The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-03-30

| Speaker-May Do So Under Con.
stitutiOn-Determinat to Reform
House Procedure.
Washington, March 27.-Many of
the insurgent Republicans of the
House, who last Saturday voted to re. .
tain Speaker Cannon in the chair, p
hearing from home" accordir
reports in circulation about T. = =.
ital. These advices are SAID .snot
at all reassuring.
Following close upo' - .nforma-
ton, came a slater < 5m several
that the war aga >annonism' is
to go on to tt >N.lt of ultimately
causing the d. cement of Speaker
Cannon, the election of his successor
and the complete reformation of the
rules of the House. The overthl CIV
of the Speaker and the taking away
from the Speakership of all power to
influence legislation unduly, are aim
| ed at.
| A proposition to remove Speaker
Cannon by means of combined vote
of Democrats and insurgents and sui,
stitute in his place Asher c.. Hinds,
the parliamentarian of the House. is
one of the plans, which several insur-
gents advocated today. The idea of
placing in the Speakers chair a pure
parllamentarian, not a member of the
House, who would be entirely unin-
huencd by considerations of partisan
advantage, was pointed out by Re-
resentative Poindexter, Of Washing
ton, and others as the logical and
proper course. Under the Constitn-
ton the House may choose a Speaker
VINO is not member of the body.
Representative Poindexter, who is
one of the prominent members of the
insurgent body, said:
This initial reform which we have
accomplished must be followed by
others. The whole trouble in which
the House finds itself is caused by the
joining of the power Of the Speaker
with that OF the leader OF the ma
iority. The English plan Of having
an expert parliamentarian nstead of
politician as a presiding officer is
the only correct one. AS long as we
select party leader as Speaker lust
so long will We have partisan and nm
fair rulings from the chair.
| When the House adopted the Nor
r1s resolution the other day, it was q
vote of no confidence in Spea xer
Cannon, and he should have resigned.
AS he did not do so, we should de-
pose him. With that ACCOMPLISHED
think we should elect Mr.. Kinds. I
believe majority of the House would
vote for it. Surely the Democrat IS
and the insurgents, who voted agains:
Cannon last Saturday, and 1 believe a
large number of other insurgnts and
so-called near-insurgents will vote
for it when the temper of the people
of the country is accurately judged
on this question"
| Victor Murdock, of Kansas. another
insurgent leader, said
| The movement to reform the pro-
cedure of the House has just begun.
| Before this session adjourns we will
nave accomplished a great many
things. | hear radicals on this side
VINO never before were willing to ad-
NIT that the rules or anything else
needed changing, now discussing
ways and means of revising the rules
and making them better.
Not in fifty years have such liberal
ideas regarding the government of
this House prevailed among members.
expect to see, in a comparativelv
short while, the standing committees
of this House meeting in open ses-
| SlonS, instead of secret sessions as
now. OF course, the military and
! naval and perhaps other committees.
would have to meet in secret oc-
| caSionally as a matter of public pol
Icy. But secret ways of doing bust
| ness here are on the wane. and will
soon be over. Many interesting and
| perhaps startling developments will
result before this House adjourn sine
die"
other insurgents express them
selves along similar lines. 1t is GER
tam that a number of the leaders of
the insurgents have in mind at least
two things for this session. First, the
oposition OF Speaker Cannon, unless
he voluntarily retires; second, the
establishment OF a committee ON com