The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1909-05-01


lie sad in part:
= The recent Congresses of th
United States have been very kin,
to You. An appropriation wa
made for an IntcrcOast nj Canal, i
feet wide by 6 feet deep. Thcl
this was changed to a far NOR,
important waterway, making IL
feet deep and 100 feet wide. Th,
engineers Wcr" permitted t.
change tho route to moro adyan
tagcOus location. a survey of tht
Tcchc has been ordered with :
view OF obtaining l5-ft depth o
water. VermiliOn river has bcci
| literally cared FOR. Tho survey o
the Atchafalay aHav chanocl has
| been provided for with view OI
a 20-ft. depth Of channel. All thcs,
| things have followed the nearing
completion Of the Plalnemin,
! locks. When this gateway to the
Mississippi river will have been
opened to the commerce or South
cstcrn Louisiana this section will
enjoy transportation facilities and
rates second to none in the co,n-
try.
lie then told OF his remaining in
Washington i'm the interim OF the
two sessions OF Congress because
OF the interest Of this section III
the tariff bill which carried SO
much Of vital Importance 10 this
entire section. He then interest
ed his audience by rccounting the
leading facts of the struggle IF
the factions in congress seeking to
control the question OF rules.
81 shall not harass you with 4
recital OF details. Sufficient to say
that the opening day Of the Sos
sion found the House divided in
TO two opposing camps, but he
division was not along party lines.
a majority OF the Democrats were
allied or in a combination with the
minority Republicans. known as
the 'insuragents." These had as
their battle cry a revision OF the
rules of the House. For the twelve
years that | had served, through
your kindness, in that great body,
! had heard innumcrablc com
plants against the House rules.
| am not here to defend these
rules but simply to make an i'm
partial statement of Il historical
fact. Nor do ! wish to be under
stood as criticising the course Of
those who differed with me on that
memorable occasion, but you would
suppose that these gentlemen,
complaining for SO long Of those
rules, the opportunity presenting
itself, would have been ready to
present some tangible revision
which they desired. Such was not
the case. The Republican sinsur-
gents, shouting their opposition to
Cannon and CannOnism, were neith-
er willing to vote to defeat Can
ron nor ready to suggest wherein
they proposed to remedy Cannon
ism. Their Democratic allies had
joined hands with them in this in
tangible war.
"Now, Cannonism was said to
manifest itself through the Com
mittee on Rules, composed OF three
Republicans, Of whom the Speaker
is one, and the chairman, and two
Democrats, OF whom the leader Of
the minority is also one. The al
lied forces proposed to change this
to one OF fifteen, com
posed OF six regular Republicans,
tive Democrats and -four 'insura-
gents The rules OF which there
was so much complaint were to
continue the same during the con-
OF the tariff bill. the on
ly purpose for which the Congress
was in session. Now, | knew the
proposed tariff which was ready
for report contained the things
about which you had instructed
me. l was naturally averse to
changing 'horses i'm the middle oi
the stream. | knew how the Re
publican management stood as to
industries. / did not
know how the proposed manage
ment felt toward these industries,
but | had goOdr easOns to believe
that the fate of these industries
was in doubt, If not in actual dan
ger once the allied forces secured
control Of the House. l knew what
had, and | did not care to take
chances, when these chances ap-
Deared against you, whose inter
ests l had pledged my word to
protect.
RULES OF THE HOUSE.
add to all this that there were |
,Ome of us, who knew wherein we
wanted the rules of the House |
hanged. That we had formulat- |
ID amendments to these rules, and |
hat we were prepared to present |
o the House and to the country |
| concrete and tangible PROPOSE |
iOn-not for the government OF
IOme future Congress-, but for the
government of the present Con-