many
congressman send their Washing
ton reports directly to their con-
Stituents. Those cartoons, for eX-
ample. were mailed to 1900 people
I rely. as YOU know, on the kind
ness OF the 10th district news
paper editors to publish my re-
ports. and they have been very
generous,
Ny conclusions about who reads
my column arc not in the form of
any scientific survey. Purely on
the basis Of personal observation.
it has been evident to me that the
midole-aged figure of John @.
Public does not adequately repre-
sent them. Johns wife. children
grandfather. mother great auntS
and young cousins - all age
groups and interests - have not
only told me they read my re-
port. but they name the ones they
remember best.
FRAMED LETTER
Hanging on the wall in my Of
flee here is a framed letter from
DR.. Vannevar Bush. DISTINGUISHED
atomic physicist. scholar and
philosopher. IN it he said some
kind words about one of the col
umnS Of last year. 1t was the one
done Just after l saw giant wea-
ponS display at the Aberdeen
Proving Grounds.
This event happened to coincide
with my committees hearing the
money requests of the Smithson-
len Institution. and the theme of
the column was how tragic it is
that We have to spend billions Of
dollars each year for weapons to
kill men and have too little left
to advance the cultural side of life.
An excerpt from this same col
umn was included in the Smith
sonian's annual report this year
by special request of DR.. Leon
ard Carmichael, head of the In
Stitution.