Evening star., 1901-12-07
Chairmen of House Committees in
the New Congress.
WELD 4 POWERFUL INFLUENCE
They Are Men Qualified by Train
ing and Experience.
RECOGNIZED AUTHORITIES


Written for The Evening Star.
Herewith are presented the latest photo
graphs OF the statesmen who will shape
ana determine the Legislation to be enacted
10y the House of Representatives in the
Fifty-seventh Congress.
Next 10 the speaker. who constructs and
appoints the committees the chairmen of
the big working committees. collectively,
will WELD a more important influence upon
legislation than any other members of the
House possibly can. The mass of public
business pressing upon the attention of
Congress nowadays is SO great that a pre-
else division of subjects is required and
the manifold details of many separate
classes of subjects are 50 intricate as 10
demand the treatment of specialists. Thus
il Is that proposed legislation on different
topics is referred to committees having
particular jurisdiction thereof, and import
ant measures are almost invariably con-
sidered and carefully formulated in com
mittee before they are debated and acted
upon by Congress as a whole. Experienced
chatrmen of committees are naturally look
ed 10 by other members as guides and ex-
Eerts in their several fields. They are the
organs and mouthpieces of their respective
committees. and usually have the LOYAL
support of their committees behind them
and hence it is that they exercise such
"a potent influence in legislation.
MI. Serene T.. 1dyle OF New York has
been reappolnted chairman of the ways and
means committee and Mr.. Joseph G. Cannon
Of Illinois chairman of appropriations COM
miJtee. Speaker Henderson will doubtless
formally announce the makeup of the other
HcuSe committees in few days; and if he
follows the rules of selection which he fol-
lowed two years ago and which it is au-
thoritauVely stated he will follow in the
organization of this Congress, namely to
continue in their places returned members
who were chairmen in the last Congress
and TO promote the ranking members to
vacant chairmanshps unless paramount
reasons intervene, the chairmen of the
most important committees will be these:
Chairmen of Committees.
Foreign affairs-Rooert Roberts Hit of
Illinois
Military afrairs-John A. T. Hull of Iowa
Naval affairs-George Edmund Foss of
Illinois
Post offices and post roads-Eugene Fran
els Loud OF California.
Rivers and harbors-Theodore E. Bur
ton of Ohio
AgricuIture-Jas. wolcott wadsworth Of
New York.
Indian affairs-Jas. Schoolcraft Sherman
of New York
Interstate and foreign commerce-Wm
Peters Hepburn of Iowa
insular afairs-Henry Allen Cooper of
Wisconsin.
Merchant marine and fisheries-Charles
= Henry Grosvenor of Ohio
Public buildings and grounds-David
Henry Mercer of Nebraska
Banking and currency-Chas. Newell
Fowler of New Jersey
Invalid pensions-Cyrus Adams Sullowav
OF New Hampshire
Pensions-Henry C. Loudenslager of New
Jersey.
With the exception of Mr.. Fowler. all the
cbairmen in the foregoing list have served
before as chairmen of their respective com
mittees. and are veteran legislators and ex-
perts in their chosen lines of work In the
case of Mr.. Fowler, succeeding the late
Marriott Brosius of Pennsylvania, as chair
man of banking and currency, he has made
a special study of the subjects under the
last Congress stood next in rank to the
chairman. OF course there are many other
experienced members. some of them chair
men of other committees, and others rank
though not chairmen. who will WELD a