The Washington herald., 1913-10-24
PRIVATE OFFICES
NOW ARE ASKED
Congressman Want the Build
ing Housing Them
RemodeIed.
MR.. LANGLEY'S SCHEME
Suggest, that Partitions Be Used to
Give Members Chance to See
Visitors Without Interruption
MIR. LANGLEY'S SCHEME

After spending many weary months
dodging ofaceseekers. members Of the
House OF Representatives are voicing a
strong protest against the limitations OF
their Office rooms, which permit no pri-
vacy. A movement is on foot to have
this situation remedied. Representative
John w. Langley OF Kentucky has intro
duced a resolution calling for remod-
cling of the House Office Building.
Every member. or nearly every MEM
ber, of the House is provided with
room in the office building. These Offices
are spacious affairs, with high ceilings
and plenty OF elbow room: but they are
square, open compartments, with but a.
single door leading INTO large marble
corridors.
As soon as the caller opens the door
he is in the Representatives presence,
providing the Representative is ''in, !" and
II the Representative wishes t0 say some
thing to some other person in his Office
that he does not want the hole world
to hear he is compelled to resort to the
expediency OF bidding his visitors to step
out into the corridor. or else hold q whis-
pered conversation with the first named
actions often described as discourtesies.
Members OF the Senate are not afflicted
with this trouble, as each is supplied with
Use Bookcase. and Bags.
Recently. members Of the House have
resorted to the expedient Of fencing on
little inclosure for themselves. Re
sourceful secretaries have used their file
cases and bookcases, mail bags, public
documents-in fact, any bit of Congress
sional furniture that happened to be
handy-as a barritade. or course, this
gives only semi-privacy.
One of the daily incidents of routine
affairs in the office building is 10 see
Representative holding a long whispered
conversation with some caller while only
a few feet away from him several other
callers are waiting to see him.
Representative Langley proposes that a
commission be appointed to prepare plans
for remodeling the whole building. so as
to give each Representative a private Of
fee.
Every member with whom / have
talked on the proposition" said Mr.,
Langley. expresses himself as heartily
In favor Of 1t. The necessity for some
new arrangement has been patent ever
since we occupied the building. I know
OF no other official of the government
having as much responsibility and as
much work as a Representative who is
not provided with some convenience such
as propose, ana Ine crtuclSm OF the
plans of the building in this regard is
well-night universal and has been ever
since il was completed.
Thinks Remedy simple.
THE remedy is ,simple enough and
comparatively inexpensive. The average
depth Of these rooms is . feet and the
width is feet.
My idea would be to run a partition
say. eight feet high-from the back end
Of the room between the windows, so as
to make a depth of tep feet. and join this
to a cross-partition OF stained glass
which the light will penetrate. with a
door on either side and a communicating
door between the two small rooms thus
formed. We would thus have two rooms,
one for the member and the other for
his eecretary, which would be at least
9 by 10 feet and abundantly large enough
for the purpose intended. That would
leave a reception room in front Is feet
by is feet, and that would be fully as
much room as any member would need
in which to recefye visitors