The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1888-01-19
THE NATIONS CAPITAL,
WHY NORTH CAROLINA MEM.
BERS ii We NO CHAIRMANSHIPS.
A Bad Practise North Carolina Has of
Chaaging Her representatives Every
Second Term.

A Bad Practise North Carolina Has OF
| Changing Her Representatives Every
| Second Term.
Especial Cor STATE CHRoNICLE.l
| WASHINGTON, D. c., Jan. II, 1851
see my friend, Mr.. Daniel r. Goodloe, is
very much offended at the way in which
| North Carolina has been treated in regard
to her committee chairmanships. My first
impulse was, as you know, to treat the
matter in the same way. But the more
think about it, the less l censure the
| speaker. The State is to blame for the
position and influence she will have in the
5Oth and 51st Congresses. Messrs. Hen
derson and Johnston had right to expect
the craftsmanship of small committees.
| Length of service determines these things
primarily. A second consideration-but
| it is one that counts for great deal in the
| long run-is the character and ability of
the representative. If North Carolina
| had sent Hon. VIM. r. Cox back to Congress,
as she should have done for third term,
| he would have been made chairman of an
! important committee. Hon. Wharton
Green, in his four years service here,
made many and powerful friends. His
third term would have given. him chair
manship in which he would have been
able to do his State distinguished service
Recently l had occasion to go TO the
| POst-office Department. General Steven
son said to me; "What do your people
mean by retiring that estimable gentle
man, Col. Wharton Green, just as he was
| III the way of being most serviceable to
thems" l could make no sensible answer
without abusing the State and l refrained
| from telling him the truth. 1t is the Gus
| tom in North Carolina to give man two
terms in Congress and then retire him for
some other aspirant who prefers his own
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENT to the good Of his district
or State. This is all right so far as the
aspirant goes. l am the last person on
| this earth to decry ambition-even though
it vaults beyond the utmost capacity of
the individual possessing it. But the con-
| stituents and the nominating Conventions
are to be blamed and they will suffer for
| sending, continually, raw inexperienced
and incompetent men here as long as they
| do it The fact that North Carolina is
one of the original thirteen States makes
! her situation less eXcuSable. She ought
/ to learn some things from experience.
! She has another ridiculous custom which
! | hope she will abolish at once, though it
! has been lonoreu until it has become an
unwrtten law in nearly every district. 1t
is this: If an incompetent Congressman
slips in accidentally and serves two years,
! he must come back two years more be-
cause ''custom" requires it The ''cus-
/ tom is TOO ridiculous and illogical to
! bear comment If by mistake, an incom
! petent man comes here, the sooner he is
reegated to his proper place, the sooner
! the mistake is remedied. And when a
man like John Henderson comes here and
| shows the whole country even during his
/ first term what is in him he ought to stay
| here as long as he SuStalnS his reputation,
and shows no signs of deterioration. Col.
! Thos D. Johnston is another member of
! our present delegation who could serve
the State better than he can serve himself
| by remaining here as long as possible.
! Mr.. Simmons gives also promise of becom-
ing valuable member, but he will not
| nave a chance at a second term. His
successor Will be a Republican, probably
I Col. Young. of Henderson. At any rate
the Republican party in North Carolina
| will be too shrewd to let party discords
wipe out second time that IA, 900 major
/ ity in the Second District.
Mr.. Goodloe mentions other States as
receiving important chairmanships.
will give your readers the reason by tax
| ing one of these States-Georgia for in
stance-as an example. Several of her
Congressman have important committees.
These are Messrs. Crisp. Blount, Gambler
and Clements. Mr.. Turner, of Georgia,
was offered the Craftsmanship of the Elec-
tions Committee, but declined it and was
placed on the most important committee
| in the House, that of Ways and Means.
The strong point in favor of Georgia Mr.
Goodloe left out. Mr. Blount, chairman
of the Postoffices and Postroads Commit
tee, was elected to the 43rd Congress and
| has served continuously since then to this
date. When his present term expires he
| will have served sixteen years. North
Carolina had ADLER men here in the per
sons of Hon. Alfred Waddell, Hon. j. j.
Davis, Hon. R. NJ Armfield, Hon. VIM R.
Cox Hon. Wharton Green and did she
give them as fair chance to make their
| abilities felt or not. Your readers can
answer the question.
Mr. Gambler, Chairman of the Educa-
ton Committee will have served six years
continuously when his present term ex-
pires. l hear he will surely be re elected.
Judge Crisp, who was appointed Judge OF
the Superior Court in 1877, has had the
same term of service as Mr.. Gambler. He was
made Chairman of the Elections Commit
tee by election of the House, not by ap
pointment by the speaker. Mr.. Carlisle
| asked the House to elect the Elections
Committee because his own case with
Thoebe was to be referred to that com
mittee.
Mr.. Clements, Chairman of the Commit
tee ca Civil Service Reform, was the seconC
man on that committee while Genera
Cox was chairman. Precedence Ca big
humbug, sometmes) entitled him to it
He is an able man, and ought to have haC
it, He will have served, when the presen
Congress expires, eight consecutive years
Henry G. Turner, one of the ablest mer
in the Georgia or any other delegation
was born near Henderson, North Carolina
Georgia, his adopted State has sent hin
here eight years. His native State, Nortl
Carolina, would probably have refused t.
recognize his abilities in any respect. H,
would have hailed from the black district
He has none of the arts of the demagogue
He is ignorant of the methods Of 'pullin,
political wires'' He would refuse pon
blank to make combinations for his owl
advancement. He is a brother of Dr.
Vines Turner, of Raleigh. There ar
about fifteen native North Carolinians il
Congress as representatives of other States
the majority of whom will see long term
of service here if they show they deserv
it: Would North Carolina do as muc
for these gentlemen if they had RENAME
I within her borders?
Mr.. Goodloe makes another mistake
North Carolina has nine and not ten reI
resentatives, and two of these not one
. are Republicans viz. Messrs. Nichols an
a Brower Three of these will have serve
four vears whom tho 50th ConuraSC aypiro,