New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-08-20
In Defence of Mr.. Mann
His Leadership Commended by a
Republican Colleague

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Now that the long scrap is over and
the much discussed food control bill is on the
statute book, my eye lights upon clipping
from The Tribune Of Wednesday, July 20, an
editorial headed "Nr. Mann's Latest Break
This editorial declares that the Republicans
of the House of Representatives ought to GUST
Mr.. Mann from the leadership Of the minor
ity, that he has TO vision, ETC., etc.-al be-
cause he had ventured the day before to OBJ
ject to the sending of the food bill to confer
ence unless Mr.. Lever, chairman of the Com
mittee on Agriculture, would agree to sepa-
rate vote on the Senate amendment providing
for a Congressional committee to keep in
touch with war expenditures.
The casual reader, not fully familiar with
parliamentary procedure as it proceeds in
the House of Representatives, would infer
from your editorial either that the rules Of
the House provide no other way Of disagree
ing to Senate amendments and asking a con-
ference than by unanimous consent, or that 1t
is high crime for one of the elected repre-
sentatives of the people to so much as sug-
gest a vote upon a proposition disapproved
by the President. Now, the attitude of the
American people toward the Presidency and
the President is essentially monarchical and
has been growing more so for number OF
years but The Tribune itself was guilty Of
leze majesty in venturing the opinion that the
Congressional committee proposed might not
be a bad thing, and even declared that little
evidence was obtainable in support of Mr..
Wilson's assertion that the Congressional
committee of Civil War days made President
Lincoln's task "all but impossible"
What, then, was Mr.. Mann's crime? Why
that he was delaying the food bill. How!
Does motion TO concur In an amendment
"delay" bill? II so, there is no sense at all
in the parliamentary rule that motion to
concur takes precedence over a motion to dis
agree The food bill was sent to conference
the next day by special rule, shutting of all
motions and all debate; but it was not until
Wednesday, August 8, that the bill was hnally
passed through the acceptance Of the confer
ence report in the Senate. considerable
part of that long delay, between July 20 and
August 8, was due to the fact that the House
of Representatives refused to agree to this
particular Senate amendment. Mr.. Lever was
plainly afraid that the House might agree to
il or he would not have invoked the special
rule.
Now. I was one of the thirty-one Repubii-
cans VINO voted 1Or Inc Speclal Tule anu
against Mr. Mann, and you can judge. whether
I have always been in agreement with him
when | say that was one Of the most ardent
supporters of every preparedness measure ad-
vocated by Hon. (now Colonel Augustus P.
Gardner, most of which measures were op-
posed by Mr. Mann until the President began
to advocate preparedness. But If had been
leader of the minority | think | should have
done exactly as Mr.. Mann did when Mr..
Lever asked unanimous consent to disagree
to all Senate amendments to the food bill.
Most of the Republicans and a good many
Democrats wanted to vote on the Congress
sional committee proposition, and it seems to
me that it was plainly Mr.. Mann's duty as
leader to make at least an effort to give them
an opportunity. even if he did not himself
greatly favor the proposition.
Mr.. Mann, by the way, has supported every
one of the Presidents war measures, which
is far more than can be said of the leader of
the majority, or Of the Speaker of the House,
or of the chairman of the Committee on Mill
tary Affairs, or of several other prominent
members of the Presidents own party in the
House of Representatives. About the only
legitimate criticism that ] can now think OF
with regard to Mr.. Mann is that he stood by
Woodrow Wilson so completely and so con-
sistently in keeping us out of war" when
some of us thought war inevitable and that
we ought to be doing everything possible to
prepare for it. EDMUND PLATT.
Washington, D. c., Aug. 10, 1917.