The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1882-08-10
The River and Harbor Bnl--Again.

r,,n p,vor and Harbor Bnl-Again.
The wheeling Register has = Washington
ao.rosnondent who has got ahead Of oil the
rect Of the gentlemen who handle The
raber No. 2. He has discovered ha'
president ARTHUR IL not 80 well pleased
with the result OF the vote OF the river
and barbor bill as had been stated, anc
saws that Il Is now stated that steps viii b'
taken to test the validity OF tic vote By
which the bin was passed over the veto
ridiculous story, truly. Upon wh'
ground, pray, could the President obisc'
n n bin tested hy the presiding oflsrer'
of beth houses OF Congress as one
that had lawfa'ly been passed by
those bodies? or course there ~ nc
vroumd for any such contest. Bu
we learn from fhis sensatson-monger thai
the contest is Ia be based upon tbcsiact, oil
asserted fact-ior fact IL IS not-that In The
House the bin received out one vote above
the necessary TWO thirSs, and thst at least
four of ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS should not have
been counted, because in the announced
pairs at ieaS two Of the opponents OF Tho
bill were .Jnired eaCa with bat one sup
porter instead Of t,ss, as should be the cast
In all balltts where two-thirds vote Is re
auired. The votesn the House was 90 Il
122. Tint ought TO be sufifrient to quie
this foolish rumor. But as it has not hat
that effect, let us enquire what the senators
think al the matter. In the United States
Senate on Wednesday last, when the presi'
dentyro TEN. hid annousced the passage
OF the river and harbor bill over the veto,
the following discussion allowed:
Mr.. LOGAN: merely desire to call at
ttention to one fact. In The passage OF this
bill--as MISTER OF course, it makes no
difference, bun still it is well enough always
that the record should be correct-I no.
ticed that is the pairs as they were an
neuneed one senator was paired with an
other senator. Now, in vote where ii
requires two thirds to pass a bill pair
should be OF two senators for the bill with
one against ii. This bill has been passed
by pairing one senator with one senator.
Mr.. MCMILLAN: 1t does not affect the
result.
Mr.. LOGAN: IL does affect the vote.
merely call attention 10 it.
Mr.. O0NGER: ask the gentleman il he
thinks ON any question whatever one sem
ator should be considered equal to two
other senators, and under what rule that
can be?
Mr.. LOGAN Il do not want TO get into
any discussion about this, but it is always
the rule where two-thirds vote Is re-
quired that the party voting in the major
ity should pair two against one. so as to
make it equal. 1t has been done over and
over again here on this floor. 1t has al
ways been the rule, and nobody ever ques-
toned ii before.
Mr.. WINDOW: l suppose there is no
objection to one senator pairing with an
other senator II he chooses.
Mr.. LOGAN: am not questioning that.
Mr.. HARRIS: What Is the question?
The PRESIDENT pro tempOre: The
Char recognizes the pairs as gentlemen
announce them.
Judge DAVIS, Mr.. MCMILLAN, and Mr..
WINDOW, all signifed their opinion that
there was nothing whatever in the point.
In fact, Mr.. LOGAN himself said "it made
10 difference" He did not contend that it
affected the result, but simply that it af
fected the oote. We do not suppose there
is any difference OF opinion worth speak
ing of on the subject. The pairs are I'M
known to the law. They are entered into
between senator's or members, and are an
nounced after every roll-call merely for the
purpose OF keeping each senator's or men,
ber's record right in the eyes OF his con-
stituents. If the pairs were not an
nounced-as we suppose they very often
are not annolmced-nobody would be any
the wiser, the country would be none the
worse of, and the bill would not be affected
in the least degree. The mere fact of an
nouncing the pairs does not change the
status OF the bill at all.