St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1902-08-09

HON. JAMES B. PERKINS.
(New York Congressman, Who Defends the
| Reed Rules.)
be an ass in the chair, and giants ON
the floor, but the ass will be the
| master of them all. The rules make
| the speaker master of his fellow rep.
resentatives; whereas, the constitu-
ton declared that all Of the repre-
sentatives should be equal. There is
no reason why one man should be
selected from the majority and unto
him be given all of the rights of the
other representatives. But that il
the condition Of the popular body un-
der the existing rules"
Those are words spoken from the
brain of experience and from the
heart of an honest man. The great
est absurdity of the existing rules IL
the committee on rules. That COM
mittee consists of two republicans.
two democrats, and the speaker; at
least that is the way 1t looks on po-
per. AS a matter of fact, the conn
mittee on rules consists of two meIn-
bers of the majority party and the
speaker; because the two members
of the minority party are always out
voted, and usually do not attend
meetings of the committee. Now the
absurdity of having such committee
lies right here,
The speaker appoints the chairmen
and members Of all committees. He
is chairman of the committee on
rules, and appoints two members Of
his own party on the committee, who
do exactly what he tells them to do:
or else he can turn them out and ap-
point two others who will not hest.
ate to ''crook the pregnant hinges Of
the knee that thrift may follow fawr.
ing" So. after you analyze the COM.
mittee on rules, you see that it is .
mere makeshift to fool the people.
1t is no committee at all, but merely
a gauzy attempt to hide the one-man
power of the speaker himself.
No matter what the rules Of the
house may be, it is left to this AL
legged committee on rules to decide
what bills shall be taken up, how
long they shall be debated, and when
a vote shall be taken. The speaker
himself decides all these important
matters, and. then calls a meeting of
the committee on rules. That seems
big. The speaker tells his two fol-
lowers what he wants done, and then
one of the two majority members adj
dresses the house and says: II have
to report q rule from the committee
on rules, deciding thus and So" It
is then in the power Of the house
to vote against the order of the
speaker, thus thinly disguised; but,
because Of his power in all other mat
tiers, the majority party always sus-
tains the speaker in this by-play by
the alleged report Of the
committee on rules. Thus the house
IS governed by one man, under the
Reed rules, and it is about time foe
he people to understand the play
or all it is worth.
The people have very little to do
With their government. Very little
indeed. SMITH D. FRY.
She Told Him.
"Can you tell me why it is" he
yrowled as he began diving under the
bed, "that my slippers always seem
20 get pushed clear over against the
vall?"
eyes, DEAR" she answered. pleas
lntly.
"You camp"
eyes, dear"
"Then why is it?'
Because you don't put them away in
he slipper rack when you take them
If, dear" Chicago Journal.
A Literary Boomer.
Subsidy new novel will be read,
tell you!
Scrubbs-How do you know?
Stubbs-Why, my publishers are of
ering $4,000 prize to the reader who
.uesses the name of it!-Puck.
D0ct0red MIX,
Mr.. Pitt understand that there in
good deal of doctored milk on the
larket.
Mr.. PENN suppose the water cure
!, the one principally used. -Pittsburg
hronicle-Telegraph.
Merely Joke.
Mrs. Gabble-Miss Ode says her
amily-tree is very ancient.
Mrs. spark-Yes; it's CHESTNUT
q Z be- : -t