Show opt A remedy for some t forms of selfish legislation from nn an article by theodore theodora roosevelt tn in the tha Ou outlook look by apeci arrangement with the outlook of 0 which theodore roosevelt la Is aon contributing bar r editor copyright 1910 1010 by the outlook company all rights nighta reserved ne served mimke UK august number of the gk worlds work contains nn an ary article which la Is of interest to all who are concerned in f fsr tho the vital subject to which we give alva the somewhat loggy foggy title of political reform the article for obvious reasons anonymous Is 3 written by a member of congress who tho the editors of the worlds work say any lina has served for more than ten years in the house of representatives has haa acted on many important committees and has been successful in getting things for his bis constituency the article Is described ns as showing the reason why the pork barrel special tariff favors and private pension bills become law the reason being to quote the words of the author that tho the dictum of the constituency to the congressman la 18 get all you can for US there are no restrictions placed upon hla his method of getting it until the american people themselves more national and less local until constituencies cease to regard their congressmen as solicitors nt at the national treasury congress will con dinue to enact iniquitous groups of local favors into national nol legislation this serious chargo charge against the american people for which there Is 13 unquestionably altogether too much justification the author proceeds to to substantiate by relating some or of hla big own experiences with constituent t which however surprising they may seem to the general reader will seem almost commonplace common to all who know how the average constituency does doea in actual practice treat its congressman the writer sets ecta forth the fact that in the first place ninety per cent of the letters which ft a congressman receives anro requests for special favors to bo be obtained in some way or other directly or indirectly from the united states treasury for instance while the aldrich tariff law waa under discussion this particular congressman received in may alay 1909 the following letter from the secretary of a powerful commercial association in ala his district v 1 I have been instructed by tho the board of directors of this association to advise you that at special meeting may 20 a resolution copy of which la Is was unanimously adopted urging our representatives in congress to use every endeavor to have the present tariff in mentioning three of the products of the industries referred to increased one cent per pound and tho the present tariff on mentioning the oth er two products increased half a cent per pound I 1 wish to 0 o further advise you that we have heard front from senator and he informs us that he hlll wil rJake lake care of this matter in the senate when the bill was finally passed the congressman succeed el in adding half a cent a pound to the duty on two of these products and in preventing any reduction on the others A year later when the popular clamor against the bill had become acute tho the same association that had bad asked him to vote veto for increases wrote to the congressman denouncing the bill as the most iniquitous measure ever enacted by congress and requesting him to explain by letter why lie he had voted with the reactionaries to pass lines the bill when it was pointed out to the association that it had urged the congressman to obtain an increase of duty on the products in which it wits was interested it dropped its demand tor for an explanation an influential newspaper published in his district od edl I 1 tori ally commended him while the bill 1111 was under tinder debate for hla his intelligent efforts to increase In creaso the duty on manufactured articles in which the district was interested and a year later the same newspaper in the same sam editorial column denounced him na its on one of tl the legislative ban dittl responsible for tho the payne aldrich measure 4 0 0 river and harbor legislation Is another hold flold in which local selfishness busies itself to the exclusion of national needs in this case requests tire not made by letter but by delegations which come to washington besieging their senators and re represents presenta tives there la Is says tha lie frank writer of this article figuratively speaking between and 0 on tho the table to be divided the committee divides it so that every ono one is satisfied at least to a reasonable extent every one that la Is but the people at largo large the people who have no special interest to borve and who feel keenly indignant that the rivers and harbors of the united states are developed in a fashion so inferior to that of europe nor are all the requests for legislation merely one constituent do de sired to have this particular con congressman gresa put his name on the free mailing list tor for all public documents that this would be because it would mean delivering to the applicant several tons of documents every mouth dove not in the slightest st detract from the interest of the fact elicited by an investigation that the applicant was aoa the manufacturer of an article made trow frow waste paper and the public doc would afford a very usell source of raw material Is there a remedy for such a state of things the answer Is yes and moreover tt it Is a remedy which congress can itself immediately provide there Is no complete remedy of course no scheme can be devised which can prevent such a request as that of the constituent last named abo wished public documents to use in his private paper business requests like this merely mean that in every district individuals will always bo be found who will request improper favors As regards these people all that can be done la Is to create a vigorous public opinion an opinion which shall not only malte make it uncomfortable table for any man to demand such favors but which shall cordially support the congressman in refusing them and hold bold him accountable for granting them congress has now and has long I 1 had the power to rid its members of almost all tho the improper pressure brought to bear upon the individual by special interests groat great and small local and metropolitan on such subjects as aa tariff legislation river and harbor legislation and pension legislation congress has not exercised this power chiefly because of what I 1 am bound to regard as a very shortsighted and unwise belief that it la Is beneath its dignity to delegate any ot of its functions by passing a rule which would forbid the reception or passage of any pension bill savo save tho the pension legislation recommended by the commissioner of pensions this of course to bo be rejected or amended as congress saw paw tit fit but not so amended as to include any special or private legislation congress would at once do away w with jib the possibility of its members being subject to local pressure for improper private pension bills and at the samo same time guarantee guar anteo proper treatment for the veteran who really does docs deserve to have everything done tor for him that the country can ambard ati ord in the case of the tariff and the river and harbor legislation what Is I 1 needed in each case la Is ample provision for a commission of the highest possible grade composed of men who thoroughly know the subject and possess every attribute required for the performance of the tha great and difficult task of training framing in outline the legislation that the country count rf its as distinguished from special interests really needs needa these men from the very nature of the case will be ba wholly free from the local pressure of special interests so keenly felt by every man who Is dependent upon the vote of a particular district every two years for his continuance in public life su such ch a river and harbor commission could report and probably would report a great and comprehensive national scheme for river and harbor im prove menta ments fit to be considered by the people as a whole upon its merits and not dependent for enactment into law upon a system of logrolling log loe rolling designed to placate special interests which aro are powerful in each of many score core congressional districts such sach n tariff commission could gt at tho the facts of labor cost here and abroad by expert inquiry and not by bv the ac of interested testimony ony such a commission could consider dismas slona tely tho the probable effect upon the entire and economic body of nil changes in any given brinch of the tariff and its recommendations would represent ent tho the exercise of careful judgment front from a disinterested stand such stich a commission could work in harmony with the comal commissioner I 1 n r 0 of f labor so ra ns to insure that the laborers for whom choin the tariff la 19 passed pet get the lull full benefit of it for the major anit of the benefit of at a protective an it tariff a if should unquestionably go to tho the wago wage workers E even yen under such conditions of tariff making errors might be committed but they would bo be merely those errors of disinterested judgment incidental to every kind of public or for the matter of that private effort and the work would not be bampe hampered red from tho the boi ginning by the need of gratifying avato anto selfishness it la Is only in this way that tariff j legislation river and harbor legislation and pension legislation can b be treated from the standpoint of principle and not front from the very low standpoint of privilege and preference the obstacle hitherto to the adoption of such a method of treatment has come from the queer dislike felt by so many congressional leaders to a course of action which they quite unjustifiably feel would in some way be a limitation of 0 their powers I 1 think this feeling Is passing it la Is simply another instance of the kind of feeling which makes some executives suspicious about delegating their work to any subordinate and which makes many voters who have not pondered tho the matter deeply desire to elect great numbers of people on a ticket of such stich length that it Is out of at the question for any except professional politicians to know much about them 4 THEODORE ROOSEVELT |