The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1890-06-21
REED rAcrIcy IN yHE SENATE.
Senator ChandIer's Proposed New Hule'
and How It would Work.

hood to propose an ironclad rule against hl-
clustering in tho Senate That very respecta-
Bile body Is tenacious OF It's prlNlieRes. anu
among these mono is more highiy prlIeu 'han
the right to be worried by unlimited aeoa.e'
md by tho unlimited right OF one-hith OF ls
nan,bers TO call tho yeas and nays as often as
they please to make any notion however
trivial 1t may be.
Under the present rules OF the Senate there
is no such thing as demanding the previous
question. The consequence is that no vote cah
he taken on any measure as long as one oehH
tor claims the floor for the purpose Oh ueo"'-
ing It, There is no limit to the time each oen-
ator may occupy except his own capacity Tor
endurance and his supply OF words. Inc inter
need never give out. for when no TAILS snort ne
can read from any volume as much htcra-
ture rs he ptases, whether the matter ieau 10
relevant or not.
But when tho minority on any question Is
numerically strong enough to Keen present IN
tho Senate Chamber enough Of its friends
to constitute one-Gfh of the ontire body.
tho majority OF the Senate can be prevented
from final action without the labor OF
continuous debate. This is accomplished sim
ply 10y alternating any two OF four motions
which arc not debatabs under the rules, anc
by requiring tho yeas and nays on each mo-
ton to DO entered on the journal. These are
the motions: First. 10 adjourn; secondly. to
adjourn to a day certain. or that when the Sem
ate adlourns 1t shall be to q day certain; third
ly, to take a recess. and. fourthly to 60 into
executive session. These four motions have
precedence at all times over all other motions
in the order named. No ono OF them can be made
twice in immediate succession. but any two OF
them can be alternated indefinitely, thus sup
plying the needed intervening business.
Th,A nSti I'm Article l.. r
yides that tho yeas and nays Of the members
OF either House, on any question, shall. at the
desire OF one-iifth of those present be entered
on tho journal" Tho rules appear to be equal
ly binding with the Constitution iself when
not In conflict Herewith. for that instrument
in the Same section. provides that each House
may determine The rules OF its proceedings"
A minority OF ono fifth. therefore, have only to
proceed rs follows in order to retard leGisla-
tion indefinitely: One Of their number moves
to adjourn. and seventeen Senators demand
the yeas and nays. The motion being lost, an
other moves TO 90 into executive session, and
again the yeas and nays are demanded by sew
onteen. This being regatived. the motion TO
adjourn is again in order and SO on until tho
end OF the chapter. Each roll call consumes,
or IN average. seven minutes.
This plan has been tried and found to work
to n charm. In 1881, when the Republicans
had tho Senate only by tho casting vote OF the
ce-Presidcnt. the Democrats flibustered
against tho election Of new officers from March
"a to May 10, whom the Republicans gave up
the contest During these seven weeks u free
political debate was interspersed with 1874 roll
calls on dilatory motions. But no harm came
to the country. and nobody thought it neces-
sary to shackle the Senate with the previous
question to rescue it from the grip of tho mi-
n0'4t'' !l"u .i1 10, Ie"1ioN 80 ~ "'0"tIt 'Ho
menl' II Is uot likely INC minority WouIu nave
Ventureu TO carry matters 10 such extremes.
The only remedy ever applied to fllibuster-
ing in the Senate thus far has been a refusal
by the majority to allow an adjournment until
n Dnnl vote on tho nendinp nansuro Thia
,,ol.as tho strro,Ia o,o n, nbysio,I an J,,ro,oa
o ~, ,o.s
oL4S. "hoi o"eh 9iUo 10 epuoii, ue'ei iniheu' u
continuous session OIL from thlrty-slS to sixty
hours insures an agreement to take vote at
a named hour. This rover to compel n con-
tinuous session OF the Semitic did good service
in lieu OF a previous question when the Demo-
Gratis forced the passage OF the kansas-Ne-
braska bill in 1851. and when the Republicans
did the same with their leading measures in
reconstruction times.
What neithor party attempted to do in those
stormy times Senator Chandler now proposes,
namely. 10 make new rule not only limiting
debate. but forbiddinR dilatory motions and
counting Senators present and not voting as
part OF the constitutional quorum. Presume
bly,. he intends that the Chair shall decide
whether any motion is " dilatory" or not. Fol-
lowing Is his resolution. which has been SUM
berinGin the Committee on Rules since April %:
p,,o,r>s rna, whep.v.r hill or resolution r,ro,,,a
from committee is under consideration. the Senate
may, motion to be acted on without debate or dila
a