Los Angeles herald., 1909-04-18
SPEAKER CANNON AND TNSURGENT" MURDOCH
DISCUSS HOUSE RULES


The wheel of time finally turned, bearing Mr.. Can
upward on its rim. Thomas B. Reed, the original
Tsar of the House of Representatives, retired Ana
finally Mr. Cannon became Speaker of that body,
which he first entered in 1872, when Victor Murdoch
was pulling infant.
Mr. Cannons views changed with his assumption
of power. He the necessity of stringent rules
Young and ambitious members must be suppressed.
Indivdualsm has little place in the House of Repre-
sentatives. A machine controlled and operated by
Mr.. Cannon meant the welfare of the country: Them
just Mr. Cannon and his machine were getting well
under way Kansas sent from the old jerry Simpson
district a fiery, red haired youth to Washington TO
become one of the republican majority in the House
of Representatives. Victor Murdoch there with
his awny temperament looking for opportunity to
make an insurgent out Of himself, though it is his
personal declaration that he is not leader even
among nsurgents-merely who is trying to better
conditions
In Kansas batting the Santa Fe Railroad is
State wide amusement and entertainment After the
crops have been garnered holiday Is declared, and
every loyal of Kansas goes out into Toms square
and 'denounces the Santa Fe. So it was that young
Mr. Murdoch gave his first attention in Washington
to railroad affairs He wanted to find out just exactly
how much the national government was paying the
Santa Fe for carrying mails from Kansas In letter.
recently written to of his personal friends In New
York Mr. Murdoch wrote:-
"After had been down here a while discovered
thing which had been hidden away for thirty-fve
years, having escaped four special commissions
which had made search of the premises for it and
one expert statistician who was paid $4,000 for his
effort.
finding the average daily weight, upon which average
daily weight the government paid the railroads for
the carriage of the mall the Post Office Department
had been weighing the mails seven days, that is,
every day in the week, and then dividing by six to
get the average daily weight. In other words the
department included Sunday in the dividend, but
cluded it in the divisor
by this process 1 figured out that in thirty-four
years the government had overpaid the railroads
$700000 0O and at the moment of discovery was over
paying them at the rate of $5,0000OO year.
"Sef-evident this proposition was, it was so
astounding to inspire disbelief. Over a period
covering months / made the fight in committee and
in the open House for correction 1 made every
possible motion under the rules that could be made.
l dinned the proposition into the of the House
day after day, and the highest vote received In
that fight was II out of a membership of 3S7.
Immediately after Congress adjourned Roosevelt,
to whom had appealed, corrected the practice by
Executive order issued by the Postmaster General.
There is not soul in the United States who defends
the old computation to-day.
sit was this which started me in the campaign
against the rules. Having had the experience and
actual demonstration of the ptable heplessness of
the individual Representative, even when armed with
proposition that in its very nature undeniably
Just it became to compelling duty to free the
vehicle of legislation"
Mr. Cannon has great admiration for the red haired
Kansan. He likes him. but he despises his methods.
Mr. Cannon certainly believes that the wheels of gov
eminent will be cogged if indviduaism is not sup
pressed in the House of Representatives His rules,
in his opinion are saving the government from dsas-
ter Murdoch holds to the contrary and so long as
his seat on the floor of the House of Congress-