New-York daily tribune., 1858-12-28
FROM WASHING ron.
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS OF THE RULES
OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,.
Correspondence of The N Y. Tribnns
WASHINGTON, ID. c., Dec. % 1888.
The Special Committee on Rules appoloted 10
the House at the last sesson-xhlch consists u
tho Speaker and Mr.. Bocock Of Virglois ht
WInslow of North Carolina, Mr.. Grow of PsnnqI
yanis. and Mr.. Israel Washburn, jr. Of Maine
have unanimously reported certain amendments Of
the Rules calculated to facilitate the transaction Of
business These will be acted OF Immediately sftcr
the recess The following is synopsis Of the
most important Of the number:
Under the rules as amended, when the ippre
prstion bills are under consideration in the Con'
mittee OF the Whole, majority of the House VII
have power to coDfine the debate to the subject.
matter of the bills themselves This will insure .
clo,er scrutiny into approp opriations, but 1t will be
attended with melancholy consequences to those
Members who feel it necessary to make formal
speeches on various subjects, in order TO conynoS
their constituents that they have done something
during their Congressional term emitting them 10
reelection. no matter whether the speeches ue sny
more Qermane to the bill before the Committee
than the remarks Of Aunt +. in g Little Dornt
usually were to the conversation into whlch 'neI
were lnterpolated. ~.
Another amendment proposed by the Comm''ses
will annihilate legislative trick which originates
with the engineers Of the Nebraska bill in 1854, |!
will be remembered that that bill was referred oj
close vote amidst great excitement, TO tho Com
mlttee of the Whole where IL is allowed by The
rules t. move amendments dd lnfnttum, PROVIDED
only that they germane Ia the subject Of the b
under consideration. Its friends soon found its sue
cess imperilled by the multitude and the charscN
of the pr positions for auehdo eDt, whereuPa
their ingenuity suggested the plan OF striking )a'
the enacting clause, thereby compelling the Com
mttee TO report the bill TO the House as extlnct
Having thus got ii clear Of the rapids into which
the reference TO the Committee had plunged IT,
and where the Parliamentary tactics Of its sd7er'
saries were sweeping it toward fatal fall the House
refused to concur with tle Committee 10 their
work, reiDserted the enactlDg clause, a0d iorcra
the bill 10 final passage under the operation u lno
previous question. This convenient trick has oeeI
often repeated since that time 10 get bills oes VI
the Committee Of the Whole whenever MAORI!
Of the members became tired Of voting on aueoo'
ments. The bill granting pensions to all survivor;
of the war of 1872, known as the I" Oid oodie',
Bill, was taus extricated from scores OF aneno'
ments, and passed the House only last Wedne'''y,,
The amendment Of the Committee on Rules WIZ
ton the effect Of relDsertDg the enacllng clause
the House will be to recommt the bill 70 the ION.
mittee of the Whole, where the rlebt 0i uiomoe''
to perfect by amendments all bills sPproPi"""s
money, will be fully restored. Al.
Another proposed change has IN view tne eAPo':
ton Of business in respect to the calendar o. p.r
yate bills. The frst and fourth Fridays oi e'eV
month are DOW objection days" for private D,u'
that is to say, ON those days the private caienoa
taken up, the bills upon It read IN turn, ana -,
one is passed TO which nobody objects, sna W. o.
is so unquestionably correct that nobody dssIe,
debate 1t. If, however, one single member ''A.
object TO any bill, it is laid aside to De "taAeu
and debated hereafter" or, in other words, P''.
pOned to period so indefinite that tne Persou
be benefited BY its passage msy progress rom u
first childhood IN his second before FINAL determF
nation i, Ind upon his bill. Under this provision
for transacting private business (Which Sas in'
tended 10 be-. and is, benefcent far as Il goe'l,
notw outstanding lis strngency, many piii' a'e
passed. but many more are oversaughed, although
the whole House may approve them exceP' ono
single member, who objects, perhaps OUT CI m..1
peryerseness, because somebody else mas ocje''"N
10 another bill, the passage Of which De as'nse
The new rules make the first and fourth ,, ,..
and Saturdays Of each month oblecuoh days,
and, beside adding this extra day, they P'o';
that when a bill, after being objected w. - ds g.,
reached in its turn, it shall b. considered anu p.
upon its passage. unless objection be maae " -
least five members This puts 1t "u' OF tos Po,s 81.
of single crotchety RepresentatiTe 70 Prooash h's
agony Of q whole calendar OF meritoriou', ~.
during bis entire term in Congress, oy MS so"
CHECK" To these excellent emends'lons ii
generally regretted that the Committee o.a I.,s
another, restricting the speeches on deosins ' ~.
Ia fifteen or twenty minutes upon prvats oin', VI
les. by reason Of their importance as 10 the case .,
the French spostion BILL majority Of the huJs' r"Is
should be di. posed to substitute the -f.iot noal
With tti. addition. there would be cnineeh,d
,til. but stll chsnce-that the private ca'cau''