The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1903-11-20
CUSTOMS OF
The Manner of Selecting seats for
e Congressman and
Senator's.

e Congressmen and
Senator's.
When a new congress meets there is a
1ottery for the choice of seats, says a
spTrasses in success. The newest and fresh
est membessSfrom a backwoods district
may be theakycky manic have his name
drawn fromssstahe bokstS the blindfolded
44ssaage and I'd have arsf eHeseeses all the
seats in thss great haE The veteran Of
half a sceIe of congresses, a man Of
power andsss'ote, maybe the last, Of. the
song.lline sand forcedAo contentafimseH
ESwuh &peF$h in the extreme rear. EhiS
II 81 81 aS5seadAasbcsalcy with asyengeance, and Of
asc9aHprsssat @E6uld regarsdosfer b aristo-
Ec~sgtisssappsf branchRy There the Senator
! WHO ketsA good seat keeps it as long as
\ h&TsmaiAs a senator. Such men as AL
lison, Hsse, Hear. cullom and others
have sa@Sall"the wdaiyfreza~ten. to Is
years atssene desk.
Whensan old senator vith;an advan-
tageousk located seat~droHs pgtthrough
dessa = failure &c secure reelection
some other senator from the rear APP
a1ssplfess for his seat ands.gets,it the rule
lIssbsiHg first come, first served" New
senators are compelled to take the less
fasssraNe desks in the rear ofthe cham
I e e ( toAssawwaait their turn fora chance at
the better ones. Thus in the senate
there's a slow but steady movement
from Che reaHe&eWard the front of the
c~hamHer1-a movement highly sugges-
tive Of 'the:sepatoriaf emsbased.u upon
prerSgative and precedence.
Even more striking is the method Of
assigning senators ito PLACES, upon COM
fmittses.f .Herea again prerogatYveetis
everything. IF the chairman ofsafcom-
mittse diestorleaves the senate the, man
of the majority political party who has
served longest upon that committee be-
comes his8successor. The rule is invari-
able, though Oft course complications
occasionally arise. If the ~'seniortcom7
Emitteeman is. chairman3of another i'm
portant committee he may be compelled
Y tossurrender one orsthe.other.
When new senators are to be placed
upon committees, or differences be-
tweensold senator's are to be adjusted,
theSexeeutiye committee comes into OPP
Grafton. 1t is at this point that we en-
counter one Of the striking features of
the, senatorial system. Here, we dis
cover how democratic. the senate is
amidst fali its ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
and, 5ifaits democracy has "a tendency t
l4run into .oligarchy, it is in that respect
mot different from most democratic Or
ganizations. Theaexecutiye committee
tis a body which has nc, official status.
Hits unknown in the records or archives
of the senate. Yet it is the real control
| ling power, the lever which starts or
stops and regulates the machinery Of
the upper branch. The executive COM
mittee, commonly and suggestively
known as the steering committee" is
I appointed by a caucus OF the majority
Issenators; that is to say under the, pres
.ent regime the republican senator's get
together in secret, caucus and name
seven of their number to take chargeaof
the business of the senate. Membership
in this committee is of the great
prizes Of senatorial service. 1t means
influence and power, for the steering
committee not only settles questions
of committee assignments, assignments
to committees or private rooms for it is
an unwritten Lax that every senator,
| whether chairman of a committee or
not, or whether a member Of the major
ity or of the minority party, shall have
IA room to himself to use as an office),
and many other matters pertaining to
the comfort and convenience of senator's,
| but it also exercises supervision over
that really important thing, "the or
der of business"
In the senate "the order of business"
is vital. There is always a crush of bills
and resolutions. As sessions draw near
a close rivalry. between measures1de-
handing consideration becomes intense.
The rules provide how much time shall
be given to pension and other private
bills from the calendar. All these minor
matters are settled by rule or by long
established practice. Appropriation
bills, too. have a right of way. But real.
ly important measures apart from the
supply bills must run their chances.
Only a few can be taken up, debated and
voted because of lack Of time and
the lavish manner in which time is
wasted by. the senate. Indeed, it is a
common practice of the men who have
fheirshands upon the ieyersEof the ma
chine to encourage the waste of time
in debate during the early part of ses-
sions, SO that there shall be a crush of
rival measures in the closing hours; for
1t is in these brushes that the men Of in
fuence and leadership find the best
chance to get their ownsway, to force
to the front those they do like, and also
to command strength for their own pur-
poses by preyirg upon the e-ver-increas-
ing anxieties of the friends of imiperiled
bills.
Few Spanish Women smoke.
"Pecple have some peculiar ideas
about Spain and Spanish customs
said United States Consul David r.
Birch, who is now in this city visiting