New-York tribune., 1907-10-13
LIKE HOUSE OF COlfMONS.
Or, BouteN Plans Change in Rep
reSentatiUcs' Hall.
IFrom The Tribune Bureau. J


Washington, Oct l2-Representative Henry sher-
man Boutell of the 9Th Illinois District has a
scheme to transform the National House of Repre-
Ii Ilatl'es INTO body similar in appearance to the
hIiush House OF Commons. and will INCORPORATE MS
plan IN formal resolution when Congress meets
IN December
MI boutell proposes to take out all the desks in
,he nan of the House, reduce the floor TO one-half
us present size, and in the remaining space build
uers OF seats extending from the Speakers desk
70 inc main door of the House This would give
the members much more lobby space in which to
receive constituents and friends and provide double
'he amount of gallery space now allotted to spec
tatoIs II is Mr. Boutells idea in this way to make
the House debating instead of a speechmakng
pouE. lie desires TO eliminate the long speeches
for the benefit Of constituents at home better uti-
lie the time Of the members, enhance the interest
OF the public in the debates and make THE Con-
gresslonal Record absorbing periodical. He
has already discussed the plan with the architect
of the Capitol and has tentatively accepted draw
inEs which he will explain 10 his colleagues after
his resolution is referred to the Committee
Library.
The Illinois member believes that with the in
crease in the number of members of the House
every decade. the admission of Oklahoma bringing
the membership up to S91, actual debate will
stanty grow less and that the only way to restore
the easy conditions which prevailed in the first
half of the last century would he by having the
floor so arranged that members might be within
conversational distance OF each other and might
thereby better understand each other When In
Washington recently he discussed the plan with
Representative Mccall, OF Massachusetts, and he
expects that the Massachusetts member Will also
urge the scheme
The House Is too cumbersome to-day" said Mr..
Boutell. when a gets up to deliver a speech
he usually does with the intention OF making it
set affair which will be read with interest by
his constituents at home. His speech. therefore,
does not always bear directly on the point of dis
cussion. In this way it IS difficult get a lively
matter-of-fact. running debate paragraphs Of ap
preparation bills. If a man IS interrupted from the
other side Of the hall. he thinks the interrogator
is attacking him. and so bellows out some retort.
The man who is speaking must strain his voice or
he viii not be heard. If other members are in
terested in what he says they gather around him.
many of them. however engaging IN private con-
versation, Still other members are writing at their
desks. calling page boys or rattng newspapers.
All this tends 10 prevent the effective discus
sion Of legislation the floor Of the House All
these defects would be remedied by plan Of tax
ing out the desks and putting in tiers of benches
In their stead, and reducing the hall its
present space. Under such plan the members
who do not take part in discussions on the
floor would have the alternative of sitting silent
on the benches leaving the House altogether
The House. being divided each half facing the
other, and everybody within easy speaking dis
tance Of everybody else, discussion would be a
pleasure and much more interesting than now. Bel
lowing across the hall would give way TO a quiet
discussion of the points involved in q bin. One
member would beg pardon and interrupt to say that
he would Ike little more light on that last point
The man having the floor would resent an
imagined attack. and would give polite answer.
without writing desks in the House the man who
maze long and dry speech for home consumption
might talk 10 empty benches The whole legislative
proceeding would be more busnesslike, and I dare
say that the work OF the House would be transacted
with much more dispatch. I think the cumber-
soneness OF the House to-day is due, the size
Of its membership but the arrangement Of the hall
hal and E-ill char Jba
method Of discussion
Mr.. Bouten said his plan would also do away
Win congestion IN the main lobby Of the House. a
rule was recently adopted BY which all the lobbies
except that in front Of the hall and leading the
Senate side Of the Capitol, should be closed. This
has resulted in a constant jam about the main
door, caused by many people crowding there TO wait
for members 10 whom they have sent cards. Under
the new plan the lobby space would be increased
many times over. Mr.. Boutell says the expense
would be large, but would be justified by the IN
creased utility OF the debates. Several members
who have been approached by the Illinois man have
expressed approval of his plan