The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1882-01-05
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From our Regular Correspondent.
WAsHMGToN, DC,
! Jan. 2.I2S2. G.

@L.-.
The grumbling, lopd and dee
over Speaker Keifer's COMMITTEES
which has been going on ever sim
they were announced, has not yet
bated, and thesmere the subject
discussed and examined the mel
and greater are the causes foundp
exist for this universal disapproy
Many Republicans and all the Deg
ocrats find abundant reason to-d5F
nounce this piece of work. tits nv
altogether that this or that man hi
been favored or overlooked or th1
anyparticular State has secured as
due consideration, but it is the gross
craftsmanship manifested and the basd
schemes advanced. against which
there is so much indignation. 1t
true that certain interests in Penti
sylvania have such liberal represel
tation on the Committees as amount
almost to control of legislation; bl
when Don Cameron swung the KEY
stone delegation around by the tai
and landed it on tie Kiefer side, 4
was expected that unlimited pledge
had been made. So there WASH
surprise in that. But that the cal
tire layout is an administrator
Stalwart organization, there is
reason to doubt. When KiefeF
friends appealed to the President
Administration support, they
=isedseEe4ything aRdwhea
thur told them to stsee Camerons
was a bargain. And in pursuance
this bargain the Committees hav
been fixed. Neither Mi. Kasson no
Mr.. Hiscock would ever have appeal
ed to the President for aid, and Mr.
Kiefer was the only candidate hav
ing any strength that the President
could have bought.
Few people not personally act
quainted with the methods of legis+
lation understood the full power Of
Committees or the importance Of
their construction. At present il
may be said that the standing Com
mittees control legislation. II is
next TO impossible to get through
the House or Senate any bill that has
not secured the approval of the Con-
mittee to whom it properly BELONG.
A bill may be introduced and putn
its passage without reference to q
Committee. But this almost never
happens to any Measure of imlof-
lance. If the Committee to whom it
is referred report against it, it j as
good as dead. The instances If a
successful defiance of a Committees
disapproval are SO rare that aaes-
cape of this kind becomes historical.
And it is, also, not common fer q
Committees recommendations tc be
disregarded. The weight of a Csm-
mittee, for or against a bill, is gne,
rally considered conclusive. 1t vii
be seen that the power ofthe stand.
ing Committees is wholly due to what
may be considered their moral iuiu.
ence. 1t would be perfectly eompe.
tent for the House to vote down my
Committee, to disregard its rec,m
lamentations, to destroy the lill'
which it has perfected, and to recon
struct, in open House, the scheme;
of law reported from the Committee
room but this is almost neverdone
Hence there is every reason why al
interests and all sides of a queS$or
should be fsirly represented iaI tn,
make up of these Committees.
To illustrate the unparal!elledpar
tisanship Of the present organization
let US take the Committee on Elec
tions, which passes upon CUES
tions of the highest privitege-th
right Of a Member to his seat. A
parties have a right to expect tina
such Committee will be so con
stituted as to inspire confidence tina
it will give at least some show 70
fair play; but in this Congress tina
Committee has been "organized t
convict''--to GUST several Democrat
ic Members from the South who's
cases are already prejud2ed. Two
thirds of the Committee are straight
out Republicans and of the othe
third one is a Virginia Readjuste
and another a Greenbacker with dc
cided Republican affiliations. Eth
Committee has met during the re
cess and already the Republican
Members are intimating that the
will make short work of certain Dem
ocratic Congressman, though the con
tests are mostly t. umped up case!
on the old-time carpet bag order
only thought of after it was fount
that Congress would be Republican
And so the case stands with othe
Committees. That on the Ways ant
Means, which controls the tariff an(
subsidies, stands ten protectionist
and three tariff reformers. A reas
oLable disposition for fair play, 0
even q desire to constitute anintel
Iigent Committee, would have LEI
the Speaker to place Mr.. Hewitt, 0
New York, on Ways and Means
He has had a wide Congressional ex
~perience, is a manufacturer on aver
extensive scale, and one of the few
men in Congress who have thorough
ly studied the tariff question. Be
ing q well informed iron and stee
master, MIR. Hewitt would even hay,
been very useful on the Naval@
mittee, but he is placed on the insixS
nificant Committee on Buildings an(
Grounds and nowhere else.
Mr.. Whithorne, chairman durins
two sessions Of the Naval Commit
tee, and an undoubtedly. able ant
honest man, with great experience
is dropped from that Committee en-
tirely and appears at the tail end o
the Committee on Levees. Every
body remembers that he investigated
Mr.. Robeson's NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. O,
the Navy, and if the Speaker has
any reason other than for droppins
him from the Naval Committee a dn,
regard for his own credit ought t.
induce him to make it public. Mr.
Holman, of Indiana, an old and ex
perienced Member of the House
who as member of the Anrroumn