The Washington herald., 1907-11-04
Thinks Congress VIII Decline.

I
Editor The Washington Herald.
/ 1 noticed the recent statement in The
Washington Herald that Representative
I Boutwell,, Of Illinois. has formulated a
/ plan he COntemplates introducing at the
| coming session Of Congress which he
I thinks will enable the House 10 trans
/ act the public business with reasonable
dispatch and necessary deliberation"-
very desirable and worthy object, II 1t
can be accomplished.
| His plan. as stated, consists simply in
! removing the present seats and desks and
I seating the members on benches. as is
done in the British House Of Commons.
Unfortunately for his hope Of success.
/ tha- plan was tried in 1850. and proved
/ failure. When / went 10 duty there as
/ assistant doOrkeeper. April .. 1860. the day
/ OF the Pryor-Potter row. I was surprised
/ 10 find that the seats and desks had all
! been removed and red covered settees
substituted. in accordance with a resOlu-
| ton adopted at the prior session. the idea
/ being that If the desks were removed
members would give -heir attention 70
the business before tge House. And I
remember that when owen LovejOy be
/ gan his speech, which led 20 one OF the
most riOtOus scenes ever witnessed on the
/ floor. which eliminated in Pryor. sending
/ a challenge TO Potter, which the latter
promptly accepted. naming Bowie knives
as the weapons. whereupOn Pryor backed
OUt-a member objected 20 LOvejOy's s
speaking because he was standing in the
side passage AT the speakers left hand.
[ whereas the rules required members 10
/ speak from their desks. To this LoveiOy
! promptly replied that they had no desks.
and al the suggestion OF members he was
Z permitted 10 speak from the clerks desk,
/ in front of the Speaker
Before the session adjourned the set
tees were ordered out and the chairs and
desks were replaced. so dissatisfied were
the members.
The greatest hindrance 10 the transac-
tion of business in the House is the I'LL
clustering tactics resorted 10 by members
20 prevent the passage OF bills or the CON
sideration OF matters 10 which they. or
some Of them. object. Their most sT-
fective means Of delaying action IS rle
repeated sad continuous calling If the
roll. and so long as that can be forced
by a minority il Will always De So
Many suggestions have been made 70
remedy this. In about 1863. when Bill
King. as be was familiarity called, was
postmaster Of the House. an acquaintance
OF mine by the name Of BlacEie devised
an electric device by which each member.
by touching an electric button at his
desk. could cause a black or q white bail
10 roll from a little cell into a receptacle.
after which a count Of the black and
white balls determined the number Of
yeas and nays. King had a small one
set Up in the House pOst-Office 10 show
the members how the roll call might be
expedited, but il was not adopted.
II is perfectly feasible IN the present
state OF the art 10 take the vote Cf the
entire House. recording each name with
the yea or nay. in FIVE minutes. but they
will never DO L because either party is
liable 90 be IN the minority and they will
never consent 10 surrender the power
which the minority now possesses. Of pre-
venting or delaying the passage Of bills
Objectionable 90 them.
Il was the desire 10 prevent fiIibuster-
ing Of one kind and another which led
10 the adoption Of what is known as the
Reed rules. which. with additions as now
applied, enable the Committee on Rules
composed Of five members, Of which the
Speaker is chairman, 10 dictate abso-
lutely what may and what may not be
considered by the House.
As Mr.. Boutwell, was but four years old
al the time the change Of seats was tried
presume he knows nothing OF H. II Il
were possible for him 10 devise a plan by
which the number Of members in the
House could be reduced 10 one fourth OF
the present number, business would un-
dOubtedly be much better attended 10.
but that cannot be done. because each
State and every section OF the country
wants all the members il can possibly
secure, as IS shown by the persistent
struggle every time an apporuonment Of
members Is made 10 secure one for anv
considerable fraction there may be Of the
number OF population required for mem
oershlp- W c. DODGE.
Washington. D. C.. November ?