The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1907-12-24
(By Wills J. Abbot.
Ardmoreite Special.

Christmas holidays has been Of course
marked by but little actual accom-.
phshment.
only on Thursday. the 10th. was
the House equipped for business by
the announcement Of the commit
tees. Practically all the work In
the house is done by committees. and
until they are chosen nothing except
sparring for a record can be- ac
complished. Speaker Cannon has
changed the personnel Of the old
committees very slightly Perhaps
there Is hardly more than one point
at which the new alignment has
created some talk, and that is more
satirical than serious. The Speaker
has long been Illuminating phrases
in antagouism % the president. II
happened that this fall, owing to the
defeat of Governor Grosvenur there
was a vacancy ON the most important
committee in the House. namely the
Ways and Means. Whercupon the
Speaker appoints to that vacancy
the Presidents representative and
son-in-law. Mr.. Nicholas Longworth.
People about the Capital are laughing
about the bitter antagonism between
Cannon and the President other
committees are almost UNCHANGED.
All have a fair working majority of
republicans. but the minority mem
bcrs have been selected in accordance
with the views of the minority leader.
John Sharp Williams They say that
only one of Mr. Williams nominees
was turned down and that was for
reasons personal entirely to the
Speaker himself.
The Real Work Of The Session.
This will begin when congress re.
assemblies on January the 5th. 1t
viii assume two forms, the democra-
tic minority will endelvor to have
some real work done; the republican
majority will do it's best to avoid
having anything done which may ef.
feet the course of the presidential
election There are To my certain
knowledge at least six bills intrnduc.
ed for the repeal of the duty on
wood pulp. one or the other Is ap-
proved and urged by evecry news.
paper in the United States, practi-
cally speaking. Not one, If can
trust the statement of a republican
member OF the Ways and Means com
mittee, will ever get before the house.
John Sharp Williams himself. the
author of one of the bills says that
there is not the slightest likelihood Of
its ever coming up for passage be-
cause It might be the opening wedge
for general tariff revision.
Doubtless however it may be debated
under some such subterfuge as tack
ing an amendment upon some bill
of utterly foreign purpose and then
debating the amendment.
Nor is 1t likely that the question
of appropriations for rivers and har-
bors will get into the house this
year. Speaker Cannon settled that
when he appointed Representative
Burton, late administration candidate
for Mayor of Cleveland, chairman of
the committee having that bin in
charge. Mr.. Burton Is the most bitter
opponent of the Improvement of in
terror waterways that congress
holds. What he can do to prevent
appropriations for this purpose will
count for more than all the speeches
that the President made during his
trip down the Mississippi river to
the bear hunting grounds OF New
Iberia. Nor is It likely that there
viii be any currency Legislation. In
his message the President said that
he had assurances from leaders in
both House and Senate that work
had already been begun on the pre-
| paratiOn of a measure TO correst the
evils which had led TO the present
panic. But when challenged last
Wednesday by Senator Culberson,
leader of the house, Senator Aid
rich, said that nothing yet had been
determined upon aud that the com.
mittee would proceed very slowly
towards its conclusions. That is the
| diplomatic way of expressing II on
the floor of the Senate What they
say outside OF the Senate is that
nothing will be done whatsoever. The
case is somewhat analogous to the
standing joke here about the posi-
bility of prohibition in the District
OF Columbia;-"It hasn't any enemy
on the floor of either Senate OF