Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-12-05
FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT,

There was Il time in congressional his
tory when the house of representatives
was free body and ruled its own buSi
hess under the mild sway of all officer
whose duty il was To preserve order in
debate and see that every man i'll his
turn had, if at all possible, n prompt
recognition and L fair hearing. That
officer was called aS he now is, 1.-The
speaker" His functions were properly
defined, and he did not hold over the
heads of the members Il parliamentary
lash in the way of appointing perma-
nent committees. Gradually, however,
the house surrendered. one by one, its
traditional privileges, until, to-day, the
speaker once in power i the master and
not the servant of the house of popular
representation. His will is law. His
glance may wonder beyond the first man
Ion his feet and fall on an obscure party
near the further edge Of the chamber,
because the latter may be his bOndman.
Argument ami debate are regulated not
by fairness but by favOritiSm. In this
way by slow graduationS the speaker
ship has become a dcspOtiSm. 1t is q
conspiracy against free speech, and the
power accorded the Office in the APP
pOintment of committees would not
have been conceded bya body jealous of
it, own dignity, and con-
sCiOuS of repre- Senting the greatest
free constituency in the world. The
speaker of the American house of repre-
sentativeS, tO-day, Is sort a respectable
gang boss" The members who are
permitted to serve under his royal ciicta-
tiOn are afraid of him. To kick means
obSCurity.Ou the committee list. Not 10
kick means the Acknowledgement of II
task master and the forfeiture of many
of the prerOgativcS granted the represent
tativc 10y the SutfrageS of the people of
his district. Either way the custom l.
bad-very bad; and an understanding
that the speaker Is a greater requisite for
success in public life than the possession
of brains. bravery Or education. And
this is why such great interest is now
being developed in the matter OF elect
ing functiOnary To succeed Mr.. RAN
DAHL. This successor must he, according
to the new order, Republican in poll
ties. The most familiar boss" for the
House that the Republican caucus could
think of on Saturday Was Keifer, of
Ohio. On personal grounds alone this
KGlIltllldu "OllLNl never liuNt btttl
named, but he was backed by the great
stalwart chiefs. He has been basking
in the sunshine of John LOgan'S Grecian
nose and nod, and Ohio has been illu-
minated by beam from the falcon OrbS
of the massive senator from PennSyl-
yaniu. This Senatorial influence in
House matters j. but another instance
Of the marked dicadence of this pOpu-
lar body. 1t displays in every fresh
movement a femenine desire to lean
upon >omcthingStrOnger. 1t was Sowith
the diScontcnted Hebrew gentlemen of
old, who, tired ofpOpular Representations
cried out for king and got him, haudi-
capped by mere wives than could be
rallied in day i'll the sanity streets and
squares of the Norman capital. Our
legislators have become rs ivy, and
twine syc0phantly around the naughty
senatorial oaks that overshadOw the
halls of Congress Uriah Hecp was
never half 80 humble in his hypocrisy
aS Our CongreSsmen have become i'll
their abject sincerity.
1t is really almost time that the house
should begin To cut the umbilical cord
that binds il seltishly To the speaker,
ami do things more like as if its menu
bers were born in country where
every man Is supposed to be able to
scrapa together q little brains on his
OWE account