The Brookhaven leader., 1890-02-27
OPPOSITION DEMONS.
What Garfield, HawIey and Reed Said
About Minority Rights.


Having such a man as Reed In his
minds eye, James A. Garfield spoke in
part as follows in the House of Repre-
sentatives January 2s, $780, on propo-
sition to amend the rules to permit the
Speaker, under certain circumstances,
to declare that quorum was consti-
tuted:
Aside from the insuperable objection that I
raised to this proposition, thing that ought
not TO be tried because Of its vagueness, its un-
certainty and the danger that members Of the
House may be imposed upon by an unscTupu-
lous Speaker that may come hereafter-I say
that aside from all that, and beyond all that,
] ask members to consider one fact: This has
been a House Of Representatives since 1882
This House has been the theater Of all sorts OF
political storms and tempests. We have lived
through the times Of great wars, OF great
civil war, when there we're excitements hardly
paraleled In the history Of parliamentary an
nails Yet during all these years no man be-
fore so far as l know, no party before has ever
thought IL necessary to introduce rule that
gives the power of declaring the presence OF
members by the single voice Of one person; a
power that will enable him to bring from his
sick bed dying man and put him down in this
hall, so that the Speaker shall count him,
and make his presence against his will, and
perhaps in his delirium count in order TO make
quorum, so that some partisan measure may
be carried out over the body OF that dying man.
Sir, the moment you get over the line, tho
moment you cross the boundary Of names, the
moment you leap over the iron fence Of the roll
that moment you are out in the vague, and all
| sorts Of disorders may come on.
Joseph r. Hawley, of Connecticut
said in the same debate:
Now. the evil. If there be one in the existing
/ I,s,n tsr
| simply this. that We of the minority claim i
right by sitting silent to prevent less than a
| majority of the mem bers elected from passing
| bill. The worst that can be done by fac
tious minority il that be the term applied 10 1t,
| is to fight until the actual majority Of the mem
bers elected shall pass the bill. When they are
present that friendly majority constitute a
quorum of themselves; they do not require the
assistance of the minority; they run the House
| themselves and pass their bills. In case OF
! what you call factious resistance we drive them
| only to that.
Now we are causing no hardship whatever in
| taking the ground we do against this new rule,
| and think we do no serious wrong to the
| country at any time when we sit in our seats
| and decline to vote. II the majority desires to
| have bill passed in opposition to our wishes,
| then let the majority come here and pass il
| over our heads. At any rate, decline to he
| answerable to anybody but my constituents If |
| sit in my seat and decline 10 vote noId my
self responsible to them and to the constitution
alone 1 take my position with that horse
which is brought to the water but can not be
made to drink, and should say that no Speaker
and no House should compel me to answer yes
or no on roll call
think it very decidedly wrong, in the first
place. that Speaker should hs at liberty to
recognize or declare quorum without formal
count and, in the next place, that by any sort
| of combination of rules there should be law
put upon the statute book and declared in force
which can show, perhaps only quarter or ten
per cent. of the members in favor of it.
And Thomas B. Reed, of Maine, said,
among other things:
The constitutional idea Of quorum
is not the presence of a majority of the mem
| bers Of the House, but majority of the men,
bers present and participating in the business
| of the House 1t is not the visible presence OF
members, but their judgments and their votes
| hot tha Pal