Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-04


place its men as it sees fit. 1t is con-
tended that q system practicable in
the senate, which has only % MEM
bers, would be impossible in the
house with its 391 members.
The speaker by virtue of the ap-
pointing power, places the chairman
of every committee under obligation
to him and makes every chairman
member of the organization" ANY
chairman who should fail to abide by
the organization, as did Mr.. Fowler
of New Jersey, is at once convicted
of ingratitude, even by those who op-
pose the organization. Gratitude Tor
political faVors is required of prac-
teal politicians by the operation OF
every party law, and by public senu-
ment as well. No one is permitted TO
go back on the man who gave him a
job. That is u primary law OF Amer
lean politics.
An able defender of the house rules
and of the speakership, Representative
Olmstead of Pennsylvania, goes to the
root of the matter when he declares
that the object of the system under
which the house is governed is to Sc
cure and maintain party rule. lie ar
CUES that a party entrusted with
majority in the house of representative
must be permitted to control that body,
I
party should split off, form an alliance
with the minority party, and thus con
! stitute q majority of the whole house
! This defense admits that the present
system is able to prevent a majority OF
| the house from acting If that majority
be made up, in large part, of repre-
sentatives of the minority party. Ar
| guments by British statesmen are
quoted i'm support of the principle OF
| party rule but they are not pertinent
! in this case because In England when
| a sufficient number of insurgents vote
with the minority to give majority
| against the government, the govern
ment instantly resigns and the newly
| formed majority takes charge of af-
| fairs In American politics the rule
most sCrupulously observed is "Never
resign"
There can be no reasonable objec-
! tion to the rules which enable the
speaker to prevent fllibustering The
minority has no right and should have
! no power to prevent the enactment OF
! legislation by the majority. But IL 50
| happens that the rules to prevent fill
| clustering are not applicable in case the
| speaker desires to prevent action on q
| certain measure. The speaker has often
refused to permit the house to act
/ upon measures to which the majority
/ Of the house was favorable. Sometimes
/ he has done this only by his power TO
/ withhold unanimous consent a power
/ held by every other member. But
often he has done it by the power of
/ his position, his prestige in the party
/ and the fear of the consequences of a
revolt against him.
Often the speaker is the scapegoat of
/ cowardly legislators. There are many
measures which would pass if the rep
I q n
/ them openly but which would have
no chance If the vote was by secret
/ ballot. These the speaker sometimes
/ ehokes to death and takes the blame.
while the cowardly representative may
return to his people and place the
| blame on the speaker. The much dis
cussed Littlefeld bill to restrict inter
state shipments of liquor was favor
ably reported from the committee and
a majority OF the members of the
/ house were pledged to vote for il. If
! it had come to a vote il would have
! passed. The time came when il was
! the regular order" But an appro-
preparation bill was being considered.
! Mr.. Littlefleld demanded the regular
order. He didn't get it because the
majority would not support his de-
mand. They didn't want the bill to
come to a vote. Mr.. Cannon was him
] 6tlI bIBOSti W llii biAir anu lAt WIS
| generally blamed for killing it. Yet
/ there were many representatives who
would have voted for it who were glad
/ it was choked off.
! Despite Mr. Cannon's dictum and de-
spite the constitution, the majority
/ does not always rule in the house of
! representatives. Sometimes the ma
jority is sorry, sometimes it is glad.
that such is the state of affairs. But
there is rarely a time when the speaker
is not in complete control of the sit
uation. If the next house is Demo-
cratic a Democratic speaker will be
the boss of the house and those who
now defend the rules will then abuse
them, and vice versa.
The status of the speakership will
be changed only in the event that
mixed majority, composed of members
of both parties, controls the house and
takes the power of naming committees
away from the speaker and vests it
in the house itself. The proposition 10
accomplish this revolution failed by
only five votes at the beginning of this
congress. Before the next congress
comes in the question Of the power of
the speaker will have been settled by
the house itself or it will have been
referred to the people and settled at
the ballot box.
TOmOrrOw-The American Congress:
NIII-Law Making by Committees.