The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-03-11

House calendar, ana compe1 the mouse TO
considerit. 1t can also report new bill
and compel consideration on that, even
though it is not printed, SO that by the
refinement of republican cunning eight
men, constituting majority of single
committee, can take the lower House of
Congress by the throat. OF course there
is an object in all this. Anything that
emanates from Speaker Keifer, Secor Robe
lson, and Tom Reed is prima facie
worthy of a Holman like scrutiny, and these
three men conceived this bit OF
auteeracy. Keifer was the dummy whose
vote carried the proposition through the
committee. Secor Robeson's sinister and
| Tom Reeds subtitle brain conceived the
scheme while Randall and Blackburn, the
other members. fought it in committee,
and said that they should fight it in the
House. Precisely what schemes Robson
and Reed, with the help of Keifer. propose
to rush through the House under this con-
centration of power. is not yet known. It
was at first thought that subsidies and job
berry were to be favored, but Keifer did
not dare go so far as to include in the pro-
posed rule bills requiring an appropriation
| of money. But partisan or other favored
legislation can be rushed through at the
command of few men who will crack the
party whip, and the minority, and in fact
| the majority, become mere dummies.
Conference among the democrats for a
few days revealed the fact that all regard
ed the proposed change of rule as a dan
gerous and unjust concentration of power.
Some of the older members speak of the
| proposition as a most monstrous evasion
of the spirit of the constitution, and they
regard it as matter for great concern
that members of congress should be will
| ing to contemplate doing that which is in
the direction of making representative
government a sham. There ere many
ways in which under the color of law,
congress can cease to be representative
body and become an autocratic one, but
Mr.. Hewitt, Mr.. Cox, Mr.. Randall, and
others think there never has been a more
palpable effort in that direction than this.
Only the. other day in the Senate Mr.. Hoar
ness about the tendency in the lower House
to defeat the purposes for which it was
created. by reason of it's subtle rules and
its artificial, technical system in the bust
ness of legislation. This is already clog
ging the wheels more and more perceptibly
at every session, and many members be-
lieve viii continue to do so until public
sentiment compels q change. Mr.. Hear
said that it was astonishing that the Amer
lean people had borne with patience the
excuses that had attached to the lower
House. It has come SO now that almost
all of the legislation is done on trust. |
Such painstaking member as Mr.. Hewitt
says that the system of legislation makes !
it absolutely impossible for member to |
know anything about the majority of bills |
that pass. Only last Saturday the Diplo- |
matte bill went through the Committee of |
the Whole, and only two members of the |
entire House, outside of the Appropria |
tions Committee, knew that there was an |
item in the bill which absolutely changed |
the consular clerkship system, system
that has been in vogue for years. 1t is a
change. too, that would be powerful in
strument In the hands of a vicious Secre-
AIRY of State. Such comments as these
we're made in the Democratic caucus which
vas held this afternoon, and there was not
member to dissent from the adoption of
resolution which binds the Democrats to
oppose the proposed change in the rules by
Every parliamentary device: that is, by fill
if necessary. The Republicans
eceived this news with not little aston
shment this evening. Again Secor Robe
on had misjudged the temper of the Dem
,crats and of the House, for not few Re-
,ublicans are opposed to his scheme.
Robson did not believe the Democrats
would make any fuss about this thing, and
e intimated to Blackburn that he couldn't
york a scare among them. Mr.. Blackburn
ad no need to work scare. The Demo !
ratio members were as indignant as Mr.. !
blackburn himself.