Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1910-03-25
THE RESURRECTION
AGAINST CANNON,

AGBlNSI ChNNUN.
The latest insurrection in the House
of Representatives is the most sensa-
tional, violent, and determined of all
Uncle Joe is not only defied but bitterly
denounced by his own party associates.
Representative Cooper, a republican in
good standing from Wisconsin, accused
him of venting his spite upon indepen-
dent Republicans by reducing them on
the committees and called upon various
insurgents to substantiate his charges;
while Mr.. Poindexter, of Washington.
and Mr.. Fish, of New York, belabored
the speaker in way that caused the
Democrats to jump and to shout for
JOY The battle ragged all night and
even as this article is written it is still
going. Speaker Cannon has refused to
make ruling on the point in issue and
Representative Norris, the originator of
the trouble, says that if this course is
persisted in it must eventually lead to
anarchy in the House. That Speaker
Cannon will be deposed, and another
speaker elected seems certain.
The trouble originated in this wise:
Through the Committee on Rules the
Speaker has maintained absolute con-
troll Of legislation. The committee now
consists of five members, appointed by
the Speaker, has large authority and is
under the complete domination of
Cannon.
Ever since the insurgent movement
started one of it's chief objects has been
to get committee on rules elected by
the members. An effort was made a
year ago to bring this about but failed.
Insurgent Norris, Republican, of
Nebraska, thought Thursday afternoon
that the psychological moment had ar
rived, and, drawing from his pocket a
creased and frayed paper, which he had
carried with him since the opening of
the session in December, he asked per-
mission to introduce "a resolution pri-
vileged under the Constitution of the
United States"
Uncle Joe was taken unawares, and
the resolution was read as follows:
Resolved, That the rules of the
House be amended as follows:
"The Committee on Rules shall con-
sist Of fifteen members, nine of whom
shall be members of the majority party.
and six of whom shall be members of
the minority party, to be selected as
follows:
''The States of the Union shall be
divided by a committee of three, selected
by the House for that purpose, into nine
groups, each group containing as near
as may be an equal number of men,
bers belonging to the majority party.
The States of the Union shall likewise
be divided into six groups, each group
containing as near as may be an equal
number of members belonging to the
minority party
CONSERVATION ensued when it was
discovered to be the Insrrgent- Demo
cratic scheme to capture the Committee
on Rules. The resolution also provided
that the speaker should not be eligible
to membership ON the committee.
The point was made that the resolu-
tion was out Of order and the speaker
is privileged to render his decision on
such point at pleasure. Under the
circumstances Uncle Joe exercised his
authority and opened wide the doors
for debate.
1t is battle royal and no matter
what the present issue may be, the end
is not yet. The rule of Speaker Can
non has been tyrannical and has be-
come intolerable. Independent men.
whether in or out of the Republican
party. will not submit longer to it. II
ia fight for independence and tina;
sort of a fight In this country is quite
sure to win out in the long run.
Since the above was written the
House by decisive vote took from the
Speaker the privilege of appointing the
Committee on Rules, one of the most
important of the committees, and went
even further in radical revolution b,
making the Speaker ineligible to plac.
on that committee. AS this committe.
formulates the rules for debate, tn,
power Of the speaker is thus reduce,
of arbitrarily regulating debate in tn,
House. Heretofore no member coul,
speak on any subject save by the grac,
Of Mr.. Cannon, and while that gentle
man still retains great power his abilit,
to down member is greatly hampered
To some extent the thing called Can
nonism Is blighted.