The San Francisco call., 1897-06-14
HOW THE HOUSE DOES BUSINESS

Thomas 2 Reed IL the current North
American Re1fete describing the methods
Of doing business in the House o. HeDre-
seDfatiyes cOmmends itself 10 TIE think
ing people Of the Repu bic. Il Is cutie
true that the citizens Of this country nave
Is rule, only vague IDEAS Of now pusl-
ness is done IN the National Lsgislsture,
and clear unders tauding of the matter
/ would oissipste many objections which
DO not arise from 3 knowledge Of facts
4 Every men Der Of the House represents g
large constituency in its relation 20 Ns-
tionsI affairs. Each one, therefore, 20 re-
marks tie Speaker, "ieels that MS rights
should b cournensurste with his duties" I;
4 but IN fact ard IN practice, however,
4 there are 356 other gentlemen who repre-
sent constituencies just IS extensive and
. with Just 80 many rights The problem
] is how 70 recogniZs each ones rights
4 having also due regard for the rights Of all
F.. the rezt." u Is obvious that no one has
/ rights 10 the exclusion Of the rights O.
Others, sCo this problem, as Mr.. Reed OBJ
serves the House has had 10 meet from
/ liz very beginning, in 1873. The methods
row IN use have been the creation Of fno one
man and Of 10 set Of men, but have been
the slow growth Of z hundred years,
+ changing with the changed circumstances
ard meeting new conditions as ;hey
arose"
Tne better 70 explain these methods,
4 M. Reed proceeds 70 = consideration Of
the duties ano obligations and the physical
. possibilities Of z Congressional body Of
$50 men, al having the right Of speech
and ali bat three (tbe Territorial dele
/ gates) having the night 10 vote. The
+ !iDi- 60 neTEpaDer accounts would not
/ enable sn absent mem Der 10 keep track o.
4 Congressional proceedings, much less
adequately inform an individual in pr
Yate life. As 70 the action Of States
other than bis OWE the citizen IN general
has no notion Whatever, unless some ex-
I trso-dinary action is taken. Our state
affairs we take u by absorption.
Congressman finds that one great
.oisadvsatsge arises rom the lack Of local
& knowledge as 70 far-of States. The broad
/ extent Of the country affects the legislative
+ action Of the House, and also It's methods
q more ways than one. In the Fifty
tourth Congress &, ,554 bills and resolu-
njons were introduced into House and
+ hsnste. Upon sdiournment only e43 acts
seo resolves had been passed. Tie House
/ 0ij only per cent of the business laid
/ before il. Out Of 1884 q selection o. 94s
was made
Among the bills passed" says Nr.
Reed. were those which raised CT a.
/ tempted 70 raise. the revenue. bond Bills.
all The bills carrying the great sppropris-
4 lions for the support Of the Government,
bridge bills, railroad right Of way bills,
+ private bills and public bills Of all dsscrip-
( tons
Among those bills which were not
+ passed were many which, without the
( ssnctioE CT law or precedent. proposed 10
pay large sums. Added 70 these we're pr
( va,e claims pension claims, individual
schemes and propositions 70 increase the
salaries Of our civil servants, while We
were borrowing money FOX the necessities
Of life.
10 have passed the bills which wers
1 passed and al those which were presented
would have been task which could not
nave been accom- plished, even If the
House bad worked day and night for the
whole period Of two years"
Questions of revenue and sppropria-
/ tions have alwSys the complete right OF
way; the necessities OF the country must
( first be provided for. Then special DAYS
and special hours are provided FOR special
/ classes Of business. Mr. Reed treats OF
the "old deathtrsE" system Of rules under
which the smallest kind OF z hilbuster
would Kill bill which the great majority
Of the House might be desirous Of n aking
law. Time and experience, and their
adoption by the party which had once
violently opposed them, had shown the
value Of the rules TO give the majority
control Of the House.
Among other things" remarks the
sagecious man from Maine, I'VE adopted,
with hardly q word Of dispute, the rule
proposed sixteen years ago by Nj Ran
dolph Tucker, which will probably be
found effective TO secure q quorum al all
! times"
! The explanation Of House procedure
methods is lucid and in eresting, at is also
( that Of the details concerning ommittee
workings. h knowledge Of the facts in
/ the article ought certainly to cause more
reasonable feeling on the part Of constitu-
/ ents az TO the business which they entrust
/ 70 their members, and enable them 70
/ Judge more Justly of the difficulties in the
way Of their wishes" Nor does the
/ Speaker omit to mention 1.-THE loss Of time
/ which might be utilized by action which
owes its origin TO the desire 10 address not
( the House, but the constituency" This
/ is inevitable and is the same in all ages
and countries. There are times, he AYERS.
when zone wishes that eloquencs and
! speaking bore close resem blance to rea-
soning and beration."
! In conclusion Mr.. Reed says It might as
! well be admitted at once that the faults of
! legislative bodies are not the faults of
| legislators alone, but in some degree Of
| the people themselves. $50 long" he de-
| clares, as we rate oratory too high and
wisdom too low and gauge our represen-
tstives by the number of times they get
! into the newspapers, and not by what we
! ourselves know Of their characters and
abilities, so long we shall continue to de-
sire for opportunities for display and fail
to create the desire for opportunities to do
service
THE CALIFORNIA HEN