Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-24
WATTERS0N RED HOT.
Crisp's Committees a Flagrant Sam
pie Of Practical Politics.
IT MEANS A PARTY REVOLUTION.
A Deal Between the New Speaker and Gov
ernor Hill Hinted At.
NEW. YORK SCHEMERs IN THE SADDLE

LOUISVILLE, Dec. 23.-The Courier-JouS-
nal of tomorrow morning will contain an
elaborate review of the Speaker and his
committees. Among other things Mr.. Wat
terson will say:
For the first time in the history of the
Democratic party in Congress, is the prin-
ciple laid down that the organization of
rivalry among friends, but of personal
aggrandizement and factional power. A
stronger man than Mr.. Crisp might have
paused before giving himself and his party
over to the assertion of this. Indeed, We
had hoped for better things.
No one will deny the right of Mr. Crisp
TO make his own committees; but when he
fixes it as the rule of his arrangement to re-
ward those who supported him and to pun
ish his opponents, and in doing this sends
the tried men of the House to the rear and
brings the untried men to the front, the
country and the party have the right to
hold him 10 very rigid accountability for
the consequences
An Estimate of Mr. Springer.
and good; if they fail to do SO, which seems
only too likely, he will live to regret his
election.
Naturally the reconstruction of the Ways
and Means Committee monopolizes public
attention and interest. The selection of
Mr. Springer for chairman would not be
happy one if there were nothing back of it;
but with the incidents of the caucus fresh in
the minds of the people, it is positively un-
fortunate, exposing both the Speaker and
the chairman to whatever the i1l-disposed
see fit to say about them, apd thus giving
the cause of tariff reform a black eye on the
threshold of Presidential campaign.
For Mr. Springer, personally, as we have
repeatedly observed, we entertain nothing
but friendly sentiments. He is q man of
exceeding earnestness and activity. He is
Democrat without flaw. Two elements
of leadership he undoubtedly possesses-in-
trepidity and selfconfdence. But Mr..
Springer has not, during his 16 years of ser
vice in Congress, shown the peculiar
capacity to lead the House.
Lacks the Qualities of Leader.
Energetic, courageous, honest he has
been, but he has lacked, or has seemed to
lack, the weight which commands . follow
ing. He has never been q member of the
WAYS and Means Committee. 1t is not sus-
pected that he has any large and luminous
view of the issue which has become the aim
of his party. His selection smacks too
much of the discharge of an obligation and
a pretext to turn down and degrade q
man who has done eminent work in a great
movement, and who has engaged the conf
dence of Democrats everywhere.
Whatever Mr.. Springer can do he has yet
to do. We shall prophesy no evil against
him. On the contrary, it is our purpose to
render him all aid In his difficult under
taking, and to support, if possible, his plan
of campaign. But we should not be true to
ourselves, to the occasion and to the party
if we left these things unwritten.
We shall not believe until we know more
than we now know that this reconstruction
of the Ways and Means Committee has been
made with the purpose to belittle and SUBJ
ordinate the cause of tariff reform by in
trusting it to inexperienced or inferior
hands. '-
The Alleged Deal With Hill.
We have thus far relied upon the as
surances of Mr.. Crisp upon that point; but if
it should turn out that these have been
carefully framed to mislead, and that the
disclosures of the current
to deal of the regulation New York pat
tern between the new Speaker and his i'm
mediate hackers, and Governor Hill and his
immediate hackers by which Democratic
principles are to be sacrificed to
and Presidential bargain,
then, indeed, will the hosts Of Democracy
rise in their might, and in their wrath scat
ter these lmpious despoilers of truth and
faith like herd of cattle. The future
alone can determine this. Much will de-
pend upon the course of the new Ways and
Means Committee.
But the present is no time for mincing
words. 1t is time for plain talk. The
new Speakers organization of the House is
a revolution, both theoretical and actual
1t is an experiment whose success or fail
ure is yet to be tested. 1t starts out with
the clear and almost universal dstrust of
Democrats in every part of the Union.
What Crisp Must Do to Be Saved.
The overcoming of this and the establish
ment its claim to public confidence, can
only be achieved by the display of great
perfect fidelity and undeniable
The brain and heart of the Democratic
party which still lead it will submit to no
equivoeation. They cannot be made to
thci SOhfiCtiOHs " tSHpOElZlnS
politics, no matter how practical MIR.
Crisp should from this time forward keep
ever before his eyes the awful specter of
Keifer, and, if he has any hope of prosper
Gus or an honorable fntufe, should steer
clear of New York breakers
1t is our duty, not our choice, to say these
things. In the late struggle over the |
speakership, we took no part. Regarding |
it as contest among Democrats wholly |
personal in its character, we carefully alb
stained from The expression of any indivIdu- |
al preference. We bring to the present situ-
alton temper free from prejudice. If the
result shall prove disastrous to Mr.. Crisp,
no one will be more chagrined than our
selves. Let us hope that it may not; that
he has builded wiser than we know, and
hat instead Of mere adventure upon the
Yea of public life, which he now seems to
be, he will prove successful revolutionist
md thereby statesman and patriot, battling
Ill our i'll forebodings and bringing US ont
If the darkness to light