THIS CONGRESS OF OURS

The amazing burst of activity in Congress which resulted in the twelve-minute passage by the Senate of a Congressmen's salary increase bill has been given many and various interpretations. This example of efficient action by Congressmen in a matter of such a self-regarding nature has apparently been justly received with indignation by the press. It is a sad commentary on American politics that the highest governing body seems to function properly only when laying golden eggs for its own personal use. But there is yet another side to the affair.

So estimable a political correspondent as Mark Sullivan sees in the salary increase a problem of far greater moment than a mere padding of purses. No one who knew the circumstances, he feels, would be against the measure. To him the salary bill reflects a grave and pressing situation. The Congressman today faces a task impossible of accomplishment: combining the duties of lawmaking and keeping the good will of his constituents. The latter phase of his task has since the war become an unbearable burden largely because of the demands of his ex-soldier constituents.

It is this problem, Mr. Sullivan believes, that lies behind the salary increase and which the new bill can obviously not solve. What is really needed, he asserts, is two men from each Congressional district, one to be solely a lawmaker and the other to be a "kind of ambassador from the people of the district available for carrying on the business they have with the government departments." Such a proposal is slightly humorous. An overworked Congressman is beyond the conception of the average man. Yet a fundamental defect in the efficiency of our representative system is clearly revealed. Congressmen and Senators keep their eyes on their constituents rather than on the legislative products which they help to grind out. John Stuart Mill realized this defect and proposed a system not greatly unlike Mr. Sullivan's.

The truth of the matter is, however, that this inefficiency is inherent in a democratic state. Devise any scheme which separates the law making body from constant dependence on the mass of the people, and the result is a trend away from the principles of pure democracy. And it is upon those theories that the whole framework of American government is based. Its evils must be accepted with its blessings.