The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1908-12-24
JOSEPH @. CANNON.
Congressman Have Hidden Behind
Him but He Is Unfit Nevertheless,

Him but He Is Unfit Nevertheless.
tine feature. which undoubtedly is not
realized by the general public in the pros
ent clamor against Mr.. cannon, is the ~.
tent To which individual members have
shouldcred their responsibilities oil upon
the speaker and then IN facing their con
stitucnts have hid behind his skirts, says
the Washington correspondent OF the
Springfield Republican. II is not proposed
10 here enter into any defense of MIR. Can
non. partly because of the deliberate opln.
ion that he is wholly unfit for the Office
which he occupies aud constitutes an AT
front to the public intelligence as long as
| he j. continued IN II. But IL is desirable
to be absolutely just to him and TO present
the case rs IL stands.
One largely contributing reason why in
past years there have been few or no com
mttee calls in the house Of representatives
| is that after some committee had favor.
ably considered a disputed bill. individual
members ilocked TO the speaker and Inn
plored him not TO let the bill come TO a
vote. although il was already on the cal
endar as result of the committees ac'
ton. This description is absolutely 10y the
card. In the cases of certain anti-liquor
bills and labor bills members have gone to
the speaker by the score and told him that
il would either jeopardize or actually end
their political existence, il they were forced
to openly record q vote either for or
against. The result has been that the
speaker has made himself buffer and
that the possibility of bringing up the
dangerous measures has been avoided by |
abandoning the call of committees and by |
picking out other measures on the calen.
dar by means OF the ever-ready expedient |
of a special rule from the rules committee
or rather under general supervision of the
rules. The individual members have then
gone home and when asked by constituents
why such and such bill did not come up
have declared that the speaker throttled
ii, which may have been true, though by
no means all of the truth in all cases.
Clearly this constitutes a fraud on the
public. But congressman have become SO
accustomed to seeing the speaker perform
this party service as buffer that they
frankly state it to be one of the purposes
for which he is chosen, and as it is they
who do the choosing they can be credited
with accuracy.
Here is disclosed the too little appre-
ciated crux of the whole matter. The
general public hardly realizes that the man
who is chosen speaker, and therefore to ,
preside with assumed justice, is primarily
a party leader. Even experienced old
timers in the house will confess that it
of things to see their party program |
ammed through, not by the direct vote
If the majority to which there could be Il
no valid objection, but by the mere C
strained and doubtful ruling of their party
eader, who is supposed to occupy some
What of a judicial position before the n
ouse. There has been surprising amount
If talk along this line of late. There are
a good many veterans who u
thnN I,a fIrnl
# the house, if the speaker were made
official-if, for example, the "
resent very able parliamentary clerk, Mr.. c
finds, were put in the chair-and the ma
ority party actually led, as it should be, c
" its chief on the floor after the manner N
t the English house of commons. Sucn
omplete revolution is of course not to be =,
expected in the immediate future, if at all IN
ct it is not wholly impossible that it will !"
G the ultimate result when changes have
cen once begun. In the meantime there to
no question that the procedure of the Sc
ouse can be greatly improved, and GER
linly some of its prestige restored to 1t, ID
Y the changes which have been men ca
oned. r,
One result of the periodic call of COM
ittees would be to give the committee at
lairmen greater Importance in the public W.
re than they now possess. Their work fe
OulQ Jnen come more uHueF ulscuSslOu,
I'd as result of the greater prominence r..
I'd greater responsibility there would I'M re
come better service. 1t is of ra
urse inevitable that in any large legis- Up
tive body like the house of representa-
yes very great share of the work must ms
done in committees; the development of de-
e committees of the British house of Br
mmons has been set forward in master ]
fashion during the past year by Profess Sp
r Lowell of Harvard in his remarkable an,
,rk on the government of England. IF.
But while Speaker Cannon has thus been the
a certain extent the victim of system, 7
certainly has not administered his Of ,r1
e under that system with breadth or inc; n,s
sdom. When all has been said in mis- Sat Sat
-or that can be said, his narrow bigotry w;
1 ignorance amply justify the general c Mn
ack upon him. In the long run it may ''"
I'VE fortunate that he has held the
akership at this time, for it is beyond
,stion that his personal dsqualifcations
the office have lent strength to the L
nand for change in the system, which of
t demand might otherwise have lacked. bee
this way it may eventually be neces- mel
y to count Mr. Cannon as a consid- day
bic factor in fastening the day on for
ch the house is made more responsive gele
the popular will, and on which the cam
pie can better see how their represen- err,
yes are really performing the functions graz
gned to them. thro
that