The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-03-13
THEY WERE ONLY OUTy0TED
When 1t Came to Argument Republic
ans of the General Assembly Led.
The Outrages Coming from the Exactions,
Tyranny and Deviltry of the Majority They
PerSistently and COurageOusly Opposed.

Assembly made record of which they
Justly feel proud. Continually held down
by the majority, they were not able to &C
complish much in the way of legislation,
but they persistently advocated many COM
mendable measures, and succeeded in plac-
ing the majority on record as against every
reform offered. The temperance question
received a great deal of attention from the
Republicans in both branches, and 1T was
not until the dying hours of
the Assembly that even a COM
promise measure was forced through by
the aid of a few Democrats who
had the courage to desert the whisky ring.
At the beginning of the session half dozen
bills of this character were introduced In
the House by minority members, but the
ones more carefully drawn, perhaps, were
those providing for higher license and
local option, offered by Messrs. Cullen and
Reynolds respectively. By an oversight
the Speaker in appointing the committee to
consider such legislation named one Demo
GRAFT. Mr.. Warrum, who is an earnest advo-
cate of temperance reform. By his vote the
Republicans of the committee were able to
submit favorable report on
all the bills. This slight break
in the Democratic line alarmed
the majority, and caucus was called for
the purpose of counting noses. The result
was found satisfactory, for every member,
was their duty, in the interest of their
party. to stand by the Liquor League,
and it was decided to reject summarIly
every bill that would interfere with the
traffic that came up Inc caucus Oh. Gec b%
license and local-option bills appeared In
their regular order they were indefinitely
postponed. the gag rules being applied to
assist in accomplishing that end; during
the entire session only two or three brief
speeches on the temperance question were
permitted in the House. Not one of the
bills on the subject was considered without
the previous question being moved, and
the author of the bill was then allowed a
few minutes only in which to explain his
measure. After the high-license and local
option bills had all been killed, an attempt
was made to get through resolution pro-
posing prohlbitory cEnstl ft ame not
until the session was almost over that
few Democrats agreed to desert their party
and join the Republicans In passing Mr..
Cullen's bill giving cities the, power
towns to $50. The bill met with deter
mined opposition from nearly all the Demo-
Gratis in both houses, but, by good general
ship, the Republicans were able to make 1T
a
The effort of the Republicans to have the
benevolent institutions removed from par
fisan control was equally as jealous as their
fight for temperance reform. There was
scarcely day when some Republlcan did
above politics and place all the benevolent
institutions under the control of nOn-par-
tisan boards. But argument and appeal
were unheeded, and when the time
for action came every Democratic
member stood by the caucus action and
voted for the bill keeping the management
of the old institutions within the Demo-
cratic party, and placing the three addi-
tional hospitals for the insane under the
same kind of partisan boards. At one time
the Republicans offered a substitute prOvid
ing for the appointment of nOn-partisan
boards by the Governor, each board to be
COMPOSED of two men and one woman. The
Democrats are on record as voting for the
rejection of that substitute. A bill embrac-
ing the same features introduced in the
House, was. promptly, killed the first
time it came before the body. But that Is
not all. The credit of having an investiga-
ton of the Insane Hospital belongs to the
Republicans. From the day the session be-
gan until it was two-thirds over they, in
House and Senate, were continually intro
ducing resolutions demanding that an in
vestigation be made: Regularly these reso-
buttons were voted down, and finally
Speaker Niblack refused to allow them to
be read. AS the session went on petitions
lOT an lnScStgatlOu ucSdn w PVui III upOu
the Democratic members from all
came the Governors message, making
grave charges, and asking that
jority to the wall. and under silent pro-
test they voted with the Republicans for
the appointment of the joint committee,
which did its work so well.
Bills by the score, contemplating reform
in State affairs, were introduced by the
minority, but only few of them ever saw
the light after entering the Democratic
committee-rooms. In the Senate Senator
Johnson introduced State civil-service
Democratic members of the cOmmitte to
which it was referred. In the
matter of getting bills before
either body the Republicans labored
under a serious disadvantage. 1t was
practice of the majority on the committees
to reject every good measure presented by
Republican and then. in order that the
Democratic party might reap, the credit of
doing something commendable, the ideas
of the bill rejected were embraced in a new
one, which would turn up in one or the
other of the houses with Democratic
stamp. The election bill which the Re-
publfcans agreed upon in caucus was
greatly superior to the one introduced by the
majority, but it was not considered at
all by the Democratic members. They
agreed in caucus that the Republicans
should have no part In framing such law,
might propose, and that agreement was not
broken as long as the bill was under con-
sideration. The same course was pursued
in reference to schoOl-bOOk legislation. The
whole committee met one Saturday night
and unanimously agreed upon the features
of a bill, which the Republican members
believe would have been much more salts
factory than the bill passed. Monday
morning following the agreement, the
Democratic members of the committee
announced that they had prepared bill of
their own. 1t was made a caucus measure
and every amendment proposed by the mi
nority was rejected. The principal object
of the Republicans was to protect the peo-
pie of the State from losing the textbooks
they now own, valued at 81 COO, 900, and
they feel confident that the parents and
guardians of the State viii heartily indorse
the position they took.
1t was gallant, If not successful fight
the minority made against the political
Jobs of the Democrats. Each of the
Office-grabbing measures was opposed
vigorously as 1T came up for action,
and the majority were forced to go on rec
ord a good many times before all the in
famous bills finally passed. Throughout the
fight made by the minority was one in the
interest of the people and better govern
ment. With al the odds against them,
and being at the will of merciless and
constituencies majority. they could not do
more than raise their voice and their
votes IN opposition to the nefarious actions
of the majority. and they certainly did
that in a manner credirable to themselves