Great Falls daily tribune., 1920-04-02
HASKIN LETTER
THE SACRED SENATE.
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN

makers, employees, the president and
his cabinet. members of the house Of
representatives, and dignitaries such as
kings and princes, when especially in
vited.
The loft space around the senate
chamber is divided into eight galleries.
Visitors who attempt to enter are first
proper section. Only persons bearing pink
or green cards signed by the secretary
OF state are admitted to the diplomats
gallery. The senator's gallery is reserved
for families and friends Of members and
its doors are also open to bearers of
special cards.
The first and second rows of this
section are reserved for use Of the
president and vice president respectively.
Admission here must be by order of
these executives. The presidents chairs
are rarely occupied except on days of
unusual interest. or when some innocent
friend OF senator Wanders into the
front row, wondering why the best seats
are left vacant. 1t is only about two
minutes, though, before Pop" Moore,
the veteran custodian of the executive
chair is upon him. Pop" as the door
keepers all call him, is said to weigh
80 pounds but at the sight of any un-
ticketed mortal reposing in the front
row Of his gallery, he sprints down with
the agility Of puppy and urges the in
truder in agonized tones to move to less
exalted quarters.
The press gallery is just over the
speakers desk. This section is reserved
for the 225 newspaper correspondents.
Back of it are the press offices, out
fitted with typewriters, desks, telegraph
apparatus, and operators, and telephones.
Local Washington papers have their own
private phones here, and the big news
associations have private telegraph out
fits. The press is accorded privileges
in the senate. Even in the gallery it
may write, and in fact. stools. desk
space, and paper are provided there.
Besides the sections rallied off for
special classes there is space for people
and one primarily for women, to which
men are also admitted At first, we are
told, the senate transacted its business
behind closed doors. Then, at the in
sistence of the public, men were per-
mitted to be present, but then it was not
thought fitting or necessary to provide
q place for the ladies. Later, however,
women indicated an interest in the ma
tion's lawmaking, and the rules had to
be amended to admit them.
The galleries are thickly populated
these days, for spring is coming, and
that is the open season for tourists in
Washington. Congress is not so enter
tanning as it once was. Members no
longer wear curled and powdered wigs,
take snuff, or draw revolvers on their
adversaries. Neither do they keep their
hats on, as we are told they did up to
1928.
Instead, on an ordinary day, the SEN
ate is rather prosy place, where little
boys rush about with glasses of water
and notes, and senators sit chatting or
wander in and out, while a clerk reads
something or q lawmaker defends a
routine measure in long and involved
sentences. From the slack attendance
and air Of inattention people sometimes
get the idea that senators do not attend
to business. The truth is that they
have committee meetings to attend, bills
to investigate. correspondence to answer,
and it is easier to read the proceedings
Of a dull day in the Congressional Rec
ord the next morning than to spend the
entire afternoon in the chamber.
On days Of importance, both chamber
and galleries present a very wide-awake
appearance. When the peace treaty
was considered by the senate not long
ago, every chair was occupied. while
the galleries were packed, and over
flowed in long waiting lines in the corri-
doris. Although the session did not open
until II o'clock, people came at nine to
obtain seats. and stayed until adjourn
ment at eight that evening. They had
nothing to eat or drink during that time,
for to abandon chair for a moment was
to lose it.
Even in such circumstances the guards
manage to keep spectators reminded
that one can only 'sit' in the presence
of the United States senate.
1t has been suggested that the senate
and house galleries be enlarged and
tickets sold, when important debates
are on, at prevailing theater prices. This
would be an important source Of revenue.
and might result in a great improvement
in the style and quality of senatorial
debate.