12888 12889 12891 12898 12903 III. HELP FOR MEN TO BECOME INDEPENDENT FARMERS S. A. KNAPP THE PRECARIOUS CONTROL OF THE MISSISSIPPI (Illustrated) VII. THE CONSERVATION OF CAPITAL A NEW REASON FOR PEACE GREAT MASTERS IN AMERICAN GALLERIES (Illustrated) FRANK JEWETT MATHER, JR. 12933 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A COUNTRY SCHOOL-TEACHER 12951 H. GARD 12957 HOW PLANTING TREES SAVED JUTLAND WILLIAM HOVGAARD 12969 TERMS: $3.00 a year; single copies, 25 cents. For Foreign Postage add $1.28; Canada, 60 cents. Published monthly. Copyright, 1910, by Doubleday, Page & Company THE WORLD'S WORK MAY, 1910 VOLUME XX NUMBER 1 TH The March of Events HE dramatic stripping from Speaker Cannon of a part of his autocratic power was a memorable scene. It was the first step toward a fair and effective reform of procedure in the House of Representatives. It was beautifully done, and done in a kindly way. The immemorial custom was that the Speaker should appoint the all-powerful Committee on Rules (as well as all other committees), and that it should consist of only five members including himself. Two of the five were mere courtesy appointments of opposition members. Practically, therefore, the Committee consisted of three men the Speaker himself and two members of like mind, of his own choosing. Of these three, two were a majority the Speaker himself and one other, of his own choosing. The Speaker, therefore, and one other, of his own choosing, really had the power of life and death over legislation. Nothing so autocratic exists in any parliamentary assembly in any civilized government. The motion of Mr. Norris of Nebraska, that the Committee on Rules be enlarged to ten, to be chosen by party caucuses, and that the Speaker shall not be a member of it, was carried; and a subsequent motion to declare the Speakership vacant (to depose Mr. Cannon) was lost. This latter motion was an ungraceful and vindictive error of the Democratic minority which promptly seized its first chance to make a tactical error. For the main matter of the "revolution" would have been lost if it had become only a personal attack on Mr. Cannon. Much as he had abused the old system, it was the system rather than he (or any other individual) that needed eradication. This, then, is the first necessary step toward permitting the people really to be heard through their Representatives and public opinion really to get direct influence on the House. The next necessary step is to take from the Speaker the appointment of all the other committees. A third desirable step is to put in the Speaker's chair a good parliamentarian who is not a member of the House. Neither party is likely to have the courage to make such a breach of custom, but it would go very far toward unfettering Congress from its sanctified servitude to long-standing abuses. The The whole situation is abominable. people and public opinion cannot get at Congressional action. There is so much machinery, there is so much "method," there is so much "organization," that nothing is sure to be done at any session but the repetition of old methodical abuses. If the Democrats would pledge themselves to such a full opening of Congressional procedure to the complete letting in of daylight they could win the election on that pledge. Suppose for once a Congress should have no "pork barrel," no private pension bills, no secret rush-legislation, but should really openly discuss one subject at a session, would the heavens fall? Copyright, 1910, by Doubleday, Page & Co. All rights reserved. |