Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1893-08-07
THE ODD CONGRESS.
The Growth in Membership-Char.
acteristicS and oddities of
Members.
Readable Facts and Pointers Interest
ing Statistics and Curious Para
graphs Concerning Senators
and Representatives

The persons entitled to serve as men,
bers of the fifty third congress, to quote
President Cleveland, and whom he has Gre
CURED to take notice" that they must as
semble in special session at the capitol
to-day, form collectively body of men
that possesses some eminently curious
statistical features. TO begin with, each
member of the house of representatives
is theoretically the mouthpiece of just
173,901 personsa decided increase over
the 10000 that a representative stood for
in the first congress. The smaller num-
Der was provided for by the constitution,
the larger is based on the last census.
Every member of the present congress
may reasonably be presumed to have
read the proclamation calling the extra
session within twenty-four hours after it
was issued. When the first extra session
! of congress ever held was called by Presi-
dent John Adams in March, 1897, many a
six weeks. Small as the country then
was-some sixteen states-mostly along
the Atlantic seaboard-it would have been
impossible for congress to assemble in
the single month allowed by President
Cleveland for the legislative branch of
though scattered over a territory nearly
as large as all Europe. Indeed, one gen
tleman who raced across country on
horseback to attend the special session of
1897 did not reach Philadelphia-the the
nations capital-until after congress had
adjourned. In that year the senate and
house assembled in little brick build
ing with few rooms in it. The White
house was just block away, and like
wise of brick and very modest. The
reason for the special session was that
war with France was imminent. II never
came, no thanks to the fifth congress.
The government at that time paid no
salary to the presidents private sec
rotary, nor to executive clerks, pages or
other more or less useful functionaries.
When congress opened President Adams
appeared before the senate and house and
made speech to the members. When
he had done everybody stood up respec.
fully as he passed out.
THINGS DIFFERENT NOW.
No such scene will be witnessed on
at Washington to- day. President Cleveland
will not enter the halls of congress. The
cabinet in 1897 contained five members
Timothy Pickering, secretary of state;
Oliver Wolcott, secretary of the treasury;
James McHenry, secretary of war; Joseph
Habersham, postmaster general, and
Charles Lee, attorney general. There
was no secretary of the interior, no secre-
tary of the navy and no secretary of the
agriculture. In fact, the postmaster gen
eral was not member of the cabinet in
1897, and the presidential advisers were
therefore but four in number when con-
gress first met in special session. The
states were sixteen all told-the thirteen
original colonies and Vermont, Kentucky
and Tennessee. The senate numbered
| thirty-two members instead of eighty
eight. There were no territories. The
city of Washington did not exist. The
White house of 1897 has disappeared from
| the face of the EARTH Its site in Phila-
delphia is unmarked by anything but a
hideous brick structure that is leased for
shirt factory and photograph gallery.
The old Independence hall still stands,
but SO changed in many respects that the
members of the 9Th congress would not
recognize it could they see the structure.
MAKEUP OF THE SENATE.
The congress summoned by President
Cleveland contains 444 members, not
counting the four territorial delegates.
OF the SO senators As are pretty sure to
vote solidly Democratic, 80 Republican,
Peoples and 2 doubtful. The youngest
of them is Edward 0. Wolcott, of Denver,
Colo. He was born in 1848 in Massachu-
sets, and is Il lawyer by profession. The
oldest is Justin s. Morrill,, of STAFFORD,
VT, who was born in 1910, and is mer-
chant. Moreover he is the nestor OF
congress, having served thirty nine years,
The rest of the senate is made up of 81
lawyers, capitalists, 3 Journalists, 2
lumbermen, manufacturers, merchant
railroad official, miner, stock raiser