The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-01-26
Frederick Haskin's Letter
tsDsaal cO-sespostAaes zAa ArEuAl
The Records of Congress.
(epecial C0rsespontAaes i.

the speaker to the fact that The.
are strangers in the gallery" ava
the speaker then must order ~
strangers removed. This y-,,,i =.
clear the gallery of all nevsnsTa.
men. OF course. the rule has ~,
allowed to become a dead ls.ta-
and is preserved more as a curios.
ity than anything else. Should an.
member ever bring this ouesti15
up. parliament beyond doubt yRorI5
quickly nuilify the ancient Law
Older Records Not Authentic
From diaries, memoirs and ns-
sonal papers of old time member
it has been possible to compiia %
more or less fragmentary raeo,;
Of the proceedings of parIiamert
all the way back to the Norms1
conquest Of England in 1866 Som
historians have taken these rcc
ords as authentic and first hama
although they cannot be accep4s5
in this class.
The first records OF the procaad-
ings of our own congress were
semiomcial, beginning in 1S4s. An
organ called the Congressional
Globe" was published With Az.
counts of the proceedings OF tbs
house and senate as nearly exactly
recorded as was possible then. The
relay system first introduced In
England was employed in rsnort-
ing the debates of congress,
Records of congressional talk and
action before this date were corr
piled from newspapers and other
unofficial sources by Joseph Gales
His son succeeded him in this work
forming a partnership with one
William Seaton. Tley published a
paper called the "InteIligenrer-
This publication carried accounts
OF some speeches aud debates and
compilations of earlier records nm
til the establishment of the Con
gressional Globe, in 1913. The
younger Gales reported the two
principal speeches made by Daniel
Webster. Young Gales and his
own partner covered the proceed
ings of both the senate and the
house.
In 1873 congress formally took
over the job of reporting its own
proceedings. Then it was that the
Congressional Record was estab-
lished. which appears now every
morning during sessions of con-
gress, with the prior days legisla-
tive history in it The whole stenO-
graphic reporting star of the semi
official Globe" was taken over
when the Record was inaugurated.
Today in both the senate and
house six official reporters are re-
sponsible for getting into the Rec
ord everything that occurs. The
relay system, developed to a high
point of efficiency, is employed No
definite period for taking notes on
the floor is assigned to the men,
bat each man signals for relief aft
er he has taken notes which in his
judgment viii, when printed,
amount to a column and a half in
the Congressional Record
High Speed in Transcription.
As soon as he is relieved, the Of
fetal reporter goes to his Office and
makes wax talking machine
records of what he has in his notes.
These are put on racks, and tran
scribed by expert typists at top
speed. These sheets go TO the gov
eminent printing office, and the
Record is printed from them The
permanent record is made up 10
days afterward- This gives con
gressmen and senators an oppor-
tunity to revise and extend their
remarks.
1.-THE system is 50 perfected in
the house of representatives Mr..
Gray said, that even after the
stormiest legislative days there is
no delay in getting the typewriter
copy to the government printing
office. Because of the relay sys-
TEN and the point of perfection Il
has reached in congress, when the
session ends after hours and hours
of continuous debate, the work OF
recording what was said IS done
half and hour after the adjourn
ment of the house
House official reporters have a
much harder time than their col
leagues in the senate. The senate
is much smaller. there are
but Sc senators whose faces and
voices the official stenOgrapners
must know. and senators as a rule
remain at their desks when they
talk. In the house it is not IN
common to see an official reporter
all over the noisy cham
Der during a give and take talk ID
which scores of members are par
ticipating.