Transcripts For CSPAN3 American Artifacts 20141027

Each week, American History tvs artifacts takes you t each week, American History tvs american artifacts takes you to. Museums. Opened in 1909, the Russell Senate Office Building was constructed to ease chronic conditions. We will learn about the noted Senate Investigations held in the caucus room. From the 1912 titanic inquiry to the 1930s hearings about the causes of the 1929 stock market crash. Im donald ritchie, the senate historian, and we are in the Senate Caucus room in the Russell Senate Office Building. Before cspan started covering the senate, this was the most famous room in the capitol complex th, becausee this is where major hearings had been televised coming back newsreels covered it in the 1920s and 1930s, but television came along in 1940. This is where viewers would have seen the crime investigation, the Army Mccarthy hearings, the watergate hearings. So this was the most televised room until the Senate Chamber was open to television. I bring people in here from time to time. You can hear the echoes. Point of order, mr. Chairman. You can hear the gavel. My point of order. [gavel bangs] counsel advised the chair that the senator is engaging in a statement im getting sick of getting interrupted in the middle of a sentence. Mr. Chairman, do i have the floor or do i not . Oh, be quiet. I havent the slightest intention of being quiet. Im running this committee. Mr. Chairman, do i have the floor . The story of congress is the story of the nation, and that is the story of growth. This is a small square box. It grew as states entered the union and more senators and representatives came. In the 1850s, so many states entered the union, they put in two large wings. By the 1870s, they were crowded. Initially the offices where their desks. So, eventually, they kept adding space to the capital. They built terraces. That was not enough. In the 1980s they bought and old apartment house im a down constitution avenue. And for a while, senators moved in there, much to the envy of many house members. At least some of the senators. But the building had been billed as an apartment house, not an Office Building. The weight of an Office Building was too much. It began to sink. The elevator shaft was seven inches lower by the time they moved out. It was unsafe, a fire trap, very uncomfortable, people complained. It wouldve been expensive to try to rebuild the building as an Office Building. Around 1903, the senate had a committee to study building a Senate Office building. The same time the house of representatives desperately needed space. They were investigating. In 1906, the house laid a cornerstone for its first Office Building which is the cannon building. The next year, the senate held a modest ceremony to lay the cornerstone for this building. The russell building opened in 1909. At one time a house all of the u. S. Senators. Now it is one of three Senate Office buildings. Less than half of the senators are in this building. The others are spread out in the Hart Building. It is a gorgeous building. This is built in the french beauxarts style. The whole capitol complex was neoclassical. George washington wanted a neoclassical city. He picked the design of the white house and for the capital. He wanted a marble city. Theyve been in philadelphia. They even renamed a lot of the physical features in the new washington, d. C. , after famous roman places. So jenkins hill became capital line hill. And Gooseberry Creek became the tiber river that ran through the middle of washington. They wanted to give a stature to this new government. The first major republic since the Roman Republic in their eyes. This was a new city for a new government. It was mostly tobacco fields and empty spaces. So they gave it a grand name and planned out major streets. That was the style. It slowly built the city. In the 1890s, there was a major exposition in chicago, the white city they called it, because it looked like a white, marble roman forum. It was mostly made of papiermache, and it was just a temporary exposition for the columbus centennial, quincentennial. But that inspired the construction of New Buildings in washington. Union station a few blocks from here, is in that same style. The same architects were involved in that. Plus, a lot of the artisans who worked on the chicago exposition came to washington immediately after they worked in the library of congress. So, when they started planning for a new Office Building, and they hired a new york firm to design this. Their specialty was beauxarts. They did the new york public library. They wanted a building that would fit in with the capitol. That would match the style of the Capitol Building. The columns, but would not overwhelm the capitol. These billings are four stories tall from the street. They are built on hills. Some of them go down in underground and behind it. They flank the Capitol Building without distracting from the capital building. In that sense, they were successful. The house, the entire house of representatives, 435 members were going to move into this new building. Each member got one room. It was going to be very cramped. But they were only 97 rooms represented us at the time. They got close to the same appropriation to build the two buildings. They did not need a four sided building for the senate. They only built a three sided building. They used the extra money to make the russell building much more elegant than its matching house Office Building which became the cannon building. So that in this building the doors are made of mahogany instead of painted to look like they were having. Mahogany. In this building, the stair railings are brass. In this building, there is a lot more marbled other is in the other building. It is just a lovely building. The senior senators, especially, like this