[33] There are obvious objections to a system in which legislation is necessarily framed to a large extent by committees. These objections are thus stated by Mr. Bryce in his "American Commonwealth":
1. It destroys the unity of the house.
2. It prevents the capacity of the best members from being brought to bear on any one piece of legislation, however important.
3. It cramps debate.
4. It lessens the cohesion and harmony of legislation by allowing each committee to go its own way with its own bills just as though it were legislating for one planet and the other committees for others.
5. It gives facilities for the exercise of underhand and even corrupt influence, and encourages "log rolling."
6. It reduces responsibility by dividing it among different committees.
7. It lowers the interest of the nation in the proceedings of Congress.
8. It throws power into the hands of the chairmen of committees, especially those which deal with finance and other great national interests.
The chief advantage of such a system is that it enables the house to deal with a far greater number of subjects than could be otherwise dealt with, and thus makes possible the dispatch of a vast amount of work, especially in killing off worthless bills.