The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1904-12-29
HOUSE In POWER OF .DEsPoTS.
Machine Which Controls Legislation
Beaten Once by Tawney.

Machine Which Controls Legislation
Beaten Once by Tawney.
NEW YORK, Dec. 29.-After declar-
ing that the national house of repre-
sentatives is ruled by big four of
despotism" who hold in their hands
the fate, not only of bills, but
of members as well, the New York
Times Washington correspondent pays
high compliment to Representative
Tawney of Minnesota and tells how he
once defeated even these despots. The
correspondent says:
lone of the notable figures Of this
congress and Of past congresses is
James A. Tawney of Minnesota, a man
of power and force. When the house
machine brought all it's power to bear
for the passage of the Cuban recipro-
city bill in 1902, this man was the
leader of the beet sugar insurgents
He was supposed to be too big man
to come under the ban of the house
machine. One day after the fight had
been going on for some time, Tawney
went to the speakers desk and asked
what had become of bill in which he
was interested. Mr.. Henderson's jaws
came together with snap; he looked
straight at Tawney from under his
heavy brows and growled:
You'll have to see the committee
on rules about that
when the news of this was spread
among Tawney's supporters it carried
panic; it did more to take the heart
out of the insurgents than anything
else. If the mighty Tawney, the re-
publican whip of the house and the
friend of the leaders, could be thus
treated, what hope was there for the
rank and file?
Victory for Tawney.
In that fight Tawney snatched vic
tory out of the jaws of defeat and he
routed the house machine at the last
moment by sheer force of his own per-
sonality and splendid, fighting powers.
But the exception proves the rule. For
once that the house machine has been
beaten it has been successful thou
sand times.
Yet Tawney's victory weakened
the control Of the machine, for, in
addition to it's real and tremendous
powers, it had an asset of immense
value-fear, coupled with a supersti-
tious belief in the hopelessness of the
opposition. When the house machine
had been beaten once, this asset was
deprecated. 1t was based mainly on
the actual fact that resistance was
hopeless in Reeds day. But Hender-
son was a different. man from Reed,
nothing like so strong, and once his
prestige was damaged by defeat his
power waned.
Throughout the last session of the
fifty-seventh congress signs of revolt
multiplied What might have happened
had Henderson remained speaker can
only be surmised, but the advent of
Cannon settled all that, and today the
power of the house machine is more
strongly intrenched than ever to all
appearances.
The House Machine.
Not Tammany Hall itself is such
a close corporation as the house ma
chine at Washington Nowhere in the
land is any body of men ruled with
so despotic hand by so small gov
erning body. In Tammany Hall the
boss has cabinet and the district
leaders have voice, but the rulers
Of the house of representatives are a
law unto themselves
There are just four of them, and
they hold their sway not by any OF
the forces that lift men to the control
OF other machines-not, by graft, not
by force of character, not by patron
age. They hold it by virtue of the Off
vial positions they occupy in the house.
They are the speaker, the two ma jor-
'ty members of the committee on rules
and the chairman of the ways and
means committee, who is, by reason
OF his office, the floor leader Of the ma
iority.e In this congress they are Jo-
seph G. Cannon of Illinois, Charles HI.
irosvenor Of Ohio. John Dalkeil of