THE SECRET OF HIS POWER

...In due time his political death was celebrated by the Speaker's machine, and the new-comers were pointed to the epitaph on his political tombstone as a warning against those who were so presumptuous as to attempt to change, or even complain of the sacred and inspired rules...

...If this act is to remain uncondemned by the country, then the Speakers of the future, clothed with this extraordinary authority, will with a warning hand be able to point to the fate of the Insurgents whenever a member refuses to obey...

...It must be remembered that they were fighting for a change of the rule that gave the Speaker the power to appoint the standing committees of the House...

...There was no logical reason why a member should not be in favor of some change in the method of selecting the standing committees without incurring the personal animosity of the individual who happened at the time to hold the office of Speaker...

...The country has condemned the man more than the rule...

...By this authority he rewarded the faithful and punished those who refused to obey...

...At this meeting a permanent organization was formed...

...There were members in the movement who announced at the very threshold of the organization, that while they were in favor of taking away from the Speaker some of his extraordinary powers, they were nevertheless friendly to the present Speaker and should work and vote for his re-election...

...These men had so changed their ideas on the speakership question that they had remained away from the Republican caucus and were ready to vote against the Speaker if enough votes could be pledged to defeat him...

...For all practical purposes our National Government, like Gaul of old, is divided into three parts:—the Senate —the President—and the Speaker...

...If, on the other hand, the rebellious member could not be brought back into the reservation by the temptation of political pie, or the fear of political punishment, then he became a political outcast, a good committee assignment for him was impossible...

...As we have seen, his defeat was an impossibility...

...That the Speaker possesses a power second only to the President, has been well understood by the people at large for several years...

...Where Union Brings Strength IN THE House it had become evident that no relief could come, that the hair of this modern Samson could not be cut, except by organized effort...

...Cannon's Arrogance Costly to Himself AT THE very beginning of the Insurgent movement an agreement was entered into that no attempt to fight the Speaker should be made, and that the organization should not be used to defeat him for re-election...

...Insurgents Aided by Cannon's Revenge WHAT was the duty of the Insurgents as to the Speakership...

...The Insurgents, although perhaps not expressly told by the Speaker and his machine, were at least made to feel that they were political outcasts...

...It is interesting to note the different opinions held by these members as to the source of the Speaker's power...

...Some of the Speaker's closest friends regard this act as not only unjust, but from their own standpoint of political expediency, as unwise, and yet it must be admitted even by his enemies, that when he used the power of his official position to punish his fellow members for honestly following their conscientious convictions, he was technically at least within the authority granted him by the rules...

...As the country at first recognized it, it saw only the head—the instrument—the man—the Speaker, without fully understanding that behind this individuality was the most powerful legislative machine that ever existed...

...Committees were appointed on all subjects connected with the investigations...

...His control seemed to be absolute and almost without limit, and yet the specific authorization of his power was more or less a mystery and a secret...

...It is interesting, however, to note the change of sentiment that gradually took place in the Insurgent camp...

...It was the only place in the national fabric where the people had a direct voice and vote...

...Rebellious Members Punished FROM time to time members have rebelled against the surrender of their individual rights and have denounced the arbitrary power of the Speaker upon the floor of the House...

...It was supposed at the time that it would require fifteen...

...Hence, their votes, if cast against him, could not have had any effect upon the result, although there might have been much personal satisfaction in so voting...

...There were still others who earnestly desired his defeat and were willing to vote against him if by so doing they could bring this about...

...No consideration would be given to any * member who wanted to deprive the Speaker of some of his power...

...They often showed the display of remarkable courage and ability in the individual member, as single handed and alone he denounced the most powerful machine connected with the management of our national government...

...Today, as far as the enactment of legislation is concerned, the House of Representatives bears about the same relation to the National Government as the appendix does to the human body—it has no well recognized function...

...Every individual member who had defied the Speaker's power had met with disaster and defeat...

...It was not until the short, or last session, of the Sixtieth Congress that a real organized effort was made to break the Speaker's power...

...ering a bill by the entire House without any investigation by a committee, would not be wise and would often result in poorly-constructed statutes...

...The insurgents decided that whatever changes in the rules might be desirable, the one that should take away from the Speaker the authority to appoint the standing committees was vital and should be insisted upon...

