The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-04-17
The Quorum Question.

| The republican papers are saying just
/ what it was expected they would say
/ when the democratic caucus of the House
! decided in favor of rule authorizing the
! speaker to count quorum. They are
! saying that Mr. Reed has brought the
| democrats to their knees; or, as the New
York Tribune puts it, the democratic
party gets down on its knees before him
and begs his pardon"
1t IS not of much consequence what
Mr.. Reed or the republican papers say
about the matter. II is of great conse-
quence that congress shall transact bust
ness promptly so that the people may not
be kept in uncertainty in respect to legisi
latiOn and so that it may ad-
iourn early in the summer. Mr.
Reed is not the author of the plan of
counting a quorum. II was suggested in
the House long before Mr. Reed was
speaker, and was employed by Senator
Hill when he presided in the New York
Senate. Mr. Reed, however, put il in
practice in the House of Representatives,
when speaker, and he was so tyranical in
the use of the power he usurped that he
was very generally condemned. The
House gave him no authority to count a
quorum. He acted without rule, and
afterwards claimed that the supreme
court decided he had authority without
having it conferred upon him by the
House. AS matter of fact,
as Congressman Turner recently pointed
out, the supreme court decided
only that the House could confer upon
the speaker such authority The demo-
Gratis will act in the matter in strict COM
pliance with the decision of the supreme
court
The annoyance which faithful demo-
Gratis may feel, because of the claim Mr.
Reed makes that he has forced their
party to adopt his plan of counting
quorum, is as nothing compared to their
Indignation with those two score or more
of delinquent democrats who refuse to at
tend to their duties in the House The
democrats have at least thirty-five mem
bers more than a quorum. If these de-
linquents could be made to remain in
Washington and attend to the duties
for which they are very literally paid,
this question of counting a quorum would
not have arisen. With them the demo-
Gratis would have more than a quorum,
and it would be a matter of. indifference
whether the republicans voted or not.
Their names ought to be published in
every democratic paper in the country, so
that their constituents might know of
their unfaithfulness and refuse to re-
elect them. The people are altogether
too lenient with their representatives.
They overlook their faults when they
should punish them for their neg
lect of duty.
This decision Of the democrats to count
quorum will do the Democratic party
great deal of harm. 1t is in effect
an announcement that large
percentage of democratic members are
faithless to the trust reposed in them.
1t will be represented as a confession that
the democrats, Notwithstanding their
large majority, can do no business in the
House without republican help.
And these delinquent democrats are
willing that their party shall be forced to
adopt the plan of counting a quorum
rather than forego the privilege of being
absent from their posts of duty. 1t is
regretable that such men get into con-
gress, and is is a source of satisfaction
that Georgia is not represented by that
kind of men.