New-York tribune., 1919-03-31
Holds Whiphand Over Legis.
1ation' in Next House by
Control Gained in Com
mittee, He Declare s
Party Victory Half Won
Support of Nation i'm Hour
of Peril Is Threatened
Under His Dominance
Mem York Tribars
Wngb juutop Ruy,o,.

ence over Legislation in the next House
than If he had been Speaker" and as
serting that the "vctory over reaction
ism and lukewarmness in support of
the nation in the hour Of its greatest
peril is less than half won" Repre-
sentative Nicholas Longworth issued
another statement tonight. insisting
that the organization Of the House
must not be left under the control of
Nj. Mann.
That the country is interested in
the organization Of the next Congress. -
SAID Fir Longworth "particularly the
House Of representatives.. is apparent
from the great number Of letters and
newspaper articles have received
from oil parts Of The country IT is
hig'Ig Significant that at least 50 per
ceha Of these afe written in com
rhahdati9h of The course pursued bv
some of ps III criticism Of an opBosi=
ZION ~ the programme Of The Mann
controlled and Mann bundled commit
"a" On fHmmitfefs, and they o9mplefe-
| ~ lustlfy our determination to carry
our hght into the Republican cauous
=, Mueh credit has been taken by Mr..
| Mann AMI his friends for the soeed
Wlth which the b20-odd places on the
hshahdlng committees were dispensed
There is nothing remarkable about that
tnuer ,he clrcumstances, in view of the
f"ct thnt Mr.. Mann and seven other
gentlemen, all his ardent supporters.
corid outvote, under the inpenious
system he devised, the other eighteen
members OF the committee and carry
any point they pleased, so that once
they had determined to abide strictly
by the seniority rule the rest was
simple. "'"
Priority in Service
I'VE were not burdencd with the duty
OF taking into consideration the loria.
iatlve record or the fitness or proved
ability Of any man, but only his lenrth
OF service. About the only discretion
exercised wae in the placing of new
members, and 80 far az that is con-
cerned 1T il only fair to say that the
WORK OF the committee was entirely
comnehdable, IN that no reprisals were
mace or attention paid to the votes of
! thcse new members in the Speakersbin
contest The net result, however. has
oeen TO leave many of the important
committees badly balanced geoeraph
lcally, to prevent the appointment of
the strongest men from the various
states upon committees which needed
strengthening sadly, and to place at
the head of some of the leading com
mlttees men who, judged by their leg
lslatlve records both in peace and in
war and by their known ability or the
lack OF 1t, are not qualified for such
nigh position in times like these.
FINALLY, and most significant of all.
while the vote in the Republican caucus
on the Speakership was more than two
to one against Mr.. Mann, of the chair
men of the twenty-five most important
committees in the House, twenty voted
for him for Speaker.
Floor Leader Mann Aid
"For floor leader Mr.. Mondell was
selected by the Mann interests. a
gentleman Of high character and brill
lant attalnments both as an orator and
parliamentarian, but one whose war
record is dubious, to say the least, and
whose record or. preparedness is com
and Mr.. Dent. 1t is hardly necessary
to say that he is now and has been for
years one of Mr.. Mann's most vigorous
supporters.
For the important office of whip
Mr.. Knutson, of Minnesota, was select
ed, Young gentleman of agreeable
personality but of little legislative ex
persence, having served only one term.
he was one of Mr. Mann's most siren
uous supporters for the Speakership.
lastly, and most important of all
by far, the steering committee was Sc
lected, majority of the membership
being supporters of Mr.. Mann. This
IS an entirely new piece of legislative
machinery, one unprecedented in the
history Of the Republican party when
1t was in power, and few people. I
think, realize the Importance Of it's
duties or the vast powers that it will
weld in the coming Congress. This
particular committee will be in a sense
supreme over not only the Speaker but
all the standing committees of the
House, because it will determine the
legislative programme of the next Con-
gress 50 far rs the House is concerned
1t VIII be called upon to decide what
policies arc to be pressed to the fore
and what pushed to the rear. 1t will
have all the powers formerly possessed
ny speaker Cannon and his predcccg-
sors or advancing or retarding certain
llegislntion. 1t viii be the real lerisle-
livc hgcnt Of the Republican pnttv in
formulating its programme for 1920
anu " ~ no oxhggcration to say that it
WI nave the major part IN the writing
oi Inc Republican plntform for 1920
Should BE Representative
ut goes without saying that such n
committee ought to be truly rcnrc-
sentative not only Of the spirit OF the
Republican party of to-day but Of its
hopes and aspirations for the future.
IL should be representative, too, # all
sections Of the country and Of all
classes of our citizenship Is the com-
mittee as at present constituted so
representative Absolutely not. 1t
consists of five men, Mr.. Moore. of
Iennsylvania; Mr. Madden, of Illinois:
mr.: Dunn, of New York; Mr.. Winslow,
OF Massachusetts,, and myself. A Glance
at the map will show that no one Of
the Southeastern tier Of states and
not state west Of the Missigsipp,
River is represented on the committee.
-, 1T is true that Mr. Monden. oe
Wyoming, is chairman of the COMMITTEES
by virtue of his office as floor leader.
but inasmuch as the membership was |
!! united to five by the resolution Great
ing 1t, he Is not n member of the COM
mittee, but merely presidcs at its de-
llberatlons. Under the plural system
OF voting adopted in Mr.. Mann's Com
mlttec on Committees, it represents
only lat Republican votes, leaving
ninety votes unrepresented, and it so
happens that outside of the twentv-
seven votes of Ohio and Indiana. which
| may be fairly said to represent. with
q gain OF ten votes in the last election
n Mt g..