Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-04-10
REPORTING DEBATES.
How and by Whom 1t Is Done in Con-
qreSS.

lne OIllclaI reporters bl lIle Col-
eress of the United States are having
an unusually strenuous time this year
i'm chronicling the proceedings of the
national legislature. 1t is not neceS-
Sary To seek far for the reason. This
is presidential year, and the opportun-
ity is seized by many legiSlatOrS-as
similar occasions have been at inter-
walls of four years in the paSt-to
make political hay while the sun
shines Therefore the country has a
Surfeit of debate literally favored
with politics, while constant reader"
finds the Congressional Record bur-
dened with innumerable speeches in
which national issues are discussed to
the neglect of the measures ostensi-
bly, under consideration.
All this means hard work and plen-
ty of it for the expert stenOgraphers
who comprise the corps Of official re-
porters of the senate and house of
representatives. Not only is the de-
bate under such circumstances par
ticularly lively and many Of the
speeches particularly lengthy, but the
orators are exceptionally concerned as
to the form in which their remarks
will appear in print Dozens of these
speeches in congress will later be sent
broadcast as campaign ammunition.
Naturally the authors are solicitous as
to how their efforts will appear in
cold type and make revisions and cor
rections almost without end.
However, the official reporters are
we'll equipped to keep tab on the say
ings of the nations lawmakers. A
system has gradually been developed
which makes it possible to present a
complete detailed record of all that
has transpired at a daily session of
either house of congress in an almost
incredibly short space of time after
the body has adjourned. This is ac-
complished by having the official re-
p0rterS work i'm relays and by the in
PRODUCTION Of the most up To date me-
chanical equipment, not the least not
able feature of which is found in the
business monographs into which
most of the reporters now talk
their notes instead Of debating them
to stenographers or personally tran
scribing them.
The present day working system
and equipment of the official report
ers, like this body of shorthand eX-
perts itself, has been brought to the
stage of perfection as the result of a
gradual evolution. The plan of re-
porting verbatim the proceedings of
the senate and house Of representa-
tives has been in vogue since 1S4S;
and in the three score years that have
intervened since this important fea-
ture of congressional routine was in
augurated there have been many
changes of method. At the outset the
official reporters took their notes in
shorthand and then at their leisure
laboriously transcribed the record in
longhand.
When the typewriter was invented
it revolutionized the labor of tram
scribing the reporters notes, and
more recently another advance almost
as notable has been made by the in
PRODUCTION of the business phono-
graph. Some of the veterans Of the
corps of official reporters still prefer
to dictate their notes to assistants,
who take them on typewriters, but the
majority of the experts dictate to
monographs, the cylinders Of which
are at once taken by typewriters and
a transcript made.
1t is claimed that the phonograph
method is the most economical OF
time and it also offers superior advan-
tages against error. If a typewriter
has reason to believe that he has
made an error in transcribing from a
phonograph he has only to turn back
the cylinder and again listen to the
remarks regarding which he is in
doubt, but if there is a suspicion Of
error in stenographic notes there is,
of course, no way for the typewriter
operator to determine the matter
without consulting the official report
er who gave the dictation. While on
the subject of the economy of time in
this work it may be noted that the
highest attainment in this line is pos
sible' where men can read one anOth-
er's shorthand notes, but this is a rare
accomplishment. However, some Of
the Murphys, family conspicuously
identified with the whole history Of
congressional reporting-had this
gift, and it was at one time possible
for one member of the family to re-
main practically continuously on duty
in the senate chamber merely turn
ing over his notes for transcribing to.
his brother, who acted as his assis-
tant.
There are six official reporters in
the service of the senate and an equal
number engaged in the house of rep
resentativeS, whereas in but few of
the largest business houses in the
country could there be found more
complete equipment of monographs
than is now installed at the capitol.
An interesting feature of the array of
tools of the trade" TO be found at the
headquarters of the congressional re-
porters is the shaving machine. The
function of this apparatus is to rejuv-
enate the phonograph records so that
they can be used again and again. Af
ter n record has served its purpose
and the chronicle it held has been put
in typewriter form the cylinder is
placed in the shaving machine and
the delicate wax surface is shaved
down until it is ready to again record
dictatiOn.
Although the system of official re-