Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1891-04-08
DEBATES IN CONGRESS.
REPORTS, or ms PROCEEDINGS
HAVE GROWN ~ VOLUMES.


he, Of rrinted Page 4 Thai May
written E.say. Arc sss In Type Instead
of uelne Delivered IN the rioor.
The REPORTS u Congressional proceedings
segrowlng OF have already grown 70 larEi
A. 10 ~ huriicnsomc and In imminent dan
Ger Of booming useless. There are two
specific reasons for this Increase, one u tho
printing Of every trivial detail with stem
ogrnphic cVuctuess, aud the other j. the
permission % both branches Of using writ
tenessays instead Of making actual speech
e. In debate.
In the beginning of the government, and
for many ycsrs thereafter. the, lnhlt "
speaking from manuscript In either
branch Of congress was unknown, On
every important measure that came before
congress. on the expsdlenoy Of which mem
bsrs differed In opinion. ther va m net.
ual debate. IN which positions werr affirm
ei anil CONTESTED with N hand speech Ia
every conflict ~ this kind the meml'crr of
eongrc<. were. ~ n rule. In their seats,
many taking part and the mas - Inter.
ested a. 10 I'D continuously through the
debates
The habit Of speech has greatly changed.
srat 10 the gallery u the senate a. tho
srnntors assemble will be- Interested dur
Ing the "inorning hour which " often
marked by what may b. called q sharp de.
hate. hut when the "mnfniug hour" ex.
plrcs aud the "ngnlar order q an.
nounced tia SPECTATOR will very probably
zee gentleman rise and unfold mnss OF
manuscript and begin to riad.
T.. 49, a. ar La 81 all
senators probably scysntyn vc aud posi-.
bly, more, n the senate be full, al'son,
Themselves from their seats and nrtlfc 10
the committee mons 10 write letters aud
transact both public and private business
until the pages shall inform them that the
reading Of the manuscript, In progress
when tho senators lef, tho chamber, IA
about TO Close.
SATURDAY ESSAYS
In the house Of representatives the spec.
tAtor. when he seats himself In the gallery,
will probably SEQ repeated, ~ yearly ~ the
analogy Of proceeding. In thetwo branches
will allow. nil that has been said Of the
SENATE, with the addition Of a habit which
Il not extensively, n at all, priciietd IN the
ssnate--si1, the permission 10 print
speechss, not one word af which has been
delivered. aud also the settling aside " odd
afternoons, generally Saturday. for debate
only, which means that somu one deputrd
BY the speaker will preside. with the un-
dar.tAndlng that no business u 10 be done
aud that any member who choosns can
come thcro aud deliver q speech upon aiil
subject he may select, whether II Il pend
inR before congress OF not
The essays which ap thus read on a
single saturday would often OIL large
sized ocsAy0, msre extended In poiut u
matter than a volume Of bancroft or Mot
ley,
Few have reokoned the magnitude Of the
incrvaAs 10 tho reports The general pre-.
sumption l. that ID CONS, from tho In.
erased membership Of both branches u
congress This accounts for part Of the
Increase, but II Il not a sufficient cause for
the whole.
The isnate Is larger than any years Ago
by little morn than one hAlf-nfty two
then, eighfy-elght now Tbs house today
Il not onehali larger In membership than
u WIS any yvars Ago. hut the volume ~
the reports ~ elthor house today eoIn-
pared with those Of ATTY years ago Is pro.
digiously great
The reports 81 proceedings In the rwen.
ty--ixth consrcss-March Z, 1850, 10 March
4. isil-take scarcely one sixth ~ the space
given TO the reports Of tho fifsieth con
grcss
hut u we 70 hack only half of nifty years |
Astrlking illustration will be found. Take .
both houses Of congress from 1901 10 is5. /
embracing the Thirty seventh and Thirty. /
Eighth cougrskaes, apd covering The enilre /
period Of the war. ona would suppose
that the prooeclinp In two congresses,
with an extra sesslon IN one Of them, dur
ing such period as lsdl-C5 would be ex'
traonlinarily volumlnous.
Both houses weFu Oiled with remarkable
dehaters, and tho subjects that wer con
tlnually before each branch were 40 ali
sorblng In interest that almost every -ena-
TOR and every representative desired 10 BE-
heard
STRIKING COMPARISONS
A. the form IN which the proceedings
are reported has changed sine that time
the comparison Of different periods eau bs
made with approximate cxactnoss by stat.
Ing the proceedings In uniform pages II
loo words each. From March 4, 1851, 10
March I, lS,5 the number Of pages filled
BY the proceeiings was y, so0. Tweniysix
years afterward tho fiitleth congress CON
vened It lasted from March 4, 1851, 10
March T. issp and tho report Of proceed.
ings lllled u, 100 pages.
In an nncyentful period, then, with moth.
Ing especially 70 exercise or disturb tho
country. the number Of pages filled BY the
proceedings Of single congress Is gr,aicr
than during the whole period of the war,
with all IL mighty issues NJ stake.
Other comparisons Of interest may 10
made readily, One NJ the most exciting
eongrrsses-snppoted 10 be one VI the moot
important ever held IN tho ants-hellnm
period-was the Thrty-nrst, beginning
Maoh 4, 1870, and ending March 4, 1881.
Ihe compromise measures OF 1850 inyOlv- Z
Ing all the phases " the slavery question
a. u then existed, called forth a debate
which for thoroughness aud ability haa
prhaps never been oqualcd, certainly
never surpassed IN ths history Of the gov.
eminent
Men who naturally belonged 10 a former
period-Wehster, Clay Calhoun, Benton,
cass-wcre there In full vigor, aud the
yonnesr men OF prestige aud power-Sew.
Anl, Douglas, Chase, Jcilers0n Davis, Rnsk,
Of Texas -wuro alsn there ia all tho strength
Of mature manhood.
The first session u the Thlrty.lr.t lasted
until Sept, ~, and that OF the irhlrtytblrd
until Aug. 7, aud the proceeding, ofboth
congresses iillrd only 5000 pages, los by
laOo pages than The roooNl u the procecd.
ingsoi the irst session Of tho Fihy.dr,t
oongrss.
10 make a comprehensive and most sng.
seAli'e comparison, lol II be- stated that
nun the Inauguration of Washington ia
iIs9t tho close Of the civil war In la5
the report OF the proceedings Of congress