St. Paul daily globe., 1890-08-01
ARGUMENT OF AN AUTOCRAT.
Speaker Reed Defends His Arbi-
trarV Rulings

Sfdfy OulInSS.
WASHINGTON, July 31.-This weeks
North American Review will publish
Speaker Reeds reply to the famous
criticism of tx. NJ Co." which recently
appeared in that publication. Mr..
Reed explains very fully his policy as
speaker of the house of representatives
and his authority therefor. The follow
ing extracts from advance sheets give a
very general idea of his argument:
The presence of a majority Of the
legislative body constitutes a quorum to
do business. The essence of all bust
ness Oh the part of the legislative body
body, either express or implied. 1t may
be as thoroughly expressed by silence
as by sound. In the parliamentary
sense, presence always implies full cog
nizance of all that takes place. If a
member, then, is present in full sight
and sound of all occurrences, and if an
action is to be taken he is as much a
party consenting to all that occurs as if
he gociferated in his loudest tones. This
all admit. Even the writer of the anon
ymous article admits this in all cases
except that Of a yea and nay vote.
Hence, even with him, we have only to
deal with that method of determining
the result. 1t must be obvious that all
methods of determining the consent of
the members are of equal value. By each
of them laws are passed which have
equal validity. Whether the sense of
the house is made manifest by mere vol
ume of sound or by the rising of men,
bers in their places, by members pass
ing between tellerS OF by yeas and nays,
Makes No Difference
whatever in the result. Laws passed
either way have equal force. What,
then, was the object of the constitu-
tional provision as to yeas and nays?
Was it to establish new and separate
doctrine of quorum? Was the quorum
to be majority present when all other
methods of determining the question
were used. but a majority voting when
yeas and nays were called? Was there
to be one quorum required in one case
and another quorum in another? Does
it require any different body to pass a
bill by yeas and nays than by a rising
vote. A majority of the house being
present, can 129 members to one pass a
bill standing up, and not pass it by yeas
and nays? A claim like this utterly ig-
nores the meaning of the call for yeas
and nays, and the right to have it,
which is given under the constitution.
What were the yeas and nays given us
for? Look at the debates OH the adOp-
tion OF the constitution and you will see.
| 1t was to inform the people how their
| representatives voted if they voted at
| all; and also the fact that they did not
vote, if such was the case. The idea
that, i'll addition to this. the constitu-
tional quorum was thereby instantly
shifted from majority present to a
| majority acting is entirely modern in
ventiOn, as illogical as it is unconStitu-
tional. The evil to be corrected by the
new rules is admitted by the ''X. M. C.''
| He therefore proposes much higher
remedy. as he thinks. At the outset it
should be borne in mind that the rem
edy in use has done its work. The house
of representatives. by its capable and
sensible transaction of business, has
attracted the approval of the whole
that this should all be set aside and his
remedy adopted. and the shades of many
eminent persons, dead and living, there
by placated. Did it ever occur to the
reader what singular
Dispense ton of Providence
it is whereby those who do not have the
things OF the world to do could have al
ways done them so much better than
the poor creatures who did do them?
Did you ever see sidewalk committee
who could not build a finer house thai
the architect and the master workman:
1t really looks as if Providence haG
wasted its most cloying sweetness or
the desert air. The new rule which the
critic suggests is that the speaker shoulc
fine each member who refuses to vote
not exceeding $780, and thereby compe
srange aS,e coming a as it n doss seehs from Her
writer who has SO deep a respect for the
letter of the law that, when the consti
tuition says the votes of both houses
shall be determined by the yeas and
nays, he will be satisfied with no con.
struction which shall not determine the
| quorum the same way"