The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1860-01-05


January, 1860.
Mr.. Grow. Mr.. Clerk, under the law of Con-
gress, which has been read here a number of
times, passed the LIST of June, 1889, there are
but two motions In order-one is a motion to
proceed to vote for Speaker, and the other is
motion to adjourn. So under the parliament
airy law, those are the only motions that are in
order. The only votes that can be taken by
the House, in accordance with the law of Con-
gress and with the parliamentary law, is on one
OF the other of those motions; and the practice
of the House conforms to that 1t was so de-
cided BY Mr.. Cobb, when Speaker of this House
in the Thirty-6rst Congress, on the occasion OF
the death of the Clerk. The House had not
elected a Doorkeeper, and that stood as the
FIRST business in order. When the House met
on the fifteenth day Of April, 1850, the death
of the Clerk OF the House was announced. Mr..
Thomas L. Harris moved that the House pro
coed to the election of a Clerk, to supply the
vacancy occasioned by the death of Thomas j.
Campbell. Pending the consideration of which,
Mr.. Albert g. Brown submitted a resolution
10 rescind the order, heretofore made, on the
election Of a Doorkeeper.
The decision of Speaker Cobb was-I read
from the Journal of the first session of the
Thirty-hrst Congress, page 789:
The Speaker decided that said resolution
was out of order, on the ground that the House
could take no action upon or transact other
business than the election of Clerk until such
election was made"
And then he referred to the law of Congress
that no other business can be done until the
Speaker has been sworn in, by the oath being
administered to him by member, and then
the oath has been administered to the other
members of the House by the Speaker. The
proceedings in full on this point are to be found
in the twenty-frst volume Congressional Globe,
first session Thirtyfrst Congress, part first
page TAO:
Mr.. Harris, of Illinois, rose, and moved
that the House do now proceed to the election
of a Clerk.
Mr.. Brown, of Mississippi, moved to amend
the motion, by adding after the word Clerk,
the words and Doorkeeper.'
The Speaker. In the opinion of the Chair,
the amendment is not in order.
Mr.. Brown, of Mississippi. Then / offer
this resolution;
ResoIred, That the order heretofore passed
by the House postponing the election of Door
keeper be, and the same is hereby, rescinded !;
and that the House of Representatives proceed
at once to the election of Clerk and Doorkeeper
for the Thirty-frst Congress.
The Speaker said: In the opinion of the
Chair, no resolution, no business is in order,
until a Clerk shall have been elected; and
the House can take action upon no subject
whatever until the election of Clerk; that
being necessary to the organization of the
House.
On an appeal by Mr.. Brown from the de-
cision of the Chair, which was sustained by the
House without a division, the Speaker stated
his decision In the following language:
% The Chair has ruled that the resolution of
the gentleman from Mississippi Mr.. Brown is
out of order, upon the ground that the House
is not organized until Clerk shall have been
elected, and that no business is in order until
the house shall have been organized by the
election Of Clerk"
But, sir, aside from the question of order, we
have been here now almost three weeks. and
upon the first day of the session. before auv
serious effort was made to organize this House,
the discussion of the Slavery question was thrust
upon lt-even before vote was taken for Speak
err save an informal one. True, we had one
vote, but 1t was like an informal ballot, merely
TO ascertain the individual preferences of mem
bers for candidates. Before any serious effort.
therefore, was made to organize the House, this
discussion of the whole Slavery question was
forced upon Us by the gentlemen who cry
." No agitation of Slavery" They have con-
tinued the discussion from that day to this,
have sat with closed lips, under the grossest
peryersions of their doctrines ever attempted
by men who claim to be fair-minded.
We ask that the House should first proceed
with It's proper business. There are now about
i've million dollars due to honest creditors of
the Government, to men who have performed
service under written contracts, and to whom
the faith Of the Government was pledged. And
now, when they have performed that service,
and waited almost or quite six months for their
pay, you propose to 60 to your homes, or on
pleasure trips, and leave these men to be bank.
rupt because the Government will not keep Its
faith with them! We ask that the plighted
faith of the Government shall be observed to
all men, but, above all, to its just creditors who
have performed service under written contracts
with 1t. And yet, gentlemen, we have sat here
Tor almost three weeks and listened-with the
exception of three or four speeches-to the
editorials of the New York Herald, for the last
month or two, rehashed and given to us in the
form of speeches Applause. The Herald
has furnished brains for this whole discussion
which has lacked, / am sorry to say, the terse
ness Of style that usually characterizes the col
umns of that paper. The editorials of the
Herald are usually spicy, and we read them
with good deal of interest but the manner IN
which they have been used in this discussion
has stripped them of their usual terseness o.
style.
Our time thus far has been consumed in adj
vertising Helpers book. If gentlemen are sat
listed with advertising and scattering broadcast
through the land this pamphlet, which they say
is so destructive to their peace and TRANQUIL
lity-if they are satisfied to give to it a circula
tiOn ofthOusands where it would not before have
had one, then they have performed work thai
the publishing committee of New York should
thank them for, for they tried more than a yeal
TO get up a circulation for it, and could not Dc
1t; but while they failed, you have succeeded
and by your advertisement here spread i
broadcast over the land; and if it be as incen
diary as you say, and Its circulation is danger
Gus to your peace and the repose of this Union
you are responsible for it. We have given i
no advertisement that sent it forth to be reaC
by the people.
Several Members on the Democratic side
But you endorsed it.
Mr.. Grow. Gentlemen, when the proper time
comes for the discussion of our principles anC
positions, we shall be ready, as we have evel
been heretofore, to discuss and defend them
but we have right to ask, when our sentiment
are in the Congressional Globe, deposited will
the archives of the country, and the sentiment
of all our associates, put there from year t.
year for the last five years, that you shall no
attempt to represent our principles and posi-
lions BY reading in this Hall the perversioni
and hbels of the Democratic press of the coun
try as to our principles and positions. We ash
that we shall be judged by our own sentiments
expressed by ourselves over and over again OF
this floor, and by our platforms of principle,
adopted in our Conventions, and not by the per
versions and misrepresentation of our oppo
nents.
l ask, what fairness would there be in us i
we turned round and undertook to read to vor