The Washington critic., 1890-02-09

Republicans Favor the Majority Re
port While the Democrats Bitterly
oppose It-Views of Speaker Reed
and Ex.Speaker Carlisle.
The new code Of rules prepared by
Speaker Reed and Mr.. Carlisle reviews
the rules from standpoints of the gen
tlemen named. The minority report on
this question deals only with some
radical changes which the Democrats
object TO very vigorously, while the
majority report is in detail,
The manner of determining pom
quorum to do business under the con
stitution would ordinarily be under
control of the Speaker. There is new
clause providing that no dilatory mo
tion shall be entertained by the
Speaker, that is merely diatory Of par.
liamentary law. There are no words,
this report says, which can be found
which will limit members to the proper
use of proper motions.
The abuse has grown to such pro-
portions that the parliamentary law
which governs American assemblies has
found ii necessary to keep pace with
the evil and to enable the majority, by
The intervention of the presiding officer,
10 meet by extraordinary means the
extraordinary abuse of power on the
part sometimes of few members.
The report provides that when a mo-
tion is made by direction Of committee
10 suspend the rules aud fix a day for
the consideration of bill previously
reported by it majority vote shall be
sufficient to agree upon the motion.
The rules concerning the Committee
of the Whole are dealt with as follows:
1T is proposed by the majority to
make a quorum of the Committee of
the Whole House on the state of the
Union consists of one hundred members,
or considerably less than one.third
of all the members of the House.
Every bill appropriating money or
property or raising revenue must have
its first consideration in this
Committee of One Hundred.
Since the organization OF the
Government it has required the same
number of members to constitute a
quorum in the Committee of the
Whole as in the House-that is,
majority of all the members
elect-and that is manifestly the true
rule, because the committee is com
ptstu VI dll luC llcllDClS Vi lllt llOust.
II is, indeed, the House itself deliber
ating as committee. u :" IS 'r :
1t has always been so universally
conceded that a Committee of the
Whole House was simply the House it.
self that it has II ever been considered
necessary to prescribe in the rules what
number of members shall be necessary
TO constitute a quorum in such
Tho Cnncttt,fiA,,
majority of all the members
elect to constitute quorum to do bust
ness in the House and without any rule
on the subject. The same number has
always been recognized as ne
cessary in Committee of the
Whole, and whenever It found itself
with less than that number present and
voting it has been compelled to suspend
its proceedings.
"The counting in" rules that caused
so much bitterness during the recent
struggle in the House over the Smith
jackson contested election case is thus
discussed:
"This is the most radical, and, in
our opinion, the most dangerous, inno-
vation proposed by the majority.
If agreed to, it will not
only overthrow the construction
that has been uniformly given to the
Constitution for more than century,
but il will enable less than majority
of the representatives of the people to
pass the most important laws, affecting
the interests of the whole country.
The personal and property rights
of the citizen, protected here
toforc by laws enacted by the
votes of a majority may be impaired or
destroyed by the votes of mere frac
iion of the members of Congress
for if less than a majority may
constitutionally pass measures in the
House, of course the same thing may
be done in the Senate. In the same
way enormous sums of money may
be appropriated from the public treas
nTy for the most unconstitutiona
and improper purposes, and the in
terests of the taxpayers completely
subordinated TO the selfish demands ol
private individuals and corporations.
Without entering here into dis
cussion of the constitutional question
involved in this proposition, We
most earnestly protest against i
il as measure of the mos
dangerous and revolutionary character
Any Iule or practice which enables thu
Speaker or the Clerk to pas
bills by counting members presen
and not voting will inevitabl,
result in destroying the confidence o
the people in the integrity of leg
islation.
The concluding clause of the repor
deals with the action of the maiorit,
members of the committee in abolishn!
certain privileged motions, and sums VI
as follows; All parliamentary motion
heretofore recognized in the House anC
simply providing that members max
such motions only as the Speaker ma.
see proper TO permit and take onl,
such appeals from his decisions as h
may seem proper to allow, shonld hav
the merit of directness and simplicity
This rule would be no more unreason
able or unjust than the one proposes
and will have the effect of preyentin
conflicts upon the floor by advisin
members just exactly what their right
are.
HEAVY GALES ALL OVER.