Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-02-09
THE REASONS WHY
Democratic Members Object TO the New
Rules Proposed by the Republicans
All Individual Rights Alleged
TO be Abolished. = -- -.-


WASHINGTON, February s.-The report
Of the Democratic minority of the COM
mittee on rules, signed by Carlisle and
Randall, has been made public. The first
change antagonized is that to Rule q On
this subject the minority report says:
Under clause of rule "a no bill on the House
calendar can be reached for consideration un-
less called up by the committee that reported
it and under clause of the same rule no indi-
vidual member can make an original motion
FOR the purpose of considering any particular
bill in the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union When. however,
motion has been made by direction Of com
mittee to go into the Committee of the Whole
on tbe state of the Union to consider q public
bill an individual member may move to amend
it by designating another bill This is the ex.
tent of his right under the proposed
rule and it is evident that he will
he placed at great disadvantage.
We are unable to discover any sufficient reason
for this discrimination against members who
may not be fortunate enough to secure the CO
operation of committees in making their mo-
fions. If a majority vote is sufficient to sus-
pend the rules and fix day for the considers
fion Of Dill, when the motion IS made by d1ree-
tiou of a committee, certainly the same vote
ought to be sufficient when made by an indi-
viduaI member upon his responsibility and IN
behalf of his constituents, the only reasonable
exclamation for this discrimination is that it is
the Dolicy of the proposed rules TO suppress the
Individual members of the House as lar as pos
sible and increase the powers OF the commit
tees
Relative to the change in the rules gov
erning the committee of the whole, the mi
nority says:
1t has always been so universally conceded
that committee Of the whole House was
simply the House itself, that ii has never been
considered necessary to prescribe in the rules
what number of members should be necessary
to constitute quorum in such committee. The
resolution requires the permission of all the
members-elect TO constitute quorum to do
business in the House and without any rule on
recognized as necessary 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.
Referring to the clause authorizing the
Speaker to count a quorum, the minority
report says:
This is the most radical and, in our opinion,
the most dangerous innovation proposed by the
majority. If agreed to it will not only over
throw the construction that has been uniformly
given to the Constitution for more than a CEN
tury, but II will enable less than a majority of
the representatives of the people to pass the
most important laws affecting the interests of
the whole country. The personal property
rights Of the citizens, protected heretofore by
laws enacted by the votes of majority may be
impaired or destroyed by the votes OF merefrac-
tion of the members of Congress, for if less
than majority may constitutionally pass meas
ures in the House, of course, the same thing
may be done in the Senate.