The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1905-12-14
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shall be imprisoned for life. Abettor:
III the crime shall be considered princi.
I pals. and a person harboring a fugitive
assassin of one of them shall be i'm
prisoned for from one to Is years.
The bill also provides that any one
who teaches doctrines that would favor
the killing of the President or those in
line of succession shall be fined from
$500 to $4,000, or imprisoned for from
one to 20 years, or both.
Senator Proctor, of Vermont, an
nounces that he will retire from poll
tics and public life in 1909. at the end
of President Roosevelt's term. Senator
Proctor will then have served 20 years
but Will still have two years of his term
remaining. He says that he wants to
give a new Senator a chance to begin
his service with a new President, which
would go to show that Senator Proctor
does not believe that the President will
be again a candidate Senator Proctor
is a very wealthy man, and his years
are weighing upon him. SO he thinks it
hest to retire, and let his son become
Governor of Vermont, If the people will
have him. The cry has been "tOo much
Proctor" 1t is said, and Senator Proc
tor believes in giving young men a
chance.
Korea sent an ambassador here to
talk with the President and to plead
with Congress to intercede with and
prevent Japan from establishing q Pro-
tectorate over the little Kingdom. But
it's no go. The President declines to
is between the devil and the deep sea,
and she will have to take her medicine.
1t is said that Kalanianiole. the Dele
gate from Hawaii, is one Of the politest
men in the House, and that is posi-
bly, true. He did a very gracious thing
on opening day. and one that it is not
the good fortune to be called early to
select his seat and he took the one
which Representative Dalzell (Pa.)
has occupied for several terms. Mr..
DalZells name was not called till long
near the end, and all the desirable
seats had been chosen. In fact, there
was very title choice left, and he would
Strip" AS he passed down the aisle
where his old seat was located. Kalan-
ianiole got up and with a most sweep
ing bow, motioned the gentleman from
Pennsylvania to his seat. The House
broke into a perfect storm of applause,
fully approaching the fact that the
gentleman from Hawaii had really
made a great sacrifice, for during the
next two years he will have to occupy
an undesirable seat.
1t is not generally understood what
chance this securing of seats is. There
are $50 members of the House-250
Republicans and 1876 Democrats. BY
the way, this is probably the first Con-
which there have hapn
political parties represented in that
body. There are usually three or four
men who have been elected on some
outside issue and who proudly herald
the fact by herding alone. This 59th
Congress has none of these freaks. The
Clerk of the House calls the new Con-
gress to order, the certified roll of
members is then called, and they pro-
coed to elect a Speaker. 1t seems a
little odd that they should do this be-
fore they are sworn in, but they do.
The Father Of the House, the oldest
member, swears the Speaker in. Gen.
Harry Bingham (Pa.) Is now the rank
sworn in a great many Speakers. After
the Speaker is installed in his chair,
the roll of members is called by States.
half a dozen together, and they all
trot down to the Speakers lobby, the
open space in front of the Speaker, and
raising their right hands take oath to
support the Constitution and to defend
IL and the United States from all enc
mics, foreign and domestic. and they
are then fullfledged members of Con-
gress, and what a proud lot they are
the new ones. The older members
know just exactly what atoms they are
in the great maelstrom.
Then a boy page is blindfolded and
hra $4
In his hands Is placed q great wooden
box in which are just as many white
marbles as there are members Of the
House-386 this year. as has been
stated. Each one Of these marbles
bears upon its white surface a num-
Der, these running from 1 to 386 in
elusive. These numbers correspond
with the alphabetical list of the Mem
bers OF the House. and before the
drawing takes place each member is
given q large sheet Of paper on which
Is printed this list with the numbers
The page pulls out q marble, the clerk
takes 1t and reads 1t aloud, and yet an
other clerk looks for the name of the
member opposite that number on the
sheet OF paper. and announces 1t in a
big round voice. The member 30 named
then selects the best seat that he finds
unoccupied and holds it for the entire
term of Congress. This goes on until
every member has drawn mis- seat.
Before proceeding to draw for the
seats, however, the Speaker of the
House, all ex-Speakers who may be
members of Congress. the Father of
the House. and the very deaf members,
as we'll as the floor leaders on both
sides Of the House, are permitted to Sc
lect their seats first. The House is, of
course, seated evenly on two sides Of
the main aisle. The Democratic side
of the House has always been to the
right of the Speaker, and the Repub-
licans sit at the left as the Speaker
faces the House, the main aisle being
the dividing line. But when either
party sends a ponderous majority to
Congress the minority party has to
take smaller space. This Congress,
the Republicans lap over one whole
section on the Democratic side, leaving
three Of the inside sections to the Dem
ocrats. the last section on the extreme
right Of the Speaker being also as
signed to the Republicans, and which
Is usually called the Cherokee Strip"
or 'no-man's land" When this is all
decided. the Congress Is usually ready
for business.
AYE, tear her tattered ensign down,
Long has 1t waved on high
You all remember the stirring old
poem about the Constitution-"Iron-
sides" and how IL thrilled vo,, wh en