Evening star., 1921-12-18
Fifty Years Ago
in The Star

An epidemic OF investigation pre-
vailed at the Capitol fifty years ago.
marked by
Investigating the symptom Of the
keenest curiosity
the legislators as to the workings of
| t.S executive branch OF the govern
| ment. The Star in it's issue Of De-
! cember Is. 1871, called attention to
this matter in the following terms:
! ''The action of certain senators in
continuing to push for an investiga-
tion into the management OF the sew
eral executive departments. after The
House Of Representatives had ordered 4
| full investigation by its appropriate
standing committees looks ve3 much
as though the movement was for
interest Of honest reform. The reso-
luton of Mr.. Lynch covers all the
| ground covered by that of Senator
| Trumbull and as introduced by Mr..
Dawes applies to all the departments
The subject prima rily belongs to the
! House of Representatives, as under
the Constitution the representative
are charged with the control and super
vision Of the revenues Of the country
For this reason the House has reguiar
| standing committees for examining int"
| all expenditures in the several de-
| partments. while the Senate has no
such standing committees. The duties
| of these committees have been neg
| lected and they have fallen into dis
| use. The consequence has been the
| who have made spasmodically partial
| Investigations and then died out.
| These special committees. when ap-
| pointed jointly by the House and
! Senate, have a senator as -chairman
| and report to the Senate. thus re-
| versing the theory of the Constitu-
! tion and practice Of the government.
lit is absurd to expect any one conf
mittee to make an investigation into all
! the departments Of the government. II
was thought necessary in 1876, when the
committees on expenditures in the vari
Gus departments were made, to have "A
lcommittee to supervise each department,
and the operations of the Treasury De
partment are now many times create
than those of all the departments 4
that time. II the committee on eA
jpenditures in the Treasury Department
carry out the instructions of the House.
as embodied in its resolution, it will be
one of the hardest worked committees
| Of this Congress, and examination into
the other departments will involve much
less time and labor, but will occupy
committee during the session. Any at
tempt to examine all by one committee
| would be farce.
| 1.-The objection to a special committee
(! is not only because there are regular
standing committees having no other
duties to perform, but because there
is no special emergency or occasion for
such eXamina ton. 1t is the. performance
of a duty which. it was the intention
| of Congress when the committees were
| formed. should be attended to. during
each Congress. and ought not to he
taken up for the purpose OF making
partisan scandal.
| Let there be full and thorough in
vestigation into the affairs and doinSs
of all the departments. but let il be
| made by the standing committees OF the
| House which have jurisdiction in the
matter. and not by the Senate, which. by
its failure to provide regular standing
committees to supervise the revenues
and expenditures, acknowledges its want
of jurisdiction. The temper of those sen
ators now urging this matter in the
Senate is not favorable to a fair in
Ivestigation. 1t must be apparent to
any one who reads the debates that the
object is to seek partisan capital
iagainst the administration. The House.
not being blessed. or cursed, with many
presidential aspirants, approaches the
matter in a different spirit, and the
country will consequently be much more
| likely to obtain a fair investigation
through this. the legitimate channel"