The Brunswick news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1906-2016, 1909-03-25
COL. ". c. BRANTLEY
GIVES DETAILS
SHOWS A CLEARER VIEW OF THE
INSIDE OF THE RECENT
AU c Us.
Alleged Attempts to Bounce Speaker
Cannon and to Clip the Power of
the Chair Nothing But a Farce, Says
Eleventh District Ga. Congressman.

Were the six Georgia congressman
who refused to follow Champ Clark
and the democratic caucus into the
lineup with the republican "insur-
gents last week boilers? This is the
proposition being discussed all over
Georgia as no other action of any one
or several of Georgia'S congressman
has been discussed for many years.
! The outcome of the discussion will be
watched with interest The six Geor-
gia members who stayed out of the
lineup at last accounts were serene
and certain of their position.
Col. w. G. Brantley, of this city, was
one of the six Georgians. Naturally
the stand he has taken is being dis
cussed all over the Eleventh district.
Colonel Brantiey's Position.
Probably no clearer presentation of
the situation has been made than that
covered in letter written on Tues
day by Colonel Brantley to one of his
friends.
Just now the statements are of
great interest to every one in the
Eleventh district. Extracts from the
letter are as follows:
Our votes were absolutely right,
from whatever standpoint viewed. and
yet it Is difficult and perhaps to some
extent embarrassing for us to state
all the facts, and when say embar-
rassing mean not to us personally
but embarrassing to our party.
Every congress since the founda-
F.. tton of the government has pursued
the policy of allowing the speaker to
appoint the committees of the house
II has been the unbroken custom and
policy of every democratic speaker.
from Crisp back, to appoint commit
tees. 1t hardly seems to me to be
within the power of Mr.. Clark. acting
under the authority OF the caucus. to
propose amendments to the rules of
the house, to propose amendments that
reverse all democratic precedents and
then hold democrats as traitors who
fail to follow him
The explanation of what is called
Cannonism is that when Roosevelt was
! demanding all kinds of impossible leg
islation republican members in order
to square themselves with their con-
stltuents became accustomed to report
that the reason Roosevelt policies were
not being carried into effect was that
the speaker would not let the bills
come up. In the same way they re-
ported to the followers of Gompers
that the reason labor legislation was
not enacted was because the speaker
would not let it come up; and in the
same way they reported to the Anti
Saloon league that the reason liduor
legislation was not enacted was that
the speaker would not let the house
vote on it. The truth was, on the
contrary, that the republican house did
not want to vote on any of this legis-
lation, and the speaker in keeping it
down was simply carrying out the will
of the majority of the house. All this
talk resulted in the cry of Cannon
| ism If our party had been wisely led
1t would have exposed the entire sit
uation and would have shown the
country the real truth of the stu
alton. Instead of doing this our party
has fallen in behind the cry of Can
nonism which rs fake pure and sim
pie, and has allowed republicanism to
go unattached and unrebuked.
Mr.. Clark is from Missouri, the
hot bed of Bryanism, and it has been
a fashion in that country as you know
! since 1896 to pick up every movement
that appears to be temporarily popular
and exploit it as democracy Mr..
Bryan, as usual, has been behind this
last movement urging a fusion be-
tween the great democratic party and
a few complaining republicans, where
, by the responsibility of the republi-
can party is shifted from It's own
shoulders to the shoulders of Joe Can
non. In order to accomplish this kind
of fusion our party has laid aside
the precedents OF 1870 years by this
proposal to take away from the speak
er the power to organize the house.
my personal opinion is that there
could not be anything more disastrous
to party organization or to wise leg
4 islation than to carry out this policy
of denying the speaker the power to
organize the house. II there were .
I committee appointed charged with the
/ duty Of making committee appoint
ments the door would be wide opea
for favoritism for packing the com (
nittees in the interest of special leg