Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-01-11
THE HOUSE.

THE HOUSE.
intense interest was manifested :, .L
outcome OF the battle royal oyer IN. ID,
Nie iaiifoad fundinS bill, which came 70 a
we IA the House today. Before the Hons.
convened the floor was crowded win
anu opponents of the measure ana
eis were standing about in gro,ps
arguing the merits of the hill Such .
scene OF oustling activity has not been seen
oh the moor this session. The galleries also
we're we'll hlled with interested spectators
II required some time to straighten ont
the parliamentary situation Sneaker Raaa
stated his understanding of tba s,a,s 49,
Ihere were, he said. no pending amend
hents 10 the bill. There were bou,s,.ar
w . suosututes-that of Mr. Harrison OF
AiaDama, 10 provide for a commissiop ~
lhree cabinet officers to negotiate a saf,la
Hieht OF the debts with the two roads ana
lhe Den substitute, providing that IN fbe
roaos would clear off the first nlorr yao. 90
as to advance the government's ne,e ,e ~ 10
Posilion OF first mortgage the rnver,
Hent would agree to an extension Of tba
periou per lor tne payment of the debt at 3
per cent interest To the former suhs-i
t.te mere was pending an amendment nrn
posed Dy Mr. Northway of Ohio. providing
@ .nat me commission created should be an
Ser,ea Sonr.sa % the secretary of the Treasury.
secretary OF the Interior and Attorncy
general, instead of consisting of fboss
three cabinet officers o9e
me Northway amendment, he said was
their order N'u'es IN
If either of the substitutes were adonts,
!. would ne said, take the place OF the
The Bell Substitute.
AFTER some wrangling the Speakers state
ment OF the situation was accepted by, tho
House. The Northway amendment to the
harrison substitute defeated on a
viva voce vote, after which the Bell suh-
stitute was submitted. Without a;vtdin.,
MI. Bell, the author of the substitute de-
Handed a record-making vote His Ia
n-ahd was sustained by seventy odd mem
GERS mostly on the democratic side and
the roll was called.
AS tne voting proceeded 1t was evident
mat the substitute would fail and the
friends of the bill Were corresnondfngI,,
Jupliant- senator White of California SEN
ator Daniel and other senator's from The
hofth end of the Capitol We're present ar
various stages of the proceedings. and
watched the progress of the struggle with
keen interest.
There was furry when the Speaker an
nounced the defeat of the Bell substitute
ITO to 1876
The Harrison Substitute.
The opposition appeared somewhat stag
gered, but II was pointed out that the Cali
fornia members and others known to he
opposed TO the measure voted against The
substitute. The Harrison substitute was
then submitted. On a viva yoce vote the
volume of sound was distinctly against the
substitute, and the Speaker was about to
declare it defeated, when Mr. Harrison
lAla) demanded the ayes and noes
lhere We're cries of mo, no." hut ha
succeeded in securing forty-seven members
70 back his demand. This was not ONE
NTH of the preceding vote but the other
SIDE was unable to muster more than 100
so the Speaker. ordered the roll called.
lhis substitute was Overwhelmingly de-
feated-55-2l4.
A Test of Strength
The opposition then decided to test their
strength by securing roll call on the usu
ally formal motion to engross and read the
bill third time
Accordingly Mr. Mcguire (Cal) dema led
the yeas and nays, and half the House
seemed to rise in response to his demand
AS the roll call began every one realized
that the critical moment had come
The subdued buzz of excited conversation
subsided and hush fell on the House The
me memDers listened quietly TO the responses.
Mr. Powers and his clerk kept tallies Mr.
Cummings IN. W, Mr.. Mcguire (Cal) and
several other members also checked the
vote.
When it was quietly whispered about that
the vote at the end of the first call on the
motion to engross was S7-147 the adrer-
saries of the measure were overjoyed
Mr.. Mcguire started a round of applause
and abandoned his tally. The complete
ness of the defeat of the bills advocates
became more and more apparent as the
second roll call proceeded.
The Bill Defeated.
When the clerks had figured up the totals
the Speaker submitted the result-yeas
102; nays, 16S. There was a great out
burst of applause when the defeat of The
measure was officially announced. The
formal motion of Mr.. Hubbard tMo)
to reconsider and lay on the table, was
carried, and some minor business was
transacted. Then suddenly Mr.. Powers
seemed to make up his mind to try and set
further consideration of the bin In new
form.
Motion to Recommlt.
He arose and moved that the bill be re-
committed TO the committee. 1T is ao-
parent" said he, speaking very calmly.
''that the House has manifested its o,-
position to the principle OF this bill. But"
he continued. Il take it every memb,s