The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-03-04

h1l'iu SlcuhcFS unu
How the Reporters "Gct Them
Down".--lICcontric Word Users.
WASHINGTON, D. G. March 3.-Tho
correspondent Of tho Baltimore New9
sends this entertaining letter to his pa.
per: dramatically the present house
isnot u failure, that is to say, the gram
maj OF tho Filty-sGcond Congress is not
US bad as might DO expected. Tho
house, as Il rule, is q curious constructor
OF false syntax, and it is only q question
OF degree as TO how far tho rules OF
grammar arc 10 be violated and oil order
and preccdcnts shattered. But in tho
matter OF diction, to tho surprise OF all
mankind, tho present house is far in adj
vance OF its immediate predecessor.
Strangers in tho galleries have watched
with wonder tho lightning-lilte speed Of
tho stcnograpliCrs taking down speeches
which arc being made for the benefit OF
tho constituents Of Buncombo county.
They have listened 10 members whose
words lap like shingles OIL IL roof and
whose sentences are tclcsCoped worse
than Il railroad collision and have mar
vcled ut the skill OF the atonogrNphers,
who make such q speech appear verba-
tim in tEe Record Of tho following
morning.
ASSAULTS or sYNrAN.
But all this is as nothing as compared
with tho skill, diplomacy and discre-
ton which has to DO exercised by these
same stcnographcr 10 etthese speeches
arranged i'll grammatical form. The
suppOsltion the country around may he
that Congress, rs it furnishes the laws
and the presidents in all parliamentary
matters, might be accepted as authority
on grammatical construction, and that
the standard diction rs well as the law
OF the nation might DO found in the
house; but as q matter OF fact civil SER
vice reform, sound currency and ethics
OF craftsmanship las badly uttered rs
they are) arc not rs grossly assaulted rs
is tho English lan2uage-the currency
OF speech. Every dialect that the nation
knows is cyemplitled in some member
OF this assemblage OF statesmen. This
might be 4 matter OF interest and fur
nish 4 subject oil study TO the dialect
writers who find it profitable to cater to
the public taste for tho curious i'll
speech. Every known dialect Of the
English language, not TO mention an nd
mixture OF brogue and foreign accent,
might be studied from the galleries OF
the house. But this is becoming COM
monplaco and is not noticed. Ingram
NAUTICAL expressions are commonplace
enough, but such violations OF tho SYM
mctry OF construction sound harsh even
upon the most accustomed ear. An
accurate measurement OF the capacity Of
Co ,grcss cannot DO taken by sound,
that is, by the symmetry Of sentences
put forth by this great sound-producing
nsser:blage.
ABOVE THE AVERAGE IN DIcTIoN.
But as 4 general rule, the intelligence
OF 4 Congress might be estimated by its
speech. Ii this test were to be applied
TO thu present Congress, l have the
word OF the stcnographers Tor it, this is
far above the average. Some OF our
abicst statesmen, however, have been
very rugged III speech, and therefore 1t
will not do in every case 10 let q Con-
gres5 be judged by its grammar. The
The stenographers tell me that the
FiIty-tirst Congress was conspicuous for
poor grammar, and that y large number
OF its members were as arbitrary in
their construction OF the English Ian
Guage as was Speaker Reed in his con-
troll .ot tho house. Freely translated,
the shorthand reports OF tho Fiity-tirst
Congress would be Il literary curiosity.
1t may be that this Congress has not
gone lar enough yet Tor Il lair colnpari-
son, but up to the present point, a very
fair record has been produced in the
construction OF English sentences.
This is somewhat remarkable i'll a body
constructed as this is OF amateurs, acct
dental statesmen, Farmers Alliance
advocates and cultivators OF popular
~prejudiccs. Quite 4 large proportion Of
this House is composed OF men OF little
education, yet they seem to have con-
siderable veneration Tor syntux and
rhetoric has received a fair amount OF
their attention.
The gift OF CAB has been bestowed
freely upon the gentlemen i'll whose
hands or upon whose tongues rests the
fate OF this great and glorious country
temporarily. Yet should q report OF
one OF its proceedings in Congress be
printed i'll the very language OF the