The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-05-22
AIKEN'S
SERVICE.

lntelllgencer does injustice TO the
Honorable Wyatt Aiken. That pa
per seems to be of the opinion that
a mans influence in Congress may
be measured by committee chairman
In the first place, the awarding of
chairmanships is by a committee of
the house and is almost invariably
by seniority. When the Democratic
House vas reOrganized, Mr.. Aiken
was ranking man on the District of
committee and second man
on the Pension committee. These
are of the most important commit
tees of the House, and especially is
this true of the District Committee,
which governs the District of Column
bia and has the disbursement Of mil
lions of dollars.
The craftsmanship of this, one of
the most important House commit
tees, was Mr.. Aiken's by right and
was conceded to him by the appoint
ing committee. Hon. Ben Johnson,
a representative from Kentucky,
then a doubtful State, ranked next to
him. Mr.. Johnson was exceedingly
anxious for the craftsmanship to help
out his candidacy and incidentally the
Democratic party in Kentucky. He
mentioned this fact to several of his
friends, and they in turn to Mr..
Aiken. Mr.. Aiken went to Mr..
johnson and assured him that on &C
count of their pleasant relations and
as a service to Democracy in Ken
lucky, he would temporarily surren-
der his rights. This is a fact that
every member of the Ways and
Means Committee, the committee
that makes up the several House
Committees, is familiar with and
will certify to.
Whatever estimate the public may
put on chairmanships, they are help
full for advertising and boosting the
individual holding the job, rather
than for any substantial advantage
that they give him over the other
members of the committee. Surely
the man who would sacrifice self in
terest for a loyal friend and for his
party in O doubtful State deserves
praise rather than criticism.
1t is true that there is another Sc
rious objection to serving rs chair
of the District of Columbia com.
mittee. In this position Il man has
to serve two constituencies: the peo-
pie of Washington and his people at
home. 1t is doubtful if q man al
faithfully serve his home constitu-
ents and faithfully discharge his duty
as District Chairman. Mr.. Aiken
felt that not only his hest service but
his undivided service was due to his
people at home, hence he more will
lingly gave up his right to the Dis
trict Craftsmanship. When he is re-
turned to Congress and there is a
Democratic house, which seems more
than likely, he will again have to &C.
cept or refuse the craftsmanship of
the District Committee.
Some OF the ablest men who have
ever gone to Congress from this State
have served as chairmen of that COM
mittee, and the Republican cam
paign manager held the place for
many years, thinking it a marked
distinction. -
The lntelligencer directly or indi-
rectly states that Mr.. Aiken does not
deliver his speeches on the floor Of
Congress, but asks leave to print. If
the editor of the Intelligencer will
glance over any of his recent speeches,
that are available, he will see from
the nature of colloquies and inter-
ruptions directed to him during his
speech, that he has not INDUCED the
leave to print habit except on proper
occasion. He asked leave to print
the Zach McGhee letters written on
the tariff, from England, because
they were too long and too numer-
Gus to be read. But they were
thought to be of such value as party
literature as to be given a place in
the Democratic Campaign Hand
Book, and were read by hundreds of
thousands of Northern voters.
On two separate occasions, Mr..
Aiken's tariff speeches have been Sc
lected by a Congressional committee
from the hundreds delivered on this
subject, and given place in the Dem-
ocratic Campaign Book, to be read
by the masses. There were in all
only five selected, dealing with diff
ferent features of the tariff.
Every well-informed person knows
that it is a part of a secretary's duty
to Congressman and Senators to help
dig up facts for their speeches. The
secretary in this respect is to the Con-
Or Senator what 9 iuninr