building. It has a style of the old school of the senate. The junior senators for the most part five is a very inconvenient building. It was not meant for modern Senate Offices. And so, today, what used to be a whole series of offices, you had two or three rooms. Now a hallway will be 10 rooms linked together, creating a centers a senators office. It is like a Railroad Train rather than an office space. You go from room to room. And the modern building, the Hart Building, was designed for the computer era. So i talked to senators who have loved this building but have moved into the Hart Building because they did not think this building worked as a Senate Office building anymore. There are others who would never want to leave here. It is a wonderfully stylish building. They appreciate the amenities, the marble fireplaces and the crystal chandeliers. The magnificent views of the Capitol Building, especially if you have one of the balcony rooms facing the capitol. That is where the senior senators have their offices. There is always going to be someone who is going to criticize anything the government does. And of course, when they started building this building, there were a lot of complaints in the press, especially when the building opened. One newspaper said that looked more like a ladys boudoir than an Office Building. There are was a great hue and cry about the building. That has been true of every building the federal government has built, especially Anything Congress has built. It became a very comfortable building, and people got used to it. It no longer seemed outrageous that they would have such an elegant building. You have to remember, also, that most governments in the world in 1906 were not republic. And there was still a sense we were the new government, we were the emerging government. We were trying to show that we were just as important, just as significant as the european monarchies at the time. And that we wanted a stately appearance in our offices. Actually, this room looks better now than it did when it was designed, because originally that was not a painted ceiling. Only in the remodeling in recent decades that its been highlighted that way. It wouldve looked a little plainer, but the room is so magnificent. It has got these wonderful corinthian columns. These huge windows looking out onto the courtyard. Its a stunning room, a room that is used not only for hearings but also for special receptions, for lunches, for heads of state, for first ladies, special events that have been happening here conflict. And its really adds a certain grandeur to whatever the event is. This building opened in 1909. This is call the caucus room or the assembly room. They knew major events would take place in here. In 1912, the titanic sank on its Maiden Voyage from england to new york. Many of the survivors and the crew members who survived were brought by boat to new york. The senate wanted to investigate what happened. This is a very shocking event. They were afraid that the british White Star Line was going to try to immediately get any of the british crew on another boat and back to england before they could be interrogated. So a special committee was created. It went up to new york to help hearings at the waldorf astoria. Then came here to washington to help the very first major hearing that was held in this room was on the sinking of the titanic. A huge crowd showed up. This was a big event because so many aristocrats, in england and the united states, had gone down on this ship. They frightened the senators, that there were so many people here. The next hearing they held within a Smaller Committee room. They did not want to have a big show in this room. But it drew a lot of attention to the issue. The hearings are fascinating. When the movie came out, they reprinted the excerpts from the hearings. Fascinating reading. They have influenced the way hollywood has depicted many of the scenes in movies about the titanic. The senate and house of head Standing Committees since 1816. The way in which committees gather information is to take testimony. All through the 19th century and early 20th century, there were hearings being held which senators were present would interrogate cabinet officers are citizens or anyone who had any knowledge about the issue to be able to draft legislation. In some cases, they held investigations to find out what went wrong. That went back to 1792, there had been a great defeat of the American Army by native americans in the northwest territory. And the congress wanted to know why. So they were interrogating members of the washington administration. But over time, these hearings got more and more staged. When this building opened, the russell building, they built Large Committee rooms. In those days, the committees mostly met around the table that was in the center of the room. The senators was set on one side. The witnesses would sit on the other side. Staff would sit in between. Any people who wanted to watch this what was going on with the around the edges newspaper reporters. There was not a lot of room, but there was not a big crowd in washington for events like that. After 1912, if there was a big crowd, they moved it into this room where they could accommodate a lot more people. Holding hearings was really a fundamental way in which the legislative process operates. Thats how Congress Finds out what is going on and also how it gets public attention involved. To get anything of significance done, you have to get Public Opinion behind you. You have to get the public to Pay Attention to this issue and want to change whatever the situation is. They write to members of congress and tell their members that something is the matter. You have got to fix this. So this is an important part of the legislative process. The big hearings usually when someone spelled