Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1908-01-31
Washington Special

| TASK IOT speaker SNAuNOnS no one OuI
thoughtful and level-headed man coule
have been able to set the machinery oil
| the Goth congress to work without fric.
tion.
The climax Of prosperity has beer
reached by the country, which makes
men Of all classes feel high spirited; SO
much so that they are ready to enter
into experiments of all kinds.
Since the house of representatives Is
the art gallery or experimental ground
the speaker had to guard we'll every
avenue against entering into these ex-
periments that might clog the wheel OF
prosperity, and set the nation to won
der.
Speaker Cannon has guarded we'll,
by placing good and thoughtful men in
positions on committees that will do
much in shaping the work of the Goth
congress.
We want to give the readers of Iowa
an idea of how we'll the speaker has
placed these men, by showing them how
the great state of Iowa has been placed
on committees.
| want to say, too, that no state in
hA~ NhiOh Aloo q SllOuSSl AlOAN uROH lCk-
islation than does this state (Iowa), for
the reason of the long service Of its
members, and the experience they have.
The Iowa members you will find are
placed on all the strong committees, as
follows: First district, Charles A.
Kennedy, mileage, pensions, coinage,
weights and measures, levees and inn
provements of the Mississippi river.
Second district, Albert F. Dawson, ma
val affairs, Pacific railroads, reform in
the civil service. Third district, Benja-
min P. Birdsall, rivers and harbors,
railways and canals. Fourth district,
Gilbert N. Haugen (chairman), expen-
ditures in interior department, agricul-
ture, war claims. Fifth district, Robert
G. Cousins, (chairn1an), foreign af
fairs. Sixth district, Daniel w. Hamil-
ton, mines and mining, public lands.
Seventh district, John A. T. Hull (chair-
mani, military affairs, militia. Eighth
district, William P. Hepburn (chair-
mani, interstate and foreign commerce.
Ninth district, Walter !. Smith, appro-
priations. Tenth district, James P.
Connor, labor, library, public buildings
and grounds. Eleventh district, Ebert
H. Hubbard, insular affairs, revision Of
laws, expenditures in department Of
justice.
The committee on military affairs Of
the house have before them many meas
ures of national Importance. They are
called upon to appropriate between
eighty and ninety million dollars for
the support of the army and for milf
tary posts; also for army transports,
and all other affairs relating to the
army The military committee will be,
one Of the FIRST committees to make its
report TO the house 81 ii !
A very inIpuTiant manner is now be-
fore this committee, that OF paying the
men Of the army an increase in their
There are but few Americans
that would not consider the men of the
army poorly paid at the rate of thirteen
dollars per month.
In my opinion this bill will pass, for
Mr.. Hull's tact in preparing his bills
and bringing them upon the floor stand
second to none; hence these bills are
seldom turned down by the house.
The house being committee OF the
whole house on the state of the union,
to codfy, revise and amend tn penal
laws of the United States.
Mr.. Bartlett of Georgia offered res
olution to strike out the three last
of the constitution known
as the 18th, l4th and 18th amendments.
Mr.. Hepburn of Iowa, who is law
yer, a counselor and one of the greatest
debaters upon the floor of the house, Of
fered his rebuttal in the following Ian
guage: ..a-. .--..'- a....- =. Il
Mr.. Hepburn.-Mr. Chairman: I am
very sorry that gentlemen on that side
have precipitated this debate. There
was no necessity for it. Gentlemen,
there is no enactment of law proposed
here. We are dealing Simply with a
codiflcation of existing laws. Why.
gentlemen should have seen fit to pre-
cipitate this kind Of debate upon us at
this time is something that cannot un-
derstand. This is section that only
seeks to preserve the right of the citi-
zen-no more; the right of a citizen
who has every qualification fixed by tho
law for certain duties and certain OUL-
cations to perform these duties and OBJ
legations. That is all that it is the pur-
pose Of this statute to preserve. 1t is
strange that this opposition should come
from gentlemen who talk so much
about democracy-that democracy that
hey have told us over and again has
for its primary purpose the securement
IF "equal rights for all; special privl-
epes for none." That is democratic
doctrine, you tell us. How many times
nave you rung the changes on that
in your national platform?
How many times have you garnished
your speeches with this declaration
,ver and over repeated, to protect the
lights of all-all American citizens?
That is what this section proposes to
10. Some gentleman says he wants BY.
zones to be bygones. Why do you pre-
:ipitate this debate If that is what you
want? Does he mean by that the
spirit that made necessary this legisla-
ion thirty-five years ago is now dead,
hat there is no more Of it, and there
Tore no necessity for the legislation?
s that true? am reminded of a gen.
leman in this house who is fit to adorn
he senate Of the United States, who is
he peer Of any man who has sat in
hat body during the last fifty years, a
nan of popularity in his state, man
If infinite worth, who, in a contest that
,e had last summer, only triumphed by
|. few hundred votes, and that over a
nan who made his campaign, If the
newspapers correctly reported him, up.
IN the proposition Of repeating the last
hree constitutional amendments and
aking from large class of citizens all
il the rights Of their citizenship. Yet
,pon a platform of that kind that gen.
leman came within few votes Of de-
eating this man so pre-eminently quail
fed to adorn the senate Of the United