Morrison and a minority report presented by Mr. Randall and
signed by him alone.
These reports and the debates which followed are most
disappointing. What was needed was a penetrating discussion of
the means by which the House could establish its authority and
perform its constitutional functions. But it is a remarkable
circumstance that at no time was any reference made to the only
way in which the House can regain freedom of action--namely, by
having the Administration submit its budget demands and its
legislative proposals directly to the committee of the whole
House. The preparatory stages could then be completed before the
opening of the legislative session. Congress would thus save the
months of time that are now consumed in committee incubation and
would almost certainly be assured of opportunity of considering
the public business. Discrimination in legislative privilege
among members of the House would then be abolished, for every
member would belong to the committee on appropriations. It is
universally true in constitutional governments that power over
appropriations involves power over legislation, and the only
possibility of a square deal is to open that power to the entire
membership of the assembly, which is the regular practice in
Switzerland and in all English commonwealths. The House could not
have been ignorant of the existence of this alternative, for the
whole subject had been luminously discussed in the Senate Report
of February 4,1881.
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