Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-02-24
TO COUNT A QUORUM
Ex-Speaker Reed Defends His Action
While in the Chair
Claims That He Was Sustained by the
Supreme COurt-The Fight
On Again.

In the House yesterday afternoon, during
| the discussion OF the arrest of members
Mr.. Reed said: Now let me come to the
decision Of the Supreme. Court That de-
cisiOn was that pressk quorum is a con-
stitutional quorum, not a voting quorum
The simple question then remains how shall
we ascertain the fact, If the presence of a
quorum is a fact Now, IL the gentleman
does not choose TO trust the Speaker then
1t is perfectly right that he should vote to
exclude the Speaker from the exercise of
that function. But in the absence Of any
method being adopted, there is one officer
who is the organ of the House. who is
charged to act as its agent. and that officer
very properly counts the presence of a
quorum when there is one and If any gem
tleman Is dissatisfied with his action, there
! Is an appeal to the House, and when the
House itself has once declared that count
| ing Is proper, why then that is the action
OF the House; and / am amazed to hear the
gentleman from Georgia CHR. Turner, who
Is certainly sound lawyer and a very
clear-headed man, repeat again and again
/ that the decision of the Supreme Court was
! that the House could make a rule The de-
clslon or the Supreme Court, which was an
indispensable preliminary to that other de-
cision. was that present quorum was the
quorum Of the Constitution IL il was not.
there was no power in the House to make
|
or anything else"
"Will the gentleman from Maine pardon
another inquiry" asked Mr.. Turner. docs
the gentleman from Maine insist thar tbs
Speaker Of the House had the authority TO
count the quorum without a rule of the
House?'
II do"
Then the gentleman differs with the
Supreme Court ITSELF"
Mr.. Reeds Point.
NOT at ALL If the gentlemen will read
more carefully that decision of the Supreme
Court they will find that the Supreme Court
like the Supreme Court, confined itself TO
the question at hand. and decided that a
present quorum was the constitutional
quorum. 1 want to get that into a rea-
sonaple number OF minds on the other side
Nausnter) and then We shall be victorious
The present quorum, / reiterate is the
quorum. Having decided that they then
very properly decided that the House would
nave right to make rule to how that
quorum should be ascertained, but in the
absence of a rule, the Speaker of this House,
just like the presiding officer of every par
iiamentary body, would act as its agent as
he is the depository of that power which is
not specified by the House"
"Wnl the gentleman from Maine permit
me to correct one impression that / think
he would not wish to have misapprehend-
ed?' asked Mr.. McMillin. The gentleman
has stated that he was sustained by the
House in his ruling and that he had a right
TO count d quorum before the adoption of
the rules. BY referring to the digest, the
gentleman will find that from this ruling
the one that L have named, an appeal was
taken, and debated for two days. but no
vote was ever taken in the House on sus-
tanning the decision of the chair motion
TO lay the appeal on the table was. how
ever, declared carried on a vote by yeas
and nays, quorum not voting, but being
supplemented in the same manner as was
done in the ruling appealed from. So thar
the ruling that he had right to count a
quorum, being appealed from, was sustained
only by his counting a quorum himself
Applause on the democratic side).
Advance i'm knowIedre
20. well, now" drawled Mr.. Reed. "this
democratic applause at these utterances
You know, is getting fainter and fainter
L measure your advance in knowledge by
your approach to silence. daughter on the
republican side) There is no trouble about
you. The only difficulty with the demo-
time for it to arrive" daughter and an
plause on the republican side1
During all this time Mr.. Adams the pris-
oner at the bar, had been seated in a re-
NolVlng chair in front of the bar of the
House lazily swinging TO and fro, an anus
ed spectator of the PROCEEDINGS and a
laugh was occasioned when Speaker pro
TEN. Richardson announced that he had ex-
cIsed the gentleman at the bar of the
House to get his lunch
Representative Dunn On il one Of the
members arrested, denounced the arrest as
breach of his constitutional rights He
offered a resolution to the effect thar the
warrant was void, AID the names should be
stricken from il.
Mr.. Reed held up the original warrant,
showing that names of members to be
arrested were on leaf attached to the
mandate of arrest The mandate did rot
identify the attached list of members as the
ones TO be apprehenGed. This was irree1I-
lar. in MIR. Reeds Judgment and failel 10
observe those jealous safeguards against ar
rest which the law recognized
Nj. Rartlett On. W said that the general
warrant under discussion would not have a
standing in a bsrbarous community
Reeds Amendment Withdrawn
At this point NJ. Reed unexpectadly With
drew his amendment, and moved 10 s;lsnend
all further proceedings under the call CT the
House unde- which the arrests were made.
The purpose of this move was to drop the
much confused question instead of attemnt
ing to straighten il out
Mr.. Reed made the point Of order that Mr..
Bland could not dispense with a call PAR
TALLY executed, and on which members were
now under arrest.
Mr.. Springer insisted that vacating the
order of the House OF February 10 would
release the members under arrest
Many members ATTEMPTED 10 talk and the
chair protested that he could not hear half
a dozen members at once
Mr.. Reed said that every respectable man
must be SO sick and tired of this thing that
even the solution offered by Mr. bland
might be blessing. This closed the ONO
sitton The acting Speaker overruled The
point or order, and then put the question en-
the Bland resolution for vscating The coII
OF February 49, and releasing the ,nernhers
under arrest. This was carried NV "a Ioud
viva voce vote, with very few dissenting
votes.
Thus the tangle was suddenly terminated
ana the arrested members of Congress were
again free.
Representative johnson dndD offered n
resolution calling on the sergea nt-a:-arr,s
TO investigate whether MIR. Johnson-s a-rsst
was with proper authority, and 10 cor
rect the writ IL error was discovered The
resolution was agreed TO.
Then, at $40 o'clock, the call OF commit
tees, usually coming at the beginning of The
days session. was begun.
The Fight on Again.
Mr.. Bland moved that the House 20 into
committee Of the whole to consider The sill
yer bill. and that all debate close at 3p m
Saturday.s-On this the previous question
was demanded.
FilibusterIng at once began again. as Mr.
Tracey ~. " demanded a division ON the
vote for the previous question. The ,liyi
sion showed III TO = no quorum. Mr.
Bland demanded the ayes and NAYS. and
the long struggle was well under way again
This continued until O'clock whom = =