The Sisseton weekly standard. (Sisseton, Roberts County, S.D.) 1892-1929, 1912-01-19
/. AFFAIRS AT
WASHINGTON
Matters Concerning the Law
Makers and Events of Import
ance at the National Capital.

Washington, D. c., January Is
Representative George W. Nor
ris has the distinction of being
the first congressman to make a
dent in the solid front the demo
cra.lc majority of the house has
been able to muster on nearly all
occasions. After as neat scrap
as as bee, ruI!od off this ses-
sion, the Nebraskan took eighty
enc democrats y! t..t progressive
kind away from Leader Under
wood, they having joined with the
twenty-one progressive republi-
cans in attempting to defeat the
\ placing Of Representative Camp
bell of Kansas cn the committee
on rules, to succeed former Re
preventative Madison of Kansas.
Mr.. Norris made it plain that
his position was Lot one of speci-
al opposition to Mr.. Campbell,
or Republican Leade" Mann,
who was held responsible for
the naming Of Mr.. Campbell,
but he fought as he always has,
against the system Of the caucus
through which power Mr.. Mann
controlled the nomination The
placing of Mr.. Campbell ON the
committee prevailed by vote of
167 to 107. While the occurrence
marked a division between the
two branches Of The republican
party that has often been in
evidence heretofore, yet the real
concern felt at the capital result
ing from the clash is that for
the first tim since he assumed
the party leadership Mr.. Under
wood was unable to control his
forces, indicating that possibly he
is not, after all, the real Moses,
destined to lead the long-eared
democratic animal out of the
wilderness
The committee on expenditures
in the Interior Department was
before the house asking for an
appropriation for a junlSet among
the White Earth Indians Of Mn
nesota, and for further cash to
make a side trip to the Roose-
welt Dam in Arizona. A number
of congressman declared that the
democratic members Of the com
mittee were wandering afar from
the legitimate scope Of the work
laid out for them. Mr.. Humph-
rey, of Washington, chided the
majority for abandoning their
"Dick-to-Dick'' episode. Mr..
Burke, of South Dakota, declared
that he does not oppose "any in
vestigation that any committee
of this house may in good faith
undertake, but I do insist that
these Investigating committees,
Or rather the expenditures com
mittee, should be kept within the
scope Of the rules of the house of
representatives and the resolution
number 103. which was adopted
+. by the house, which does not cn
Nlarge the jurisdiction of these ex
penditures committees one iota. y
The name of Senator Cummins
of Iowa perslstentIy finds 81
place in the political gossip Of
the capital as probability on th
presidential ticket of 1912. Fo,
many weeks the harmonizers
have been speculating on the eff
feet Of putting out boom fo
"Taft and Cummings but mo ,
recently there has been a renew
al Of the talk for Cummings fc~
first place, it being urged that
he stands for everything that s ,,
ator LaFollette advocates, a..
would not only entirely satisf~
the republican progress1ves. but
would at the same time be very
satisfactory to the regulars. with
whom he has for many years beer
on very good terms. OF con'
the Cummings movement does no
loom large. as the Taft and Ia
Toilette campaigns hold the
center Of attraction But the
same forces and sentiment t',aA
are declaring for Colonel Rooe~-
welt might. without very mnoA
surprise, center on the Towar l.,
the event Of contingencies ar;sin~
that are not improbable