The record-union., 1897-01-05
IN THE ASSEMBLY.
Liveliest Session on Record for a
First Day.

-
First Day.
At noon yesterday the thirty-second
session of the Assembly of the Legisla-
ture of California convened, being
called to order by Hon. S. j. Duck
worth, Chief Clerk of the House for the
thirty-first session.
The Clerk having announced that he
opened the Assembly by virtue of his
authority as Clerk of the last session,
directed the Sergeant at-Arms to clear
the floor of all persons except mem
bers of the Assembly and to preserve
order.
Announcing the death of Rev. Mr..
Summers, Chaplain of the last Assem-
bly,, the Clerk called upon Rev Josiah
Sims to cffer the opening prayer This
was a brief but impressive and elo-
quent invocation, and was as follows:
I'VE thank Thee, Almighty God, for
the mercies of the past. We thank
Thee for our beautiful State with its
green hills and lofty mountains, its
valleys and plains, it's agricultural re-
sources and its mineral treasures. We
thank Thee for its instltutions-re-
lieious and moral, beneficent and ed
ucetional. We are met here to do and
undo; to formulate and enact laws for
the commonwealth. May all personal
ard party interests be submerged in an
all absorbing desire for the welfare
of the State. We invoke Thy blessing
on the officers of this House; upon the
clerks at their desks; upon the repre-
sentatives of the newSpapers-such i'm
rcrtSnt agents for the good of the
State
We pray Thee, OH, God, endow him
who shall be chosen Speaker of this
Assembly with wisdom and discretion.
May he do justly, love mercy and walk
humbly before God and man.
May Thy blessing rest upon the
Governor of this State while he is man
tied in the robes of honor as its chief
Executive. May he walk in the light of
truth and serve his State with fidelity.
Finally, oh, God, bless all the pro-
ceedtngs and deliberations of this body;
and may they inure solely to the best
and highest good of the people. Amen. :"
The Clerk announced the Assembly
open for business pertaining to organi-
zation.
Here North of Alameda and Shana-
han of Shasta both got upon their feet.
North secured recognition from the
Clerk and offered the following resolu-
ton:
Resolved, That each member take his
seat and oath of office on the roll call
as prepared by the Secretary of State.
The moment the reading of the reso-
luton from the desk was finished
Shanahan was ON his feet and protest
ing with much heat that it should have
been his privilege to offer the resolu-
ton; that it had been his purpose to do
SO and that, because a rascally clerk
in Modoc had refused him his certifi-
cate of election he knew no reason
why he should be refused recognition
on the floor of the House
The Clerk endeavored to molhfy Mr.
Shanahan by the statement that Mr..
North had been seen first. But the
Sycamore of Shasta declared that he
having been in the Legislature for four
previous terms knew parliamentary
rules. Several members rose to a point
of order and there was some mild ex-
citement when Mr.. Dibb1e moved the
previous question on North's resolu-
ticn, and the resolution was put to
vote and adopted unanimously,
Cutter of Yuba offered a resolution
that the names of the Assemblynlen be
called ten at a time. Adopted
The Clerk announced that Hon. Matt
F. Johnson, Superior Judge, would ad-
minister the oath.
After the members had been duly
sworn in, in blocks of ten, the next or
der of business was the election of a
Speaker.
Dibble offered a resolution to expe-
dite the organization by retaining the
old officers as they at present stood.
Adopted.
Assemblyman North of Yolo, having
secured recognition from the Clerk,
nominated Hon. F. L. Coombs of Napa
for Speaker in the following eloquent
speech, delivered in magnificent voice
and finished style:
Mr.. Chairman and Fellow-M
bers of the Thirty-second Session of the
Assembly: With due fitness has this
House been termed the Young Mems
Assembly, and as youth and ambition
are wont to go hand in hand, the State
may reasonably expect an ambitious
session.
For it's speaker this impulsive body
demands leader fired with such youth
full energy as would keep pace with the
members-tempered with a discretion
born only of experience-that will di-
rect their enthusiasm to the proper
channels.
I'm youth sentiment vies with judg-
ment for supremacy. Happy are we,
therefore, that the two forces now di-
rect to the same choice for Speaker
Our emotions kindle as We realize that
our fathers laid the foundation of this
great State. Our pulses throb at the re-
citai of how they builded their homes
as they gained prosperity, of how
around the long-sought hearths they
drew the magic circle of all protecting
law, and of how upon that threefold
and indestructible foundation of for
tune. home and law they builded the
great cosmopolitan Commonwealth of
California.
THAT same sentiment now delights
in the recollection that in the legislative
councils of that Commonwealth a GER
tain worthy pioneer father held
highly honored position knowledge
Continued on Eighth Page.)