The call of the North. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1923-1924, 1923-12-26
Certain House Rules Would be Declar-
ed Unconstitutional by Supreme
Court Where They to be Tested,
Says Writer--"Right of Representa-
tion is Nnl1ified -

posed; on the contrary, his advance
to more preferred prominence be-
comes inevitable. Seniority makes it
a continuous performance, through
one Congress into its successor. AS
in the case of a great fortune, there
is an entailment of parliamentary
power, with an ever-increasing un-
earned increment of spoils and per-
versions.
3. Obstructive Powers. The stand
ing committee is the cornerstone of
the system. These committees are
organized upon a basis of spoils
rather than efficiency. There are
sixty of the, fully half of which
serve no useful purpose save that of
beings pegs upon which to hang priv
iliges and perquisites. Their person.
mel is shaped by seniority. Once
they are "packed" by Old Guard ad-
herents, and commanded by organi-
zation chairmen, under existing rules,
IIiS ISdSIiOildly lCoOSiS nave d SOll-
troll that cannot be broken.
Majority Becomes "MinOrity'
Even a majority of the membership
cannot reach into the pigeonholes
of standing committee and bring a
measure into the open. Of course,
there is parliamentary contrivance
intended to remedy this vicious con-
dition, but it was so jokered as to be
worthless.
The power to obstruct becomes
finally the power to legislate. That
is the most dangerous aspect of the
whole parliamentary situation.
1t is unbelievable, yet literally
true, that there is practically no such
thing as regular, orderly, routine
procedure on any important public
measure. To be acted upon at all,
a bill has first to attain a priviledged
status, either through regular or spe-
cial rules. This means in almost
every case that the bosses have the
right of way as to control of time,
debate and amendments.
In short, the House of Represent
atives of the American nation is to-
day as far removed from true delib-
Grafton and real representative func-
tioning as any parliamentary body
on the face of the earth. A few
bosses are Congress. The average
member is a dummy, alost as effec-
tually disfranchised as though never
elected. Because of his position, he
may to some extent influence public
opinion, but, except on unusual oc-
casions, neither by voice nor vote can
he directly and vitally exercise his
constitutional rights as a represent
ative of the people.
Insurgency and Partyism
When this session began, for the
first time since the fiasco over Can
nonism, there was in the House of
Representatives group of Propres-
sives independents would be a bet
ter characterization) of sufficient nu-
merical strength to exercise the bal
ance of power. Regular Republi-
cans and Democrats We're so nearly
equal in numbers that neither party
could prevail on issues of organiza-
ton without aid from these indie
pendents.
The House has 435 members. Two
hundred and twenty-five were elect
ed as Republicans, 2O5 are Demo-
Gratis, with one classified as Inde-
pendent (Kvale of Minnesota), one
as Farmer-Labor (Wefald of Mime
sota), and one Socialist Berger of
Wisconsin). There are two vacanA
cies, making the present membership
433.
With all congressman in attend
ance, therefore, a majority of 217
was necessary to elect the speaker
and adopt rules.
Twenty of the Republicans, with
Kvale and Wefald, made up the in
dependent group that opposed the
Old Guard program as to House rules
and officials.
The test came on the choice of
speaker. That office had to be filled
before any other question of organ
ization could be decided.
Frederick H. Gillett of Massachu-
setts was the caucus candidate of
the regular Republicans. The first
ballot gave him 1913 votes, with 1876
for Finis j. Garrett, the Democratic
caucus nominee, he having the sup
port of all the Democrats present.
Twenty-Five protesting members di-
vided their votes between Henry AL
len Cooper of Wisconsin and Martin
B. Madden of Illinois, with Cooper
having II and Madden 5. Through
six ballots on opening day and the
Continued on page A.