The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-03-20

claiming that the tariff would be the
sole issue in the campaign of 1895; and
probably even at this day they would
maintain that they had been right.
Such obstinacy is a consolation to some
men for not being president.
The indianapolis Comm fssfon.
Mr.. Heatwole asserts with pride. that
this resolution of his was the nucleus
Of the idea which led to the appoint
ment of the Indianapolis commission
That might well be, and yet the coun-
try have ESCAPED an unnecessary ex-
pense; for commission, in general
means either compromises or refine
ments. The resolution has been intro
duced again this season, with similar
chance for long and vigorous life
In TINS present congress- Mr.. Heat
Wole was retained on the committee on
foreign affairs, having been moved
up two pegs in the list of its members.
and also received as reward of merit,
the craftsmanship of the committee on
ventilation and acoustics
TO the uniriiiated, it would seem that
this: latter committee must be one of
the most important in the house When
one considers the peculiar pertinency
Of all matter of wind and sound to
congress; when one eonteniplates how
the former should be Facilitated even
as the latter should be restrained In
the interests of good government. one
must conclude THAI jurisdiction over
such vital objects calls for the exercise
or the highest legislative ability So
100, When one reflects on the number of
congressman who might in all reason
be candidates for assignment on this
committee, one must feel that Mime
sofa has indeed been honored. In having
n hot ,-,,
concurrence as to his exceptional quail
hcatiOn for the office
But to be INITIATED is to be simnIe-
minded. In reality the committee on
ventilation and acoustics disregards it's
| high prerogative and merely concerns
| Itself with such small matters as pure
air and the transfererce Of noise. Was
there ever greater opportunity more
shamelessly neglected? Oh, for some
mechanical Scion in Mr. Heatwole's
stead, under whose skillful direction all
the members of congress might venti-
late their views at once, without anv
one of them being heard. Perhaps a
fellow feeling makes the present chair
man too wOndrous kind.
Like the CatacOmbs.
One practical comfort comes to Mr..
Heatwole from out of this waste of on
portunity. and that is the use of a
snug little committee room, tucked
away in the windings of the basement
under the terrace, like a niche in the
catacombs. There, far removed from
the madding legislative crowd, amid
quaint surroundings and old fashioned
appointments, he may contemplate his
future with an eXuberant confidence as
free from Interruptions as if he were in
his sanctum sanctOrum at Northfield
Popular misconception is rife as to
committees. There is the foreign af-
fairs, for instance, of which Mr.. Heat
wole is the sixth member; a weightv
committee. an august committee to
which are referred relations of the
United States with foreign nations, and
yet what has it accomplished this ses-
sion, when wars and rumors of wars
abound, and the peoples of the earth
seem prone to rush into that vast cata-
clysm of blood which has swept
through the closing years of every cen
fury OF this Christian era? 1t has re-
ported a few commonplace measures
as, for instance, one in favor of the
erection of a monument to Lafayette
at Paris, and for the rest it has busted
itself with the routine work consequent
to the appropriation bill which it pre-
pareS.
CircumIOcution Office.
This committee is so truly representa-
tive in its strength and weakness as
to merit moments notice. Its chair
man is Robert r. Hit, of Illinois-the
veteran" Hit, as the lady CORE
spondent might say. For. he has been
immerged in diplomacy all his life, so
much so that one suspects him Of
wearing a broad ribbon, silk stockings
and a dress sword under his republican
sarb, for the consolation of his inner
consciousness. Mr. Hit has been charge
datfaires ad interim at Paris, first sec
rotary of legation and also assistant
secretary of state. In fact, he knows
every chart for the successful beating
around a bush on file in the circumlo-
cution Office. Then there is Quigg of
New York, Beauty" Quigg, who posed
before the ladies of Greater New York
last fall. and thought he was electing
Tracy thereby. That campaign GER
tainly proved to be foreign affairs to
him. Then, too, there is William Alden
Smith, Of Michigan, who lately distin-
guished himself at Havana by routing
a group of Spanish soldiers with his
invincble umbrella, and Williams. of