Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-05
MEETING OF CONGRESS.
V-Machinery Of Legislation.
tee placed upon il through q report en-
tered In the Journal.
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

:
tee tee. Pl e d. upon i throush report en-
+
Then the Vice President and the Speak
er Of tho House sign the bill and II is
Signing by President White House
the Final Act. 10, 'ns s s'aau
prevail Of the President. But IL the Senate
and House are not able to agree on the
measure there comes struggle that is
sometimes fierce and long drawn out. The
side that last acts on the measure requests
a conference on the disasreeing votes OF
the two Houses. and three men are ap-
pointed by each house. One Of these is the
chairman Of tho committee that had charge
OF the dill. The two others are the Oldest
republican and the Oldest democratic
member Of the committee in point OF
service. These six men fight it out. Some
timas they fight for hours. sometimes for
days, and occasionally for weeks. Often
they go back to their respective bodies
and ask to be supported or excused. Usu-
ally it Is a process Of give and take
items and the House conferees Will re-
cede from insistence on other items, ana
then peace is declared by both bodies.
after which comes the enrolment and
the transmission to the President.
There are many parliamentary steps not
related here through which measures may
go while In the custody Of either house.
They may be made special orders" In
over everything else. Every btu must be
read by its title at least three times be-
fore the Senate can pass 1t, and except
by unanimous consent the reading must
be . on three - aays t AsT eo bin
houses. once in the committee Of the
whole and the second time In the open
session. Modern parliamentary practice
can make the pressure OF the legislative
mill as hard g. grinder as It desires, and
can make 1t extremely difficult for
measure to get through Congress.
X X
The test Of tho legislative machinery
comes at the end of a session. The Senate
and the House
Test Of Machinery are confirmed pro.
at Sessions End. taey saaasaly
wake up and and It is only . few weeks
until adjournment. Then they put On bit
and spur and rush things through ct q
head-swimmips gait. The last few days
OF q session the clerks who have charge
Of the bills work day and night. It is
natural that with big omnibus bill. IKE
the public buildings bill. there should be
liabilities to error. A few years ago
every senator ana House member thought
Congress would adjourn at q given hour,
and many had bought their tickets home.
At the last moment some one discoveries
that the bill was IN q buagle and every
body had to sit up. with It until nearly
midnight. A COMMITTEES investigated the
matter, but no one knaws yet who made
the errors that kept Congress In sweat
for hours.
The work Of the oflciais who keep the
legislative records Of the Senate and the
House Is increasing at treHnandous rate
The first session Of the Fifty-seeopd Con-
gress witnessed the intrOductloH Of TO-
O0O bills in the House, the filing OF l,5O
reports, the passage OF 2S7 public laws
and the making of h006 pages OF the Rec
ord. The special and first regular ses-
sion of the Sixty-fiFst Congress witness
ed the Introduction Of 1900 bills. the
fling OF 1,733 reports, and the making OF
o. 1jO pages Of the Congressional Record.
The printing bill Of Congress has In
creased in proportion. fne investigations
OF the child labor question by the Senate
have filed nineteen big volumes ana sew
eral Thousand sets will be printed The
monetary commission ID turning volumes
out at the rate Of shout one q week, and
no one knows how much 1t ultimately
will cost.
oftentimes employees Of the Senate and