The Washington herald., 1907-10-16
Restoring the neIIherative Honse


Representative Henry S. Bouteu. Of ILL.,
nois. has formulated a plan which he
expects TO place before the House at
the opening Of the next session. for seat
ing the members on benches and so re
ducing the size of the chamber that all
the members may hear the debates and
be able to take part in them. The de-
cline Of the House as a deliberative body
Mr.. Boutell attributes largely to the
physical conditions under which debate
must be conducted Effective discus
sion Of legislation. he thinks, is pre-
vented by the difficulty of hearing what
is going on, and Of making oneself heard.
in the confusion that is almost always
prevalent during crowded sessions Of the
House. Remove the unfavorable circum-
stances under which discussion is now
carried on, Mr.. Bouteu argues. and the
House would once more transact the
public business with reasonable dispatch
and necessary sdeliberation.
We think IL would require a great deal
more than a mere change In the seating
arrangements Of the chamber where de-
bate occurs to alter the fundamental
characteristics of the House Of Repre-
sentatives as they have been developed
during more than a century Of national
life. While the House has become less
and less Of a deliberate body, It has be-
come more and more an efficient mechan-
ism for the transaction Of business
through perfect control of the majority.
To attain this end. liberty of discussion
has been purposely checked. Debate
ranges within fixed bounds; il cannot
90 on indefinitely; and when it is con-
cluded, the House proceeds at once to
a decision Of the matter at issue.
Mr.. Boute1 ignores the restriction upon
debate imposed by rules of the House, a
restriction which is undoubtedly the most
potent cause Of decline in the deIiberative
method Of legislation. Another cause.
which has been operating much longer
than the foregoing, is the committee
system. AS every one knows, legislation
IS framed by committees and merely re-
vised by the House The committee
rooms are. therefore, the real forums Of
legislative debate. Nevertheless, we can
not altogether agree with Mr.. Boutelrs
idea that it is difficult 10 get up a lively
running debate on paragraphs Of appro-
priation bills. It is precisely these para
graphs that give rise to some of the
warmest and most characteristic dis
cussions. If every item in an appropria-
ton biz is not fully understood before
voted on, it is wholly the fault Of mem
bers, for the committeeman who reported
the bill cannot escape the duty Of ex-
planning or justifying when called on to
do so. OF course, it may be that this
sort Of debate would be easier in 4
smaller chamber equipped with benches.
but that would hardly be the equivalent
Of restoring the deliberative character
Of the House. To do that would require
revision Of the House rules and an
extensive modification Of the present COM
mittee system.
Much Of the noise and confusion dur
ing sessions Of the House is due TO the
use of the members desks for personal
business. As members have been pro-
vided with commodious Offices elsewhere.
it seems probable that this source Of an
noyance viii be much abated What ef-
feet the Office for each member system
will have on attendance in the chamber
remains 10 be seen. 1t is conceivable that
It may tend to reduce the attendance TO