The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1909-04-07
THE NEW RULES OF
CONGRESS WORTHLESS

Washington, April 7.-Congress il
still doing business under rules tina
are practically as vicious as they eve
were. This Information is for the en-
lightenment of those who during the
recent attack on h rules, got the i'm
preston Speaker Cannon was robbed
of a large amount of power.
Nothing could be further from the
truth, although Uncle Joe" is willing
that we imagine so. The fact is, thai
instead of the Fitzgerald resolution
establishing changes in the rules thai
we're unsatisfactory to Uncle Joe, the
measure was introduced with Uncle
Joe's o. K. Uncle Joe liked the
curb" it placed on his power so well
he Immediately rewarded Fitzgerald
with one of the most luscious plums
in the Congressional orchard-an ap-
pointnent to the ways and means com
mittee
Sufficient time has now passed to
obtain an accurate line on the real
meaning OF the Fitzgerald resolution.
1t means that advocates of reform in
the House rules were fooled again.
the resolution made it appear Uncle
Joe's usefulness of the protected in
terests was being dealt a master blow
AS a matter of act the old rules were
adopted with only a few cheating
amendments.
Speaker Cannon's power has hard
ly been diminished at all, for he will
again appoint all committees and
again pack them for or against meas
ures. He can control the committee
on rules, and i~nterpose his own arbi-
trary will against reforms which may
be demanded by the general pub
lie. A good part of the credit for
this situation is due President Taft,
who not only gave his tacit sanction
to the plan to maintain both Cannon
ism and old rules in the House of Rep
resentatives, but used all h support
he could muster to prevent this situa-
ton from being improved upon by the
insurgents and democrats.
Now, as before, there are three mem
bers of the rules committee Cannon
is chairman. An illustration of how
he uses this committee to carry out
any personal program was afforded
when the census bill came up.
Here we have the first fruits, in
this Congress-, of the action of the
rules committee" said Rep. David A.
DeAImond, of Missouri, on the floor
of the House, in protesting vainly
against the rules. "They have taken
out of regular channels a bill, as it
turns out in this particular instance
which easily could come before the
house without their agency, and to
which probably thsre is no particular
objection; but what they have done
with this bill is precisely what they
can do with any other bill at any time
AS this Committee on Rules now
is. and always, I think will be, made
up merely to echo the sentiment and
to voice the DEGREES Of the speaker,
when made with rules such as we
now have in force, so n and every
in this house by operation
of the present rules, even with the
i~nnocuous amendments put into them
can be made to report any particular
or TO suppress during the
entire life of a Congress other meas
ureS along any line or any particular
referred to the committee.
THE present instance shows the
readiness with which the committee
on rules is operated. Whenever a
thing maye be a little difficult, apply
to the committee on rules.
81 am one of those who believe il
would be a great i'm Improvement. one
Of lasting and ~far-reaching benefit, to
the committee on rules represen
tative of the House and not merely
representative of the speaker; have
the committee on rules made by the
selection of the members of the House
and not made solely by the selection
Of the Speaker.
These rules concentrate in the
speaker powers hat belong to the
House. There can not be taken from
the members upon either side, from