The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1896-10-14

Cries of =" Yes, that's what it is, y and
that is the reason why no relief has
come to this country, or the business
of the country, by reason of the do
ings of Congress during the last SEES
sion. If common sense could only
have ruled then, rs common sense
will rule after the next election, we
should have been relieved of our pres
ent burdens.
But we have all come here to-day
to listen to the man who presided in
Congress that year. Let me give you
a little extract from page in his life's
history. For several generations it
had been the law and rule of the
House of Representatives that it took
u majority to do business. That's
common sense. Well they had u way
of finding out when a majority was
there. They called the roll, and II n
fellow voted yes or mo- he was
counted present, and forming one of
a quorum to do business. Now If a
fellow was there not for business, but
for the purpose of making trouble, he
failed to vote and hid himself in the
cloak-room or the corridors, and de-
clared that he was absent. Things
got to such pass that the whole
business of Congress was stopped. A
great man was chosen to preside
that was in 1SS9-his name was
Thomas b. Reed cloud applause.)
His philosophy was the philosophy OF
common sense. He said, If ! want
{" to find out whether there is n ma
'jority of the Representatives here, /
lean use my sense of sight just as
" well as my sense of hearing. IL they
:" are here for the purpose OF obstruc'
"tion, they shall be declared present
" for the purpose Of action. If they
"are drawing salary of five thousand
dollars q year from the government
treasury, sworn to do their duty,
land | can find out that they are
there, will count them present."
(Applause.) That's common sense,
and that's what Thomas b. Reed did.
Great applause,) Although it now
seems so simple a thing, yet Congress
had been hampered for so many years
by red tape and precedent that it
seemed almost revolutionary when
Thomas b. Reed sat in the Speakers
chair and counted quorum of living
legislators in front of him in the
House. And our friends on the other
side of the political fence set up a
howl, and the same fellows who had
always been absent at roll-call
marched up the aisle to scare Thomas
b. Reed out of his common sense.
But they could not do it, and common
sense ruled in the House of Repre-
sentatives as long as he sat in the
chair. Well, the next Congress had u
Democratic majority, and these same
fellows swho had called Mr.. Reed a
Gar because he had eyes as well as
ears, found that two could play at
the same game, and they found that
they could not muster quorum with
out following his example, and using
their eye-sight. And SO they had to
resort to the iniquity Of seeing people.
They were abliged to look down upon
the floor of the House OF Representa-
tives and use their oversight to find
out whether there was a majority
there. Naughter)
Such was the tribute that "a Demo
cratic House of Representatives paid
to the precedent established by the
great parliamentarian whom we have
with us to-day. You have come to
hear him speak, and he will talk com
mon sense. | am sure | shall be
pardoned if | usurp the duty OF the
Chairman, Mr.. Murphy, and intro
duce to the voters of the Fourth Con
gressional District, the gentleman
whom am glad to call my friend,
and whom | am proud to acknowl-
edge as leader, the Honorable
Thomas b. Reed, of Maine. ZAP
plause and cheers for Pitney.)