Evening star., 1897-03-27
How Speaker Reed Has Secured Alb
solute Control.
MORE POWER THAN TIE PRESIDENT
Something Of the Personality Of a
Remarkable Man.
MASTER AND NOT SERVANT

Written for The Evening Star.
There Is an American flag in the House
OF Representatives. 1t is draped from the
claws of gi!ded eagle, below the cores
pondents gallery. 1t serves today as the
background of a great head. This head has
a Shakespearean dome. Its eyes are small,
beady and twinkling. The nose is not
massive. although faultlessly nodded The
face is as clean as the dome of the head
The mouth is small, and is used for breath
Ing as well for talking. The neck is
short and thick, and the body that sustains
the neck, head and intellect Is indicative
OF great strength and endurance 1t is
composed of good, sound. healthy flesh and
bone. indicative Of the character and ability
Of. its owner. 1t fills the chair Of the
Speaker Of the House of Representatives.
l have never seen visitor enter the gal
leries who did not fasten his eyes upon the
face of Thomas b. Reed in apparent won
derment. This wonderment increases when
Mr.. Reed arises to put question to the
House. The voice is resonant and power
full Every word is distinctly heard. Door
iss "dough-ar.'' and bill is "be-ill'' The
draWl is pronounced, and effective that
it would produce Standardization in
group of very thin tumbiers. 1t is said
that this remarkable clearness of enuncia-
ton and pronunciation is the result of a
ing If the owner of the voice should at
| any moment lose his self-possesson and be-
| come angry or excited the old boyish habit
| of suffering might force itself to the front
and regain control. Certain it Is that the
most remarkable thing about the person.
| ality of Thomas b. Reed is his voice, his
! accent and his entire self-control He
never loses the latter even when he bangs
| the desk with the gavel. Members must
| take their seats (bang, bang, bang). and
| gentlemen in conversation must retire to
| the cloak rooms" (bang, bang, bang). The
voice itself seems to reach the hearts of the
| recusants and they instinc lively find either
| their own seats. or sink in the unoccupied
| seats of their colleagues.
| Master of the House.
| No Speaker ever had as strong a person.
| ality as Thomas B. Reed No face like his,
| or even remotely resembling his. can be
| found In the gallery Of the portraits of the
| Speakers. 1t is face typical of the power
! reached by it's possessor. The Speaker Is
I prac tically no longer the servant of the
| House, he is It's master and proprietor. He
disposes of legislative baronies and feoffs,
and exacts strict allegiance. The baronies
| are the committee rooms, and the feofs
are the legislation referred to the commit
tees No Roman emperor ever had more
| absolute control. In former days the House
was practically ruled by the committees
| In these days, however, the committees can
| report their bills, but the Speaker places
them upon the calender, and the commit
| tees are thereafter poWerleSs. With slight
| exceptions no consideration can be reached
| without the fiat of the Speaker. Singular
! to relate, the House itself is responsible for
| these rules.
The Fiftieth Congress will long be re-
| membered as the filibusteling Congress.
John G. Carlisle was Speaker. The rules
! favored the personal rights of the MEM
| bers, and gave the committees power TO
bring before the House measures which
they had 1digested. The personal rights Sc
cured. to the members, however, interfered
at times with the exercise of the power
of the committees. One or two mem mberS mad
the power, by simple parliamentary mo-
tions, to defeat the consideration Of any
bill reported from any committee. BY
such expedients James b. Weaver of Iowa.
Clifton K. Breckinridge of Arkansas and
others held the House by the throat for
days, and even weeks, to prevent the pas
sage of measures vital to the interests OF
the republic. At times members. piqued
| because they could not secure the passage
of some private BILL revenged themselves
upon the House by flibustering. BY this
course they could delay. If not defeat, ap-
propra alton bills and all privileged meas
| ures. They brought on and dragged out
night sessions to unseemly hours, and
sometimes continued legislative day for
"A week or more
How He Got the Reins.
With the advent of the Fifty-first Con-
gress and the election of Thomas B. Reed
as Speaker change was effected This
was made audaciousy and effectively. BY
refusing to adopt the rules of the preced-
|. ing House until new rules could be re-
ported, the House was left under general
| parliamentary law The Speaker construed
general parliamentary law. He began to
count quorum, and refused to entertain
motion to adjourn or to take recess
For two days he refused to entertain an
| appeal from his decision as to his right to
count a quorum; but when by the rebuke
| of Major Mckinley, he did entertain ar
appeal, the House sustained him in his ac-
ton. This gave him ground work fol
} | the change contemplated. AS his exposi-
| ton of parliamentary law had been sus
tained by the House. it was parliamentary
law for the House.
!, The new rules were drawn up by the
: majority of the committee on rules. Tha
majority was Thomas B. Reed, William
Mckinley and Joseph G. Cannon. Major
Mckinley, in a speech on the floor of the
) House, said that the rules were drawn VI
) to give the House an opportunity to de
: business. The F'lfty-first Congress did 1t!
! business and adjourned.
In attempting to curtail the persona
power of the members, so as to protect tht
power Of the committees, the House over
reached itself The next two Congresses
were democratic They attempted to re, re
1 store the equilibrium. They suppressed fill
clustering by giving the Speaker enlarged
powers. 1t was possible for committees tt
get their work before the House under tn,
rules but the Speaker had the power a.
| any time to check it. 1t could be done by
| the manipulation of his lieutenants on tn,
| floor or in other ways In the mornins
! hour which was really the only open way
] to anything not privileged. the Speaker
called the committees and recognized tn,
chairmen to call up any bills that thei
| committees had designated.
q importance of Recognition.
r With the advent of the Fifty-fourth Con
gress this, open road was closed. The chair
. men of committees, under the new rules. ha,
r the right to call up bills on the House calen
n oar alone.c The rules specified that the bill
S on the House calendar should be bills involv
ing no appropriation of money. The appro
| rriation bills, of course were privileged I'm
der these rules the Speaker became power
d | indeed. There was one way by which bill