St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-01-21

ODGylllp iii us
The right of appeal from the decision OF
the chair is the fundamental right OF all par
liamentary bodies, and essential to the liber-
ties of the people and the integrity of repre-
sentative government. Cushings Mammal
(page 56S, section 1.460) says: ''Ihe presid-
ing officers of the American legislative as
semblies, whether members or not OF the
bodies over which they preside, have the
same authority in this respect Win lne
speaker of the house OF commons; and IL is
usually made their duty also by special rule
of their respective assemblies, TO decide all
questions of order, subject to an appeal of
the assembly. 1t is doubtful whether they
would have the right to decide question of
order except with the authority. expressed or
implied, OF the body. In parliament all de-
cisions of the speaker may be controlled by
the house. g Grey, 319; Jefferson's Manual,
section II; Legislative manual, p. 109.) def
ferson's Manual. which, by rule 81 OF the
temporary rules of the senate. is made the
governing authority of the senate declares
(page 107 OF Legislative Manual,: Every
question of order shall be decided by the
president without debate, subject to an ap-
peal to the senate"
Bentham's Political Tactics (Work's vol. 2,
p. 34O declares: I'm case of doubt Whlch
person out of number was up hrst IL is tne
province of the speaker 10 decide, that is to
say, Professionally; for, ultimately, nothing
can be decided but by the house"
Rule second of the rules of the state SEN
ate provide, speaking OF the dntles OF the
president of the senate: 'He shall preserve
order and decorum, may speak to points OF
order in preference to members, and shall
decide all questions of order, subject to an
appeal to the senate If the ruling or the
president is allowed to stand unreDuked, we
cease TO be the senate of the state or Mime
sofa. we degenerate into body OF power,
less representatives of the people, permitted
to vote only on such questio Ms as may be
filtered to us through the mind ard con-
science of our presiding officer. Such adop-
ton is as abhorrent to the dictates OF com
mon sense as it is to the fundamental prln-
ciple Of this great nation, that the people
must rule unrestrained by cZar or kaiser:
We also protest against the ruling OF the
president of the senate that legislative as
sembly in this state has no control over the
character of any communication Wnlcn any
two members may sign. and denomlnate a
protest." but that the same is entitled III lts
entirety to a place on the imperishable rec
ords OF the body, however false or scandal
GUS or criminal it may be. The provisions OF
section IL OF article of the constitution are
wise and just but as they confer q speclal
privilege they must be strictly interpreted.
We hold that under that section any two
members have a right to protest against any
thing that tTanspires in the legislative BODY,
and have, as the constitution says,
the reason of their dissent entered upon
the journal. But the word reason means
act complained Of was unjust or unlawful.
Surely no lawyer will pretend that under TINS
provision two unworthy members OF body
have the right to plaster its records with foul
and false assaults upon their associates; as
saults in which there is nothing OF reason or
argument. but simply the plenitude of in
suit. Usually the instincts which govern
gentlemen in their intercourse with each
other are sufficient to prevent any such gross
misapprehensions of the constitutional priv
ilege conferred upon them by the sectlon re-
ferred to. But Nature, we are told, mas
made strange fellows in her time, and may
do so again; and it is possible to conceive
the existence of two men so malignant ana SO
shallow that from the shelter of the constitu-
tional privilege they will cast the fiery darts
of their insults to rankle in the breasts of
those who are to sit in the same chamber
with them for ninety days. we can conceive
the possibility of men, however much 1t may
reflect upon their Maker, so base as to seek
to inject all insolent and lying stump speecn
into the records of a lawmaking body, under
the guise of constitutional protest. Against
the possibility of the existence of such men
parliamentary law has provided. We read
in Cushing's Manual, section S19, page 1Q7:
'If a protest or any pbrt OF It, or any OF tne
reasons are disrespectful to the house, or IN
any respect improper to remain upon the
journal, they may be ordered to be eX-
plunged"
ANY other course would lead to ridiculous
conclusions. Suppose two members, drunken
or corrupt, should falsely charge the presld-
ing officer or senator with murder, bribery OF
incest and claim a constitutional right to
have their charge spread abroad upon the
journal what would be the remedy of the
aggrieved party? Section -. article 4, OF the
constitution of the state, provides that Tor
any speech or debate in either house they
Hhe members of such house, shall not be ques
toned in any other place" If the interpre-
tation of the president is correct that any
paper which may be called a protest is en-
titled to place on the journal. and that nc
part of it can be stricken out, then it's doubt
full whether such a constitutional privilege
in conjunction with the provision just quoted
would not protect the parties offending from
an action for libel. The result would be thai
the memories of innocent men would be sent
down to posterity branded with 1netfaceable
diShOnor.
