Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-09-26
WHO WILL BE THE ADVISER TO
SPEAKER CANNON THIS
YEAR?
TAWNEY WILL RETIRE
Minnesota Congressman Has Acted as
"WhIp" But Will Not Serve Again,
Having Tired Of the Strenuous Work
Involved.

Washington, D. c., September 25.-
One Of the important questions that
will arise for the republican managers
in the next house to adjust is the Sc
lection of new whip" This place
has been filled for ten years by Rep
resentative James A. Tawney Of Min
nesota, but he has advised Speaker
Cannon that he will not serve again.
A great amount of hard work Is in
volved and Mr.. Tawney Is tired of it.
The prospect does not appal a number
OF ambitious men, however, and there
will be numerous aspirants, who are
aware that If there is drudgery in the
job it nevertheless carries with it some
honor and no little influence.
The history of the party whip goes
for its origin to the house of commons
of Great Britain. The whip there has
more authority than in the American
house. He has full charge of the ar
rangement of pairs, is prominent fac
tor in legislation, and is second to the
speaker alone in point of activity. Prob
ably more correct definition of the
word would be party floor manager"
The popular idea is that the whips
sole duty is to whip members into line
to vote for party measures. This is far
from the truth, AS a matter of fact
this is only small part of his duties.
"There is no limit to the odd jobs
the whip is supposed to look after"
said Mr.. Tawney the other day. 'His
work is like that of the housewife-it
is never done. In fact. find that the
exactions of the place are so numer-
GUS that they seriously interfere with
my work as a representative from
Minnesota. I have never been able to
give proper attention to the duties of
my committees because of the de-
mands of my honorary position. |
have been whip ever since the fifty
fourth congress and now am ready to
pass the job along to some one else" +"
Duties Of the "Whip."
Mr.. Tawney has fair estimation of
the varied character of the house
whip. First Of all, he is charged with
the responsibility Of seeing that a
quorum of his party is present when
ever an important measure Is to come
up. He keeps tab on the whereabouts
of the various members and sends
word to the absent ones to come back
to Washington when a test of party
strength is to be made.
The whip arranges the pairs. This
requires the closest kind of watch, for
if he is not careful he will find that he
is costing his party valuable votes by
fixing up. dead" pairs. One Of the
most important functions Of the whip
is to circulate among the members Of
his party and ascertain the prevailing
sentiment on matters Of legislation
and politics generally. He must be a
good mixer, with ability correctly to
size up a situation. When he finds
that there is demand for the enact
ment of certain bill and that large
majority of his party favors it, the
whip tells the speaker and the legis-
lation is arranged for. If caucus Is
ordered, the whip secures the requir-
ed number of signatures on which the
call is issued
Advises the Speaker.
The whip DRIFTS the special rules
for the consideration of party meas
ures. He advises the speaker regard
ing the amount of time to be allowed
for debates on pending bills and his
counsel is sought in fixing dates for
taking votes. He is constantly ap-
pealed to by members on the floor for
information regarding the chances of
| Legislation. The whip is supposed to
have an unusually powerful pull
with the speaker and the committee
on rules, and If he can be enlisted on
/ the side of measure the chances of
its being passed are good.
| will ha rao1izad from this hripf
account of the duties of the whip that
the place demands qualifications a
little out of the ordinary. The whip
must be tactful and able to keep his
party men in good humor. He must
be an expert parliamentarian, for he
is liable to be called on quickly for
advice It any critical stage of leg.
| islative battle In addition. he must
have an absolute familiarity with the
rules of the house, as well as all meth.
| L.. -