St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-03
Both Branches Of the Fifty
First Congress Meet and
Organize.
Milburn, the Blind Preacher,
Smashes the Republican
Slate in the House.
All the Northwestern Sena-
tors Except Gil Pierce Are
Sworn In.
President Harrison'S First
Message Will Be Delivered
To-Day at Noon.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2.-The holding
of tile Democratic caucus at 10 O'clock
this morning necessitated the closing of
the floor of the house and the galleries
against the general public. who surged
through the lower corridors until the
pressure became SO great that in order
To relieve it ingreSS was permitted to
the halls on the upper floor, and in
short time each closed gallery door was
beseiged by crowd of eXpectant spec
tators. In the meantime the caucus
was proceeding in perfunctOry man.
ner to make nominations for the various
elective offices. All the old officers were
renOminated with the exception of the
chaplain, no nomination being made for
that Office, although all the Democrats
will vote for MIR. Millburn, the blind
chaplain of the last house. On motion
of Mr.. Wike, of Illinois. the following
resolution was adopted without diviS-
ion:
Resolved, That we, the Democratic men,
bers of the house of representatives of the
Fifty-first congress. al the beginning of its
first session. hereby send greeting to the
people of the country, the assurance of our
continued confidence i'll and devotion to the
princi pies of tariff reform. as embraced in
President Cleyelahd's message to the last
congress upon that subject and i'm the plat
form of principles adopted by the last Demo-
cratic national convention at st. Louis; and
that we hail with delight the emphatic ap-
proval Of these principles by the people as
expressed at the polls i'll the recen elections:
and We pledge them to renew and continue
in congress the contest tor reduction OF the
war lakes, SO ably begun and prosecuted in
former congresses by our representatives aud
senators.
The subjects next broached were the
election of permanent caucus officers,
and the attitude of the party towards
any proposed modification of the house
rules: but it was deemed advisable, III
order to accommodate the public by
opeuing the galleries. to postpone the
determination of questions and accord
ingly, after having been in session for
half an hour. the caucus adjourned until
tomorrow night. As the heavy gal
lery doors swung outward on their
hinges, there was a wild rush for seats,
and in d few moments there WAS stand
/ Ing room only IN the wide portals. The
executive gallery was entirely empty,
and the gallery reserved for the diplO-
matte corps had but few occupants.
The picture for which the galleries
formed gigantic and appropriate
frame, was extremely interesting. On
the floor the members mingled together,
chatting ard laughing. As the hour of
noon approached, the
NOISE AND CONFUSION INCREASED.
upon the floor. and the executive and di
plomatlc galleries were filled. As the
hands of the clock pointed to the hour
of IL. Clerk Clark called the house to
order, and proceeded to read the roll of
memberS-elect. The rOll-call showed
the presence of 327 members the ab-
sentees being O'Neal of Indiana, Ran
dali of Pennsylvania and WhitthOrne
of Tennessee. More than a Quorum
having been disclosed. nominations for
speaker were in order, and Mr.. Reed
was placed in nomination by MIR. Hen
ders0n of Illinois. The mention of MIR.
Reeds name was the signal for applause
on the Republican side, which was re-
turned with interest bv tine Democrats
when MIR. McCrary of Kentucky nOmi-
mated Mr.. Carlisle for the honorable po-
sition. The vote resulted: For Reed,
lf6; for Carlisle. 154; for Cummings of
New York l-COwles of North Carolina
voting for Cummings. Mr.. Reed having
been declared elected speaker, was
escorted to the chair by Messrs. McKin-
lev and Carlisle, amid applause, and
the oath of office was administered by
Mr.. Kelley of Pennsylvania. During the
roll call Mr.. O'Neill of Pennsylvania
stated that his colleague. Mr.. Randall,
was paired with Mr.. Wilbur of New
York On assuming the chair, Speaker
Reed said:
Gentlemen Of the House Of Representa-
tives; / thank you for the high Office which
your voices have bestowed upon me. 1t
would be impossible not to be moved by its
dignity and honor, yet you may well imagine
that am that moment more pleased by It's
responsibilities and duties. Under our syS-
tenn of government. as it has been developed,
these responsibilities and duties are both DO
lItical and parliamentary. So far as the du-
ties are political, sincerely hope that they
may he performed with a proper sense Of
what is due to all the people of the whole
country. so far as they are parliamentary, |
hope with equal sincerity that they may be
performed with proper sense Of what is due
to both 81 les of the chamber. lApplause
To the end that m ~ be successful in carry
ing out your wishes, invoke the considerate
Judgment and cordial aid of all the members
of this house. lLong and continued ap-
plause.
The next step in the organization of
the house was the swearing in of the
members-elect, and as they ranged
themselves i'm squads of twenty at
time i'm the space in front of the clerks
desk the oath was administered by the
speaker. This duty having been per-
formed, Mr.. Carlisle, of Kentucky. pre-
sented paper which he said was the
certificates of the county court of New
York stating the number of votes cast
i'm the Ninth New York district, and for
whom they were cast. Although the
official credentials had not been re-
ceived, MIR. Carlisle asked tnat Mr.. Cum
mings, the member elect from that dis
trict, he allowed to qualify. Mr. Sher-
man, of New York, made a similar re-
quest in behalf of Mr.. Payne, the men,
ber-elect from the Twenty-seventh dis
trict. Both requests were acceded to
Office. MT. Henderson. of Illinois,
offered resolution for the election of
Edward Mcpherson as clerk; A. j.
Holmes as sergeant-at-arms; G. A.
Adams as doorkeeper; James l.. Wheat
as postmaster, and Rev. Charles b.
Ramsdell as
CHAPLAIN OF THE HOUSE.
Mr.. Cheadle, of Indiana. offered an
amendment striking out the name of
Charles B. Ramsdell and inserting that
of William III. Millburn. Mr.. Carlisle
Offered an amendment substituting the
names of the present elective officers of
the house with the exception Of the
chapIain) for the names contained in
Mr.. Henderson's resolution. The yeas
and nays were demanded on Mr..
CheadIe's amendment, but were re-
fus d. On standing vote the amend
vote by telIers, this result was reversed
aud the amendment was adOpted-l61
TO 154. The Republicans then attempted
to secure q reconsideration OF the vote
by ws>iHa the yeas and nays we're re-