The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-08-30
Mr. Reed Talks Of Their Partial
Adoption by the House.
WHEREAT SPEAKER CRISP TAKES
THE FLOOR TO REPLY.

Nett1es His Successor-The Incident
EnIivens the House Proceedings-In
the Senate, Substitute for the Wilson
Bill Has Been Reported.
Washington, August 29.-In the House
today Mr.. Aiken, Rep, of Michigan,
offered resolutions providing for special
committee of five to investigate the
tFord's theatre disaster" and determine
what action shall be taken for the relief
of the families of the victims. The
resolution was referred to the committee
on rules.
I Mr.. Catehings, Dem., of Mississippi
called up the report of the committee on
rules, reporting rules for the present
House. Mr., Catchings wanted the para
graphs of the rules read seriatim and de-
bated under the five minute rule. &6
Mr.. Reed, Rep, of Maine, demanded
general discussion. Mr. Reed
said he had never heard of such a
proposition as was now made to the
House. If the House wished to cut off
debate, nothing could prevent it, and
there was nothing that should prevent
it.
Mr.. Catchings finally conceded that
there should be general debate.
Mr.. Reed twitted the Democrats upon
their partial approval of the rules of the
51st Congress. but in a humorous vein
contended that they had not gone far
enough. He seriously argued in favor of
the rights of the majority, which rights
had been firmly maintained in the 51st
Congress. Now, he said, the House was
in the habit of lodging measures instead
of meeting them He criticized the
provision of the rules in which
he claimed that they vested the COM
mittee on rules with authority which
should be vested in the Speaker. Why
which would give the majority control,
and take away from the filibuster his
opportunity to stop the consideration of
measure. 1t was better to have the
Speaker exercise power in the full light
of public opinion than to exercise it in
the seclusion of committee room.
For the first time in this session,
Speaker Crisp took the floor, having
called Mr.. Richardson Dem.) of Tennes-
see to the chair, and replied to Mr..
Reeds criticism. He said there were
provisions in this code which were taken
substantially from the rules of the 51st
Congress. Very much of
these rules was to be
commended = and very much of those
rules had been by the country absolutely
condemned. Applause.] The gentleman
from Maine, when he spoke of the rules
of the 51st Congress, failed to speak of
the practices adopted before the rules
were adopted which were so odious to
the country. Applause The first ac-
tion in the 51st Congress which was odious
to the country was not action under any
rule, but it was the arbitrary, high hand
ed action on the part of the Speaker with
out the authority of rules, and without
the authority of any one. Applause
Mr.. Crisp denied that the United States
Supreme Court had justified Mr.. Reeds
course as Speaker. He said the new sys-
tenn of rules placed the business under
the control of the majority of the House.
Mr.. Reed regretted that the Speaker
had taken the floor, not only on general
principles but because he had introduced
into the debate certain amount of par
tisanship. He believed the policy of the
51st Congress had received the approval
of the Supreme Court He regretted
that the Democrats had merely adopted
half of the rules of the 51st Congress,
but they were on the road to adopting
them all.
Debate was continued by several other
members, and then the subject was
dropped. Mr.. Springer introduced bill
to provide for the coinage of seignorage
silver in the treasury, and the House ad-
journed.