The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-12-29
Frederic Haskin's Letter
Doe. Congress Need Rebuilding.

officers arc not subjected to efTec-
tive criticism. Almost anyone can
think Of . few cabinet onfcers Who
would have had . hard time hold
ing their jobs II they had been
forced to defend the adminAstra.
Tons of their departments ON thu
6oor Of the house.
The results Of the system, 80 far
as congress is concerned, are a.
sentially the same in that they also
make for irresponsibility. The raj
originative source Of our laws d II
the committees of the house. There
are . great many Of these commit
tees. Bills introduced are referro1
to them. They report only what
bills they choose to report, Al
usually these are bills drawn 8
by the committee itself and beariGe
the name of the chairman. These
bills are debated and fought over
on the floor Of the house, II d
true, but the size of the house, the
number who wish to be heard, and
the immense amount Of business 70
be transacted make this debate
perfunctory and inadequate. In the
senate the bills get . great deal
more real deliberative considefa-
ton. But differences between the
house and senate must be compro.
missed in THE conference committee.
usually in great haste at the I'd
Of . session.
The result Of all this is that u
typical American federal Law Il 81
child of obscure origin. Many haH1S
have q share in its upbringing, N
It Is finally turned over for q.
forcement to the cabinet officer vhe
stands often in the position Of Z
somewhat reluctant and critical
stepfather. II the child does well,
everyone claims credit, and II Il.
seems unpopular and ugly, every
one blames somebody else.
A System Of Party Barter.
Furthermore, consider the way
in which our legislative programs
are drawn up. These programs
ought to be unified, and they ought
to be the work of the best brains
in the party. As q matter Of fact
they are not UNIFIED at all, being
the work Of many separate commit
tees working under no unified con-
troll except the very loose one Of
the party caucus. And tkere are
so many committees that each con.
gresham is . member Of at least
two. And committee membership9
are awarded far more in accord.
ance with seniority than with any
standard Of fitness.
Furthermore, these committee
men represent primarily their own
constituencies, instead Of the ~
ton at large, as do members Of the
cabinet in England. The chairman
of the committee on rivers and
harbors is nearly always . man
from a constituency where river
and harbor improvements are much
needed, or at least the money they
will bring into the country is much
needed. Naturally the chairman Of
the committee on rivers and har-
bors will favor liberal appropria-
tons in that line. You might think
he would be opposed on the moor
by a member from Utah who is mot
in the least interested in river and
harbor improvement, there being
none of either in his state. Buthe
is chairman OF the committee on
public lands and wants large ap-
l preparations for reclamation prof.
/ vote for the improvement OF Mud
creek, and the member from Flor
ida agrees to vote for the building
ects in the desert. So he agrees to
of a dam across Dry Wash. and
everybody is happy-except the
taxpayer.
| In a word, our congressional sys-
tenn not only fails to hold men
properly accountable. but 1t IN
sures that our legislative program
shall lack unity and shall be form
| ed by barter and compromise BE-
tween local interests rather than
by a consciousness Of the needs OF
the nation as a whole.