Evening star., 1945-07-01
Capital Sidelights
By will p. Kennedy.


The Presidents message to Congress,
advocating legislation providing that
the Speaker should succeed in the event
OF the Executives death or inability to
perform the duties OF his office (since
there now Is no Vice President). recalls
one potent reason for the act of 1885.
In the first administration of President
Cleveland, threatening situation re-
suited from the death Of Vice President
Hendricks before Congress had organ
lied. II the President should die In that
period, there would be no one author
lied to succeed him. If he should die
after Congress organized, the Senate
being of different political persuasion.
the Office would go to one of the other
party than that popularity chosen. Then
the men who had thought themselves
settled in their administrative positions
for four years would have been COM
PEELED to make way for their political
MISUNDERSTANDING the will of the
majority voters. That was why the
present system of cabinet succession
was then adopted.
~
Women first were admitted to the
House gallery to hear speeches of men,
bers on the invitation of Representative
Fisher Aines of Massachusetts, who was
a Federalist member of the first four
Congresses, after having served in the
State convention to ratify the Consti-
tuition. Women previously had been ex-
cluded from the House galleries in ac-
cordance with British precedent. One
night at a party the wife of Senator
John Langdon of New Hampshire (who
had been a member Of the Continental
Congress and the Constitutional Con-.
vention and was elected as the first
President pro tempore Of the Senate),
expressed to Mr.. Ames regret that she
could not hear his speeches. He gal
lantly replied that he knew no reason
why women should not listen to the de-
bates. She challenged him: Let me
know when next you intend to speak
and I will make UP party Of ladies to
go and hear you," which was done, and
since then congressional debaters have
had their fair auditors
~ u
President Cleveland once was short
changed ] cent on his pay voucher and,
by the customary red-tape process a
special requisition was made out cover
ing the deficit and check was drawn,
countersigned and delivered to the sur
prised President-for cent. He had
not noticed the short payment and
never cashed the check, keeping 1t as a
curious memento. In order to make up
exactly the $4,000 yearly salary of the
President, 1t was the custom to pay him
s4,t66.67 month for the first eight
months and $4,166.66 a month for the
other four months. The latter amount
was paid one month too many.
Il
The first two women to be granted
"the privilege of the floor" by Con-
gress were Mistress Dolly Madison, wife
OF the fourth President, and Mrs Eliza
both Thompson, who in 1878 presented
to Congress Frank B. Carpenters
painting Signing of the Proclamation
of Emancipation" for which she had
paid s250oo. This picture was painted
in the White House in 1864. 1t repre-
sents President Lincoln signing the
proclamation In the presence Of his
cabinet, September %. 1882 1t hung for
many year over the grand stairway in
the House end Of the Capitol, until re-
moved to make way for Howard Cham
dler Christie's Signing of the Consti-
tuition" 1t now is on display above the
judges bench In the old Supreme Court
chamber.
President HardIng's greatest White
House innovation was to have old
fashioned wooden toothpicks on the din
ing room table. He also specialized in
having sauerkraut and wiener-wurst
served at stag dinners.
The first motor car ever used at the
White House was brougham at the
disposal of Mrs. william H. Taft. March
4, 1909, on which date she was the first
wife of President to ride with him
from the inaugural ceremony to the
White House. Mrs. Taft, mother of the
present Senator from Ohio, had the
first twin beds installed in the White
House. replacing the historic Lincoln
bed"