The amounts thus turned into the Treasury
aggregated $174,000,000 and in a single bureau there was an
unexpended balance of $36,000,000, which had accumulated for a
quarter of a century because Congress had not been advised that
no appropriation was needed. Mr. Springer remarked that, during
the ten years in which he had been a member of Congress, he had
observed with regard to these committees "that in nearly all
cases, after their appointment, organization, and the election of
a clerk, the committee practically ceased to exist, and nothing
further is done." William R. Morrison at once came to the rescue
of the endangered sinecures and argued that even although these
committees had been inactive in the past they "constituted the
eyes, the ears, and the hands of the House." In consequence,
after a short debate Mr. Springer's motion was rejected without a
division.
The arrangements subsequently made to provide time and
opportunity for general legislation, turned out in practice to be
quite futile and indeed they were never more than a mere formal
pretense. It was quite obvious, therefore, that the new rules
tended only to make the situation worse than before. Thomas Ryan
of Kansas told the plain truth when he said: "You do not propose
to remedy any of those things of which you complain by any of the
rules you have brought forward. You propose to clothe eight
committees with the same power, with the same temptation and
capacity to abuse it.
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