The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-05
The Dignity of the House Door
keeper.

"N>P
Congratulations to the Hon. F. B..
LYON, D]oorkeeper of the House Of Rep
resentatives. His dignity has just been
asserted, Endorsed, reafirmed, so to
speak, by the House, to the extent Of
s 1000 q year. For many years the
~Doorkeeper's salary has been $500.
Mr.. TAwNEY set forth the exacting ma
ture Of the Doorkeeper's duties and the
need Of putting his pay In tune with the
dignity Of his post:
The Doorkeeper OF the House has 200 men in his
employ who are engaged under the rules or by
authority OF this House. There is no other elective
oncer of the House with as much responsibility
in respect to the service rendered TO the House
itself as the Doorkeeper has, He Is hero every
month in the year. He must be here once q MONTH
atleast. and he must be here the greater part OF each
month In order 70 look after the laboring force that
takes care Of that part Of the Capitol which the
House has put under his exclusive jurisdle ton.
He has under him the force in the folding room.
that takes care of all the document Of the House:
he has under him the document room and the jani-
tor service. He also has under him the pages and
ell the messenger service Of tnis House; and nov.
by the action of the House, he is charged with the
responsibility Of looking after the janitor force
the year around. II a janltor fails 10 perform his
duty In the interim between the close OF one session
OF Congress and the beginning OF the next session
or next Congress, the duty is imposed upon the
Doorkeeper OF the House TO look after that janitor
force and, II necessary. dismiss them, provided
they are not doing their work properly. In view
OF all these facts. Mr.. Chairman, we felt that the
dignity OF the once required and the duties of the
once Justified more compensation than he is now
receiving"
The pretty page with the dimpled chin
and the janitor sometimes 'guzzling gin
must be more than trouble enough.
What compensation is adequate for the
regulation of the genius Of youth and the
genius of empire?
Mr.. SULLIv VAN OF Massachusetts must
have been moved by a contemplate
spirit Of p~artisanship, the old Demo-
cratic spirit of economy-in small things
when he protested that he had never
heard of this theory Of the dignity of
q doorkeeper before" Mr.. SULLIVAN
can't be much Of a sociologist or he
would have run against Boston door
keepers who have accumulated dignity
enough to suffice a hundred thousand
buffers plus a hundred thousand drum
majors.
Mr.. JOHNSON Of South Carolina re-
called BEN Buffers remark that ito be
Doorkeeper of the House was the next
thing to being doorkeeper in the house OF
the Lord" [Laughter.l An amendment
keeping the salary at s 3,500was beaten.
The House couldn't afford to heed Mr..
SULLIvAN's crafty appeal to a sense of
its own dignity as measured in money.
Would the House give an officer whose
duties are not particularly onerous
within $500 Of what the Congressman
themselves are paid?" The House would.
In fact, the disproportion between the
wage and the merits Of the members is
to their pride. Mr.. L1TTAUER admitted
that every Congress put a larger force
under the Doorkeeper. On the theory
that his pay should increase as his re-
sponsibilities increase, in time he will
probably get more than a Cabinet officer
now receives. The present Doorkeeper
is an excellent official, who has long been
in the service of the House. Five "cleri-
cal assistants" in the House force have
been getting moro pay than he. No
doubt he deserves the raise Could
even Uncle JOE CANNON, with all his
executive ability and precision, execute
satisfactorily those pages and janitors?