...Even in these rules it was not possible to find any specific enactment that gave to him, in direct terms, the wonderful authority over men and measures that he seemed to be in possession of...

...The insurgents decided that whatever changes in the rules might be desirable, the one that should take away from the Speaker the authority to appoint the standing committees was vital and should be insisted upon...

...The existence of this authority was accepted by the country as a matter of fact, and many people believed that by some constitutional provision or some enactment of statute he had been given the power that he had been exercising...

...The Speaker, under existing rules, had the sole power of making such appointments, and by virtue thereof he controlled to a great extent the political destiny of every member...

...They had, therefore, refused to go into caucus in order that they might be free to act should any possibility arise by which he could be defeated...

...At this meeting there were present seven members...

...Striking at the Heart of the Evil AFTER months of earnest discussion, investigation and deliberation, this body of men came to the conclusion that no change would be of any real or permanent value to the country that did not take from the Speaker the wonderful influences over the individual members that his office gave him...

...This, then, was the secret of the Speaker's power...

...Some were of the opinion that a method should be devised that would make it unnecessary for members to go to the Speaker's private office and get his permission before asking unanimous consent for the consideration of a bill...

...That, by some mysterious power he controls the House of Representatives as with a rod of iron, and at will moves its members like pawns about the political checkerboard of national legislation, is known of all men...

...a small legislature was organized...

...It was well known that members thought more of an important committee assignment than of anything connected with their official life...

...These outbursts occurred with peculiar regularity in nearly every Congress...

...Besides, this method of considTHE AUTHORITY to make committee assignments is the secret of the Speaker's power...

...Inasmuch as it was found impossible to defeat him it was thought best not to undertake the proposed action...

...WHEN OUR forefathers framed the Constitution, that part of it nearest and dearest to the people, was the part which provided for the House of Representatives...

...Their action absolutely clinched the argument that by this great power the Speaker was enabled to punish those who refused to obey his mandates...

...This body of men met regularly about three times a week during that entire session of Congress...

...That the real source of his power was only partially understood added an uncertainty to the situation which threw about him and his position a mysterious fear that impressed the people with his acknowledged supremacy and their apparent helplessness...

...An occasional disagreement from his idea of legislation was an offense that could be forgiven and condoned, but to even suggest that he should be deprived of the power to appoint the standing committees was an attempt to undermine his very throne, and any one guilty of such a heinous crime must suffer political annihilation...

...This in fact is just what he did do when he made up the committee assignments...

...At a meeting called by the writer on the 15th of March of all Insurgents who intended to vote for the re-election of the Speaker, but who would be willing to vote against him provided enough votes could be so pledged, to bring about his defeat, there were present some members who, at the beginning of the movement had openly declared themselves in favor of the nomination of the Speaker in the caucus and his re-election afterwards...

...As the fight grew in intensity it increased in bitterness, and when the day of election came, it is doubtful if there was a single Insurgent who did not most devoutly hope that the Speaker might be defeated for re-election...

...Some others claimed that the only change necessary would be a rule that would make it in order after a committee had failed to report on any bill referred to it for a certain number of days, to move to discharge the committee and consider the bill in the House...

...It enabled him to influence an individual member, to intimidate the committee, to control the House, to hold up the President and to defy the country...

...The Speaker's influence was not confined to any one committee...

...Under these circumstances, this action of the speaker in punishing the Insurgents was in reality an actual illustration of the evil condemned by them and which they were fighting to eradicate...

...Recognition would be of but little value unless the member recognized, could, under the rules, make a motion that was in order...

...Had all the Insurgents voted against him he would have been able to have given some little plausibility as an excuse for this unjust act by claiming that the Insurgents, in refusing to follow the action of the caucus, had placed themselves outside of the party and were therefore entitled to no consideration...

...How that fight was first won and then lost—-how the Speaker's machine in an attempt to adopt the old rules went down to defeat, and then within a few minutes thereafter turned that defeat into victory, by a combination with Tammany by which the crumbling throne of the Iron Duke was saved from destruction, is still fresh in the minds of the readers, and will not be repeated here...

...In some mysterious way his people at home were given to understand that their member had no influence, could not accomplish anything, and could not secure any legislation or other thing in which they were interested...

