Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1919-03-19
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER

= Washington, D.. C.-Although beat
en- for speaker OF the next house of
representatives, Representative Jim
Mann Of Illinois, friend of, the packers,
by a. preliminary. trick has assured
himself Of the position Of boss of the
lower house of the: next, congress.
Representative MondeH of Wyoming,
standpatter, has been elected MAORI
ty leader.
Under a trick rule proposed by
Mann and his .henchmen,' Republican
Representatives at the :, Republican
caucus voted by state delegations.
With the big, solidly Republican states
like Pennsylvania, New York and
others, casting their vote with him,
Mann was able to dictate that the
old seniourity rule in the selection of
chairman of committees shall prevail.
This will mean that standpatters,
who have been In congress so long
that they have, completely lost touch
with the people, will frame all the
important; legislation that will come
before the next congress.
Mann, it is remembered, is the
member of congress who was~given
a big steak on one occasion by the
packers, on account of his friendly
ness, and on another occasion was
given horse.
He was also criticized, when the
United States entered the European
war, for voting for the McLemore
resolution and for declaring, after the
Lusitania was sunk by German sub
marine, that the men, women and
children who met death were "joy
riders on the Lusitania."
Other congressman who had made
statements in regard to the war much
less critical than Mr.. Mann's were in.
vestigated by the National Security
league and branded as "disl0yal."
Senator La Toilette, whose opposition
to war never went beyond Mr.. Mann's,
was investigated by a senate commit
tee. The senate, however, found it
couldn't do anything with LIE Toilette
without putting Mann in the same
class.
But the National Security league
failed to find anything disloyal in Mr.
Mann's attitude on the war, it seems.
And of course his close alliance with
the packers was not in the least I'm:
patriotic.
Mann Men Rewarded.
Several of the Minnesota members
of congress, who held up their hands
in holy horror at Senator La Follette's
utterances, voted for Mann for speak
er of the next house., Although Mann
won't be speaker, his friends are in
charge of distributing committee
places. Accordingly the men who
voted for Mann for speaker are to
committee appointments.
Representative Volstead Of Mime
sofa, who voted for Mann, gets the
Craftsmanship Of the important judi
ciary committee as his reward. Rep
resentative Stenerson, another Mann
supporter, is to be chairman of the
postoffice committee. Ellsworth, who
switched to third speakership can
didate at the behest Of the Mann
forces; goes on the interstate com
merce committee. .Knutson of Min
nesota, who voted for Mann, also is
made Republican whip.
Altogether the boys are pretty well
taken care of.
There is just bare possibility that
this distribution of all the importan,
committee chairmanships to tried and
true standpatters may be broken up
The committee assignments, deter
mined upon by the committee on com
mittees, are yet to be approved by the
Republican caucus.
Representative Nick Longworth
Alice Roosevelt's husband, is a leader
in the fight against seniority rule
No one ever accused Longworth OF
being progressive, but the facts are
that he is not taken care of, under
the rule, as we'll as he thinks that he
deserves. Accordingly Longworth
for the time being, is an insurgent
He promises to carry his fight to the
Republican caucus when it convenes
just before the next session of con.
gress is called.
League Men Stick.
The three North Dakota congress-
men, elected by Nonpartisan league
farmers, will join in the fight against
seniority rule. Representative George
M. Young, who has the longest serv-
ice of the League congressman, is a
member of the committee on commit
tees. He has also won a place on the
important ways and means commit
tee. But Young has by no means
been bought off by the old tory crowd.
He is merely waiting chance to show
his stand on the seniority rule ques-
ton. Representative Baer and Repre-
entative J. H. Sinclair, elected by the
farmers to succeed Patrick D. Dorton
IN tho third North nakOfa district
will be with him.