The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-07-22

! In this predicament, he turns hona-
fully to the Congressional Record
where every congressman's chancea
are equal.
One new member was Fecnenizad
for a minute after weeks of imn1.
tient waiting, and after a dramatic
pause, he said sadly, that he hsd
been trying to make a speech for
some time, and If there wasn't tirn6
for that he would at least like per-
mission to extend some remarks in
the Record with laughter" and AN
plause inserted at suitable places
The house laughed, but the young
congressman was satirixing a corr
mon practise.
Extending Remarks
Representatives unable to get the
house to listen to their speeches On
local improvements or even on Ia.
tional questions have long been az
customed to introduce a bill and
have their remarks extended in tie
Record, There at least they blazon
forth with oratorial fiourishes and
the dramatic effect heightened, as
tie humorist suggested, by Laugh
ter" and Great Applause markell
in brackets by the author of tns
speech after the best points in the
discourse.
These speeches go back 10 the
representative home newspapers
libraries and postoffices. They are
he hopes, published abroad to show
that while congress may be accused
of dallying, one representative Of
the people IS not asleep at the post.
The extension of remarks is per-
haps a wise expedient in that it
saves time on the floor for import
ant matters. But the privilege has
undoubtedly been abused. Before
election time a candidate for re-
ia the Record remarks having 10
connection whatsoever with the
business being discussed by the
house, but which bore very peril
nently on the campaign issues in
his home district. These speeches"
reprinted from the Record could be
sent in pamphlet form without post
age as the ranking privilege is Al
lowed on the Record or reprints
from 1t.
; Another use which ingenious con
gressmen soon found for the Rec
ord was to print material which IN
terested them for some reason.
Poems by constituents, long tables
OF statistics, striking articles from
magazines and newspapers were
once crowded into the Record regu-
larly. OF late years. this practice
has been laughed at by representa-
tives themselves, and favorite poems
OF congress are rarely seen.
Still, whatever a congressman
wishes to print, goes. Senator La
Toilette On one occasion saw fit 10
insert in the Record a speech that
ran 565 pages. The senator had
favored congress with only the first
few pages orally. The suggestion
of a censor over congress has new
er been tolerated, but never has
congress been so besieged by econ
cmy at every point as now.
The Record as it is costs the
country over half a million dollars
year AS an institution, It can
scarcely be dispensed with, although
it would be interesting to know
how many copies go into the waste
basket unopened. Around $4,000
copies are printed and scattered
over the country, but, for the most
part, the people get their news #
congress from the newspapers. A
reporters account OF a speech, cut
down, and with the important fea.-
ures played up, often seems ted
Gus enough. but the original with
prelude, Interruptions, meanderings
and repetitions for emphasis wcu!d
be read only by some one unusual.
ly interested in the subject.