The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-07-15
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORM A TION
Blu RE AU
FREDERIC ]. HASKIN. Director.
Washington. D. C.
THE HOUSE REPORTERS.

THE HOUSE REPORTERS.
Washington, D. c. July 1.-THE
house of representatives recently did
a tardy kindness to the men who re-
cord its remarks in shorthand, by
placing their typists on the house pay
| roll. Heretofore, the house reporters
have been compelled to pay the typ
| lists out of their own pockets, later re-
covering the money thru an item in
some talk of raising the salary of
these amanuenses of greatness. and
| this discussion brought them a strik-
| ingly frank compliment from Repre-
sentative Madden of Illinois, who OBJ
served that they have made 1t pos
sible for some gentlemen here to ap-
pear in the role OF polished orators,
when sometimes they have not ut
| tered a sentence dramatically cor
rect in the course of what they had to
| say >.
The house has not always had
| corps of experts to record and cor
| rect its speeches. OF the proceedings
| of the first congress only a rough out
| line was taken down by James Madi-
| son, and the present efficient system
| of compiling the Congressional Record
| has been gradual development from
that crude beginning. The congress
| sional reporters are now considered
1 Tie HlOSI elIlCle1l OTSdDlZdIlOH OIL the
| kind in the world. They are able to
| take down gao words a minute with
| ease. There are only six of them in
| the house and six in the senate. It
| takes a dozen men to record the words
| of the house of commons and two
dozen for the chamber of deputies in
p, France, the proceedings of which are
| complicated by the fact that it's MEM
bers speak variety of dialects.
! - 1t is a good thing that our congress
| has developed an efficient corps of re-
| porters. for its members seem not
| only to talk more, but to talk faster
than they used to. Webster, Calhoun
and Clay rolled out their stately
phrases to a leisGrely tempo. with APP
| propriate pauses. The average of
| congressional speech in those days is
thought to nave been not more than
| 140 words a minute. But now there
a men in both branch>s of congress
who regularly and enduringly spout
| over 200 words q. minute. Represen-
| tdtive Wingo of Arkansas is ,onsid-
| cred about the fastest talker in the
present house; hut he speaks clearly
| and uses excellent diction, so that he
gives the reporters no great trouble
Scott Ferris of Oklahoma Is another
| fast talker, as a-e Phelan of Massa-
chusetts and Carter of Oklahoma.
Speaker Champ Clark is a favorite
., u
fine voice and speaks slowly and with.
precision. He prides himself on
| speaking the american language"
which he claims is distinctive one
! Uncle Joe Cannon is another man who
| is easy to report. He seldom takes the
floor IN debate nowadays, but when
he does he commands profound atten-
| ton, and his long and slowly spoken
| sentences keep his hearers in suspense
as to just what he is going to say
| Representative Mondell of Wyom-
| ing Is another slow. impressive speak
er who is easy to report, as are Gard
| or Ohio and Graham of Illinois
Representative Cox of Indiana is IA
| nous for his voice, which booms like
shotgun loaded with black powder
| Will Representative Nichols of Mich
igan represents tn, opposite extreme
rarely lifting his voice above a stage
| whisper. The house enjoyed a treat
| the other day when these two engaged
IN heated colloquy. the contrast be-
tween them being heightened by the
iact that Cox Is a giant while Nichols
is little man. Cox would roar a
question at his adversary in a voice
that shook the building, and Nichols
would reply in what sounded like a
discreet whisper.
There is a firm basis of fact in Mr..
! Madden's assertion that the reporters
make polished orators out of some of
| the members, in that the shorthan nd
men frequently correct the remarks
as they take them down. They are
| often compelled to do this in order TO
make sense" of the speeches, and IN
| some cases the meaning of a member
remains an unsolved mystery to all
but himself. Members from the south
who use their provincial dialect are
especially trying to the reporters One
| OF the worst of these was Cyclone
| Davis, who took pride in being q
Texan and in not wearing a collar
Here are a few sample phrases that
nave recently been uttered by legisla-
tors in the name of the Kings Eng
lish:
THE gentleman from Blank should
not be SO exhibitions"
| What is the gentleman's concep-
ton apropos of the instant amend
ment?'
"A soldier back home in my district
that's lost two of his legs
He skun thru by the skin of his
teeth in the last election"
These specimens seem to give weight
to Speaker Clark's opinion that there
is distinctive American language.
But the joke is not always on the
member. Sometimes the reporter
makes mistake, as when Speaker
Clark generously intoned the Ciceron-
ian bromide 20 tempora, o mores,"
and the reporters endowed it with a
dewy freshness by making it 80 tenn
pora, o Moses!"
Another time the speaker, who is
chock full of classical and early Eng
lish culture, quoted Pope's lines: ''If
parts allure thee, see how Bacon
shines, the brightest, wisest, meanest
of mankind Or, ravished by the
whistling of a name, see Cromwell
doomed to everlasting fame. The
speaker went on to say that the sec
rotary of the treasury, of whom he
was speaking. was likewise doomed to
everlasting fame And the reporter
got it shame"
One hot day a reporter took down
unanimity of opinion as humidity OF
opinion" no doubt under the influ-
ence of the barometric pressure. On
another occa-ion mortality record was
| made mon ali.v record 1t is only fair