The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-08-26
- :
ce||Il NINE
lVvES1 IeATION


Warrington, D. @, Ans. Allie
NOS Is TO b ths Driacipdl theatre
Of action Of the coal cCnmission
soon to be appointed by President
Harding. according 70 congressiqn-
at leaders who discussed here 10
dry the bill Just passed by the
house and now pending In the SEN
atc.
Illinois congressman voted solid
" for the Winslow bill, providing |
fdr . commission Of nine to inves-
tikate the coal industry, passed by |
tho house this week. Representa-
tftes Edward e. Denison, Marion,
aud. William J. Graham, Aledo, took
81 prominent part In the debate
which preceded the passage Of the
bill.
Representative Samuel e. Wins
low, Massachusetts,. chairman Of
the committee on interstate com
merce, which reported the bill, de-
clared here that he expects the
commission created in his bill to
make an intensive study OF mining
conditions in Illinois within the
next few months.
"In providing for nine members
On the commission, we had in mind
to make it possible to assign the
commissioners to different sections
Of the country. three to Illinois.
three to the southern section, and
SO on" Chairman Winslow stated.
4"They could then get their facts
together and work out something
practical much more quickly than
as, IL the commission were limited
, to few members"
The importance of Illinois as a
bituminous coal mining state, and
the wide publicity given the recent
dash Of union miners and strike
breakers at Herrin, has made the
state the crux Of the coal problem
in the minds OF washington Off
Gals.
In his q ldress to congress two
weeks ago, President Harding sim
gled out the Herrin episode for
specific reference. Representa-
tives Edward E. Denison, Marion,
who represents the Herrin district
In the house, drew unfavorable
comment from the eastern press
some weeks ago when he delivered
q speech on the floor which his
critics interpreted as condoning the
seton of the union miners at Her.
rin.'J 1t appears certain that the
coal commissioners assigned to H.
Hnois will probe conditions at Her.
rim thoroughly and devote a por-
ton Of their report to the subject.
Representative William j. GrA-
am, Aledo, commenting upon the
~)al bill just passed by the house.
defended it against attacks directed
at its constitutionality.
The Illinois congressman declar-
ed he preferred the Winslow bill
TO the Bland bill. asserting that the
Bland bill was not carefully pre-
pared" whereas the Winslow bill,
bearing the stamp of the admins
tation approval, had been pre-
pared by men who sweat blood
over this question for weeks"
Representative Allen F. Moore,
Monticello, favored an amendment
to the Winslow bill reducing the
membership of the commission to
! five members, but the amendment
was rejected.
Il have just returned from cen
tral Illinois" Representative Moore
advised his colleagues, "and find
the people greatly concerned over
the coal shortage The farmers
are worried for fear they will not
have enough fuel to harvest their
crops. Pending the resumption of
capacity coal production, be-
iieve the commission appointed by
the president may make good pro-
gress in arriving at the essential
facts that control the industry, thus
enabling congress to legislate in
diligently on the subject when II
can be considered more deliberate
w."
Representative William A. Rod
enberg, East st. Louis, declared he
convinced the presidents advo.
cacy Of q commission il - step IL
the right direction and will helr
to stabilize the coal industry"
The death Of former United
States Senator A J. Hopkins, Au.
rora. Wednesday, recalled the fact
that only three Of hts former col
leagues in the house are now serv.
ing In Washington.
The trio OF Illinois congressman
who served with the former sena-
tor are "Uncle Joe" Cannon, Dam
Vile, William A. Rodenberg, East
St Louis, and James R Mann, Chi
cago.
All three participated in 1898 in
an historic conference Of the uli-
nois delegation at Chicago which
cast its shadow over Illinois poll
tics for a decade afterward.
Speaker Thomas B. Reed had
Just resigned to return to the prac-
tice Of the law and Hopkins and
Cannon were candidates to succeed
him. Both appealed to their COL
leagues for an endorsement and the
Chicago conference was called to
uSciue tne question.
Hopkins won the endorsement of
). q majority Of the Illinois men,
hers but lacking the personal pop
ularity to carry the rank and file
Of the Republican majority, he
went down to defeat with Cannon.
The man who led the fight for
Hopkins both at the Chicago con-
ference and in the house was WILL
lam Lorime-, later to break With
him over internal politics in Ill
inois and finally Wrestling the SEN
atorship from him At Springfield
Another strong hacker Of Mr.,
Hopkins at Chicago was Represen-
tative walter Reeves OF Streator
~ his attitude at that time,
Reeves won the emnity Of Uncle
JOe~ and in 1900 he lost thu Re-