...They knew that the Speaker had sufficient power and influence to control the Republican caucus and that the result of that caucus was definitely known in advance...

...The Insurgents were morally certain from the fight made upon them by the Speaker, that he would punish them by depriving them of all important committee appointments...

...The machine, it is true, consisted mainly of one man, but the wonderful power of his position enabled him to stifle legislation at his will and to bid defiance to the whole country...

...There were still others who argued that while all of these changes might be desirable and were important in themselves, yet none of them reached the vital spot...

...While the removal of the man from the office is very desirable, the change of the rule is absolutely necessary if we would retain any vestige of representative government in national affairs...

...And thus, the Speaker's machine swept on, gathering to itself more and more power, becoming more and more arrogant, until by its very defiance of public opinion it brought upon itself the condemnation of the entire country...

...Those who defended this authority of the Speaker, while admitting that the power to punish existed, claimed that no Speaker would ever be so unreasonable and unjust as to exercise it...

...And thus, a friendly contest, commenced in good faith to modify a simple rule of the House, had, by the Speaker's unreasonable and tyrannical course, been changed into a war of extermination...

...It shows what may be expected to happen when an ordinary man is clothed with extraordinary power...

...At the beginning of that session, in December, 1908, there was a meeting of those members who were in favor of curtailing the power of the Speaker...

...Unanimous consent would only relieve members of the humiliation of privately asking the Speaker for what should be theirs by right, and was resorted to only as to such reported bills where there was no objection to their passage, and usually of a local nature...

...Some of them had openly pledged themselves to vote against him in the campaigns which they had recently made...

...That is, it was actually necessary to take away from the Speaker fourteen votes and -vote them for some other candidate...

...The fight was made against the system and not against the individual...

...A calendar day, while very desirable, could, from its very nature, only reach such bills as had been reported by a committee, whereas the influence of the Speaker was sufficient in many cases to prevent the committee from acting in many instances where the country was vitally interested...

...It was soon found that the Speaker would not tolerate any attempt to decrease his power...

...If the attack had been sufficiently severe and had attracted considerable attention from the country, the obstreperous member was given an important committee assignment, which he had long been seeking, and thereby his murmurings were not only quieted, but he became a meek and lowly follower of the Iron Duke, while he enjoyed the political crumbs that were brushed to him from the Speaker's table...

...They claimed that by this power he coerced the membership of the House, to a great extent, on account of the fear of punishment which the rules gave him the authority to administer...

...Members of the House of Representatives, who first stood off in amazement and wondered at the system of control, and then searched for the source of this power, soon discovered that the Constitution and the statutes enacted thereunder had given to the Speaker no authority whatever, but that all the power he possessed he obtained entirely and exclusively from the Rules of the House...

...As a matter of fact, these Insurgents who voted for the re-election of the Speaker, in so doing performed a real service to the cause for which they stood...

...Some of them had attended the Republican caucus and were bound thereby to vote for him...

...Others believed that a rule setting aside one day in each week for the compulsory consideration of reported bills as they appeared on the calendar would be all that was necessary...

...It likewise completely refuted the claim made by his lieutenants that no speaker would ever make such an unjust use of the power given to him by the rules...

...The fight culminated on the 15th day of March, the first day of the special session, when the adoption of rules for the new House came up for consideration...

...It would have taken fourteen...

...A rule that would provide for the taking away from the committee any bill, that after specified time had not been reported would be difficult of enforcement, because the same influence that prevented the committee from acting would likewise be exerted upon the entire membership...

...This agreement was absolutely necessary to secure any organization whatever...

...Some thought that a rule compelling the Speaker to accord recognition would bring about relief...

...Should they have voted against the re-election of the present Speaker...

...It enabled him to influence the individual member, to intimidate the Committee, to control the House, to hold up the President, and to defy the country...

...This perversion of the real intent and object of the Constitution has been brought about so gradually and quietly that until re-cently the people have not understood the method of its accomplishment...

...These men by voting for him, even though they had not been in the caucus, made it impossible for even this excuse to be offered...

...They were bound, of course, to keep such promises...

...This agreement was kept inviolate and throughout the deliberations the speakership contest was absolutely excluded...

...However reasonable and sensible this view may be, those who held it were doomed to disappointment...