Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-12-11
THE HOUSE LEADER
His Identity at This Time Some
what Doubtful.
TWO TARIFF POLICIES PRESENTED,

Mills and Springer Being the Repre-
sentatives Thereof-A Strong Senti-
ment in Favor of Giving Northern
Man the Leadership of the House
Acting Secretary SpauIdins Quotes Law
on the Chinese Question: Flood of
Bills in the Senate-The Crops and
Their Values.
WASHINGTON, Dec. n.-When the house
m 4ets tomorrow Speaker Crisp will an
uounce the committees on rules, mileage
and accounts, and then-it is commonly
understood among leading members
that body will again adjourn until
Wednesday, so as to enable the speaker
ana the gentlemen who Will constitute
the rules committee to draft report en-
bodying the new rules that will govern
tue house until the close of the present
congress. 1t has usually been the custom
for the speaker to ask to serve on the rules
committee the gentleman whom he eX-
poets TO appoint chairman of the ways
and means committee. In the Fiftieth
bngress Mills, who was then chairman of
the ways and means committee, was on
the rules committee.
Mills Position in Doubt.
The gossip now is, however, that even
should Mills again be placed at the head
o: ways and means it is by no means GER
tain that he will be also on the list when
the rules committee is announced. In
d led. it is no secret that many OF the
leading Democrats have been urging the
speaker to omit Mills from both the .'ules
ald the ways and means committees, and
and TO come out boldly and appoint
Springer chairman of the latter; buS in
the present state of affairs the opinion is
that the complexion of the rules commit
tee when announced, may or may not in
dictate who will be chairman of the ways
and means. There is growing impress
sion that inasmuch as the Democrats will
be busy framing the code of rules from
now until the holiday adjournment, IL
will be hysically impossible for Speaker
Crisp to announce the house committees
before the holidays.
Pressure for Northern Men.
Inquiry among Democrats seems to in
dicate that pressure is being brought to
bear on the speaker to place not only
northern or western men at the head of
committees, but to appoint as members
OF the first named committee a majority
of northern men, so as to prevent in the
next campaign the cry that the manufac-
turing states were denied proper repre-
sentation on the most important commit
tee of the house. The air is full of all
sorts. CT rumors, and Speaker Crisp is
destined 10 have busy time before he
finally completes his list of committees.
Two Ideas of Tariff Measure.
There is good deal of talk that
Springer may be the head OF the ways
and means committee. Mills is in favor
OF general tariff bill and an attempt to
pass it. Springer's plan is an elastic one.
He favors the introduction of a series of
brief bills, putting wool, lumber, salt.
binding twinc, iron ore and coal on the
free list, and the appointment of a COM
mission TO travel over the country 10
consult the people and prepare bill dur
ng the autumnal recess, for considera-
tion at the second session. From the
reason that the Springer plan seems to
please most of the members, he is now
hou-ht to be the coming man for lesder
On he floor.