Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1906-08-23
%edifying, but, still, not absolutely dis
gushing.
Members Are Comfortable.

Members Are Comfortable.
The arrangement of the house of repre-
sentatives makes for an easy going way
Of doing things. The seats are arranged
not in parallel lines. as with us i'll Eng
and, bat after the continental fashion.
n curved. conccntric rows. facing the
speaker. Each member has a revolving
arm chair and I spacious desk in front of
1t. These conditions have Il greater effect
than all peop'e realize on the efficiency
and department of The chamber. | think
they take away a good deal from the
earnostness and realty of debate. You
cannot thunder successfully ut the gentle
man from Minnesota when the gentleman
from Minnesota is lolling back in his arm
chair reading Il n%cWSpaior, or writing u
otter, or busNIng himself among his
newspapers. In congress il seems 10 be
the case that members only listen to tho
debates when they nave nothing else to
attend to. The distractions offered by tho
arm chair and the desk are too strong for
the legislative soul. Moreover. ii is a good
rule that rival dohaters should face one
another in as sharp "a juxtapcsition as
possible. and that The opposing parties
should glover at ono another as squarclN
as possible. Much of The effect Of Il sct-to
is lost when tho comhatants have, as il
were. to set at each other clabWiSe and
obliquely, and have heard moro tAan
piiR ! - : - pc" ~ VISA Nf'Hs
the chairs ANA desks might b. swep ut aV 3.
and replaced by parallel limos OF ! ~nAeles,
as in tho house OF commons. 1t may ooiue
to that in TN end. Tor the chamber ,la-
not keep pace with population: nearly all
the available room is air,aGs taNcl4 up,
aad unless somp space saNil = icVice. s}i "a
as in 1he Introduction 81 benches. il
adopted the house viii be as contested as
a tenement.
Attractive Pages.
Whenever ! can take my eyes off Mr..
Cannon they turn irdiStinctively To the
PAGE boys who lo.i about by The table
and play s%urreptifioCs game under its
shadow, with "A watciifui eve on the scr
seant at arms. These paea boys are 10
me the quintesscnce Of America. Theii
conteinptuons tolerance for the hous.
which they serve. the cxquisitcly condcs
cending manner in which they Will oc-
caSionally JOIN in the laughter or applause,
their unbridled alertness, and their iino-
cence of anything at all resembling Il uni
form. make them one OF the most dis
tinctive and interesting features of the
national legislature. In he house of com
mons no one but members, the clerks al
the table. the sergeant at arms and the
respondent officials who represent tn.
sovereign under the title of black rod is
allowed to cross the bar. Messages, cards
and kilograms are handed to the nearest
member and passed along the benches un-
til they reach their proper destination
But where, as in congress and in one OIL
two of our colonial legislatures. you ar.
allowed TT use the house as Il writing
room. 4 corps of messenger boys become.
al obvious corollary. y member VIII,
wants y letter posted or Il book fetchc,
from the library. or a message taken 10 :
friend In the senate or tn pres,
gallery. claps his hands as Il signal. am.
two or three pages dart along the gang
ways IN emllous rivalry to run bis 81
rands. This does not make for IN" quiz
transac tion of public business. Indeed, til
! fretful and unceasing clainor OF tho huur
is the first of all its characteristics that
stranger notices. What with the i'm
mensity of the chamber, the buzz IN Thu
galleries. the scurrying of the pages. tn
crumplnS OF newspapers tho banging c
desk lids. the chatter of the members VIII
walk about and form animated and .lispu
tations groups as the whim takes them
and the thump. thump of the speaker
gavcl. 1t needs a man with a powerful
voice to maze himself heard. Compile
silence. as Il matter of fact. is 50 FAR from
being obtained that members who particli
larly wish TO hear what is being sad leay
their seats and gather round the orato,
Just behind the official stcnographnrs, VIII
take down his speech standing. The con
ditions that make such a proceeding nee
eSsary are clearly conditions in need O
reform. There is IA rule. for instance. tina