The Cockrell Committee, 1887-1889 First Comprehensive Congressional Investigation Into Administration
| Author | Oscar Kraines |
| Published date | 01 December 1951 |
| Date | 01 December 1951 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/106591295100400405 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
583
THE
COCKRELL
COMMITTEE,
1887-1889
FIRST
COMPREHENSIVE
CONGRESSIONAL
INVESTIGATION
INTO
ADMINISTRATION
OSCAR
KRAINES
New
York
University
CREATION
OF
THE
COCKRELL
COMMITTEE
HE
NATION
was
almost
a
century
old
when
the
Senate
estab,
t
lished
the
Cockrell
Committee,
which
conducted
in
1887
and
1888
the
first
comprehensive
legislative
inquiry
into
administration.
There
were
earlier
congressional
investigations
of
executive
agencies,
but
they
were
of
a
narrow
nature,
and
were
generally
aimed
at
one
particular
agency
with
the
objective
of
cutting
expenditures
or
inquiring
into
scandal.
The
Cockrell
Committee
conducted
an
over-all
investigation
with
the
purpose
of
general
administrative
reform.
Reacting
to
the
great
growth
of
industry,
administration
had
ex-
panded
as
the
public
demanded
Government
regulation
of
the
rail-
roads,
as
Civil
War
veterans
filed
claims
for
pensions,
and
as
settlers
in
the
West
submitted
their
applications
for
certificates
of
title
to
lands.
Thousands
of
letters
of
complaint
from
the
public
had
been
received
by
members
of
Congress
and
by
the
press,
and
scores
of
editorials
had
been
published
by
leading
newspapers
criticizing
the
long
delays
in
the
trans-
action
of
business
by
the
executive
agencies,
especially
the
Pension
Office,
the
General
Land
Office,
the
Army
Quartermaster
Corps,
and
the
Post
Office.
It
was
on
March
2,
1887 - four
years
after
the
Civil
Service
Commission
was
created,
four
months
after
Woodrow
Wilson
had
com-
pleted
his
manuscript
on
&dquo;The
Study
of
Administration,&dquo;
and
one
month
after
the
Interstate
Commerce
Act
was
approved
creating
the
first
federal
independent
regulatory
body - that
Senator
Francis
Marion
Cockrell,
Democrat
from
Missouri,
introduced
his
resolution.
This
was
during
President
Cleveland’s
first
term
of
office,
when
the
House
was
Democratic,
and
the
Senate
was
overwhelmingly
Republican
with
a
number
of
influen-
tial
antiadministration
Democrats
adding
to
its
majority.
The
resolution
provided:
...
That
a
select
Committee
to
consist
of
five
Senators
be,
and
the
same
is
hereby,
constituted
and
appointed,
whose
duty
it
shall
be
to
inquire
into
and
examine
the
methods
of
business
and
work
in
the
Executive
Departments
of
the
Government,
the
time
and
attention
devoted
to
the
operations
thereof
by
the
persons
employed
therein,
and
generally
to
inquire
into
and
report
to
the
Senate
the
causes
of
the
delays
in
trans-
acting
the
public
business
said
to
exist
in
some
of
said
Departments.
584
The
said
committee
shall
have
power
and
it
shall
be
its
duty
to
inquire
and
report
what
further
public
buildings
are
necessary
to
the
transaction
of
the
public
business
in
Washington
and
the
proper
uses
of
the
public
buildings
now
existing
in
said
city.
Said
committee
is
hereby
authorized
to
employ
a
clerk
and
stenographer
and
shall
have
power
to
send
for
persons
and
papers
and
to
sit
during
the
recess
of
the
Senate
next
to
occur.
The
compensation
of
any
clerk
or
stenographer,
not
exceeding
the
rate
of
$8
per
day,
employed
by
said
committee,
and
its
other
necessary
expenses
shall
be
paid
out
of
the
appropriation
for
the
miscellaneous
items
of
the
contingent
fund
of
the
Senate
upon
vouchers
to
be
approved
by
the
chairman
of
said
committee.’
Debate
on
the
resolution
the
following
day
was
lengthy
and
heated.
Senator
Van
Wyck,
Democrat
from
Nebraska,
introduced
an
amendment
calling
for
an
inquiry
into
congressional
business
also.
Republican
Senator
Edmunds
of
Vermont
asked
that
the
amendment
be
withdrawn.
&dquo;I
wish
to
appeal
to
my
friend
from
Nebraska,&dquo;
he
remarked,
&dquo;not
to
embarrass
the
resolution
by
inquiring
into
the
causes
of
delay
in
Congress.
We
all
know
what
they
are.
We
do
not
work
at
the
beginning
of
the
session,
and
at
the
end
we
want
to
do
it
all
at
once.&dquo;
Countered
Van
Wyck:
&dquo;The
Senate
knows
the
cause
of
delay
of
business
in
the
Departments
as
well
as
in
Congress.&dquo;
&dquo;No,
we
do
not,&dquo;
interrupted
Edmunds,
&dquo;and
it
is
thought
and
hoped
by
the
Senator
from
Missouri,
who
has
given
a
great
deal
of
attention
to
the
subject,
that
an
exploration
of
the
methods
of
doing
business
in
some
of
the
Departments
and
the
means
of
coordinating
their
work
will
show
how
we
can
get
on
with
the
public
business
there
which
is
now
so
much
delayed
in
some
respects,
as
we
know,
without
much
further
increasing
the
force.
I
think,
therefore,
that
the
resolution
of
the
Senator
from
Missouri
is
a
very
useful
one,
and
I
shall
vote
for
it.&dquo;
2
Supporting
the
resolution,
Senator
Shelby
M.
Cullom,
a
leading
Re-
publican
from
Illinois,
author
of
the
Interstate
Commerce
Act,
declared:
It
is
high
time,
it
seems
to
me,
that
the
Congress
of
the
United
States
should
find
out
what
is
necessary
to
be
done
in
reference
to
the
public
business
in
the
Depart~
ments
and
provide
some
means
by
which
it
shall
be
done
promptly.
If
there
is
any
addi,
tional
force
necessary
Congress
ought
to
provide
it.
If
additional
force
is
not
necessary
we
ought
to
find
out
that
fact,
and
we
ought
also
to
find
out
whether
any
additional
public
buildings
are
needed.
I
think
it
is
very
important
that
this
investigation
should
be
made.’
Cockrell’s
Democratic
colleague
from
Missouri,
Senator
Vest,
not
at
all
enthusiastic
about
the
resolution,
asserted
that
the
proposal
would
&dquo;create
another
committee
to
remain
in
session
here
with
attendants.&dquo;
There
existed,
he
pointed
out,
regular
standing
committees
on
civil
ser-
vice,
public
buildings
and
grounds,
and
the
armed
services,
whose
func-
tions
were
to
find
out
what
the
proposed
committee
sought
to
accom-
1 18
CONG.
REC.
2535
(1887).
2
Ibid
.,
p.
2591.
3
Loc.
cit.
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