SUPERVISION EXTENDED TO CAPITOL GROUNDS. The act of May 28, 1896, also provided that the Capitol police, under the direction of the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate and of the House, and of the Architect of the Capitol, shall police the Capitol Building and Grounds. (Ibid.) ADDITIONAL TEMPORARY FORCE-WAR WITH SPAIN. Act of July 7, 1898 (30 Stat. L., p. 706).-The following provision was in the general deficiency bill as reported from the Committee on Appropriations and remained therein: For employment, until not later than December thirty-first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, of not exceeding eighteen additional Capitol policemen (privates), at the rate of nine hundred and sixty dollars per annum each, ten thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary. Total, 67. TEMPORARY FORCE CONTINUED. Act of January 15, 1899 (30 Stat. L., p. 782). The urgent deficiency bill contained the following as reported from the Committee on Appropriations: To continue the employment during the six months beginning January first, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, of not exceeding eighteen additional Capitol policemen (privates) at the rate of nine hundred and sixty dollars per annum each, eight thousand six hundred and forty dollars. The following debate took place: Mr. BURKE. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment to offer, but before offering it I wish to ask the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations how many policemen there are on the force now. Appropriation is made for 18 additional policemen. My understanding is that there are now on the force 52 regular policemen. Mr. CANNON. Forty-nine regular, and they were increased by 18 for the first half of the year, making 67 in all. This continues the 18 for the balance of the year. Mr. BURKE. So that makes the Capitol police force 67? Mr. CANNON. Sixty-seven, the same as it is now. That is for the Capitol police force and watchmen for the Capitol Grounds. Mr. BURKE. Does this 18 additional include watchmen? Mr. CANNON. Some of them. If this is adopted it does not change the police and watch force for the last half of the fiscal year from what it is now and has been for the first part of the year. Mr. BURKE. My object, Mr. Chairman, in asking the question is that it strikes me that 70 men to guard the Capitol is an extraordinary number. Mr. HEMENWAY. They also guard the grounds. Mr. BURKE. The grounds take care of themselves. It is like hiring a man to watch a hole in the ground. I am going to offer an amendment, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. The clerk will read the amendment. (The clerk read as follows:) On page 27, beginning with line 19, strike out the following paragraph: "To continue the employment during the six months beginning January first, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, of not exceeding eighteen additional Capitol policemen (privates), at the rate of nine hundred and sixty dollars per annum each, eight thousand six hundred and forty dollars." Mr. BURKE. With reference to that amendment, Mr. Chairman, I desire to offer this suggestion. It strikes me that 49 men, as a regular force of Capitol police, is a sufficient number to do police duty and police service in the Capitol building and to guard the Capitol grounds. Forty-nine men at an expense of $80 or $90 a month, it strikes me, ought to serve the purpose in every respect, well and fairly for policing this Capitol. With the police force as at present constituted, comprising 67 men, an I offer that amendment to strike out and reduce the force to the original number of 49 men. Mr. CANNON. I wish to say a word in opposition to the gentleman's motion to strike out this appropriation. Your committee had before it the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate and the Sergeant at Arms of the House, who, with the Architect of the Capitol, have charge of the police force of the Capitol and grounds. I will say to the gentleman from Texas that this force not only polices the Capitol, but also the Capitol grounds, some 60 acres in extent, and it is the only police force for the Capitol grounds, as the city police force does not perform that duty. Mr. HANDY. How many are assigned to the grounds and how many to the building? Mr. CANNON. I did not inquire about that, but gentlemen will recollect that the police force is divided into three shifts of eight hours each; that is the rule of the Government. Now, they strongly urge that this force is too small instead of too great. This force is on duty holidays and Sundays and all times, unlike much of the private service of the Government. In addition, it has been shown, as they state, by experience that prior to the increase of this force people were held up and sandbagged about the grounds. The gentleman says it seems to be too large. This is exactly the force in numbers that polices the Treasury, and for the War, State, and Navy there are 64. Of course, the great number of visitors from all over the country and all over the world seems to indicate that this force is not too large, expecially