Evening star., 1944-06-04

then the white House Spokesman
was born. Through the normalcy era,
questions were required to be submitted
IN advance, in writing, and the press
representatives never knew whether
they were to get an answer or not.
The second Roosevelt changed all Of
that. No holds are barred. and the
questiohers are always assured al an
answer-of some sort. Sometimes the
President reverses the process and gets
on Of the receiving end long enough to
lecture the press (radio is in the same
boat now on its shortcomings, as he
sees them. but for the most part, the
sessions are in good humor, and are
usually productive. There Is but one
rule: The President Is never quoted
directly without permission.
Until his winter illness interfered
with the schedule. the President held
semiweekly conferences, in order to
split the news breaks as between morn
Ing and afternoon papers. The attend
ance always can be counted on to
huctuate with the state Of the news. If
something big is in the offing, the walls
of the Presidents ONCE will be at the
near-bulging point, with close to 400
reporters on hand. At a quieter time,
the figure is lower.
War and Navy conferences likewise
draw big houses" but often much of
the most interesting material Is off-the-
record for military reasons. This is
particularly true when field commanders
In Washington for few days are on
hand for interviews. Some thrilling
history will be set out for the American
people when the last gun is fred in
this war.
Day in and day out though, the big
Job in Washington Is in Congress. Not
only must the sessions of Senate and
House be watched, but. likewise, the
committee meetings, some OF which
generally can be counted on to make the
headlines. Each of the major press
services has large stan which devotes
its entire time to the congressional
scene, and the metropolitan dailies also
cover the major legislative developments
Blazing Trails in Conaress
Congress realized its own Importance
as news source in its earliest days, the
House granting certain floor privileges
to reporters-which they still retain, by
the way-at the discretion of the
Speaker, and the Senate following suit
around 1888, when representatives OF
Washington newspapers blazed this trail
Later this privilege was broadened. but
the dignity of the Senate was offended
about is years ago when one newsmar
made public what purported to be q
secret roll-call on a controversial nomi.
nation. and reporters now must ash
Senators to leave the floor If they wan
to see them.
Later came the installation of gallery
facilities, and from all accounts, thil
progress had its problems.
The Star reported on April 4, 1879
that correspondents had adopted rules
to govern admission to the gallerie!
which ARE very stringent and will have
a tendency of keeping the galleries fol
their legitimate uses instead OF beint
overrun by dead beats and lobbyists"
There must have been trouble aloni
the line some place though, for about 4
year later, as The Star faithfully re-
counted, "the new House rules as inter
preted by Doorkeeper Field, greatly re-
strict the facilities hitherto extended t,
the press and limits the field Of opera
tions OF the press to the corridors
which, for the most part, are occupied
with telegraph instruments, peanu