The daily national Whig. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1847-1849, 1849-02-01
DAILY NATIONAL WING.
THURSDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY !, 1913.
CONVERSATIONAL REPORTING.
WASHINGTON, ID. G.

the subject Oh reporting anu publsnihg theii
debates. All parties appear to agree, that
the existing mode Of executing this work, is
full Of imperfections.
The fundamental error in the present sys-
TEN Of reporting, we think, lies in the at
tempt to give verbatim account Of the de-
bates. This could not be done, with per
feet justice to every speaker, even if hum
dred Of the most rapid stenographers in the
country were daily employed The thing
is one Of those impossibllities, which is inci-
dent to human affairs. As well might a
painter attempt to catch and commit to the
canvass, the ever-varying tints Of clear
evening sky,
Public speakers, on The floor Of the ma
tional legislatures Of France and England,
seldom or ever have cause to complain Of
being misrePresented as to what they have
said. We are in the habit Of regularly
reading the debates in those legislatures, as
reported in the London Times and Paris
Moniteur, and we do not remember dozen
corrections Of reported remarks, in as many
years The reason Of this satisfactory result
is, that the system Of reporting in these coun-
tries ID not a rerbafim but an intellectual
system, il we may use the term The re-
porters are all men equal in point Of capaci-
ty, experience, and intellect to the best OF
the speakers, whose IDEAS they are in the
constant habit Of Selling and reducing 10
form. To report the words Of the speaker
is not their business 1t is to report the
ideas, the thoughts Of the speaker The
chat is discarded, but the wheat is gathered
and garnered Hence it is, that in reading
the reports Of the French and English legis-
latures, we are never fatigued by useless
parade Of words without thought Theprac-
tice Of stripping the debate Of verbiage reacts
upon speakers, and the result is, that the
habit Of speaking to the point is the great
aim Of English and French speakers, and to
be heard, they must exhibit the possession
Of this faculty in no small degree.
French Legislators, with all their volubil-
ity and verbiage in ordinary conversation,
have been forced, by the severity of the pub
lie reports Of their proceedings, to speak to
the point with almost mathematical preci-
sion. The same remarks hold true, though
in less degree, of English Legislators, who
take part in the debates Of Parliament.
We believe there is not corps Of report
ers, in any country, better qualified to give
a perfect transcript Of the ideas and thoughts
Of delberative body, than that which is
now engaged in Congress. Their work
now is not intellectual, it is merely mechan-
zeal When they fail to give the exact
words Of speaker, let him speak in low
or high tone, with a rapid or slow enuncia-
ton, they are set down as unfit for their du-
ty, even though they are thrust in corner
Of whispering gallery, away out Of the d.
rect sound Of the spea,er's voice Great
injustice is daily done to reporters, Theil
business is equal in importance to the bust
ness Of the legislator himself The latter
enounees ideas, the reporter gives them .
local habitation The one reaps the harvest
the other gathers up the falling grain. Il
should not be required Of the reporter to do
mechanically, what it is impossible for hu-
man hand to do The public do not care
for the vehicle that carries treasue. 1t is
the treasure that is sought after. The words
ola pabllc speaker are not the things Of value
II is the ideas which the words convey -
Let the reporter, then, be required to give
every idea Of the speaker, and you ask o.
him practicable thing, il he be man capa.
Bile of utterng in debate himself what he
hears uttered A master reporter must be
equal to master orator, in all the qualifca-
tons which go to make up the latter,
But suppose Congress should determine to
employ corps Of reporters for both Houses
to report the ideas and thoughts thrown out
in debate and in their proceedings, the next
question would be, how many reporter,
would be necessary for the labor, to enable
the printer TO issue the reports in a printed
, form early on the morning OF the succeeding
day 1t would require twelve reporters fol
each House, each of whom should sit flleer
minutes only, so that the first reporter woult
not be required to resume his seat until .
lapse of two hours and forty-fve minutes
should have occurred In that interval, he
would be able to write out his work, place
it in the hands Of the printer, and obtain, il
he were diligent, some half hours respite
from the labor Of reporting, which exceeds
in intensity any other work that the human
mind can apply itself to,
The next inquiry is, as to the best method
Of giving The widest publicity to the reports
after they shall be made. Upon this point
we shall enlarge in our next.
..ts.a
For the National Wing
MEXICAN CLAIMS.