Evening star., 1927-12-04

but it was Mrs. Donnelley who kept
| the bills and reports ready and oil.
gested for him. After his death, a spe-
cial resolution was passed making
| Mrs. Donnelley clerk under the
| clerk of the House, and she has been
continuing her digest of bills on all
calendars-union, House and private
under House Leader TilsOn, serv-
| ing also as clerk to the committee on
committees, which makes up the slate
| Of committee assignments. Her
daughter is now secretary to mem
Der OF Congress.
| Bert w. Kennedy, doorkeeper OF
| the House, has served continuously
| for 3S years in the House chamber.
| having gradually climbed UP from a
page. Henry M. Rose, the secretary
emeritus" of the Senate. was really
responsible for Kennedy's entrance
upon congressional duties. Rose was
then enrolling clerk at the State
House in Lansing, Mich, where Ken
| nedy was a page, and he drew up an
| elaborate petition, which was signed
| by the Governor, all State officials,
every member of the State Senate.
| House and Supreme Court. for Ken
nedy to get job as page in the
| United States Congress. Kennedy
| has made good for 3S years during
| the ins and outs of politics, because
he realized he was there to give serv'
| ice and he made friends. In the Fifty
| first Congress he won gold watch
as the most popular page. He was
personal page to the late President
Mckinley when the latter was chair.
man of the Republican national con.
vention in 1892.
Frank w. Collier 90 years ago was
a messenger in the House post office,
where for eight years now he has
been postmaster and doing more busi-
ness than most big city post of.
| fees. Most people imagine that mem
bers of Congress do not pay anything
| for postage, but Mr.. Collier takes in
about $4,000 year, and that repre-
sents less than 10 per. cent Of the
business of the office. Ten deliveries
are made every day. mail Is collected
every hour, and no letter is in the
building more than 80 minutes on an
average after it is posted, from $3.50
am. until 1890 pm. He has force
| of 80 employees. appointed by men,
bers Of Congress. This job is refuta
ton Of the charge that positions about
the Capitol are easy work and big pay
Mr.. Collier today Is receiving only
$500 more a year than the post
master received 20 years ago. when
there was only one-twentieth of the
work. and he is paid far less than the
classified rate for postmasters Of Of
fees Of the same volume of business.
One of the most important Offices
to keep the House in good working
order is the parliamentarian who is on
duty at the Speakers desk. Lehr
Fess will again be on hand to get
this exacting work smoothly started.
although he has resigned to take UP
the private practice of law in Toledo,
Ohio. Lehr Fess came to the Capitol
first as his fathers secretary and was
assistant clerk with the Republican n
congressional committee which won
the House back from Democratic con-
troll. For the last eight years he has
been parliamentarian and edited the
Manual and Digest
Another important aide to Congress
Is executive secretary to the Speaker,
Miss Mildred Reeves. who has been
with Mr.. Longworth for IL years, in.
cluding service as his secretary while
he was House leader. She Is an am.
bilious young woman who is study
ing law and specializing in parliamen-
tary courses-just SO she can carry
her Job along better.
Il y X
RUT when all Is said and done, the
two principal functions Of Con.
gress are to raise enough revenues to
pay expenses and then to see that the
money is spent for the purposes for
which it was raised. And in doing
this the clerks to the ways and means
and the appropriations committees are
indispensable. Because Of their i'm
portance, more and more the tendency
is not to change these clerkships with