In the protest Of certain Republican mem
bers referred, statements are made as recitals
of fact that are ridiculOusly false. For in
stance, it is alleged that there is no prece
dent in the history of the state for the action
of the majority OF thelpresent senate lntakine
from the lieutenant governor the right to ap'
point the standing committees. The fact is
that, in December, 1859, the present political
conditions were precisely reversed the
lieutenant governor, Hon. William Holcome,
was a Democrat, while the majority i'll the
senate was Republican. Without any com
14th of December, 1859, introduced resolu
ton naming list of the standing commit
tees. every chairman being. Republican,
and forced it through the senate by
Democrats the selection Of any part Of the
committees or pay the slightest regard to
their feelings, while in the present senate
the majority ask the minority to name their
share of the committees ana give them the
chairmanships of number OF committees
hi ilyn
children, and indignant that smaller mum
ber was not greater than greater number,
refused to naWe their part of the committees
the majority filled out the list, in nearly
every case, from list which had been pre-
pared by the majority themselves We say
nothing about the other falsehoods embraced
in this remarkable document. AS that the
Alliance senators have been treated uniustly
by t he Democrats, when the fact is they
have received the chairmanships of one
half of the committees, including such i'm
portant committees as finance, railroads.
grain and warehouse, public lands, agri-
culture retTenchment and reform towns and
connties taxes and tax laws, etc., as well as
more than one-half of the patronage of the
senate. 1t is enough to create laugh
under the ribs of death to witness the solic
itude of the Republican senators lest the
Alliance senators did not get enough in the
construction of the committees, when, il
they had had their way, as originally de
signed, the Alliance senators would have haC
nothing whatever. not even the smalleS
clerkship. One is reminded by these lamen
tations of the tears of the crooked-bacE
monster, Richard Ill, as described by the
great poet, For Gloster's show beguiies him
as the mournful crocodile with saron spares
relenting passengers We beg these gentle
men to restrain their lamentations until the
Alliance senators complain of il-treatmen
at the hands of their Democratic brethren.
Ignatius Donnelly, S. W. Leavitt, X. o
Craig, S. P Brown, Henry Keller, Jay Ls
DUE w. W. Mayo, j. W. Craven. E. E. LON
men, George Geissel Orrin Mott, AlonzC
Phillips, James MeHale. G, H. Lienau J. c
Kelly, f. G. Mcmillan, s. A. March, F. Bor
ebert, H. A. Crate, L. G. Wood, F. L. Morse
E. o. Erickson, II. C. Nelson. R. NJ. Probst
field, j. W. Bell, E. Sevatson, W. s. Dedon
j. B. Hompe.
The Hot Debate.
Lieut.. Gov. Ives, asking the indul
gence of the senate, arose to explain the
decisions he had made.
The chair did not hold, and does not hold
that an appeal cannot be taken from any de
cision. The particular case mentioned is
perhaps, the only one in which no appea
could be heard, for the simple reason tha
the appeal was asked from a ruling holding
that motion to strike out certain words of
protest provided for by the constitution
Will Senator Sanborn take the chair?
Senator Sanborp's name was not or