THE MISSING BILL
The all-night session of the House of Representatives and the dramatic
passage of the Postal Savings bill had a stimulating effect upon all the
members of Congress. There was no longer a disposition to lag, and the
policy of marking time was abandoned in favor of the new programme of
progress. As a consequence, committee meetings were being held in all
parts of the Capitol and bills that had been slumbering for many months
were taken from pigeon holes and given the consideration to which they
were entitled.
On the third morning after the night session a notice went out that a
meeting of the Committee on Naval Affairs would be held at four o'clock
that afternoon, for the purpose of taking up the final consideration of
the bills that were pending before the Committee.
The notice was like a call to arms to John Carlton. He sent out notices
at once to the members of the Committee whom he knew to be friendly,
asking them to make it a point to be present for the purpose of helping
his bill. Barry happened to come in just about that time, and he
utilized the boy in a number of ways.
"I know that you want to be on the field when this battle takes place,"
he said, laughingly. "I look on you as my mascot, and if we win you will
get all the glory."
Barry protested, but Mr. Carlton humorously insisted that he must have
his own way in matters of this kind.
There was no doubt about the interest in the Naval Repair Station bill.
Copies of the measure had been printed some time before, but the demand
for them was so great that the supply had already been exhausted.
Several members called during the course of the morning and asked for
duplicates of the bill, but Mr. Carlton was unable to accommodate them.
Just about noon time Mr. Benedict, one of his close friends, entered the
office and said in a mysterious way:
"John, I hear that your bill is coming up for consideration today?"
"That's correct," was the response, "and I hope you'll be on hand."
"Sure," was the response, "but see here, I heard last night that some
change had been made in the phraseology of the Act. If that is so, it
will have to go over to be printed and that will cause a delay of at
least two weeks in your bill."
"I think you must be mistaken," was the reply. "The bill was in perfect
shape at the last meeting of the Committee, and I am positive that no
amendments of any kind were offered."
"That may be," was the response, "but if I were in your place I'd make
sure of it."
Carlton thought that this was good advice, and he summoned Barry to his
side.
"My boy," he said, "I want you to go over to the headquarters of the
Committee on Naval Affairs. You'll find Mr. Joel Phipps, the Committee
clerk, in charge. Tell him I want to see the Committee's copy of the
Naval Station bill."
Barry hurried off at once. He found the room without any difficulty.
Joel Phipps was there very busily engaged with several Congressmen.
Barry had to wait his turn and finally when the clerk was at leisure,
explained his mission. Phipps did not take his visit kindly; in fact, he
was distinctly disagreeable.
"I am too busy to bother with matters of this kind today," he said.
"Shall I give that message to Mr. Carlton," cried Barry, in a
challenging tone.
"No," was the grumbling reply. "Just sit down there and I'll find the
bill for you."
He dug down amongst the papers and finally fished out the desired
document. He handed it to the boy with very bad grace, and then turned
to attend to the wants of several other visitors who had arrived in the
meantime. Barry felt very angry at Joel Phipps, but he was forced to
admit that the clerk was an extremely busy man, and that probably there
was some justification for his irritation. A man that has to attend to a
dozen things within as many minutes can scarcely be blamed if he is not
blessed with an angelic temperament.
Carlton read the bill over very carefully and found that it was
flawless. He handed it back to Barry.
"Leave it with the clerk of the Committee when you go to your lunch," he
said. "It's all a false alarm. The bill is all right."
For the next two or three hours Mr. Carlton found his time fully
occupied. He had a large mail to answer, and after that he attended a
Committee meeting. As soon as he had finished he hastened to attend the
regular session of the House. At half-past three he looked at his watch
and realized that he would have to leave his seat if he expected to get
a bite of lunch before the meeting of the Committee on Naval Affairs. On
the way out he was stopped by one or two friends who wanted him to do
favors for them.
The clock was striking four when the Congressman entered the room
occupied by the Committee; the Chairman had just summoned the members to
order, and the clerk was engaged in calling the roll. While these
preliminaries were going on John Carlton made a hasty count of noses. He
found that there were seventeen members present, and by a careful
calculation he felt sure that at least ten of these would vote in favor
of the Cleverly bill. To make sure of it, he quietly slipped around from
one to the other and confirmed his first estimate. The clerk had
finished the roll call, and the Congressman arose in his seat with a
great deal of confidence.
