most important office in the election of the House, controlling a large proportion of the patronage, the election of a new Clerk is accompanied by a considerable amount of electioneering, and is usually accomplished by a combination of certain members of the majority having for its purpose to partition out the subordinate places in the service of the House of Representatives. Upon the convening of a new Congress the Clerk calls the members to order and serves as a temporary presiding officer until the election of the Speaker pro tempore who presides until and at the election of the Speaker of the House. He calls the roll of the States in alphabetical order, for the election of the latter official, who is usually the oldest member of the House in point of service. The Clerk performs this office, of course, as a holdover from the previous Congress, serving until his successor shall be elected. The Clerk is also required at the opening of the sessions of Congress to send to each member a list of the reports required by law from heads of departments, and in case of a contest for a seat in the House makes up the record containing the respective claims of the contending parties to be seated.

When the house has been organized, it is the duty of the Clerk through his subordinates, when directed by the Speaker, to read all motions that may be put before the House, including the bills in the course of passage, and to note in the journal all the steps of parliamentary procedure. He is required also to note all points of order, and to have these, together with the journal, printed and indexed and sent to the members of the House as soon as possible after the close of the session. Two copies of each of the documents and books printed for Congress are retained in the library formerly under the care of the Clerk, but now directed from the Library of Congress. The Clerk also is required to see that one copy of the reports and documents printed during the session of Congress are properly bound and sent to the members of the House at the close of the session. The Clerk attests all actions of the House on bills and resolutions, and his certification is necessary to their validity. His signature is affixed to all bills which have passed the House certifying that they have passed in due form. The contingent

funds of the House are under his charge, as well as the stationery room, and the fund from which the members of the House receive their annual allowance of stationery amounting to approximately $150 in value. The Clerk is also required to furnish all materials and supplies for the furnishing of the House of Representatives and its Committee Rooms, and also has charge of the labor performed for the comfort of members aside of the care of the capitol building itself, which is under the charge of the Superintendent of the Capitol.

The matters which are herein detailed with regard to the Speaker are similarly performed for the Senate by the Secretary of that body, and the subordinates of both officers have similar duties in each house respectively. Among the subordinates are the Journal Clerks and their assistants, who attend at the desk of the presiding officers and keep a record of the legislative transactions. The Reading Clerks take turns in reading the bills and resolutions under consideration. The Enrolling Clerks receive bills as they come from the respective houses to prepare them for printing, read the proofs and see that all amendments are made in accordance with the vote of the House as indicated by the entries in the Journal. The File Clerks have the custody of all papers relating to legislative matters pending before the House and the appropriate documents relating thereto.

In addition to the duties previously named, the Clerk of the House is paymaster for the House employees of all classes, but does not pay the members, that duty being performed by the Sergeant at Arms.

The Sergeant at Arms of the Senate performs the duties of the Doorkeeper as well, and is also charged with disbursements and provision for the comfort of the Senators, similar to the functions discharged under the direction of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. The Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives is required to maintain order in the House under the direction of the Speaker, and is the custodian, as the badge of his office, of the mace of the House, the symbol of the Speaker's authority. He is charged with removing all persons who may create disturbances and if the

members of the House refuse to come to order at the call of the Speaker, the latter may call upon the Sergeant at Arms, who thereupon takes the mace from its position at the Speaker's desk and proceeds to the scene of the disturbance upon the door of the House. Should the presence of the symbol of authority fail to restore order, he has power, under the direction of the Speaker, to exercise such force by himself and his assistants as may be necessary to restore such order, even to the point of ejecting a member from the floor. Such a contingency, however, is not expected to arise as the members, or a sufficient number of them, would recognize the authority of the officer with his official symbol and terminate any disturbance which might arise. The Sergeant at Arms is the marshal or sheriff of the House and serves all process ordered by it. On the call of the House it is his duty to visit such places as he may on information ascertain to be those at which members absent themselves from the House, and require such absent members to accompany him before the Speaker. When it appears that a quorum is not present in the House of Representatives and the Speaker directs a call of the House and that the Sergeant at Arms shall summon absent members, it is his duty and that of his assistants to proceed at once to secure the presence of as many members as possible in order that a quorum may be filled as soon as practicable. In addition to his other duties he is the paymaster of the members of the House of Representatives and keeps their pay and mileage accounts, making disbursements to them as required by law. In the case of a funeral of a deceased member, the arrangements for the attendance by a committee of the House are made by the Sergeant at Arms, and upon occasion of state funerals he is the master of ceremonies.

