Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1909-08-26

IN
| vine right founded on that motto of dcs-
pot'stn' THE king can do no wrong?" DO
you not gravelv believe that while every
| member who insurges against you or the
rules commits treason in your sight and
must be uncercnonously shot YOU your
SELF. can properly insurge and plot
against the ways and means committee,
| against the House itself from which you
derive all your power and over which you
preside. Yes. You can ins,irgc and plot
against the republican platform and
AGAINST the President himself of which
| shall now adduce stronger circumstantinl
evidence than that upon which many
| man has gone TO the galows
GROUND FOR IMPEA CHMENT.
The relation of conferee to n bill
passed by the House Is precisely the
| same as that Of an attorney of a case In
court, or OF a foreign minister negotlat-
| Ing treaty. while the obligation OF the
speaker OF the House is II possible, tom
fold greater. II tho attorney betrays his
| client and sells ont his case. he is dis
barred. If foreign minister, sent
| abroad to negotiate n treaty, betrays his
| country, he is impeached.
Now 1t seems from all that can he
| learned with reference to tho conference
upon tho PAYNE bill that YOU. with every
members political head in your basket OF
| favors, huttle-cocked through the
| "halls' Of Congress. trying to secure tho
passage. generally speaking. OF the Al
drich bill; and. disfguring 50 far as you
could the Payne bill, with the exception
Of few schedules.
Mr. Payne. the chairman of the com
| mi fnn and no,
chairman OF the conferces. on the part of
the House. certainly knew better than
any other man which OF his associates
were best fitted by Information and 10y
atty to his bill and the bill which had
passed the House. TO defend It in confer
ence
How did II happen that Mr.. Aldrlch
assented to a larger representation on
| the part of the House than the Senate
If he was fighting for the Senate bill?
Did not you and Mr. Aldrich together
select the six conferees on the part
Of the House. no one being appointed
until after Mr. Aldrich had o. KID, or
| approved him?
! DUPLICITY. TREACIERY. PERFIDY
| have gone into these details to lay
bear your miserable. contemplate false
pretense and to expose your duplicity,
treachery and perfldy to that legislative
body over which you preside. whose bill
YOU We're bound to defend and not de-
stroy.
Mr., Aldrich had the affrontry to declare
in the Senate that the republican plat
form did not pledge us to a downward
revision He must have then thought
that your scheme was going to work
| The republican platform was based
upon the position taken by our presiden-
tal candidate long before the convention
met, and his subsequent position upon
tariff revision downward was in perfect
harmony with his position before his
| nomination and with the platform upon
which he stood.
Taking all the facts as they appear in
the case from start to finish. n lawyer.
an intelligent criminal lawyer would say
that II looked like conspiracy. You
seem to have measured the conditions
with accuracy and TO have calculated the
distances 10 the various points of agree
menc carefully, and YOU seemed to be
almost upon the point OF consummatng
your undertaking when the great I'M
known factor became the determining
force.
PRESIDENT BLOCKED SCHEME.
Both of You seemed to have forgotten
that the President was q great lawyer, a
judge Of large experience, a man of ex
tensive dealings in great affairs intel
lgent. honorable. courageous ana patri-
otto. The scheme failed because Mr..
Payne and the President stood like hon
est and brave men for the redemption
of the pledges of the Republican party.
Though this scheme failed. it exhibits
"Cannonism" in its highest and most
perfect development
challenge you to cite in all our politi-
cal history a more dishonorable and des-
reputable piece Of business unless. per-
chance, you cite something in your own
career of which the people are not yet
advised
1t is possible that YOU do not know
that the most important question before
the American people to-day is Cannon
ISM If the people are 70 end this
1 travesty on a free representative govern
ment. and if they want men, free men tc
represent them. and not such man as
Joseph =. cannon. OF Danvile illinois
who assumes to stand for the whole s.
congressional districts as we'll as hi,
OWL. they will let no man represent then
in tho end Congress who has not mad,
the following pledges:
First: will vote for n rule which vii
provide that all places Of patronage about
the capitol shall BE drawn for precisely
as the members now draw for the choice
of seats so far as such places may moi
be reasonably put under civil service
rules.
ALWAYS A "HOG-COMBINE"
All members of the House who want 1
square deal and only n square deal. ant
propose to hold their patronage in thei,
own right and not as girt will favo,
this pledge For as matters now stant
there is always hog combine" which
controls the places of patronage. an,
absorhs them so far as possible for thci,
own selfish ends, some Of them having
several thouand dollars To their credit
while the balance is farmed out and put
where they think it will do the most
good The recipients of such favors ar,
| expected. Of course, to be grateful and
consider themselves under Il correspond
ing obligations because forsooth thcy
have been permitted to eat out of IN,
hands of the wonders of the political M,
and plumber
Second I will vote to strip the office
of speaker Of the House OF Rcprescnto.
tives of all political power, and mako hin
Just what the speaker Of tine House o,
Commons Is, simply presiding officer.
Third: I will vote for a rule that pro.
vides that the House Of Representative.
shall vote for a committee on commit.
tees: that IL committee to appoint tho
committees of the House