The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-12-04
Asserts House Rules as at
Present Constituted, Are
Absolutely Necessary to
Foil Filibustering.
DEMAGOGUES OPPOSED y
TO ORDER HE DECLARES
Pictures Possible WoefuI Con-
ditions If Authority Was
Divided Among a Large
Number of Members.

Washington, d. c., Dec. 4.-Speaker
Cannon will stand pat on the present
rules Of the House, when ii comes TO
the Sixty-First congress.
next March. This became evident In a
frank interview, which the veteran
leader of the lower house gave to the
newspaper men.
Whether he can carry a majority of
the house on this proposition, is a
question on which politicians differ.
Some OF them. particularly those who
have been ciamoring loudest for a
fight to elect somebody else speaker,
insist that he cannot. and that when
the rules are amended. he will find
himself powerless, and little more than
a figurehead in the speakers chair.
On the other hand, those closest to
him, declare that the house itself will
see the need of ironclad rules to pre-
vent a filibustering minority from
playing ducks and brakes with the
highly critical situation, which the
passage of the Payne tariff bill is sure
to cause.
The present rules OF the house."
said the speaker, ARE absolutely neces-
sary to enable the house, acting
through Its majority, to carry out the
will OF the majority. 1t is the only
way representative body can accom-
plish anything. The rules of the
house and the committee on rules are
part OF the machinery which is abso-
lutely necessary.
Cannon Lays Down Law.
IF the speaker were compelled to
recognize everybody who happened to
catch his eye to ask a special order on
any bills he might happen to think OF.
no business ever could be transacted.
! AS 1t is, before presenting a special
rule on any bill, the committee on
rules sound sides to find out whether
there is any genuine demand for bring
ing such a bill into the house for spe-
cial action
There is lot OF misapprehension
in the public mind as to the powers
and duties of the speaker. and of this
| committee on rules. The speaker. as
| well as this committee. merely repre-
sents the will of the majority of the
house. II he did not he wouldn't last
| a minute. There's q lot of silly talk
going the rounds and some OF 1t gets
into the magazines. Much OF it il
cheap demagogy. More of It 10 just
| useless talk
| Some time ago some member of
congress dramatically declared that he
could not do violence to his sovereign
power as the representative Of q hun
dred thousand sovereign voters, by GO
ing, hat I'M hand. to the speakers Of
flee to get him to recognize him for a
special order on any measure. I sup
pose he thinks the speaker ought to go.
hat in hand, each morning, from office
to office. to find OUT just what every
congressman may desire In that way.
And while he is gadding about and has
i seen about ten OF them the other $50
will be cursing him because he IL not
where he belongs, in his office. That's
the trouble with most Of this talk, you
ket down to analyzing it, and 1t be-
comes mere rot
Machinery Must Keep Working.
i God hasn't put any more hours in
to the day or any more days into the
year while this country has been
growing from 100000 OF people to
s5,00O.OO0. But the legislative bust
ness OF the country has grown. And
IL the congress Is going to attend to
IL, 1t must have rules which will save
its wasting lot of the peoples time
without accomplishing anything The
rules OF the house must be SO con-
structed that everything in this fine
machine viii work exactly. II the
machine becomes cumbersome Ii will
fail of its purpose.
That is where the trouble will be
IL the responsibility were to be scat
tered, or II the committee on rules
were to be enlarged. We now have
five members-three republicans and
two democrats. II one of the repubIi-
cans happens to be absent. as occurs
time and time again. one of the demo
Gratis pairs himself with him. and then
three men practically constitute the
committee. But IL 1t Is difficult often
to get quorum when only three make
up a quorum. how much more difficult
would IL be to get a quorum IL there
were eleven members or thirteen.
And while you are increasing the
committee you might as well make it
twenty or forty. And where could
you accomplish anything7
"As to just what the next congress
will do don't presume to say. I have
been reelected BY a slight maiorify of