The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-01-30

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the members OF the Senate who were pres
ent and refused to te, In precisely the
manner which the prese t occupant Of the
chair had adopted. That decision could
not be regarded as in any sense partisan,
at least as it had also been done
in the state of Tennessee, where
a provision of the law required two
thirds of the members to constitute
a quorum in the legislature. In 1885 a
registration bill had been pending which
was objected to by the republican members
of the house. On third reading the repub-
licans had refused to vote, whereupon the
speaker, a member Of the other party, had
directed the clerk to count as present those
not votiOg, and had declared the bill as
passed on that reading. Those two decis-
ions, the first made in 1888 and the other i'll
1885, seemed to the present occupant of the
chair to cover the ground.
ANOTHER PROCESS.
But there was an entirely familiar pro-
cess, which every old member would recog-
nize, whereby the opinion of the chair is in
contes ible evidence of recognition at ali
times of the right to record members pres
ent as constituting part of quorum 1t
had been almost an everyday occurrence
at certain stages of the session for votes to
be announced by the chair, containing OBJ
viously and emphatically no quorum. Yet,
If the point was not made the bill was
always declared passed, and that could only
be on a very distinct basis and that was
that everybody present silently agreed to
the fact that there was quorum. There
was no ground on which by any
possibility such bill could be
passed constitutio9ally unless the presence
of a quorum was inferred, and it was in
ferrei from the fact that no one had raised
question. All methods Of determining
vote were of equal value. The count by
the chair, and the count by the telers, and
the count by the yeas and nays were OF
equal value. The House had the right on
the call of one-fifth Of the members to
have yea and nay VOTE and then, on that,
{ equestion was decid ID. But the decision III
eacn Of the other cases was Of precisely the
same value.
PRECEDENT OF PRACTICE.
1t had always been the practice in par
liam antary bodies Of this character, aud
especially In the parliament Of Great Brit
ain, for the speaker to determine the ques-
tion If there was not a quorum present by
count 1t was because that was the deter
mination of an actual fact, and the detsr-
mining Of that vas intrusted to the
presiding officer in almost all instances; SO
that when the question was raised whether
there was quorum or not, without special
arrangement for determining it, it would
be determined by count by the pre-
siding officer. Again, there was provision
in the constitution which declared that the
House might establish rules for compelling
the attendance of members If members
could be present and refuse to exercise their
functions, and yet not be counted as a
quorum, that provision would seem to be
entirely nugatory.
HILLS DECISION READ.
The speaker then read at length Gov.
Hil's decision when presiding officer of the
New York Senate, and laughter and ap-
pause by the republicans greeted the read
ing Of sentences where the action of the
minority was denounced as rebellious and
revolutionary. The speaker ignored Mr..
Flowers request to have the republican
protest against that decision read.
The reading having been completed, the
speaker therefore ruled that there is a
quorum present within the meaning of the
constitution.
Mr.. Crisp appealed from the decision and
demanded recognition, but the speaker re-
cognized Mr.. Rowell of Illinois for motion
to lay the appeal upon the table. This mo-
ton is not open to discussion, and Mr.. Crisp
protested against Mr.. Rowell's recognition.
For some time there were appearances of a
return of the excitement which had occurred
earlier in the day. Mr.. Crisp exclaimed
that it was unfair and unmanly to prevent
him from pleading his case to his fellow
members. He appealed to the chair on his
fairness as a man, and speaker, to give the
democrats an opportunity to reply to the
argument which the speaker had seen
proper to make.
BUTTERwoRTH ASKS FAIR PLAY.
Mr. Buterworth Of Onio-I hope the gen.
tlemen from Illinois will withdraw his mo-
ton to lay on the table. This is an import
ant question, and the gentlemen on the
other side have right to be heard. Zap
plause on the democratic side.1
Mr.. Roweu thereupon Withdrew his mo-
tion.
Mr.. Hatch of Missouri, rising to q ques-
tion OF privilege, said that the speaker had
called his name as present and declining to
vote, when the record showed that for a
week past he had an honorable pair with
the gentleman from Massachusetts,, Mr..
Rockwell, and hs had declined to vote on
any question. That showed the fall8cious-
ness and uusoundness of the speakers de-
Glsion. The speaker replied that there was
no recognition in the HOu,e, except by cour-
tesy, of pairs; that his statement as to a
pairs presence was one of fact, and that the
question of the competency of his action
was in process of determination.
IGNORING PRECEDENT.
Mr.. Crisp said that the decision of the
speaker was OV0TCurnInR an uninterrupted
practice of 100 years, and was going
directly in the face of the arguments Of dis
tinguished republicans who had considered
this very question. This was the first time
in the history OF the government that
speaker had decided that he could go be-
hi d roll cali provided for by the consti-
tuition. This was more than a mere ques-
ton OF rules. 1t was a constitutional right
the right to have the yeas and nays en-
tered on the journal-and it necessarily fol-
lows that when the constitution said that the
yeas and nays should be SO entered
they could not be added to or taken FROM
To deny that proposition was to take from
the constitution the value it was intended
to possess. He then quoted from Speaker
Blaine's ruling on the force bill to tue effect
that the speaker had not tine power to count
a quorum, and declared that the decision
Just made by Speaker Reed would be the
foundation of the gre itest legislative frauds
ever committed. The republican members
we're now invited by the speaker to sustain
him in a ruling which leading republicans
had stated would have tendency to bring
scandal upon their names The House was
invited here, Mr.. Crisp said, to pursue a
course which Mr.. Blaine had declared to
be revolutionary.
REMEDY OF THE MAJORITY.
The remedy of the majority here was
that which Mr.. Blaine had declared on that
occasion to be the remedy-that was that
the majority of the House could
legislate. and so to-day the republi-