The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-08-11
HOW DONOVAN
 SHOWS UP MEN
 WHO ARE AWAY
Few Things, Especially In Line Of Absenteeism, Escape
 His Eye.
Special Washington Dispatch to The
 New York Times.

Special Washington Dispatch to The
 New York Times.
 washington.-Repri from the Times of Sunday Aug. 9.-Whtle ab- senteeism in the present sesslon or Congress has been more fragrant than in any other session in recent years, there is no disposition on the part ofe the responsible authorities, either in the Senate or House, to enforce the provision of law which would deprive members of their salaries for the days they fail to appear in their seats
 Among the Congressmen, the law makers of the Government, strange as it may seem, this law against ab- senteeism is regarded and referred to. as a, 'sdead letter. Yet no steps have been taken to bring about it's repeal, and probably no steps ever will be taken to that end. Furthermore, it admittedly is the most abused law on the statute books. In the. senate, should there be an inclination in that direction, the enforcement of the law would be 8 simple matter, but in the House with it's membership of 435, to enforce the law fairly would require clerical staff of from five to ten per sons.
 Failure of observance of the law is directly responsible for the t.dlibus- ter.' Frequently matters of legisla- ton which would have received fa- vorable consideration with a full mem b9TSh1D because one man was enabled, through the deadly point of no quorum, to run things to suit himself. The law against absenteeism makes it incun1-, bent on the. Secretary of the Senate and the Sergeant at Arms of the House to see that it is enforced. but no penalty is prescribed against these of hcials should they neglect this duty. The law, which is Section 40 of the Revised Statutes, says:
 srThe Secretary of the Senate and the Sergeant at Arms of the House, respectively, shall deduct from the monthly payments of each member or delegate the amount of his salary for each day that he has been absent from the Senate or House, respectively, un- less such member or delegate assigns as his reason for such absence the sickness of himself or of some mem, ber of his fanily.''
 Only once in the many years it has been on the statute books has any effort been made to enforce the law.
 That was in the Fifty-second Con gross. The absence of members from
 the House then, as at the present tinies 1 interfered with the transaction of the public business. Speaker Crisp issued orders to the Sergeant at Arms to car
 ry out the law, and that official did as he was instructed. The result was that members who had gone out of
 town came scurrying back to the Cap itols and those who had grown indif- fereht about attending the daily ses- sion became more punctua1
 Since that time the law has been eS- actly as it is now characterized, a dead
 letter. A fiction of the Senate is that | every member is present4on every roll call This is through a system of pairing. A Senator of opposite polit-
 ical faith or known to 1be against the
 measure or motion to be voted upon is ! Y1aza a 1aiT T1E ha a 1f
 or, for that matter, both may be away I at the same time. The Congressi onal
 Record shows the fact that they were I@paired.''
 with it's unwieldy membership. It would be an impossible task, even if the pairing clerks were mind readers, Ito match the absent members against each other and make them appear to the Record as being in favor or against those propositions which are put to- vote.
 Should it be decided suddenly to en-
 force the law against the absent mem
 bers most perplexing problem would be presented to determine who has
 been here and who has not been here.
 There have been possibly more than a hundred roll calls in the last year, but
 these do not give accurate records
 in a large number of cases. Many
 members were present at the roll calls, | put O1O nor vote, some were Q0La1n6Q Q
 in committee meetings and were granted the special privilege of being absent through resolutions adopted by the House. Others were on Congress gfonal commissions and out of town. ManifestIy 1t would not De fair to en-
 force the law against these.
 There are many members of the House who make a, practice of asking
 for leave of absence when they are called out of town. On these occa- sions they usually give "on account of , important business as their reason for going away. Prompted no doubt by lofty motives, 1t is probable that most of these members are fgnorant
 of the fact that they have placed . l themselves on record as being absent . contrary to the law and that they are 1 the only ones against whom it would
 be an easy matter to enforce the law. Recently the veteran member of the
 House from Ohio, Gen. Isaac R. Sher- wood, set a new precedent in a re- . quest for leave of absence for five days to repair vital energy The request was granted by unanimous One Case Unique.
 There was a great deal of comment
 not long ago over the circumstances , then first disclosed, with respect tc
 four days absence at the beginning of , the Sixty-secord Congress on the parl : of Representative Samuel W. Wither- spoon of Mississippi. MT. With erspoor = then a Congressman, found he coulo not get to Washington in time to at : tend the opening session. When he did arrive, and when pay day finally
 rolled around, MT. Witherspoon re , fused to accept $s0.2O, the amount o1 his salary for four days. The incl
 dent was unique in the office of the ' House cashier; it required the inven- ] ttion of new feature in bookkeepine which up to that moment had never s been considered necessary.
 A Veritab1e thorn in the sides of the < absent members is Representative Jer. ) ry Donovan of Connecticut. Seldom r missing a days session or a roll cal 3 himself, he likes to call attention tc
 the arrival in the House chamber O.