a rat, when someone says something really wrong is going on. We will look into this. I do not want to give the impression that all of these hearings are successful. In fact, the overwhelming majority of congressional hearings have happened and then faded away, often with no legislation. They did not prove their case. There was a lot of fanfare, and then they trailed off. And there was a lot of posturing and a lot of speechmaking, but not a lot of hard evidence. A really successful congressional investigation got to be willing to do homework. Sort through mountains of records. They have got to interrogate witnesses in private before they talk to them in public. They have to know what the story is, and they have to be willing to ask tough questions when these people come up. But a really successful investigation has a treat witnesses with some humanity. Certainly we have had instances where witnesses were abused by congressional investigation. Eventually, the Supreme Court had to weigh in in 1957 and say, a citizen does not lose their Constitutional Rights by testifying before congress. Everything the congress the constitution protects a witness before in Court Applies in congress. So thats one of the criteria. But they also had some showmanship. They have to draw attention, get the press, keep the story alive over time. It cant be a oneday wonder. It has got to be something with persistence and sh what is going onows shows what is going on. By the time they did to the end of the hearings, they have to come up with some sort of solution to prevent the problem from recurring. Those are the criteria historians have used to judge successful investigations over time. During world war i, the federal government had taken over a lot of lands in the west and set them aside as naval oil reserves because they were going to need it for military. When the war was over, there was an argument the government did not need these naval reserves, and that private developers should be able to pump oil from them. In wyoming, there was a rock outcrop that looks like a teapot. That the name teapot dome. That was the property that a fellow named sinclair was able to get the rights to drill on. But then it turned out that sinclair had been bribing the secretary of interior to get those rights. Teapot dome started out as an investigation that most of the members of the press corps did not think was going anywhere. They thought it was just a typical congressional investigation, a lot of talk but no action. For a while it seemed that was true because the could not come up with hard evidence. But that was the chairman of the committee, the senator from montana a democrat from montana and even though the republicans held the majority in the congress, walsh had such personal reputation that he chaired this investigation and look into issues. And was looking into misbehavior by the Harding Administration, a republican administration. And walsh continued to press on this until he finally got some breaks, and got some people to admit that what they had originally said was not true. One of whom was with the publisher of the washington post, who, when the secretary of the interior was charged with suddenly having rebuilt his ranch in mexico a beautiful road, fixed up the exterior. Just about the time these oil leases were being sold to private investors. Ned mclaine said he lent the secretary that money. So the secretary did not have to go through illegal means. Then finally, walsh got mclaine to come up and testify in this room, and said, did you lend him the money . Yes, i did, but he returned it right away. That pull the rug out. It became clear that he a taken abroad. He became the first member of a president s cabinet to go to jail as a result of this. The attorney general is also involved. The whole Harding Administration was coming apart at the seams. Harding died unexpectedly in 1923. Calvin coolidge came in as president , different purpose. There was a sense of trying to clean up the mess of teapot dome. Teapot dome not only is the legislation but led to some major Supreme Court decisions. Because people were not quite sure what the right of congress were. One of the issues was can the Congress Call a private citizen who is not a federal official the Supreme Court in the summer because of teapot dome said, yes, anybody can be called to testify before congress. One of the was a case of the brother of harry daughtery, who said, im not a federal employee, so you should not call me. The Supreme Court said you have to testify. This has nothing to do with legislation, but the Supreme Court said it does not have to do with legislation. It is nice if it does, the congress has a role in our system of being able to investigate. Those were major decisions that supported subsequent investigations. The furniture that you see behind me is exactly the same furniture they would have seen in 1923 when thomas walsh was sitting there or when joe mccarthy was sitting there in the 1950s. The original piece of furniture, a carved bench with eagles on either side. That was purposely brought for this bought for this room. That long table is a table the senators would have said that with the green felt top on it. Sometimes with extension, depending about how many members of the committee were there. They wouldve sat there, and there wouldve been a chair facing them with a small table with the witnesses. Then around them, would have been, not quite a semicircle but a boxlike arrangement in which the first rows would be reporters. Beyond that would be the family members of members of congress. Beyond that would be the general public. You get 300 people squeezed into this room. Add to that drama. Please make whatever statement you would wish to make to the committee. Mr. Chair i instruct the officers, do not let anyone in or out of that door