The Washington times., 1914-07-21
mann FOR SPEAKER
ON SLATE OF c. 0. P,
He Will Find Opposition, How.
ever, IT Republicans Win the
Next House.

Republicans will have on their hands
number of nice problems to settle II
it SO falls out that they capture the
House in the elections this fall One of
them will be the selection of a Speaker.
The man in line for the office is the
present minority leader, Jim Mann. of
Chicago. The liabilities are that
Mann will be made Speaker IL the Re
publicsns get the House. as some of
them hope to and as others of them
prefer not to.
Mann has fought for his party on the
floor of the House so long. so tenacious
ly, and so vigorously, that the general
feeling Is that. II the Democrats lose
control he will have to be rewarde
This will not be done, however, with
out some protest. and other candidates
may arise. In one way and another.
there is a great deal of Republican dis
satisfaction with Mann as minority
leader. Some of the "old guard" do not
like him because they think he is too
much disposed to make friends with the
progressive wing of the party.
On the other hand most of the Pro-
gressfve Republicans cannot forget the
days when he was a large spoke in the
wheel Of the Cannon machine. Some
say that his policy as leader is too much
OF a policy of mere trouble-making for
the Democrats, and that, while he Is
highly pestiferous to the Democrats, he
Is not sufficiently constructive.
Mann Hard Worker.
But while all sorts of objections are
made to Mann. 1t is admitted that 1t
would not be easy to pick anyone TO
fill his place. No other man in the
House has such a fund of information
about the business before the House and
before Congress as he. This Is because
he has, what most members have not,
the gift of unremitting industry, and IL
absolutely unafraid of hard work.
When a bill comes up for consideration
on the floor, Mann is sure to know all
about II, and probably more than the
men who introduced it.
Because Mann Is an indefatigable
worker, and because OF his disposition
to be always on the job. he has come
70 the front in the House, and II the
Republicans capture the House It Will
be practically impossible to keep him
from the Speakership. On the other
hand, as Speaker, he would not be able
to WELD the power he now wields.
Speaker Clark no longer has the
power, as Cannon had, to name COM
mittees. The Democrats found them
selves obliged to go to the policy Of
choosing committees through a Com
will have to adopt a similar policy.
TO attempt to 90 back to the method
of letting the Speaker pick the CON-
mittees would be denounced as reac-
tionary. The present method of picking
the committees is far from satisfac-
tory, because the Committee on Com
mittees consists of the majority ntm-
bers of the Ways and Means Commit
tee, thus giving that membership an ex-
cess of authority and making the chair
the most powerful parsonage in the
House.
Clark Is Opposed.
The question of the speakership is
only one of a number of hard problems
the Republicans will have before them
If they should recapture the House. The
problem of what action to take on
tariff and about other leading issues
would be one to tax the brains of the
cleverest of the politicians on the Re
publican side.
However. the Speakership will give
the Democrats a lot of worry II they
retain control OF the House. Champ
Clark has earned the enmity of the
Administration by his course on free
tolls and some other matters. Every
man in the House knows the White
House would like to see someone other
than he made Speaker. IL the Demo.
Gratis continue 10 dominate in the Six
ty-fourth Congress, But It is a ques-
ton whether speaker Clark can be
II Is expected that a re-
beIlion against the Speaker will be
started. But he Is strong in the sf-
fectiors of many OF the Democratic
members, and it will be no easy task
to unseat him.
As things look now. he will continue
TO hold the Speakership. II his party
in power at the south end of
the Capitol. As for Oscar Underwood. |
he will be no longer in the House. but
a member of the Senate. II will be
necessary to choose a leader to take |
his place, and, while the naming OF
a man will not be difficult, II will not |
be easy really to I'll! his shoes.
Congressman Claude Kitchin Of North |
is regarded as his probable |
success0r