Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-09-05
He Expresses His Views on the Work O
the Present Congress.

He Expresses His Views on the Work of
the Present Congress.
PORTLAND (Me), September 4th. =
Speaker Reed arrived here this afternoon.
He received an ovation at the several points
along the road where the train stopped to-
day. Tonight he was welcomed at the
city hall by crowd of 5000 people, and
made an address, the substance of which is
as follows:
Speaker Reeds address was devoted to
review of the work of the present House
of Representatives. He spoke of the
thu eats OF the minority before the assem-
bling of Congress, and the declarations
that they were to rule in utter disregard of
the will of the people, and of all the fill
clustering tactics they were prepared to
employ.
1.-THE House of Representatives he said,
sis not body quick to do business under
any set of rules. Its large numbers and the
diverse interests they represent will always
make it slow and cumbersome; but sys-
tenn which enabled one member to hold
the whole House at bay until the going
down of the sun, and then hold it until
physical exhaustion set it free, and one
fifth to hold it forever, was evidently sys-
tenn which rendered elections useless and
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"If there be anything in popular gov
ernment, it means when the people have
elected one party to take control of the
House or Senate, that party shall have
both power and responsibility. 1t was
with far other ideas OF public duty that
the minority set against us at the OPEN
ing of the session. Not only were no
measures to pass which did not have their
approval, but no rules, even of proceed.
ures, were to be permitted, except those
which seemed suitable to the beaten party;
so we began without rules.
AFTER two months tine opposition found
that under the parliamentary law which had
been built up by the American people in
consonance with their institutions. public
business was going on every day without
their consent, and they began to clamor
for everything, and the very rules they
had denounced.
81 need not describe to you the scenes of
disorder preliminary to the establishment
of the sound business principles of the
House. 1t is enough to sey that good
work was done, and the House has taken q
large stride towards business and the per-
formance of It's duty.
MANY times in these last eight months
have been subject to much indiscriminate
praise and much indiscriminate blame.
One is just as much deserved as the other.
The great events do not turn on the man.
The House of Representatives was ready
and ripe for the change, and the people
stood ready to approve. What all the
world wanted was to do.
II am not greatly proud to be Speaker,
but am proud with all my heart TO be of
that magnificent majority of the House of
Representatives of the Fifty-frst Congress,
which for nine long months has never for
one moment faltered in its duty. We have
achieved all that the Republican party
promised, and more. We promised the
people that the tariff should have q fair
and exhaustive treatment; that the princi-
Piles of protection should have full recogni-'
lion, and we have kept the promise.
"By the administrative bill, wise and
discriminate effort has been made to Sc
cure to our manufacturers and merchants
the complete benefit of the rates of duty
imposed by law without delay and without
waiting to strengthen their own tariff bill
by the support of the worsted men. Major |
Mckinley and Governor Dingley pushed
through the measure of justice which has
rescued so many of our woolen mills from
disaster and ruin. But these bills, useful
as they are, were but the forerunners of
the tariff bill. The Mckinley bill was not
made in closet. 1t was not the product |
of one man, who tried to know everything. |
If any tariff bill was ever the result of the
belief of the whole people of the United |
States the Mckinley bill was that bill
Another great achievement of the
House is the silver bill. The Republicans |
had promised that all the silver dollars
should be furnished which could be kept |
equal with gold, and such bill which full |
fills that promise to the uttermost now
adorns our statute books as tribute to the |
wise conservatism of the Republican ma
jority of the House. Already silver seems |
to be climbing to par with safety to all in
terests of the country.
There was another promise to be kept, |
made long ago and often renewed For |
years the Republican party has declared
most righteously that there could not be in
a republic a duty more sacred than the
duty of upholding the right of every citi- |
zen 10 participate in the government of the
House. True to It's duty, it has passed a
bill which, when it becomes law, will
give to the people of the United States the |
suffrages of millions. 1t will enable votes
TO be cast, and be counted as cast"
Mr.. Reed continued Every inch of
our progress has been contested by opposi |
ton. The highway robbery of time has |
been abolished; petty larceny has not. |
Only the strong, vigorous public sentiment
prevailing among all the constituencies will
ever do that. We spent two months and
a half in arguing. organization and the
struggles to settle the right of
the msjority to control and in determining
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