Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-06
The Light That History Projects on
the Coming Struggle.
MEMORABLE CONTESTS In THE HOUSE
When a Thire Party Has Held the
Balance Of Power.
M A Y B LOTS KEN
Written Exclusively for The Evening Star.


| Speaker may result The House has had
| four such struggles, all Of which have be-
| come historical. The first was In 1899. The
| democrats really had a small majority in
| the House over the whigs but there were
dissensions in the party. There were five
holly contested election cases from New
Jersey five democrats claiming the seats to
which five wings held the certificates. The
clerk of the House was a democrat and on
reaching New Jersey he stated the fact Of
| there being a cor test and that he did not
feel called upon to decide the question, so
he would not call the names of any of the
| members from that state. This gave rise
to a very bitter debate. but the clerk stub
bornly refused to recede from his position,
and declined to put to vote any motion or
resolution requiring him to proceed with
the call. This continued from the first until
the fifth day of the session, the House being
| in continuous uproar. On the 9th day of
the session when the clerk began calling
| the roll, it was noticed that the venerable
John Quincy Adams was watching the pro-
| cess with more than his usual interest.
When New Jersey was reached the clerk be-
gan his usual formula, when MIR. Adams
sprang to his feet. with the ejacua ton: Il
rise to interrupt the clerkv' Immediately
cries for silence, and Hear him! Hear what
John Quincy Adams has to say" resounded
| from all parts of the House. At once a
hush fell upon the House, and every eye
was riVited upon the venerable statesman
| He paused for moment, casting q wither-
| ing look upon the clerk, and then turned to
the vast audience and poured forth an i'm
| FASHIONED address.
He pictured the humiliatin and degrading
position the House was occupying in the
| eyes of the world, because the clerk n
mere creature Of the House, its servant.
whom the House could make and unmake,
chose to set the authority Of the House at
defiance. and declaring ii was in the power
or the House 10 compel him TO call the roll
II he would not do it voluntarily. Here he
he was authorized to say that compulsion
would not reach the clerk as the clerk
would resign rather than call the state of
New Jersey. TO this Mr.. Adams replied.
wen, Sir; then LETT him resign and we
may possibly find some way BY which we
can get along without the aid of his all
powerful talents. learning and genius IL
we cah.iot organize IN any other way-if
tniS clerk or yours VIII not consent to our
discharSing the trusts confided to us nv orr
constituents, then let us initiate the exnmnIa
OF the virginia house of burgesses which.
when the colonial governor Dinwildie or
deret II to dispense, refused to obey the
imperlous and insulting mandate and like
men. Here theivoice of the Indignant old
man was iost IN universal shout of ap-
pause me hour ana the man had come
10 pave the way for the House to proceed
with its legislative duties. Having thus
awakened the House 10 a sense of the
snanie attached to the wransling. he pre-
sehted "a motion requiring the clerk to cali
New Jersey. lie was Immediately assaiIed
by many voices asking how the ui,estion
shouid be put. The voice of Mr.. Adams was
heard high above the tumult as he declared.
intend to put the question myseIf''
AT that Mr.. Rhett of South Carolina
iunpeu upon one OF the desks, waved his
ndhu ana shouted: Il move that the Hon
al In N toll 10
speaker OF this House. and officiate as pre-
siding officer till the House be ORGANIZED nv
the election of its constitutional officers. AS
many as are agreed to this will saw
aye He never completed the santeocs
Lor one tremendous shout of aye went M
from the hall, and Mr. Adams was con-
uucted 10 the chair, and presided until Mr.
Hunter OF Virginia was elected Speaker he
receiving the whg vote and that of Mr.
CaIhoun ana some OF his followers.
When Cobb Was Chosen
Inc next contest came ten years later,
and lasted until the close of the third week
OF the session. The House was made I'D Of
democrats, wings and free soilers The lat
ter held the balance of power, and, to con-
fuse matters, the democrats were not unan-
imous. Howell Cobb of Georgia was their
candidate, while that of the wings was Mr..
winthrop of Massachusetts The first bal
lot gave Mr.. Cobb 1o2 and Mr.. Winthrop ae
votes the others being scattered betw zen a
dozen or more candidates. On the eighth
day of the session MIR. Winthrops vote had
reached loc and that of Mr. Cobb had
dwindied to 63. The next day Mr. VIM 4
BroWn or Indiana was brought forward as
the democratic candidate Mr.. Cobbs name
being Withdrawn. On December IL Mr.
brown received 100 votes. and Mr.. Win
throp asked that his name should no longer
be considered IL 1t stood in the way of a
speedy organization of the House The first
ballot next me rning' resulted in giving Mr.
Brown liz votes, within two of an election,
ana then came the great sensation Of the
session.
AT the conclusion of the ballot one OF the
wings charged that Mr.. Brown had given a
written pledge to the free sellers that II
elected Speaker he would construct the
committees on the judiciary and on terri
tories In a manner satisfactory to them in
return for their votes. Mr.. Brown denied
the charge, but the letters were produced
one of them being addressed to David VIII
mot by Mr. Brown, in which he not only
pledged himself to name satisfactory COM
mittees, but stated that he favored the
aDontlon OF slavery wherever Congress had
the power to do SO. This sensation brought
forth some very angry speeches, in one of
which Mr.. Duer charged Mr.. Meade of Vir-
ginia with being a disunionist, and the lie
"aS passed between them. Brown was at
once dropped by the democrats The strug-
gle continued until late on Saturday night,
when Mr.. Stanton presented a resolution
declaring that the House should proceed to
take three ballots more for Speaker and II at
That time no one had received a majority
OF all the votes the clerk chould again call
the roll, and the member having the highest
number OF votes should be the Speaker
This was adopted, and on the fourth call of
the roll Mr.. Cobb received 102 and Mr.
winthrop 100, with twenty votes scattering
This ended the struggle.
How Banks Was Elected.
The longest struggle began on the Sd
day Of December. 1858. and ended on the
I'd of the following February. N the choice
of n. p. Banks. by a plurality vote, he
receiving 1O3 votes to 100 cast for Mr.
Aiken of South Carolina with several
scattering. 1t was a surprise to the DEM
ocrats, who had favored the plurality rule
When Congress assembled 1t was just at
the breaking up Of old parties and the for
nation Of new. The excitement attending
the attempt to Introduce slavery into Kan
sas and Nebraska had created a political
revolution in the north. and members of
Congress had been elected as opponents of
that measure without regard to their po-
uttcal affiliations. Among those elect
ed was Mr.. Banks who had formerly been
a democrat. They were called. In the po-
litical parlance Of the day, "Anu-Nebraska