The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1890-01-03
CONGRESSIONAL NOTES.

The republican members of the house ex-
press themselves as well satisfied with |
Speaker Reeds list of committees. There !
has been, they say, a general recognition of !
the leading men on both sides in the make |
up of the more important committees, a |
pretty even distribution of the chairman |
ships SO far as the various states and |
sections are concerned. and it is conceded |
that there has b. Ell efficient arrangement
of the membership, and one, too, that will
enable the accomplishment of much legisla- |
tion this winter. Under ordinary circum-
stances the republican members make bet
ter workers than their political adversaries,
and, result, when the house is under
their control, the chances of successful
legislative season are considerably enhanced.
Although the holiday recess has COM
mencsi, many of the members intend to
remain here and get their committees in
good working order. There il plenty of
work before them, too, and the experienced
men know that the chances of getting their
pet measures through are greatly increased
by having them early the calendar. In
consequence of this, there will be considera-
bic of a struggle for precedence when the
house meets again, as about e.ery i'm
portant committee will have measures of
prominence ready for presentation. The
appropl iation committee will have several
uf the smaller general appropriation bills
ready for action by the time the holidays are
are over, and the ways and means COM
nlittee will also have made much progress
in the investigation of tariff matters.
~
A feature of the new congressional direc
tory. and one that is pretty generally fol-
lowed by the new members. is the precision
with which they affirm that they are mar
ried, one man going SO far as to state that
he has been twice a widower. The Older
members are evidently not anxious to
have it known that they are husbands and
fathers, for they scrupulously avoid all
reference to the matter Another fact that
is made apparent Ill these short biographical
sketches of the lives of our solons, is the
comparatively few college graduates who are
in congress. On the contrary, the state
ment most generally used is that they
worked on farm i'll summer and attended
the county schools i'll winter. Tie large
portion of members, too, were in the army,
| either on one side or the other, but the
generals and higher officers are not SO con.
spicuous as they were, the privates now
coming forward in larger numbers, which
goes to show that the younger men are now
| crowding to the political 'front.' The mem
| Der who furnishes the longest sketch is
Charles Augustus Hill, nf Illinois, and he
| tells of every battle he participated in,
while Henry q. Turner, of Georgia, has the
least to say, as he only gives his age and
| the number of times he has been elected to
| congress.
The composition OF the committee on
| rivers and ilarbors is such that liberal ap-
| preparations will be made for this important
| class of public works. The members taken
hath y,,,l,fip,I fav hlU RI
| posed toward such improvements. 1t is tha
! intention of General Henderson, the chair
| man of the committee, to have it get down
| to hard work at once. i'll order that the
| river and harhor bill can be passed through
| the house earlier in the session than has
been customary, and i'll this way prevent
| it's fi,Ial defeat because of the want of
time to give it proper consideration. As no
| bill wasipassed at the last session, it is an
ticipated that the total appropriations for
river and harbor improvements this year
! dollars
The democrats in the house are not alto
gether satisfied with their prospects for
making an effective fight this season. 1t is
urged 10y many of them that Mr.. Carlisle Is
| too conservative man to wage successful
| partisan warfare, ard besides, 1t is Thought
| that he is a little too lazy to be up and
doing at all times. They wonld be much
better pleased with Sam Randall for a
parliamentary leader, if his physical condi-
ton was good. Mills, of Texas, their next
best man, has not the full confidence of his
| party. He has never been congenfal
| spirit with them; too irascible in temper;
| and little too exclusive to suit the ay erage
democratic statesman. They have, IT. is
| true, one fighting man in Oates of Alabama,
| who has but one arm, having lost the other
| during the war, but his mental st tndard has
| never beer gagged at the highest. While
| the democrats are thus in a measure, solne-
| what demoralized. the republicans, on the
| other hand, have thorough organization
and a discipline pretty nearly perfect.
| There is another great point i'll favor OF the
| last named party and this is the regularity
| of their attendance upon the sessions of the
| house, which has ever been in strong con-
| trast to the ab-enteeism of democrats.
| Taken all in ali, therefore, there is every
| prospect of the republicans being masters Of
| the situation when congress again gets down
! to work. AS for leaders, there are, as is
well known, plenty of them. or rather, a
| number of able men with long experience
in legislation. from which to select, leaving
aside Mckinley aud Cannon who will have
the pr actical management of affairs. As far
as indications 90, therefore, the republicans
will have a satisfactory superiority III the
| lower branch of congress, in addition to the
fact of the majority in numbers being with
| them. ..... X.
| WASHINGTON, D. c., Dec. %, 'S9.