New-York tribune., 1885-03-13
STIR AT THE UNION LEAGUE.
QUALIFICATIONS OF woULD-BE MEMBERS

THE COMMITTEE ON ADMISSIONS REQUESTED ro
IGNORE POLITICS.
The regular meeting of the Union League Club
which was held last evening called out an un.
usually large attendance. Four hundred members
were present and it was nearly IL o'clock before
the meeting broke up. The principal business oi
tho evening was the consideration of Q resolution,
presented by John N. A. Griswold. censuring tho
Committee on Admissions. Some tlme ago tho
name Of George Gordon King was brought before
the committee as candidate for admission to tho
club. The committee made inquiries about his DO
litical synpathes and among other questions asked
whether he had voted the Republican ticket at tho
last Presidential election. When it was found that
hc had voted for Cleveland. although he was pro.
posed by James c. Carter aud seconded by Joseph
H. Choate and Hamilton Fish, jr. he was rejected.
More recently another similar case has arisen,
which, however. has had different tcrmina-
ton. John N. A. Griswold proposed G. w.
Haven for membership and G. G. Haven
proposed j. N. Griswold. The committee,
as in the formcr instance, wrote to the proposcrs to
know for whom the candidates had voted at tho
last election Messrs Haven and Grlswold replied
that they did not consider this proper subject Of
inquiry on the part of the Committee on Admissions
and called the attention ofthe committee to the by
law of the club. in which it is stated that candi
dates for admission shall be Of good social standing
and loyal to the Government without mentioning
any political party The committee, on the other
hand. fortified their position by reference
to a resolution passed by the club four
years ago. by which the Committee on Admissions
requested 10 enter into correspondence for tho
purpose of ascertaining whether members are in
sympathy with the Republican party In view OF
the difference of opinion 1t was determined to bring
the question before the club, and Mr.. GrswOd pre-
pared resolution recitng that certain inquiries
had been made to the political sympathies of
tlemen proposed for membership of the club, and
instructing the Committee on Admissions to refrain
in the future from such action. 1t was the pros
pect of brisk discussion upon the resolution which
caused last nlghts meeting to be so we'll attended
In the absence of Senator Evarts, the president,
Chief-Justlce Noah Davis, the first vIce-president
of the club. took the chair. Mr.. GrIswoid offered
his resolution and was about TO read the corre-
spondence between himself and Mr. Haven on tho
one hand and the Committee on Admission on the
other, when the point of order was taken that ac-
cordng to the bylaws of the club, correspondence
between the Committee on Admissions and candi-
dates or their proposers is privileged matter and
its publication is prohibited. Some debate fol.
lowed upon the point Of order until Judge DayiSs
attention was called to the fact that point OF
order is not debatabe, whereupon he ruled that
the point was well taken and that the correspond
ence should not be Published.
The discussion then came back to the original
resolution of censure as offered by Mr. Grlswod;
The debate was carried on for some time until
Theodore Roosevelt at last introduced SUBSTITUTE
resolution, IN the same spirit as the original, quo
different somewhat from 1T III form. THIS SUBSTITUTE
resolution omitted the recital of what had been
done by the committee and expressed the pleasure
| of the clrSb in a somewhat milder form than had
| been done in the former case. The resolution was
| as follows:
Resored That 1t is inadvisable for the committee
admissions to question candidates for admission to tho
sla. how they 1.-THE eandidsss voted a. tse last rsss
| to omit any such questions for the future. :.
The resolution was also debated at sorne length.
he point at issue in the minds of most of the mem.
bers seemed to be whether according to the con-
stituon. the club had the right to interfere with
or dictate to the Committee on Admissions on tho
little political or party feeling IN infested. Among
those who spoke in favor of the resolutions Jackson
$ schu1 John A GrswOId Theodore ROOss;
tee. was championed by Joseph W. Howe,
committee. Leonard Hazeltne also took part i1
the discussion. The question was at last put, and
decided by rising vote sy eydsnt Lent that That
carried and the tellers were not called for The
majority was probably between Is and 20. Tho
by the chair OF Ihe passase OF tho
Although the old resolution authorizing the
Committee on Admissions to inquire about the
political sympathes of members " as not formallyrc-
scinded il was generally understoofthat the passage
of Mr.. Roosevet's resolution practically repealed
IT, and that for the future the committee Will limit
their inquiries to the social standing Of candidates
and their loyalty to the Government. Ihroughout
the whole debate good humor prevailed and tho
vote was regarded as establishing point OF cub
constitutions. law. and not as victory OF any fac
tlOn.
The only other business transacted by the club
was the election of thirteen new members, among
whom were Cornelius Vanderbilt, II. Mex. Twom-