The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1914-07-20

sition From Voting.
Senator Whoofus," said Senator
Beezim, what is your position on the
bill for the construction of fish hatch
cry at Hootch-HootcheeY'
Il am" said Senator Whoofus, ''op-
posed to it,"
t. said Senator Beezim, lam in ia
vor of it,
Senator Whoofus coughed slightly.
He saw what was coming.
Il am going away for a few days.
continued Senator Beezim, land i. L
| would like.to be paired with YOU"
lon that one measure?" asked Sena-
tor Whoofus
Merely that one measure" replied
! Senator Beezim.
Senator Whoofus agreed, and they
departed in the direction of the pairing
! clerks.
This, says the Washington Star, is
! what is known as a single pair. Sena-
tor Whoofus bound himself on his
word of honor not to vote unless Sena-
tor Beezim was in his seat. Thus their
votes We're equaliZed on this one bill.
Two Kinds of Pairs.
There are two kinds of pairs, the
single pair and the general pair In
the general pair a senator may make
reservations on measures in which he
has particular interest. But other
wise he binds himself not to vote I'M
til his pair is seated, and his pair like
wise cannot vote on a measure unless
he is present.
Pairing in congress is based on the
theory that if a member can't be pres
ent he must be as useful as possible
in his absence. Of course it is better
that he should vote. But if he can't
vote then he must do the next best
thing and keep one of the opposition
from voting That this benevolent
purpose may be carried out congress
from time immemorial has appointed
pairing clerks.
The institution of the pair was and is
based on that fine old tradition called
congressional courtesy. 1t is Il sort OF
gentlemen's agreement. where eact
party gives his word to door, rather
not to do-a certain thing. And this
agreement having been ratified it is il
force until the pair is broken. Nothing
in the literal sense would happen to
congressman who. having been paired
with another, should break his pledge
He couldn't be ouSted from congress
for in the eyes of the authorities tn,
pair does not exist. His vote could no
be counted out for the same reason.
oeae Hae4a Wi+b CoIIa71Yae
But. while he could not be punished
he would be in about the position of a.
: invited guest to dinner who, during tn
meal, arose and hurled a plate acros
, the table. The host would hardly hav
the guest arrested. but he and the otf
( er guests would thereafter be apt t
u harbor n conviction that they did no
like the plate thrower. They woul
= feel he had gone too far.
: While it is true that a congreSSma
"a cannot break his pair without suffer
- ing the consequences that result froI
m broken promise, he can get aroun
I. the difficulty by transferring his pair.
v Thus Representatives Jones an
5. Smith are paired, Jones being for an
Smith against a stated proposition
. Representatives White and Black al
also paired, the former taking the aft
native and the latter the negativ
When the day of voting comes Jont
finds that Smith is not in his seat II
also learns that White, who is o
Jones' side, is absent. He goes
Black and learns that Black is in h
position. SO they arrange for tran
fer of the pair, as the vote will not
affected by their votes.