Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1890-01-30

| 03ue vim re2Afu 70 P8<hinB Il In tHe ruiz !
The yenersi opinion which prevailed as .ha
time vas that is vas expediens to do %
Some Of the men bad grave doubts - .
uheshef it vas proper - make sue
an anne ndmsns to The rules - would con
ssifuts the pessoss present pass Of III
quorum. Ths ssila whlch bad resulte,
ffea ths oshsr esnsss kAd noe aBsa - ~
parent thsa - ssg. end no nnA essefu
study haA thn hsD given b ths0Aj~ess .
10 gives q the Wesens tine. 1Aas Aal
taken placs b lonl Sin . shsA sAsss ~
been vaEio1s sYgumenta end 'Susssos q
eisions By very eminent gentle emen. ana
those decisions had rendered il much moss
apparent What the true rule was. One ol
the hrst places where the question vai
raised vas in the senate Of Sew York. The
present governor Of N.v York Vas pfesid.
ing ofacef and upon him devolved . duty
similar to that which nov devolved on ths
| Speaker. He had met that duty In pre-.
eisely the same manner.
A question in New York had arisen on
| the constitutional necessity Of haviug three
hfths Of the members constitute . quorum
for the passage Of certain bill and the
presiding ofhcef held that the constitutions
provision - to the quorum vas entirely
| satisfied by the presence Of the members,
even il they did not vots. Accordingly,
be had directed . recording officer Of the
assembly. ~ part Of the record Of the
tran action, to put down ia names Of the
members Of the Senate present, Who we're
refusing to vote. in precisely the manner
in which the present occupant of the chair
has adopted. That decision could not be
regarded ~ in any sense pastisan, AZ least
~ he cited is There also has been . de-
cision in Tennessee where the provision Of
the Law required two thirds Of the members
to constitute quorum. In the Legislature
Of 1855 registration bill had been pend
ing. but was objected to BY the republican
members Of the House. On the third
reading the republican members refused to
vote. whereupon the Speaker. Who vas .
member Of the other party, had directed .
clerk 10 count - presen, those not voting,
and declared the bill passed on the reading
Those two decisions seemed 70 present
occupant Of the chair to cover the ground !;
but he WAS entirely familiar with the pro-
cess which every old member would reeog
nize whereby the opinion Of the chair an
incontestible evidence Of recognition at ali
times Of the right to record members pres
ent - constituting . part Of the quorum
II has been almost an every day occurrence
al certain stages Of . session for votes to
be announced by the chair contatning obvi-
ously and emphatically no quorum. Yet
il the point 10 not made the bill 10 Alwsys
declared passei. That could only be on
= very distinct basis, and that was, that
every body present silently agreed to the
fact that there vas . quorum. There xAs
no ground on which such till could BE-
passed constituti0nally unless the preseRee
Of quorum was inferred from the fact Of
no one raising . question. Count by the
Chair, count by teilers. and count by yeas
and nays are Of equal value.
1t has always been the Practice in par
liamentary bodies Of this character for the
Speaker to deter mine the question II ther,
was quorum present BY count. When ques
ton was raised hetber there was qu rum
without special arrangement for determin
ing it. il would be determined by count By
the presiding officer. Again there vas .
provision In the constitution which declared
that the House might establish rules for
compelling the attendance Of members. II
the members present refuse TO exercise
their functions and not be counted ~
quorum that provision would soon be en-
urely nugatory. The Speaker read a
length Governor Hiirs decision when pre-
siding officer in the New York Senate. ard
laughter and applause BY The republican,
greeted the readil e of the sentences whe-.
The action Of the minority was denounced
- rebellious and revolutionary. Tn.
Speaker ignored Flowers reqW st to hav,
yAF N hat dpetalui
read. The Speaker said The Chair there
fore rules there is quorum present wilhi
the meaning of the constitution.
Crisp of Georgia. Appealed from the de-
cision, and demanded recognition.
The Speaker recognized Pay son OF Him.
ois, for motion to lay the appeal on tn,
table.
The motion not being open to discussion.
Cri,p protested against Pays ns recogni-
tion. For some time appearances of re
turn of the excite mt that occurred earlier
in the day
Crisp exclaimed that it was unfair and
unmaniy to prevent him from pleading tn,
case to the fellow members. And appealed
to the Chair on his fairness - = man and
Speaker to give the democrats an opportu
nifty to reply TO the argument which the
Speaker had seen proper to make.
Butterworth of Ohio, said, hope the
gentleman from Illinois, will withdraw his
motion to lay it on the table This 10 an
important question, the gentlemen on the
other side have right to be heard. loud
applause on the democratic side
Payson thereupon withdrew the motion.
Hatch of Missouri, rising to question OF
privilege SAID the Speaker called his name
as present, he declining to vote, when the
records showed for q week past he had an
honorable pair with the gentleman from
Massachusetts (RockwelD who had de-
clned to vote on any question. That
showed the fallaciousness and unsoundnes.
Of the Speakers decision.
The Speaker replied that the gentleman
from Missouri had the right to make any
defence he saw fit; but proprieties re-
quired that it should also be said there was
no recognition in this body Of pairs except
by courtesy. and no one could know any
thing about them except the individuals
In announcing that the gentle
gentleman was pIesent the Chair made on
ly the statement Of the facts. The reason
the gentleman gave would exonerate him
in the opinion of any gentleman if he feh
it was a question where it was necessary
for him TO say so.
Hatch replied that it was beyond the
power of the Chair and beyond the major
iiy to force him to break an honorable
pair.
The Speaker replied that the matter vas
in process of determination.
Allen Of Michigan suggested that the
gentleman's pair expressly excepted . vote
in which no quorum appeared.
Crisp said the decision Of the Speaker
was overurning the uninterrupted practice
of . hundred years. and going directly in
the face of the arguments Of distinguished
Republicans who had considered the very
question. This was the hrst time in the
history Of the government that the Speaker
had decided that he could 60 behind the
roll-call provided for by the constitution
This was more than q mere question of
rules. It was a constitp tional right to have
the yeas and nays entered on the journal,
and it necessarily followed that when the
constitution said the yeas and nays should
be 30 entered. they could not be ad'ied to
or taken from. To deny that proposition
vas to take from the constitution the value
it vas intended to possess. He quoted from
Speaker Blsine's ruling on the force bill TO
the q, ct that the Speaker had 10 power to
count the quorum. and declared that the
decision jlst made BY Speaker Reed would
be the foundation of the greatest legislative
frauds ever committed.
Republican members are now invited By
the Speaker to sustain HIM in . ruling
which leading republicans had stated would
have . tendency to bring = scandal upo,
their Names The House vas invited here.
Crisp said. to pursue the course shich
Blaine had declared vas revolutionary.
The remedy Of . majority here vas that