The Portland daily press., 1891-12-14
Especial Washington Letter.1

on Careful obscrvations-Me who will
. Get the Plums.
Especial Washington Letterl
It is y popular fallacy that when the
house OF representatives elects a speaker
and other officers that great parliament
airy body is ready to transact the public
business. On the contrary, according
business can be transacted without the
reference of all legislative matters to
committees and subcommittee desig-
mated to investigate and report upon
each matter for the consideration of
the house. Consequently until the
speaker has had time to construct the
committees and announce the appoint
ments the wheels of legislation are per-
petually blocked. No appropriation of
money for public use can be made until
a specific bill has been introduced
and referred to the committee on ap-
preparations and from that committee
favorably reported to the house by the
chairman thereof, with the recommen.
dalton that the bill do pass. Until the
committee on appropriations is appoint
ed and ready for business of course all
appropriation bills are as inert, ineffect-
i've and useless as though they had
never been committed to paper nor
placed upon the records of the clerk of
the house. The same may be said of,
all bills relating to commerce, patents,
pensions, agriculture, the judiciary, the
current expenditures of the house and
all other matters.
The formation of the committees in
order to do justice to every member ac-
cording to his standing in the house by
reason of previous services, and at the
same time to please all, or majority,
requires the exercise of an exceptional
amount of intelligence, discretion and
fair-mindcd disposition on the part of
the speaker. 1t has sometimes hap
pened that the committees have not
been announced until after the Christ
mas holidays and on some occasions
they have not been announced until
late in January. Pending these APP
pointments the speaker is the busiest
man in the national capital, and usually
tho most harassed. He is obliged to
consider the merits and dement's of
every member of the house of repre-
sentatives; always giving preponder-
a1ace of consideration to the members OF
the majority party, but upon no occa-
sion has any speaker ignored the rights
of the minority in the appointments
made upon the committees. He is
obliged to listen to the statements of
Il
their constituencies, their own personal
ambitions and desires; and to make in
quiry in his own way concerning the
truth or falsity of the many alleged
facts which are placed before him by
the statesmen who throng his room at
the capitol and invade the privacy of
his home in order to place before him
their hopes, fears and aspirations. The
reader will therefore understand that
the gentleman recently honored
by the suffrages of his colleagues
by an election to the speaker
ship, has his head, hands and
heart full to overlooking. That he will
bring order out of chaos within rea-
sonable time everybody believes. New
ertheless, there is great deal of anx-
iety already manifest and considerable
Impotence is already expressed by
members of the house who are unable
to secure from the speaker any positive
assurances that they will be given the
positions upon committees upon which
they have set their hearts. The impor-
tant positions of course are the chair
manships; and for these places of auto
cratic power as well as distinction
every one of the older and more expert
enced members of the house is striving.
It is customary, and has been since the
formation of this government, to give
precedence in the appointments to
chairmanships to those members who
have been retained longest in service by
their people; and it has been done and
probably always will be done upon the
correct theory that legislative expert
ence enhances the parliamentary pow
er of individuals and renders them more
available and valuable for the public
service and ''the general welfare" con-
templated in the first clause of the con-
stitution of the United States. There
is every reason to believe that the
speaker will be actuated largely by
this theory and particularly in the for
nation of the committees of the house
for tbs Fifty-second congress-; and act
ing upon this presumption after con-
versations with gentlemen of expert
ence and discernment am able to give
an approximate list of these chairman
ships.
Mr.. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, Mr..
Breckenridge, of Arkansas, Mr.. Nc
Millin, of Tennessee, and Mr.. Wilson,
of West Virginia, are among the old
est and ablest members of the commit
tee on ways and means. At present it
seems likely that Mr.. Wilson, of West
Virginia, will be selected for the chair
manship of this committee.
Mr.. Crisp, of Georgia, has been clair
man of the committee on privileges and
elections for number of years and is
the ablest man in the house for that
position.
Gen. Forney, of Alabama, is the SEN
Tor member of the committee on APP
preparations and is entitled to the
craftsmanship by reason of seniority;
but Mr.. Dockery, of Missouri, is being
strongly urged for the position and may