The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1891-01-19
TWO NOTABLE SPEECHES
The Debate Over the Motion
to Bounce Senator"
Stuhr.
PARLIAMENTARY Oh JUDICIAL.
Senator Werts' Argument For the
Majority, and Gardner's
Caustic Reply.

i
no end Of talk in political circles over the
two main speeches made in the Senate
last Tuesday afternoon over the motion
| to oust Stuhr from the seat 70 which tic
people OF Hudson County had elected
Edward f. Mcdonald: and I send You
stenographic reports for publication. Tie
question was a novel one, and the arQu-
ments are presented on botn sides with
unusual skill. Senator Werts spoke for
the resolutions and Senator Gardner
against them. The speeches in full were
as follows
Senator Werts:-The point Of objection
raised against the resolution introduced
Is this:-That the matters to which the
resolution refers ara res ad5udicdta. that
| Is TO say that it has become matter so
4 adjusted and SO decided that. whether
| rightly or wrongly decided, that decision
/ is not subject to review. That, in short,
/ is the attitude Of the Senator from Hudson
| (Stuhr) in respect 10 this resolution. Now
the doctrine Of res adjudtcdtd, as it is
called, Is a doctrine well established in
law with reference to RIGHTS TO be admin
istered, rights to be declared, and rights
| to be enforced BY courts Of law as be-
| tween individuals. But this doctrine Of
res dd1ttdfcdtd never found a place in
parliamentary law and has never become
| the accepted doctrine of parliamentari-
ans.
DOCTRINE CAN'T APPLY.
And 1t cannot become q part OF parlia-
menfary law from the very nature OF con-
stttutional provisions. Il is provided In
the Constitution not only Of the United
States, but generally in the Constitutions
Of the several States, that each legislative
house shall be the judge of the election
returns and qualifications of its own
members. And why Is that provision in
serted. Mr.. President Solely and ex-
clusively to prevent this doctrine of res
ddjisdfcdtd applying. Each House is the
judge Of the qualifications, the election
of its own members When are they the
judges When are they the judges Of
the qualification While il may be true
that this Senate is continuous body in
so far that its legal existence never dies.
yet the Senate that assembled in this
House in 1890 was undoubtedly the Judge
of the qualifications Of its own members.
Isn't this Senate equally so Is IL any,
where said In the Constitution or any
where provided that this House may be
the Judge OF the qualifications OF its own
members to-day but not tomorrow
What Is The doctrine OF res 0d5stdfcat9
| to which the senator refersy On ihe
| fouFtssnth day OF January. 169D there
appeared In this Senate chamber Senators
elected from the counties Of Ocean, Nor
ris. Atlantic, Bergen, Cumberland, Mer-
Ger and Hudson Each and every one of
them presented his credentials to the in
spection OF that Sena te. And In but one
single case was protest presented, to
WIT, in the case Of the Senator from Hud-
son. But SO far as the credentials or
every other Senator are concerned, their
credentials not being questioned their
cases became res ddjudicdtd.
DOES HE STAND ALoNEs
But with reference 70 the Senator from
| Hudson protest was presented. and
upon that protest and pending . proposed
| investigation, the Senator from Hudson
was sworn in The investigation pro-
| ceeded and the Senate did not finally end
1 its case until the 22d day of May, 1890.
and on that day the Hudson county cre-
dentials, SO TO speak, the case of the Hud-
/ son county Senator became a matter res
| ddJldicdtd. But, MIR. President, IL was
no more res Gdjtdfcdtd than were the
cases that were tried and determined on
the 14th of January, 1890 So, Mr.. Presi-
/ dent, with respect TO holding an adjudged
and adjudicated title, we all stand here
/ in the same position. One title is just as
good as another, and one is just as reyoc-
able as another. if you please so TO speak.
/ But If the position of the Senator from
Hudson be sound, here we stand in a
| Senate of twenty-one members now in
! this House, and this House may judge OF
Il
/ OF twenty Senators, but not of the Sena-
/ tor from Hudson. Can there be any
soundness in such a doctrines appre-
hend not. To state the proposition is to
show its absurdity.
Now. then. Mr.. President. it is perfectly
competent for this Senate TO say TO me-
| the Senator from Morris, I'VE propose TO
investigate your title to your seat. ]
saw My title is res ddjltdtcutd. / passed
up my credential here They were passed
upon. No protest was made. / was
sworn in" Now. that is just exactly the
attitude of Mr.. Stuhr. Every Senator's
credentials are supposed to be inspected
AN investigation is suppose to take place
to the claim of every Senator to his right
to his seat. There can be no doubt about
| that. Now, then, If it be true that the
title of every Senator is open 10 invesfi-
cation, what is TO prevent this actionf
| This Senate is a continuous body. It Is
| composed in a large part Of those who
participated in and are aware of all the
proceedings in this Investigation
UNANIMOUSLY UNJUST
And what does this resolution recitef
/ Why that inasmueh as that action of the
Senate was without right and against
/ judgment and without testimony to war
rant it-in other words, in that action
/ the Senate committed a monstrous
wrong. We now propose to right that
wrong. How do you propose to reght the
wrongs Simply by saying that that reso-
/ luton which accomplished this wrong
shall be resclnded and for nothing hold
en-. Questions of parliamentary law as
| applied to ordinary business have no ref
| erence to this case. Decisions and notices
and all that sort of thing have no applica-
/ ton here. This is not motion 10 recon-
slider. This is a resolution directed 70
members seats question OF the highest
privilege, bound by no rules laid down IN
/ The books.
SENATOR 6ARDNERE SPEECH
| Senator Gardner:-I take il Ihat It VIII
be serious denied BY nobody that il any
thing ia this country was ever well estab-
| ished with a long line OF authorities.
/ among which there IS hardly Conflict or
a difference, it is THAI Legislative body
like this. acting under the Constitution ia
the performances of Constitutional duty
| that makes a finding like this. after IN
yesIigation and testimony as 20 the title
to a seat, that il IS acting not IN an ortiln-
airy parliamentary capacity. bnt y u1ah-
| ing judicial determination. Very WelIl
| This Senate, or the Senate Of 1880. actinx
| iudicialiy under the Constitution, entered
upon a laborlous aud long inyesrlgaf ion.
as the president well knows. took 3.ox
pages OF testimony. not one page ot which
/ fai ed TO uncover crime. anu IN many
single Instances crime upon crime. and
that testimony was considered and re-
| snlt judicially reacned. Now what = the