The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1891-03-18
EX-SENATOR JOHN J. INGALLS,

OeI, rnm anu Ol&nlue0s True TO MS 70.
utical Convictions, But Opposed to Other
Than Above BOARD Methods.
The member of the Fifty-frst con-
gress who has been most talked about
since adjournment, strange to say, is
Senator Ingalls,. With all his idiosyn-
crasies, he is universally acknowledged
to have been an ideal presiding officer.
having the rules of the senate and gen.
eral parliamentary law at his tongues
end, and giving his decisions with abso-
lutte impartiality towards friends and
foes on the floor. His dignity of pres
ence, impressive manner and irreproach-
able attire added not little to the eff
fectiveness of his work in the chair. AL
though as sarcastic naturally as Speak
er Reed. and having a ready wit and a
marvellous command of language when
required to speak without notice, he
never descended, while presiding, to
tilt Of words with the opposition or gave
offense by his bearing. In this one re-
spect he will leave place untitled, and
all his shortcomings as politician,
practical and theoretical. can not re-
move this fact from the minds of his as
sociates on the floor or OF persons who
watched him daily as a conspicuous fig
ure in the panorama of national legis-
lation. 1t is no more than just to Mr..
ingalls, to say now that to him, per-
haps more than to any one man. is due
the defeat of the force bill. This is a
fact which has not been brought to the
front before, because the public knowl-
edge of it might have complicated sit
uation which was too satisfactory to adj
NIT of any change except for the worse.
On more than one occasion the radical
republican leaders had prepared to
throw precedent, dignity and honor to
the dogs and pass the force bill by
coup d'etat. They saw that time was
slipping fast away, and that their bill
would surely be talked to death if that
courtesy were shown and that latitude
given to the enemy which the rules OF
their body demanded To attempt to
change the rules permanently was out
of the question. That would not only
arouse the strong antagOnism among
the conservatives on the republican
side, but invite as nearly endless flow
of talk as the bill itself: and so long as
the old rules remained in force even a
proposal to change them would not peg
NIT the peremptory cutting off OF de-
bate. MIR. ingalls, was not hostile to
the force bill itself. With certain mod
!fications it would have been sufficient
ly satisfactory to have drawn a very
willing vote from him.
Neither was he unalterably opposed
to the permanence of the rules in the
interest of expediting business; but he
did object most vigorously to the idea
of making special rule to fit single
case, unless it could be done with the
regular process laid down in the rules
as they now exist. Hence, to every
suggestion of Selling by force a power
which was not lawfully conferred upon
the majority of the senate. Mr.. ingalls,
responded with SO emphatic a negative
as to put the scheme to rout. The chief
plot of the session was. as stated in this
correspondence at the time, to have the
presiding officer at a certain stage of
the proceedings refuse to recognize a
democrat for any purpose whatever. On
the republican side every senator was
to be in his seat One of them was to
demand recognition and receive it. He
would bring the debate to close, and,
as the democrats would be given no
chance to interrupt, vote would be
taken either then or by agreement the
following day. This would have been
high-handed, and would doubtless
have called forth very loud
and energetic remonstrance from
the democratic side, but, as no
senator is in order who speaks
without recognition from the chair. any
noisy demonstration would have been
quelled promptly by the sergeat-at-
arms. On the other, hand if the demo-
Gratis had signifed their Indignation by
rising in a body and retiring from the
chamber, the republicans would still
have quorum present to proceed with
the business in hand. The occupant of
the chair, in order to carry out such a
programme, must be a man of great
audacity and iron nerve. The vice.
president was out of the question, as he
had too nice a sense of the dignity of
the chair and too uncertain loyalty to
the bill itself to let any approach him
on the subject. But there was Mr.. In
gals Had he not said, in the plainest
terms, that the golden rule of politics
was summed up in the word succeed"
Did not he scott at weak partisanship,
and deride any theory of political action
which did not comprehend dividend
of some sort? So to Mr.. Ingalls, the
plan was carried and he was calmly no.
tilted of his important share in it. To
the establishment of everyone concerned
he fatty responded, No"
Why not?
Because that was not the sort of bust
ness for which he had accepted the
presidency pro tempore. He was to en-
force the rules of the senate-nOt to
override them. Well. would he be so
good as ID absent himself from the chair
some day, so as to let one of his fellow
senators carry out the plan and wind up
the long, lingering fight, and release
the senator's regular work from further
bondage? No: he would not do that
either. If he did he would be just as
6ishonorable as if he were in the chair