"Mr. Chairman," he said, "I move that the Committee now take up for
consideration the bill making an appropriation for a Naval Repair
Station at Cleverly."
"The members have heard the motion," said the presiding officer, "all in
favor will please say aye."
There was a chorus of ayes, and the Chairman declared the motion
carried. "The clerk of the Committee," he said, "will now read the
bill."
Joel Phipps turned to the pile of papers in front of him and began
turning them over one by one. He reached the bottom of the heap without
discovering the Cleverly bill. Then he turned them over and went through
the pile again, very carefully and very painstakingly. A look of
perplexity gathered on his face. The members were becoming impatient.
The Chairman seemed to voice the opinion of his colleagues.
"The clerk will read the bill," he said, curtly.
"In a moment, sir," said Phipps, in an agitated voice.
He continued to fumble among the documents on his desk. He looked very
much embarrassed. He moistened his lips with his tongue and then looked
about the room helplessly.
"Well," demanded John Carlton, "why don't you read the bill?"
"I am sorry to say that I can't find it."
"How is that?"
"I don't know, sir; but I can't put my hand on it."
"Well," said Carlton, addressing the Chairman, "I have a typewritten
copy of the measure in my pocket, and if the Chairman is agreeable, I
will have that read in place of the original bill."
Jesse Hudson was on his feet in an instant.
"I object," he shouted. "I object to this method of doing business. We
have very important matters to consider before this Committee and we
cannot afford to transact them in an irregular and possibly an illegal
manner. The only bills that this Committee has a right to consider are
the bills that are in its custody. If you permit the members to
substitute other bills at their pleasure, no one can tell where it will
lead nor what the consequence may be."
"But," persisted Carlton, "the bill that I am going to hand you is
identical with the one that was in the possession of the Committee."
"That may be," was Hudson's smooth retort, "but it is not the identical
bill that was before the Committee. I object to its consideration."
His remarks appeared to have made some impression upon the members of
the Committee. Indeed, one of the Congressmen, who was known to be
friendly to Carlton, arose in his place and said:
"I think there is some merit in what Mr. Hudson says. At any rate it
will do no harm to postpone this matter until the public printer can
supply the Committee with another copy of the bill."
"Am I to regard that as a motion?" queried the Chairman.
"Yes, sir," was the response.
"The members have heard the motion," said the Chairman, "all in favor
of postponing the consideration of the Cleverly bill for the present
will say aye."
There was a loud chorus of ayes.
"All those who oppose it, say no."
A few scattered voices called out "no."
"The ayes have it," said the Chairman, "and the motion to postpone is
carried."
Carlton was plainly nettled at the turn of affairs. He turned to the
clerk angrily and said:
"I think it's the business of the clerk to take care of the papers of
the Committee, and I think it is a great mistake to make a member of
Congress and his constituents suffer from the negligence of an employé."
Joel Phipps became white in the face. At this unexpected thrust,
however, he had the courage to rise behind his desk, and said:
"I am very sorry the bill was lost, but it's not my fault. The members
of the Committee unfortunately have gotten into the habit of taking away
papers without obtaining the permission of the Chairman or without
giving a receipt for the same. Several of them have done this during the
past few days, and Mr. Carlton, I regret to say, is one of the chief
offenders."
Mr. Carlton gave a half laugh.
"I guess you're right, Joel," he said, "and I will have to plead
guilty."
Nevertheless he left the room in a very dissatisfied frame of mind. The
measure in which he was so deeply interested had been thrown back for at
least two weeks. That was not the worst feature of the case, either. He
had enough votes now to pass the bill. He might not have them when the
bill came up for consideration again. The thought rankled in his mind
and gave him a disagreeable feeling towards his fellow creatures. As he
reached the door of the Committee Room a reporter from one of the
Cleverly newspapers, who had heard of the disappearance of the bill,
stopped the Congressman and asked him what comments he had to make.
"It's a mighty queer piece of business," was Carlton's reply. "That's
all I have got to say."