when a portion of the force is practically just as much on duty at night as it is in the day, at least for 16 hours, practically all the day, whereas in the Treasury and the War, State, and Navy Department the great bulk of the force is only required to be on duty in the daytime. I know that 67 are a good many men, but this Capitol is a pretty large building, covering a good deal of ground, and in view of the positive statements of the officers in charge of the force, your committee did not feel at liberty to refuse to report and recommend this provision. Mr. HENDERSON. Is it not true that these 18 men were added on account of the war? Mr. CANNON. I presume they would not have been added but for the war. Mr. HENDERSON. These additional men, I understand, were appointed on account of our anxieties at that time; but those have largely subsided, have they not? Mr. CANNON. To some extent they have subsided; but I will say to my friend from Iowa that an increase of force to the extent, not of 18, but of 36, has been recommended for years, and strenuously insisted upon, by the officers who had most knowledge touching the matter-the Sergeants at Arms of the House and the Senate and the Architect of the Capitol. It will be remembered that even with the present force we have recently had in this building an explosion and a fire. I do not know who is to blame or that any blame attaches to anybody. Perhaps if the force had been double its present number the accident might have occurred. I do not know how that may be. Mr. SHAFROTH. I should like to occupy the floor for a minute or two. Mr. CANNON. Certainly. Mr. SHAFROTH. Mr. Chairman, I had occasion some time since to examine a book upon the subject of the police force of the various cities of the United States. I found that the average number of policemen required in our different cities is about one to every thousand of inhabitants. Applying that rule as a test in this case, it would seem that a force of 67 men here asked for would be sufficient to patrol a city of 67,000 population. Mr. HANDY. That is just the number of the police force of the city of Wilmington, Del. Mr. SHAFROTH. It would seem that this force of 67 must be much larger than can properly be required for patrolling this building and the grounds surrounding it. It is seldom that we see a policeman in the Capitol grounds. Certainly it can not be claimed that we should have a force here equal to that which a city of 60,000 population employs to protect its people from the depredations of criminals. It seems to me that the present Capitol police force, 49 in number, should be amply sufficient to thoroughly patrol this building and the adjacent grounds. Beides, this appropriation is made for six months, from January 1 to June 30. During that time Congress will be in session but two months. During the remaining four months of the time these policemen will be patrolling an empty building, with neither branch of Congress in session and with committee rooms vacant. During those months these men will be simply watching a building absolutely fireproof, which can not burn down and which contains nothing that any person would want to steal. Mr. CANNON. Will my friend allow me? Mr. SHAFROTH. Certainly. Mr. CANNON. It is true that a portion of that time Congress will not be in session; but the 75,000,000 people of the United States will still remain in the United States. Great numbers of them visit the Capitol in the vacation of Congress, as well as during its sitting. My friend will recollect that the Capitol is open during the whole year, and he will recollect further that the employees of the House and the Senate-messengers, etc. are four, five, or six fold the number of these Capitol police. Mr. SHAFROTH. That may be true, but it does not seem to me that any additional force is required on that account. The building is the same size it has always been. Forty-seven or forty-nine men have been sufficient to patrol it in the past. We have never had any outrages committed in the building or on the grounds, so far as I have ever heard. Hence I can not see any necessity for increasing the force. Mr. CANNON. My friend certainly can not be of an inquiring mind or he would know that there has been destruction of public property, etc., and also that there have been at times very serious offenses committed in the Capitol Grounds. Mr. SHAFROTH. I mean to say that I have not heard of anything of that kind; but some offenses would be committed even if the force were ten times as large as it is. I heard of the explosion which occurred here a few weeks ago, but I apprehend that any number of policemen would not have been able to prevent anything of that kind. The accident resulted, I understand, from the escape of gas in one of the rooms of the subbasement. A MEMBER. An escape of gas, and Congress not in session! [Laughter.] Mr. SHAFROTH. It seems to me, Mr. Chairman, that the present Capitol police force must be amply sufficient and that to authorize the employment of 18 additional men would be a squandering of the public money. Why, sir, take the State capitol buildings throughout the Union, and