The daily critic., 1890-07-31
REEns - CnNrRANT.


The announcement that Mr. Speaker
Reed has pu.vcrized y VI c. in the
August e, ion of the North American
Review Acquires vivid and peculiar
interest by reason of the recent resur-
reCiion of certain public utterauces Il
his In which he declared himself em-
phaiiCally against the very position he
now advocates. and squarely In favor Of
that occupied by Y NJ c."
The public have already seen the
powerful article written for the
ClalauGuan Magazine" by Mr.. Reed
FEW years ago. and we now ask atten-
ticn 10 aIcpiint of some remarks OF his
made uron the floor Of the House dur.
ing the second session Of the Forty
sixth Congress They will be found In
the Congressional Record Of January
2S 1880, and run as follows:
Mr. Chairman, IL 81 was my purpose
toIeply TO the gentleman who has just
taken bis seat, 10 seems 10 me that il
would be 2 suitable and proper reply to
say TO him that the constitutional idea
Of quorum is not the presence Of q
majority uf the members Of the House,
but a majority Of the members present
and participating In the business of the
House. II isnot the visible presence Of
members but their judgments and their
votes that the Constitution calls for.
/ prefer. however, in the short time
which / have TO discuss this question
upon q different basis This privilege
which the (l(epublican) minority Of the
House 90 the last session availed itself
of is privilege which every
minority has availed itself Of since
the foundation Of this Government
What Is the practical upshot Of
The present practice? II Is that the
members Of the minority Of this House
upon great occasions demand that every
bin which is passed shall receive the
absolute vote Of a majority Of the mem
bers elected They do this IN the face
al d eyes Of the country. II they de-
mbpd upon any frivolous occasion that
there shall be such au extraordinary
vote as that, they do Il subject 10 the
Dtrsufe Of the people Of this land This
Ti.,'iCe has hitherto kept this House IN
pa per condition upon the subject, so
that there has been no improper I'm.
ItGiuC nf The public business
II as Uilu1b'e DFil.egC for ne
JDUHtY hai ht WiHgFlty siuN h4r6 MS
Jishf ty his extraordinary mode gt
JToctt0iHg 20 elN dc attention 0f Hf
county % measures rhich u party ia %
mom6Htof madness and ~ party tteliHy
Is eHdur5riHg 10 enforce upon ne
citizens ef his land And Il works
equally we'll with regard to all parties,
for an parties have their times when
they need TO be checked, so that they
may receive the opinions Of the people
who are their constituents aud who are
Interested In the results OF their legis.
lation. Isay, that as practical matter,
tie results hitherto throughout an our
history have justified the construction
which those upon this side Of tue House
have put upon the matter. aud which
has been put equally by members of
the other side In times past.
This Is a very large contract Mr.. Reed
las iaken-thal Of yIndioating his posi-
tier Of to-day by proving himself 10
have been false and insineere on yester.
day. We should say, however, that
he is quite capable of doing il, and that
the country will ind no great difficulty
IN ualizing that Reed Is thoroughly
true TO himself at every stage Of the
proceeding