Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-30
WHY IS ITa

in the makeup OF the house COM
= mittees in congress is worthy of
reflection on the part of the voters Of
the state. The San Diego Union sum-
marizes the situation thus:
mo Californian was given chair
manship, and on only three or four of
the really important committees does
this state have representation. Need
ham fares best, being continued as a
member of the ways and means COM
mittee, and advancing from the elev-
enth to the seventh place. McLachlan
remains on the rivers and harbors
committee, and is put forward two
notches on 1t. Kahn retains his place
on the military affairs committee
Present conditions make the commit
tee on banking and currency of which
Hayes is a member, an important one.
This practically completes the list, the
other committee assignments of the
Californians being of minor character
On several of the committees in whose
work this state, from it's geographical
position, has special interest, it has no
representation. For example, there is
the committee on naval affairs, with
eighteen members. OF these about half
are from states far in the interior.
Some of the others are from seaboard
states which are without navy yards or
stations. OF course, it is not to be
presumed that these members are
without concern for the navy, but they
hardly have the same interest in it
as is possessed by members from such
a state as California.
eff the present California delegation
were in the main composed of new
members, the rather meager award of
committee honors might be expected.
But all of the Californians now in the
house have had previous experience in
that body, and several of them are vet
.erans in respect to length of service.
McLachlan and Needham, who Jared
best at the hands of Speaker Cannon,
are serving each his fifth term. Kahn
has been a member of three former con-
crosses as well as of the present one.
rSmith, Knowland, Hayes and McKinlay
served through the fifty-ninth congress,
and Englebreck during a portion of 1t.
OF course these terms of service are
short in comparison with those Of some
members of the house. Speaker Can
non, for instance, has just entered upon
his seventeenth term, and there are
others who have been two or three
decades or longer in the house. Still, in
view of the magnitude of California's
interests, as the leading state of the
Pacific coast, the state does not appear
to have quite the recognition to which
it is entitled"
Where shall we turn to find an ex-
PLANTATION Of the course of Boss Can
non in sighting California in the mat
ter of committee designations? Is 1t
because the men whom this state has
sent to congress are not regarded by
this master of the house as humble
enough, servile enough, docile enough?
Or is it because he fears that none of
them is capable of handling the work
assigned to him if the task be above
that of the craftsmanship of the COM
mittee on the state of the health of the
rackaboors OF the New Mexican Rock
les, or Of the committee on the San
Bernardino water front?
1t passes comprehension that Cali
fornia, one Of the great states Of the
Union, stands about forty-sixth among
all the states, in the estimate Of Boss
Cannon, in the personnel of its dele
cation in the lower house of congress.
No state has Jared worse in the matter
of committee appointments, and few
others so poorly The time may come
when our delegation in congress will
receive the recognition that the i'm
portance of the state demands, but
when that time arrives one of two
things-perhaps both-will have hap
pened: Boss Cannon will have been
relegated to private life in Danville,
or California will have elected to the
lower house in congress men Of the
stamp that cannot fail Of proper recog-
milton.
If. among the possible causes for the
sighting of this state in this respect,
the voters of California decide that it
has been because of the speakers fear
that none of the members of the pres
ent delegation is to be trusted to per-
form the work which congress, as at
present constituted, demands Of him.
the state is to be congratulated; but
If the policy of the speaker is generally
believed to be attributable to the fear
that the California caliber Of states
manship, as found in Washington. is
too small to meet the requirements of
that body, then it is high time that
we improved the quality of our con-
gressional representation.
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