The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-07-24

tAEA 4. buG Ia
,bav do not cut a very striking figure
An Enslishman, perhaps, is apt % o.
exacting on such points. The house OF
even the present house @.
is un~auestionably the best
dressed assembly N the world 1t
members have an air Of good breedia-
,hout them. OF men accustomed 10
drawing rooms and the best kind 81
society," looks at first glance
ike \ gathering OF dissenting ministers
on small alaries-an impression heiSht
ened by the congressional costume oi
loose frock coat, low-cut vest, a turn
ed-down collar and a white bow-ani
its manners suggest anything but a
drawing room. | counted the other
dav eleven representatives chewing IN
lighted cigars and relieving themselves
bv profuse splitting. The sigh al
most reconciled me tn the spectacle one
is liable TO be confronted with a West
minister of an NJ. P. sprawling on the
benches with his hat on, three-Quart-
tiers asleep-undeifying, but, still. not
absolutely disgusting
THE EASY GOING-HOUSE,
The arrangement OF the house Of rep
EtStuidIlNtS lliahVS ~ GA C|
wav OF doing things. The seats are ar
ranged not in parallel lines, as with rs
in England, but after the continental
fasion, in curved. concentlc rows,
facing the speaker. Each member ma
a revolving armchair and a spacious
desk in front of It. These conditions
have a greater effect than all people
realize on the efficiency and depoE,-
ment Of the chamber. / think -heN
take away ii good deal from the earn
estness and reality of debate. You
cannot thunder successfully at he
gentleman from Minnesota when the
gentleman from Minnesota is lollinG
back in his armchair reading Il news
or writing Il letter, or buSylnT
himself among his newspapers. In
CONGRESS it seems TO be the ase hat
members only listen TO the debates
when they have nothing else 10 attend
Ia. The distractions offered by he
armchair and the desk are too strong
for the legislative soul. Moreover II is
a good rule that rival debaters should
face one another in as sharp a JuXta-
opposing parties should glover n o.e
another us Squarely as possible. Nu n
of the effect of a Set-tO is lost Nh II
the cOmbatantS have, as ii We're, TO
Get each other crabwise and obliGu2ly,
and | have heard more than n rep
resentative express the wish that the
chairs and desks might be swept away
and replaced by parallel lines of bench
es, as in the house of commons. Ii
NAV come to that in the end. for the
chamber cannot keep pace with pop
,,l-+;n,. oor1>- oil tho oynil h1a room
is already taken up and unless some
spa~ce-saving device, such rs in the in
PRODUCTION of benches, is adopted the
house will be as ~cOngested as a tene-
ment.
Whenever I can take my eyes of
Mr.. Cannon they turn inStinctively To
the page boys who Toll about by the
table and play surreptitiOus games
under it shawOr. with a watchful
eye on the sergeant-at-armS. These
page boys are TO me the Quintessence
of America. Their cOntemtures tOler-
ance for the house which they serve
exquisitely condescending manner in
which they will occasionally join in
laughter or applause, their unbridled
alertness, and their innocence of
anything at all resembling a uniform,
make them one of the most distinctive
and interesting features of the national
legislature. In the house of commons
no one bu members the clerks at the
table, the sergeant-at-arms and the
~resplendent officials who represent the
sovereign under the title Of black rod
is allowed to cross the bar. Messages,
cards and kilograms are handed to the
n rot ronpohn~ nn1 nnccn<1 n1nno h q
benches until they reach their proper
destination. But where, as in Con-
gress and in one OF tWo' of our col
Onial legislatures, you are allowed to
use the house as a writing room. a
corps of messengers boys become an
obvious corOllary. A member who
wants a letter posted or a book fetch
ed from the library, or a message
taken to Il friend in the senate or the
gallery, claps his hands as a signal,
an dtWO or three pages dart along
the gangways in emulous rivalry TO
run his errands. This does o make
for the quiet transaction Of public bus
mess. Indeed, the fretful and an
ceasing clamOr of the house is the first
Of all its characteristics that a strang-
er notices. What with the immeneitv
Of the chamber, the buzz in the CALLER
les, the scurrying of pages, the crimp
ling of newspapers the banging Of desk
lids, he chatter Of the members who
walk about and form animated and
ssdis- and then she said ~tdaradon!n
dlsputatiOus groups as the within
takes them. and the thump, thump. Of
the speakers gavel. it needs a man
self heard. Complete silence, as a
matter Of fact. is so far from being OBJ
tanned that members who particularly
wish 10 hear what is being said leave
their seats and gather round the orator,
just behind the official stenograDhers.
who take down his speech standing.
The conditions that make such 4 pro
Cepding necessary are clearly -Ondi-