The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1916-07-06
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL
BrookIngs Register Bureau. Washington. u
by ]. Z. Jonesl

" Y boI lux oullOn
Speaker Champ Clark says that it
has been estimated that at one of the
long sessions Of Congress two whole
months of time was wasted in calling
the roll. 1t takes fully forty-fve min
utes TO call the roll of the 435 mem,
bers Of the House, and when the OBJ
structionists and ilibustercrs get busy
they waste days at a time with one
roll call after another. Doubtless the
present session would have been fin
lshed before this, except for the time
consumed in roll calls-but the end is
not in sight. The House of Represen-
tatiyes is seriously considering regu-
lating itself in the line of better efic-
iency. 1t has been giving considera-
ton to a resolution authorizing the
purchase and installation of Bobroff's
system of electrical and mechanical
voting. WiscOnsin's lower house has
already accepted the new voting de-
vice, and therefore it is reasonable to
expect that the House of Representa-
tives will follow its usual practice of
putting an O.. *. on all the progressive
methods Of the Badger state.
Hopes Of Congressional Efficiency
b. l.. Bobroff, an efficiency engineer.
of Milwaukee, is the inventor of a new
voting device which Congress is con
templating adopting. He has been
working long and ardously in trying to
put his idea across-but it has almost
arrived. When the thing is done Bob
rof's statue ought to grace the hall
of fame, since Congress evidently has
long loved its lazy methods. Gears"
and Rules that bind but do not help
legislation, will receive a sort OF solar
pleXus when members of Congress are
compelled to be in the House and
watch the pocess Of legislation, in
place of answering the electric signals
that bring them from the House Office
Building to the Chamber. And when
the new way is adopted so that a vote
can be recorded in a few seconds, in
stead OF consuming the better part of
an hour Congress will have conquered
a big part of its own ineficiency, and
will be in better shape to further regu-
late the internal affairs of the nation.
All the members of Congress who have
g the Bobroff' invention, which has
exhibited before the committee
on ways and means and the committee
on accounts, are enthusiastic in IT'S
1t will likely be adopted by the
present session of Congress.
Who Looks After the PEOPLES Case?
An examination of the advertising
md news columns Of a large part of
the Metropolitan press shows that the
industries of the country. commonly
as Big Business" are spend
.ng money by the bucketful in trying
% educate" the people that the gov
is incapable of forming its
own conclusions in reference to armor
plate or the manner of regulating it's
railroads. But so far as known, there
S no one sufficiently interested to
spend a dollar of cash to tell the peo-
pie the other side of the story. This
the condition it is very easy to
igure out why so many people con-
that affairs of government might
DC better run. 1t also makes it easy
predict who will come out at the
little end of the horn" in the contest
the interests and the people.
s Uncle Sam Keeping a Cool Head?
These are strenuous days in Wash
ngton-something like the times our
told us about a generation or
.wo ago. There is a determination to
Keep cool heads. and while Unc,s Sam
S trying to uphold his dignity and
honor, yet the deep sense of justice of
influences them to be len
ent toward poor old Mexico, even
though C%arranza and some of the
'ther Mexicans are unreasonably stub
BORN.