The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1903-03-05
ONE USEFUL CLERK
Speakers Right-Hand Mamie Must
Know Several Things.

The speakers right-hand man is
called clerk at the speakers desk"
and is one OF the most useful men in
the house of representatives 1t is his
business to know things, all things; in
fact, everything connected with legisla-
ton. He must know parliamentary
law, presidents of the house, and must
have them ready at a seconds notice
SO that they may be cited by the speak
er or by the chairman Of the commit
tee of the whole house whenever a
point is to be decided He must know
all the members of the house, and from
what state they come, in order to tell
the speaker or chairman how to recog-
nize them when they address the pre-
siding officer. He must know all the
secretaries of the president and clerks
OF the senate, SO as to tell the preSid-
ing officer when there is a message from
the president Or the senate to be re-
ceived by the house. He keeps the time
on men who are addressing the house,
and the hammer" falls when he says
that man has consumed his allotted
time. Of all these tasks the greatest is
to be well Informed upon parliament
tary, law. There is no index to parlia-
mentary rulings, and many points are
found by the man who will delve and
dig and study the subject all tie time
Such q man is the present clerk at
the speakers desk"-Asher G. Kinds
OF Portland, Me. He came to that place
in the Fifty-frst congress, being Sc
lected by Thomas B. Reed. He was
there two years, and when the Demo-
Gratis took control of the house he re-
turned to his newspaper work in Port
land. Mr.. Reed brought him back In
the Fifty-fOurth congress, and he has
been there ever since. He will proba-
bly, remain as long as he desires, as he
has gained knowledge of the duties
of the position attained by very few
men. The selection of Mr. Kinds by
Reed naturally means that he is a good
man for the place, as Mr. Reed had the
reputation of selecting none but the
best as his assistants.
Parliamentary law is a study. and
even the best parliamentarians that
ever existed were not always sure they
were right. Once new member came
to Tom Reed in the days when The Re-
publicans returned to power
"Mr. Reed" said he, what do you
think is the best thing for a new man
to do? What line should he take?"
"a knowledge Of the rules of the
house is very useful" said Mr.. Reed.
"Oh, l understand that," said the new
member Ever ~ince I have been
elected I have been studying the rules
of the house, and I understand them
perfectly"
"You are fortunate" responded Reed,
II have been studying these rules for
20 years and do not understand them
yet"
This is so of Mr.. Kinds. He is not
absolutely sure on all points, but he is
sure so far as he has gone. He is con-
stantly delving into the subjects and
occasionally comes up with a new find.
All decisions are indexed under the sub
ject debated, as, for instance, the count
ing of a quorum come under the con-
tested election case of Smith against
Jackson from West Virginia Mr.. Kinds
gets on the track of one case, follows
it back through the musty records, un-
til he gets to che foundation Then he
makes up the digest of the parliament
tary law and presidents which govern
the house. 1t is an interesting fact
that rulings based upon his advice are
always right. The house recognized
his value in adding handsome sum to
his salary in the legislative appropria-
ton bill.-Washington Post.