The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1922-10-11

hccnuse American I.cglslalhtce. their
fulcs, procedure dnd results. nre not
practical. nor intended 90 hflnR about
thc demoegallr end oi the greatest
GOOD 10 the greatest number We have
two houaa Legislatures apparently be-
causo moel of the colonlos bad Hind
~ upper house. and a.sp bccausc the
flamcla Of the frfl state consiltnlions
Thought small state Sennioa would be
li,ey to feel more regard 10. rgop-
criy and precedenf than q popularly
elected Assembly.
Two House System Not
q Success in tie States
Tho national Two hounc nsatem "a
wen built. because the poWcr IN the
senntc Is 20 distributed geographically
through Che equality Of the small
States Niii lhe large that Tie Senate
cunnog De aamnodcd by Inc votes OF
nny seollnn. or oi a group o. largo
state The two houses OF the state
Legislatures arc made up Of Tho same
kind of men coming from The same
aroaa representing the SAME vo,crs.
Ten good bills are killed by 1.sneroo-
ment OF the two housen 20 one bud bill
that 10 hung up Ye' you might as
well Try to dry up Niagara Falls by
canal across Illinois ae TO pat % end
to the two house system u IL part OF
our heritage.
we speak OF the House Of Repre-
fpntatiyef af though Il were one body
IN which measures were introduced.
discussed or their merits. ana voted
according to the hest Judgment Of tho
majority Tie House and tho Senate
are in fact both loose iedcluiions Of
two political parties with Few inde-
pendent and fragmentary parties.
Congress ls Hike two double Stars.
each with satellite or rather. the
majority IN each Is a star around
which the minority party has 70 re-
volvs
Doubtless many hills. especially
private bills. so through Congress on
The influence OF the members who
stand sponsor Tor them. on many
nnimportant hills and also many very
importan' measures. there is no record
Of any decision other thnn a voice
vote Probably thiee-fourihs of Lhe
bills that get through Congress could
be stopped ~ somc stage by the OBJ
lection Of Que man: but woo 10 him
who makes himself the unlicensed
agent OF the Almighty by objeciing
right and lefti
Membership Of Fair Quality.
But Terms Too Short
The membership of legislative bodies
IL fair In quality. Congress. the
legislatures and the constitutional
conventions. which are third kind of
American legislatures. always include
a good proportion Of the solid citizens
Of the country. In the legislatures
the term IL too short--probably the
average service per person is not much
above -four years.-so that few have
time to become skilled In legislation.
ana the ordinary members are help
less clogs in the mill
In Congress it is Just the other way.
Service Is so long for many members
OF both houses hat weak men get to
he top by living and nursing their
constituencies.
What about satrap chairmen?
This is perhaps the most serious DIFF
ficulty In American government, ana
it is all tied up with the committee
system. Colonial legislatures and the
f,s. two or three Congresses knew
nothing of standing committees In
1915 there We're only fifteen House
committees, In 1922 there are about
sixty and about as many in the House,
OF which about twenty-five in each
house are active and powerful
Everybody knows that each chair
man OF committee (who is never
elected by his own committee) is an
autocrat. If he refuses to call his COM
mittee together there is no remedy:
nor il the chairman pockets q bill that
Is presented to the committee or re-
fuses to have ii discussed. In the
present Congress a chairman dared 10
withhold a bill which his own commit
tee had by majority approved, with
a direction that it be submitted. He
was not even hung, to say nothing of
not being expelled.
Is ii seniority?
Here we strike the bed rock OF the
present troubles Of Congress and the
same thing prevails in the State Legis-
latures on Il smaller scale because OF
the more frequent changes IN person
mel. The seniority principle thas the
eldest man must precede the best man,
applies in the United States only in
the army, tho Senate and House and
the highly organized trade uniols. I'm
der that principle, when man gets on
4 good committee he goes UP from
Congress to Congress, as vacancies APP
pear, until with the important condi-
ton that he is member Of the major
ity) he claims the Craftsmanship as his
right
Seniority has 4 reason in the army.
Without the opportunity OF higher pay
and responsibility the good officers
would all resign in middle life and go
into professions or business, but there
= is no seniority when it comes to choos-
ing the commander in chief The
United states in 1912 tried the expert
ment of putting old Revolutionary Of
flcers at the head Of armies, and It
was never repeated. Seniority rule in
legislative body IS rank foolishness.
Ablest Man Unlikely
To Become Chairman
The only reason for having commit
!, tee chairmen at all is that you need
, ths aalast snd most vide awaEA man