The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1909-02-11

is SuoJects 1lulDleu to6eLteI @ttAo1l
order OF system. and you win have q
miniature picture Of the thousand vol
umes which constitute the record OF the
things said and done in the sixty Con
crosses that have met. But now il is
al 10 be systematized. and. through card
indexes, make available for daily refer
encs. The subject index that is 70 make
It so Is being prepared by the librarian
OF the House Of Representatives, John J.
Boobar, and his assistants.
During each Of the sixty Congresses
that have held sessions there have been
anywhere from 100 TO nearly 800 mem
hers. These have been men among men.
the choice OF their constituents Each OF
them has sought ID promote his own in
terests and to advance the cause OF MS
party. and has brought the best co1tri-
button within his power 10 enrich the
Congressional Record With over six
thousand picked contributors. nearly
every one with q specially, handling his
self-chosen subject, Ike a specialist
with the debates taking the widest
possible range. it Is easy to see
what a mass OF information les IN the
Record waiting 70 be put in available
reach BY the Boobar index This viii
be an index OF speakers. as well as OF
speeches, which makes IL still more valu-
able.
To show the thoroughness with which
It Is prepared. 1t might be said that 70
index the speeches Of the Fifty-ninth
Congress alone required more than 1900
cards. It is faithful even to the smallest
detail, and It's cross references are abuz-
dant enough 10 enable even the amateur
TO find that for which he is seeking
Last winter John Wesley Gaines, who
represents the old Andrew Jackson dis
trsct IN Congress. and Representative
Buleson. Of Texas. had . setto over the
TrhEtletoe BurlesOn declared il a para
site plant that harms the trees on which
It grows. The knightly soul OF Gaines
was shocked 10 its core with such talk
and he proceeded 20 rattle the very en-
bIazoned skylights OF that historic hall
with his eloQuence IN defending the mis-
tletoe from the iGsidiOus attack. and in
declaring IL the fairest flower Of the gar
den OF love. That gem OF 0ratory might
as well be buried in the sands OF the
Sahara as 10 be left n the Congressional
Record without a subject index With
such an index the world VIII always be
able 20 End this memorable defense OF
the mistIetoe.
Not long ago Champ Clark was discuss
ing al things IN general and the tariff in
particular He is an observing man, and
called the attention or the House 10 the
fact that an Indian il q picture in the
rotunds OF the Capitol had been painted
with six toes Il was the picture Of the
baptism OF Pocahontss, and from that
DAY to this every Washington tourist has
ha6 those six toes pointed out 20 him
by the Capitol guides The new card
Index Is faithful il even 50 small a mat
ter as this.
Mr.. Boobar took up this work more as a
pastime than anything else He was ap-
pointed librarian IN 1900 from Minnesots,
and brought to his position a remarkable
fund OF energy He says that 10 attache
of Congress IS worried so hard as 20 be in
danger Of nervous prostration from over
work; and that he thought the best way
10 utilize this spare time was by doing
something useful So he fell 10 indexing
the proceedings OF the current session Of
Congress. He has kept this I'D until he
now has a complete index OF both ses-
sions OF the Fifty-aiath Congress and OF
the first session Of the Sixtieth During
his spare time ne IS going back 10 index
the Fifty-eighth Congress.
Card indexing IS about as tedious q
business as one can very well imagine.
Il is Ike feeding a furnace with a tea
spoon But BOobar and his assistants
have been faithful at the task. They ex-
pect 10 continue this work as the ses-
sions pass. and even Il they are not able
70 carry II back to the beginning. they
VIII catch al the good things OF the fu-
ture. The librarian and his staff are get
ting no extra pay for their work
Whether they ever get any or not. they
propose 10 carry the index through the
coming years and back az far into the
past as their time viii allow Boobar's
attitude is this. What boots Il zrheth-
er ever get any pay I am doing my
best 20 make a good index. and II I sue
coed IN that I shall have rendered a
great service whether I an paid for il
or not He hopes 10 do his work so well
that Congress may eventually decide 70
have the records OF ali past Congresses
indexed. and viii give him men 10 do II.
Any one who has had anything 10 do
with card indexes must appreciate the
stupendousness Of that task. Cruden's
Concordance Is recognized as a work Of
monumental proportions, and yet it was
but a pleasant little diversion as COM
pared with the indexing Of the proceed
ings OF sixty Congresses. Many a single
session fills 1000 pages OF closely printed
matter, and each Congress has two ses-
sions AZ least. A single session may turn
out ten I,ooo-page quarto volumes. OF
course, the first Congresses were not as
wordy as some Of the more recent ones
A single octave volume sufflces 10 give
synopsis Of every speech delivered IN
both sessions OF the First Congress.
The value OF card index OF Congress
SIGNAL proceedings to the country At large
can be readily illustrated. In every in
portant community there are bound comics
OF the Congressional Record covering
many years but not so useful as thew
might be II properly indexed- Congress
can authorize duplicate lists Of the cards
printed. 10 be given or sold at actual cost
70 the various newspapers and Libraries
which have card indexes. ard thus make
the Record q sort OF community encvclo-
pedia Think Of what Il would mean 10
the student OF the tariff 70 be able 10 get
q complete index Of the Congressional
debates from the beginning. and 10 the
student Of finance TO get q complete IN
dex 70 the discussions OF the money
question, When the historian comes u
write the history Of the Panama Canal
what a fund Of informal ton he would
have at hand did he have a subject index
Of Congressional debates on interoeeanIc
canals,
There Is. and has always been, an index
Of the Congressional Record But so Ear
as indexing debates according 10 sub
jet is concerned. It is no index az all
The only way one can possibly find al
that was spoken on given subject in q
given session Is to 70 1aboriouslv through