National Republican., 1888-04-11

for having been absent He hal been thc
said) at home answering his correspondence,
IN the expectation that the situation m the
House would remain unchanged
Mr.. +. b. Taylor moved to excuse the
gentleman on the payment of q fine of SO.
lie said that he felt the time had arrived
when the House should assert its power to
have its members present whenever neccs-
sary. lie regretted that the gentleman
from Illinois was the party before the
bar of the House, because he did not think
that the gentleman was any more Offend
ing than many others, but II seemed to him
that man elected member of this honor
able body had his business here when the
House was IN session, and had no business
elsewhere. He protested against the idea
that the matter of being present was one of
personal convenience, and not of duty; AMI
he protested most seriously against the
manner in which the House had treated the
ohense of absenteeisn by making light of IL
and by being frivolous when members
were brought before the bar upon that
charge. lie had offered the resolution in
perfect good faith not desiring to iniure the
feelings Of any one, but he wished that
penalty should be imposed, and that If the
oflense of absentceism should prevail the
penalty should he increased until absolute
expulsion should become the remedy.
member suggested that instead Of SO
fine of barrel of apples should be i'm
posed
Mr.. Taylor remarked that that was another
of those propositions which had made the
House notorious and ridiculous in the eyes
OF the country.
Mr.. Lawler attempted to ask Mr. Taylor
question, but had proceeded no further
than "Bcing little Short when he was
interrupted by shout of laughter
Mr. Taylor said that to remedy that dill-
Guilty he would furnish the gentleman with
$40, TO which Mr.. Lawlcr replied, amid re-
newed laughter, that he would accept the
donation.
Finally, on motion of Mr. Wheeler, of
| Alabama Mr.. Lawler was excused without
| the imposition of any fine.
The House then resumed its air of unin-
| teresting ideness. The only amusement
| furnished was in the cloak room on the
| Democratic side, to which some of the more
| genial spirits among the Republicans had
| gathered to chat with their Democratic al
| vcrsaries. The doors leading from the
| cloak room TO the hall of the House were
closed so us TO prevent the hearty laughter
| evoked by some good story related by Mr..
| Weaver, of Iowa, and Mr. Burrows, Of
| Michigan, disturbing the rest Of the mem
hers, who were seeking sleep upon some
| convenient lounge. Through the cracks of
the doors, however. came the strains of
college songs aud darky melodies, the i'm
| promptu glee club being under the leader
ship of Mr.. Cannon, of Illinois.
Late in the evening diversion was fur
nished by the appearance at the bar of the
| House of Mr.. Morse, of Massachusetts, in
charge of the sergcant-at-arms. His excuse
that he went away when the motion to ad-
journ was being voted upon under the i'm
| preston that the motion would prevail was
received with incredulous laughter.
| Mr.. j.. b. Taylor, of Ohio, moved that
the gentleman be fined $40, but the House
excused him without assessing any penalty.
| At 1890 the House was awakened from
its lcthargy in very unexpected and eX-
citing manner. and at one time it looked as
If the deadlock would be broken. A mo-
| uon that the committee rise was pending,
when Mr.. Boutelle, of Maine, rose, and, in
| order to test the accuracy of the rulings
that motions to excuse members We're in
order, moved that Nv. Breckenridge, of
Arkansas; Mr.. Breckinrid@c. of Kentucky:
Mr.. Weaver, of Iowa, and Mr.. Oates, of
Alabama, be excused from voting. These
| gentlemen declared that they were able to
| take ofthemseves. Mr. BOutelle insisted,
however, in the light of recent decisions
that II was not requisite that member give
! his consent to motion to be excused from
voting. Thercupon Mr.. Taulbee, OF Ken
| lucky, moved as an amendment that Mr.
Boutelle himself be excused from voting,
which motion the Speaker pro tenn. (Mr
Mcmillan, of Tennessec) declared to be car
| ried. Notwithstanding vocifcrous demands
for recognition from the Republican side.
| Mr.. Cannon, of Illinois, then moved that
he himself be excused from voting, and
further moved that Mr.. Bayne, of Pcnnsyl-
| vania, be excused from voting upon his
motion. This was supplemented by mo-
tion by Mr.. Bayne that Mr. Reed, Of Maine,
be excused from voting upon the motion TO
excuse him (Mr. Bayne.) Several other
Republicans were upon their feet desirous of
piling motion upon motion in order to show
the danger resulting from motion to ex-
cuse member from voting, but the
Speaker pro TEN. refused to recognize any
motion except that of Mr. Cannon to eX-
cuse himself, which he declared to
| be carried against the protests of
the Republicans. At this moment a motion
came from the Democratic side that the
House adjourn, and after chorus of yeas
from the Democrats and shout Of nays
| Speaker hung in mid-air The Republicans,
fearful that the gayel would fall and the
| House be = declared adjourned, rose
| as one man to their feet and,
led by Messrs. Reed, Taylor, and
Rowell, rushed to the front row of desks
shouting and crying for the yeas and nays.
The confusion was too great to be quelled
by the Speakers gavel and the services of
the sergeant-at-arms and his mace of office
were called in, but it was some time before
the officer ofthc House, armed with his EN-.
blem of authority, could quiet the now thor
oughly excited members.
Mr.. Reed stood directly in front of the
Speakers desk reiterating his demand for
the yeas and nays, holding his position
through all the turmoil, and when c0mpara-
tive quiet had been obtained the Speaker
pro tenn. recognized his demand and the
| yeas and nays were ordered.
At the hour of going to press the House
| was still in session