The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-10-18
PARLIAMENTARY DElpIooKs.
"Reminiscences and Reheetions by Former
Member OF the House.

an unusual and unwarranted performances
Whatever may DO said about parliamentary
obstructive methods they are not unusual, and
the right to indulge In them has had defenders
at all times In both parties 1t is true that
the Houses OF Congress are supposed to DO
deliberative bodies: to meet confer. debate.
and II necessary. compromise differences OF
opinion. and finally to submit tho propositions
to the will OF the majority. There are oven
those who think all debate waste Of time, and
who would favor the submission Of PROPOSE.
lions to be voted on silently and without the
possibility OF amendment.
In the House OF Representatives. there is q
previous question" which. when applied. cuts
OF all debate aud amendments. This. rs will
be seen. is not without its hardshps. and it
often deprlves majority OF the power Of shap-
ING legislation In many essential particulars.
1t is true that the majority may vote down the
previous question. and thus open the PROPOSE
ton before 1t to general debate and amend
ment. When this Is attempted the difficulty Of
correctly framing the details Of an important
m easursi in such large and obstreperous body
becomes apparent. aud after eXpendn.
time energy. and elo1uencn upon It the
almost invariable course Is TO send 1t
back TO the committee. usually with in
structions to report certain things. There
is. therefore. o reluctance among cxpe-
rienced legislators to vote down tho previous
question when demanded by the Chairman VI
tho committee having the matter In charge
Committees may be. and they often are packed
In certain interests. The committee may be
said to have exclusive possession OF the bust
ness intrustcd to It, and 1t MAJ use this
power against the wishes OF majority.
When the previous question obtains. no man
may offar an amendment lie may lie fayora-
bic to the general principles OF the measure
a ,l,prr aoi, 20, ha,.n tn
vote against it. even II many propositions in
corporntcd in 1t are obnoxious to him. In this
way a deftly-contrived parliamentary system
prevails at the expense OF majoritics.
or course. the party in power has u majority
in each committee but all questions are not
party questions. On questions Of vast impor-
tance on which both OF the great parties d.
vide. n committee may be packed against
certain interest, and the will Of the majority
may thus be defeated. Two Of the committees
are privileged. and may report ut any time.
namely. Appropriations and WAYS and Means.
The others must wait until called. A bill OF any
importance. especially II it carries an arnro-
prIation, must go to the calendar. and await
it's turn. Only a small proportion OF the bills
on the calendar are ever reached. After the
business Of the House Is well under way. and
the calendar is flod w with bills about which
there Is no great contest n man might as well
put his bill in the fire as on the calendar.
There are only two openings in such case.
One is to get an opportunity to move a sus-
pension OF the rules which requires two
thirds vote. and in this the minority rules the
other Is to ask unnninou consent to put tho
bill on its passage. and one man can veto this.
In the House. too the Speaker Is a very diff
ferent functionary from the Vice. President.
who maintains order in the Senate. The
Speaker makes the House committees. How
this undemocratic system first obtained. and
why it should be continued. 1t would be ffi-
cult to explain. Each mem Der Of the House is.
in theory. the peer OF every other. but here to
one man Is handed over the power to shape
legislation. There Is also tradition. which
has tho force OF law. that members long in SER
vice shall have all the places OF great power.
They have all the chairmanshps. to begin
with. and there are ten leading commit
tees on which new members are rarely
placed. According to theory. the constitu-
encies Of these men are entitled to equal
representation" yet they have 1t not.
Again. the Speaker Is An autocrat in this. that
no man can get the floor unless he permits 1t.
A new member may get on his feet and shout,
Mr. Speaker" until he Is hoarse. and then
sit down again. He may coax. cajole. or beg
the Speaker to recognize him. and be refused.
The writer has often gone to Speakers OF both
met by the inquiry: What measure do you
propose to bring IMP" And unless IL was
something that did not conflict with the way
the Speaker wanted things to run. the request
might be refused. There have been various
notifications OF the rules OF the House: hut
it Is safe to say that many Of them serve the
purpose Of defeating the will Of the majority.
The Senate has no previous question. Ono
OF it's proudest traditions is that each Senator
shall have his say. and cannot be barred out
by a rule or by a presiding officer. Tho Vice
President can scarcely be said to be OF the
Senate He has absolutely nothing to do In
making committees or rules He has no de-
Lucrative vote. and can only decide in case OF
n tie. An attempt on his part to parce out the
floor in the way the Speaker does. would not
be tolerated for a moment. Practically the
Senators do not even take him into their
confidence. Like the Speakers mace in
the British House OF Commons. he is
highly symbolical element and is brought
in and taken out with due ceremony:
but he exercises no discretionary power.
On this question OF barring out any assump-
ton OF Legislative power on the part OF the
Vice President. the Senate. under all parties.
has been intensely jealous. The Vice-Presi- |
dent too II he docs not know it before he 10
elected. very speedily finds out that he Is. In
most particulars His Superfluous Highness-"
When measure comes before the House |
from committee. unless q specified time is
given for general debate. and even that the |
Speaker or tho committee Chairman farms |
out, the previous question may be moved: |
after which no amendment may be offered, and |
the Chairman parcels out the high periods of
timein five. ten. or fifteen minutes to the |
gentleman from -" after which the vote
must be taken, Nobody else can get In. !
Now. this may be the "rule OF the majority"