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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 16, 1910)
Q 2 'V 4 V f r- w. ' ft The Cominoiieiv 7" ai" '? ft- VOLUMETviO, NUMBER '$ l" & B;V 1 r- Iv V' I I-.-. Vr. r. V V t foe y& K- speakership amount to7" Th -question Is "What will tho house ot rpreintatlvea amount to, go far as concern ittf.-agenby for popular government, unless one-mairpo weir is destroyed undpr the , democratic party even as democrats sought to destroy it under the republican party?" ' The Post. concludes in this way: "Wo must insist that the democratic masses know nothing whatever of tho rules, that tho members are better qualified to judge of the rules that are to govern the proceedings of the house than a , ypter who has never road any set of house rules; Tho people are directly concerned in the legisla tion that the majority shall enact, and in noth-' ing else . Tho Post believes with Representative Burgess that the selection of the committee on committees will result in log-rolling , and a scramble for place that will greatly impair the harmony of the majority. If tho majority will , give the country the desired results, the country is not going to trouble itself about tho rules or tho personnel of the committees." , The theory that the; members are better qual ified to judge than tho "democratic masses" is the doctrine of thrones. The representative is ; the servant rather than the master of the men who elect him. And because the Cannon rules of the house make it impossible for tho public sontimont to be expressed in legislation the peo ple are vitally concerned in house rules. If it be true that there must be log-rolling in the election of committees, then it is better that the log-rolling take place in full view of the house and of the country rather than in tho secret chambers of the speaker, as was the case under tho Cannon regime., "If the majority will give" the country the deBired results," says the Post, "the country is not going to trouble itself about the rules or tho personnel of the committees." But "the country" has learned through sad and costly ex perience that the bam must be 'locked before rather than after the horse has been stolen. "The country" has learned that the way to se cure "the desired results," whether it be under democratic or republican rule, is to restore the house to its representataive capacity, making it impossible for one man or a coterie of men to control, and making it probable that tho senti ment of "tho country" would find reflection in the action of the house. Paraphrasing the Post's remarks, one may see how absurd its proposition is in the American view: "If the King will give the people the desired results, the people are not going to trouble themselves about the laws under which they live or the personnel of the men who make and execute those laws." The simple. truth is that the democrats have dinned into tho ears of the American people the fact that through one-man power the house of representatives has ceased to he of public service, and now it, is an insult to public intel ligence for any democrat to say that the exis tence of an un-American power should be de pendent upon the character of the men entrusted with that ppwer-r-that the system which demo- vcrats denounced as despotic under republican control would be acceptable under democratic authority. Fremont (Neb.) Herald reproduces among its own leading editorials the New York World' "Bryan Socialism" editorial. . Now let the Fremont Herald tell its readers what it means by "Bryan Socialism." Let the Fremont Herald tell its readers just what advantage would be gained for the people if tho democratic patty shall reverse, its position, as described in the national platform of 190.8 and become the tool of the men. whoso business it -Is to exploit government rather "than to pro-' tect tho people. , - The Fremont Herald will find It difficult to deceive Nebraska democrats; Certain - politic cians, posing as leaders, will commend the" Herald's echo of the New York World's cry for Wall Street; but Jhe rank and file of Nebraska democrats will not be caught napping in the future. They will not permit their' party to be delivered for the use and benefit of the trust magnates even as it was delivered, in the last state convention for the use and benefit of the liquor Interests, IN NEBRASKA It would not be wise from any consideration to try to conceal the fact that the organized effort to make the democratic party obedient . . to the special interests includes Nebraska with , , in its circle of operations. ,, If the democrats of Nebraska desire that their . party shall be the plutocratic phTty, that their platform shall be written and their candidates chqsen by the representatives of the special in terests, then it is their duty, as It is their privi lege, to make their wishes known. , . Theyshonld not, however, be deceived and , democrats -who believe that the party should be preserved' as an effective agent for the public welfare should have their own eyes opened and should tmake It .their business to open the eyes f others with respect to tho reorganization movement now going on within the democratic party, and under the leadership of those who would make it useless bo far as concerns genuine reforms. The -Commoner intends to speak plainly be , cause plain speaking is essential: to the party protection and tho "public welfare. The New York Worlds is the newspaper leader bf the reorganization movement: The Com moner has already referred to the World's edi torial entitled "A New Democratic Party." That editorial boastr that the democratic party "is emancipated and master of its own destiny" be cause "the Bryan socialism has followed silver and the democratic slate is wiped clean." The THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE) 'The president's "annual message is notable, for its length. If Mr. Taft's sympathies with the special interests had not already been made known to the people the message would be notable for its distinct leanings toward the very system tho people are. seeking to regulate the system against whose encroachments upon popular government the people have but recent ly rendered an explicit verdict. He pleads' for tho ship subsidy, which Is in principle antago nized by the progressive thought of all political parties today. He recommend national Incor poration, which would ultimately remove all state control over corporations, centralizing that control in the federal government and making it more difficult 'than ever for the people to hold corporation agents to account or obtain relief from corporate impositions., He declares that there should be no more .legislation with re spect to corporation regulation, giving the laws already on the statute books an opportunity to demonstrate,, their usefulness. . It may not-.be but of place, to, say xignt.h.ere that if the presi dent -woUld. put the prestige of his high office and the great power beholds behind