IX

THE SPEAKER: A PARLIAMENTARY OFFICER

The Speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives has a two-fold position. He is a parliamentary officer and a political leader. His powers as a moderator are closely interrelated with his opportunities as a party man. Sometimes parliamentary prerogatives are converted into political opportunities. The position of the Speaker as the selected leader of his party is one in which he is expected to advance political interests. But there are certain functions which are purely parliamentary, and their correct execution is fully as much an index to the success of a Speaker as is the the enactment of the legislative program of his party.

While the Speaker is as a rule conceded to be the leader of his party and while it is rather expected that he will serve party interests whenever possible, not all Speakers consider it proper to use their position to benefit their party. Early Speakers were often interested in certain bills, some of which were party measures, and worked for their passage. Recent Speakers, too, have sometimes been zealous in the use of their official position to serve party or factional ends. But there have been Speakers who considered the position as merely that of a moderator. George W. Clarke, one of the ablest Speakers who ever presided over the Iowa House, took that attitude. He openly declared that he was a moderator only. In his speech before the caucus he said: "I have observed in some states what seemed to me to be an effort on the part of speakers to control by the influence from the speaker's office legislation on matters coming before the assembly. That is not my conception of the province of the office. It is rather the business of the speaker to facilitate the transaction of business as it comes before the body, impartially". Guy A. Feely,