The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1892-04-08
TYRANNICAl RULES.
This Present Speaker IL More Arbitrary
Than His Predecessor.

Tbs Present Speaker IL More Arbitrary
Than His Predecessor.
The discussion of the speakers rul-
ing in the preliminary skirmish over
the silver bill has opened the eyes of
the democrats TO the fact that the
statements made by ex-Speaker Reed
and other republicans when the rules
were being discussed had more force
than they were disposed to believe at
the time. Republican speakers in at
lacking the code of rules submitted by
Speaker Crisp and his colleagues on
the committee pointed out forcibly to
the house the fact, which is admitted
now, that the result of the adoption OF
those rules would be to place IN the
hands of the com mittee on rules more
| arbitrary power than the code under
which the last congress carried on BUSH
ness ever gave to Speaker Reed II
Reed was a car then he was a sort of
| unitarian despot, while under the
! rules of the house to-day there is
triple-headed despotism which can
give the last one points and beat it out.
Gen. Tracy, Bourke Cochran, ard
| Lockwood. of New York, all expressed
| the greatest surprise that Speaker
Crisp should rule in such an arbitrary
manner. and they wanted TO know
whether or not the existing rules are
really more arbitrary than those which
were used for the guidance of the house
in the last congress. The replies re-
! ceived were simply to the effect that
such questions were unparliamentary.
But these gentlemen, together with
the enthusiastic but somewhat fresh
young democrats from Massachusetts,,
Messrs. Hoar, Andrews, Williams and
Crosby. have not hesitated to denounce
the speaker in round terms for making
a decision which they did not like, and
and yet these gentlemen failed entire
ly to strike at the root of the evil
Speaker Crisp was perfectly right in
his construction of the rule which says
that report from the committee of
which he is chairman may be consid
cred at any time. There can be no
question but that the committee on
rules in preparing this particular sec
ton of the code fully understood what
they were doing. for later on in the
series it is plainly stated that other
matters may be called up at any time
after the reading of the journal" II
it was intended that resolutions from
the committee on rules should not have
precedence over the reading of the
journal then it would have been so
stated. Congressman Hoar, Of Massa-
chusetts, thinks now that this particu-
lar rule was incorporated for the sole
purpose of aiding the silver men in car
rying out their wicked designs upon
the peace and political prosperity of
the democrats from New England.
The republican members from the
outset have believed that the rule in
question was devised for the sole pur-
pose of permitting Mr. Crisp and ma
jority of the members of the commit
tee on rules to control every movement
of the house. in other words, that it
was to take the place of the rule in the
last congress which gave the speaker
the right to count a quorum They
tried hard to convince their democratic
associates that this would be the re-
suit of the adoption of the rule, but the
only effect was to make those gentle
men who are now most bitter in their
denunciations of the speakers interpre-
tation of it believe that the minority in
the house desired to defeat it because
it would be embarrassing TO republican
schemes.
Every parliamentarian in the house
admits after careful reading of this
obnoxious rule that the speakers de-
cision was a correct one, and those
among them who are opposed 10 free
silver do not hesitate to assert that Il
places dangerous power in the hands |
of three men which they can use at any
time to throttle the will of the majority |
as well as 10 override the sacred |
rights of the minority" for which there |
was such fearful contention in the |
house in the Fifty-frst congress-
Sioux City Journal