The Dolores star., 1922-08-18

~ : NN was more like n
palm leaf fan, he
having felt its ear; and the third sa,n
II did not resemble either but was
big fiat object something like stone
wall covered with leathery skin
with some hair on 1t. Each was speak
ing from his own point of view ana
telling only of what he had seen-or
rather felt.
II Is that way with many things In
life. We see only a very small part,
yet having seen that, we think that ".
are competent to judge, describe ana
criticise
An hour or two In the gallery
would certainly give one very lop-
sided view of congress. Yet many
come, look on for II few moments and
go away to tell of congress as they
have seen it, a good deal rs the blind
men told Of the elephant and with
fully ms much accuracy.
If you were "A casual caller in the
gallery you might find the house full
of members, or only half full. or even
with only few dozen present You
might find 1t doing routine business
and as quiet and placid as a summer
calm; or excited to fever heat by
partisan discussion between party
leaders, or in storm of agitation over
question Of personal privilege or the
exercise of personal rights. The house
has its varying moods, as human be-
ings have. Sometimes 1t works along
doing business rapidly and us smooth
ly as clock work. And sometimes
everything seems to be on edge and
everybody on his nerves, when one
could hardly get an amendment
through to dot an "i' or cross 1T"
without a fight and a roll call
Cannot Always Be on the Floor.
Members need not sit on the floor
all the time. They have much to do
besides. Much of the business of con-
The major committees are composed
of from 81 to 80 members each. Some
of the committee meetings are as i'm
portant and formal as the meeting of Il
state senate and with about equal
membership. Committees are fire.
quently meeting while the house Is in
session. There Is also much office
work to be done and members take ad-
vantage of every lull in proceedings
to catch up with their office work.
There is always departmental work
to be taken care of, but members as
rule do not go down town in the
afternoon when the house is in ses-
sion. Most members stay within reach
Of the roll call signals.
Whether your member Is on the
floor or not, you may depend upon 1t
that he knows pretty well what Is 60
ing on and can easily be reached
when his presence is required.
The greatest safeguard is thrown
about legislation to keep anyone from
putting something over. Much Is done
by unanimous consent when Il single
member can objact and stop or stay
proceedings. A member may at any
time question the presence of quo
rum and If the speaker does not find a
quorum present by actual count the
roll is called. Signal bells ring in the
corridors restaurant and house office
building so that members may appear
and answer to their names. When
ever member is fearful that some
thing will be done which he doesn't
want done except by consideration of
the whole house, he can raise the ques-
tion of a quorum and quorum must
be secured before business Is further
considered.
4 quorum in the house consists or
n minority of its membership. There
are 435 members when all are alive
and there are no vacancies-aithoueh
there are often two or three vacancies
ON account of death or resignation. so
II usually requires 217 or 21S members
to make a quorum. When the mousse
ia doing business as the committee OF
the whole 100 members make quo
.um.
Reasons for Demanding Quorum.
The point Of no quorum Is raised
often because member wants Iuli
attendance when the question before
tho house is considered. 1t Is raised
sometimes because some one present
wants a good audience for an import
ant speech. 1t is raised occasionally
merely in order to delay the game ana
Ia resorted to by the minority 10 use
ur the time and postpone or de1eat
legislation that cannot be defeated by
+, majority vote. 1t is frequently used
when a flibuster is in progress. ana
sometimes the roll is called SIX OF
eight times day. AS 1t requires 30
or 40 minutes to call the roll II can
no seen how few roll calls will block
the business of the day.
Occasionally the point OF no quorum
will be raised out of spite. A mempe,
ray desire some time to speak anu