Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-09
Some Things You Want to Know
The Housing of Congress

When the congress Of the United
States meets on the first Monday in De-
cember. It will find itself to be the best
housed legislative body in the world. with
the capitol, the house and the senate office
buildings, the congressional library and the
new heating plant, congress. directly and
indirectly, will occupy buildings represent
Ing an expenditure OF S30,O0O,OO The
equipment Of the national American legis-
lature has come, by gradual growth, to
be an estate OF magnificAnce. The British
Parliament ranks next to the American
congress in the splendur and beauty OF
(. s building, yet the London establishment
cost but SIS. 600. zoo. The homes Of the
French Chamber of Deputies; the German
Reichstag and other continental parlia-
ments are not nearly so large.
The American legislative plant is so much
larger than the ordinary visitor to Wash
ington imagines, that very few persons
appreciate its immensely. The buildings
occupied and used by congress, lnclud-
Ing the library OF congress-, contain more
than Loo separate rooms. There are forty
elevators. several thousand windows, more
than a thousand doors. and everything else
in proportion. Even the telephone service
is larger than that OF an American city
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in the habit Of accrediting Americans with
innate vulgarlty and with a disposition
to consider quantities rather than qualities,
are surprised to find that this huge legis-
lative plant is known more for its artistic
beauty than for its vast extent.
The capitol is one Of the most imposing
structures in the world. 1t is not so mag
nificent as the British Parliament build
ing, but when 1t is extended and improved
In accordance with plans already adopted,
it will stand, even without its thanking
buildings, as the peer OF the great pile on
the banks of the Thames. The capitol was
built piece-meal and it's chief wonder is
hat it possesses any architectural beauty
at all. As a matter of fact, the lines are
so harmonized that the casual observer
rarely notices that the building is the pro-
duct of different minds in different times.
For the first half Of the history of the
republic, the capitol consisted only of the
link that now binds together the senate
and the house wings, and 1t was surmounted
by a dome so ill-proportioned and so ugly
that the whole structure was a nightmare.
When the capitol was enlarged by the
building of the house and senate wings,
congress fortunately employed a far
sighted and capable architect to plan the
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Walter, alphabetically studied the plans
of Thornton, the original architect of the
capitol, and evolved the conception Of the
capitol as It stands today. The great wings
were built large enough. as it was then be-
lieved, for generations to come. Therefore,
each wing extended laterally beyond the
front and back of the old capitol. over the
center Of the old portion Of the building
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dome, which has become in the eyes of all
the world a symbol of the great American
republic. Several years later the central OF
older portion of the capitol was extended
on the west front in line with the two new
wings. The next improvement proposed to
be made is the extension of the central
p%ortico Of the east front to correspond with
those Of the senate and house wings.
The extension on the west front was
made for the purpose of accommodating
the rapidly growing library of congress. II
was never large enough adequately to serve
it's purpose. About twenty years ago con.
gress authorized the erection of a separate
building for the accommodation OF its H.
brary. That building, erected at a cost OF
nearly 1900, 900, was opened to the public
thirteen years ago. 1t is a most beautiful
building as seen from its exterior, while
its interior ranks with the most splendid
edifices in all the world. It's book stacks
were arranged to hold what was Their tbs
entire library of congress, with provisions
for receiving and storing the additions o.
a generation. How greatly congress under
estimated the growth Of the country Il
shown in the fact that the entire shell
space of the library is already levied upon
and new book stacks are being built. Th'
library OF congress now has the thirC
, greatest collection of books and manu-
scripts in the world, coming after thu
British museum and the national librar!
Of France.
Although congress used all Of the spac'
in the capitol except the comparatiVell
small portion reserved for the supreme
court, there was not enough room to en-
able the senators and representatives pro
perly to conduct their affairs. Each sen
ator had a separate office, many Of then
in the third sub-basement Of the capito
catacombs, and many in a converted OF
flee building outside the capitol grounds
such members OF the house as were no