Birmingham state herald., 1895-12-18
SENATE AND HOUSE PLEASED Mr. CIeveIand's Message Is Grat-
 flying to Both Parties. REPUBLICANS ESPECIALLY
Mr. Crisp Wanted SlO0OOO Appropriated
 SmmediateIY as Requested.
z lRST PARTISAN DEBATE OCCURS
rev Out of MT. Cannon's Amendment to the Rules Providing for the Ap- pointment of Three Commit
 tees on Elections.

Washington Dec. 17.-The proceedings of the house today were enlivened by a partisan debate growing out of MT. Can mons amendment to the rules providing for the appointment of three committees on elections. In support Of the amend ment Mir. Cannon spoke of the great pre- ponderance of contests from the south and quoted allegations that notwith- standing the repeal of federal election laws fraud still existed in the elections in that part of the country.
 MT. Crisp, democrat, of Georgia, led the opposition to the amendment, declar- ing that the effect of its adoption would work injustice to democratic contestees; that there was nothing in the history of the republican party to warrant the as- sumption that election contests would be decided by this house upon any other than partisan grounds. Propositions to amend the amendment were made but were all rejected, and after four hours debate the proposition was agreed to.
 Mr Cannon introduced the resolution discussed yesterday in the speakers room, amending the rules so as to provide Tor the appointment of three committees on election of nine members each to be known as l, and 8 respectively, and in-
 
 mittees. Certain changes in the rules, made necessary by the increases in com mittees and membership since the Fifty hrst congress, were also proposed. All of the changes were agreed to by unani- nous consent except those relating to the committees of elections.
 MT. Cannon explained the necessity for the resolution. All of the contestees, he said. were democrats; twenty-two of the contestants were republicans, eight pop uhsts, one an independent democrat and one fusionist. This latter classifi- cation aroused an audible smile all over the floor.
 Mr Crisp, democrat, of Georgia. led the opposition to the proposition to in- crease the number of committees on elections. What was there, he asked in the history of the republican party to justify the assertion that election con tests would be decided upon their mer- its? He referred to the action of the house in the Fifty-first congress in elee- ton cases, and had the clerk read from the Record the proceedings in the Miller- Elliott case, from South Carolina, where the contestant was seated without de- bate, on the reading of the report of the committee on elections, and when he had been sworn in "these judicially minded gentlemen" said MT. Crisp, demanded that the next case be called; and" he continued, 'if the cases had been on the calendar so that they might be consider ed, l have no doubt that the judicial majority would have voted to unseat ev- cry man on this side of the house."
 An interruption by MT. Walker led to a. colloquy between him and MT. Crisp in which the history of counting a quo- rum" in the Fifty-first congress was brought under discussion.
 MT Crisp was made the target for a yolley of questions by several republican members respecting the action of the democrats in the Fifty-first congress. Mir. Boutelle asked if he thought the demo- crats did right in retiring from the house bodily in order to obstruct the considera- ton of public business.
 Mr. Crisp-I believe they were justified in proceeding in any lawful way to pre- vent the consummation of the outrages proposed by the republicans, and the people of the country evidently took the same view, for they reversed the ma jority in the next house, giving the democrats 150 majority. (Applause)
 Further along the results of the elec- tion of 1894 were the subject of repartee between the two gentlemen. Mir. Crisp said he read somewhere that the gen tleman from Maine (Mr. Boutele) con- sidered the result as a vindication of his course in regard to Hawaii.
 Mr. Boutelle-The gentleman from Georgia certainly cannot claim that it was a vindicaton of his course on the Hawaiian matter.
 Mr. BoutelIe then caused general laughter by assuming a serious air and saying: By the way, before the gen. tleman from Georgia proceeds would he kindly yield to me for few minutes for some reflections in regard to Hawaii?"
 The ex-speaker did not comply with the request. but said there was a message from the president regarding the Venezu- elan frontier question on the speakers desk and this republican house, because of a partisan debate projected by the gentleman from Illinois (Cannon), could not take time to have it read
 MT. Hulick asked was not the delay re- ally due to the absence of the president duck hunting?
 Without answering the question MT. Crisp said the message should be read, adding: "It is frank, manly defense of the Monroe doctrine" (Applause)
 MT. Dalzell, republican, of Pennsylva- mia, replied to MT. Crisp, and the debate was continued by MT. Bartlett of New York and MT. Johnson of Indiana.
 Br Bailey of Texas asked MT. Cannon if he would consent to modify his resolu- tion so as to provide that the members of the proposed election committees should take a special oath.
 MT Cannon replied that long observa- tion as lawyer had satisfied him that a man who would lie when the truth was called for would swear to 1t.
 The debate was further participated in by Messrs. Wheeler of Alabama. Milliken of Maine, Lacey of Iowa and Powers of Vermont.
 Pending an arrangement for closing debate several amendments were pro- posed, one by MT Terry of Arkansas proposing to allow six hours debate in the house on each side.
 This was defeated by vote of yeas 5l, nays 199 several contestees being ex- cused from voting.
 The original amendment to the rules offered by Mir. Cannon was adopted with out division.
 The message on the Venezuelan boun- dary was then laid before the house and read by the clerk. When that portion