SPEAKER 



5485 



SPEAKER 



ing season. The collected masses of eggs of 

 certain fish are often used in making the deli- 

 cacy known as caviar. 



Related Subjects. The reader Is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 Caviar Frog 



Fish, subhead Repro- Salmon 



duction 



SPEAKER, speek'er, the title of the pre- 

 siding officer in the lower house of the law- 

 making departments of various states and prov- 

 inces. The speaker is the central figure in the 

 United States House of Representatives, and 

 his position in importance is deemed by man}' 

 to be second only to that of President of the 

 United States. In Canada the Speaker pre- 

 sides over the Dominion House of Commons 

 at Ottawa; the presiding officer of the pro- 

 vincial assemblies is also given the title. The 

 term had its origin in a custom of past cen- 

 turies in Europe, when legislative bodies were 

 addressed by the head of the government, and 

 the presiding officer was expected to respond. 



The duties of the Speaker are defined by the 

 rules of the body which chooses him, and the 

 dignity and character of the proceedings of the 

 assembly are determined very largely by the 

 ability, fairness and resoluteness of the Speaker. 

 In most instances he has immense political 

 power, which he too frequently uses in the in- 

 terests of his party. See REPRESENTATIVES, 

 HOUSE OF. 



In the United States. The Speaker is elected 

 by his fellow members of the House of Repre- 

 sentatives to serve during their term of office, 

 which is two years the length of life of one 

 Congress and he retains every privilege of 

 voting and speaking, in common with every 

 other member. When he wishes to speak upon 

 any measure he calls another member to the 

 chair and takes his place upon the floor of the 

 House. The Speaker is supposed to open and 

 close all sessions of the House, although he 

 may delegate the duty at any time to another 

 member; he is responsible for maintaining or- 

 der; he rules on all questions of parliamentary 

 law and procedure, and signs all official docu- 

 ments of the House. 



The salary of the Speaker is $12,000 a year, 

 $4,500 more than his fellow members of Con- 

 gress receive, and the same as that of the Vice- 

 President. His powers may be limited in any 

 session of the House, for he is controlled by 

 the rules the majority adopts, but with thou- 

 sands of bills to be presented in rapid succes- 

 sion, and an unwieldy assembly of 435 mem- 



bers, the presiding officer must be able to ex- 

 ercise a great deal of power, or little would be 

 accomplished. From 1790 to 1910, the Speaker 

 had the right to appoint all committees of the 

 House, and to select their chairmen. As these 

 committees practically control legislation, this 

 appointive power gave the Speaker a vast 

 amount of influence. On March 19, 1910, after 

 two days of contest, closing one of the fiercest 

 parliamentary battles in the history of Con- 

 gress, the right to appoint committees was 

 taken away from the Speaker and given to the 

 members of the House, who thereafter deter- 

 mined to make committee appointments in 

 party caucus. 



The Speaker is chairman of the committee 

 which formulates the rules of the House and 

 can therefore practically dictate procedure. He 

 is the head of his political party in the House, 

 and, unlike the rule in England, seldom drops 

 his partisanship, even in official rulings. His 

 partisans are in a majority and his party is 

 therefore responsible for whatever the House 

 accomplishes; it is also charged with whatever 

 failures there may be in carrying out a legisla- 

 tive program, and the Speaker largely controls 

 both situations. 



The speaker of the house in the state legis- 

 latures is an official of like power but naturally 

 within narrower limitations. His control of 

 legislative situations determines to a consider- 

 able degree the progress and character of law- 

 making for the state. His position in the state 

 legislature corresponds with that of the Speaker 

 of the United States House of Representatives, 

 before the latter was shorn of his power to ap- 

 point the committees. In the states the 

 speaker yet makes all committee appointments. 



In Great Britain. In the British Parliament 

 the Lord Chancellor acts as Speaker of the 

 House of Lords. The Speaker of the House of 

 Commons is always a member of that body, 

 and is elected by the members, subject to the 

 approval of the sovereign. There is a great 

 difference between the power of the Speaker 

 of the House of Representatives in the United 

 States and that of the Speaker of the House of 

 Commons in Great Britain. When the British 

 Speaker takes the chair, he is expected to di- 

 vest himself of all party ties and sympathies. 

 When he dons the wig and gown of his office, 

 he must lay aside all political preference, may 

 express no political opinions, and must adminis- 

 ter the same kind of impartial treatment to all 

 members of the House. His position is one of 

 great dignity, but carries no political power. 



