The Marlin Democrat
Marlin, Texas, Thursday, March 31, 1904
SERVICE IN
CONGRESS
~~~~~
Charles Edwards Tells How Its Value
Is Dependent.
~~~~~
(Correspondence of the
Democrat;)
Washington, D. C., March 29, 1904.
Disclaiming any intention whatever to try to dictate to the good Democrats of
the Eleventh district, I feel that they will not resent the fact that I am
trying to tell them the truth for their own good.
The average citizen of this country who has so much of
his time taken up with necessary everyday affairs of life, can not possibly
delve deep I enough into the intricacies of official life in Washington to
understand the situation here as it effects him personally and his party's
interests. He can not understand who and what makes a good and efficient
representative of the people without knowing how things are done here. The
popular idea of a good representative and a man who is fast forging to the front
rank of statesmanship, is, that he must be always on his feet making a speech.
There never was a greater mistake made by the honest
and confiding public. The man who eternally desires to hear his own voice on the
floor of the house of representatives and who is always "butting" into every
debate makes a nuisance of himself, and soon becomes as common as pig tracks and
his colleagues pay no attention to him. He is like the boy in the old story who
cried "wolf" when there was no wolf and when the wolf really did come the boy
was devoured when that sort of member of congress really has something of
importance to say and it really affects the interests of the people he gets no
recognition, whatever and gets no results for his work. In other words, he is
not a good representative of the people.
The real work of a representative is done in the
committee room and behind closed doors and the general public never hears of it.
It is his work there conserving the real interest of the people that makes him
valuable as a representative, and then his advocacy of any measure on the floor
of the house that may emanate from that committee, or his condemnation of it
because he is more familiar with it than any man in the house who is not on that
committee.
Another thing that makes a man a good representative of
the people, not only of his own district, but the people of the whole country,
is his seniority of service in the house when a new member comes here he must go
to the foot of the class and "spell up" so to speak. The longer he stays and
shows the qualities that tie men to one another, the more influence he will have
and the more good he can do his constituents, as well as his party and the
people at large. It is a fatal mistake that some districts make in changing
members every two years or every four years or even every ten years. The record
will show that the states and the districts in this country that have had the
most influence in the house of representatives are those that have continued
their members in service the longest. The longer a man stay here the more
influence he acquires because the better he becomes known the more confidence he
inspires in his colleagues.
I am writing this as one who knows whereof he speaks. A
newspaper correspondent in the press galleries of the house and senate for seven
years, then as secretary of the national Democratic congressional committee, I
have been pretty close to the majority of both sides of the house, especially
the Democratic members, with whom I have on terms of intimacy and I believe I
know the wheat from the chaff.
In this connection I want to say to the Democrats of
the Eleventh Texas district that I have seen many young members come here, some
of whom have climbed to the top and some of whom have fallen by the wayside.
Some of those who have arrived at the bottom of the ladder deserved to do so,
while others who did not were victims of the changing habit in their districts.
Because some young man who could talk a blister into a bull's curl in two
minutes took a notion that he wanted to come to the congress and convince the
people that he was in the statesman class, they kicked out a man who was just
getting in trim to do them some good, and put in this young man who promised to
startle a nation with his eloquence only to ascertain, when he got here that he
would have to get on his knees and beg for five minutes to speak on any subject.
The moral of all this is: When you get a good man keep
him as long as he is willing to come here and serve the people, and I want to
say right here to the people of the Eleventh district that they have such a man
in their present representative, the Hon, Robert L. Henry. I have been here long
enough to discriminate and I say to them that in Mr. Henry they have one of the
best men who ever represented that district. He has made a most excellent
impression here among all classes in congress, He has friendship and admiration
and confidence of his colleagues and the fear and respect of his Republican
opponents. Mr. Henry is one of the most important committees of the house, that
of Judiciary. He is one of the growing men of the house, and, if we should win
the house next fall, and I believe we will, he will be chairman of an important
committee. He is a loyal Democrat, a dignified, conservative and intelligent
representative of the people and the voters of the Eleventh district will
compliment their own intelligence by returning him to the fifty-ninth congress.
CHARLES A. EDWARDS
Copyright Permission granted to Theresa Carhart and her volunteers for
printing by The Democrat, Marlin, Falls Co., Texas.