Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1888-03-23
Committee Of Gonrres..

Committees Of Congress-
Before this session Of Congress ends
those who read the dispatches from
Washington viii probably see many
statements which imply that a commit
tee OF Congress possesses q great deal
OF power. Thus, it may be asserted
that certain measure cannot be passed,
because the committee having il In
charge viii not report it. Or it may
be that some bill VIII be delayed by the
tactics of a committee having control of
a different class of subjects Again,
we shall read that the Congressman
who reports a certain bill from a com
mittee refused to allow an amendment
to be offered.
"What!D some unpolitical reader will
exclaim: "DO You mean to say that
the House of Representatives cannot
pass Dill because one of its commit
tees Is unwilling? That Congress will
tolerate the intentional obstruction of
It's business by q committee? That any
member Of Congress would be so pre-
sumptuOus as to tell the House of Rep
resentatives that no member was to Of
fer an amendment to a bill without his
permission ?"
1t does seem a little odd until one
gets used to it, but it is all true. Partly
by rule and partly by custom, the com
mittees have increased their powers
until they are, In many cases, quite be-
Yond the reach of the body of which
they form part, and to which they
owe their existence. Let US make an
illustration of this remarkable state of
affairs: When a bill is introduced In
the House of Representatives, it must,
under the rules, be referred to some
committee. Having been so referred,
it IS wholly at the discretion of the
committee whether or not to report it.
If a majority of the committee are OPP
posed to the bill, the easiest way to
Kill it is to let 1t lie in the committee
room unrepOrted. We should say here
that IN all cases we refer to the COM
/ mittees of the House of Representa-
! tives. Some of the remarks are ap-
| phcable also to the Senate, but it is In
! the lower house that the committee
/ system has had its most remarkable
development.
There is a way in which some meas
ures may be taken away from their
committees. That is by a motion to
! discharge the committee from the con-
/ sideration OF the bill. Such a motion
may be made at certain rare intervals,
! provided the speaker consents, though
I
a bill away from a committee is so linn
! tied that practically it does not exist.
A great variety of examples might
! be given to show the peculiar powers
/ of committees, but we have no space
/ for them, and are readers will take our
word for it that in many instances the
( House of Representatives is literally
unable to bring before itself its own
! business, or to put measures into the
| form it would like to give them, be-
| cause one of the committee opposes its
will to that of the assembly as a whole.
| When one is reminded that these COM
mittees are not chosen by the represen-
tatiVes, but are appointed on the sole
responsibility of the Speaker, the stu
alton becomes still more remarkable.
It is not for the Companion to urge
| objections to the system as 1t is, al
though merely state the condition Of
things is to condemn it. We refer tC
the subject chiefly to explain what
might otherwise not be understood by
readers of the daily newspapers who
have not carefully studied the cOnstItu.
tion of Congress.
Acquaintance with the power exer-
cised by committees Will make it cleal
why there is such a scramble for com
mittee places when a new Congress
meets It is not simply the honor Of
icing chosen to serve on an important
committee, but the actual influence and
authority that go with the position
which make the members so eager fol
good assignments. Moreover, the same
facts will show why it is that certain
measures to which there seems to be
no objection, and which almost every
one admits to be essential to the pub
lie good, are not even considered by
Congress. The committee may be hos
tile; or committees having greater au
thOrity may demand the time of thu
House of Representatives and Ieav,
no opportunity for the consideration o
bills which Congress would like to pas
if its committees would grant it tn,
privilege. Youths COmpaq1jO71.