I will warrant that scarcely one of those buildings has a force of more than three or four for its protection. I know that in my city we have a magnificent public building, just completed at a cost of $3,000,000, and there is only one watchman in the daytime and one at night; yet the building is amply protected. A MEMBER. Your people out there are honest. Mr. SHAFROTH. Yes, they are honest; but I do not apprehend there is any necessity for a force 20 or 30 times as large to protect this building. The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment of the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Burke]. The question being taken, there were-ayes 65, noes 46. Tellers were ordered and the Chairman appointed Mr. Cannon and Mr. Burke. The committee divided; and the tellers reported-ayes 84, noes 68. Accordingly the amendment was agreed to. (Cong. Record, vol. 32, pt. 1, 3-55, pp. 86, 87.) The provision was restored to the bill in the Senate and became a part of the law. (Record, 3-55, p. 209.) Total 67. TEMPORARY Force made PERMANENT (5 ADDITIONAL PRIVATES). Act of March 3, 1901, 31 Stat. L., pp. 90, 963. CAPITOL POLICE. For captain, one thousand six hundred dollars, and three lieutenants, at one thousand two hundred dollars each, hereafter to be selected jointly by the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate and the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives; thirty privates, at one thousand one hundred dollars each; thirty privates, at nine hundred and sixty dollars each; and eight watchmen, at nine hundred dollars each, one-half of said privates and watchmen to be selected by the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate and one-half by the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives; in all, seventy-four thousand two hundred dollars, one half to be disbursed by the Secretary of the Senate and the other half to be disbursed by the Clerk of the House of Representatives. And hereafter the officers, privates, and watchmen of the Capitol police shall, when on duty, wear the regulation uniform. For contingent expenses, three hundred dollars, one half to be disbursed by the Secretary of the Senate and the other half to be disbursed by the Clerk of the House of Representatives. SALARIES OF PRIVATES EQUALIZED. Act of June 22, 1906 (34 Stat. L., pt. 1, p. 392).—Sixty-nine privates, at $1,050 each, one-half to be selected by the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate and one-half by the Sergeant at Arms of the House. Total, 73. On this item the following debate took place: Mr. LAWRENCE. While you are on this matter of inequalities of salaries, I notice that you refer in your report to the fact that there are 60 Capitol police— Mr. LITTAUER. I was about to come to that. Mr. LAWRENCE. And that 30 of them get $1,100 and 30 get $960. Now, I would ask the gentleman if he will state if there is any law specifying the number of Capitol police and the salaries they shall receive? Mr. LITTAUER. None; except the current appropriation law; consequently we have the right to deal with the force here, and it is our purpose to deal with it in this bill. The Capitol police is one of the three forces that the Committee on Appropriations, after much deliberation, determined to attempt to reform as far as compensation is concerned. We found that of the members of this police force 30 received $1,100, 30 received $960, and 9 received $900, despite the fact, testified to by their superior officers and admitted by themselves, that the service of each one was the same as every other one. Appointments are not made to this $900 class with an increase after a lapse of time to $960 and $1,100. It would be impossible to follow out such a system of promotion in a force appointed on the basis of patronage. Appointments are actually made at $1,100, others at $960 and $900, without reference to experience. We felt it was a manifest injustice to the men doing the work to receive such unequal compensation, just as it is to the Members who recommend the appointments. Mr. LAWRENCE. Do I understand the gentleman to say that the reasons for this inexcusable inequality of compensation, not only with reference to the Capitol police, but in reference to all branches of the service here in the Capitol, is that we have not based our action upon general law, but have acted from year to year on appropriation bills? Mr. LITTAUER. Such has been the case. (Cong. Record, vol. 40, pt. 4, 1-59, p. 3735.) NUMBER OF PRIVATES REDUCED TWO SPECIAL OFFICERS AUTHORIZED. Act of February 26, 1907 (34 Stat. L., pt. 1, p. 938).-Sixty-seven privates, at $1,050 each; 2 special officers, $1,200 each; total, 73. CAPTAIN'S SALARY INCREASED. Act of March 4, 1911.