The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-05-29
THE MEAtBRR WIFO HOBJECIS.n
From q Washington Letter

One ofthc pcculiaritics of the House
is the rise and fall ofthe various mem
bcrs Who from time to time come to
tho front with an ''I object" The
rules tic tho hands Of representatives
SO tightly that large part Of the minor
business can only be done hy unani-
mons consent. For example, n COM
mittoc reports bill which some mem
bcr is especially Interested in having
promptly passed, but it has to 20 upon
the calendar at the very foot Ola long
list, where it stands no chance of ever
being reached i'll its regular order. If,
however, the member can obtain
unanimous consent to take this
bill up and put it on its passage, if
may be got through in two minutes.
AS 'es ee 81 !ns seySsaapp 22DpFEfRaa}Y5bSSs
claim more and more of the time, the
struggle for unanimous consent in
creases, and almost every day after the
reading Of the journal dozen or
twenty members arc Oh their feet
yelling "Mr. Speaker" and seeking to
put through bills in which they are
specially intcrcstcd-upon tho passage
OF which perhaps their nomination
may depend. II is on such occasions
that the average "rcprcsenlatipe of the
people, secs his opportunity to asscr-
his power, a single 81 object" is fat
tal to any bill; n single call for the
"reg order" will take the whole
crowd of their feet, and bring the
House at once down to its regular rou-
tine, Some days everything will 90
smoothly for half an hour, and per
haps q dozen bills will be rushed
through; another time the very first
attempt may encounter the objection
which defeats it, or the more disas-
troNs demand for the "regular order"
which carries all the others with it.
! At different stages Of the session
different individuals come forN ard
enact this role for a while and then
subsilc. Last winter it was generally
Brewer, OF. Michigan, who stood in the
way ofeycrybody that attempted any,
thing out Of the regular order. Grad
ually Brewer seemed to relax his yioi-
lance, and fell back into the obsclrity
which had cnvclopcd him until he
challenged notoricty in this way, Tho
last few weeks Briggs, of New Hamp-
shire, man of very ordinary ability.
who had previously been one of tho
least conspicuous members, has bios,
somed as the regulation objector and
champion Of the Irregular order" Tho
prudent congressman who wants to
put through a 'ilittlc bilP' nowadays
makes his peace with the great Briggs
i'll advance, for he is usually obdurGfe
and seldom yields when once hc has
intcrposcd the two words which suffice
to prevent all the 292 other members
OF the house from passing bill if they
arc not withdrawn. Besides tho spo-
radlc ohjectors, as they may be called,
there are the regulation ones, of whom
Congcr, Of Michigan is tho cllicf. IL
IS amusing to SEQ ono of these mon
forced to take II dose Of his own mcdi-
cine once in q while. Conger, for in
stance, has bill which Hc is very
anxious to get through at this session,
ana nc has made two or three attempts
to secure its passage. 1t is quite q
long Dill and takes six or eight minutes
Tor the clerk to read, and eyery time
that the speaker asks whether there is
any objection, young kentucky
member by the name Of THOMPSON
hops up and enters his protest. Com
ger got pretty mad about it tho last
tlme, and not without reason, for the
bil! is a very mcritorious ono, to an
point master for harbor Of refuge
on Lake Huron, but he ought to re-
mcmber that he has blocked many as
deserving measure with his objection,
and should not wonder that some
democrat feels like paying him Off in
his own coin. Disagrcca6le and OBJ
structive as he often is, The objector is,
ncvcrthelcss, q valuable person to
nave around, aud rs thero is no other
way in which tho average member can
so easily manifest his power, thore is
die out, "