The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-08-09
A RECORD OF FAILURE.
Ex-Speaker Reed Reviews the Work
Of Congress.

1t was Extravagant and Incompetent
| s'Least Capable' and ''Most Riotous"
| House in the Nations History-Made
| Pretenses of Economy-And yet Appro-
priated 1922, 900 900 in Fifteen Minutes.
[Ex-Speaker Reed in the New York Press,l
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5.-The barbarian
army of Xerxes has recrossed the Hell
lespont with bedraggled legions, much
beaten and discounted.
Everything it has tried to do has been
failure, and it's every action has been in
effect a disproval of all that the Democ-
racy professed in the last Congress and
| in the last campaign.
1t has not only grievously sinned, but
has sinned against light, and its history
is a history of confessions and failures,
of admissions and retreats. That such
should be its history is not in the least
| unnatural. The present must always
join on to the past, and men are so
made up that they often sacrifice good
and useful opportunity in the present in
order not to confess to a bad course of
action in the past.
Democratic Partisanship.
When the Democracy met together
seven months ago it was evident to them
all that there must be some change of
their old rnles if they meant even to
seem to do business. But during the
last session they had said so much, had
burdened the air with SO many outcries
that they could not frankly and manfully
adopt that system of rules which had had
| the sanction of the severest trial that
ever a system was subjected to, a trial in
| which all partisan opposition had been
| paralyzed, and the business of the coun-
| try had gone on undismayed by clamor
| and undisturbed by noise. The Democ-
racy felt that they must somewhere have
for themselves the power they had so
| Nevertheless they also felt that for very
shames sake they must so conceal it
that the world would not find it out.
But the attempt at concealment was in
vain. Everybody now knows that the
very power they so bitterly complained
of when exercised by the Speaker i'm
partially on all bills they arranged to
have exercised on special occasions by
| the Committee on Rules, which is itself
| the mere creature of the Speaker, and
| they soon found that before the Commit
| tee on Rules could exercise this power
the Speaker himself must as 'tyranical-
ly'' as did his predecessor override the
decisions of Democratic Speaker,
which up to that date had been I'M
| touched.
Republican Fairness.
The Speaker of the last House endured
the waste for fortnight of two precious
hours every day rather than override a
| decision of Speaker Carlisle that the jour
nal must first be read before any other
business. That ruling seemed so in
trenched in good sense as to be unassail-
able. The Speaker of the present House,
however, before even filibusteI had be-
gun, overruled Mr.. Carlisle and gave the
proceedings of the committee on rules
precedence over everything but the chap
lain When one thinks of the hubbub
and noise, the wrath and turmoil, the
loud voiced patriotism which greeted
similar action of the committee on rules,
though made decorously and in order,
one hardly knows which to admire most,
the sudden summersault of the Democ-
racy OF their notion that they have con-
cealed it.
The Majority's Rights.
The Republicans were consistent
throughout, and offered to the Democ-
racy in majority the same control which
they themselves had exercised. They
did more than that-they offered the
complete control which every majority
ought to have, together with the right to
effectually compel the attendance and
action of members. Of course such
power would have meant responsibility
equally large and equally comprehensive
The offer was refused, though rules were
adopted which sanctioned actions on the
part of the committee on rules which
were the subjects of daily and regular
denunciation when Republicans were
charged with the conduct Of public bust
ness.
When the rules were adopted the new
members were told by us what the re-
suits would be, and a large minority,
perhaps even a majority, Of Democrats
have since and often expressed sorrow
and regret that they had not had at the
beginning the sense and knowledge
which they have now acquired. Instead
of giving freedom of debate only freedom
of opposition has been given.
The Democratic Rules are Failure.
Instead of the orderly discussion of
great questions the time of the House has
been wasted on roll calls and trivial de-
bate and all the measures of real impor-
lance have passed under suspension of
the rules by sheer force of numbers. AS
specimen of how these rules have oper-
ated in the way of increased deliberation
and care, let me give you few examples
Remember that this has been the long
session of Democratic Congress, led by
the very men who were so clamorous
only two years ago for freedom of de-
bate. Remember, also, that there was
no systematic day by day waste of time
by the opposition; no perpetual hand to
hand fight actuated by partisan, feeling