Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1890-02-08
THElR1 POSITION.

House-The West virginia Contest De-
cided-Smithi Seated. i3
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4.-The House on
Monday byia vote of 166 to 0settled the
West Virginia contested election case
by ousting jackson (Dem.) and giving
his seat'to Smith (Rep.), the Demo
Gratis refusing to vote. For the first
time this session, however, the Repub-
lioans had a full quorum present.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4.-Mr. Carlisle
has prepared for publication the follow
ing statement of the present position of
the Democratic members Of the House,
which is to be signed by all of them
'Tho present situation In the House of Rep
ruaentatvcs is so anomalous and thcunprece.
denie1 decisions of the Speaker are so full of
danger to the integrity of future legislation
that we consider II our duty to submit u brief
statement OF the facts in order that the pro-
priety of the course we have taken may be
fairly determined. 'f .'H ''
although nearly two months have elapsed
since the committee on rules was appointed II
has made no report except the partial one made
on December authorizing the appointment of
other House committees and defining their
jurisdictionl, and consequently the House has
been compelled to conduct It's business without
any rules or system except the general parlia-
mentnry law as construed by the Speaker. The
during all this time, and is still, SO far as
rules for its government are concerned,
in precisely the same condition aS n popular
meeting or political convention, in which the
chairman and his partlsans absolutely
control all the proceedings. No meas
ure can get before the House for con
sideration unless the Speaker chooses to
allow it to be presented, and members have
no means OF knowing in advance what they are
to be called upon to discuss or decide This is
the first time in our history that a Legislative
assembly, or even public meeting, has
attempted to transact business for any
considerable period without regular code
OF rules prescribing the order of its
proceedings, and the Inconvenience and injus
tice resulting from such an attempt have been
forcibly illustrated in the present instance
The Speaker has repeatedly during these eX-
traordinary proceedings refused to entertain
parliamentary motions that have. been recog-
nized as legitimate ever since the Government
was established, and when attempts have
been made to appeal from his decisions he has
refused to submit the question to the House.
BY his arbitrary rulings sustained in some in
stances by less than quorum, he has subvert-
ed nearly every principle OF constitutional and
parliamentary law heretofore recognized in the
House.
'.This personal and partisan domination Of
the House was submitted to--though not with
out repeated protests-unti we became con-
vinced that 1t was the deliberate purpose of the
Speaker and his supporters to proceed without
rules to oust the Democratic members whose
seats are contested and admit their Republican
opponents, whether elected or not"
The statement then recites the pro-
ceedings of the last few days and the
Speakers action in counting members
not voting in order to make quorum,
and quotes the provisions of the consti-
tuition regarding a quorum, the right of
a less number than quorum to compel
the attendance of members, and the pro-
vision that when one-tifth of the mem
bers present desire it the yeas and nays
shall be taken on any question and en-
tered on the journal 1t continues:
'Since the beginning of the Government
under the constitution, more than hundred
years ago the House of Representatives and
the Senate have uniformly constructed
the first clause Of the constitution quoted
above to mean that II majority OF
all the members-elect must be pres
ent and actually participate in the trans.
action of business, and that Whenever upon u
call Of the yeas and nays it appeared from the
journal which is the only ofilcial record, that
less than the constitutional quorum has voted
any proposition the vote was u nullity, and
no further business could be done until the
requisite number appeared and voted.
Every presiding officer in the Senate and
every Speaker OF the House except the present
one has held that when less than quorum
voted on q call of the yeas and nays, no matter
how many might be actually present il was
his duty to take notice of the fact and declare
that the pending bill or motion had
not passed. When the vote Is not taken
by yeas and nays it is not entered upon the
journal, but II any member makes the point
that no quorum has voted the proceed
ing is n nullity and the vote must be taken
over. The presumption OF the law is that when
of legislative body are regular and valid,
and, therefore, when the official record does
not show that less than quorum voted, or
attention is not called to the fact in such n way
as to furnish legal evidence of II, the question
can not be made afterward. Many bills have
been passed when there wns no quorum voting,
and 1t is equally true that many have passed
when there was no quorum actually present
but this does not prove that the proceedings
would have been valid in either case If the
official record had shown the fact. ~. . ..-.,
I'm order to secure certainty and stability in
the administration of the law it is rule in our
Jurisprudence that when particular construc-
tion OF u constitution or statute has been for q
long time acquiesced in, not only by those whose
duty II Is to execute 1t but also by those whose
personal and property rights are affected by it,
the courts will recognize it as the true con-
struction and enforce 1t accordingly. Even
If this were an original question II would not be
difficult to show that the practical construction
of the constitution which has prevailed in the
House and Senate for over 100 years is the cor.
rect one. Speaker Reed himself, when in the
minority on the floor of the House, stated the
true meaning and the true philosophy of the
constitution when he said:
"fThe constitutional idea Of quorum is not
the presence of amajority Of all the members OF
the House, but majority of the members pres.
ent and participating in the business of the
House. 1t is not the visible presence, but their
Judgment and votes, which the constitution
calls for.' l...IL0 W III "
General Garfield, Mr.. Blaine, Mr. Hawey,
Mr.. Conger, Mr.. Robeson and other eminent
Republicans have taken tho same position, and
their arguments have Never been answered.
II any legal or political question can be settled
in this country by the long acquiescence OF
jurlsts and Statesmen OF all parties, certainly
this question has passed beyond the domain OF
discussion "a,
when, therefore, the present Speaker re-
pudiated this settled construction of the con
stitution, and decided that when the onicial
I'D Al. Ia,