The National tribune., 1910-02-10

lef these and other powerful Eastern
men. who have attained great prestige
in that legislative branch.
AS far as rules insurgency is con
lcerned the movement came to heaC
at the beginning of the extra session oi
iCongress. There had been much agi-
tation and manuvering prior to thai
time, but it was in good part against
the day when the Senate and House ol
the 61st Congress should proceed tC
!organiZe for the ensuing two years. III
| the Senate the insurgency has attracted
more attention on matters of legisfa
ton Senator La Toilette, enraged al
being kept in an insignificant Chair
manship and housed in an obscure
room deep down in the bowels of the
Capitol. had been conducting guer-
rilIa warfare against the bills brought
| in by the big committees, where East
ern Senators were in control. He car
ried his cause to the Republican eau
| Gus to no purpose, except that the
lCommittee on Committees, which Sena-
tor Hale appointed, made him Chair
man of Census and took pretty good
care also of Senator Cummins. Dolli-
| yer and Beveridge, however, were
| ISlighted, as they regarded the matter,
| and opened warfare upon the regular
Organization, which they are still wag-
ing.
|
against the Speaker, and, as is well re-
membered, figured in the Presidential
campaign of 1908. The Democratic
platform that year condemned the
House organization. Some Western Re
lpuBlicans came back to Congress
pledged to vote against the reelection
of Speaker Cannon. He easily held
enough of his party in line to win a
recollection, but Democrats and inSur-
gents formed an alliance soon after
ward which came near to spelling Re-
publican defeat. BY clever politics, the
jSpeaker won over a handful of Demo-
Gratis under the lead of Representative
Fitzgerald, of Brooklyn. They voted
with the Republicans to adopt the
House rules with slight amendments,
including a calendar Wednesday, and
saved the Republican regulars from an
exceedingly embarrassing predicament.
There had been speeches and votes
in the House prior to that time, which
indicated a considerable following OF
tariff insurgents. But the insurgency
of that brand became prominent dur
ing the extra session that dragged along
thru the weary Summer months. Some
Representatives, who had been and still
are rules insurgents, were not insur-
gents on the tariff. The more notable
examples are Representative A. p.
Gardner and the late Representative
w. C. Lowering, of Massachusetts; Rep
resentatives Charles n. Fowler, of New
jersey, and Everis A. Hayes, of Cali
fornia All these were substantially
high tariff men. The .low-tariff insur-
gents from the House were virtually all
Instrumentation Wisconsin, Iowa,
Kansas, Minnesota and adjacent. States.
Many low-tariff insurgents, including
especially the valiant seven of the Sen
ate, who voted against the adoption of
the conference report on the tariff bill,
carried their cause to the country when
the extra session had adjourned. Sen
ator Cummins was one of those who
were very conspicuous in trying to
make it a big issue in the coming Con-
gressional elections. The proposed COM
mittee reforms in the Senate had been
relegated - to the background in the
meantime 1t was recognized that an
other effective blow could not be struck
till the Senate reorganiZes again in
1911. But the Senate insurgents have
kept up the agitation against Senators
Hale and Aldrich, because both these
Senators We're prominently identified
not only with the making of commit
tee assignments. but with the enact
ment of the high-tariff law.
The House Insurgents.
The House insurgents had about
abandoned hope of active campaigning
during this session. Their forces were
disintegrating under pleas for harmony
till after the Congressional elections
had been held. Antagonism to Presi-
ident Taft had become tenet of their
faith, because he had made the regu-
lars of Senate and House his conf
dants The low-tariff wing of the in
surgents had been gradually swinging
into opposition to the most of the Presi-
dents messages, but in the Senate this
session there has been no insurgent
activity because controverted measures
have not been considered there. The
Senate insurgents, however. have been
mapping out plans for forcing amend
ments upon the interstate commerce
bill and upon the conservation and 9TH
er bills. The extent OF their operations
and the effect of the same have not yet
developed. There is every prospect of
interesting insurgent aggression when
the Presidents bills are brought up
there for consideration.
A victory in the House, won by
fuke of a Saturday afternoon, when
there were many Republican absentees,
gave the insurgent cause there tremen-
dous impetus. 1t has proven to be far
and away the most eventful occurrence
of this session of Congress. BY a mar
gin of three votes the Democrats and
insurgents voted that the House mem
bers of the Ballinger-Pinchot investi-
CATION committee should be chosen
from the floor, not appointed by the
Speaker. This defeat of the Speaker
is responsible for the present revival
of hostile sentiment thruout the coun-
try. This sentiment, most men believe,
is now so pronounced that the Speaker
is probably serving his last term as
presiding officer.
Incidentally the overturning Of the
Speaker On a rather minor matter has
famed into new life the agitation about
the House rules. New efforts are being
made now to reform the Committee on
Rules, altho it is open to question
whether these will be successful in this
Congress.
But most House Insurgents, as well
as most Senate insurgents, are manning
the legislative watch towers in force
They are scrutiniZing the Presidents
bills and threatening to make trouble
unless those bills are drawn in a man
ner satisfactory to them. Their actiyi-
ties in that direction probably will be
more conspicuous from this time on to
the close Of the session.
The 9TH Ark. Cav.
Editor National Tribune: Please give
q short history of the 4th Ark Cav