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Show EDITORIAL: Why A Senator Is Quitting GLENDALE. ARIZONA HERALD In declining to run for reelection re-election as Senator from Texas, W. Lee (Pappy) O'Daniel, told his constituents: 'One of the main reasons for my not running for re-election is that ... I believe every elected federal official should be limited to one term of not more than 6 years. I am thoroughly convinced after careful study at close range, that the main objective of the vast majority of elected federal officials is to get themselves reelected, re-elected, re-elected and re-elected, and that the terrible condition existing in our federal government govern-ment today is due" primarily to the fact that the vast majority of these officials do the things that will help get themselves re-elected, instead of doing the things that are best for the welfare of our nation. "Another reason why I do not desire to remain in the Senate for another term is because I do not see the slight hope of saving our nation from going entirely sopialistic or communistic. There are less than a dozen men in the United States Senate who consistently con-sistently vote to maintain the American form of government willed to us by our forefathers. This was the form of government we had. until 1932. The only way, as I see it, to prevent our government going the way of all great nations of the past is for the people to conduct a thorough housecleaning in Washington. "... The people must awaken to the necessity of sending a different dif-ferent type of men and women to Washington to serve them, and then not let them stay there long enough to become contaminated. contam-inated. As a private citizen I shall be glad to work with other private citizens to bring about an improvement in the type of people to be elected to federal positions." Senator O'Daniel introduced a bill to amend the Federal Constitution Con-stitution to limit the service of j a Senator or Congressman to six' years. It g'ot nowhere, although the principle of non-elcgibihty for election is recognized in the constitutions of many of our 48 stoics One may doubt the wisdom or need of amending the Constitution Constitu-tion to limit the terms of Congressmen Con-gressmen or Senators. As it is, every election brings an infusion of new blood into the Congress. Senators and Congressmen have so few jobs to hand out that they seldom can build up unbreakable un-breakable machines to perpetuate perpetu-ate themselves in office. With respect to the Presidency the case is different. The pending pend-ing 22nd Amendment, if adopted, as now seems likely, will prevent anyone being elected to the office of-fice of President more than twice. A belter alternative to limiting limit-ing the tenure of Congressmen and Senators is to demobilize Big Government. The only thing that will take the fat off Big Government is to starve it. Cut off the taxes flowing to Washington. Wash-ington. Keep tax revenues back home in the states, cities and towns. Better a few rotten boroughs bor-oughs than a rotting Republic. The way Hitler destroyed the German States was to concentrate concen-trate the control of public money in Berlin. The growth of Big Government Govern-ment now requires Congressmen and Senators to be in Washington Washing-ton nearly all the time. Until recent years, the "short term" only lasted three months. The other nine months, the Congressman Congress-man was back' home. Even the "long term" generally adjourned in six months. Congressmen are unhappy about these practically year-round absences from home. They know Washington, D. C, is the worst place in America to judge the pulse beat of democracy. democ-racy. Far-off government is a bad thing. It tends to become vague, remote and arrogant. It should be close to the people, easily understood, un-derstood, and subject to their ' control. |
