The Penn's Grove record., 1911-02-10
I dent It is not a Roosevelt move, q
which more hereafter.

| dent It Is not a Roosevelt move O
which more hereafter.
Harmony Only Temporary.
When the recent unofficial caucus o
| the present and future Democrats
members of the house Of representa-
tives discharged its appointed business
without acrimony, and proceeded o ~
desired end as smoothly and swl1ti.
as a s ,000-ton battleship glides ooWi
w~ell-greased ways to the embracint
waters all men marvelled and consres
sional Democrats exulted.
For once" cried the unterrlneo
I'VE have held a caucus, formulated
policy, chosen the members OF tne
most important committee and prao
tically elected the speaker not mercy
without a dissenting vote, but almos'
without one single voice raised IN
criticism"
Democratic Row Impending.
All of which was true, but those
who shouted the glad tidings should
have observed the precaution dear to
the superstitious and knocked wood"
For the row now impends. indeed, II
there were a political seismosrapn TO
measure the underground rHmbiinga
of political earthquakes Its needle
would be very violently oscilating at
the present moment.
From a source, apparently IN close
touch with the powers that are or
ganizing the house of the ~sixt-seoond
congress, there was put out recently
the following partial slate ofcommit'
tee chairmanships:
Appropriations, Fitzgerald OF New
York; census, Robinson of Arkansas;
agriculture, Lever of South orolina;
District of Columbia, Johnsonof Ken.
lucky; insular affairs, Jones OF Wiz.
ginia; interstate and forein com.
MERGE, Moon of Tennessee; jdiciary.
Clayton of Alabama; military affairs,
Hay Of Virginia; naval affairs, Padgett
It Tennessee; pensions, Ridardson
of Alabama; post offices aid post
roads, Lloyd of Missouri; public
buildings, Sheppard of Texa; rules,
Henry of Texas; rivers and harbors.
Ransdell Of Louisiana.
This Slate" If slate it be, compre-
bends only IA of the 81 committees
of the house, but 1t includes he more
important ones. The bigges of all,
ways and means, has already5een ap-
pOinted by auc
Criticisms of Committees late.
To the onlooker the one riticism
that suggests itself is that oily one
craftsmanship goes to the Meth, and
that to Mr.. Fitzgerald Of Eooklyn,
who, despite his acknowledged abilr
ity, is frequently at odds With his
party and in the last sessiO voted
with the Cannonites.
But the members who ar grum.
bling point out that Missouri ,ets the
speakership, a place on the Ways and
means (really two, for the speaker
was made a member ex-offto), the
Craftsmanship Of the post ofce COM
mittee, regarded as a luscios plum,
and the craftsmanship of tb Demo-
cratic congressional committe. 1t is
generally understood, howeer , that
Mr.. Lloyd, who now holds he latter
position will resign 1t If mae chair
man of the post office and psf roads
committee. That is, he will ry to re-
sign, but his colleagues are little like
ly to relieve the only manner of a
congressional campaign who won a
Democratic house In the LIST four
teen years.
The complaints are also made that
Virginia, with three chairnanships.
has o%verplayed her game; hat Ten
nessee is no state to furnish the
chairman of SO purely a sat water
committee as naval affairs; hat Hay
of Virginia has been arbitrarily jump
ed over the head Of Sulzer OF New
York, now ranking membei of the
committee on military affairs; that
Sparkman Of Florida, for many years
ranking member of the risers and
harbors committee, has beens set aside
for Ransdell of Louisiana; Henry of
Texas, who Is without experience on
the committee on rules, is to be made
chairman of that great and powerful
committee to the exclusion Of mem.
bers who have served long.
All of which may be too technical
for that hurried and Indifferent man,
"the average citizen" But 1t all
touches his interests nearly, for the
chairmen Of these committee. exert a
prodigious influence upon congress
sional legislation and can make or
mar a measure or a policy. Champ
Clark, who has been called the soft
pedal statesman" probably rejoices
that the situation is out of lis hands
and up to the committee on commit
tees.
Bryan Grooms Champ Clark.
After all the Clark relief from re-
sponsibility is rather apparent than
real. There is a ~wellfounded report
that all these tentative selections for
committee chairmanships are subject
ed to the speaker-to-be for his ar
proval. His hand is on the throttle
all the time. But more. They do a
that the hand of William ]. Bryan ia
that of Clark and guides it's every
motion. The publication of certain
letters from Bryan's brother Charles
to some public men led an excitable
Washington newspaper to announce
the other day that Bryan was back in
politics-as If he ever was out! The
fact appears to be that he has thought
better of his earlier determination to
throw his influence in the next con-
vention to Folk, and will groom
Champ Clark for the race instead.