The Colfax gazette. [volume] (Colfax, Wash.) 1893-1932, 1910-09-02

speaker had been shorn of autocratic
power, for which the insurgents in con-
gress were entitled to the credit As q
matter of fact the name OF Mr.. Cannon
had no business in this contest, but since
MIR. Poindexter sees fit to drag it in and
make it an issue let Us investigate little.
The rules OF the house have not been
changed. They are practically the same
rules that Reed enforced, that Crisp pre-
sided over, that Cannon has faced in the
speakerPhip. It is true the speaker has
been taken off the rules committee and
the appointment OF committees has been
changed il some particulars, but the
rules are there. II the insurgents were
to gain control of the house in the next
congress they would adopt the rules they
now denOunce, just as the democrats did
when they elected Crisp to succeed Reed.
They would have to preserve their or
ganization and enact legislation.
a Statement of Fact.
At this time and in this connection a
letter written by d. Frank Peffl9y of
Creston to the Review is oppOrtune, from
which we take liberal excerpt. Says
Mr. p fl ":
colder men remember we'll that before
the adoption of the modern rules OF the
house and when discussion was free and
untrammeled' it was next to impossible
for the majority party to get legislation
through that body. Why? Because it
was possible Tor q few shreWd or long
winded members OF the majority to pre-
vent it by talking the measure to sleep,
delaying if beyond the term Of the ses-
sion by dilatory tactics, or 'fiibuster-
ing it to death through the many forms
OF parliamentary practice OF which they
could and did take advantage. Fill
clustering was the general term applied
TO the whole process. This practice oi
the minority was what led to the adOp~
| tion of the later rules, under which busi-
ness could be forced through the house
| by a majority without having to await
the will or the exhaustion Of the minor.
| ity.
"Have you taken into account that
practically all the good legislation now
on the statute books, and put there by
the republican party, has been enacted
| since and not before the the change of
| the rules? The reason is that previously
| the interests with small but able
&c Al
able to prevent such legislation as has
since brought the railroads and all other
large corporations to a realizatio that
| there is government other than that
OF their making in this country. Never
before in the history of the country have
the people been as powerful factor in
government or been so we'll protected
against combined wealth as at the pres
ent time-and the end is not yet if they
act with reason and are guided by ex-
perience."
These are words OF wisdom, spoken
fearlessly. Old timers we'll remember the
days OF "flibustering," now happily
ended. The pretender Poindexter never
dwells on these facts, but seeks to be-
cloud, misead and misinform.
Beast Butler"
Mr.. Poindexter in the course Of his re-
marks referred to General Benjamin F.
Butler as Beast Butler" a term that
made every 6. A. R. man in the audience
flush with Indignation. It was a term
familiar during the civil war, showing
the feeling of hate still engendered in the
breast of Poindexter, himself Southern
man, his ancestry enlisted in the "lost
cause" 1t is said at Seattle, in public
speech, be had something to say Of the
"bloody Shirt" a term, it was hoped,
which had been forgotten.
OF what he said of the insurgents in
congress and the work done by them
there is room for more TO be written to
correct misstatements.
Tricks of the Demagosue.
His constant mention OF Carnegie, the
Steel Trust, Rockefeller and Standard
Oil, the Guggenheims, the Weyerhaeuser
al, whether pertinent or not, showed
the tricks of the demagogue familiar at
every election in the attempt to excite
prejudice and engender hate. One anus
ing thing in this connection occurred,
however. Referring to the offer OF Rock
efeller 20 endow great national educa-
tional institution with some $50 ,O0O,-
900 provided the government would
foster and care for it after endowment,
the learned Poindexter made the bold
statement that Mr.. Rockefeller proposed
to give $500, 900, 900, which was only a
small part OF his wealth.
This is the kind OF man who aspires
to go to the United States senate from
the great state of Washington. 1t is
almost incredible to think that the people
will elect him. We do not believe they
will.