The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-12-11

for half a dozen offices, including clerk,
sergeant alarms, chaplain, doorkeeper,
and postmaster.
One day VIII suffice for that work
and for the swearing in of members
and for the great biennial lottery N
which 39l members will draw their
/ seats for the next two years. But the
/ House is powerless TO enact any legs
! lation till after its committees have
| been announced That is the Speaker 5
| privilege, as he selects the men for ev-
cry committee. There may be fight
| on the adoption of the rules next
| spring. but the chances are that wise
| old - Uncle joe will be able to squeich
all the rules reformers before Congress
meets and that, after some demonstra"
| tions of hostility, the House will by
resolution adopt the rules of the 60th
| Congress.
1t almost goes without saying that
the Speaker will appoint only those
committees that have to do with legis-
lation suggested in the President S mes
| sage For it is practise, generally
| adhered to, that an extra session OF
| Congress shall consider little business
| outside of that for which the President
| called it together. That means the
/ Speaker will appoint only the Ways and
| Means. the Rules, and the Mileage and
/ Accounts committees. He can do that
| in short order The Ways and Means
membership will be about the same as
| in the present Congress and will deal
with the revision. which probably will
/ be the only legislative matter men
toned in President Taft message.
Want Their Mileage Early.
The Rules Committee is the govern
! ing body, through which the Speaker
makes his wishes effective. The Mile
age Committee attends to the little mat
ter of twenty cents a mile for the en-
tire distance travelled by every member
and delegates in coming to attend the
session. 1t was intended that this
graft" as it is commonly called,
should be cut off, when. the salaries OF
| congressman were raised from 5000 to
! $500 a year But the provision abolish
ing it was beautifully juggled and your
| $500 statesman or politician is still as
keen as ever to get it. The money can
not be paid without the 0. K. of the
/ Mileage Committee and therefore Its
members are always announced as soon
/ as that of any other committee. The
! mileage amounting to as much as 5000
or 800 for some of the Pacific Coast
| keeps Senators and members in pocket
money for the earlier part of the ses'
> sion.
The House will be working hard for
/ the first two or three weeks. 1t VIII
meet Monday and every other week
| dav and have no adiournments, except
| for Sunday. from the time that the
| WAYS and Means Committee brings the
completed bill from it's rooms in the
! big office building, either up the broad
asphalted way of New Jersey avenue,
or through the subterranean tunnel,
| and introduces it in the House till the
| last roll has been called on its passage.
Meanwhile the Senate will be work
| ing very lesurely indeed, Its reorgan-
| ization will consist largely of finding
| committee places for Senators and also
| of looking out that Senators secure
comfortable and cosy committee rooms.
| Those are two subjects very dear to
your United States Senator. The long
er he wears toga the harder he Will
! fight and the more wires he will pull,
| both to get desirable committee assign
ments and exc, a nice committee room.
| That matter may occupy couple OF
weeks. but there will be little indica.
| ton of it in the Senate, for the work
| will be done by carefully selected com
| mittees of oldsters, one for the Repub-
| Iicans and one for the Democrats, who
I will see to it that no new conner gets
anything that can make him feel at all
uppish.
Nominations to be Ratified.
For time the Senate will almost
certainly be adiourning every Thursday
| till the following Monday. 1t would
| adjourn earlier but for the fact that
/ the constitution fOrbids either House OF
| Congress TO adjourn for more than
| three days at a time without the con-
| sent of the other. There will be some
executive business to dispose Of-per,
haps treaty or two to be ratified and
! undoubtedly several large patches OF
nominations from President Taft to be
| confirmed.
AS soon as the House has its last
roll call on the Payne revision bill
| for the new tariff law will be known
| as the Payne law in honor of the Ways
| and Means chairman-the Senate
Finance Committee will begin to
"spunk up. " How long that commit
tee will require to go over the Payne
bill is a matter of conjecture. The
prospects are that it win not be more
| than two or three weeks. Much will
depend upon the extent to which the
Finance Committee wishes to rewrite
the House measure and the number OF
witnesses it hears.
Almost from the day that the Senate
and the Finance Committee get the
PAYNE bill the House will begin ad-
iourning for three days at stretch
unless President Taft recommends IN
his message legislation other than on
the tariff. That is what the House did
at the last extra session of note-that
of 1897, when the DingEey law was
passed 1t enables members who live
a DAYS ride or so from Washington to
90 home and attend to their own bust
ness. It also enables the House to en-
phasize to the country that it has dis
posed of the tariff bill and but for the
dilatory Senate the country would now
have a tariff law and there would be
no more cause to worry about it. The
House leaders are very fond of en-
phasizing that, when any legislation