Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-23
IN A TEST OF ENDURANCE
The Anti-Repeal Senators Seem to Have
the Advantage.

The Anti-Repeal Senators Seem to Have
the Advantage.
They Are Younger and Stronger Ply
sicslly Than Those of the Majority
What Continuous Sessions Mean.
The old-time Senators. who have taken
Tart In many hard fought battles. do not
Iensn 'he idea OF having to sit in continu-
ous session, night and day, in order to
reach a vote on the Voorhees, repesl hill.
Mr. fiatt had the sympathy Of many when
he said that such a course .uactea too
much or the custom Of locking a turv mn an
q room to force a verdict, and that there
were Senators whose physical condition was
such as to render II inhuman to exact 30
much from them. A test OF physical endur
ance In the Senate Ii quite a serious thing
FOR men advanced in years, as many Of the
Senators are. II means that they must
stay In the chamber or cloak rooms for
twenty-four or forty eight hours or perhaps
longer. getting what they can eat hurriedly
down In the Senate restaurant and enjoy
ing only such sleep as they can get in their
chairs or on the few sofas I'm the chamber
or In the cloak rooms Even the little uu-
comfortable rest they can snatch In this
way is subject TO interruption at any mo-
ment by demand for a quorum. IL enough
OF them leave their seats at one time to
break the quorum. Some extraordinary
scenes have been witnessed In the Senate
during such sessions In the past, and perfect
sobriety has not always been observed by
every one after the sessions have run into
the small hours OF the morning. Kept from
their beds and from their regular meals
Senators have found these sessions ex-
tremely exhausting. Yet IL 10 maintained
decorous way to force a vote on a mea-
sure In this punctilious body OF statesmen.
The Majority at a Dfsadvantage.
In such a contest. under the practices Of
the Senate. the majority is always at a dis
advantage. Upon them. supporting the
measure upon Which n vote is desired de-
wolves the duty Of keeping a Quorum always
present. The opposition may have only q
few Of their men present a: q time. They
can take turns and rest. while those trying
to force the vote must be there all the time
or the point OF no quorum will be made by
one who is taking his turn there for that
purpose. 1t may devolve upon the opposi-
ton to have some one or other talking all
the while to occupy the time. but they do
not all have to talk at once. Some can be
resting while others are on the watch and
place OF those Of the forces who are ia
ttgued. But the majority. who have TO be
the listeners. can get no relief. II they
leave the chamber to steal wink Of sleep
or to get bite Of something to eat or to
get nourishment In some other form, the
point of no quorum Is made; the man whose
turn II IL TO talk can sit down and rest
while a call Of the Senate II had. and moth
ing can be done until the gentlemen who
are trying to tire out the minority come
back. The majority have to stay there to
do the trtng-out act. but the stubborn mi
nority they are supposed to be working on
DO not necessarily have to participate in
the proceedings.
Teller and VOORHEES,.
While Mr. Voorhees, may be trying to ex:
haust Mr.. Teller. by himself staying in the
Senate without food or rest Mt. Teller may
be asleep at his home. or more probably In
his committee room. and the vigorous and
brilliant young senator from Idaho may be
In the Senate to see that Mr.. VOORHEES,
Senator gets weary, Mr.. Teller may return.
All the filibusters have to do IL to keep q
few Of their men there to keep up the talk
and to see that the men who are trying to
tire them out stay In the Senate all the
while. Ii is not difficult to guess which side
will be frst to get weary. 1t il like the
man who puts his finger between the other
fellows teeth to hold him.
than go into @ fight Of this sort, but II they
are willing to go into II there 10 no reason
why they, who can take their ease, should
get tired before the majority. who have to
be constantly on hand and watchful.
Talk OF wearing out q minority by q test
OF physical endurance IL a nimsy fiction.
All the wear IL on the majority.
Advantage Of the Anti-Repeal Men.
In this silver fight the anti-repeal men
have an advantage for such q fight In sd-
dition to that Of being q minority. They
have a vigorous lot Of men. There are
vigorous men on the other side. but II is
not enough that some OF them should be SO;
they all have to stand the strain.
VOORHEES, can no longer stand the physical
strain he once could endure. Hoar Is an old
man. Doiph. though q big man, 10 not
physically strong. Morrill, is. OF course.
quite feeble. Mills wears himself out In a
short time Mcpherson 10 not q man of
powerful endurance. Sherman il pretty
tough. but he is getting too old to make a
SUCCESSFUL test OF strength with young men,
Palmer Is neither young nor strong. nor IL
Hawiey. Plat has already told the Senate
that he does not enjoy the prospect OF a
test OF his strength. and Cameron is not
given to great exertion.
Yet II these men do not take part in the
proceedings through the long and weary
hours of the fight there is no use in the
enort to tire out the opposition. for without
them quorum cannot be kept and moth
ing Can De cone without q quorum.
On the other side Teller and Stewart are
not as young as they were twenty wears
ago. but they can probably 60 as long with
out rest as any men in the Senate Pueh
and George are like pine knots. Dubois and
Woicott are good for q foot race or q fast,
can stand in the rush line or sit I'D TO see
the sun rise without blinking. Cockrell
was never known to get weary OF anything
ne Is interested In. He makes the other
fellow tired.
The Longest Talkers,
In fact about the only man In the silver
ranks who would have to be cared for IN
Morgan. and he will never get tired as long
as he is talking. The longest takers in the
Senate. those who can keep It I'D for more
hours without showing fatigue are TO be
found on the anti-repeal side OF this fight.
There are number OF very active and
tenacious men on the other side, such as
German. Gray, Allison. Aldrich and Villas,
But take them all and they cannot make a
quorum when their allies are worn out
III the anti-repeal men yield before the
prospect OF a test OF physical endurance 81
will be not on account of fatigue but for
as sure as they say that they have suf
ficient support behind them to warrant
their making the fight
The majority have to sustain nearly all
the fatigue Of a continuous session. The
majority must always rely on the generosi-
~ of the minority or else they must have
rules which will enable a vote to be reached
at some time Yet the adoption OF a new
rule might