Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-01-26
RECORDS OF Congress
TOLD OF BY HASklN
Daily Letter by Frederic j. Haskin

as "a Curiosity tnan anything elSe.
Should any member ever bring this
question ~, Parliament beyond a
DOUBT would quickly nullify the an
cient law.
Older Records Not Authentic
From diaries, meHpoirs, and per-
sonal paper, OF old time members,
lit mas been possible to compile a
more or les fraymentary record of
the proceedings OF Parliament all
the way back to the Norman con-
quest Of England in 1866. Some,
historians have taken these records
as authenti. and first-hand, although
they cannot be accepted in this class.
The first records of the proceedings
of our own Congress were semi-Offi-
ciaI, beginning in 184S. An organ
,caIied the Congressional Globe"
was published with accounts Of the
proceedings of tho House and Senate
as near'y exactly recorded as was
possible then The relay system first
introduced in England was employ
ed in reporting the debates of Con-
! gress.
/ Records CT Congressional talk and
action before this date were COM
piled froll newspapers and other I'M
official sources by Joseph Gales. His
6Ol. SuCttGucu hAIi AL LIE a WOhht
forming a partnership with one Will
liam seaton. They published a pap
er called TIE 'Intelligencer." This
publication carried accounts Of some
speeches and debates and compila-
tons of earlier records until the es-
tabiishment Of the Congressional
Globe" in ,S48. The younger Gales
reported the two principal speeches
made by Daniel Webster. Young
Gales and his partner covered the
proceedings of both the Senate and
House.
In 1873 Congress formally took
over the job of reporting its W pro.
ceedings. 1heL. i: was that the Con-
-gressIonai Record was established
which appears now every morning
during sessions o; Congress, with the
prior days legislative history in it,
The whole st~enographic reporting
staff of the semi-Cficial GLOBE
was taken over when the Record was
inaugurated. =
Today in both the Senate and
House six official reporters are re.
spousiblorfor getting into the Record
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 L. ths men, but each man
signals for relief after he has taken
notes which in his judgment will
when printed, amount to a column
and a half IN the Congressional Rec.
ord.
High Speed>x IN Transcription
As sooll as he Is relieved, the of
ficiai reporter goes to his Office and
makes wax talking machine records
of what he las ia his notes. These
are put on racks and transcribed by
expert typists at top speed. These
sheets go to the government printing
office and the Record is printed
from them. The permanent record
is made up ten days afterward. This
gives Congr essmeE and Senators al
opportunity to revise and extend
their reWarks.
1.-The system is SO perfected in the
r ,use of Representatives" Mr.. Ora,
said, that even after the stormies
legislative days there is no delay il
gettl.3g the typewri tten copy to thu
Cover ament printing office. Becaus'
of the rela. system and the poin
of perfection. it has reached in Con
gress;, when the session ends afte
hours and hours of continuous de
bate, the work of recording what wa:
said is done half an hour after tn
adjournment of the House."
Rouse official reporters have
much fHcder time than their col
leagues in the Senate. The Senat
chamber is much smaller, there ar
but 90 senator's whose faces an
voices the official stenographers mus
! know, anC Senators as a rule remail
at their d~cks when they talk. II
the House it is not uncommon t
see an official rerorter chasing a.
, over the noisy chamber during a Civ
! and take talk in which scores O
members are participating.