Unilateral Decision Quotes
At the time, industrialists could not even conceive of the notion of negotiating over wages must less collective bargaining.
In one of the most blatant statements of the arbitrary power of congressional committee chairmen, the chairman of the House Rules Committee blocked an investigation of military procurement even though every other member of the committee wanted to pursue the investigation. The prerogative of the chairman was upheld by the Speaker, and on appeal, by the House as a whole, but by 1924 House rules were amended to diminish the arbitrary power of chairmen.
Shields was specifically discussing reasons for the then estrangement from many countries of the world.