The Doorkeeper of the House has charge of the messengers at the doors and entrance-ways to the halls of the House of Representatives and is required to clear the House and its lobbies 15 minutes before the beginning of a session, and to allow no persons to enter upon the floor of the House except those who are members or who are entitled to the privilege of the floor by reason of previous membership, or because they have received the thanks of Congress. This restriction from the floor of the House of Representatives

is strictly carried out, and to a degree not the fact in the various State legislative bodies. It is, however, a necessary provision for the reason that the public lobbies and halls of the Capitol in the House of Representatives wing are crowded with people during the session who desire to see members of Congress. If any system of special privileged entry should be in effect the demands which could not be ignored for the exercise of such privileges would be so great that the halls of the House would be over crowded at all times.

Included among the employes of the Doorkeeper's department are a number of veterans of the wars of the United States who had specially meritorious services and whose names have been placed on what is known as the soldiers' roll, and who are regarded as permanent employes. Most of these are placed at the doors of the galleries of the House, and where their duties are not inconsistent with their crippled condition.

Employes of the Doorkeeper at the main doors in the lobbies of the House of Representatives not only serve to keep unauthorized persons from the floor of the House, but also act as messengers between visitors and the representatives. If it is desired to see a member of Congress, the visitor must end in his name on a card, and the celerity with which the member answers the call gives the visitor an opportunity to gauge his own political importance. When the messenger returns with the information that the member is not on the floor, the visitor has also the pleasing office of determining whether the information is based on the truth or whether his own political importance is nil.

In addition to the Doorkeeper's messengers, the Doorkeeper is in charge of the staff of pages, boys of from 12 to 16, employed during the session at $75 a month to run errands for the members, bring them documents, and perform other services. The positions as pages are eagerly sought by the knowing youths of Washington, although it may be said that the position of page in either the House or Senate is not without its drawbacks and dangers to a boy of the age named.

The Doorkeeper of the House controls one of the large sources of House patronage, namely, the folding room, where all the doc

uments printed for the House are sent to be retained until sent out by orders of members. The business of the folding room occupies a large portion of the basement rooms and cellars of the House of Representatives, and tons of printed matter are added yearly to the stock kept therein, while tons are sent out yearly to be disposed of as waste paper, without having been of use to any person. Editions prescribed by law or by the resolution calling for the printing of particular books and documents are sent in bulk to the care of the Doorkeeper of the House, and by him allotted proportionately to the members. On the order of the members they are sent free of postage to such persons as may care to have them, or as may be designated by the members, and a large force of employes is kept busy during the session of the House in enclosing these documents in wrappers for mailing. In addition to the organization for mailing these documents, the Doorkeeper has a document room on the House floor of the Capitol to which copies of each document are sent, to supply the current needs and demands of the members and of officials of the Government. The number of employes engaged in work on printed documents under the direction of the Doorkeeper is a considerable and an elastic one and it is comparatively easy for a representative to place a specially favored constituent in at least a temporary place on this roll.

Chaplains of the House and Senate are elected respectively by each body and receive a salary of $1,000 a year. They are expected to attend upon the opening of each session of the House and to offer prayer. They are also the official pastors of the members of the two Houses and conduct the funeral services which may take place in Washington of deceased members, but it may be assumed are not held to strict accountability for the morals of the legislators under their respective charges

The duties of the subordinates of the Congress may best be explained by detailing the course of procedure of a legislative day. The employes whose duties are not regulated by the sessions of the House and Senate include the Chief Clerk and his staff, the Disbursing Clerk and his subordinates, the Superin