Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1911-04-12
SPECIAL WASHINGTON CORES.
PoNpENcE.
BY CLYDE H. Tavenner.


gress, held previous to the opening
OF the extra session, and the great
pity OF it is that the whole Ameri-
can nation could not have been in
that chamber and heard and seen
Just what occurred.
In the first place the stage set
tings were appropriate for a dramat-
ic scene. For the first time in Is
years the democrats were meeting
as the majority-not the minority
Of the House of Representatives. The
great day for which many thousands
of democrats in this country had
waited so long, had at last come.
Time and again success had been des.
paired Of, but at last the nation had
said: Democrats, the people of this
republic now turn to you. They place
the control Of the House of Repre-
sentatives in your hands. The people
do not expect unreasonable things
of you. They simply ask for a square
deal. Give them government for the
people instead of government for the
special interests, and they will be
satisfied"
Harmony was striking feature
of this caucus which will live in
history.
There was one thing, however,
which impressed even more than
the spirit OF harmony. The 227 men
before me were serious faced and
grave. In the faces of one and all
therew as expressed something which
indicated those present realized only
too well that coupled with the hon
OF which the people had bestowed
upon them was great weight of re-
sponsibility.
In place of noisy demonstration
of victory, there was only silent
realization of responsibility.
The picture before me recalled
an old wood-carving from the pages
Of long ago used school history
portraying the meeting at which the
constitution was framed. The wood
cut carried gravity, earnestness
and patriotism that in measure
was sensed in the very atmosphere
of the flag-draped hall of Congress
| in which the democrats were now
passing resolutions pledging momen'
tous reforms in the government OF
the people.
And the soberest-looking man OF
all was Champ Clark. He seemed
weighted down with the cares and re.
Isponsibilities of the last thousand
years. The deep earnestness and
gravity depicted in his face made
him figure almost pathetic, as he
sat, nearly always alone. in one OF
the rear seats, listening intently
and apparently approvingly to every
thing. that was taking place, but
with one exception only taking nc
part in the proceedings himself. The
face of the big man was an interest
ing study. The worry lines in his
face had increased seemingly q hun
bred fold. He. evidently, even more
than the rest, was thinking not Of
the honor, but Of the grave response
bility that had been placed upO.
him.
Among those who made deep i'm
preston on the membership Of the
caucus was A. Mitchell Palmer OF
Pennsylvania, a member of the ways
and means committee. Mr.. Palmer
is young man, and hard, earnest
worker.
Myself and two others were SCI
lected as the most-cold- blooded mem
,ers Of the committee, to seek out
Ind abolish the useless offices,
said Palmer. bringing forth laugh
ter and breaking for the first time
the high tension that had grippet
all present. 1--WE have endeavored t.
do the work allotted to us as hard
beaded business men might do 1t
Our report recommends the abolish
ing Of six useless house committees
each Of which is an expense to the
people and none of which have hat
a meeting in years. Then we abol
ish 104 house positions. reducin,
the annual expense of running tn
House by 1882, 900.
Eve have made a big reduction ii
the capito' lslice force. The excus
for the present standing army Q
policemen about the capitol offer
a good Illustration of how the Pee
PIES moLey has teen wasted Dur
ing the Spanish war somebody
frlend told snncbcdy's rr'fnI that
friend of their friend had overheard
some on4 say that a plot ives OF
Zoo to dynamite The Capitol. Neal
ly one-hundred extra policeman wer
detailed to duty. They have bee
here ever since. And we have lis
tied the numbr OF doorkeepers to tw
to a door. In some cases there hav
been six. They were much in eacl
others way. We found that tn
assistant clerk to the doorkeeper wa
the 13-year-old daughter of the doc,
keeper, which was evidence to u
that the place was unnecessary an
We have abolished 1t.
| Another illustration: Before tn
invention of the telephone there wa
occasional need Of communication
with the war department on sho1
notice and SO a telegraph line wa
CONSTRUCTED between the capitol an
war department. But when the te
ephone came into use it was foun
to be much quicker to telephone tina
to telegraph But the Jobs of tn
two telegraphers, strange to say