St. Paul daily globe., 1891-01-15
Objections to the Protest Ar
bitrarily Ruled Out by
President Ives.
And the Democrats Will Re-
taliate in a Protest That
Will Scopeh.
The Routine mill Of the Senate
Begins to Grind Away
Meprily.

former. after several days spent III de-
liberatlng over the presumption OF the
majority in attempting to control legIS-
laton in the upper house, seems 10
have grown fairly furious, and when Ill
the latter mood sat down and wrote
what he termed protest against the
actions of the majority in taking the
appointment of the committees away
from the lieutenant governor. In this,
of course. no mention was made of the
way III which the Republican senators
laid down last Friday, nor is there any
intimation of the attempt the Re-
pubiicanS made to wreSt the committees
from tue opposition.
After completing the work OF com
posing this extraordinary and SANDER
Gus paper. Senator Smith took it to the
Younger members on the Republican
side and persuaded sixteen of them to
Join with him in signing it. OF course,
such men as Senators SanbOrn and
Dean, of Ramsey; Burkhardt, of Wa
basha: Glader, of Kandiyohi, and
Searles. of Washington. declined to APP
peud their names to document that
was in itself the grossest breach OF priv
ilege ever introduced into the minutes
Of a legislative body.
The senators We're rather slow IN
reaching the senate chamber yesterday
morning, the majority party senators
being unaware of the bomb John ID y
Smith had in store for them, and ac-
cordingly it was 1910 o'clock when the
body was raped to order by the preSld-
ing officer. Resolutions were passed
appointing r. Ii. McGhee postmaster
and A. o. Styve cloakrOom keeper, and
then Senator March, OF Hennepln,
offered joint resolution providing for
the appointment Of three members from
each house, one from each party, to ln-
yestigate into the adyiSablity of Mime
sofa making an exhibit at the WoridS
fair at Chicago IN 1898.
Here Senator John Day Smith OBJ
tanned the floor and sent ill his pro
test" signed by just seventeen of the
Republican senators. This he asked to
have placed on the journal under sec
ton l6 of article Of the constitution,
which runs as follows:
Two or more members of either house shall
have liberty to dissent and protest against
any act or resolution which they may THINK
injurious to the public. or to any individual
and have the reason OF their dissent entered
on the journal.
Under the above provision CT the con
stitution there is no doubt that the
members on Senator Smiths protest
had the right to enter protest against
anything TO which they took exception,
but it is equally clear that the insulting
language and epithetS applied to the
members of the majority should not
have been allowed. On this the fight
took place, Senator John Day Smith
and Senator Donnelly sharing the talk
ing with the lieutenant governor. The
protest follows in full as read:
Mr.. President we. the undersigned mem
bers OF the senate of the tWenty-SeYenth seS-
sion of the legislature of the state OF Mime
sofa. desiring to avail ourselves of the sacred
privileges guaranteed to us by the constitu-
ton of the state, do most respectfully but
earnestly dissent and protest against the
passage by the senate of the resolution tax
ing from the lieutenant governor the right OF
appointing the committees of the senate, anu
eiecting the committees recommended by q
Joint caucus of the Democrats and Alliance
men of this body, believing said acts to be in
furious 10 the public. and that they tehu 10
weaken and destroy the principles on which
representative and constitutional government
is founded and ask that the following, our
reasons therefor, be entered upon the journal
of the senate of this day:
First-FOr the first time in the history of
this state has the presiding officer of this
senate, elected by the suifrages of the peo-
pie, and at the same time every member OF
this body was elected, been denied the right
of the appointment of the senate commit
tees a right universally conceded to that Off
Ger by precedent and courtesy. The lien
tenant governor is made part of the ex-
ecutve department of the sttte and the pre-
siding officer of this body by the constitu
ton, and IS placed in that responsible posi-
ton by the people, III whom all political
power is inherent. We believe this revolu
Tionary attempt has been made successful by
hucksiering in and jeopardizing the agricul,
tural interests of this state by designing and
ambitious men and political manipulatots.
Second-That the prosperity OF the state
depends mainly upon the prosperity of the
agricultural interests of the state. Leelsla
ton should have i'll view the fostering and
encouragement OF these interests which con
tribute SO much to the material prosperity OF
the state. The Democratic-AIliance fusion
made for the purpose of obtaining the pos
session of a few unimportant offices anC
controlling the appointment Of committees IL
this body IN ord that legislation might
thereby be influenced. has been engineered
by Democratic leaders in the state and con
sented to by the Self-cOnstItuted leaders o
the Farmers Alliance i'll this body, and ha
resulted in depriving the farmers of thi
state of their proper representation upor
many important committees.
The farmers are especially interested il
all proposed legislation passed upon by the
committees on finance, agriculture, banks
and banking, roads and bridges, public lands
towns and counties, and yet they have b,
this Democratic and Alliance combination
but one member of each of these commit
tees. They have only an insignificant min
ority representation on the committee OF
railroads and grain and warehouses. From
this it will he seen that the substantial inter
ests of the farmers of this state. without re
gard to party, have been bartered away for
few paltry subordinate Positions i'll the sen
ate with which the political debts OF theS
selfconstituted leaders have been paid.
Third The Republican party casting
plurality Gf the votes on the late state elec
lion, and haYing twenty-siX out OF the fifty
four members OF this body is given unde
this iniQuitous combination smaller repre-
sentation upon the most important commit
tees of the senate than the Democratic party
which has only fifteen members of the ser
ate In this way the will of the people ha
been thwarted aud their interests betrayed
Entertaining these views we cannot cor
sistentIy with our duties as senators ana eli
izens of this state permit the senate to tax
this action without entering this our forms
protest againSti it.
Senator Donnelly, as soon as the resC
luton had been read. took the floor an
declared that 30 senator had the righ
to embody in protest language tina
was insulting. IL Insist that this is a
insult" said he iii conclusion.
Il call the gentleman to ORDER" sal
Senator Smith.
1.-The chair will hold that it is a COT
stitutional right for senators to enter
protest" said the lieutenant goyerno
blandlY.
Senator Donnelly then declared h
would appeal and was answered wit
an order to take his seat, the presidin.
officer ruling that there was no ques
ton before the house. After some
what lengthy tilt between the lieuter
ant governor and Mr.. Donnelly wit
Senator Smith obiecting on the side
Senator McHale took the floor and oil
jected to the slanderOus language.
motion was made to strike out the il
snlting portions of the protest the prC
siding officer saying:
THAT may be DONE"
Here the sergeant-at-arms of til
house appeared and notified the senat
that the house was ready to meet tn
senate In joint session, and a recess wa
taken.
When the senators returned to thei
shamher after hearing the governor