Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1908-10-21
RULES OF CONGRESS
MENACE TO NATION
CONGRESSMAN JOHN M. NELSON
ADDRESSES CITY CLUB
OF CHICAGO.
PRESENT PROCEDURE is A
-RAVESTY UPON
GOVERNMENT.

| OulGaSO, OCl- I9.-ASSertlnS NndE
the much abused United States senate
is a more literally governed body
than is the ho~Se of representatives.,
Congressman John NJ. Nelson of the
second district of Wisconsin speaking
as the guest of the City club of Chi.
cago yesterday gave an exhaustive
historical exposition of how the rules
and rulings of the house gradually
conferred authority in the hands of the
speaker until that official has prac-
tically become the whole house and
has more power for good or evil to
| the country than has the president
i himself. Mr. Nelson's subject was
The Necessity for Parliamentary Re
form in the House Of Representatives
and after pointing out such necessity
he proposed several ways to obtain
| the needed remedy and invited fur
| Their suggestions from his colleagues
! in the house or others. At the last SEES
sion of congress Mr.. Nelson intro
duced d resolution in the house pro
viding for the appointment of com
mittee to investigate and report on a
revision of the rules and followed up
with vigorous speech in defense of
! it. This resolution is still pending and
Mr.. Nelson will labor at the next SEES
sion 10 obtain favorable action upon
| it.
! At the outset Mr.. Nelson made it
clear that this was a patriotic not
! partisan movement. He made no at
tack on Speaker Cannon nor did he
make any excavations when in his
discourse the bad features of present
procedure were found to embodied
in and jealousy guarded by that of
fetal. While the democrats had adopt
ed plank on the subject it is not an
issue between the parties, he said, as
the feeling on this question is intense
among both republicans and demo
Gratis in the northwest. He called at
tention to the fact that the first move
ment of parliamentary reform was be-
gun by republicans, citing his own res
olution and speeches by Mr. Cooper
of Wisconsin, Murdoch of Kansas,
Hayes of California. Lindbergh of Min
nesota and Norris of Nebraska.
This is not a partisan question
said Mr. Nelson, because the rules
as they now exist, are not the work
alone of either democrats or republi
cans. They have been adopted by all
parties alike and have been used un-
der both democratic and republican
speakers. The thought is current
among people who are not informed
! that Speaker Reed is responsible for
the arbitrary rules of the house. 1t is
true that under his speakership t. =
rules first came into public notice
! from a political point of view. A dem
ocratic minority started a filibuster
with the avowed purpose of Debating
the will of the majority. Speaker Reed
met this organized obstruction by
counting a quorum when a quorum
was actually present and by refusing
to put obviously dilatory motions. Let
me say here that have found the
writings of Speaker Reed full of use
full suggestions for true parliamentary
reform Whatever may have been his
general use of arbitrary power, the
rulings of Speaker Reed on the ques-
lions OF Quorum and of dilatory mo
lions have met with public approval
and are now accepted as a necessary
part of the parliamentary powers of
any speaker. This was shown shortly
afterwards, when the democrats
adopted Speaker Reeds rulings but
greatly increased the power of the ap-
peals by democrats throughout the
country, who warned them to be wise
when they had the power"
Mr.. Nelson pointed out that the
speaker of the house of representa-
tiyes has grown TO be a dictator in
the halls of national legislation and
showed how the power of that indi'
vidual has grown until it has become
tyranny.
What a trayesty it is on represent
alive government" exclaimed Mr..
| Nelson The people of the United
States are about to elect a president
But the people do not realize that
there is one member of congress res
ponsible to only a single district. who
may nave far greater power than the
president. The president will have APP
! continents to make. He is supposed
| to carry out the laws, but as a matter
| of fact these laws are executed by de
partments now organized from the
bottom to the top. He will only change
the heads Real power consists of
making or uumaking laws. II is gen
orally conceded" he said that the
speaker is the second most powerful
official in the land, but | believe that
as a factor in legislation, vitally at.
fecting the interest of the people, this
one member Of congress is more than
the peer Of the president Of the Unit
ed States Yet he is only responsible
for one cong essionaI district while
the president is responsible to all The
people
While there is Ittle time afforded
members 70 debate pending measures.
there is the most lavish waste Of
time for ineffective general debate. It
would be as interesting as it would
be startling TO figure up how ureh Of
the actual time of each SEES ion is
thus thrown away upon mere idle
talk in committees Of the whole house.
[ Without reference 10 pepdipg legiela-