The Washington times., 1908-11-05

have the advantage of being done with
the least possible disturbance and tur-
moil. Everybody knows right now who
viii do it, and how they feel about it.
Who VIII Revise Tariff.
Serene Payne and John Dalzeu and
Joe Cannon viii boss the making Of
the new schedules at the House end.
where the bill must originate; and
when it gets to the Senate, Messrs.
Aldrich and Hale and Lodge and War
ren, and the rest Of the ruling regime
there will do any pruning they esteem
desirable.
There is going to be no undue excite
ment about this revision. The special
session TO pull it of will begin about
March 10 next. Meanwhile, the pre-
iininaTy work win be done; the House
Ways and Means Committee and the
Senate Finance Committee will get their
material together. viii confer about
policies and details, and will know that
"hdI tney now agree upon can be exc
cuted when the time comes for IT. There
Will be no change OF policy or plan.
Business Will not need TO worry about
what viii happen TO it, 1t knows that
the tarin Is indeed to be revised by its
friends.
The opposition TO Speaker Cannon has
not faded entirely 20 make mark for
itself. Jenkins. Cousins. Bede, Birusall
and Conner and various other thick
anG-thin supporters of the Speaker Went
down IN the primaries in their districts;
ana when election day came il brought
disaster 70 Lands, McCleary, over
street Pollard, and others equally de
voted to the Speaker.
Want Rules Changed.
More than this, the opposition to Can
non is still determined to make its fight
for a change OF The House rules. One
Of the leaders Of this movement recently
said 10 me:
Whether the House IS Republican or
Democratic; whether Speaker Cannon
comes back or not; whether he is once
more elected Speaker-no matter what
happens. you can be sure the fght fo-
reorganization OF the rules viii be
made"
The man who said this has himself
nearly forty pledges of support for
Speaker, il he will announce himself.
That is enough TO defeat Cannon. But
II viii probably not be used for that
purpose. The same man declared:
With the House considerably closer
than Il is now We could make Il ut
Jerly Impossible 10 elect Uncle Joe.
But most OF the boys don't care 10
20 so Tar ii hey can avoid it,. The
Speaker will 5e asked very early in
the short session to agree upon some
general plan Of changing the rules. 50
as TO give the House better control
of its own business.
What They Want.
I'VE want at least this much:
Increase of the Rules Committee to
seven members, TO be elected by the
House, instead of being appointed by
the Speaker.
Assurance that bills reported from
committee shall be placed on the cal
endar, and shall have opportunity to
be called up in the order in which they
are reported.
"ReviViication Of the rule for call OF
the committees at regular intervals
I'VE believe that much would make
the House once more a self-gOverning
body. Some extremists want a Speaker
who shall not be a member of the
House But / believe American paTlia-
menJaTy practice has not developed TO
that point thus far.
The fight Tor just about the things
Z have mentioned Will be pressed. You
may expect that there will be a mighty
lot OF politics all through the short
session. and II the old leaders do not
give assurance OF concessions, then il
may take all summer to organize the
House.
Can Avoid Caucus.
we can stay out of caucus and
prevent election Of a Speaker inded-
nitelyi and that is what ws surely
viii do If need be We hope it Will
not be necessary; but you can set it
down that the fight is on in earnest,
and will go 10 the finish unless terms
are made"
There is no doubt that the speaker
quoted was in position 10 talk by the
card. lie would himself be no insignif-
cant figure in a Speakership race. He Is
d fighter. and practical man. He be-
lieves il better business to compromise
by re-electing Cannon and getting the
rules changed, than to fight tor every
thing and get nothing. Moreover, he
feels that a long and bitter Speakership
hght at the very opening OF the tariff
revision session would be disastrous to
business. whose interest Is TO have a.
vision disposed of as soon as possible
sua suspense ended