El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-04-25

islatiOn, is most involved and compn-
Gated. In order for the reader 10 get
proper idea of the operation OF the 4S5
islative machine in the taking OF a ollI
introduced by a member and WoI hluS
Il over into a federal statute, let Us
take an actual bill and follow II
through all of its stages from Its IN /
PRODUCTION TO its approval by the presl-
dent and its enShrinement asa law
On March %, 1903, representative
John J. Esch Of Wisconsin, intro
duced a bill requiring railroads anu
other common carriers engaged III II
terstate and foreign commerce 10 LIdAS
full reports of all accidents to the N
terstate commerce commission, ana au-
thOriZing Investigations thereon BY the
commission He placed this DILL Win
many others in what is known as me
hopper" of the house, a large basAeI
in which members place all bills Whlch
they introduce. The parlldm en- Ia
clerk at the speakers table, acting IN
behalf Of the speaker, and In accord
ance with the rules of the house, WIOte
on the bill a statement referring II "
the committee of Interstate ana IOrelSA
commerce The bill was taken 10 the
journal clerk and other clerks OF tne
house where records OF It's lnlrOOuCllOA
were made. At this stage OF the JOuL
ney the newspaper men had an oPpoI-
tunity TO read il and TO report II u
their papers,
After the house records Of the intro
ductiOn Of the bill were completed, II
was sent 70 the government prlnlln5
office and 625 copies OF II We're pLlH - -
These copies were deposited IN lne
document room. where files OF all ollIs
are kept Two copies Of the bill were
delivered to the bill clerks or the w
houses. and two copies to the dlstIIo-
utfug clerk, one of them going 10 the
committee to which the bill was re
ferred.
on interstate and foreign commerce
voted TO report The measure to the
house with its amendment and 10 rec
.ornmend its passage When the nouI
for making committe reports afIlHS
Mr. Esch announced that ms commit
tee. having considered the Bill, had oS-
cided to report II favoraoly I'm
amendment, and that it was accom-
panied by a written report Of the COM
mittee. ThereupOn, the speaker or
dered the. bill and the report referred
to the house calendar
Goes Another Round.
It then went on another trip through
the hands of the recording clerks OF Iile
house. and was sent to the government
printing office, where llUU COPIES %
the bill and report were printed VI
the following day, which was known
as calendar Wednesday the speaker
directed the call Of committees, anu
when the committee on interstate ana
foreign commerce was reached, rep
TnEenrarlTe
bill from the house calendar, ne DelhS
chairman OF the committee.
The speaker announced that the
clerk would report The Dill rms
meant that the clerk would read the
bill in full together with the amend
meur proposed by the committee
ThereupOn Mr.. Mann announced Ihal
he would Weld to Mr.. Esch such time
as he required to discuss the provisions
of the bill and the amendments mace
81
house. Republican and Democratic, IS
given an equal length Of time TO debate
any bill. when the pending matter IS
party question; when II is not par y
question, the proponents ana opponents
Of the measure divide the time for de
bate equally. After the Esch Dill vas
debated, the question was taken on It's
and there being no strenuous
opposition TO it, it was passed without
Goes Again to Printing office.
The clerk of the house .thereupon Ger
titled that the measure had passed the
house and again II went through the
process of being recorded ana printed
and certified copy was carried Dy the
clerk Of the house to the senate cham
Der. Upon entering the senate cham-
Der the sergeant at arms Of the senate
announced TO the vice president the ar
rival of message from the mouse
Upon being recognized. the house clerk
stated to the senate that he had been
directed to announce that the house
had passed this bill Thereupon the
vice president took the Dill ana re
ferred il to the senate committee on IN
terstate commerce
When the senate committee on inter
state CONNIE received the Dill, us
clerk sent notices TO the various mem
Ders of the committee that meeting
would be held for the consideration OF
this and other measures When the
meeting was held the members gathered
around long table, seated in the order
Of the length Of their service on the
committee, the chairman at the mead OF
the table. They discussed the measure
and decided to amend 1t so as TO make
1t differ from the bill which passed the
house. Later. on February lS. 1910
senator Cullom reported the Dill to the
senate with the amendments the com
rnittee had added, and with a report
from the committee thereon, On Feb
ruary %, the bill was taken from the
calendar and consideration OF II pc
gun. ThereupOn senator Aldrich de-
clared that there were some changes
which ought to be made and requested
that II be referred back to the commit
tee for further consideration The vice
president called for vote on that
and IL was so referrde.
Goes Back to Senate.
The committee reported it back TO
the senate with further amendments on
March Is. On March q the bill was
DrOugnL up before the senate, ana was
debated by that body sitting as a COM
nittee Of the whole. The various mem
Jers of the senate discussed it, and
then postponed further consideration
because Of the absence Of senator Gull
ION. On April senator CullOm asked
unanimous consent that the bill be
taken up for consideration, and the SEN
ate sitting as q committee of the whole
resumed consideration OF the measure
Senator Hepburn had objected to a
certain passage in IL and upon this OBJ
lection senator Cullom moved that the
passage be stricken from the measure
This was agreed to. Then senator Gull
.om moved another amendment to
make the measure effective 60 days
lfter its passage. This amendment
also carried, Then the committee of
the whole was through with its work
and reported the bill TO the senate as
amended. The senate thereupOn or
Tered the amendment to be engrossed I
and the bill to be read a third time
The reading clerk then read out the
title of the bill, and the senate passed /
[ without division
Is Printed Again.
Then the measure was printed again
as passed by the senate, and its clerk
,arried a certified copy of the amended
measure back to the house with the an
to that body that he was
directed to announce that the senate |