River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1913-06-19
WASHINGTON LETTER
FROM JAMES A. FREAR, MEMBER or
CONGRESS, 10th DISTRICT

WASHINGTON. D. c., June TO-
1t is generally known that in legis
lative bodies the actual work il
largely performed by committees il
which the merits and dement's o
measures are carefully considered
The chairman of the committee usu
ally determines what shall be con
sidered, the time of hearings anC
other matters of procedure. Com
mittee chairmanships always go tt
the dominant party and from pre-.
cedent safe majority of every com
1nittee is also made up from that
party. The committee members oil
the minority party in the House are
proposed by the caucus of that
party and the writer is able to say
that the Republican members from
Wisconsin, as rule, are satisfied
with their committee assignments
Under authority of the Democrat.
&c caucus, the Ways and Mea Com
mittee names Democratic members
of all committees together with
every chairman, SO that Mr. Under.
wood of Alabama, of tariff fame, as
chairman of that committee, is
clothed with far-reaching power
both in the formation CT committees
and in framing legislation.
The spirit of proprietorship of
Southern states in apportioning
Democratic chairmanships of the
eighteen important committees al
ready announced, can be best un-
derstood from the fact that Mis-
souri,, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South
Carolina and Florida each get one
craftsmanship; Tennessee and Geor-
gia get two; New York, the only
state north Of the Mason and Dixon
line, gets two; while the remaining
seven charm anships are divided
between Virginia and Alabama. In
other words sixteen of the eighteen
important chairmanships go to nine
Southern states and thirty-eight
states including every Western and
Northern state, excepting New
York, get nothing.
Three of the greatest committees
are Ways and Means, Judiciary and
immigration. All these go to Ala
bama. Four others of scarcely less
Importance are Banking and Cur
rency, Foreign Affairs, Military At
fairs and Insular Affairs which are
all given to Virginia. Both of these
states are about the size of Wiscon-
sin although the vote cast by Wis.
consin, an index of comparative lit
eracy, is from three to four times as
great as the vote of either Alabama
or Virginia and the manufacturers
of our state are about four times as
large as those of either Alabama or
Virginia, Yet Alabama gets Ways
anC Means Committee, that through
the tariff bill can make or break
manufacturing industries, and two
other great committees; while the
Democrats of Wisconsin and of
thirty-eight Northern and Western
states get nothing except the right
TO follow the flag.
The administration has a right to
distribute political plums without
criticism because that is a perqui-
site of party success, but in the
formation of committees and ap-
pointment of chairman, criticism is
invited by the Democratic organiza-
ton when all the committee plums
go to the South; when the great
Agricultural Committee is given to
Lever of South Carolina, the author
of the Lever Oleomargarine bill,
when the tobacco and peanuts of
Virginia and angora goats and rice
OF Alabama, two favored states, re-
tain high protective tariff under
the Underwood bill although wool,
potatoes, wheat, sugar and flour of
the North are placed on the free
list. With sixteen out of the eight
cen chairmanships to their credit,
our Southern Democrats are MUNICH
ing the persimmons.
Speaking about political plums it
is stated in authority that 49, $50
applications for political positions