Telegram-herald., 1890-02-25
no sUBsCRIBERs.
OFFICIAL PAPER or The CITY.
GRAND RAPIDS. TUESDAY. FEB. q.
TWAS EVER THUS.

A Democrat can take any position
calculated 10 advance his present pur-
poses. with the most charming indiffer-
ence as 10 any past claims he may have
made. Since the contest in the House
over the quorum question. the Milwau-
kec Sentinel has been posing over Con-
gresaonal records, and has discovered
that Senator Blackburn, the champion
ear-puller Of Kentucky. who said that
If he had been in the House he would
have SAID to Speaker Reed: ''You dare
20 count me, you dirty despot, and
vii make il a personal matter with
you" has a somewhat significant rec
ord on tho quorum question. In 1879,
when the Democrats held the majority
Of the House, he advocated most stren-
uously the right of the Speaker to
count present quorum. He took the
very same ground that has been main
tanned by the TELEGRAN-HERALD all
along, that, under parliamentary law
and both English and American practice,
'always and everywhere the power has
been recognized and vested in the
Speaker to make an actual count of the
members present" He was arguing
in favor Of new rule proposed by Mr..
Tucker, Virginia Democrat, which
provided that "if those voting and
those who are present and decline to
vote shall together make a majority of
the House, The Speaker shall declare tho. a
quorum Is constituted, and the pending
question shall be decided as the ma
lority Of those voting shall appear"
Ia the course of his argument Mr..
Blackburn said:
when a member refuses 10 answer
his name--a duty made imperative by
existing rule which says that ne shall
vote unless he be excused-the amend
ment of my friend from Virginia simply
provides that when member shall fail
10 discharge this duty imposed upon
hum by the highest obligation he can
possibly bear, An obligation made I'M
perative ~ the plain language of the
Tule-whsn refusing 10 discharge such
duty, he snail not oe reported or re-
corded "a voting at all. but his prssenc,
skoH 81 noted N order % prsycns hs absene,
q qvoran.'
Mr. Springer, of Illinois, who made
such 4 'holy show" Of himself during
the struggle, IS also on record IN the
same way. In support of the proposed
rule he said
'swhas does the Constitution say,
Section 3, Article I. says, Each
House shall be the Judge or the elsc
tiOus. returns and qualifications of rs
own members, and = majority OF each
snail constitute n quorum to do busi
ness A majority shall constitute
quorum 20 DO business. That
majority do not vote but they
must be here. If the majority Il
here the quorum - here, and IL by the
rules al the House we have determined
that fact, then we have 4 majority
resdv for business
This looks Ike inconsistency. but i
isnot. It's genuine Democratic con
sisteney. The sole and only principle
n which the Democracy has man
tanned a consistent allegiance, is oppo
sition to Republican reforms. Let th'
Republican party euunciste princip pie
aud the Democracy writes beneath g II
glaring letters. "nos BY Aug full,
ard makes thst ~ platform. And thh
it does without once looking over IL
past record In fact, when the Democ
racy has once lost a campaign on an
enc principle-or, rather, lack Of prin
ciple-is never seems 70 care an
further for that doctrine. but grssps a
something new and more taking 70
its next struggle. Such s Democrats
consistency.