Birmingham age-herald., 1895-01-31
PAN4EMONIUN REIGNED Over s Discussion of the Reilly
 s3acifo Funding Bill, IT A SPEAKER HELPLESS 5
To Restore Order Calls for tho Serge -ArmS-No Help
 From the Senate.

|
 moment after the opening of the session of
 the house Mir. Catchings reported from the
 committee on rules a resolution for the
 consideration of the Reilly Pacific railroad
 funding bill. It provides for general de-
 bate on the resolution until o'clock
 tomorrow, Thursday's session to be-
 gin at II o'clock, debate on the
 five minute rule to continue nnti 4:3o,
 when the vote will be taken on pending
 amendments. The order giving Thursday
 to the committee on the District of Co.,
 lumbia was abrogsted and Fri
 day set apart for business from that | committee.
 A remarkable debate followed. The res-
 olution and committee on rules were vio-
 iently attacked for unduly restricting de- | bate by Messrs. Boatner, democrat, of
 Louisiana; Mcguire, democrat, of Cali
 iornia; Bryan, democrat, of Nebraska. and | Cooper, republican, of Wisconsin, and | defended by Messrs. Catchings, democrat, | of Mississippi; Kyle, democrat, Of Mlssis- | sippi, and Reilly, democrat, of Pennsylva-
 nia. The attitude of the democratic party | toward tie question involved in the bill | was interjected by Mir. Holman, who as- | serted that the party had always drowned | upon every attempt 10 settle the matter. l This was vigorously denied by MT. Catch l
 vious necessity' and asserted that the | statement was untrue. Mr. McMillin,
 democrat, of Tennessee, joined in the col- | loquy, which was conducted with much | gesticulation and denunciatiou and pound-
 ing of the speaker's gavel, and was finally | ended only by the efforts of the sergeant | at-arms.
 | The demand for the previous question on | the passage of the resolution was seconded
 by a vote of 133 yeas to 121 nays, and then | before the desired vote was taken upon the | passage of the resolution mod ii cation | was accepted by Mir. Catchings ana U was | agreed to by unanimous consent. As | adopted the resolution provides for general | debate up to adjournment of tomorrow's
 session (which shall begin at Il o'clock), | and in whatever time the committee on the
 District of Colum bia shall not occupy of Fri | days session. Saturdays session, also | beginning at II o'clock, shall be devoted | to the consideration of the bill under the five-minute rule until 4:30 o'clock, when l the vote shall be taken on it's passage. 1 The debate from the beginning had pro- l ceeded amid some con fusion, the members | crowding about the speakers and throng-
 ing the arena in front of the desk, but all I that was as nothing to the hubouo accom- | panied by Mir. Catchings' efforts to close. | He said the rule did not commit the house | to any settlement of the question. The | only question involved was as to whether | or not the house would proceed to consider | the bill, and he could not understand why
  | over simple order of business. l Diverting to the merits of the case, MT. l Catchings said he understood there We're | members on the floor who would not be | sorry if the governments rights and prIvi- | leres were sacrificed. The practical ques- | ton facing the house was, should an eff jrt | be made to get the money due the govern-
 ment? He believed that the house would | be recreant to every trust if 1t failed to | make every effort in that direction. The | gentleman from Indiana (AIr. Holman),
 said MT. Catchings, had asserted what was not true-that the democratic party had | drowned upon every attempt to settle or 1 compromise the debt.
 | AL this MT. Holman was on his feet,
 shouting and gesticuating violently, and | half a hundred memb bers crowded about the l speakers, whose voices were drowned ln
 the tumult, to which the speaker pro tenn, | MT. Richardson of Tennessee, added by vigorous rapping of the gavel. l MT. Catchings asserted that the journals of the Forty eighth ana forty-ulnlh con- | gresses would show that two committees l one of them pres ided over by his colleague, | MT. Outhwaite-had reported bills for the | settlement of the question.
 MT. Holman-They won't show anything | of the kind.
 MT. Catchings--They will show it, and know what 1 am talking about. II we | had rules to force consideration the pills | would have been passed but they could not | be reached.
 Mr. McMillin and MT. Outhwaite were | now on their feet and shouting their views. | MT. McMillin said the house had refused to | pass the bills.
 MT. Catchings-The house did not refuse | to pass the bills; they were not considered. Finally, by appealing to members to re- | store order and directing the sergeant at- | arms to request them to take their seats, 1 the speaker pro tenn. succeeded ln restor- | ing somathing like order, and Mr. Catch | ings concluded with an expression or | opinion that two days were amply suffi- cient for an elucdation of every proposl- ton that could properly arise in the dis cussion. More than two days could not be given at this time, In justice to other and quite important matters which were demanding to bs heard.
 The proceedings leading to the modifi"a- ton of the rule, as above indicated, followed with less excitement, and then the hnuse resolves itself into com mittee of the whole to consider the Reilly bill.
 The bill was read ln iull 10 empty benches.
 The debate was begun by Mir. Reilly in favor of the bill and Mir. Harris, demo- crat, of Kansas, in opposition, and their speeches exhausted the day's session. house bill was passed authorizing the chief official of any state penitentiary or jail to open the mail of O prisoner which he has reason to believe is intended to be derogatory to the discipline of the insti- tuition.
 MT. Hatch reported the agricultural ap- propriation bill for the year ending June 80, 1898, and it was placed on the calendar. The house adjourned at 5:15 p. m. IN THE SENATE. If there had been any lingering hope left | that the finance committee of the senate would be able to agree upon some measure | of financial relief at the present session. such hope was definitely dispelled in the l course of the discussion which broke out
 immediately after the reading of the joe~- | nal today. One of the leading democratic | members of that committee, Mir. Vest of
 Missouri, in presenting resolutions of the | St. Louis Merchants' exchange favoring | legislation on the lines of the presidents
 recent message, took firm stand against | any such legislation, and expressed the
 opinion that the Merchants exchange had | not Riveu proper consideration to the sub- | ject and did not represent the intelligent ! Icontinusd on Second rage.l