The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-01-11
THEY WILL MAKE LAWS.
The Chairmen OF the Committees Of
the House and Their
Power.
An Array Of Jealous and Able
Lieutenants Selected by
10 Speaker Crisp.

Leading Law-nIakers Depicted by Pom and
Pencil--Parsonal characteristics and
illustrations Thereof.
Especial Correspondence Of THE IspEpENDEsr.1
WASHINGTON, Jan. 5.--The speaker Of the
house is like the man you see at the circus,
with the arma and thighs of q Sampson,
Glad in the pink tights OF coryphee, who
rides three or four horses at once and
drives thirty or forty more. Besides being
the presiding officer of the house he 10
chairman of the important little commit
tee on rules, and has to keep in hand and
guide the fifty or sixty other committees
which do the work of tho house. The cir
cns mans performance calls for nerve,
strength and skill, but a large part Of the
feat depends upon his horses. who must
look ns fiery and unmanageable as possible
and yet keep their places. attend to busi-
ness and cut up no pranks. So it is with
the speaker; his chairmen of committees
play big and important part in the per-
formance that the speaker seems to be do
ing. 5
The men who get the chairmanships
WELD largo powers. Each in his line OF
work controls interests that other men just
as influential desire to advance. This in
duence exchanges ana muItiplies itself and
you may almost say that dozen members
usually control and run the house to suit
themselves. In this way the record Of the
majority party is made and the output OF
legislation is determined. There can be
no doubt that such system Of legislation
was wholly unintended by the founders OF
the government. Committees there had
been almost innumerable in the continental
congress. but they were for 8 special pur-
pose and short lived. Such thing az
standing legislative committee was slow
and gradual growth in the federal congress.
There was but one in the First congress
that on elections. In the First and in the
Third congress there were temporary WAYS
and means committees, in the former to
arrange the revenues, in the latter to pro-
vide money to put down the Algerian
pirates. In the Third congress. the stand-
ing committees on claims, commerce
and manufactures were established; in
the Sixth WAYS and means was made q
standing committee. During all the earlier
| congresses both senate and house were in
| ments to draft bills, furnish reports and do
much Of the work new done BY tho COM
lnittses. Frequent resolutions appear on
| the journals calling for reports from the
secretary of the treasury on ways and
means to do this that and the other thing.
Jefferson alludes frequently to this practice
and to the informal way that chairmen of
committees for various purposes had of go
| ing directly to the president and his score
taries to formulate legislation. He also
points out that it took Il good deal of time
| for our senators and congressman to real
| iZe one important difference between the
British parliament and congress, and this
was that the former was "a legislative, an
| inquest and q council for the king" while
| the latter was by the constitution leRis-
lature and an inquest, but not council"
| In other words congress was distinctly q
coordinate branch Of the government.
Tbs convenience OF a standing commit
! tee undoubtedly suggested the system and
| it has grown with the growth OF the country
| and the consequent increase of necessity
for legislation. 1t seems strange that there
| was no standing committee on Judiciary
until 1913, twenty-four years after the
| meeting of the first congress, none on for
eign affairs or military or naval affairs nm
| til 1922, and that the now very important
| committee on coinage was tirst established
| in 1864, while that on appropriations was
not set up until 1865. OF course we know
committee had been done for three-quar-
ters of a century by the ways and means, as
| that of rivers and harbors, now 80 gigantic
| in it's far-reaching effect on the commerce
| of the country, WAS. until 1883, done by the
committee on commerce.
| It is also interesting to observe that down
| to 1860 the committees were appointed anew
every session. For a time they were APP
pointed by ballot of the houae; then the
speaker was formally authorized to ap-
point them; now he does 80 without such
authorization. The standing committees
are authorized by the rules, as we'll as the
number of members 70 be appointed on
each and the character of legislation to be
referred to them. There are always a
number of select committees that run along
from congress to congress, whose existence
depends simply upon u resolution, and not
| upon the regular rules. These are created
| to meet some temporary necessity. Such
select committees ut this time are those on
census, reform in the civil service. Indian
depreciation claims, liquor traffic, immi-
grafton and the Worlds fair. Some select
| committees finally become standing COM
mittees, others obviously disappear when
! the occasion for them passes away. The
speaker has tho power to put an end to q
select committee by failing to appoint. For
instance. u select committee on ballot box
purchases was allowed to lapse the other
day when Speaker Crisp failed to appoint
anybody to it. At the same time several
other select committee authorized by pre-
vious congresses were appointed.
A survey of the various chairmen of tho
house committees at this time before this
congress has settled down to work, is worth,
while as means of getting some idea of
what the session will bring forth. The
speaker has dsregarded many preoedents
and struck out into new highways of parlia-
mentary organization. The men in whom
he has expressed confidence are for the
most part old members whose reputation is
already made. Nevertheless. all sorts OF
speculative processes have so far failed to
discover in the composition OF the COM
mittees what party policy the speaker may
have sketched in for this congress to fill out
with color and substance.
The new chairman of tho COMMITTEES ON
elections is the dashing OFerrall, who
.zru~ comes from the
!:
.MNN&ND beautiful Piedmont
ATSMk region Of Virginia.
NxSNM Gen. O'Fertall at 2B
MS&M n was in command of
gNaRysES all the confederate
cavalry in the Shen-
$$RNESNNw, ~ nndoah valley. He
<&N1 ltHsM$nl2 is Virginian by
s&NMNNvsSbGv birth. and At fifteen
NMSSSN@Y@ years of age was ap-
A<$M8SI < pointed clerk Of
AGA1aESNN court to fill The va
5JRs &Y Ny canoy caused by tho
S,$E3Sm WI death OF his father.
%"%f He studied law after
o'rERRA11. the war, and prac-