The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1892-02-06
THE HOUSE ADOPTS RULES.
Ex-Speaker Reed Found i'm a HumOr
to Go Through a Pumping
Process.
He Descants Upon the House Rules
and Relieves Himself Of Su-
perfluOus Gall.
The Peoples Party Representatives
Wish 1t Understood They
Are In II.
Congressional Notes and Gossip.

WAsHINGToN. Feb i.-Thc considcra-
ton of the rules reported by the com
mittcc on rules was concluded in the
house today. Reed OF Maine, on behalf !
of the republicans, then offered us Il
substitute therefore the rules of the 51st
congress; lost without division. The
code of rules was then agreed to.
Manderson, from the committee on
military affairs, reported a bill in the
senate granting to the state of Wyoming
certain lands in the Fort Russell mill
tary reservation as grounds for agricul-
tural exhibitions, and one for the i'm
provement of the military reservation at
Walla Walla, Wash. Both were placed
on the calendar Senate then adjourned
till Monday.
After the house this afternoon agreed
to the new code of rules ey-Speaker
Reed was sought out by an Associated
Press reporter and asked to talk upon
the subject. He sat down upon one of
the large sofas in the rear of the hall.
and after a moments consideration
said:
"The withdrawal by the Louisiana
lottery of its demand for new charter
is one of the triumphs of the Fifty-frst
congress. The country will remember
the promptness with which the house
committee on postofllces and post roads,
under the chairmanship of Gen. Bing
ham. even before the president s message
! on the subject was considered and on
| the 2Sth of July reported bill to de
prive the lottery of the use of the United
States mails, the committee on rules
very soon set apart the 10Th of August
for its consideration by the house and
the bill passed that body that day Now
! that the supreme court has sustained
| the nstItutionaiity of the act even the
lottery company recognizes the futility
of its existence. The acts of the fifty
first congress are all standing well the
test of time"
With regard to the rules just adopted
| Reed further said that: "The principle
of responsible government in the house
had been more ruthlessly recognized in
that part of the new regulations relating
to the powers of the committee on rules
than was ever dreamed of in the Fifty
first congress. The power to enforce the
will of the house was lodged in an i'm
portant measure in that committee so
that actually legislation could have full
swing while the bill of an individual
member, even if approved Of by the
house, was left to the mercy Of a tilibus-
tcrcr. The right Of a present quorum
had been denied and the farce of mem
ber present for the purpose absent had
been revived. All this. however, time
and the supreme court will take care Of.
Meanwhile it will be source Of regret
to the country that more liberal meas
urcs for the promotion of innocent. use
full non partisan and necessary legisla-
tion has not been adopted. 1t might
have been done AMI the house really
wanted to do it. but the majority having
fought the campaign on the abuse Of
the rules of the Jlst congress, it was too
much to expect Of poor fallen human
nature to make such confession Of
error The debate, however. has shown
that the good example of the last two
years has not been entirely lost. What
used to be called tyranny and is
now on the road to be called
good sense" has been established in the
great and unexamplcd power conferred
on the committee on rules. The folly of
wasting the time of the house in the ref
erence of bills has been forever done
away with. This with the sound eX-
pressions as to the folly of the doctrine
of the rights of minoritics which fall
from the lips of eminent democrats dur
ing the debate, show conclusively how
sure reason and sense is to assert itself
in some measure even after the fiercest
conflict. | am disposed to thank the
democrats for some progress and to hope
that during the session further wisdom
may come to them. In the new regula-
tions an old member who knows the
ropes has preserved much of his obstruc-
tive power and veto power has been
conferred on each member who knows
how the committee on rules shall inter
vene. But this will do less harm than
formerly Thanks to the example set by
the last congress, the country knows the
house of representatives can do all it
wants to do. What it don't know it is
responsible for. That the ostrich has
left off concealing himself by putting his
head in the sand.
The peoples party of the house of rep
resentatives is intact as a political or
ganization and united as to party meas
ures, which it will press upon the two
houses of the fifty ysecond congress. In
caucus which met before the organza-
ton of the house and nominated Repre-
sentative Watson of Georgia as candi-
date of the peoples party for speaker OF
the house nine Independent representa-
tiyes then assembled decided to preserve
their political autonomy on all questions
| To the end of the session. Within the
last few days various reports of alleged
dissension in the ranks of the nine peo
pie's representatives have been current
and third party men tonight complain
that these rumors have been inspired by
politicians Of other parties and tele
graphed throughout the country purely
for political feet. To silence these in
sidious rumors in their inception the
regular representatives of the peoples