Evening star., 1927-05-18
Charge Against Cannon.

| the House runs full tilt on the rules
and finds they are harder than his
| soft head.
Charge Against Cannon.
"Solemnly and with bell, book and
candle Cannonism has been damned by
Bryan, damned by LaFollette, damned
| by Cummins, denounced by their sat-
elites, and consigned to perdition by
the metropolitan press and the coun-
| try weeklies. l have tried but failed
to find the difference between Cannon.
ism and Carlisleism, or Reedism, or
Crispism, or Hendersonism, or the
ism of any other Speaker. It will
be the ism of every Speaker who sue
ceeds Cannon if he enforces the rules
honestly and holds his self-respect to
be more precious than mere fieeting
popularity. 1t is as easy to find a
certain kind of popularity as it Is to
find pebbles on a stony beach, and
one is worth just about as much as
the other"
against Mr.. Cannon was that he was a
boss, tyrannically deciding the fate Of
legislation and incidentally Of the mem.
bers through his control of the COM
mite on rules. This committee
was the most powerful in the House.
It decided the order of business, the
amount Of time for debate and the
time when the debate must end. The
Speaker and two other Republicans
practically constituted the committee.
There were two Democrats on 1t, but
all they could do was to record them
selves perfunctorily against whatever
rule the three Republicans might de-
termine on.
System Is Inherited.
This was so much In the routine
that Speaker Reed used to open
meetings of the committee by ad-
dressing the two helpless Democrats
thus: Gentlemen, William and
julius and l have decided to per-
then reading the proposed order. For
Mr.. Cannon did not invent the sys-
tenn; he inherited it. The rage against
it in his time was embittered by the
widest rumors-rumors that he had
sold out to the interests" and took
his orders from them before perper
trating his "outrages" in the rules
committee. hTe revolt grew until it
became a fight to end not only Can
nonism but the career of Cannon him.
self.
In the infiamed popular imagina-
ton the meetings of the rules COM
mittee were tragic things, in which
the scowling Speaker and his two
grim colleagues rode roughshod over
the two screaming Democrats. News
papers and magazines" said Mr..
Cannon in talking about this, worked
their imaginations to the limit about
these terrible meetings, but in truth
they were informal and delightful
affairs.
Democrat Is Assisted.
"why, they were so jolly that that
was the only place where I ever saw
the solemn De Almond unbend and
get gay. He was one Of the two
Democrats and the most serious man
in the House, but in the committee
meetings, and nowhere else, he would
tell a good story. AS for the other
Democrat, John Sharp Williams, who
was Democratic floor leader, he always
began the meetings by saying, What
is the latest outrage?' and then after
hearing it he would start telling us
his newest story. While John Dalzell
was putting the outrage into proper
parliamentary shape the rest OF us
would sit around and gossip.
"a funny thing happened once.
Williams himself wanted a bill passed,
but the Texas Democrats prevented
it from coming to a vote. Williams
wanted the committee to bring in a
special rule which would permit a
vote to be taken on it In spite of the
Texans. 1t was an emergency meas
ure, and I agreed with him that 1t
should be voted on. So did the other
two Republicans, and as usual Dalzell
drew up the rule. We all voted for
it except De Almond. Without crack
ing a smile he solemnly explained
that since his party leader, Williams,
had been seduced and was no longer
able to recognize an outrage when
he saw it, it devolved on him to keep
clear the record of the Democratic
party.