Nov 1, 2016 4 min read

Local editorials from 50 years ago are being reprinted every Monday and Tuesday in this column. This editorial appeared in the Valley Independent on Nov. 1, 1966.

For all practical purposes, the election for representatives in Congress from the two districts which serve the mid-Mon Valley is hardly more than a formality.

There is virtually no chance that the Democratic incumbents, Rep. Thomas E. Morgan of the 26th District and Rep. John H. Dent of the 21st, will be seriously challenged.

Just from the standpoint of the normal and healthy operation of the two-party system, it is regrettable that the Republican Party is not presenting strong candidates for Congress and, at least in the 21st District, is not providing even routine support for the GOP candidate.

Both Dr. Morgan and Mr. Dent have been in public office a long time and have records which require the kind of voter examination which can only be provided in a vigorous campaign. Regardless of how the individual voter may feel about their records, the performances of the two congressmen should have the analysis of an articulate opposition.

In the 26th District, comprised of Washington and Greene counties and part of Fayette, the Republican nominee is, like Dr. Morgan, a physician, Dr. Paul P. Riggle. An earnest gentleman who has run for Congress previously, Dr. Riggle’s political orientation seems to be on the conservative side.

Dr. Morgan has been in the House of Representatives for 22 years and is now one of the senior Democrats. As such he is chairman of a major committee, Foreign Affairs. Unlike his counterpart in the Senate, Sen. J. William Fulbright, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and a leading critic of the Johnson administration’s Viet Nam policy, Dr. Morgan dutifully carries out administration policy in the House. Whatever independent ideas Dr. Morgan may have, as for instance on foreign aid, he keeps suppressed in order to do his job for the party as he sees it.

In working on matters of particular interest to his district, Dr. Morgan is reasonably diligent if not particularly creative.

Congressman Dent’s career is another study in political longevity. Although he has been in Congress only since 1958, Mr. Dent has been continuously in public office for over 30 years, mostly in the state Legislature where he served in both the House and Senate.

Throughout his public service, Congressman Dent has been what the textbooks call a pragmatist, which is to say that he does not let firm principles interfere with his determination to “stay alive” politically. He has developed great skill in the art of legislative compromise and, as the phrase goes, he “gets things done” for his district. He also gets John Dent re-elected, and we have never been sure but what, in Mr. Dent’s eyes, this is not the important thing.

Mr. Dent’s record in Congress has been marked mostly by party regularity except on the issue of reducing tariff barriers.

On this he favors protective tariffs for products manufactured in his district. Mr. Dent must realize that this is a parochial position which could not be adopted as national policy without wrecking American foreign policy. But it wins the congressman the affection of some industrial executives who are normally Republican and conservative.

Like other liberal Democrats in Congress, Mr. Dent issues some growls occasionally about foreign aid, but in the showdown, he regularly votes for the foreign aid bill.

The Republican nominee in the 21st District is Edward B. Byrne of Scottdale. By his own account, he was plucked from the state payroll to run for Congress and then abandoned by his own party. Mr. Byrne says he is receiving no financial support from the GOP congressional campaign committee, presumably because the committee considers Congressman Dent unbeatable and money spent on behalf of Mr. Byrne would be wasted.

This could well be true, but it illustrates the emptiness of the two-party system in this locality with respect to congressional representation. Between now and the 1968 congressional campaign, we hope the Republican leadership decides to do something about this deplorable state of affairs and give the voters of this area a real choice.