The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-05-07
WHY THEY DAILY.
The System of Committees in
Congress,
Takes Up Great Quantities of
Time.
THE LOBBY is PAST.
Old Style of Lobbying Has
"Gone Out"

NOW bna6 Coxey has come and seen and
been conquered our chief excitement is in
specializing on what the senate will do
with She numerous mendments in wait
ing for the Wilson bill and in watching
the monotonous grind of the house on the
slow dragging appropriation bills. Little
by little the advantage gained by the early
start of the Fifty third congress has been
frittered away until now the condition as
TO results achieved is almost exactly what
it was two years ago. On the 1st of May
1899, the house had passed six of the regu-
lar appropriation bills, and on the same
date this year it had passed seven, but not
one of the regular bills had passed both
houses and been sent to the president. On
the same date this year only the pensions
and Notifications bills had been reported
by the senate committees, while the mill
tary academy, pOstOffice sundry civil, Dis
trict of Columbia and consular and diplo-
matte bills were still in the committee, and
six bills were rot yet finally acted upon by
the house OF these the legislative is al
ways delayed, and the deficiency bill is of
course among the last bills of the session
to be reported In com pairing progress to
date with that of various congresses in the
past it is curious to note how regularly the
same movements by the majority recur,
and the same tactics to annoy, e1nbarrsss
the majority and delay action are used by
the minority, no matter which party is in
power
Cause of Delay.
First the chairman of the committee
who has the matter in charge presents his
bill and makes a speech of explanation,
carefully avoiding apology, q rule, set
ting forth how careful the committee have
been and expressing his hope, as if it were
the most reasonable thing in the world to
expect, that the whole house will be salts
fed with the bill-ea ger to vote for IL, in
fact-end pass it with very little delay.
Then the minority falls it with venom
criticism, led usually by their mem
bers of the committed The minority be-
ing now Republican, the standard charges
are that the appropriations are sectional or
niggaId1y and made up with a view to a
big deficiency bill at the next session. 1t
is then that the chairman of the commit
tee, if he is anything of a fighter, comes
out strong.
In the pending debates Chairman Joseph
II. Cultivate has borne the brunt of attack
on the army bill. He is in the prime of
life, active, quick at rctort and fights at
every point. He is perhaps the best par
Humanitarian the northern Democrats
have and is well situated on the commit
tee on rules. His best second is General
Wheeler, who talks very much he made
a cavalry Charge. Generals Black and
Sickles also active members of this
committee, but the former has been absent
a great deal, and tho latter very rarely
speaks in running debate. A very inter
esting fighter on the Democratic side of
this committee is Hon John o. Pendleton
of West Virginia, who is a descendant of
the famous evangelist, Alexander Camp
bell, and resembles him somewhat in men
tai makeup. The Hveliest opponents on
the committee are General Newton NJ.
Curtis of New Jersey and Hon. Ben T.
Marsh of Illinois, the last very near the
most infammatery speaker in the house.
On army matters he gets very red in the
face and seems to harange the house as if
addressing an audience Of 10, 900 people.
War Claims and Private Bills.
On the navy bill the chief defense, of
course, is by Chairman Amos Cummings,
a good natured and solid fighter, and
chief opposition by Mr. Boutelle, whose
well known style is the highly belligerent.
Hon. Benja1n a. EnlOc has done his
hardest fighting ON Fridays, for it is on
that day thatwar claims and private bills
have the right of way. Year after year he
makes the same heroic fight to get certain
moneys refunded which certain Tennessee
ans were compelled to hand over during
the war as security that they would not
pilot guerrilla parties in their neighbor-
hood. Again and again these claims have
been fav orabIy reported upon, again and
again congressman who fought in the vi
cinity have tOld their story to the house,
and told it well, and occasionally one of
the bills gets through, a little matter of
20 or 80 per cent is allowed. Mr.. EnlOe is
innocent looking, but tough, and never
knows when he is completely knocked out
Mr.. Holman will have the same old fight
on his Indian appropriation bill and will
fight it in pretty much the same old way,
but it is observed that he mellOwS rapidly
with advancing age and desires much
as in him lies to live at peace with all men.
There are always two sets of people very
much dissatisfied with an Indian apprOpri-
alton bin - humanitarians of the New
Hampshire Blair class, who think many
millions more should be appropriated for
education, and far western men, who think
the Indians ere petted beyond all reason.
There was a time before civil service re-
form became fad that the borders always
wanted big appropriations, and the philos-
ophy of it was expressed by a trader in
Yankton, who wrote after successful
campaign on the reservation, I'VE have
met the Indians, and what was theirs is
ours 1t is different now.
The Lobbyist Has Had His Day.
While we amuse ourselves at this long
drawn out, wordy we note the inter
esting fact that lobbyists are very rarely
seen in the house end of the capitol. On
this point an old member says: The rapid
change in that respect has been very re-
markable, and the old style of lobbying
has completely gone out It's the rarest
thing in the world to sec lobbyist come
here and call out q member of the house.
Their work is nearly all done at the hotels
and so far as possible in n sort of social
way The big interests, of course, send
agents, who como openly and announce
their business and ask for a hearing As
to the ex-lnember with pull and the old
fellow who has political influence in ones
district, the hail fellow well met and the
man who is strong with the delegation
from his state-well, their day is past anc
gone They are only useful in very little
things, but when some great industry is to