The daily citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1889-1890, 1890-01-30

WNs tndl II was tNpc'iltnt To do So some
men had grave doubts as to whether il
was proper 10 make such amendment to
the rules as would constitute persons
present, Il part of the quorum, The evils
which had resulted from the other course
had not uccn apparent then rs now, no
such careful study had been then given To
the sulj ct aS WIS g,vcu At the present,
time That had taken place in 1850.
Since licu there had been various argil-
mruiS aud various decisions hv very cmi.
Vvnt gentlemen uu the subject. and those
decisions had very much cleared up TN,
quo ,tIun and rendered it mach more AZ
parent what the true rule was, one o'
the first places where the question had
been raised was in tn senate of the State
1T New York, The present governor ot
New York had been the presiding rsi'cer,
and uuun him had dcvOlvrd duty slm.
lar tu that which now had ddrvolvcdupon
the speaker. He had mrl this question
in precisely the SIM, m'uncr. AVu"s,ipn
hnd arisen on III, h,cuuStitutionalrr, ',y
ot having tHrrrhtths oi :'' .,hh,r> a.
constitute quorum Tor the passage ct
certain hll' and the pr, siding officer had
held that th, constitutional provision
~ - :. nus NllI WIS '1illlflN NiklSIlt'l Nv
IN, prrS,ur, 1T members, even II they did
not vote. Accordingly he had directed
the rccurdug officer al the ASSEMBLY, ~
a part ui the record oi the transaction,
to nj down the names OF members ol
'hc senate who were present and refused
I vote, ~ rry .i,,iy he manner in which
the present ucCupaHt of the chair had
ado J,,d. That ucrisiuu could not br II.
gardvd ms in any S,nsr partisan, nt least
~ he cited it, There had also been dl
vision tn the S;u,c ui Tennessee where u
provision OF law required two.thirdS OF
mvmurr, To- constitute quorum.
In ISL registration bill had lccn
p,Llrug which WIS ubl,Etrd to 10y tie IT
Publican mcmltrs oi the house. On The
thlrd mrctln" Tho republicans refused t.
vote, wnrmgpun the SPEAKER, a member
ui lEc other party, had instructed the
v,' RI to count those not voting aS pres
,Il, AMI had r,icIvd the bill passed an
ti1t reading I"rrc were two decisions
ON 'hHt N"tii =: which seemed TO uphold
the suuuduSS util, lat there was an en-.
tlrvl. iImir,r process which every old
mrmuvr would recogni1c whvrrlyIN the oc-
ru1lut ni the chair WAS constable. l.
~ - - ~ "a 'l''NA ~. f.NElN VI ~ 'NAAlNlN'
nt crT..I. slygCs 10, the session tor vutcs
g." hy auunurccd hy the chair containing
. pvinuNlv aud "rputtically NO quorum,
Yet II the pniut w.s not made the hill
Wi, ;lw y d,,lurrd passed and thai
gould uuly hr IN very d Stinct basis,
Wd ih.i WIS that everybody present
silently agreed to tru fact that there WAS
. quorum. ,G,rg MAS no ground on
W'nrh by any possibility such - bill could
hr passed gpIts;itulinuul'y unless the
pc. urV ui 4 quorum WAS inferred; and
i, WIS uipr.ld from he tact that no one
had RAISED - question. M methods ~
determining = vote were u' equal value.
\ count hy the cl.gir. aud Il count hv
tc''rrS, aud a count by yeas aud nays
were ui equal value. The house had u
right ON lhr Cull at Ouv-tii,h ot he mem.
lCTs tu have u sea ana nay vote, and then,
un that the question was dSCidvd, hut
the decision in either cases was precisely
ui hc same value. IL had ALWAYS been
thv rrIriiyr in parliamentary bodies -
this character, and Csl ccitlly i'll the par
lilucut ui Grcrt Britain, Tor the speaker
to drtrrmiur the question it there was
81 wiS not II quorum present II
~ - ~ HllN ~ was AAlA A4N W.
IN actual fact aud tEy d,tcrmin'
,ug ui that was left To- the PIE
idn- uilgUr ia nearly Ill instances,
~ shat when tie question was ralsrd
" neither there wuSaquurum or not, with
ont special arrangement inr II. 1t woN'd
bc decided bv the presiding officer. Agar,
there was Il provision III the constitution
whigh declared that the house might
adopt rules compelling tie Attendance oi
mUmhvIs. II the members were present
aud refused u exercise their functions,
aud vet not hc counted nsaquoru'n, thai
,hr provision might seem rs entirely M.
rutury.
The spraNct then referred 10 Governor
Iiilis u,,tsinu ~ Cn syvHkrr ui tie New
lurk S,iilu. and lauah.G and applause
greeted the reading OF The Ncmtrucv whcrr
the drti II ut t'c minority was denounced
as {, Gallons and revolutionary, TIL,
speaker iguurcd Mr.. Flower : request T."
have &c lcpuuiiclr protest against that
l,Ci~i ~ also read.
tn, r"uuUg having LctUcrmplctCd, the
speaker sud: The chair ,hrcnrt rules
chat thHc Is q quorum pr',rut withmthr
m,ruI.., ul ihc constitution.
W. \ 2 ~ 81 tl' ~ N'N'Htl N'' ~
aud demanded recognition, but the
speaker recognized Mr.. Pavnc, oi Illinois,
lor MOTION ia lay un the table. This
moi iuu was Not uupu to discussion, and
Nh. Ctisp protested against tie rccngni'
tiuu.
For SOM timc there were appearance.
of y return ui the vN,i,,Hrnt wicl had
occurred earlier in the dny. Mr. Crisn
acclaimed that II was unfair and un.
manly To prevent HIM from pleading his
cause to his iciiow members. lie appealed
to tlI, chair on his nirn,Ss as u man and
the speaker to give the democrats u
rhAuc, tu reply to he arguments which
tie tpchkcr has seen III to make.
Mr.. Rult,rwurih. ut Ohiu-l hope the
grutl,nHu from Illinois " Ill withdraw his
motion t. lay nn the table. Tins is an
important question aud the gentlemen
uu he Other tie have the right to he
heard. ,Luud applause ON democratic
sldc.J MIR Pals thcGcupon withdrew
ui, muliun.
Mir. Hatch, of Missouri rising to n
question ui pWtiygc, sad that the
spcnrcr had called his name rs present
aud ric, mnp go Vutc, when The record
showed hat Jnr a week past he had an
hnuD,an,, pair With thr gentleman from
Massachusetts, Mr.. Rockwell, and lie
had declined to vote on amy question.
Thu, bowed he t,llacibusnVss and uI.
souodur,e ol the Spcakcr's position.
The Srctk,r declared that there wasno
recognition IL th, house, except 10y cOur.
trSy, ct puts; that his statement rs to
Mr.. llnIch's presence was one OF tact,
and thnt the VugstiDupt the competency
Ui his action was ~ process of dctcInir.
atiuh
MI Cri'p then obtained the floor and
made an ,npassioucd argument against
the spcaker'srulng, llcquotrd from a rul'
ing ~ Mr.. bIaluc, When speaker, on the