while professor hill is making her statement. In 1929, the stock market crashed. It wiped out a lot of people and it led to the depression. Businesses began to close down, banks failed. And there was this great panic among members of congress because the entire Financial System was collapsing. The question was why . President Hoover Herbert got reports that short sellers were behind the collapse and he thought prominent democrats like Joseph Kennedy might have been behind all this. So, it was president hoover who called on republicans in the majority in the senate to begin an investigation in 1932. They started in here and they started in 1932, they called various people and they discovered right away that the bear raiders were not responsible for the depression. There were a lot more causes involved. People like kennedy profited by the collapsed because they saw it coming, but they did not cause it. And the investigation floundered. There were several different chief counsels of the committee. Could not get traction. They called in the head of the new york stock exchange. He stonewalled them. They cannot figure out what to do. At the end of the year, they had to do a final report. They hired a prosecutor from new york by the name of he was in the new York District attorneys office. He came down it was supposed to write the final report. He started going through it and realize they did not prove anything. He asked the chairman if he could have a little extra, another month to tie up the investigation. To reopen it and tie it up. They called in the president of the National City bank. Pecora subpoenaed all the records from National City bank. Went through those records carefully, the way a prosecutor should. Then came back and brought in Charles Mitchell, a tall, distinguished looking banker. He had been an adviser to president s harding, coolidge and hoover. He came with a large retinue of bank officials. And he was very supremely confident that he was going to come out of this with no trouble. Pecora laid out with his bank has done, including selling short his own stock. Including the fact mitchell had not paid income tax for years. He had written off as lawsuits. And a whole bunch of irregularities. In those days, the stockbroker companies were part of the banks. Whenever the bank had a bad acid, it turned it over to a stockbroker which sold it to unsuspecting investors. So they were unloading that stocks. They documented all this. One by one, the retinue that were around Charles Mitchell disappeared. And the bank fired him. While he was testifying. And there was a huge headlines in the newspapers, big shock. And this really showed there was substance to it regularly for wall street. Wall street was unregulated at this time. It was like a private club rather than a public entity. So the democrats had just won the election. They were coming to power in march. The incoming chairman of the committee, duncan fletcher, said we we want to stay and continue this investigation. And pecora wrote a memoir. He talked about being in the russell building in 1933, about the thomas frank roosevelts inauguration about the time of Franklin Roosevelts inauguration. He talked about seeing mitchell walking by himself to union station. The man was all by himself leaving. That led to pecora carrying on an extensive and careful investigation into wall street banks and brokerages. He was not a senator. He was the chief counsel. Often this is called the pecora investigation. It is the only investigation known for a staff person rather than for the chairman of the committee. Its misidentified sometimes as the pecora commission. There was no commission. It was a committee, the Banking Committee of the senate. That was very important because the senators were also anticipating a questioning and listening to witnesses. That led to some of the most significant financial legislation that congress has ever passed. It really helped not only to get out of the depression but also to shore up the American Economy and the Financial System for the next 60 years. Its major legislation that stayed on the books, including the glasssteagall banking act, the securities and exchange act, the Public Utilities Holding Company act. All of this came out of this investigation. Pecora was a very good investigative. He always got the dirt on people. He always did the homework. And he could spring it on them. He was a type of person he had been a prosecutor. He would start by asking innocuous questions. Then hed get people sucked i n, and then he would come up with his heres the document. Can you explain this . He had the most famous bankers and brokers of the era to testify. Which drew in press. Newsreel cameras and all the rest. Jpmorgan, jr. Testified in this room. That got huge amount of attention because jpmorgan was a private banker. And it was here, in may 1933, the weakening of ma the beginning of may that morgan was testifying. Barnum bailey circus happened to be in washington. Circus promoter brought along a little person who identified herself as the circus midget. And during a break, the senators withdrew to a back room to talk. Morgan was sitting at the witness stand and the circus promoter dropped the midget into morgans lap. He thought it was a little girl. He said, i have a granddaughter bigger than you. She said, yes, but im older. He dropped her. But every press photographer had a picture. When the committee came back, they were chagrined. They asked the press not to print the picture. It was on the front page the next day. It was a symbolic picture of these once olympian bankers being humbled in congress. It had nothing to do with the circus midget, but it showed the attention was being given to his committee and the effectiveness his Committee Investigation was having. [gavel pounds] [echoing voices] in september, 19