Life, 1923-03-22 · page 10 of 36
Life — March 22, 1923 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Life magazine article critiques the recently-concluded 67th Congress. The author ("Sounder") argues that while critics claim the Congress failed, it actually achieved reasonably well given constraints—particularly noting they spent only 16 oratorical hours debating serious matters, contrasting favorably with previous sessions. The main cartoon depicts celebratory figures leaving an "Employment Office," satirizing post-Congress job-seeking. The author's point: Congress members are now free to pursue private employment and lobbying opportunities—suggesting politicians view Congressional service as a temporary position before returning to more lucrative private work. The piece defends the Congress's record while indirectly mocking the transactional nature of American politics and the revolving door between government and private business.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
» LIFE - The Worst Is Over Sounder Reassures Us, in Reviewing the 67th Congress. a) ASHINGTON, March 19.— I believe I am not overstating the case when I say that the late 67th Congress, in which—I offer it in all modesty—my own voice has not gone unheard, has made some- thing in the way of a record. Some Ill-Natured Critics of course, are already seeking to dis- pute this, and are actually digging up historical muniments and musty tomes of the Congressional Record to prove that, bill for bill, page for page, the 26th Congress was worse than ours. The claims are to my mind wholly unjustifiable, and I feel that the great American public, with its traditional love of justice and fair play, will turn a deaf ear to these detractors. To see the truth of my contentions you need only let your mind wander over a few of the things we did and didn’t do. What an enviable record, and achieved without a single League of Nations or peace treaty to kill! Our Only Mistake was in the slighting of the Bonus Bill. We devoted to this great mea- sure only four months of our time, or about 731 legislative hours. Al- though a legislative hour (as anyone who has ever sat in the Senate gallery will attest) is equal to three ordinary hours, this was scarcely adequate consideration of a measure so impor- tant to our political fortunes. In view of the fact that we were quite safe in count- ing on the Presi- dent’s veto, we ought to have kept that is- sue actively before the nation for at least a year. However, mis- takes will happen in the _ best-regulated Senates, and I feel that we more than made up for the delinquency in other ways. Take our debate, for instance. In Only 16 out of an average of 500 oratorical hours (an oratorical hour, by the way, is just twice as long as a legis- lative hour) has the 67th Congress descended to serious discussion of any subject. We have “popularized” statesmanship. You could drop into the Senate gallery almost any after- noon and hear as entertaining an al- tercation as you could hear in the bleachers at a ball game. It has been noble work, I feel, thus to bring statecraft home to the peo- ple. Are there any in this land, for instance, who did not read all the Congressional news at the time that the Record had to be suppressed? Are There Any who failed to take more interest in the British debt debate, because the Senate, instead of considering rates of interest, devoted itself exclusively to the question ,of whether or not Mr. Heflin did mean to say that everybody in the Senate except him- self and the page boys was a tool of Wall Street’s bond shark: But in considering the record of the 67th Congress, we should re- WHITEHOUSE EMPLOYMENT OFFICE member that the books are not closed. The old idea that a Senator's or Representative’s duties end with the rising of Congress is a fallacy; that is really when his hard work begins. ‘ I Do Not Refer exclusively to those who, driven by a mistaken and ungrateful constitu- ency into the cold and_ heartless world, have to stand in line at the White House Employment Office; or scan anxiously each morning the Want Ad columns for Cabinet or other work open to bright young men, with best references, willing to begin at the top. Even for those of us who don't have to earn our living, March 4th s the beginning of the year’s First of all, we have to get back home and square ourselves with our constituents. That will take about three months of pretty intensive speech-making. Having finally induced the home- folks to think a little better of Con gress, we shall be free to turn our attention to our personal presidential campaigns. After Those Have Burst we shall just about have time to run over to Europe to tell them what to do over there, and get back for the opening of Congress to snatch a_ little much-needed rest and catch up with our correspondence. Obviously, this summer work should be considered in es- timating the achieve- ments of any Con- gress. Though no one can predict with absolute certainty, I know my colleagues well enough to feel sure that nothing Out on the World will occur to weaken the claims of the 67th for the Con- gressional Cham- pionship. Sounder. comicbooks.com