The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-10-23

wash stand ard funny little old
fashioned, gilt framed mirror, pur-
chased in John Adams time for $40.
A picture of Washington, painted by
Rembrandt Peale, which the Congress
purchased in 1892 for $1,000, hangs on
the wall On the other vice-presi-
dents table are silver pen trays, Silver
candlesticl1s and other dainty equip
ments for writing and sealing letters.
At exactly noon of each day the
vice-president is summoned by the &C
ting assistant doorkeeper, and, accom-
panied by the chaplain, he enters the
Senate chamber. The vice-president
with one tap of the handless gavel,
brings the Senate to order. The chap
lain delivers the invocation. The jour-
nal of the previous day is read and,
unless objection is made, stands APP
proved. Then the vice-president lays
before the Senate any executive mes
sages which may be on his desk
These come in the order of their i'm
portance. A message from the pres
ident would rank first, from the state
department next, then from the treas
ury department. and so on accord
ing to rank down to the department
|of agriculture which was described in
Uncle Jerry Rusll's time as the tail
Of the administration COW. Having
laid all messages before the Senate
the vice-preSident announces that pc
ttions and memorials are in order
and he recognizes senators alternately
on the Democratic and the Republi-
can side of the chamber to present
them. This rule for the equal recog-
milton of the representatives of diff
ferent parties holds in debate and in
the discussion of the silver question:
AIR. Stevenson has recognized Demo-
Gratis and Republicans alternately,
except where some agreement for a
different arrangement has been made
in advance. This has been the Gus
tom of the presiding officer for many
years.
Petitions and memorials having been
disposed of, the vice-president calls
for the introduction of bills and joint
resolutions-that is, resolutions which
must pass the House and go to the
president for signature and which
have the effect of laws. AS these are
introduced, the vice-president refers
each to the appropriate commit see.
Then reports from committees are in
order, and as each is made, the bill or
joint resolution reported favorably
goes to the calendar. Then come res
olutions of inquiry, etc, which may be
considered mme1iately by unanimous
consent; but must lie on the
table if objection is made to
Immediate consideration When
any business which is on the table,
coming over from the day before,
may be taken up. Or the Senate, on
motion of some senator, may take UP
a bill or resolution and debate it or
vote upon it. Whatever business may
be under discussion, when the morn
ing hour" is ended Cat 2 o'clock when
the Senate meets at noon and at l
fla1@ L.
o'clock the vice-president interrupts
any senator who may be speaking
and lays before the Senate the I'M
finished bushes This has been for
many weeks the Vorhees bill for the
repeal of the purchase clause of the
Sherman act From that time until
the Senate adjournS, unles an execu-
tive session is had the Senate con-
tinues to debate the unfinished bust
mes. Some day when the unfinished
business is disposed of, the next bust
ness on the calendar will be considered
or the Senate, on motion of some
senator, will take up some other bill
which will then become the unfinished
business, to be debated after the
morning hour each day until it is dis
posed of
When the vice-president has laid be-
fore the Senate the unfinished bust
ness, he summons some senator to
the chair and takes a recess for
luncheon. He takes his luncheon in
the Senate restaurant and is absent
from the chair usually about three
quarters of an hour. When he re-
turns to. the chair, he does not leave
it again until the Senate adjourns,
unless some urgent and unexpected
business should call him to his office.
In his application to the duties of
his position as presiding officer, Mr.
Stevenson is remarkably steady. But,
as he said when [ commented on this
fact, there will be more business for
when the work of the session is far
Their advanced and there are confer
ence committees to appoint and other
outside work to do.
When the Senate adjourns, Mr.. Ste
venson takes the little green car again
and rides to his hotel Unless he has
some social engagement, he usually
spends the evening in his rooms. He
is seldolns without visitors there.
The vice-president tells me that ne
has not met any knotty points yet in
his experience as presiding officer of
the Senate. He was familiar with the
practices of the Senate during his
term in Congress-; and he frequently
presided over the House at the re-
quest of Speaker Randall. He made a
study of the rules of the Senate be-
fore he came to Washington and he
needed very little prompting from the
beginning of his experience in the
chair He has had to untangle the
Senate once or twice when several
motions have been pending. But he
has no difficulty in this. The regular
trick of filibustering senators is to
pile motions one on the other and
then debate them at length. Before
the Senate can get down through the
motions TO the original proposition
which is always pending, the Senate
is tired out and motion to adjourn
is carried. The revolutionists, as they
may be called, would like to have had
the vice-president- ignore dilatory mo-
tons and put the original proposition
TO a vote.
"A great many people do not under
stand said Mr.. Stevenson, discuss
ing this question with me- that the
vice-president or the presiding officer
of the Senate, whoever he may be, is
merely the instrumentality for carry
ing out the will of the Senate The
rules of the Senate are its law These
rules have remained unchanged prac-
tiCally for eighty-seven years. Up to
1906 there was cloture in the
OCliolC- 1hCA II was lSptdlcus
and, with some notifications
the rules of the Senate have
remained the same ever since. The
vice-president is bound by his oath to
obey the rules of the Senate. He
would be unworthy of his trust if he
did not There is nothing in the
rules which gives him the right to
discriminate against a motion as dila-
tory If, after the journal has been
Il. i
the Senate adjourn, it is not the bust
,,ocs -nf tho -r,1.oeilc1nt 70 Ga .aI