Lawmakers in Washington Not Considering the People's Interests, 1910

“Their Own Convenience, Not the People” from the Editorial Page of the Watauga Democrat, Thursday, June 23, 1910

The following dispatch from Washington shows how little the people’s interests are considered by the lawmakers at Washington and how well they look after their own conveniences at the people’s expense. The Senate refuses $150,000 for the reclamation of 50,000,000 acres of land, but appropriates $3,600,000 to give its members a better view of a railroad depot:

“An amendment carrying in appropriation $150,000 to show the people of the South how to drain and reclaim 50,000,000 acres of the most valuable land in the United States was kept out of the sundry civil bill by reason of the opposition of Senator Hale of Maine. The amendment was one introduced in the Senate by Senator Foscer of Louisiana and endorsed by Southern Senators. With the elimination of the drainage amendment, there was incorporated in the same bill by the same Senator from Maine an amendment appropriating $3,600,000 for the purchase of 11 city blocks to afford a better view of the new Union station from the Capitol and office building occupied by Senators. The amendment that was eliminated from the bill by the Senator from main would have resulted in the development of 50,000,000 acres of the richest and most productive land in the entire country, thus adding hundreds of millions in dollars to the wealth of the nation. The amendment incorporated in the bill at the instance of Senator Hale satisfied the whim of a few Senators. The first amendment endorsed by the farmers of the country, three large delegations having come to Washington from the South and Southwest and appeared before committees of Congress to urge the importance of the appropriation for a survey with the object of proving how this waste land may be drained for settlers and home seekers. The 2^nd amendment is endorsed largely by people who live in Washington City.”