The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-01-22
The situation in the Senate.

The Situation in the Senate.
Just at present the Republican Sen
ators seem to be doing their best to
put themselves in the wrong in the
controversy over the control OF
the upper House of the Legislature.
Whatever may be thought of the in
nate Justice of the issues involved, no
unprejudiced person a deny that
the Democratic Senators have at least
as many technical points of the law
on their side as their adversaries At
any rate, they have one advantage of
an overwhelming character-they
have the Judgment of the Attorney
General of the State in their favor.
The Republican Senators under the
circumstances can hardly expect them
to sacrifice their position wholesale
for the sake of breaking the deadlock.
Where it is so easy for the republi-
cam themselves to get into line, and
where they have so much certainty as
to the control of all the future doings
OIL lllS LEGISLATIVE SSoSiOu, thOy "iphp
well make some concessions now. 1t
seems moi a little foolish and quite
a little wicked for them to insist on
their rights in the extreme degree and
in a way which involves the unneces-
sary humiliation of the Democratic
hold-overs.
1t is we'll for the repu blicans to re-
member that, however much the moral
balance of the case may be in their
favor. still their entire success in
wolves a moral and legal m~onstrosity,
the magnitude of which they must
admit. If they carry their point in
seating all the Republican Senators,
in spite of the protests al to the valid
ity of their election, each of these
Senators of disputed tenure becomes
not only a judge in his own case but
the sole judge. With all the Senators
seated on the face value of their Gre
dentials, the result of any subsequent
Investigation will have to be adjudi-
Gated by a body consisting of ten
democrats and ten republicans, plus
the party in interest. Let US assume
that the ten democrats are deter
mined to vote against the admission
of each republican whose right is
questioned, let us assume that the
ten other republicans, both for party
reasons and out of honest conviction,
will vote in favor of seating the dis
puted Senators, there is at onc a tie
which can only be solved by the vote
of the twentY-irst member of the
Senate, that is to say. the disputed
man himself. But aside from his per-
sonal interest in the matter. the dis
puted mar is a partisan, a republi-
can. Put the two motives together
and what doubt car possibly remain
as to what way he will vote. The re-
suit is a foregone conclusion.
Last year, in the discussion of the
Wanser "Wing-clipping" measure of
Senator DAILY, this principle or policy
of making a man judge in his own
case-in the matter of the confirma-
ton of members of the Board of
Finance OF this city-was the subject
of bitter condemnation by republi-
cans. Certainly it will appear to
most people that the situation in the
Senate today presents even a more
pronounced case of the same kind.
and that it i'll becomes the republi-
cans to insist with too bitter determi-
nation upon the very privilege which
they 30 utterly condemned last year.
In making these remarks we do not
desire to be understood as modifying
our views in any way regarding the
ultimate merits of the controversy.
We think, on the whole. the election
of the republican Senators was as
honest as the average. We think the
Democratic party is playing the most
foolish game of politics we ever heard
of in raising ever the shadow of an
objection to the Republicans assum-
ing complete control of the Legisla-
ture, but we do not like to see these
same republicans tearing a pas sion
to tatters lover claims and allegations
which have no foundation in facts or
in right.
THE absurdest feature of the Rspub-
lican nolicy is the alleged design to