Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1892-09-29
A RECORD Of FAILURE
Ex-Speaker Reeds Review Of
the Last Congress.
ITS RECKLr5s EXTRAVAGANCE

ITS RECKLr5s EXTRAVAGANCE
Preten>~. Of Economy Made, but Not
Lived Up appropriated s.e, ,Odn,-
600 in Fifteen Miuutes-Sew Rule. er-
sus Ec"d'- 4 Scathins Arraigumcnt.
lCopyright. l'9., by the New York Press. Pub
lsaci 10y peruIissiou.l
The barbarian army of Xerxes has re-
crossed the He'lespout with bedraggled
leGlons. much beaten and discomfted.
Everything it has tried 10 do has been
failure, and 'is every action has been in
effect a. approval Of all that the
Democracy lrofcSscd in the last CON
grcss am! IN the last campaign
1t has rot only grieyously sinned. but
has sinned a-ai:l,, light. aud it, history
is history cf confessions and failures.
of admissions and retreats. That snch
should b" it> history Is not III the least
unnatural. The present must ALWAYS
JON onto The past. and men are SO
made up that they often sacrifice a good
and useful opportunity IN the present, in
order not 10 confess Ia a bad course Of
action in thu past
v hen the Democracy met together
seven months ago it was evident to
them all that There must b.. some change
of their old rni", If they meant even 10
seem to DO business. But during the
last session they had said so much. had
hurdenel the AR with 50 inanv outeries.
that they coald not frankly and man
fully adopt That system Of rules which
had had The sanction of the severest
trial that ever system was subjected
70, a trial in which all partisan op,,osi-
ton had been paralyzed. and the busi-
ness Of the country had gone on undis-
MAYED by clamor and undisturbed bv
noise. The Democracy felt that they
must somewhere have for themselves
the power they had 50 loudly fouted
when used by others Nevertheless
they also felt that for very shame's sake
they must - conceal it that the world
would not find il out Bat the attemp.
II cnnCeal'u"'.t was in vain. Everybody
ROW knows that the very power thev SO
bitterly con Iained Of when exercised
hy the speaker iInpartially on all bills,
they arranged 10 have exercised on
special occasions by the committee on
rules. which l. itself the mere creature
Of the s.eaA"t and they soon found that
before the committee on rules could ex-
ercise this power the speaker himself
must as ''iyranically," as did his prede-
cessor, override the decisions Of Demo
clAtic speaker, which up 70 that date
had been untouched.
The speaker II the last house endured
the waste for d fortnight OF two precious
hours every cay rather than oyerrule a
decision Of Speaker Carlisle that the
journal must hrs, lie read before any
other busins-,. That ruling seemed -
intrenched IN good sense as 10 be un-
assailable. The speaker of the presen.
house. however, before even fihbuster
had begun. oyerruled Mr.. Carlisle and
gave the proceedings Of the committee
on rule, precedence over everything but
the chaplain. When one thinks of the
hubbub and noise, the wrath and tur-
moil. the loud voiced patriotism which
greeted similar action Of the committee
on rules, though made decorously and
in order, ono hardly knows which t.
admire most, the sudden somersault
of the Democracy or their notion that
they have concealed it.
The Republicans were consistent
throughout. and offered 10 the Democ-
racy in majority the same control which
they themselves had exercised. They
did more than that-they offered the
complete control which every majority
ought to have. together with the right
10 effectually compel the attendance and
action of members. OF course such
power would nave meant responsibility
equally large and equally comprehen-
sive. The offer was refused, though
rules We're adopted which sanctioned
actions on the part Of the committee on
rules which were the subjects of daily
and regular denunciation when Repub-
licans were charged with the conduct
of public business.
When the rules were adopted the new
members Were told by US what the re-
suits would be, and large minority,
perhaps even a majority, of Democrats
have since and often expressed sorrow
and regret that they had not had at the
beginning the sense and knowledge
which they have now acquired. Instead
of giving freedom Of debate only free
dom of opposition has been given.
Instead of the orderly discussion of
great questions the time of the house
has been wasted on roll calls and trivial
debate. and all the measures OF real i'm
portance have passed under suspension
of the rules by sheer force of numbers.
As specimen Of how these rules have
operated in the way of increased delib-
Grafton and care let me give you few
examples. Remember that this has
been the long session Of Democratic
congress, led by the very men who were
so clamorous only two years ago for
freedom of debate. Remember also
that there was no systematic day by day
waste Of time by the opposition; no per-
petual hand to hand fight actuated by
partisan feeling and spurred on by indi-
vidual anger. The minority behaved
with gentleness and modesty, partly
because they were very good men and
partly because there were very few OF
them. Under such circumstances one
could almost feel sure that deliberation,
debate and wisdom would tread every
day peaceful paths, holding each other
by their little hands. Nevertheless 1t
was not so.
No such unscrupulous suppression OF
debate has ever discredited any other
house Of representatives as was exhib-
tied in the instances to which L am
about to refer. Bills Of the gravest and
most serious importance were rushed
through With scandalous haste. without
even the poor excuse Of lack OF time.
On June &. after session OF SIX
months, Mr.. Holman was forced to rush
through tn. mouse the legislative e1-
ecutive and judicial appropriation bill
carrying zee. .00O, 900, occupying fifteen
Record columns of the finest type. Gov
ering thousands OF items and containing
15O. 900 words. under suspension OF the