The Washington times., 1911-03-04
MANY JOBS VACATED
AND SALARIES LOST
Employees of House Did Not
Want Extra Session of
Congress.
DEMOCRATS WILL
GET THE PLACES
More Than 500 Are Affected, Their
Pay Ending as Gavel
Falls.
By TUDSoN C. WELLIvER.

For a month past the most ardent
body of opponents of an extra session
of Congress have been the 800 or more
Z of enpIoyes of the House of Represen-
taives.
Their interest has been keener even
than that of members of Congress-, be-
cause the employees will lose their jobs
immediately an extra session opens,
while if there is no extra session they
will continue to draw salaries until the
regular session opens, in December.
1t takes some folks to help Congress
function. but ii isn't true that there are
more doorkeepers of the House thap
there are members. To be accurate,
there are .5422 doorkeepers to each mem
ber of the House-a little over one-half
of a doorkeeper TO each Congressman.
One of the Unsolved.
Do? That is one of the unsolved and
insolubIe questions. Nobody ever
found out about it. They doorkeep, Of
course; 212 of them. to be accurate,
are paid to doorkeep. Really, they
do it right we'll too; for there is no
record of any malefaCtor stealing a
single door. Counting all the doors
and entrances 10 the House chamber,
there are about Hourteen doOrkeepers
per door: and anybody who thinks
they all have snaps" at that, has an
other think in transit, and slightly
overdue.
Some of them have soft things, but
the boys who watch the main ep-
frances to the chamber, keep Octo-
puses from going in and eating the
Constitution, the mace and the Sacred
Traditions: who lug in cards to MEM
hers and get Cussed when the mem
bers don't want to see boresome call
crs: who amiably lie by explaining
that they couldn't find the Honorable
DuSenberrv, when Dusenberry has
merely sneaked to the coat room to
dodge the nuisance; who stand on
Gheir feet all day and require the dip
lomacy of a Machiavelli to handle
their jObs-these boys earn all they
get and then a few.
Frightened Over the Outlook.
But anyhow. they have been scared
to death over the extra session out
look, and for real politics. count on an
aggregation of House employees to
serve it right off the reel. You must
know that they are House employees
because they have political pull back
in the district.
They've all been plugging against eX-
ira session. The other afternoon Sen
ator Hepburn was talking in eXtenso,
with obvious purpose of either killing
the lailH DOdTu OF elSe lOIClnB an extra
session. The employees of the House
instantly got excited. They knew what
II meant One man could put them all
out of their jobs by a filibuster, and
following a brief consideration of the
situation one of them went 10 Senator
Hey burn, when that statesman was off
the floor and could be reached, and
said:
Senator, do you realize that there
are about 500 Republican employees of
the House who will lose their positions
II an extra session is held. and that it's
q mighty serious thing for them?"
Now, you know" the Senator re-
piled, II haven't had my attention call
He got the detailed explanation with
out delay.
The best paying positions that will
have 10 be vacated, and refilled by the
men chosen in the Democratic caucus,
are chief doorkeeper and sergeant-at-
arms: the former commands 5000 and
the latter 5000 year. The sergca mt at
arms controls the House purse string,
pays salaries, and all that fiscal stuff
He has about siXty-ive people under
him, including a number of right usa-
BILE salaries. These places are now all
filled by Republicans. But, ''to the
victor belongs the spoils," even if we
do hear a lot about civil service re-
form; and the Democratic majority of
siXty-eight in the new Congress will
lick the platter so clean that if some
SSpeClallN popular RepODllCdn comes
through by the skin of his teeth il will
he a close parallel TO the case of
babe tanning cage of lions and driving
them in harness.
The sergeant-at-arms' force includes
half the Capitol police force, the Sen
ate controlling the other half. II takes
concurrent action 10 reorganize tIo
Capitol policy, but the House will,
doubtless, get its way, despite that the
Senate is Republican and could block
*. The inter-chamber comfy. which
is one of the most ancient traditions,
will dictate this.
Clerks to committees will lose their
salary attachments as soon as the new
committees are named and organized.
They are Republicans now: they will
be Democrats under the new regime.
And all us boys will he hitting thu
ties for home" sighed a Republican
employe. IT'S a 'crooT world; as
'croor as when VIC came in to take
the places of the Democrats who got
turned out the same way"