The Washington herald., 1908-03-07
MEN AND THINGS.

Inc popular impression Inat the
Speaker Of the House of Representatives
is an autoerat or ezar." said L. White
Busbey. Uncle joe Cannons able sec
retary. as he lighted a cigar and blew
a cloud of tobacco smoke toward the
ceiling in his room at the Capitol the
other day, lis, to put it mildly, gross
.exaggeration.
"A Speaker Mr.. Busbey added, who
succeeds man OF his own political faith
has his work largely mapped out for
him in advance in the matter OF COM
mittee assignments, except where vacan-
cies have occurred in the ranks of the
majority party by death or defeat In
other words, A Speaker Is practically
compelled by custom. or precedent. which
has al the force Of law. to arrange his
committees according TO certain fixed
rules that have been handed down 10
him by his predecessors. He is not per-
mitted TO have a free rein by any means.
The law of seniority is almost absolute
in the House. 1t is more rigidly fol-
lowed than In either the army or navy.
''Of course, when there is a change of
party control in the House." Mr. Busbey
continued. 1T Is different. At such times
the new Speaker has to build his commit
tees from the ground up, and he is more
or less free TO exercise hts own Judgment.
But where the Speakers have all belonged
10 the same party, as has been the case
for good many years, each one has
found himself under more or less Of a
handicap In making his committee selec-
tions
TON Reed had a free hand when he
succeeded Crisp. but he passed on many
tnheritances' to his successor. Gen. Hen
derson. which the latter could not well
get away from. Uncle Joe likewise re-
ceived a similar consignment of in
heritances from Henderson.
Il would not for a moment have il
thought that ] was criticising the or
ganization of the House in the matter OF
committee assignments Far from il,
but at the same time. Il should be borne
In mind that no Speaker since Tom Reed
laid down the garvel has been able to get
away from tnheritances' IN making his
committee appointments
The point 1 wish 70 make is that no
Speaker OF the House can cut much of
figure as q czar unless he is given a
new deck Of cards and be freed from all
entanglins alliances in the form OF in
herited obligations
Probably no man has been more missed
from the Senate for good many years
than John c. Spooner, Of Wisconsin. His
departure made a vacancy IN the Upper
House Of Congress that has been extreme
ly hard to I'LL.
When Mr.. Spooner resigned his seat IN
the Senate at the close Of the last session
OF Congress. it was hinted in some quar-
ters that he was getting out Of the Senate
in order 10 enter the field of Presiden-
tial aspirants; but this he omphatically
denied at the time and he took occasion
20 repeat his denial On a recent business
trip to Washington.
- got out OF public iife." he said. in
order that I might accumulate little
property 10 leave my family after I pass
of the stage OF earthly endeavor.
realized that l could not hope to make
any substantial provision for my loved
ones II I continued in the Senate
Il had been In the Senate sixteen years
when / resigned. During all that time il
had cost me much more than my salary
to live and maintain my family in Wash
ington. ! suppose that during those six
teen years 1 probably refused legal fees
that did not feel that could consistent
iy accept amounting in the aggregate 10
over 10000 I felt that had sacrificed
enough 70 my country, and that / owed
duty TO my family and those dependent
upon me-"
One Of the last votes cast by Mr.. Spooner
in the Senate was to increase the Con-
gressionaI salary from $500 to $500 II
he had not been going out OF Congress.
he said, he never would have voted for
the proposition.
] thought the Increase was right" he
said, but l never could bring myself up
10 the point OF voting TO Increase my own
salary. although I would not for a mo-
ment wish 10 be considered as criticlsIng
any Senator or Member who did so vote.
II is altogether a matter OF individual
taste.
Il remember when the so-called salary
grab was passed back in the seventies.
Matt Carpenter and Timothy O. Howe
were the two Wisconsin Senators at
the time Howe voted for the grab. but
refused TO take the money. Carpenter. on
the other hand, voted against IT, but
drew the money from the Treasury after
the bill passed. He was called 10 ac-
count for his apparent inconsis5 5ency by
his constituents at home. and his expla-
nation was quite up to the CARPENTER
standard for ingenuity.
Getting out on the stump. he said
that he mad voted against the salary
grab. believing II TO be wrong, but after
Il became a law he was compelled 10 take
the money as the clause in the Consti-
tuition regarding the Congressional salary
was mandatory. II said that ii shalT
be whatever amount Congress may de-
eide upon; therefore he simply had to
take the money. The explanation did
not go down. and Carpenter was defeated
for reelection. but the people Of Wis
consin forgave him later and sent him
back. He died in harness 81 the Capitol"
1t appears that the Japanese suffer as
much from auack medicines as ourselves
According to the journal of the Asiatic
Society of Japan" the sale Of these medi-
cines in the land of the Rising Sun is ef-
fected by an organization of peddlers
rather than in shops. Among the things
sold are "brian-healing pills" poison
expelling pills. 'spirit-cheering pills. -
''heal-everything powders 'one-dose
healing powders" '1ife-supporting pow
ders." and ''touch-the-spot pastilles."
When Sir Mortimer Durand, former
British Ambassador at Washington. ar
rived in New York harbor on his first
trip to the United States he was much
impressed with the skyscrapers. Sir Nor
timer had Travelled all over the woria.
having been Lord Roberts political agent
In India, minister to Teheran, and ambas-
sador 10 Madrid. but he had never seen
anything like New York's sky line
He gazed at the tall buildings a while