Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-04-19
BILLS HAD TO WAIT.
Why Needed Legislation was Delayed
in the House.
Congress- Has Entered Upon . New System
81 Parliamentary Procedure.

change in the management of the house.
and his several talks may be summed UP
to this: We are about to enter ON new
system OF parliamentary procedure be-
cause the old system is so complicated and
the country has grown so large that q
change is of necessity. The growth Of the
| country, the increase Of representatives
and the growth and increasing completely
Of interests have msde the old rules obso-
letc. Summary process must be adopted
We must have some way of forcing pres
ent quorum to act or adopt a method like
that Of the party whips in the British
parliament. The power Of the whips" is
only partisan, but there is held to be a
strong moral obligation on the member to
Obey the call Of the whip" This country
is row so big that we cannot possibly at
tcrd even to the necessary business with
out some way of bringing members to
book.
| Radical Measures Were a Necessity.
Such, in very general terms, is Mr..
| Springcr's justification for his rather
strong measure, and all the Republicans
and probably q majority of the Democrats
quite agree with him. 1t was on the meth
cd to be adopted that the fighting took
place. Everybody agrees that the time for
scenes like those of few years ago, when
Mr.. Oates and a mere handful of support
crs held the house at deadlock for days,
is gone forever. Neither party would now
stand such obstruction, and, as it is, the
disgrace has become uncomfortable. For a
few weeks the long monotony of roll call
and futile motions was considered only q
wearisome nuisance, next it was looked
upon as u national scandal, and then it
bid fair to become International The
Democrats very naturally hated to do any
thing which looked like an Endorsement of
Gear" Reeds methods in the Fifty first
congress, but the fragrant absenteeism of
their own men from adjacent cities and
states forced them to consider extreme
measures.
Driven from the house galleries by the
| dull repetition Of roll calls and dry debates
on parliamentary points, and the rules of
the house, reporters sought the senate gal
lcry and listened to the wearisome plati-
tudcs Of PETER &; Co. or amused them
selves by speculation rs to the four Dem
ocrats who are relied upon to defeat the
Wilson bill in that body The matter has
been figured down fine AS Mr.. Stewart
now calls himself Populist and Mr. Irby
insists he is u straight Democrat, the SEN
ate stands Al Democrats, 81 Republic
ans and Populists, 1t is no longer
doubted that Messrs. Kyle and Allen will
vote for the bill, and, while it is not GER
tain, it is claimed by its opponents that
Mcssrs. Stewart and PETER will vote
against it, so this leaves the straight party
strength as before, with Democratic ma
jority of seven.
Opponents declare, with great conf
dencc, that they have four Democrats to a
certainty, and the most popular list in
cludcs Hill, Murphy, Smith and Bricc.
| When any Of these is omitted, one of the
Louisiana senators is inserted. In the
house committee the saying is that the bill
must lose two Democrats with the income
tax in it, and the other two Populists if
| the income tax is stricken out. So it is as
| brood as it is long, and the bill with the
| income feature retained could be passed
| Immediately through the house regardless
| of the senate amendments. Others put the
number lost and gained by the income
clause at three. Back of all, however
| there is still considerable body of enthu-
| siastic Democrats who claim that the bill
| will pass the senate by unanimous party
vote.
| An Anomalous Spectacle
All this time the great strike in the coal
| regions along with the half ludicrous half
tragic and wholly pathetic episodes Of Cox
| ey's army and its related movements, ox-
| cites increasing interest among congress
| men. There is something SO unnatural in
the march of unemployed men from west
to cast and in Il general strike at time
when thousands crc eagerly seeking work
that statesmen confess their inability to
understand it. All sorts of bills to make
| money plenty and help the poor, and cspe-
| cally the farmers, are piled up in the COM
| Elittces' rooms, but everything has had to
wait until the house invented some way
| of doing business. In the banking and cur
rency committee the Springer bin to pro
vide national currency, the Warner bill
to provide a safe and elastic banking cur
rencv, and the Walker bill to reOrganize
| the entire system of national banking and
! currency are considered from time to time,
and arguments are beard, but none of the
| committee ventures to set an early date for
| action on any of them.
The Pacific Railroads Problem.
The committee on Pacific railroads give
rather terso answers to all questions and
| say pointedly that they intend to take
plenty of time on the measures laid before
them. One plan, as the public has often
| been informed, provides for an immediate
foreclosure and government possession of
| the road, and the other for an extension
of time in which the road may pay out
| This practically amounts to doing nothing
! and postponing the whole subject for 10
| years or SO, and is consequently agreeable
to the managers of the roads. General