The Somerset reporter., 1889-09-19
For the REpoRTRR.
An important Question.
SHALL THE MAJORITY OR THE MINORITY
IN TIE NATIONAL HOUSE RULE?

SHALL. THE MAJORITY OR THE MINORITY
IN TIE NATIONAL HOUSE RULE?
In recent address, Representative
Lodge of Massachusetts, made the start
ling statement that representative gov
eminent in the United States had practi
cally been destroyed by the rules adopted
by late Houses Of Representatives"
While few will endorse the sweeping
opinion of Mr.. Lodge, 1t Is we'll known
that men of both parties In Congress ant
throughout the country complain that the
rules which govern the House are de
signed to obstruct legislation rather thar
promote it. Ex-Representatve Bryce OF
New York, in recent article in the Nortl
American Review, undoubtedly voiced
the discomfort of many Democrats in tn,
last House In which he asserts that thu
rules deprive the majority of the power
to legislate and transfer it to few mem
bers at the head of committees and the
Speaker, and that single persistent fill.
buster can not only prevent legislation
but by fighting appropriation bills with
| 'i,atory motions, block the wheels ef gov
ernment-a statement which he illustrat.
ed by representing the different depart
ments of the government as parts of q
pyramid, the base of which Is the filibus.
ter. The leading Republicans of the late
Congress have each expressed their hos
Utility to the Randall rules, and have prom.
Used such a revision as will enable the
Constitutional majority of the House to
legisate and take the responsibility for
their acts before the country.
A brief statement of the change which
has been made in one or two important
rules since the Republicans lost control
of the House In 1874 will suffice to show
that the charge that they have been estab.
lished for the purpose of hndering the
majority, and to reduce Legislation to a
minimum is true. Under Republican usage,
the morning hour" during which COM
mittees could report bills and bring the
House to vote on them could, at the
pleasure of the House, continue all day.
As each committee had this hour during
two days, it was able to dispose of the
matters it deemed most important. Upon
the advent of Mr.. Randall as Speaker he
ruled that the morning hour was a literal
sixty minutes. As it takes half an hour
to call the roll, 1t can be seen that very
little In the way of legislation could be
accomplished in the two hours allotted to
each committee.
In 1873 Mr.. Randall had new revision
OF the rules which prohibited the passage
Of bills during the morning hour. BY the
same revision, all bills reported were put
upon three different calendars-one for
appropriation bills, one for public meas
ures, and one for private bills. As the
House could not possibly consider any
considerable part of the great number of
bills reported, the most important which
are usually reported late in the session
could not be reached except by a two
thirds vote to suspend the rules. Thus
the majority was deprived of its constitu-
tional power to legislate.
Another rule which is a part of the
Randall revisions, provides that the mo-
| ton to adjourn, the motion to fix day
when the House shall adjourn, and the
motion for recess shall always be In or
der. Under this rule one or the other of
these motions can be before the House.
During the last session Mr.. Anderson
prevented the action upon the Pacific
Railroad funding bill when more than
two-thirds of the House was in favor of
It. General Weaver interrupted the
House In the midst of its constitutional
duty of determining its own membership,
and few members prevented the passage
Of the bill to pay back to States the direct
tax collected of them during the war
Thus the fllibuster has become the really
potent power in the House-one or half
dozen defeating the will Of over three
hundred members.
Under the rules, there are certain days
when, by two-thirds vote, a measure
can be presented and considered. This
seems fair, but when 1t is considered that
the Speakers consent to recognize men,
her to present his measure In advance Is
necessary, aud that his refusal to do SC
shuts the member out, this privilege Is of
very little value. To illustrate; In the
Forty-ninth Congress two-thirds of the
members we're In favor of the repeal or
modification OF the tobacco tax. The
Morrison Ways and Means Committee
would not report the bill after the defeat
| of his tariff bill because 1t interfered with
its anti.protection scheme. Speaker Car.
Isle was requested by Democratic mem.
| DtT W TtCOkulLC Ou tuC BloBCl buJ ~
order that he might introduce and bring
the House to vote on the tobacco bill
but the Speaker refused. Consequently
the House was prevented by its Speaker
| from voting on q bill which large ma
jorty Of the members was In favor Of
Such action goes to sustain Mr.. Lodges
startling declaration that representative
government does not exist In the United
States.
The Republican leaders In the next
House have already announced purpose
to modify the rules to an extent that they
cannot be used to nullify the constitution
al prerogatives of the House. To this
end, several suggestions have been made.
Representative Cannon of Illinois has
recommended the modification Of the rule
affecting the motion to adjourn, ETC., 60
that the Speaker shall be the judge
whether or not the member making them
does 1t for the purpose OF blocking the
wheels Of legislation. and H. In his judg-
ment either Of the motions are made TO
prevent action, he will not entertain 1t
Such modification of the rnles would
put an end to those practices which, dur
ing the last session, lost several valuable
days to the House and prevented the pas.
sage Of several important measures. An
other suggestion-that Of Mr.. Reed OF
Maine, Is that the morning hour shall be
extended at the pleasure Of the House
and that the majority shall have the pow.
or to select from the public calendar fol
consideration the bills 1t deems most i'm.
portsnt.
Several Republicans who have had
years OF experience in the House, believe
that the changes suggested by Messrs
Cannon and Reed will be sufficient to re-
store t0 the majority the power TO legis.
late.
The subject IL the first that will receive
the attention Of the House when It meets
Already Mr.. Randall has given out that
''any attempt to deprive the minority OF
their rights will Do resisted" Az thu
present rules are Mr.. Raudall's. II IL a..
sured that he will oppose any change; bu,
will the Democrats In The House who
have complained - bitterly Of the present
rules - Republicans support NJ. Randall
II they do 10 they may b able 70 contin
20 the control Of the single fllibuster II
the House over legislatioa and thus DIV,
one ma more power than . majority, Of
even the othee ~ msabezs OF the House