Omaha daily bee., 1890-02-23

Inc Ereate5t confusion and excitement en-
sued. Men seem~ed.p0ssesse of devils, an
for q time the floor of the house had the ap-
pearance OF u stampede in Il lunatic asylum.
Decker grappled with Chairman Thran and
q member from Douglas named Murphy
turned his pugilistic attention to the demon
strative and excited speaker. A ~rough-and-
tumble fight ensued, during which Murphy
aud Decker rolled from the speaker's stand
to the floor, whereupon j. w. Paddock, also
a member from Douglas, rushed 10 the aid of
Mr.. Murphy, and each one trying to get pos
session of the gavel. MIR. Hanscom, a locker
on and lobbyist in Omaha's interests, then
took a hand in the fight, and he is cred
tied with delivering u right-hander that
laid Mr.. Decker to sleep under the table.
Chairman Thrall during all this time was
making frantic efforts to restore order, but
to no avail, and not until the turbu-
lent element had worn itself COM
pletely out was there anything ap-
proaching order in the house. Decker was
again upon his feet and declared the COM
mittee dissolved aud the house adjourned,
after which he withdrew with his friends,
only to be on hand again for a fight the next
day. In tins they were disappointed and
after their usual motion to adjourn Decker
ana tWenty-one OF his followers went 70
Florence, The minority, with Mr.. Morton
as speaker pro TEN remained in session at
Omaha, adopted the report of the printing
committee, and thereafter met and adjourned
from day to day until the expiration of the
uule ailoWeu by law.
The seeding majority sent a re solution to
Acting Governor Cunning demanding the
books in possession Of the minority ut Oma-
ma, but they were disappointed in their de-
mands as the governor refused to recognize
them. A similar demand tds OF tbs
newly appointed governor, Richardson, a
few days later met with the
same result. and the session
soon adjourned sine die without doing any
further harm. During the general melee at
Omaha pistols and other weapons were
freely displayed, but fortunately for the
good name OF Nebraska they were not used
and bloodshed was prevented. Aud thus
ended one OF the most exciting legisla-
tive ~assemblys ever held in Nebraska. The
next session met at Omaha as usual.
Mr.. Morton has been continuously aud
actively In politics from that early date to
the present, and his straightforward and
honest way of dealing with political issues
has placed him In the front ranks of his
party leaders, and has won him friends and
admirers and numerous enemies. BY the
grace OF an early democratic president MIR.
Morton was twice appointed secretary of
state and later was acting governor. In
1860 he was elected delegate to congress,
but his scat was contested, and the war
coming on he again found himself In
the wrong. political camp aud his opponent
was seated. In 1866 he received a majority
Of votes for governor. but some irregulari-
ties were alleged to- have been discovered in
one OF the democratic precincts OF Cass coun-
ty, and the notes were thrown out, which
made David Butler governor OF Nebraska.
Since that Time the political career Of Mr..
Morton Is we'll known his stand as u radical
free trader, and hislabers In behalf OF the
west. That he willnot soon retire from tire
political field is evidended by the fact that
he is again urged totbecome O candidate for
governor this fall. 20 p!