El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-07-22
PROBE. WORK
OCCUPIES
CONGRESS
Investigations Take Up Ma
jor Portion of Both Legis
lative Branches.
HOW BAILEY GETS
AROUND QUESTIONS
CBy G. A. MARTINI

washington, D. c., July z2--The
present congress will go down in his
tory as the congress of Investigations,
although it vii: accomplish little in
the way of legislation. or in it's prob
ing work. Already it holds the record
for having started more probes than
any other congress in history, and
every day sees a new one started. The
two latest are inquiries into the mo-
tives behind the request for the resig-
nation Of IT. Wiley, the pure food ex-
pert, and the reasons which enabled a
certain army officer, Maj. Fay. of the
paymasters department, to secure so
many leaves of absence when others
could get nothing Of the sort Others
have been under way for a long time,
some started before 1.-The Democratic
house came into being. and others alJer
the Democratic majority arrived. E.
The members of the house have little
to do on the floor these days, but they
have plenty to do in committee. The
house is only meeting every three days
while it waits on the senate to chew up
and spit out some Of the legislation
passed up TO it from the lower branch,
but the members are all working II
hours out of every day listening to tes
timony in committee probes and they
are lucky that they have nothing else
TO DO
Almost Democratic Senate.
In the senate branch, nominally Re-
publican, there are many of these
probes in progress also, but the Demo
cratic house claims the majority Of
them. While the house is admittedly
Democratic, the senate is in almost the
same position without admitting 1t, for
the Republican reformers have Joined
with the Democrats in many cases and
-fr,o T,o int
the hands of the same men who con-
. troll the lower house The senate Re
publicans cannot even agree upon =
president pro tempore. The stalwarts.
or standpaters, have been trying to
elect Gallinger to the position, bur none
of il for the insurgents and the Demo-
Gratis; so far the insurgents have re-
fused to vote for the Democratic choice
and the Democrats have refused to vote
for the insurgents choice, by. hairs
breadth preventing the upper branch
of the laymaking body becoming oul
and out Democratic, but so deadlock
ing things as to prevent the Republi-
cans nominal majority from controlling
Steps Toward Free Trade.
Conditions are different in the mat
ter of legislation and the majority of
the insurgent Republicans are voting
with the Democrats or vice versa. so
that the Republican majority" ap-
pears to be nothing more substantial
than a name. From the way things
now look. X appears that the alliance
--unholy'' the stalwarts call it-of the
insurgents and Democrats, would Iorce
through many Democratic measures, in
GLIDING the reciprocity plan of the
president. all the stalwarts call it
Democratic measure and say that it Il
but the first step in throwing down the
bars and adopting free trade
Rrophets Refuse to PrOphesy.
Both parties are split so widely that
the best political prophets do not haz-
ard a prediction OF what will be the
outcome. They admit that they have
never known such condition before.
One day q Republican stalwart rises
in his seat and proceeds to read the
insurgents out Of the party; urges them
TO move their seats to the other side Of
the chamber and sit with the Democrats
and quit their masquerading, ana next
day-maybe the same day-an insurg-
ent gets UP and with great flourish and
much effort, talks abou the s'preda-
tory interests" and declares thai the
lawmakers who have sold out the peo-
pie in the interests of gold, will soon
be called to account. Next day-or
maybe the same day-Joe Bailey the
same from Texas, or some other Demo
crat, proceeds to read an everlasting !
John Sharpe Williams, late minority
leader of the house, always from Miss
issippi. sab Cor some other Democrat) |
on the duties of a Democrat to his con-
stituents. John Sharpe is not noted for
his silence. neither for the choiceness
of his language. and, Of course, Mr.. |
Bailey from Texas, is always answered |
Then some fur is released to fly be- |
meath the stained glass dome, while the |
afr-fC f1 h17cr Io first in
history both houses have had to install |
them this year-and the tourists in the |
gallery do likewise and the other sena- |
tors get up and go to their committee |
rooms or come in from them. according /
to the warmth of the argument or the |
caliber of the men engaged, and so 1t |
goes.
What VIII Be the Endf
1t is a great mixup. a jolly mixup for |
people who want to look on and see the /
sport more of it to look upon than the |
oldest timers can remember-but the /
country is going along in the uninter- |
rupted contemplation of the time when
the weather will be cooler, and is
profiting very little and losing less.
Where it will end, no living man can
tell today; it may result in q split of
bAh the old parties before the presi-
Dental election in 1912, and out of the
present chaos may come something that
win bring victory to one of the old
parties.
Who VIII Bear Standards
President Taft is much worried ano
his friends are much worried. They
are certain that he is going to capture
the nomination, for a president in Of
flee always. well, nearly always. can
muster up enough delegates to nomi-
nate him, but it is harder when it
comes to mastering the votes to elect.
Bob LaFollette, they say, will not try
for the Republican nomination His
speech the other day cut him loose
from the party. politicians say, and
made him Democrat or an indie
pendent
The Democrats have no idea who
they will nominate. Champ Clark is
always in an attitude ready for the
storm that he thinks is coming his |
way to pick him up bodily and sween