The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1910-03-31
|MART1N AND THE CANNON CON.
FIICT.

FLICT.
Congressman Martin delivered a
speech during the strenuous session
OF congress when Speaker Cannon
was overruled and the rules amend
ed. The full text of that speech is
contained in the Congressional Rec
ord, which is now at hand. Manifest
ly the South Dakota congressman
was SO abundantly optimistic as to
believe it possible to bring together
the regulars and "insurgentA."
Notwithstanding their utter failure
to reach any agreement in confer
ences called 70 rthe purpose.
This South Dakota congressman
has heretofore classified himself as
q conservative progressive. Perhaps
In this speech we may find the best
explanation Of what he means by this
term.
For example, Mr.. Martin agreed,
in a guarded sort Of way, with the
.'insurgents", that the rules were in
need Of amendment, although feel
ing great respect and admiration for
these same rules. He said:
I'VE are proceeding from time to
time under q body of most excellent
rules. They are rules that represent
the accumulated legislative expert
ence of generations. during which the
power of the House has swept from
one political party to another, gen.
erations during which old parties
have gone down and e parties have
arisen, and in the main they are an
excellent Of body of rules. 1t would
be queer, indeed, II some of this large
mass Of accumulation would not be
found in practical operation to work
contrary to the will Of the majority,
contrary to the will of the people
concerning legislation. It would be
strange, indeed, If it was not found
necessary as the time progresses to
amend the rules"
However. Mr.. Martin expressed a
personal regard for Speaker Cannon,
when he said:
II want TO say that after nine
years of service in this body I have
never found 1t difficult, certainly not
Impossible, under the rules as ad-
ministered by Speaker Henderson
or by his successor, Speaker Cannon,
to receive recognition for the con-
of any measure / MR..
be championing that was of sufficient
Importance to be entitled to consider
alton here So. / remember an in
stance in the House in which John
Sharp Williams, the leader of the
minority, made a most suitable adj
dress. in which he complimented the
universal fairness of the speaker. I
think that under the popular criti-
cism that has grown up against the
speaker, some of it perhaps is caused
by newspaper and magazine manipu-
lation and advertisements, public
sentiment may have changed toward
the speaker"
In fact, several of the out-and-out
insurgents denied any personal
feeling against the speaker, insisting
that they were making a contest for
principle. This they further exempI4-
fed by refusing to put through a
resolution to denote Cannon.
In an effort to bring the republi-
cans together, as he put it, Congress-
man Martin, in his speech on Friday,
March IS, suggested this amend
ment to the rules, to take the
place of that proposed by Represen-
tative Norris, leader of the 'insur-
gents"
The committee on rules shall con-
slst of 10 members, 6 of whom shall
be members of the majority party,
and 4 of whom shall be members of
the minority party, all of whom shall
be elected by the House by a major
ity vote. The committee on rules
shall select it's own chairman. All
rules or parts thereof inconsistent
with this resolution are hereby APP
pealed."
Under the old rules, the committee
] on rules, which determines what leg
islation may be considered, was ap-
pointed by the speaker and consist
ed of three republicans and two dem
ocrats and the speaker, by a custom
reaching down from 1858, was a
member of that committee, holding
the deciding vote between the two
parties represented on it. The changes
proposed by nlr. Martin were to in
e the membership of the commit
tee, to have it named by the House
Instead of by the sneaker. and tic