Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-10-17
The Absence of . Quorum Got the Senate Into Most Curious Tangle and Helped the Silver orators-crowded Galleries Watched the Evening Session.

rules to morning business was taken up in debate upon resolutions to amend the rules heretofore offered by Mir. Lodge. They propose to prohibit the reading of prepared speeches, require the counting of senators who are present and refuse to vote for the purpose of making quorum, and propose an arrangement similar to that now existing in the house, under which, through report from the committee on rules, debate may be stopped and a vote taken.
 Sharp Debating on the RuiOs.
 Mir. Lodge spoke of the senate presenting a travesty of helplessness, and said that it should either frankly abandon the whole thing or else go to work and amend the rules so as to give power to the majority Mir Vest, in opposing the amendments, said that the effective and patriotic use of the rights of the minority in defeating the force bill few years ago was worth an acre of argument. When senators, he said, came to the conclusion that there would be no unconditional repeal of the sherman law, a compromise bill could be passed which would be just to all sections and all classes. To question by Mir. Hill why the pending bill could not be passed, Mir. Vest replied that if the New York senator after what he had witnessed during the last two months could not answer the question satisfactorily to himself, it would bS hIEOSdilb Ndiil1 AbE ullll MT SSIb to try to do so. Mir. Aldrich also took part in the discussion, and he and Mir. Hill were equally emphatic as to the power of the majority to pass the repeal bill, even un- der existing laws.
 The Lodge resolutions went over and the repeal bill was taken up at D. m. Mir. Jones occupying three hours but not fin ishing his speech, and Mir Peffer going on with the speech which he began last Friday.
 The senate got into curious parlia- mentary tancle just at nightfall which re called that extraordinary session when the body, with Mir. Ingalls, in the chair, found itself unable to adjourn, when every per, son present wished to do so. During the course of the proceedings at d point when quorum was temporarily absent Mir. Voorhees, moved that the sergeant-at-arms be directed to secure the attendance of the absentees. Soon afterward a few strag- glers came into the chamber and made up quorum to answer a call of the senate. Then Mir. Noorhees wished to withdraw his motion, but Mir. Dubois probably re. calling an occurrence during the force bill campaign, saw his opportunity and refused his assent. There was nothing to do but call the yeas and nays, and the pairs were so numerous that voting quorum could not be obtained
 AS soon as the vote was announced on the yeas and nays under the rules another call was in order, without motion, to de. velop the presence of a quorum. The quo rum answering to the call, again the mo ton recurred on Mir. Voorhees, original proposition, and so it went on changing from the yeas and nays to the call of the senate. The silver men had really trans ferred to the clerk the necessity of talking against time, and the proceeding seemed Y1ottch x.-ha mated it-an automatic silver debate-for it ran for two hours and a quarter untilin- terrupted by the advent of a voting quo rum.
 About s o'clock the galleries had become pretty well filled and presented the same animated scene as on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. If the attendance in the galleries can be taken as an index of the popular feeling, it is evident that inter est in the proceedings on the floor is as in tense as when the sitting out process was inRugurated.
 At s:S0 o'clock, after nine roll calls, 45 senators voted yea on Mir. Voorhees, mo tion that further proceedings under the rule be dispensed with, and there being none in the negative the presiding officer announced that quorum had voted, and the motion was carried.
 NIT. Hill Makes m Objection.
 Mir. Peffer was then recognized and said that 1t was such long time since he had addressed the senate tlaughterl that he thought it necessary to recall to the scna- tors the subject and discussion when he was interrupted.
 He was giving the history of the senate and had got to the time when the rules were adopted. These were 10 in number, and MT. Peffer then went on to read these rules in detail and debate upon them.
 At this point Mir. Hill arose to a question of order. The question under considera- tion, he said, was the propriety of the pas sage of the repeal bill. The senator from Kansas was not debating that question, but was talking about an entirely foreign mRtter-a matter in no way connected with the passage of the repeal bill. He desired those remarks to go on record, and the rec ord would show the absurdity and the ridiculousness of allowing these outside remarks to continue to be made under the guise of a discussion of a repeal bill, and he asked the chair if these remarks were not out of order.
 The presiding officer ruled that the chair had no power to pass upon the relevancy of the discussion of the senator from Kan sas.
 Mr. Dolph arose and asked whether the books on the senator's desk and op the ad- joining desk, of which there was a 'ormid- able pile, were to be read through. The Stateu IndJ that not a question of order, and he again rec ognized the senator from Kansas. Mir. Peffer, in the course of his speech, said there was nothing simpler than the monetary question. The laborers in the field, he said, knew as much about this question as the men in Wall street or any other street. He thought 1t might take a great deal of time to discuss the question in full
 The Majority Must He Patient. ''I have enough matter laid out" said l MT. Peffer, unless I am interrupted by | the passage of the bill, to occupy one full. | days debate" Laughter As to the time when the senators will be ready to vote on | this bill. that must be determined by each | individual senator for himself He had the | greatest respect for the doctrine that the majority should rule. A time would come, if the majority A l patience and would hear what the s, -S..tors had to say on this | question, when the senators would vote, sists on forcing this bill on us," said he, refusing all offers of compromise, just so | long will we insist that we are the major ity; that we represent the great mass fthe | people"
 MT. Palmer asked if the senator meant that the majority should not be allowed to vote until a proposition Is made which is acceptable to the minority. Mir. Peffer said the supporters of this | bill claim to be bimetallists Let them | prove thFir words by their works.