The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-05
LAW GOVERNING
 REAPPORTIONMENT Gan Only Be Done By Short
 Session POLITICAL ADVANTAGE President Taft Is Said to Favor Bill Pending Before House for Crea-
 ton of Department of
 Public Health
Fly RoDERICK CLIFFORD

|
 Washington. December 4.-(Special)-
 To judge from the numerous stories print
 ed in the newspapers about the reappor-
 tionment which Congress will be called
 upon to make this coming session, under
 the census for 1910 one would think that
 the question was purely partisan and that
 tie republicans being in control of Con-
 gress will steal march on the demo-
 crats by enacting the legislation now, l thus robbing the democratic majority in
 the next House from framing the law.
 The fact is the next House will have
 nothing to do with the reapportionment. The law making the reapportionment un-
 der any census is always enacted by the
 short session of the Congresses that ex-
 pires with the completion of the enumer-
 alton, and there is never any exception to this rule. There cannot be any parti-
 san advantage for the reason that the
 reapportionment of Congress is based
 on an equal division of the enumeration,
 so that each state is treated on exactly
 the same basis.
 "The Washington newspaper corre- | spondent can always be depended on to
 get up something that will cause com
 ment," said an old employe of the House today, "and the reapportionment story be- | longs to that class, but the fellow who
 first started it evidently got his data | mixed. No doubt he had in mind the | state legislatures instead of Congress. You know the legislatures, when they change politically, get busy and gerryman- | der the statc thus fixing the boundaries | of election districts so that by the shift | ing of a county here and there the politi- cal complexion of the district can be changed without consulting the voter. But Congress could not do this because | il is purely the states function to ar
 range congressional districts, and thus you see, there is no party advantage in | passing the reapportionment act The | democrats will get whatever advantage
 there is to be had under the reapportion-
 ment, because they made such gains in | the recent election, and the former repub-
 lcan states they carried they can ger | rymander in such a way that they will
 have decidedly the best of it in 1912"
 There is pending before the House com
 mittee on interstate and foreign com
 rlerce a measure which President Taft is
 said to heartily favor. It is the bill to
 create a department of public health.
 The committee had 1t for consideration
 last session, but owing to the pressure
 brought to bear on several other bills
 having the endorsement of the adminis-
 tration, this particular bill was laid
 over for the short session.
 l The effort to create an executive depart
 ment of health with representative ia
 the cabinet is not new. The movement
 was started more than a decade ago, and | it's first fruit was an enlargement of the
 powers of what was then the Marine hos | pital service, by changing the name to l the Public Health and Marine Hospital
 Service" and extending it's jurisdiction.
 But since then bureaus with authority
 over matters pertaining to health have
 been established in several of the execu- | tive departments which, as may be i'm agined have occasioned friction now and
 then.
 The bill to create the department of public health is indorsed by the Ameri-
 can Medical association and is opposed
 by the League for Medical Freedom, the | latter being composed of physicians of the newer schools. The opposition Is
 based largely on the ground that the pro-
 posed department would place the Ameri-
 can association on top, and only physi- | clans belonging to that association would | receive recognition by the government | Of course, this is stoutly denied by the advocates of the bill, who at the short
 session will, as a compromise, move To | consolidate the various health bureaus in
 the several departments under one head I to be known as the public health bureau | It is not to be under the head of any de- partment, but rather under the direct con- | trol of the President.
 | The large manufacturers of patent med | cines and proprietary articles are deeply interested in this proposed Legislation and | their representatives are expected to be | on hand this winter to make a fight for | their interests.
 | Representative John M. Garner of Tex | as, the democratic whip of the House, | says there is no measure pending before
 Congress of more importance to the en- | tire country than the bill known as the
 good roads measure" There is no argu-
 ment to be made against the government doing its part toward building and keep 1 ing in repair the roads of the country, Mir Garner says. In his opinion, which Is 1 shared by large number of members. il is almost as much of importance to have l good roadways as it Is to improve our | waterways, especially since the automo- bile has come into almost daily use by l the farmers In transporting their product | to market.
 Every dollar spent on the roadways of l the country, says the Texas congress-
 man. will come back to Uncle Sam ten- l fold.
 l A number of good road bills were in l troduced in the House last session and | the movement for government aid started. Those who are familiar with the subject say that the oarmers are aliYD to the value of good roads, and have been writ
 ing their congressman urging them to support the proposition. The entering
 wedge for this legislation has been insert- cd. and it is not improbable that Presi- | dent Taft will say something in commen- dation of the movement in his message | to Congress.
 | Many democrats who favor Representa- | tive ''Champ'' Clark of Missouri for speaker of the House continue to get | into the newspapers with their views on House rules. A person away from Wash ington would think that the entire ques-
 ton is bound up In the proposition to l have the house elect a committee on com- mittees for the purpose of taking from | the speaker the power of appointing the committees Of course this in measure, l is a large power, but the real fight of the insurgents is to devise plan by which | the committee may be forced to report any public bill or resolution to the House, | so that the majority may have an oppor- l tunity to debate and vote on such a meas
 Ire. The real fight on Speaker Cannon l had it's origin in the fact that a commit | tee having control of Q national measure would not report such a bill if the chair l man of the committee was opposed to it, | and hence arose the cry that Speaker l c. -I- lrad bo nnIa Loo