Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 80, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 January 1911 — CLARK SELECTED AS NEW SPEAKER [ARTICLE]

CLARK SELECTED AS NEW SPEAKER

Ways and Means Committee to Name House Committees. AKIN READ OUT OF PARR Democratic Caucus Held and Members of New Ways and Means Committee Are Chosen to Rule Legislation.

Washington, Jan. 20.—Champ Clark, of Missouri, was unanimously nominated as speaker of the house of representatives of the Sixty-Second congress at a caucus of the Democratic members-elect here. The action of the caucus insures Mr. election when the house convenes next December. The caucus produced a sensation In the form of a resolution throwing Rep-resentative-Elect Theron Akin, of the Twenty-Fifth New York district, out of the Democratic party. The resolution was adopted with a whoop. ■ - Akin Used to be a Republican, but ran on an independent ticket in the Twenty-Fifth district against Cyrus Durey. The Democrats endorsed him, and he was elected after a hard fight. Akin, so New York Democrats say, has declared since election that he would not attend a Democratic caucus. The caucus went on record in favdr of taking the power of. appointing the house committees away from the speaker and lodging It with the fourteen majority members of the ways and means committee. The members who were in favor of having the speaker retain the power of committee appointment, led by Fitzgerald, of New York, were able to muster only 29 votes, and then the caucus voted’ unanimously to confer upon the Democratic members of the ways and means committee this important power.

Oscar W. Underwood, of Alabama, was nominated as chairman of the ways and means committee. The thirteen other members who not only will control the» appointment of committees in the house, but will initiate the Democratic revision of the tariff, are as follows: D. W. Shackleford, Missouri; H. T. Rainey, Illinois; Lincoln Dixon, Indiana; Ollie M. James, Kentucky; A. P. Peters, Massachusetts; W. S. Hammond, Minnesota; A. M. Palmer, Pennsylvania; William Hughes, New Jersey; Francis B. Harrison, New York; Claude KitcMn, North Carolina; Correll Hull, Tennessee; C. B. Randall, Texas; William G. Brantley, Georgia. Representative Hay, of Virginia, presided and 220 of the 228 representa-tiyps-elect to the new house responded to the roll call. Among other resolutions offered was one by Representative Lewis, of Maryland, providing for the appointment or a committee of seven to study foreign parliamentary systems with a view to modernizing the procedure of the house and another by Representative Ixjheck, of Nebraska, declaring it to be the sense of the caucus that Mr. Clark should be a member of the committee on ways and means. Mr. Clark declared that It is the duty of the Democrats to take from the speaker the privilege of naming of house committees. He said Democrats had carried the house through the Independent vote of the country. The Independents had cast their ballots with the Democrats because they believed this reform would be adopted.