The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1882-03-14
That Point of Order.


tho rule. II Il as follows:
"Upon division Of the House on any
question, a member who - present ana
1s;is n vote shall, on the demand OF any
other member, be counted on the negative
a The question; and, when the yeas and
~nns are taken, shall In addition be entered
s,pon the journal "a present and not yot-
Ing"
This latter clause OF the rule the Wing
states as follows:
"The rule, Of which the Dispatch quotes
portion, also provides that where re-
col ded vote Is taken, those not voting, on
The demand OF any member, may be entered
upon the journal as present ana not 20
f;,g, 30 that there shall be record evidence
that there was quorum present.
twill be seen that the Wing has substi-
tinted the words ga recorded vote" which
include the case OF an election, for the
words "when the yeas and nays are
taken," thus making out its case without
any further difficulty. But as the very
point we make IL that the words "ycas
and naysv clearly refer to questions on
which the House Is divided into only two
groups-a negative group and an aflirma-
five group-a "yca " group and "nay"
group-we submit that that is merely n
skillful evasion OF the point, not an argu-
ment to show that It was not well taken.
Our readers will remember how the Re
ndjuster minority three years ago kept the
House OF Delegates in session all day one
Saturday, all night Saturday night, and I'M
I'll noon on Sunday. The majority did not
take any such shortcut to vote as that re-
sorted TO by Mr.. FOWLER. Our readers
will also recall the laudations which were q
few years ago bestowed upon Mr.. RANDALL,
OF Pennsylvania, for refusing to allow
an Objectionable bill to pass, and keeping
the national House OF Representatives in
continuous session OF forty-eight hours.
His battlngs for the rights Of the minority
made HIM Speaker Of the House Of Rep
rcsentatives as soon Is the Democrats Sc
cured a majority in that body. In that
body, when vote Is taken, and no quorum
appears, the ruling invariably is that there
is no quorum; and the only motions in
order arc for a call OF the House and to adj
II
have never tried to compel a man sitting
in the hall Of the House to be counted
against his will; and though the minority
may vote on call OF the roll and thus
show that q quorum Is present, yet they
straightway refuse to vote when Il vote on
the question before the House il again
taken, and thus again leave the House
without a quorum.
The language Of the rule Of our House OF
Delegates, as quoted above, is too plain TO
admit OF two constructions. II assumes all
the way through that there are but two
groups in the House, negative group
and an affirmative group-and cannot be
tortured into any other meaning. The
words "yeas and nays show this. The
words "sball be counted in the negative"
show this. When Mr.. FOWLER made his
ruling he did it in hurry. He has had
abundant time to think over it now;
and we are not willing TO believe that he
will again, despite the protests of the
Democrats, and even Of Mr.. RIDDLEBERGER,
rule that any one Of two or three candi-
dates for public Office is "the negative Of
the question:" or that the words "yeas and
nays" include IN election OF officers. Such
a ruling will not accomplish Mr.. FowLER's
purpose. II can only result in compelling
the Democrats (all but one OF them, and he
will remain only to raise the point that
there is no quorum yoting,) TO retire
into the rotunda or into the lobby
when the Readjusters shall attempt to
juster judges in violation, rs they hold, OF
their oaths OF office. Think OF it. Here
are thirty or forty Democrats who have
told Mr.. FOWLER that they are bound in
conscience not TO vote in the case OF an
election Of judges to I'LL unexpired terms,
and yet he compels them to vote, and, COM
pelling them to vote, thereby forces them
against their protest and in violation OF
their conscientious belief as to their duty
in the premises, to elect II Judge in con-
tempt Of the authority Of the supreme
Court OF Appeals.
That Mr.. FowIEE's ruling is untenable
is evident from the fact that il in the elec-
ton of Hastings Court judge for Rich
mond one Democrat vote for one candidate
and another for another, his ruling cannot
be made to apply at all. Let Ills suppose
that there are only forty-four Readjuster
votes cast for ATKINS, and that there shall
be one Democratic vote cast for WARD, and
one Democratic vote for GIDDINGs. Where,
now, is Mr.. FOwLER's ruling! Pray,
which OF these gentlemen is "the negative
OF the question:" Plainly, neither Of
them is. II is point that won't bear argu-
ment. II Is a ruling which cannot stand
Tor moment.
That this ruling is untenable Is shown
again by the fact that, being based upon
the theory that the majority candidate Is the
Affirmative side Of question, the ruling
would be seen at once TO be inadmissible II,
as may often happen, and does often hap
pen, the majority in the Senate should be
for one candidate and the majority in the
House for another candidate. In that case.
the Senate vote for Brown would be the
affirmative side Of a question, whereas the
House vote for BROWN would be the mega
tive side Of question.
Mr.. FOWLER may rest assured that the !
Democrats Of the General Assembly will |
not allow their rights as q minority to be
taken away from them by any such device.
II the majority wish to deprive the minori-
fy OF their rights, 1t must be done by the
adoption OF new rule, or by amending
the old one so as TO make II cover fbc caso