Arizona republican., 1907-01-07
The EARLIER SESSIONS
OF THE U. S. CONGRESS
Some of The Things The Forsrunner oil
The Modern CaiIy Newspaper Had
TO Co,tsnd W.h.

Istig StN1A paper lisAS rs bN a. SHtAls
con esponGent. and some OF them keep
a corps OF able and experienced jour
naiists To record for their readers ali
that takes lace in the national cap
ital OF the county.
| IL was nos always thus. There was
? Il time when the house of representa-
t.ves tried 10 exclude reporters, on the
ground that to report the daily pro-
ceedings was not good public policy.
, In this it was following the then policy
: Of the British parliament.
When the offices OF the government
We're removed from Philadelphia to
Washington. Mr. Samuel Smith came
here, bringing with him the outfit for
a newspaper establishment. He had
, for several years been engaged in print
ing a paper in Philadelphia. but con-
, Guided To follow the fortunes OF the
government So he removed to the new
city in the wilderness on the banks of
the Potomac. He gave to his new paper
a high sounding na:sIe-"The National
Intelligencer and Washington Adver-
tiser." Mr.. Smith was the forerunner
of the modern daily papers, and being
a stenographer determined to give his
, readers daily report of the doings of
congress.
When the session was about to open
MIR. Smith waited on the speaker, told
, him who he had in mind, and asked the
privilege of placing a desk on the floor
. of the house. where he could see and
hear 10 good advantage. The speaker
gave his consent, and the next morning
Mir. Smith made his appearance, fol-
lowed by a colored man carrying a
small writing table. He was stopped
at the door by the sergeant-at-arms,
, and after much wrangling the whole
matter was referred TO the speaker.
, The speaker decided that there was no
: room for the reporter inside the bar,
but graciOusiy gave him the privilege
Of taking his notes as best he could on
the outside. M Smith was an enter
prising journalist. and did not propose
10 have his readers cut out from
! knowing what was going on. 70, for
some time. he took his notes "as best
he could sometimes standing up.
sometimes using his knee for a table
, and at other times making his hat
serve that purpose.
The session was about half over when
the crisis came. One day d man in
the gallery offended the speaker by
persisting in applauding some Of the
speakers and deriding others. and the
speaker ordered his arrest. Mr.. Smith
proceeded To get even with the speak
) er for excluding him from the bar of
the house. and animadverted in severe
terms on this action Of the speaker.
Evidently the speaker was a reader Of
the National Intelligence and Wash
lingtOn Advertiser" for when Mr.. Smith
made his appearance the nest morning
he was notified by the sergeant-at-
arms that The speaker had given orders
10 have him excluded rom the lobby.
In submitting to the order Mr.. Smith
asked if il extended 10 the gallery. and
on being ASSURED that it did not. took
his place in the gallery, and continued
his taking OF notes. The speaker was
a stubborn man. however. and was de-
termined that no more notes for publ
cation should be taken. so he extend
ed his order Of exclusion so as to in
clude the gallery.
MI. Smith appealed to the house. pre-
senting a memorial requesting permits
sion to have seat within the bar. and
10 be permitted to take notes OF the
proceedings and debates. The memo
rial was eferred to a committee APP
pointed by the speaker, who saw to it
that the committee was composed Of
his friends. After n long delay the
committee reported that it was not ex-
pedient to take any action on the me-
mortal This report provoked an ex-
citing debate which lasted for several
days. the speaker taking a prominent
part. claiming that the reports hither-
to published had done him and his par
ty injustice. The vote on the memorial
! was tie. and the speaker gave his
casting vote i'm favor Of the report and
/ thus the house was made to put itself
| on record as opposed to having the
proceedings published.
By some means Mr. Smith continued
! TO get quite accurate reports in the
face of the opposition of the speaker.
and what was more to the credit of his
| journalistic enterprise, he succeeded in
getting daily reports of the secret ses-
SONS of the house in February 1901 !
held to take action on the election con-
test between jefferson and Burr. He
not only got n report of the debates. |
hU; of the vote as cast each day. which
q. CIV aroused the anger Of the speaker. !
That session of 1901 was a famous
one, and very exciting one. For the /
firsttime this new made unions of ours !
was in the throes of disruption. In /
those good old days the method OF |
selecting a president and vice presi- |
dent was very crude political affair /
electors were chosen by the legisla- /
torres, and the electors voted for two |
men. the one having the highest num- |
her Of votes to be president. and the /
one having the next highest number. |
vice president.
In 1900 the federal party was going /
into political bankruptcy. Adams was !
a candidate to succeed himself. with /
Pickering for a running mate. but he 1
was opposed by Alexander Hamilton.
the founder Of the federal party. who |
secretly endeayored TO have Pickering /
receive mere votes than Adams. and /
thus give Pickering the first plase !
while reiegaJing Adams to the position 4
he held under :ne two administrations /
of Washington. BY almost universal |
acCl1im jefferson was the choice of tn /
opponents Of federalism. With lam |
was associated Aaron Burr. PERHAPS .Le /
most astute po.ijIcal Of his day. When I
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