Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 December 1900 — Few Distinguished Congressmen. [ARTICLE]

Few Distinguished Congressmen.

The average length of a career in Congress is four years. At the beginning of every Congress about one-third of the members of the House are new to the business. It Is a rare thing for a member to make any sort of a mark in legislation before he has been in the House at least two full terms, and those who have forced themselves above the surface before the close of a single term can almost be counted on the fingers of one hand. The ordinary Congressman comes and goes and leaves no trace behind him, except on the salary vouchers. The man who stays In the House for more than two terms has a fair chance of wielding a little influence. He gets his name into the Congressional Record once In a while; he Is recognized by the Speaker occasionally, and if he Is unusually lucky the newspapers take him up and sometimes give him a headline all to himself.