Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-04

While the duty of legislating in the
House, as In the Senate. falls upon the
shoulders Of its members. remarkable
proportion Of the detail work falls to the
officers and employees of that body, and
the House would be lost in legislative viii
dernesses without its staff OF AIDS.
Scarcely a wheel of the legislative ma
chinery could turn without them. In the
|main, the employees Of the House hold
their jobs during the ascendency Of the
party controlling 1t. OF course, the ma
jority OF the attaches of committees re-
main as long as the chairnen who ap-
point them are in power. Likewise, many
Of the subordinate positions are held dur
ing the service of the member on whose
recommendation the appointment was
made But as soon as that member drops
out Of Congress the employee. unless he
has ingratiated himself with some other
member. is seen no more.
There are a few men in the House
whose work has been so valuable and so
essential to the deliberations OF that BODY
that no sort Of political vicissitude will
striking instance of this Is the case OF
James c. CourtsS clerk to the committee
on appropriations. The committee clerk
ships are nearly always the prerogative OF
the CudlImdu, anu ue usually HIS d SCUIC
OF political neutenants entitled to an ap-
pointment as a spoil of war. But here
Is the clerkship of the most powerful
committee Of the House in the hands Of
dyed-in-the-wool democrat.
This position, however, cannot be filled
satisfactorily by a newcomer. To make
up the annual budget
Position Is One Of billion dollars and
to have information
Hard to Fill. ready at hand con-
corning every penny Of the proposed ex-
penditure requires an acquaintance with
| things that can be acquired only through
years Of exacting work. Mr.. Courts pos
sesses such an acquaintance and speaker
ships, chairmanships, and parties may
come and go, but "Jim'' Courts still holds
his job. rendering faithful service and
efficient aid to financial legislation. Mr..
Courts is training his staff. OF co-workers
! in the same way, and the elevation Of
his former lieutenant. Kennedy Rea. to
the clerkship Of the Senate committee on
| appropriations, is a testimonial to his
success. Rea is also q democrat.
stays through party changes is Col.
Charles H. Mann, the superintendent OF
the House press gallery. Like Superin-
tendent Preston of the Senate press gal
| lery, Charlie Mann has succeeded in max
ing himself indispensable to the men who
Washington. Keeping track Of all COM
mittee meetings, saving the newspaper
men a thousand steps. and watching like
a hawk at all times to see that the pro-
fame feet Of the outsider never invade
the sacred precincts Of the press gallery.
Col. Mann has so endeared himself to
the newsgatherers that politics is not
worth q hill Of beans in determining
whether he shall stay or go with the
change in House control.
\ X
There is a position In which the demo-
Gratis will have a chance to reciprocate
when the House
Blind Chaplain ORGANIZES mex
May Be Retained. lain OF the
In the past the democrats, although In
the minority always have brought out
| their candidate against him. but many
Of their number now believe they could
do a particularly gracious act by re-
electing Rev. Couden although he is a
| straight-out republican. DR.. Couden Is a
sweet-voiced, kindly minister, and has
endeared himself to- all the members with
whom he has come in contact.
Another employe who has made himself
SO useful that he has removed his posi-
| ton from the pale of party favor is W.
A. Smith, known to everybody around
the Capitol as ANDY" Smith. He Is an
employe of the government printing ONCE
and has charge of the Congressional Rec
ord Office in the Capitol, but holds his
position at the pleasure of the Senate
| and House. He knows more about the
Congressional Record than the man who
makes it and no employee of the entire
Capitol is more popular.
The official reporters OF debates In the
House are not, like those Of the Senate,
paid under contract, but are on the reg
ular salary rolls Of The House. Although
prior to the recent increase Of congress
sional salaries they were paid as much
as member Of the Senate or House,
their positions have never been deemed
a spoil OF political warfare. A man must
be an expert stenographer to command
one Of these positions or that of official
stenographer to a House committee.
X X
With the above exceptions the employees
of tine House go the way Of politics. The
officers manage
Bulk Of Employees to hold their po-
Must Walk Plank. out the ascen-
dency of their party. since party caucus
almost uniformly reselects the old officers
as long as 1t is in the majority. The
principal positions, like that Of clerk of