Omaha daily bee., 1896-01-26

Had Only Half Enough Positions of
Honor and Some of Them Were
MortgnEed-Fnte of Re-
submission.
DIES MONIES, Jan. 25.-(Special.) )-The
makeup Of the standing committees Of the
lower house has given much dissatisfaction
and will have a tendency to make the path
of Speaker Byers a thorny one for the re-
mainder of the session. 1t Is difficult to see
how it could have been otherwise. With
only forty chairmanshps at his disposal it
was utterly impossible to satisfy twice that
number of members. At least onc-half Of
the eighty republicans in the lower house
were bound to be disappointed in the very
nature Of the case. while a large number
Of others could not hope for a committee Of
any great importance.
1t was a foregone conclusion that Funk of
Hardin, who practically dictated the selec-
tion Of the speaker and made possible the
nomination of Mr.. Byers by acclamation, could
have anything he wanted. No one was sur
prised, therefore, when Funk cast asida the
craftsmanship Of his old ommittee-surpres-
sion of intemperance-and selected the COM
mittee on ways and means. position that
brings him to the front as the recognized
leader Of the republicans on the floor OF the
house and gives him the practical control
of the purse strings Of the state. Mr.. Funk
is neither reckless nor extravagant, and in
the end 1t may be fortunate thing for the
taxpayers that the representative from fIar-
din has been placed at the head Of this i'm
portant committee.
The strife between Allen Of Van Buren and
Weaver of Louisa for the chairmanship OF
the judiciary committee resulted Just as many
. anticipated. Both Of these aspiring members
were given coordinate positions at the fead
of subcommittee on revision of the code and
neither attained the distinction he so earn
estly sought. Mr.. Cornwall of Clay, who was
the choice Of the speaker for this most i'm
portant position. is young lawyer OF marked
ability, and will fulfill his duties acceptabiy
to the house.
Representative Early Of Sac, who was
Sneaker Byers' lieutenant in the preliminary
contest has been placed at the head OF the
committee on insurance and gwen ieadlhs
positions on other important committees.
The committee on suppression or lntem-
perance will have a safe majority in favor or
the Pusey bill authorizing the manufacture
of splrituous, malt and vinous liquors for
legal purposes.
The woman suffragists will have an over
whelming majority on that commlttee III
favor of their most advanced ideas, and while
this will insure them a hearing on the floor,
II does not guarantee the passage OF any bllls
on this subject.
DEPENDS ON JEFFERSON COUNTY.
The fate OF resubmission so far as favor
able report is concerned all depends upon
the casting vote of Chairman Brighton. VI
the thirteen members of the committee on
constitutional amendments six will probably
be arrayed upon each side and 1t VIII de-
pend upon the action OF the chairman
whether the recommendation shall be that
at do pass" or "be indefinitely postponed
While bills unfavorably reported sometimes
run the gauntlet safely, the fate of nine
tenths of all the measures introduced into
the legislature 10 determined by the action
of the standing committees to which they
are referred.
Chairman Brighton represents the hereto-
fore prohibition county Of Jefferson. but
saws his people are divided on the subject
and he will make a careful canvass OF his
county and ascertain the opinion OF the most
trusty party leaders and endeayor to act IN
accordance with the prevailing sentiment
The soldiers monument which has been
partly erected, is bound to come up again
as a disturbing factor in legislation. de-
cided majority of the last general assembly
was in favor of placing the monument III 'ne
center Of a park of liberal dimensions ana
these views were shared by perhaps every
member of the monument commission. When
II came to selecting the site, however, II was
found that real estate spectators had Sc
cured options on all the proposed locations
with the evident intention of unloading their
holdings upon the state at exaggerated hg-
ures. The lawmakers resented this and re-
fused their assent to such thrifty trans
actions. The state owned part OF block
lust south of the new capitol building on
which the old state house used to stand and
though totally inadequate for the purposes,
here 1t was determined the monument should
stand. 1t was originally designed for the
state to watch it's chance and quietly pur-
chase adjoining property from time to time
as the occasion might demand Real estate
surrounding the monument has steadily risen
in price since the monument was located and
1t 10 now seriously proposed that the uncom-
pleted shaft be taken down and removed to
some other location, to be designated by the
legislature, coupled, Of course. with liberal
appropriation.
Then there Is anything but unity OF SEN
timent as to the finishing touches. Whether
only dead generals, or both the living and
the dead, shall be honored, or whether the
colonels and even minor officers who fought
bravely and with conspicuous gallantry in
the late war, do not deserve some recognition
on a monument erected In memory OF the
deeds OF all the Iowa soldiers who took part In
suppressing the rebellion. are problems
which are yet to be satisfactorily solved.