New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-11-28
WASHINGTON GOSSIP.
AnN AND AFFAIRS AT THE NATIONAL
CAPITAL


ING THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE
cRAMBER-THE CENTRAL BUILD
ING OF THE CAPITOL.
Washington. Nov. 27.-Now that the passions
,vakeued by Speaker Reeds management of the
Vouse have cooled down, the conservative men of
the opposition party are willing TO concede that
!. vas actuated by the best of motives in seeking
a simplify IN some way the present cumbersome
srs,em-or lack of system-of transactlng business
The American people are supposed to be the most
n,.c,ical In the world. In the commercial GEN.
tres great affairs are handled with great rapidity,
wholly unknown In foreign countries. A good
New.York business man can do more business In
Eve MINUTES than the average business man Of
london or Paris would he able to do in day. 1t
Is puzzle to many that, in such practical coun-
NV. where prevailing business methods are so
simple. the House Of Representatives should per-
init itself to become so involved in a clumsy sys-
TEN Of rules, which practically have forbidden
the rapid consideration of affairs. Matters in
this direction have been steadily growing worse
far years The obstructionists Of ten years ago
were mild in comparison TO the obstructionists of
to-day. Under this power of obstruction the
minority has had tremendous powers, almost ex-
eeeding those of the majority Every one in
Washington knows how easy it is to defeat the
most meritorious legislation il only half-dozen
men will unite in the House to exercise all pos
sible means Of obstruction.
While Mr. Reed has cleared away by his rul.
Ines dilatory motions when employed for fill
clustering, vet there remains the fact that enor-
nous losses of time occur through means of
obstruction that cannot at present be reached even
under his rulings. Dilatory motions cannot now
he made for flibusterng purposes. but no Speaker
can determine at once the motive Of every motion.
For instance, the roll-call, which is established
solely for the purpose of making record of the
position Of members, can be employed almost in
definitely as a means Of securing delay. These
roIl-alls when asked for under the rules, have to
be permitted until it can be clearly shown that
their object is simply to secure delay In spite
Of the talk about the arbitrary action of the
Sneaker in suppressing dilatory motions, the
record of last session will show that over $50
such roll-calls were made. These roll-calls under
Carlisle, in the Congress preceding this, reached
the number of 226. OF the 400 odd in the last
session, 100 would have been amply sufficient for
the proper record of business. Three hundred and
eighty represented dilatory motions. Taking the
estimate of half-hour for each roll-call, this
would give 100 hours of wasted time. The av-
,raee session of the House of Representatives Is
five hours The dlatory motions in the last SEES
sion, then, represent thirty-aight days OF wasted
time As the House sits only six days in the
week, this would represent over SIX weeks OF
the session thrown away for no practical purpose
Both parties are at fault so far as obstruction
tactics are concerned, but the reformers in the
House, who hope to simplify it's methods Of doing
business. will advocate in the next House the
-, cd prra nff IlpdnOcratlC
majority to pass such legislation as it may deem
proper For, after all the majority is responsible,
and should be permitted to act under full
,en,e of that responsibility. If Mr.. Reed could
have been elected Speaker of the next House,
through having a Republican majority there, he
would have moved against the present system of
reading speeches on the floor This wearsome
system, based purely upon weak and " vanity,
has done more than anything else to kill the
debates In the House. 1t is rare now that there
in ANYTHING approaching a real debate in the
Sysu~ of REPRESENTATIVES.. A speech read from
~anuscript is never listened to, and therefore is
never the occasion of any discussion. instances
time and again can be given where members
have read for an hour some speech to empty
chairs and. because they have not quite finished
Il. have begged with tears in their eyes Tor
few more moments of time to continue the read
ina although permission TO have their speeches
printed in The Record" is always given. Such
ninistering to personal vanity is permitted in no
other National legislative body in the world
Under the next apportionment, it is said, the
House will number over $50 members. This in
creases thereby its unwieldy character. and VIII
add to the difficulties of transacting business.
Some Of the reformers who hope to see the debates
restored to something like their early character
Relieve that this can be done only by changing
entirely the arrangement of the chamber. Al pres
rnt it is too large for debate The presence there
Of the desks is further obstacle. 1t is proposed
BIZ one OF the daring innovators to divide the
chamber into three equal parts Then the cham
hers at the right and left would be filled with
desks for the convenience of the transaction OF the
personal business OF the members. The central
hall would be filed with seats, and here members
would come only when they wished to take part
In debates This central hall would he fully large
,nough to hold more than the highest average at
lendance upon the sessions of the House.
But in order to arrive at this result the Con-
vtitution would have TO be changed so far as the
requirements of quorum are concerned. When
he Constitution was originally formed a quorum
was fixed IL now exists, for the purpose of
the rights Of the members living in the
most distant STATES. LII was DeHeNeu al tnaJ
lime that the difficulties Of distance would not be
overcome unless tho requirements of the quorum
would oblige those living long way off to be
present in order to transact business As it is the
Members who live furthest away are the most con-
stant in their attendance. Nearly all of them
lake up their permanent residence In Washing
lon. and can bt much more surely relied upon than
the members who live nearer by. Forty members
constitute quorum in the House of Commons.
There has never been found any objection to this
condition of things. For the transaction Of Or
iinsry routine business this is satisfactory num-
her and, when it comes to a consideration of great
Pnd important matters, notice would naturally
be sent out by the leaders Of both sides TO bring
"a all of the members required to give consdera-
lion to the subject upon the part of the whole
House.
One Of the most interesting things that have
Yard of Sneaker Reed came 10 mo froyn a ncrcopal