The sun., 1888-05-06
CorYrre THE sILLs or coxssrsA
TIE work er Fsttiss Geverr~sHt Law
Tate Ieeisie and E.durine Ferr>.

torical associations as the old hall itself. They
are peculiar rooms, enthusiastically speaking,
clinging to the outer walls OF the rotunda Ike
swallows nests around the circumference OF
great factory chimney, and 80 crooked and
narrow and distorted in ground plan as to re-
mind one OF the celebrated Shoestring" dis
trict of Mississippi. or map Of Pennsylvania
Congressional district after agerrymander by
a Republican Legislature. In bygone times.
when the intellectual giants OF the early part OF
tho century fought their battles In the
old hall. they were used by the most
important committees OF the young House
of Representatives. Here 1t was. In the
room now occupied by Gen. Clarke. Clork Of the
House. then by the Committee on Ways and
Means that John Quincy Adams lay down to
die in tho harness. A neat marble slab over
the doorway, with simple Inscription In
sunkcn letters, bears witness to the fact
Another and larger room In the suite Affords
accommodations for the clerks who enroll and
engross the various bills that originate In the
House. This room is the oldest shaped room
OF the whole odd suite. and looks like nothing
30 much as huge horn Of plenty, OF fair
width ut the entrance and narrowing down
with graceful curve to follow tho curve OF the
hall, to mere passageway at the further end.
this pa,ss al the areh
curious Hall OF Echoes, and many a tonder
message borne across the sWeeP e o. tnS yast ntn
busy bus Clerks. Here are born . iair share oi The
that that Congress m makes the laws Of the country.
but few. perhaps, are aware OF the processes
they ,, ' appear in the Revised Statutes and take
neys. rsls 'TFies The PROCESS @ IN tre is ss follows
After being introduced n either House the
p rssa ny S anf 81
we'll OF it. It reports the bill to the House, with
thu, c,bpSss or i aaef * ss
a real need for such leElslation the House or
peHs posins Il the bill to Rays orig mated in tie
a0%se nd the Ell IN the to
Trltns q ,hs e. %ep5ei who ,i1snI inss0d1ssd %sd
reay queer Shapes Of tho Bills DO take
good eSbIe hand: on good foolsoap, others are
the most wrctched scrawls. on greasy soaps OF
and IphSahy II ram
?aRodd east desert se%t q shnins bsss
sush ms%Ssss care to sn use ihsm Asn1
too earsiess TO lake tSe e1be apply
them; others delight in exhibiting their. orig
inality in their bills and for others again the
oFP Pesg bs
miration OF the clerks. They are always gotten
wf as wrsn
paper and laced with DAINTY blue @ silk ribbons. ms
Good bad and Indifferent the bills attor rt Pc
the clerks to be engrossed. The engrossment
consists in copying the bills. with amendments,
| inches by eighteen in size. Next they are
signed BY the Speaker and the Clerk !, Of th the
in s; person , and in open session % the senate.
with the announcement that the House has
passed them. and requests that the Senate
Supp snpposing IS, W that the Senate secs fit to do 50.
which is not always the case, however. back
While at flrst glance this appears to be sim.
pie duplication Of what has been already done
the hs es ctheP IN
with with which It, Is conducted. Patriotic Amsri-
ass are msy
written in part at least with English ink; y.
PSs nSeketinE i:s Of f'' the national pride. Ths
Tchment in sheets about ,,,StS tgsnty,fo,ps z 9,
from the skin q a lamb; Tho proper quality Il is
eoads to in taks s Ss the Is
must DO removed from the SURFACE Of the skin.
This is a tedious Job which is effected by rub
bone, commonly used in bird cages. The ink
which gives the most satisfaction in the mat
mestic brand. Ordinarily two clerks
manage to keen abreast Of the current work
sion, when many bills are rushed through with
little ceremony. the labor becomes @ 50 great that
called into reauisition. and even the pages who
show fitness for the work are pressed intS
ths b sS "
racy Is maintained, But in the closing days
Of Congress With the avalanche 81 Rs
and ,nsls'ati nshati almost sontipuopsly: and VIZ
enreii%ent @ df1 % may result @ in the failure q Import
antlegislation. mistakes arc unavoidable. Some
ssGgs IN and taF s e DOT
flowers Of sulphur to the free list and placed 9
verse the facts That was a rather serious
% eais we're H e coneerned and the particular blum.
The House clerks. narrowly matched It with
TSe II Hoass q he eroVSsd
closing a few Of the marine hospitals, and the
came back from the, Senate, that body had, re-
fused to concur In that particular piece OF leg
TO ss Ss bf afsd Sy 9Ts Ssn
new hand at enrolment. by palpable blunder
| so modified the bill as to close every one OF the
marine hospitals, and this state Of affairs con-
tlnued until an amendment repeating the sec.
tion was attached to tho Sundry Civil Appro-
priation bill which was passed at later
| date In the same session.
But many OF the errors attributed to tho en-.
| rolling clerks are really committed by othei
persons members themselves often contribut'
Ing fair share. and committee clerks adding
q quota. Numerous are the errors detected bJ
tho enrolling clerks In the bills as they pasi
and are promptly corrected.
An error was discovered In an approximation
bill Just In season to prevent the then Vice
President Of the United States, Mr. Wheeler
stead of the $4,000 designed by Congress. One
cipher too many Put II In COMMITTEES ft ala u
Other sources OF error there are, too, aside
from the fsllibility OF the clerks. Several year.
sgo. on tho closing night OF the session,
tive. was the only member Of the Committee
on Enrolled Bills who was able to attend tf
all laid low by frequent indulgenc In "'colC
tea" These gentlemen were charged with the
| tpp rtn unI nf rtD NO no m aN