New-York tribune., 1911-03-19

EVERY year Congress votes that, so long
II rs the clerkship of the House Committee
on Appropriations is held by "thc present
occupant" the position shall pay one thou
sand dollars in addition to the sum ordina
rilv allowed for the job. -
"Thc present occupant IS James Z
Courts. and that extra thousand dollars Is tlle
tribute Of the lawmakers to his unusual aDll
itv. He is monarch of mathematics, not &c
say king of calculation, and what ne
doesn't know about the Government and
the Governments finances is entirely I'M,
material. Under the dome Of the Capitol
they do not refer to old Euclid as the leading
fip,ircr of history. Owing to their convlc.
ton that "the present occupant has Euclid
backed off the boards in such matters, they
refer 10 Courts as the wizard OF n ,mberS and
money.
He is the man who complies and puts into
final shape all the big appropriation bills
that are reported for passage to the House
bv the powerful Committee on Approprla'
tions. He is the man who, when such billS
are under discussion on the floor OF the
House. sits at the right hand OF the chairman
Of the committee and tips him of as to how
to answer all the bcwildcring questions shot
at him by Representatives in course of de-
bate. And he is alwayS able to give the
right tip. a..
"Thc present occupant" has been the
coach and counsel Of many Chairmcn; tor,
while chairmcn come and so, he has
been on the lob a long time. He went
10 work for the committee in 1877, and
since 1883 has been clerk. In fact, there
has never been but one other clerk OF TINS
committee, which was created by tht
House in 1865. His predecessor Robert j.
Stevens, held the ccrkShip from that time
until Courts took il.
In politics "thc present occupant IS a
Democrat. In action he is a human dynamo
Of an improved type. In dcmcanor he IS the
sort Of person who could hand out pointers
TO Lord Chesterfield
Some idea OF the value and importance Of
the work done by Courts can be obtained
from the knowledge that, with few eX-
ccptionS. his committee gets up and reports
on II Ills appropriating money tor opcrat-
ING the Government. If bill this year con-
tains a paragraph conflicting in law or pur,
pose with paragraph in another similar oil
passed last year or fifteen years ago, Cotrts
i expected TO point ont the dilemma. II
question is asked on the floor in order to
show that the committee has ovcrStepped
its privileges in bringing in such legislation
Courts is the man who has the Job OF proving
that there are prcccdents for the action.
Many times the chairman Of the committee
has this information; but. If he does not
have il. Courts is the court Of last resort.
One Of the leaders OF the House once said,
al YOU ask me who in this Capitol knows
more than any other one man about the law
and general operation Of this Government, |
should unhcsitatingy say Courts.
"And.' agreed Speaker Cannon, who was
standing near. "you would be correct.
"Thc present occupant Is Il quiet, un-
assuming man He does his work on the old
fashioned theory that he should DO II 10 the
best Of his ability because il is there for him
10 DO. So well has this plan Of action worked
that. in addition 10 the members of his COM
mi,,cc. the general membership Of the House
gc..s to him for information regarding knotty
problems about appropriations and Govern
mcnt operations. They realize that his years
Of hard work and his applied ability have
given him a wonderful knowledge II the sub
icct> with which they have 10 dead.
He go, hi, carly training in legislative
matter. a. an enrolling clerk Of the House OF
Rcprc-cntativcS of Tennessee. and from that
ioh he wen, 10 Washington. where he lmmc-
diaicly Ga, busy on the task Of making