The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-09-07
.NEV RULES on THE HOUSE.
Speaker Crisp Forced to Acc
knowledge Defeat
THE SIZE OF A QUORUM.
1t Must Consist of a Majority Of the
House.
After Lengthy Debate the Rules are
Adopted without Observation-Disclosures
ment Is Taken Until Satur-
day Next.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6.-The COMMITTEES
on Rules, presided over by Speaker Crisp,
was this morning forced to publicly ac-
knowledge defeat in the House in the
effort to lead the Democratic majority and
secure the adoption Of a rule making 100
members quorum in the committee of
the whole. When the House resumed the
debate on the rules the announcement was
made that the committee, in Difference to
the objection by some prominent Demo-
cratic members, had decided to abandon
that rule. Catchings explained that so
many Democratic members opposed, that
the Committee on Rules decided to accept
Kyle's amendment restoring the size OF
the quorum to majority of the House.
The announcement precipitated Lively
debate.
Mr.. Deliver of Louisiana said he was
just about to make a speech in favor OF
The proposition from which the commit
tee had just retreated. lie was sorry this
committee surrendered. Deliver then
proceeded to defend ex-Speaker Reed in
his course as speaker.
Mr.. Springer followed by general as
sauJt on what he termed two fundamental
usurpation5 of the rules OF the Fifty-first
Congress, viz: The power of the speaker
to count quorum and his power to de-
ULldIOIY uOblDDSs hS Sa4Q IL
placed every member of the House in the
power of the speaker; it enabled him TO
pass on the motions OF members and was
revolutionary in character. The change
made by the present rules COMMITTEES
in the interest of suppressing tiibuster-
ing transferred this power from the
speaker to the majority of the House. 1t
gave the Republicans as well as Demo-
Gratis, opportunity to sustain or oppose a
vote. Mr.. Springer then proceeded to
discuss the question OF counting a quo
rum.
When he concluded Mr.. Reed walked
down the aisle. ST would hardly know
what to do, - began Mr.. Reed slowly and
deliberately, i'when l find the gentleman
from Illinois (Mr. Springer) and the SUI
preme court in opposition, were it not
| that | have convictions of my own. / am
exceedingly sorry the Democratic party
can not understand the fundamental
principles of this question. The average
! Democratic mind seems incapable Of
grasping them; the high minds Of the
rules committee understand something OF
essentials; but even they are unable to
reach the topmost heights. But truth
will finally prevail.
s'I should not reply to these structures
| again, - continued Mr.. Reed, 'sbnt for
the fact that / do not want what has been
said to go into the record unchallenged.
Filibustering is q modern invention
You cannot 90 back of the disease to look
for the remedy. There is no remedy Tor
parliamentary filibustering until hlibus-
tering becomes a chronic disease and the
! power of the chair is the power Of the
House. Gentlemen speak as If the
speaker were an irresponsible Individual.
1t is impossible for a speaker to do what
/ the House does not want him to do. As
soon as the contrary proposition is stated
| e al r6i q fNharaf0ra
ever charges have been made against me
as speaker of the Fifty-hrs House,
should properly have been lodged against
that House, which uniformly sus-
tanned me.
ssGentlemen speak of the suppression
of dilatory motions. It is the plain duty
| of the speaker, under parliamentary law,
to suppress dilatory motions. l declare
now and here, defying contradiction,
| that the power to rule out dilatory mo-
! tons was never exercised until the speaker
and every man in the House believed and
knew motions were used to delay bust
ness In time this whole matter will be-
come perfectly plain. Gentlemen, " Mr..
| Reed concluded, throwing his arms out
wildly in the direction of the Democratic
side, 81 bid you Godspeed. 1 know that
Bourbonism and conservatism hold you
| firmly in their grasp; but right will be
triumphant; your bonds will be broken;
you will progress, as all things do, in
| time; for after all does not the world
move7'' Laughter and applause.l
The Kyle amendment was then agreed
| to, after the rules having been passed.
Mr.. Catchings then called for the pre-
vious question on the report, and Mr.,
Burrows offered as a substitute the code
of rules of the Fifty-first Congress, with
an amendment providing that when q
call of the House is had the yeas and nays
bno Or1a lot
ter amendment would prevent the break
/ ing of quorum.
| Mr. Burrows then entered upon a gen.
eral argument upon the comparative
merits OF the two codes of rules, and de-
clared that the rules about to be adopted
were absolutely powerless to prevent fiji
/ clustering. Those rules place the power
the speaker and two Democratic members
of the rules committee, Messrs. Catch
ings and Cultivate.
Mr.. Bynum of Indiana, in reply to Mr..
Burrows, went at length into the differ
ence between counting the House to as
certain the presence OF a quorum and
counting the members to pass laws. 81
care not whether the counting of mem
bers was declared legal by the Supreme
court or not said he, facing
his old antagonist, Mr.. Reed,
and holding his arm threateningly
aloft. 81 acknowledge no body greater
than this house to pass upon Its rights or
priyileges.'' With reference to the rule
cutting dilatcry motions in the present
code, he said the word 'sdilatory" need
not have been In the rule. The rules OF
the Fifty-first Congress on the contrary,
placed IN the power Of the speaker to
decide what was dilatory.
At the conclusion of Mr.. Bynum 8
speech, vote was taken on the adoption
Of the code OF rules offered by Mr.. Bur-
rows, which was lost, So to 148. The
rules were then adopted without division
At the request of Chairman Wilson Of the
ways and means, that committee was
given leave to sit during sessions Of the
House. The House then adjourned until
Saturday.