St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-08-30

Certain Powers Should Be Given
TO the House-1he People
Have Decided Against Their
Representative in Congress
Becoming Their Master-Ihe
speaker should Not Control.
WASHINGTON, Aug. % An ami
mated discussion over the rules between
Speaker Crisp and ex-Speaker Reed en-
livened the proceedings of the house To-
day. AT times the debate was some
what personal, and each speaker re-
ceived the plaudits of his party friends.
Mr.. Aitkin offered resolution pro-
viding for special committee of five
members TO investigate the ''Ford's
theater disaster" and to determine what
action should be taken for the relief of
the families of the victims. Referred to
the committee OH rules.
MIR. CatchiDgs then called up the re-
port of the committee on rules. reporting
the rules for the present house.
Afer some discussion Mr.. Catchings
debate, and briefly he explained the
changes made III the rules.
When speaking i'll favor OF the rule
making quorum OF the committee of
the whole 100 members. he was inter
rupted by Mr.. Kilgore with the inquiry
whether quorum of the committee of
whole should not be the same as quorum
of the house. In reply, MIR. Catchings
said that the adoption of this rule by
the Fifty-first congress was good and
beneficial.
Mr.. Reed twitted the Democrats upon
their partial approval of the rules OF the
Fifty-first congress, but in humorous
vein contended that they had not gone
far enough. He then in more serious
manner argued in favor of the
Rights Of the Majority,
which rights chad been firmly main
tanned in the Fifty-first congress. Now
the house was In the habit of lodging
measures instead of meeting them. He
criticised the provision of the rules
which, he claimed, vested the commit
tee of rules with the authority which
should be vested in the speaker. Why
not adopt a system of rules which
would give to the majority control, and
take away from the filibusterer his OPP
portunity to stop the consideration OF
| measure? 1t was better To have speak
er exercise power in the full light of
public opinion than to exercise it in
the seclusion Of the committee room.
Then for the first time tn session
the speaker took the floor. having called
Mr. Richardson CFennesSee] to the
chair, and replied to the criticisms OF
the gentleman from Maine. He said
there we're provisions in this code which
we're taken substantially from the rules
of the Fifty-hrs congress. Neither
himself nor any member of the COM
| mittee on rules would refrain from re-
porting rules simply because they were
| part of the rules of the Fifty first con-
| gress. Very much of those rules was to
| be commended, very much of those
rules had been by the country aUso-
| lutely condemned.
The gentleman from Maine (Reed)
when he stood up before the country
and spoke of the rules of the Ffty-frst
! congress failed to speak of the practices
adopted before the rules were adopted,
which were so odious to the country.
The First Action
! in the Fifty-irst congress which was
odiOus to the country was not an actiou
| under any rule: but 1t was the arbitrary
| hign-handed action on the part of the
speaker without authority of rules;
without authority of any one. APP
| plause.
| When the charges were made against
| the Eifty-hrst congress, let no one for
| get that the first charge was tnat, with
j out authority OF the house, without the
authority of the committee on rules, the
| speaker had exercised a power that had
never been granted 10 him. TAppIause.
| He had assumed upon himself the power
! TO count auOeum. Tie question had
gone to the supreme court of the United
Stale, and the gentleman from Maine
! (Reod) had never been justified. He
| had heard the gentleman from Maine
several times say that the supreme
court bad justified his course. The su-
| preme court had not touched the queS-
| ton. The supreme court had said that
| the house had the right to Inake its
rules for Its own government, and make
It's own provisions for the ascertainment
of the presence of quorum, but 1t had
never said that the speaker should
| make the rules.
| The gentleman had referred to the
| power lodged In the committee on rules.
| Let him Crisp call the gentleman;s at
tention to the distinction that existed
between the policy of the gentleman
| from Maine and the policy of the pres
ent committee on rules. The gentleman
from Maine believed that power should
! be
Lodged In the Speaker
absolutely to decide what was dilatory
| motion. Under the system proposed by
| the committee on rules it was left to the
| house to decide whether the motion
was dilatory or not. The system adopted
by the Fifty-second congress, and now
readopted by the committee on rules,
was to maintain, not the individual
judgment of the chair, but the judgment
of the majority of the honse.
The speaker was not granted the
authority to control legislation, the
committee on rules was not granted
such authority; the authority rested
in the majority OF the house.
| Under the rules proposed, dilatory mo-
tions would be avoided, for the house
had due power to reach that result by
report from the committee on rules.
The power lodged in the committee was
simply to report a proposition. The
committee could not adopt cloture. 1t
could not fix the order OF the business
without the consent of the house. In
the Fifty-second congress there had
been opposition to the operation of the
rules that prevailed in the Fifty-first
congress. Instead of following the old
method, when filibustering could not
have been stayed, instead of following
the rules OF the Fifty-first congress,
the Fifty-second congress had taken
middle course. To him it was source
of pleasure and delight that the people
-had indorsed that course, and had re-
turned large Democratic majority to
the house, The people had decided
that they did not believe that any man
who was sent here as their representa-
tive should become
Their Master.
No man could dictate to them. Zap
| nlauSe Whenever of recent wears Re-