Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-12-07
obliging officials try to be equitably econom-
SENATOR HAML1N's RESOLUTION.

SENATOR HAMLIN's RESOLUTION.
There has not been any trouble about tho
stationery since the first session of the Forty
third Congress, when Senator Hannibal Ham,
lin kicked up trife of dust The Senator. it
is said. had had some trouble with one of the
reporters In the gallery, and, after failing in a
series OF attempts to oust him from his seat In
the press-box, determined to get even with tho
entire gallery. To do this he introduced res
olution which read as follows
That hereafter no order or requisition for
stationery for the of the reporters gallery
OF the Senate shall be issued by the presiding
officer of the Senate"
Accompanying TIE reference, which was to
the committee to audit and control the con-
tingent expenses of the Senate. were instruc-
tions to the committee to report to the Senate
when the practice of furnishing stationery to
the reporters gallery began, the cost of station
cry furnished and whether such practice should
not be discontinued.
The report on Senator Hamlin's motion was
made by Senator Matt. Carpenter. and it is q
most amusing document. At considerable
length it went into the manner in which the
Senate contingent fund had been spent, and 1t
showed degree of extravaganza which had
hardly been suspected. 1t discussed the sta
tionery fund for Senator's and wandered over
great deal of interesting ground before it
came back to its text. That was disposed of i'll
the last paragraph and was as follows:
lery OF the Senate with foolscap paper, pens
and ink has existed for many years but the cost
of what has been furnished has been small. 1t
seems proper that the Senate, in extending to
the representatives OF the public press the
courtesy of accommodation for hearing and re-
porting its proceedings, should supply the sta
tIonery necessary for taking notes. The ex-
penses OF foolscap paper, pens and ink thus
supplied have not averaged $50 year for the
past five years, and there appears to be no good
" Shp 1rl1 not no ont
very general disclaimer, however has recently
been made by those entitled to admission into
the reporters gallery of the use of any other
articles OF stationery and the propriety of sup
questioned by those correspondents who have
so arraigned Senators for their extravaganza in
this respect. The committee, therefore, rec
ommend the adoption OF the following order:
"OrCteIed That the select committee on the
revision of the rules direct the supply of such
articles OF stationery as they may deem expe-
dent to those entitled to admission into the re-
porters gallery, and that their orders, there
fore, be filled by the keeper of the stationery"
THE PRESS ASSOCIATIONS.
The solid groundwork, the foundation on
which all news rests and from which much
news is evolved, Is made up of three press asso-
Citations and a private corporation. Worry easily
the leader in the wholesale accumulation and
distribution Of news is that venerable but eY-
tremely active and wideawake body known as the
Associated Press. From the days Of Father
Gobright down to the present time the Asso-
ciated Press has been as much q part of the
proceedings of Congress as Capt. Bassett or the
contingent fund. In its early days the work
was comparatively small in quantity and not SO
difficult to look after as now. Old time news
paper men recall the period when Mr.. Gobright
and Mr. Henry G. Hayes were the only repre-
sentatlyes the association had at the Capitol
when they reported the proceedings in the
two branches and found out what the COM
mittees did by quizzing Senators and members
in the intervals OF a tagging debate or after an
early adjournment The era of material i'm
provement in method set i'll when Mr.. David
r. Mckee was i'll charge of the work at the
Capitol, and it has arrived at a system that is
almost perfection since his appointment, eight
years ago, as Washington agent The work OF
the Associated Press and kindred organizations
in connection with Congress is of the most del
icate description. An immediate power of dis
elimination has to be exercised, for the con-
stituency is a varied one. Ideas as to the rela-
tive value of news are often widely parted and
an association that serves hundreds of newBpa-
pers must be careful. Every statement sent forth
must be absolutely accurate, for an untrnth.
even when written without malice, may, by its
simultaneous and widespread publication,
wreck the reputation of public man or upset
the markets of the world. Evident to every
one, too, is the necessity for the preservation
of fair balance on political questions, and the
writer has to be careful that he gives each
statesman or would-be statesman the attention
to which he is entitled. Some politicians never
can understand why their two-hours' speech
should be squeezed into four lines while the re-
marks of that other fellow"-whO talked for
but twenty niinutes-should be spread forth to
the extent of a column and half. The Asso-
ciated Press claims broadly that it covers
everything of national interest which occurs in
the Capitol, whether it is found in debates, in
committee proceedings, in bills introduced or
reported from committees, in the executive
documents which are sent to Congress by the
President and members of his cabinet, OF even
in the alleged-to-be secret proceedings in Sem
ate executive sessions or party caucusses.