the;crimi nal clause of the Sherman law, enforcing that clause against the chiefs of all the great trusts, it is reasonable to believe that the people would obtain immediate relief so far as exactions at the hands of these trust magnates are concerned. Mr. Taft is a particular friend of "government by commission." . He would have the tariff bojird made permanent, and then he would have "experts" representing that board tefl the people just what particular schedules should be re vised, or to enter protest against .proposed re vision when that course seemed impractical. He would have our currency and banking laws re vised by commission, and lid wonld have our national policy with respect, to rivers and har hors, Waterways and public buildings, as we.ll as to tariff and" money and banking, arranged' by boards of "experts." The message indicates that Mr. Taft has failed to make profitable study of the returns from the - recent election. It shows that at any gathering of royal standpatters Mr. Taft is entitled to a seat at the head of the table. It proves beyond reasonable doubt 'that he lsthe logical candidate of tho republican party for the presidency . In 1912 because he stands unflinchingly for present-day Hamiltonianism-? and present-day Ham iltonianism out-HamHtohs Hamilton, for -it would lead the' American people upon ground so absurdly aristocratic that even Hamilton would Have avoided it. ' : A. COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES OF THE HOUSE It- is to be counted as rath'erv a- fortunate cir-, cumstance, we think, that 'Representative Gar dner of this atato has become not only an advo cate, but a protagonist of the proposition to take the power of fashioning committees from the' speaker of: tho -house" of representatives." For a good many of us the penalty of advo cating a reform of any kind is to be called a "mollycoddle," or, 1f the critic happen to be of kindly. nature, jin idle dreamer 'We rather incline to the opinion that no one will callMr. Garner a mollycoddle or question the. tangibility of his. ideas. Therefore he brings to the pro paganda the kind of 'support of which it Is peculiarly in need. His accession to the ranks, if not, indeed, his bound into leadership, is a fortunate reason of the vigor and pertinacity Which characterize all of his activities. We think the -cause of. this salutary reform 4s made s , ' . ! to "look up" considerably by. the news Hhat Mr. Garner ha "got into the game." We are sanguine enough to believe that tho merits of the proposition have' only to be pre sented intelligently and persistently to assure; . its adoption. The idea that an assemblage that boasts as its chief virtue that it is a "reh- jesentatlye' body should set up, a. boss, empower . - single- individual- with an authority which gives him "the power of a director, .whethfcr-'he . so uses it or not is about one of the most Incongruous bf the thing 'listed In 'our register of freakish facts. And as if to emphasize the anomaly of the matter, tho senate which makes nor hoast bf being a-highly "representative"' body, but which rather pretends, on the con trary, to be somewhat above popular direction, has stripped It presiding officer of all except such authority as is needful to a mere modera' tor of debate.- Though the creature of all the people themselves, the president of the senate is only its presiding officer, denied all .power to direct, or even influence its proceedings. "Js it not somewhat topsy-turvy-like, that "the so called "representative" body should set up a single individual as its boss, while "the body which makes no boast of its representative quality should leave itself free to exercise its own judgments? And yet the speaker of the. house, with all of his. immense power, is elected by the people of a single district,, whereas the president of, the senate is the choice of a ma-. jority of the people of the whole United States.' Even if there were no other consideration, a ." decent regard for consistency ought -to impel the house to enact this reform. It will be a genuine feform, because it will wonderfully facilitate the efforts of representa tives to represent their constituents. As It is' ' now, the speaker can "frame, up" a committee in a way that precludes practically all hope of the passage bf a measure, even though ah over- ' whelming -majority of the house should beVi'n favor of it. Committee-stuffing js not a theory-, but a fact.-p-Dallas (Texas) Morning ttews. J" ! ., r .Representative Garner's" rilrin n na tniinwd Strike but. the 'first 'paragraph! of : iule teViand, . substitute. .the following: , t t ,'J'J;u J. l I. At the! commencement of the. congress j un less otherwise Bpeoially ordered by the" house, the majority party of the house shall elect and report to the house five members of a commit tee on committees, and the minority 6f the house shall elect and report three members of the same committee. The speaker shall be ex officio a; member of the committee, with all the powers of an. elected member, and shall be the chair- " man. No member of the committee on. com mittees shall be appointed' chairman of any other standing committee of the house or he -a member of more than one other standing com mittee. It shall be the duty of the committee on committees to report to? the house for ; fts approval th membership of the standing com-, mlttees, the majority members of, the 'commit-'-, tee designating 'the majority members of.' this standing committees and the minority members'' the minorities of the standing committees. THE BAJjLINGER WHITEWASH: ': The Ballinger whitewash by the republican members of the investigating committee was -jio surprise to the public. Chairman Nelsoh and several of the other gentlemen who signed the report giving "Mr. Ballinger a clean bill showed during the Investigation that they: were inclined to be. his zealous partisan rathor than hi fair judges. So far as any Influence' upon: the public mind is concerned, the' Ballinger whitewash report is not worth the paper upon which it is written "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some pf the time, but. you can't fool all of the people all of the time!" And Abraham Lincoln had a pretty good .idea, of the .people, Vol Yy:.t . . . -WHL Wm YORK, RATIFY? . j, ' rVha NTor.r "Vtr TTr..-lJ tl Ai" .. . ' XV 2i. i A. if Tru! uni' awenuon to the' facts. that the democratic state platform of that-. -state endorsed the income tax amendment-.. Will ' Governor ODix recommend, the carrying .out bf ' "' this plank? And will the democratic legislature stand by. the platform? . If go, the country-will he. greatly benefited by the victory, won by 'th '' patty In New York. It will be remembered that : Governor Hughes urged the rejection of the : amendment and that ho had influence enough to secure the rejection by a bar6 majority. Let us hope that a democratic governor and a demo cratic legislature will do better.. fr rl i nfr- i (.' - . "tr . . M -. Jr fi n y vr ii .v;V; . 'jr.ih cMijarii