130 



National Resources Committee 



of the Presidents, the full title of which is J. W. 

 Richardson: A Compilation of the Messages and Pa- 

 pers of the Presidents, 1789-1897, 10 vohimes, G. P. O., 

 1896-1899.=" 



Finally, it is this committee -which compiles and 

 issues the Congressional Directoi^, the publication of 

 which was first authorized in 1865, the first issue being 

 for the second session of the Fortieth Congress, 1867. 

 This Tohnno is issued annuall}', and at times more fre- 

 quently, lor the purpose of giving information regard- 

 ing, not only Congress, but the Government generally. 

 It is an exceedingly useful document. Among the data 

 given by it are: Biographies-' of all Members of Con- 

 sress; maps of the States showing their division into 

 congressional or electoral districts; the votes cast at 

 recent elections for each Senator and Representative; 

 the date of beginning and ending and duration in days 

 of each sessioii of Congress since the beginning of the 

 Government ; the number of Eepiesentatives for each 

 State under each apportionment ; the dates of all 

 special sessions of the Senate; the cases where the 

 Senate has sat as a court of impeachment; the names 

 of the governors of all the States, their terms of service 

 and salaries; the names of all committees, standing, 

 joint, and special ; a directory of aU important officers 

 in the executive and judicial branches of the Govern- 

 ment; a statement of the functions and duties of all 

 administrative agencies, boards and commissions; and 

 miscellaneous data regarding foreign representatives 

 in the United States and diplomatic representatives of 

 the United States in foreign countries.^^ 



Special and Select Committees 



The employment of standing committees for the pur- 

 pose of making investigations, other than those 

 directly relating to a legislative proposal under con- 

 sideration by those bodies, is the exception rather than 

 the rule. The more usual practice is for the chambers 

 to create ad hoc committees, technically known as 

 special or select committees, for this purpose. The 

 research work done by Congress through instrumental- 

 ities of this character is on an extensive scale. The 

 January 1937 edition of the Congressional Directory 

 thus enumerates the following special and select com- 

 mittees as then in existence : 



*■ Subsequent editions of tliis work, bringing the compilation to a 

 later date, were published by a private company (New York Bureau of 

 National Litcrnture, Inc.). the l.Ttfst. in 20 volumes, being in 1917. Tliis 

 edition is entitled: Messages and Papers'of the Presidents: A compila- 

 lion of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents Prepared under the 

 Direction of the Joint Committee on Printing of the House and Senate 

 Pursuant to an Act of the Fifty second Congress of the United States 

 iWith Additions and Encyclopedic Index hy Private Enterprises). 



"These biographies are prepared by the members themselves and 

 vary widely in respect to amount and character of the personal data 

 given. 



Topies of this publication can be secured from the Superintendent 

 of Documents, at the price of $1.00. 



Senate: 



1. Special comniittee to investigate air and ocean mail 

 contracts. 



2. Special committee on conservation of wildlife resources. 



3. Special committee to investigate labor conditions on the 

 Mississipjii flood-control project. 



4. Special commitlee to investigate receivership and bank- 

 ruptcy proceedings and the administration of justice in the 

 United States. 



5. Special committee on investigation of the munitions 

 indu.stry. 



6. Special committee to investigate production, transportation, 

 and marketing of wool. 



7. Special silver committee. 



8. Special committee to investigate executive agencies of the 

 Government. 



9. Special committee to investigate campaign expenditures. 



10. Select committee on Government organization. 



House: 



1. Select committee on conservation of wildlife resources. 



2. Special committee to investigate old-age pension plans. 



3. Select committee to investigate real estate bondholders' 

 reorganizations. 



4. Special investigating committee on cross-licensing and 

 pooling of patents. 



5. Special comniittee to investigate campaign expenditures. 



6. Special commitlee to investigate retail federations and 

 trade practices of big scale wholesale and retail buying and 

 selling organizations and their associations. 



7. Select committee to investigate executive agencies of the 

 Government.-' 



The foregoing is fairly representative of the magtii- 

 tude and scope of the investigatorj' work of the two 

 Houses of Congress that is constantly imder way 

 through the instrumentality of special or select com- 

 mittees. These committees vary in size and the general 

 rule is that their members are appointed by the presid- 

 ing officer of the chamber setting them up. 



Special and Select Joint Committees 



Where the matter is one of very general imponauLo 

 in which both Houses are interested, action frequently 

 takes the form of the two Houses acting together to 

 create a joint committee for the prosecution of the in- 

 quiry. Examples where this practice has been followed 

 are: The Joint Committee to investigate the Depart- 

 ment of the Interior and the Bureau of Forestry, 

 created by Joint Eesolution of January 19, 1910; the 

 Joint Committee to investigate Federal aid in road con- 

 struction, created by act of August 24, 1912 ; the Joint 

 Committee on general parcel post, created by act of 

 August 24, 1912; the Joint Committee on the reorgani- 

 zation of the administrative branch of the Government, 

 created by joint resolution of December 29, 1920; the 

 Joint Committee on fiscal relations with the District 

 of Columbia, created by Act of June 29, 1922; the Joint 



=■ For a list of the interim committees, joint committees, and com- 

 missions created by the State legislatures for a single biennium, lfi31- 

 1932, see State aovcmment, February 1932, pp. 14-18. 



