The times., 1898-12-26
THE SENATE oL1eARcHY.
ChandIer's Revolutionary Determi-
nation to Break 1t Down

Chandler's Revolutionary Determi-
| nation to break 1t Down.
| Immediately after the recess the aues-
| ton of distributing the appropriation bills
TO the appropriate committees of the Sem
ate. instead Of keeping them, as now. in
the hands of the one great committee. win
be brought up for action.
The resolution directing this is now in
the hands OF the Rules Committee, which
is unanimously in favor Of leaving Things
as they are and who. If allowed. will hold
1t without action until the members OF
| the Appropriations Committee have time
to buy off the opposition by cnnferiirg Ia
vors on enough of them to break their
majority.
/ AS soon as the Senate reconven-s u mo-
/, ton viii be made 20 discharge the Com
mittee on Rules from further cnnsiders-
tion of the matter. If this succeeds 1t will
then be possible the day following or any
! time thereafter to bring the question di-
/ reetly before the Senate. Senator Chan
dler, who leads the insuTrection. claims 10
have sixty votes behind him. or tw s-thirds
OF the entire membership Of the Senate. tf
| his estimate is correctgAthe power Of the
| Appropriations Committee will D.. broken
ence which IL now exerts will ~ d'strib-
uted through dozen committee All but
I two OF the money bills OF Congress now go
to this small body, which thus Iecomes
the most powerful coterie in Congress.
! while its individual members WELD aim -
despotic influence over the rest OF the
| Senate.
| They have reached this commanding po-
sition through years of service. No new
| member ever gets on the Appropriations
| Committee, and every vacancy there IS
| sought after most strenuOusly When
once senator does become a member he
| stays one until he is defeated for re-elec-
tion, never leaving it otherwise. Hence
the committee is old and foxy. To wrest
its power from It is as difficult task as
anyone ever undertook Again and again
1t has been attempted. hut IL has always
failed. \ few years ago Senator Dubois
who was young member not likely tp
reach the coveted post. formed an air
tight combination OF the young men
against the old. He had more than a clear
majority back OF them but somehow h.
could never get vote on his proposal
There was no flibustering against him.
and there really seemed TO be no opposf-
ton The committee pf,fessed itse,f per-
fectly willing TO lay down its Iabors when
ever the Senate asked il. But neverthe-
I less there was always some reason wliv
II would not do to vote Just ti3en OF to fix
time for vote Skilled in all manner
OF parliamentary law. Senator Alison aul
mis- friends outgeneraled Mr.. Dubois with
out half trying. and the latter saw his
combination melt away.
Much the same situation obtains now. \
majority OF the senators are pledged 20
vote to distribute the various money bills
and Senator Allison again declares that n
one mis- committee will prove an Oh
structionist If the Senate decides on new
deal. He adds. however. that EOthing will
be done in hurry. and SAYS that he pre-
sumes that there will be a full expression
of opinion when the matter comes up
This is diplomatic way of saying that
the committee will fight for its privileges.
II they fail to keep them it will be a
great surprise to many people. Every
senator not on the committee is anxtouS
10 curry favor with it in order that he
may ask appropriations for his State and
there are not wanting some who -wiii
stand by il long as II has any change
OF winning. To deliberately antagonize its
members. even when they profess their
complete submission to the will OF the
Senate. is always to risk the wrath Of the
sacred circle.
There was struggle something Ike this
in the House years ago. which en,ied with
the distribution of the bills. The Apqro-
priations Committee there has control OF
the District of Columbia. Qualifications,
legislative and pension bills while h issi
go TO the appropriate committees. The
I Senate rebels propose to be even more
sweeping leaving the committee only The.
sundry civil. legislative and general de-
ficiency bills. The only ones 1t does not
now control are the rivers and harbors
and the public building bills.