The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1910-08-25
Speech of Hon. Francis w
Cushman in the House
of Representatives.

| he IOllOWlUS SpeeCu WILL DC Tod1
with interest by all and especially by
those interested in the overthrow Of
the power detailed by Speaker Can
non to the favored few. With q
prophetic eye Mr.. Cushman said that
unless something was done to have
the rules modified SO that legislation
might go on untrammeled, up.
heaval would result. The war is on
The very things Mr.. Cushman com.
plains of in this speech Mr.. Poindex
ter found upon entering congress
and thanks to him and a few others
faithful to their pledges to the PEG.
pie, the rules were modified and
Speaker Cannon in a small measure
shorn of his power
When the vote was taken on the
amendment to the Cuban reciprocity
bill, which was being discussed by
Representative CuShman in the fol.
lowing speech, Representative Yves.
ley L. Jones of Washington voted
with the insurgents and against the
house organization.
There was a certain So-called re-
publican conference, continuous
highly interesting performance, the
outcome of which was proclaimed by
| the political artists who manipulate
ed it to have bound the republican
party to the support of this measure
now pending The unwritten and
malodOrOus history of that so-called
republican conference will leave a
dark brown taste in the mouths of
those who participated in it that will
require something stronger than No.
16 to remove! The methods that
dominated that so-called conference
possessed a great similarity to the
action of a band of Ku Klux than
to an orderly conference of the re-
publican party.
I'VE meet in this chamber today
condition that challenges the con-
sideration of every patriotic man,
and that is the set of rules under
which this body operates, or perhaps
it would be more nearly correct to
say under which this body is oper-
ated. Mr.. Chairman, | deem it my
dJttv lynnu-inU fhaf thiS
could not have been brought
here in the shape in which it now
is, save and excepting for the re-
markable conditions created in this
house by these rules-I say, sir, |
deem it my duty to pause for mo-
ment or two on the threshold of this
debate and place few cold facts
about these rules into this record
and before the 7O,OOO,0OO people to
whom we are responsible.
ut is with humiliation unspeaka-
BILE that l rise i'm my place on this
floor and admit to my constituents
at home that i'm this house l am ut
terly pOwerlesS to bring any bill or
measure or matter, no matter how
worthy or meritOrious it may be, to
vote unless I can first make terms
with the Speaker. Imagine, if you
please, a measure-nOt private
measure, but a public measure
which has been considered at length
by a great committee of this house
and favorably reported with the re-
commentator that it pass. That
bill is then placed on the Calendar.
The Calendar! That is misnomer.
1t ought to be called cemetary. for
therein lie the whitening bones of
legislative hopes. When the bill is
reported and placed on the Calendar,
what does the member who intro
duced it and who is charged by his
constituency to secure its passage
do? Does he consult himself about
his desires to call it up? No. Does
he consult the committee who con-
sidered the bill and recommended
it for passage? No. Does he consult
the will of the majority of this
house? No. What does he do? |
will tell you what he does. He
either consents that that bill may die
upon the Calendar or he puts his
manhood and his individuality in his
pocket and goes trotting down that
little pathway of personal humll1a-
ton that leads to where. To the
Speakers room. Aye, the Speakers
room. All the glories that clustered
around the holy of HOLES in King
Solomon's temple looked like thirty
cents-yes, looked like twenty-nine
cents, compared with that jobbing
department of this government.
Then you are in the presence OF
real greatness. What then? why
the Speaker looks over your bill and
then he tells you whether he thinks
it ought to come up or not. There
is a condition which I commend to
the patriotic consideration OF the
American people. Contemplate that
for a procedure in the legislative
body of a free and great republic!
Who is the speaker Of this house
who sets up his immaculate and In
fallible judgment against the judy
ment of all corners? Is there any