Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-04-06

picted in his face made him Inquire
almost pathetic, as he sat, nearly al
ways alone, in one of the rear seats,
listening intently and apparently ap-
provingly to everything that was tax
ing place, but with one exception on
ly taking no part in the proceedings
himself. The face of the big man was
an interesting study. The worry lines
in his face had increased seemingly
a hundred fold He, evidently, even
more than the rest, was thinking not
of the honor, but of the grave respon-
sibility that had been placed upon him.
Among those who made deep i'm
preston on the membership of the
caucus was A Mitchell Palmer OF
PENNSYLVANIA, member of the
WAYS and means committee. Mr.
Palmer is a young man, and a hard,
earnest worker.
Myself and two others were Sc
lected as the most cold-blooded mem
bers of the committee, to seek out
and abolish the useless Offices said
Palmer, bringing forth laughter and
breaking for the first time the high
tension that had gripped all present.
We have endeavored to do the work
allotted TO US as hard-headed business
men might do it. Our report recon-
mends the abolishing of six useless
house committees, each of which is an
expense to the people and none Of
which has had a meeting in years.
Then we abolish 104 house positions.
reducing the annual expense of run
ming the house by $4,000.
CUT DOWN FORCE.
we have made a big reduction in
the capitol police force. The excuse
for the present standing army of po-
licemen about the capitol offers a
good illustration of how the peoples
money has been wasted. During the
Spanish war somebody's friend told
somebody's friend that a friend OF
their friend had overheard some one
( say that plot was on foot to dyna-
mite the capitol. Nearly one hundred
extra policemen were detailed to duty.
( They have been here ever since. And
we have limited the number of door
keepers to two TO a door. In some cas-
es there have been six. They were
much in each others way. We found
that the assistant clerk to the door
keeper was the 13-year-old daughter
of the doorkeeper, which was evidence
to US that the place was unnecessary
and we have abolished it.
Another Illustration: Before the
invention Of the telephone there was
occasional need of communicating
with the war department on short no
tice and so a telegraph line was con-
structed between the capitol and war
department. But when the telephone
came into use it was found to be much
quicker TO telephone than to telegraph.
But the jobs of the two telegraphers,
strange to say, were never abolished
We have abolished them.
The only time Champ Clark took an
active part in the caucus was when
he Endorsed PaImer's retrenchment
program, saying: Il congratulate Mr..
Palmer and his associates upon their
report. l congratulate them with all
my heart and strength. l endorse ev-
cry word Of the report.
81 am in favor of going still fur
Their. l am in favor of going through
every department of the government
and wiping out wastefulness and ex-
travagance as often.as we find it.
There is only one way to economic |
and that is for each man of us to be-
gin economizing at home. To start |
the ball rolling, l propose to do a
little economiZing on my own hook. !
am going to cut down my own office |
staff. Then l shall go further. | am
going to save the Qeople $4,000 year
by doing away with the speakers au- |
tomobile. If 1 can not legally get rid |
of it, / will run ii into the Potomac |
The republicans will say it is cheese |
pairing and peanut politics, but the |
people have some sense, and they will |
know that if we begin by giving up our |
own little gratis that we will then be |
morally fortified to go after the big |
ger ones. And | don't care what the |
republicans say, l will cooperate with !
any man in this house who can find a |
place for sensible economy. I don't |
care whether it is a little economy or
a big economy that is proposed, will |
work with any member to bring il
.