CONGRESSIONAL PAPERS. NO. I— THE HOUSE.
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��a section, or an entire bill. The put- ting of a comma on the wrong side of the word " fruits," in the tariff bill of a former Congress, deprived the govern- ment of two millions of revenue which it would have otherwise received but for the unfortuate location of the aforesaid comma. The addition of a " y " to the word "eight" would have made a cer- tain Cabinet officer's salary, per annum, seventy-two thousand dollars too large, had not the error been discovered in season to correct it. Writing " accept- ed " for " excepted," would have spoiled a lengthy and important act but for the fortunate discovery of the blunder. These errors, apparently so trifling, and yet so momentous in their consequences, will occasionally creep in in spite of the watchfulness of the enrolling clerks ; but the most of them are detected and elim- inated when the printed text and the manuscript is compared. The sharpest "proof-reading"is required, and when time will permit, the heavy appropriation bills that involve so many millions of money, are very carefully read two or three times each after final enrollment. The clerks are required to " follow copy," and no discretion is allowed them in the correction ot what is even known to be a blunder. An " engrossed " bill, that is, a manuscript copy of a bill that has passed the House, can only be corrected by that body by formal vote, and that, too, before it is sent to the Senate. An " enrolled " bill, that is, a manuscript copy on parchment of a bill that has passed the House and Senate, can only be corrected by a joint resolution of both houses. After receiving the Presi- dent's approval, there is no authority to correct an error, if it has occurred. It is, then, a part of the statute law of the laud, and must remain so until cor- rected by a subsequent enactment. The few errors that do occur generally hap- pen during the hurry and confusion inci- dent to a final adjournment, and the only wonder is that there are so few. During the closing session of the Forty-fourth Congress when the ordinary business had been delayed beyond all precedent by the prolonged struggle over the elec- toral count, more than three-fifths of
��all the laws enacted — including all the great appropriation bills — were passed during the last three days of the session. The enrolling clerks never left their of- fice for more than seventy hours ; and to them, at least, the tap of the Speaker's gavel at noon on the fourth of March brought well-deserved and welcome re- lief.
The smaller bills, and the bills for pri- vate relief, resolutions and general enact- ments are not, usually, subject to "confer- ences," like the appropriation bills, but are subject to interminable delays and linger- ing death in the various committee-rooms. Not more than one out of ten bills intro- duced finally become laws, and it is for- tunate for the good of the public and the size of the statute book that they do not. Members can ease their own consciences, and temporarily satisfy the importunities of their clamorous constituents, by intro- ducing their several "little bills," after which it is an easy matter to have them referred to a committee who will never "report" them for passage. Suppose Mr. A. wants a pension. Let us observe the regular routine before he gets it. First, he sends a petition, praying that Congress will grant his desire. Con- gressman B., of Mr. A.'s district, receives | it and puts it in a box in front of the Speaker's desk. A page takes it, with others, and carries it to the desk of the resolution and petition clerk. This official endorses on the back of the petition the date of introduction and the committee to whom it is referred— Con- gressman B. having already endorsed it with his own name, the name of the pe- titioner, and a synopsis of the contents. If the petitioner was a soldier in the re- cent war, it is referred to the committee on invalid pensions. The clerk enters the name of the petitioner and the con- gressman in a large book prepared and indexed for the purpose, and kept for reference. The distributing clerk takes the petition and carries it to the room oc- cupied by the committee on invalid pen- sions, as aforesaid, and enters it upon the docket of the committee. An indis- pensable adjunct at this point is the " ac- companying papers." These must be sufficient to prove the applicant's identL
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