The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1890-02-13
the HOUSE RULES.
Views 81 the Majortty and Minority Of
the Committee on t1se New Code.


views 81 the MeJority and Minority or
the COMMITTEES on tIse New Code.
VIEWS OF THE MAJoR1TY. s.s i
WASHINGTON. Feb. 10. Though not
formally presented to the House, the
majority and minority reports upon the
new code Of rules proposed have been.
fled with the journal clerk and ordered
printed. The majority report, in great.
detail, explains the difference between
the proposed code and that previously
IN force, but in most instances the ex-.
nlanatiOn is unaccompanied by any
arguments
In regard to the rule authorizing the
Speaker to count quorum the report
says:
The PROCESS Of sscertaining the presence Of .
quorum to do business under the constitu-
ton would ordinarily be under the con-
troll Of the Speaker, who would de-
i've his information from his own senses
or by the aid of clerk, or
IN any way which would satisfy
his own mind Of the accuracy Of the count.
Under our system Of rOll-calls 1t has beer
deemed more convenient to ascertain and an.
nounce the votes of members and the presence
OF those who refhse to vote at the same time
and by the amemeans." p
Concerning the new clause providing
that no dlatory measure shall be enter
tanned by the Speaker, it is stated that
the clause is merely declaratory of par
Namentary law. The report continues:
: .There are no words which can be framed
witch will limit member, to the proper use of
proper motions. To-day the abuse has grown
to such proportions that the parliamentary law
which governs American assemblies has found
it necessary to Keep pace with the evil and to
enable the majority, by the Intervention OF the
presiding Officer, to meet by extraordinary
means the extraordinary abuse of power on the
part sometimes OF few members.
IF the suggestion should be made that great
power IS here conferred, the answer is TINT the
approval Of the House Is the very breath in the
nOstrils Of the Speaker, and as nobody on earth
is so jealons Of IT'S liberties and so impatient
Of control, we my be quite sure that no
arbitrary. Interruption will take place,
and indeed, no interruption at all, until
not only such misuse OF propermotipns Is made
clearly evident to the world, but also such
action has taken place on the part of the House
Us will assure tha Speaker Of the support of the
body whose wishes ore his law. So that in the
end 1t is . power exercised by the House
through it's properly constituted officer"
Considering the question of providing
that hundred members shall constitute
a quorum in committee of the whole, the
report states that this change is made
necessary by members refusing to vote
when the roll is called, and points out
the fact that every thing done. in COM
mittee has to be reported to the House,
and that nothing done is in any way
final. In conclusion the majoAity report
says: : =.
Your committee have thus gone over briefly
the proposed new code 1T rules. They believe,
if followed out In good faith, it will at once
enable the House to have due contr 81 over its
business and at the same time provide those
safeguards OF deliberation and debaHe which
viii enable the House to act wisely"
THE M1NoRITY's VIEWS.
The minority report. signed by
Messrs.. Carlisle and Randall, gives
much attention to the fact that confmtt-
tees are given superior rights to calz up
bills in the morning hour to the eS8lu-
sion of the individual rights of mem-
bers The propositions to reduce tire:
quorum of the committee of the whole,
to 100 is opposed
The counting fK'' rule that caused SO,
much bitterness during the recent strugss-
gle in the House over the Smith-Jackv.
son contested election ease is thus dis
cussed:
'dThis is the most radical ana in our: opinion.
the most dangerous innovation proposed by the
majority If agreed to it will not only over
throw the construction that has been uni
formly given to the constitution for:
more than century, but it Will: enable:
less than q majority Of the Repre-.
sentatives Of the people to pass tEe' most:
important laws affecting the interests Of the:
whole country. The personal and property:
rights OF the citizens protected heretofore by
laws enacted by the votes Of a majority mag be
impaired or destroyed by the votes of a mere.
fraction Of the members OF Congress; for il
loss than q majority may constitution
ally pass measures in the House, Of
course the same thing may be done in the
Senate. In the same way enormous sums OF
money may be appropriated from the public
treasury for the most unconstitutional and i'm
proper purposes, and the interests of the tax
payers completely subordinated to the selfish
demands of private individuals and corpora
| tions. Without entering here into dis
cussion of the constitutional questioss
| involved in this proposition, We earn
estly protest against it rs measure OF the
most dangerous and revolutionary character:
Any rule for practice which enables the Speaker
or the Clerk to pass bills by counting members
present and not voting will inevitably result In
destroying the confidence Of the people in the
| integrity Of legislation and engender contro-
SCASNS 0A4u utSdblOuS "u1Cu No cdSAy
avoided by an adherence to the mandate OF the
/ constitution as heretofore Interpreted
Relative to the rule by which the
| Speaker may refuse to entertain dila-
tory motions, the report says under this,
even, the right of appeal from the de-
cision of the Speaker as to what is a
| dilatory motion might be denied and
! adds:
1
! lions heretofore recognized by the House, and
7 simply providing that members may make such
! motions only as the Speaker may see proper to
| permit and take only such appeals from his de-
/ clsions as he may see proper to allow, would at
| least have merit Of directncss and simplicity.
| Such q rule would be more unreasonable or IN
| just than the one now proposed"
! A NATIONAL UNIVERSITY