Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-07-07
GOVERNMENT
NEWS MAKING
Friendly Rivalry Between the
Congressional Record and
Mr.. Creers Official
Bulletin

WASHINGTON, July T.
| CoME weeks ago a new member Of Con-
| ~ gress was discussing the war. He was
doing II dscrcctly as most nov members do,
but in the course OF his remarks he ven-
tured the opinion that the war was not as
popular as II ought TO be because the people
were not sufficiently informed about it. lie
thought there should be more publicity and
that the various departments Of the Gov
ernment should take the newspapers more
into their confidence and tell them what
was going on. Thereupon an ." member
a new member from Texas, a. nd OBJ
tanning permission TO intern '..e the
speaker, asked II the Government was not
providing for ample publicity through the
Official Bulletin. The implied compliment
to Mr.. Creels publication though seriously
intended, provoked a smile. Nevertheless,
the Official Bulletin which is less than two
months old, is going ahead, grouping the ex-
ecutive orders and other official pronounce
ments Of the departments and making th-r'
public as fast as may be deemed compatb,D !
with the public service. II is fled in con-
sressonal offices for reference and is issued !
to the newspapers; but as there Is no direct |
appropriation for IT, the expense being borne |
out Of war funds appropriated to the Presi- |
dent, the edition is necessarily limited.
Publications Do Not Clash
There is no financial rivalry between the |
Congressional Record and the Official Bull |
letln. Both are Government publications |
and neither is permitted TO take ADVERTISE |
ments. Both, therefore, win be exempt from |
taxation on gross receipts, on advertise |
ments or from an increase in second class |
mail rates, or any other of the taxes that |
are now being discussed by Congress and |
the legitimate publishers The Congress
sional Record is the mouthpiece Of Congress |
which frequently carries such news as is |
now contained in the Official Bulletin, while |
the latter is spokesman for the President |
and the departments operating under his
direction. If Congress says anything about
the President or the departments in the
Congressional Record there would be an |
opportunity to come back in the Bulletin |
If those criticized were so minded, but up |
to date there has been no clash. The Bull
letin. indeed has begun TO summarize the |
proceedings OF Congress, which, considering |
the bulk Of the Congressional Record, Is a |
public service not to be derided.
The "Leave-to-P Print" Habit
Speaking Of the Congressional Record,
one is reminded of constant efforts 10 re-
duce its size. The temptation TO speak for |
the Record and TO extend remarks" in the |
Record is strong. Most Of the ninety-six
Senators and the major part Of the 495 |
members of the House are addicted to the |
habit. Since they come to Congress from
every corner Of the United States and rep
resent thousand and one angles OF
thought this Is not to be wondered at.
Nearly every one, however, realizes that the
Record is too large for comfortable or sat
sfactory reading and that much Of the ex-
cellent material in II is lost to the public.
Occasionally bills are introduced to rem
edy alleged defects In the Record or to
make it more servlceable, but they never
make much headway. There is now pend
ing one bill to print and distribute free |
1000. 900 copies OF the Record reduced to
an eight-page paper; but the cost would
probably make 1t prohibitive Then again,
sporadic dashes at improving the Record |
are made by individual members Of Con-
gress, who seek to reduce the amount Of
reading matter in II by objecting to the |
extension of remarks" by other members.
OF course, no one popularzes himself by |
thus interfering with the wishes of his |
colleagues, and generally these reforms die
early. An objector must be steadily on the |
lob from the moment Congress opens until |
il closes to be successful in stopping the |
leave TO print" and few are able to keep |
It up for more than few days.
Quiet Members Extend
The Senate sometimes takes pride in |
asserting that It does not permit Of the ex- |
tension of remarks. The Senators speak |
in person" and as ia well known, they |
sometimes speak long. 1t should be remem- |
bered also that the number of Senators is |
limited. There are more than four Repre- |
sentatives for every one Senator. The |
House rules limit the longest speech to one |
hour. In the Senate until recently, the |
senatorial speech could run on like the |
brook. There is a better reason for Eek |
tending remarks in the House than there |
is in the Senate. The House members cam |
not get the time they want to speak on all
questions, and leave to print Is often the |
only way to get their views before their |
constituents. As to the expense of printing |
which Is sometimes criticized It Is about as
broad as it is Ions, except that the extended
speech that is generally carefully prepared
is supplied by the member on his own ac-
count, while the spoken speech is first taken
down by an official stencgrapher and then
typewrtten for the Government printer, II
"a likely therefore, that the extended" or
'leave-to.print" speech in the House record
is less expensive to the Government than
the speech actually delivered on the floor
If the leave to extend We're not granted in
the House many worthy members who are
not speeChmakerS, or OtherS VINO cannot get
time 70 debate because Of the rule would
be debarred from a hearing upon public
questions.
The American Dog a Topic
The dog is not very popular animal
with the sheep raisers Of the United States
He is said TO do more 10 discourage sheep
husbandry than any other fundamentally.
Philadelphians interested in the 'more-wool
more-mutton" agitation started an anti
dog warfare several years ago. They sue
ceeded in getting a small appropriation
from Congress TO encourage sheep hus-
bandry, and they tried to get the war tax
revenue raisers to put tax on dogs to
protect sheep against their ravages. But
IL remained for senatorial leave to print"
through Vice President Marshall, TO get
the dog properly introduced to public life.
About the time the Ways and Means Com
mittee was throwing the proposed dog tax
into the discard Mr., Marshall received a
| letter It came from a Mr.. Bonney. OF Buck
Grove Iowa. II Is not clear whether the
Vice President regarded the letter as wise
| or witty. or BOTH but evidently he thought
| IL good enough TO go in the Record The
| appearance OF the Buck Grove letter IN the
II