The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-04-02
THE HOUSE CLOSURE RULE.

WASHINGTON, April 1.-Representative
Bland, the champion of free silver in the
house, in conversation with a reporter ex'
pressed the opinion that considerable MIS-
understanding existed throughout tne
country on the subject of the proposed
closure rule which large number of
the Democratic members of the house ask
ed 10 have adopted TO expedite action Oh
the silver bill Mr. Bland said:
The difficulty we have had with the
silver bill is an apparent mlsunderstand-
ing as TO the real nature OF the rule that
the speaker had intended 10 report 10 the
house. It is not a closure rule further
than it IS in aid of the previous question.
The previous question is the closure rule OF
the house, We have had il for over fifty
years. There is no closure rule in the senate.
The rule proposed TO he reported to pass
the silver bill was simply a rule to prevent
filibustering by declaring it TO be out OF
order for the speaker to entertain fill
clustering motions. The standing rule
that we have adopted gives to the com
mittee on rules the power in this way to
stop filibustering That IS TO say, the
committee on rules reports to the house a
rule providing that pending proposition
on which the house wishes TO come to a
vote the speaker IS absolutely prohibited
from entertaining filibusterng motions
When this rule is reported the house
is the house that must determine whether
or not the house wishes TO stop filibuster-
ing. The difference between this rule aud
the rules of The last congress Is that the
rules of the Fifty-frst congress gave TO
the speaker himself the absolute power
TO refuse to entertain any dllatory
motions. The rules OF the Eifty-trst
congress vested this power in the speaker.
The rules of this congress vest this power
in the house ITSELF but the house can not
act upon it without the report from the
committee on rules. 1t seems that the
enemies Of the silver bill, after ascertain
ing that the speaker intended to report
rule to prevent flibustering, raised hue
and cry against closure. great many
of our members being new members were
misled as to its actual nature. Since the
mutter is over, have learned to my salts
faction that the speaker was beset by a
good many members who had voted for
free coinage aud they told him they would
not vote for such rule. Consequently he
was apprehensive that the majority of his
own party would vote against him. In
view of this fact he changed his mind and
refused to report closure rule until
majority asked for il.
II criticised his action very severely but
did so without full information as to the
true situation. do not cenSure him at
this time for his action. During Mr.. Car
isles administration as speaker filibuster-
ing became so common that it was inn
sible to pass bill where a few active
opponents filibustered against it, and
acarly every bill of Importance was fill
clustered against 1t was a notable fact
that General Weaver of Iowa, then a
member of the house, acting alone, pre-
vented the transaction of business in the
house for two or three days, until the
speaker. the house and the country were
disgusted with the scene. The Democrats
ihen realized the necessity of some rule by
which fiibustering could be prevented by
she house, and had the Republicans in the
Fifty-first congress gone no further than
Dur rules 20 now the Democrats could not
have reasonably objected to them"