New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-12-24
kerr's Curious Combinations.

Aioss COuueutS On Lne committee ap-
pointments of the Speaker of the House are
so varied and entertaining that room is
made for few more of them.
A Washington special to the Cleveland
Leader says:
The Democracy is convulsed with mighty
dissensions to-day over the appointment Of
House committees. 1t is doubtful if the
holiday recess will be long enough to allow
them to recover their equilibrium, and
many are of the opinion that the rupture
will be permanent Kerr has made many
blunders since he took the chair, but none
SO great as the snubbing of Fernando Wood
The Oldest, most experienced, most digni-
fed Democrat in the House was totally
ignored and person of no experience. no
reputation, no social or commercial infiu-
ence was given the most honorable and
responsible position on the floor. man
who represents one of the wealthiest and
most aristocratic districts in the nation. who
has been three times mayor of New York.
who has served ten terms in Congress- and
the acknowledged Democratic leader for
thirty years, is made second to the repre-
sentative of an "ague" district in Illinois.
Woods dignity is unruffied. 1t ia not he
but the House. that is,degraded by the ap-
pointmsut of, this unknown sucker who ls
only entering his second term. But Wood q
trisnds are making q terrible fuss, and de.
nounce the Speaker in unmeasured terms
Some say Morrison's appointment was the
result OF compromise, there being such a
rivalry Ostween Wood and Cox for the
Ways and Means craftsmanship. But why
was not Wood taken care of as Cox was!
Morrison is a clever man and good worker,
but compared with Thad Stevens, Schenck
and Dawes, his predecessors on the
committee, he is puerile. The Republicans
q strop@ rho p,;t
tee, and if Wood declines to serve. as it is
| rumored he will Blaine and Garfield will
control matters. Another blunder of Kerr's
is the appointment Of Proctor Knott, a buff
foon to the dignifed charmanship of Judi.
clary. Lamar wanted it, as also did Saylor,
of Ohio. and Clymer, of Pennsylvania
Clymer is put of with purely ornamental
place on the Library Committee. The com
position or the committees is regarded by
the Republicans as being entirely to their
advantage, and they are perfectly satisfied.
Payne is given a very prominent position,
the second place on the Currency Committee
being regarded as equivalent to an import
ant chairmanship.
A special to the Cincinnati Times says:
The current criticism in political circles
is favorable to the Judgment shown by
Speaker Kerr in the formation Of the House
committees although there is deep dissatis-
faction on the part of Eastern Democratic,
on account of placing Western man at
the head of the Ways and Means Commit
tee, and the refusal to give New England
the Craftsmanship Of any committee. Fer
nando Wood expresses himself satisfied thai
Cox was not placed at the head of the
Ways and Means Committee, while the
latter continues very wrothy, and openly
declares that Morrison must look some
where else for support when the Republi.
"a .
surely will, for he will no longer be made to
pull chestnuts out of the fire for come less
worthy Democrat to eat.
Journal:
Our special Washington dispatches OF
yesterday stated that the fOresha shadowing of
the House committees had created great
deal of surprise among members, and we
fancy their official announcement this
morning will create no less throughout the
country. That Mr.. Kerr's task was a diff
cult one can not be denied. The DemG.
cratic majority in the House contains few
| men Of marked ability, and fewer still of
much experience in public life. Most of
the talent and experience in the House are
on the Republican side, and he could no.
avail himself of this Every committee
must have Democratic chairman and q
the best men for the place or not. Much of
the material he had to deal with was new
and green. Many of the Democratic mem.
bers are political upstarts, whose expecta-
tons were IN an inverse ratio with their
deserts, and these were to be provided for
and pacifed. The task of forming some
forty odd committees out of such material
was, at best, difficult one, and the manner
in which Mr.. Kerr has performed it shows
that he labored under great embarrass.
ments. 1t is evident throughout that he con-
suited his own interests as much as those of
his party, while those of the country were
left out of the case entirely. The commit
tees are formed, first, for Mr.. Kerr; second,
for the Democratic party, and third, for the
leading committees not one is specially tit
for his position, while in all the appoint
ments there is evidence of an Interior polit-
ical purpose. Some prominent men OF the
Democratic party are slaughtered, and
others barely recognized, while several
nOndescripts and nObOdies are advanced
to important positions. Look at them.
mittee, the recognized leader of the House,
is Hon. William r. Morrison, of the seven
teenth Illinois district, a man of fair ability
but little experience, who is now serving 2
his second term in Congress. The country
knows nothing of him, and if he has any
greatness In his composition the credit of
discovering the fact will belong to Mr.. Kerr
Fernando wood who wanted to be chair
man of this committee, is given the second
place on it, and John Hancock" of Texas,
an individual of whom the country knows
nothing, has the third place. Blame and
Garfield, either one OF whom has more
brains than all the Democrats on the COM
mittee, are near the tail end of il, as they
had to be for political reasons, which makes
of it regular kangaroo committee. Sam
Randall, of Pennsylvania, salary grabber
and demagegue, is chairman of the Appro-
priations Committee, the second most i'm
portant position in the House, with Hol-
man second, and string of nObodies fol-
lowing. Samuel Sunset Cox is chairman of
the important Committee on Banking and
Currency. He is the little joker of the
House, and mainly known for his smart
ssllies and clever magazine articles. La
mar, of Mississippi, leads the Committee on
Pacific Railroad, which is clearly packed"
in the interest of that scheme. Lamar was
a rebel. The chairman of the Judiciary
Committee, which is commonly supposed to
embrace the brains of the House, is j.
Proctor Knott, of Kentucky. . backwoods
lawyer and stump speaker, who is known
only by his amusing Duluth speech aud
by 3 collision with General Butler,
in which he violated parliamentary law
aud insulted the House. Knott was a rebel
land, is chairman of the Committee on For
war as an unoompr0mising rebel of the
sneaking Maryland type. Not being able
to find Democratic member with Q mill
tow raoor1 Mr. Karr aalaota1 Ranpipu of