The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1911-09-07
THE BALANCE SHEET.

ADJOURNED. ltS IetOlu ID lla"S W
and upon that record the country VII
form it's judgment as to the partH.s
capacity for constructive Legislation
That Judgment ought to be favorable
for, on the whole, the democrats have
acquitted themselves we'll.
The country should not expect per-
lection Governments are admins
tered by frail human beings and al
lowance must be made for their
weaknesses. The democrats have
made a far better record than the re-
publcans have made in any recent
congress and it is by comparison that
they should be Judged
First-The democrats elected
Champ Clark speaker. He is a great
Improvement over Speaker Cannon.
Second-The democrats changed
the rules of the house SO as to take
from the speaker the appointment OF
committees. The substitution OF Sc
lection by caucus, each party select
ing it's quota, is step in advance.
Third-The house began it's legls-
lative program by passing the resolu-
ton submitting the amendment pro-
viding for an election of United
States senators by direct vote. This
is an epoch-making reform. Refer
ence will be made later to conference
actions on this measure.
Fourth-The house passed a bill
requiring the publication, before the
election, of the names of contributors
to national campaign funds. This is
an important measure and carries
out the last democratic national plat
VI; hrnC
and improved in the senate and the
president has signed it. This Is dis
tinct victory for the party. Mr.. Taft
emphatically opposed the idea in the
last campaign.
Fifth-The democrats kept faith
with the president and almost unan-
imously supported the reciprocity
agreement. While it was not wholly
acceptable to democrats they regard
ed it as step in the direction of tar
if reduction and were justified in
supporting it.
Sixth-The wool bill, vetoed by the
president, would have given the peo-
pie a large measure Of relief. 1t
would have given more relief had it
become law in the form in which
it passed the house. 1t would have
been still more satisfactory had it
been framed on the basis of free
wool.
Seventh-The farmers free list
was a very meritorious measure.
The presidents reason for vetoing it
were lamentably weak. The farmers
ought to remember that in this mat
ter the president deliberately sur
rendered them to the greed of the
protected interests and cast in his lot
with those who furnished his cam
paign fund.
The cotton reduction bill was good
and the senate amendments made it
better The presidents veto of this
measure will furnish further evil
dence of his subserviency to the ex-
plotting class. No real relief is to be
hoped for from him.
The house deserves credit for the
way it dealt with the question of
statehood for Arizona and New Mex
leo. The first resolution permitted
Arizona to vote out the recall of
judges and permitted New Mexico to
change her constitution so as to make
it more easily amendable. When the
president vetoed this, congress wisely
changed the resolution to compel the
elimination of the recall of judges
(the provision can be reinstated by
the state) and thus secured state
hood for both territories.
Now, having stated the creditable
things done by the democratic house,
let us look at the few mistakes made:
First-1t was mistake to make
Mr.. Underwood chairman of the COM
mittee on ways and means. He is
not a thorough-going tariff refOrmer
and his environment is against pro-
gressive democracy. The party had
q right to expect that positive and
aggressive opponent of the whole
protective policy would be placed at
the head of the ways and means COM
mittee. The mistake has already
cost the party dearly. 1t has led to
the surrender of the democratic doc
trine of free wool and to the surren-
der to the senate of the honor of in
PRODUCING the bill reducing the tariff
on iron and steel-a humiliation that
the other members of the committee !;
ought to feel
The second mistake of the session
has already been mentoned-the
VI d Idl Ill O1l NOOl. lie Idllh
on wool is the keystone of the pro-
tectionist arch and those who do
not know it have yet to learn the A
B c Of the tariff question. Every
speaker on the tariff will be confront
ed by the tariff on wool if he at
tempts to attack the principle of pro-
lection, and he must criticise con-
gress, or, if he defends congress, he
must do so at the expense of party
party principle. The mistake can be
corrected at the regular session by
new measure making free wool the
basis of the reduction, but this is not y,
likely so long as Mr.. Underwoods in
duence is paramount in the commit
tee.
The third mistake was in allowing
The session to adjourn without the
of the amendment for the
election of United States senators by
direct vote. The democrats naturally
desire to win a partisan victory in
connection with the amendment but
when the senate ohiected (nuita 40