The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-25
&c President 81 the senate.


Some DAYS ago during temporary lull
in the business of the Senate, before the
time arrived for the taking up OF the un-
/ finished business, the repeal bill, Vice
! President Stevenson, seeing, as he
thought, an opportunity to clear away
/ some OF the accommodating papers on his
desk, stated to the Senate that he would
/ place before it certain matters to be
acted upon
/ Immediately Senator Hoar, a stickler
/ for the musty and dusty traditions Of the
/ Senate. was upon his feet He told the
I presiding oHicer that he couldn't place
anything before the Senate; he couldn't
do anything at all except upon the orders
/ Of the senators: he was merely an autom-
atom placed in the chair to do the bidding
of the senator's; he was not a member of
the Senate, and should, therefore,
refrain from doing anything or saying
anything except when he was called upon
from the floor
Is the Y ice President, who is made the
presiding officer of the Senate by the
constitution, not a member of the Senate7
Is he not a senator to all intents and
Hul ifOot5A- "a SGLld NOI-dL-Ld Il represent
alive in the Senate of all the staJes3 If
he is not, why is he not2 Because the
moss-grown and moth-eaten customs of
the Senate do not recognize him as an
equal of the senators upon the fioorl
1t seems that these old customs, ira
ditions and precedents-which, by the
way, are in serious danger of being
blown away as a blot of dust by a high
wiud-are all that stand between the
Vice President and the privileges of the
floor. These barriers were not always
there. When both the government and
the constitution were young and our
statesmen were more familiar with
the true intents of the trainers of the
constitution, the Vice President, as presi-
dent of the Senate, exercised in the chair
the same functions that he would have
exercised if he had gone from the floor to
the chair instead of from the people to
the chair. When John Adams was Vice
President he was one of the leading de-
baters in the Senate He spoke for hours
at time, and as frequently as any man
upon the floor. And when there were
papers on his desk to be presented he pre-
sented them. No one objected then; no
one thought Of Directing. The Vice Pres
ident and presiding officer of the Senate
was looked upon as a part of the Senate
itself
In providing for the officers of the
House the constitution says the blouse
of Representatives shall choose their
speaker and other officers" 1t does not
say that the speaker shall be member of
the House, nor does it grant him a vote
1t merely says the House shall elect him,
and stops at that. So far as the language
of the constitution goes, the speaker
might be an outsider, without a vote even
in case of an equal division in the House.
But nobody doubts the intention was that
the speaker should be member of the
House. And if it was the intention of
the trainers of the constitution that the
speaker should be a representative, why
is it not reasonable to suppose they in
tended that the Vice President should
represent the people.
Whenever Speaker Crisp feels disposed
to take the floor in defense of his party
or his rulings he calls a member to the
chair, steps down and makes his speech.
But President of the Senate Stevenson is
not permitted similar privilege. He,
one of the best takers in the party,
must sit, like wooden Indian without
the right to say a word himself, to make
a suggestion or to or to stoP~the senators
from talking when the country is tired
of their tale of woe The rules of the
Senate stand sadly in need of revision;
and in the revision the Vice President
should be recognized as a representative
of the people, and not an automaton