The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-12-13

might be possible to get the house to
ignore the point of order and pass the
dry dock item. AT any rate, If the
senate should put it in when the bill
goes over there the house would pre-
sumptiVely not make any fight against
it when the bill came up The bulk of
the delegation are content to let the
matter take it's course in that way
Not so Representative Barrett. He sees
here a chance to establish a perma-
nent principle. He has accordingly
proposed an amendment to house rule
q, which would, If adopted, make it
substantially the same as senate rule
16. The whole object Immediately in
view is to enable him to bring his ap
preparation for the Boston dry dock
before the house; for, if he could attach
it to the naval appropriation bill in
committee of the whole, he could un-
doubtedly work it through the house
by cooperative arrangement with
other members having local interests
to serve in the same bill. 1t is not
at all likely however, that he will sue
ceed. Speaker Reed and every member
of the committee on rules know very
we'll the peril of opening the doors any
wider than they are now open to the
possibilities of log-rolling appropria-
tions. Mr.. Barrett's argument is plau-
Sfble enough-that 1t is a slur cast upon
the house to require it's members to
go over to the senate and lobby their
measures through that chamber, as is
now commonly done in cases like that
under consideration. "The house is
a coordinate body" he says. "and
there is no reason why 1t should be
prevented by a rule of it's own from
doing that which Indirectly it can US
ually do through the medium of a more
liberal rule in the senate"
Every one knows that, whether Mr.
Barrett puts the two houses on the
same plane or not, the speaker has
often expressed in very vigorous lam
guage his opinion of the easy-going
ways of the senate in spending public
money on odds and ends. AS a general
election is impending in 1898, it is
hardly likely that the restriction now
imposed In the house will be loosened
for Mr.. Barrett'S convenience or that
of any one else. If Boston secured her
dry dock by such means, New York
could just as well make herself, by a
like process, the distributing center for
all government supplies, and st. Paul
could procure a new federal building
once in two years. 1t would all depend
upon how many votes could be muster
ed for any project on the you tickle
me-and-Pll- basis. And the
end would be that instead Of merely
passing Dingley bills and amendments
thereto, in order to raise the $370, 900, 900
a year necessary to run the govern
ment, we should presently have to de-
wise scheme for wringing $1,000, 900, 900
a year out of the people to keep up
with the gait of successive congresses,
each struggling to outstrip its pre-
decessors in liberality.
The house rule is an old one, and
has worked very we'll on the whole 1t
is subject to criticism, as Mr.. Barrett
represents, from the point of view of
a chamber jealous Of it's own dignity.
But although the country has come to
regard the house as a much safer body
than the senate in dealing with the
great questions of public policy which
have been uppermost during the last
few years, it is not yet ready to see the
last bars of restraint thrown down in
seasons when districts are to be carried,
close votes are to be feared, and the
weight of local shares of pork may
tip the scales. With its present rule
q, which has already saved to the
treasury billions of dollars, the house
can afford to remain the economical
member of the legislative firm, and let
it's wicked partner do most of the
trifling with their joint trust funds