The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-02-12
"PRIDE OF COMMITTEE
HOW THE COMMITTEES OF THE
HOUSE DO THEIR WORK.


of Representatives is what may be aptly
termed. the Pride of Committee When
worked by an adept in the rules of the House,
this pride may prove disastrous to the
country. if not TO party. 1t sends bills. good
and bad, through the hopper Of legislation
with slight scrutiny and with great rapidity.
In Congress all legislation is damned
in committees The gates of the
dams are under the control of
the chairman of the committees They are
supposed to be raised at only stated periods.
A chairman versed in legislative jugglery
however, may raise them at an unexpected
moment, and wash the House from its feet.
1t is all done after the gates are raised by
an appeal 10 the pride Of committee.
The practice facilitates the springing of
measures upon the consideration of
the House out of their regular order.
Bills and joint resolutions are not
printed and laid upon the desks of members
every morning, as is the case with many
State Legislatures Even the rep Jrts come
at times after the bill is passed, 1t is some
times difficult to procure copy of the daily
House calendar. The result Is that an inn
portapt measure is frequently well under
way before nine -tenths of the members get
aninklng of what is going on The chairman
OF a committee usually has bill in charge.
nrtfully mislead members in explaining its
effect. He has the floor for an hour. He
farms ont the time AS he pleases. No one
can speak on the measure without his per
mission. Even the author of the bill may
be shut out from debate,
Within the hour the chairman Of the
Committee insists upon the previous queS-
tion. Five out of six of the members OF his
party are busy with their mails, or are
engaged in conversation. A snap viva voce
vote is taken, and division is demanded.
There is a cry of "All up and many arise
without a definite conception of the question
at issue. Most of them vote simply to suS-
tain the action of the committee. With
some it seems to be point of honor. Others
vote apparently under the conviction that
the committe can do no wrong. Possibly
at times fellow feeling influences their
action All are members of committees, and
each may have pet measure that may be
sprung upon the House i'll a similar manner,
and needs this same pride of committee TO
push it through. Only the personal appeal
of an old member, Is apt to turn them. A
new member is usually regarded as tyrO
whose Judgment has not been seasoned by
Legislative experience. His argumentative
appeals are answered by the words: Would
be glad to oblige you, but l must vote to
sustain the committee
THEY PIN THEIR FAITH TO THE SLEEVE
call for the yeas and nays serves only to
increase it. The bill is passed and the man
who has engineered it sits down with a
smile Of satisfaction.
There was fine illustration of the effect
of the pride Of committee in the House on
Feb. ,. The members had listened TO a terse
prayer from their blind chaplain. The
Journal had been read and approved before
half the seats were filled. Then a batch of
Senate bills were droningly referred to APP
propriate committees. Meantime members
were drifting in from corridors and com
nittee rooms, their hands filled with I'M
opened letters taken from the morning
mails. Scores were turning the leaves of
the Congressional Record. The hall fairly
hummed with conversation. In the confu-
sion, Mr.. GroSvenor OF Ohio, secured IMAM
imous consent to put a Muskingum bridge
b!ll on its passage. He struck "a snag or
two but finally scored a victory. Embold-
ened by the Buckeyes SUCCESS, the Hon j.
D. Savers of Texas, slapped through a bill
authorizing the Secretary of War to con
vey to the city of Austin a tract of land
fo- educational purposes. All this time the
confusion was unbounded. The bills were
passed by not more than the vote of 50
members. Messrs Buckalew aud
Springer of the Old Guard asked a few
questions, but apparently satisfied that the
measures were all right made no opposition.
THE WAY WAS AGAIN CLEAR
when sturdy clean-shaven man with bushy
gray hair, a commanding presence, and a
fine gold watch chain, arose in the front of
the Speakers desk Around him sat NOM
bers tearing open letters and clapping their
hands for pages. The buzz of conversation
still filed the hall. The gentleman was the
chairman of the Committee on Post Offices
aud Post Roads, the Hon. James H. Blount,
of Blbb County Georgia. In a resonant tone.
he asked unanimous consent for the consid-
Grafton of bill which he sent to the Clerk
desk TO be read. Mr.. Blount prefaced the
reading by saying that it was a general
law of great Importance to the postal ser
vice, and that there would probably be
little difference of opinion about it. The
Clerk read the bill in the tone of a COPY
holder reading manuscript. There was so
much noise that probably no one but the
Georgian heard the reading distinctly
Such words as Fourteenth section OF an
actn and "Be and the same is hereby
amended" caught the ear, but the connect
ing links were lost in the confusion. No
copy of or report on the bill was to be had
and members were absolutely dependent
upon their ears for information.
Watchful Mr.. Rogers, of Arkansas, how
ever, took no chances. lie objected to it's
consideration until he could learn something
about it. Mr.. Blount made a very plausible
explanation. Gov. Long, Henry Cabot
Lodge Gen. Weaver and others gathered
near and listened. As the Georgian put the
case, the bill simply proposed TO head OFF
INSCRIPTIONS publishers who were taking
advantage of "a technicality in the postal
laws by sending through the mails third
class as second class matter, thereby rob5ing
the government of seven cents a pound in
postage. Everybody seemed satisfied with
this explanation. Gov. Long Cabot Lodge
and Others returned TO their seats and Mr.
Rogers withdrew his objection.
Mr.. Blount had gained the key to the
situation. His bill was before the House,
and filibustering alone could prevent its
consideration. Everything was moving
smoothly when Mr.. Anderson, of Kansas
and Gov. Dingley, of Maine, put some pat
questions. They were promptly answered
but SO unsatisfactory that Messrs
Brumm, Of Pennsylvania, and Cannon, of
Illinois were aroused. The discussion that
followed disclosed the meat in this nut of
legislation. The Post Office Committee had
gone too far in its effort to correct an evil
that it had struck at the pocket Of every
reading farmer and mechanic in the co. H.
try. The law as it stands allows ''all news-
papers and periodicals issued at stated in
tervals, and as frequently as four times a
year" go through the mails as second class
matter, at the rate Of lc. pound. UnIer
the Blount amendment such periodical is
Tlarrarfc E'-arttFIfrt