-Captain's salary increased from $1,600 to $1,800. LAWS RELATING TO THE CAPITOL POLICE. PROTECTION OF CAPITOL. AN ACT To authorize the appointment of certain watchmen, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the eight watchmen on the Dome of the Capitol, at the Congressional stables, the gatekeeper, and watchmen of the grounds surrounding the Capítol, be hereafter appointed by the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate and the Sergeant at Arms of the House. That the officers aforesaid be also authorized to appoint three additional watchmen, one for each of the eastern porticos and the carriageways under the same. Each watchman so appointed shall receive an annual compensation of one thousand dollars, payable on the order of the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate and the Sergeant at Arms of the House, or either of them, and the amount of money necessary to pay said watchmen from the date of their appointment until the end of the present fiscal year be, and the same is hereby, appropriated. For the compensation of said watchmen for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, the sum of eleven thousand dollars is hereby appropriated. For the compensation of an additional lieutenant and private of the Capitol police, authorized to be appointed by the presiding officers of the two Houses of Congress, from the date of their appointment until the close of the present fiscal year, at the rate paid others of the same grade, so much money as may be necessary is hereby appropriated, and for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, the sum of three thousand three hundred dollars is hereby appropriated. The Sergeant at Arms of the Senate and the Sergeant at Arms of the House are hereby authorized to select a pattern for a uniform for the Capitol police and watchmen, and furnish to each member of the force two suits per year, at a cost not to exceed fifty dollars per suit, and also to furnish said force with the necessary belts, arms, and so forth, at a cost not to exceed twenty dollars per man, and the amount of money necessary to carry this provision into effect is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, payable upon the certificate of the officers above named. One half of the moneys hereinbefore appropriated shall be paid into the contingent fund of the Senate and the other half into the contingent fund of the House of Representatives. SEC. 2. That the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate and of the House of Representatives are authorized to make such rules and regulations as they may deem necessary to preserve the peace and secure the Capitol from defacement and for the protection of the public property therein, and shall have power to arrest and detain any person violating said rules, until such person can be brought before the proper authorities for trial, without further order of Congress. (15 Stat. L., p. 12.) An Act To protect the public property, turf, and grass of the Capitol grounds from injury. Be it enacted, etc., That it shall be the duty of the Capitol police hereafter to prevent any portion of the Capitol grounds and terraces from being used as playgrounds or otherwise, so far as may be necessary to protect the public property, turf, and grass from destruction or injury. (19 Stat. L., p. 41.) The Sergeant at Arms of the Senate and of the House of Representatives are authorized to make such regulations as they may deem necessary for preserving the peace and securing the Capitol from defacement, and for the protection of the public property therein, and they shall have power to arrest and detain any person violating such regulations, until such person can be brought before the proper authorities for trial. (R. S., sec. 1820.) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT. The following is from the sundry civil appropriation act, approved March 2, 1867: SEC. 2. That the office of commissioner of public buildings is hereby abolished, and the Chief Engineer of the Army shall perform all the duties now required by law of said commissioner, and shall also have the superintendence of the Washington Aqueduct and all the public works and improvements of the Government of the United States in the District of Columbia, unless otherwise provided by law; and the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate and the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives shall hereafter appoint the members of the Capitol police. (14 Stat. L., p. 466.) The following is from the legislative appropriation act, approved March 3, 1873: CAPITOL POLICE. For one captain, two thousand and eighty-eight dollars; three lieutenants, at one thousand eight hundred dollars each; twenty-seven privates, at one thousand five hundred and eighty-four dollars each; and eight watchmen, at one thousand dollars each. That the appointment of the Capitol police shall hereafter be made by the Sergeant at Arms of the two Houses, and the architect of the Capitol extension; and the captain of the Capitol police force may suspend any member of said force, subject to the action of the officers above referred to; making in all fifty-eight thousand two hundred and fifty-six dollars, one half to be paid into the contingent fund of the House of Representatives, and the other half to be paid into the contingent fund of the Senate. (17 Stat. L., p. 488.) There shall be a Capitol police, the members of which shall be appointed by the Sergeants at Arms of the two Houses and the Architect of the Capitol extension. There |