The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-11-15
CHAMP CLARK TALKS .ON IMPORTANCE OF
 HOUSE COMMITTEES
Interstate and Foreign COm- merce Now Probably Most Important of
 Entire List

That the interstate and foreign com merce commmittee is perhaps the most
 important committee the com mittee which is rapidly becoming the most important-was an observation yes terday of Champ Clark. speaker of the lower house of Congress.
 Mir. Clark, after having delivered his lecture in Birmingham Friday evening"
 terday. He declared that the cancelnng of an engagement which made his Hay over' in Birmingham possible. was sat isfactory to him because in the first place
 Birmingham he said, is good city in which to spend a time, and in the second, fine city in which one may catch up' with his correspondence.
 Congress is busier each session than the session before,'' said the speaker. 'It
 pleted. a total of 27.0OO bills were intro duced.
 Committee on Trade
 "Of course, in tariff years, the ways
 and means committee Is the one impor- tant committee of the House. Perhaps, In the estimation of the people al large, 1t Is always the most important. However, the interstate and foreign commerce com
 mittee. which has grown rapidly from twelfth to fourth in importance, Is one of the greatest. It may become the greatest. The disposition of the several states to dump their problems on Con gress has rendered the work of that com mfttee almost insurmountable. All trade problems. railroad. telephone, teegra pli problems, pure food problems and the like, all of which are numerous and eacn of which effects all the states, must be considered by the interstate and foreign commerce committee. It Is necessa rily one of the most important, and is des- tined. perhaps to become the most i'm portant.
 '"The several committees always strive against each other to obtain bills which might be given properly to one of several Sometime ago bill concerned the sig, or an apple barrel. It was a matter of trade and the interstate and foreign com. merce committee wanted it. It concerned agriculture and the committee on agri. culture wanted 1t. It concerned weight. and measures and the committee on coin. age, weights and measures wanted 1t. gave 1t to the latter. recite the incl dent to show you that the Job of speaker "~ s'>s u@ @"@y ciiS III tiiS iiiluB or WHICH c man may recline upon a bed of roses. And of course we must keep order.
 have been successful in this respect. be- cause l have always kept a close watcf
 not only on men but on incidents. Some Alabama Incidents For example, when Mir. Hobson sp- | peared on the floor one day last winter
 and seated himself very close to Leader I Underwood. anticipated trouble, and told Jerry Turner. n big man, to sit 1 by Hobson. He did so and no trouble
 occurred. On the following day. or shortly 1 thereafter. Hobson, In making his grandl-
 loquent' prohibition speech, rang Under ! wood in. I hadn't anticipated. but put
 an end to the wrangle before actual | trouble could follow"
 | Mir. Clark was then asked if the recent l Heflin-Mann colloquy was ever serious. | No" he said. But 1t was an ugly in. | cident. When 1t started I was not in tn, l chair. However. arrived on the scene in | time and demanded that peace be re.
 stored"