The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-25
MAKE TIE RECORD
 UNRECOGNZABLE Heyburn's Recent Speech
 Was an Example STORY ON WHEELER
Congressional Record By No Means Tells What Takes Place on the Floor of the House and
 the Senate
Rx WALTER HARPER

NgSDjT2fDn, July at-foPNAte'i.f 1AAeN-' two weeks ago Senator Heyburn of Idaho and Senator Williams of Mississippi n- duIreG in a heated controversy on the floor of the Senate over the issue that it seems VII never die between the north and the south.
 Both men were very bitter in their re- marks. Heyburn provoked the contro- versy by declaring that the Confederate cause was an infamous cause
 Senator Williams began his reply by saving that Senator Heyburn would re gret his words when he saw them in print.
 read the Congressional Record next morning with considerable interest. l wanted to see how the speeches l had heard the day before would look in print. I read them the second time to be sure that they were the same that l had heard. I Then I examined the date of the publication and studied the date oi the session No; there was no mistake. That was the official record of the proceedings of the day before, but the life had been edited from the speeches. They were not just as they had been delivered on the floor.
 Perhaps I had been mistaken in what I had heard. 1 had sent out some of the statements as I heard them. Perhaps my paper would get in trouble. If the Record is correct l had misrepresented both men. But when the other papers of the country began to arrive in Washington with their special stories of the same in eident I discovered that the other special correspondents had heard the speeches just as l had.
 My paper and myself would not be alone if harm had been done. I found that these other special correspondents had noticed the same discrepancies in the Record. While this often happens this was enc of the most noticeable in the memory of the correspondents.
 That second day on the floor of the Senate Senator Hepburn rose to point of rersoual privilege and excoriated certain Washington newspaper and its Senate correspondent for misrepresenting him in an account of the proceedings Of the day before.
 Senator Heyburn the night before had taken the liberty to edit the verbatim re- port of the senate official reporters To suit his more temperate disposition and rob the people of a true report of what he actually said, then sharply criticised q newspaper reporter in the gallery who tried to report the speech as he heard il.
 It has been said on many occasions late ly that the Congressional Record needs staff of editors.
 It has very carefa aditors a large staff Of them Besides tze members of Con- gross themselves. there is an official staff
 fsIIa a9 word that is printed. Speeches that have been permitted to appear with leave to print anG that are never delivered on the floor are gone over carefully by this staff of editors. I am told, and it is sometimes the 1 case that the congressman, especially If
 he is a new man, can hardly recognize | lis own production after it is in print. have just heard good story on the | late Gen. Joe Wheeler that while it may he exaggerated in some particulars, is
 q good illustration of the abuses some times perpetrated under the leave to | print" Ir:vilege. It is also illustrative of
 the quick, nervous disposition of the little human fighting machine.
 | When General Wheeler was representa- | tive in Congress from Alabama he one day | had business down at the navy yard. He barely had time to attend to his business there and hurry to the treasury depart ment on the opposite side of town To meet another appointment. To reach the treasury department from the navy yard you take a navy yard car which passes around the south side of the Capitol grounds and up Pennsylvania avenue.
 Now, General Wheeler had given notice that he would address the House on some subject then being considered that day.
 When his car reached the southeast covrner of the capitol grounds the general iuiaped from the car, scooted mp to tha capitol, up the stairway to the hall oi representatives, got the floor immedia te-
 y, delivered short address, got leave to extend his remarks in the Record, then snatchIn6 his hat he darted out at the west side of the building and caught the same ear at the foot of Pennsylvania ave rue that he had left around at the south east corner and proceeded to meet his en- gagement at the treasury building.
 Next morning General Wheeler g speech in the Record filled 15 pages of medium and small sized type.