Los Angeles herald., 1909-01-09
Silence Merits CONTEMPT

silence Merits Contempt
If congress listens tamely and timidly to
reflections upon the character of its members
and its honesty of purpose it will deserve
and it will certainly receive the contenpt
of the public. We feel from the suggestions
in the presidents message the congress should
refuse to meekly receive and mildly con-
slider it.
During long centuries our Engiish-speak-
ing ancestors struggled and bled that a rep
resentative government might be established
among English people. Our Revolutionary
forefathers, more than century ago. strug-
gled and bled that our government should
be a representative government; that the
laws of the American people should be passed
by the representatives chosen by the American
people,
The congress of the United States today
exists as a result of centuries of struggle
for popular government. Let every man who
is member of it vote on this question in
the manner which seems to him most worthy
Of the traditions of which we are the heirs
of the institutions of which we are the pro-
tectors, and of the people of whom we are
the representatives.
AS the case when he first spoke on the
question before the holidays Mr.. Per-
kins was frequently interrupted by APP
plause. Upon the conclusion of his re-
marks he submitted the committees
report, which, after quoting from the
presidents message, was as follows:
Understanding this language to be a re-
Election the integrity of it's membership
and aware of its own constitutional duty as to
its membership, the house in respectful terms
calls on the president for any information
that would justify the language of the mes
sage or assist it in it's constitutional duty to
purge the house of the implied charge of cor
ruption
Denies He Did 1t
The president in his message of January 4
denied that the paragraph of the annual
message casts reflections on the integrity Of
the house; d utes to the house IAN en-
tire failure to understand my message; de-
clares that he has made no charge of cor
ruptlon against any members of this house
and by implication states that he has no
proof of corruption of any member Of this
house.
Whether the house in its resolution of De-
cember II, 1908, correctly interpreted the mean
ing of the words used by the president in
his annual message, or whether it misunder-
STOOD that language, as the president implies
will be judged now and in the future according
to the accepted Interpretation of the English
language.
This house, charged only with its RESPONSE
blhty to the people of the United States and its
obligation to transmit unimpaired to the
future the representative institutions inner
tied from the past and to preserve its own
dignity, must insist upon its own capacitv to
understand the import of the presidents Ian
guage.
We consider the language of the president
In his message of December 8, 1908, unjusti-
constitutes a breach of the PRIVILEGES of the
house. and therefore be it
Resolved, That the house exercise its con-
stitutfonal prerogatives, declines to consider
any communication from any source which IS
not in its own judgment respectful; and be it
further
Resolved, That the special committee and
the committee of the whole house on The
state of the Union be discharged from anv
consideration Of SO much of the presidents
annual message relates to the secret SER
vice and is above set forth, and that the said
portion of the message be laid on the table:
and be it further
Resolved That the message of the president
sent TO the house on January 4, 1909, being
unresponsive to the inquiry Of the house and
constituting an invasion Of the privileges of
this house by questioning the motives and
intelligence of members in the exercise of
their constitutional rights and functions be
laid on the table.
After Mr.. Perkins had concluded his sneeob
on the secret service resolution he gave wav
to Mr.. DENLY, who in the course Of his re-
marks said that the president had veered
from the path of recommendation and inst
criticism into the realm of personal abnse
speculation and innuendo."
DENLY Gives Views
Mr.. Perkins yielded to his colleague
on the committee, Mr.. DENLY.
The president, Mr.. DENLY declared.
did not agree with the committee. but
surely, he said, he could not claim the
right to hold up to public ridicule in a.
state paper every member whose views
did not exactly accord with his own.
A ludicrous interruption of the de-
bate occurred just as Mr.. DENLY con-
cluded, when doorkeeper announced:
Mr.; Speaker, a message from the
president of the United States"
The house, led by the Democratic
side, burst into laughter as it beheld
Mr.. Latta, assistant secretary to the
president, standing in the center aisle
with a document in his hand.
Speaker Cannon could not restore
order for a full minute to recognize
Mr.. Latta. The debate was resumed
when it was noticed that all the COM
munications referred to routine mat
tiers,
Mr.. Bennett of New York pointed
out that no longer than two years ago
a committee of the house had inserted
a clause in the Burleson bill to punish
the giving away prematurely of in
formation concerning crop statistics, a
clause making it applicable to con-
gressmen, and yet the house had taken
no Offense at the suggestion that there
might be criminals among congress-
men.
In further defense of the secret serv-
ice Mr.. Bennett declared that the
presidents recommendation should be
carefully considered before the portion
criticised was wiped out.
He recalled some Of the remarks di-
rected at the president by the mem
bers of the house at it's session and
said this should be taken into consid-
Grafton before administering the re-
buke.
Are we not declining to receive a
rebuke from the PRESIDENT" asked Mr..
Williams with emphasis. land are we
not denying his official right to scold
the representatives of the people?"
Mr.. Benefits only retort WAS that