The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1902-04-18

ATTACKS THE HOUSE RULES
Cushman Declares Arbitrary
Power.is Vested in Speaker.
INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS MEkAcED.
RIGHTS MEEAcED.
Supporters of Cuban Reciprocity
Measure Will Press for Vote To.
day-Democrats Take Stand on
the Pending Bill.

day-Democrats Take a Stand on
the Pending Bill.
Washington, April 1s.-General de-
bate on the Cuban reciprocity bill
closes today at o'clock and it is the
intention of the house leaders, if pos
sible, to force a final vote on the pas
sage of the bill before adjournment
tonight. The Democrats are badly
split on the bill. The opponents of
the bill occupied most of the time OF
the debate yesterday, the feature being
vigorous speech by Cushman (Rep..
Wash) against the measure. Cush-
man arraigned the committee ON rules
and the house leaders in breezy and
at times sensational fashion. por-
tion of his criticism was in a semi
humorous vein, but some of it was
decidedly caustic.
II make the statement on this floor
now" said Mr.. Cushman, "that no
member who introduces bill not a
private bill can get it considered un-
less it suits the speaker, and if any
one wants to deny that, I am in per-
sonal position and in clearly happy
frame of mind right now to give
little valuable testimony on that
point. Who is the speaker Of this
house that sets up his immaculate
judgment to judge on every bill that is
introduced? When member intro
duces public bill in this house it is
referred to a committee, who pass
| judgment on it, recommend it for
| passage, and then it goes on the cal
endar. 1t ought to be called Gene
terry, for therein lie the whitening
bones of legislative hopes. When the
bill is reported, what does the mem
i Der who introduced it and who is
charged by his constituency to secure
it's passage do? He either consents
that the bill may die on the calen-
dar, or he puts his manhood and his
individuality in his pocket and goes
trotting down that little pathway tha,
leads to the. speakers room. All the
| glory that clustered around the holy
o. holies in King Solomon's temple
looked like thirty cents (prolonged
laughter and applause), yes looked
| like twenty-nine cents, compared with
that jobbing department of this govern
ment. ! make no onslaught on the in
dividual. have high regard for the
speaker of this house personally, bu,
the fact is that we have adopted sci
of rules in this body that are ain abso
lutte disgrace to the legislative body
We need to restore this house to the
great patriotic plane on which the
fathers of the republic placed it, where
every individual on this floor stands
on an equal plane with every other
We operate here under a set of rule!
confessedly designed to belittle the
hopes and dwarf the ambitions of the
individual members of this body. ant
at the same time to vest more powe
! in the hands of one or two men thar
was ever enjoyed by oriental despot
The system is rotten at both ends. ]
is rotten at one end because it rob:
the individual members in this hous
OF the power that the constitution o
the United States and his credential
as member on this floor entitle hin
} to; it is rotten at the other end be
cause it vests power in men that hav,
no right to it, and ofttime places OF
them duties that they have no capacit
to fulfill"
!, DeArmond, one of the leading Dem
ocrats of the house. delivered a fore
BILE speech in favor of tariff reduction
on trust articles.
The other speakers We're Pierc
. (Tenn). Douglass IN. Y) and Lace
Qa.) for the bill. and Jenkins wis,
D Gaines CIV. Va0, Warner Qlls.), Care
ner (Mich.), Jones (Wash.) and Lou
! (CalD against it. Loud declared tha
directly and indirectly Cuba alread
had cost the United States 100000
600,