The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-03-20

business, ard DEMOCRATS and Republic
ans will be opposed to each other liter
ally, seated on long leather covered
benches. the former facing west and the
latter east This arrangement will be
modified only by some benches TN the
northwest and northeast corners, which
will face the speaker
The new plan will give comfortable
seating space for 400 members. allow
ing for suitable aisles and for an open
place 40x15 feet in front of the speaker,
whose desk. as Well as those occupied
by the clerk and official reporters, will
remain as now. It is believed that, in
cidentally, the acoustic properties of
the hall will be greatly improved, not
withstanding the fact that the grouping
of the representatives more closely will
cause them, in accordance with a well
known law, to absorb more sound and,
therefore, to diminish by that much the
audibility of uttered words. Many ex-
periments will be made with a view to
this end, and notable results may be
expected, inaSmuch as vastly more
about the science of sound is known
today than was understood when the
present chamber was constructed.
Wires may be stretched across the
chamber to prevent echoes; and in this
connection it is worth mentioning that
the air is moist than when it is dry.
The floor of the house, as arranged
under the new plan, will accommodate
406 members-that is to say, forty six
more than at present-although its
length will be diminished from 113
feet to sixty feet. On the other hand
the galleries. which now hold 1,1S4 peo-
pie seated, will be reduced somewhat in
capacity. The width of the floor and
the height of the hall will remain I'm
altered.
1t is believed that the house of
represents will be a much less
noisy body under the new arrange
ment. AS things are now, no man of
average lung power can make himself
we'll heard in the chamber, and con-
versations among members are carried
on to such an extent as to disturb
parliamentary procedure. From the
present hall will be cut off two large
slices. one at each end, and each slice
thus removed, measuring S0X39 feet,
will be converted into a. retiring room,
provided with all sorts of conveniences
for members, such as tables, chairs,
lockers. etc. One of these rooms will
be for the Republicans and the other
the Democrats. From the west end of
the lobby will be cut off a room 1514x24
feet for members and reporters, and
room of the same size for the use of the
speaker, thus providing that function
airy with two connecting rooms. The
middle part of the lobby will be utilized
as a smoking room.
1t is not likely that the membership
of the lower house of congress will ever
be permitted to grow beyond 400. AL
though the population of the country
is increasing SO rapidly, rearrange
ment is made every ten years as to the
number of votes represented by each
member. In 1900 there was one repre-
sentative for every $4,000 voters; in 1880
there was one for every AZ 700 voters. In
1850 the numbers of voters for each
representative had gone up to SO, 420; in
1870 it was 49, 25, and today it is $780,
GOO. Accordingly, the contracted cham
Der will provide room enough for all
the members there will ever be, in all
probability. 1t is interesting in this
connection to recall the fact that the
project of building the two wings of
the capitol, one of which holds the
house and the other the senate, was
first preached about half a century ago
by Jefferson Davis, who was at that
time a senator of the United States.
The estimate of their construction
actually came to about sS,OOO,0O0.