The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-05-23

/
Special to the Globe.
| WASHINGTON, May 22.-There is no
imperator process In legislation in the
senate. This body Is like a we'll
1 freighted merchant vessel. with sails
| spread to trade winds. It's code is ETH
| quette. Individual rights are never
impaired. Senatorial courtesy forbids
i it. Each senator stands upon his dig
nifty, and his dignity is recognized by
his associates. It is quiet but i'm
| pressive dignity. You might call it a
political lust in rust The atmosphere
seems to be far different from the at
| mosphere Of the house There is a
gravity about the body that gradually
encompasses all within it's reach. There
are no narrow bounds in its procedure.
| Apparently indefinite, 1t Is definite par
excellence. Its rules may appear shad-
owy, but they work without friction
and in an easy and precise manner.
New senators frequently strive to
break down the barrier. Within few
months they are silently tanned, and
join with the old senators in supporting
the ancient regime.
Nothing illustrates the difference be-
tween the house and the senate more
| aptly than the action Of the two houses
in the extra session on the apprOpria-
ton bills. The house is controlled by
the speaker and the senate by its mem
bers The speaker may control the ac-
ton Of the house with or without its
assent, but the presiding officer of the
senate can never control the action Of
that body. The lever of action in
| ie thn
which is appointed by the speaker, and
Of which the speaker Is the head. The
senate has a committee on rules, but
the vice president is not member nor
has he the appointing power. The COM
mittee is selected by the senate itself,
and it never oversteps the bounds.
=, It.. is interesting to note how deftly
the committee on rules in the present
house of representatives got control CT
the four appropriation bills left over
| by the last congress. Some might
/ think it required arbitrary action on
| the part. of the speaker to secure this
result, but the facts speak for them
selves.
On the opening day Of the extraordi-
| nary session, before the members had
drawn their seats, parliamentary &C
ton was taken. Gen. Henderson, Of
Iowa, offered resolution adopting the
rules Of the previous house. Although
I an old Republican member, he was
! then simply member of the house by
the will of his constituents An hour
Fafterward. he was the Boanerges Of the
| committee on rules by the grace Of.
the speaker. Mr.. Hepburn, of Iowa, an
l. nj VIZ nf
| the house, moved limit Of thirty days
as an amendment. At this Gen. Hen
i derson demanded the previous question
on the original resolution. The speaker
was about to put the question, when
Mr.. MeEwansH Jersey City Repub-,
licany OF moderate tendencies, asked
whether MrssHepba9n did not have
E,MghtMtoA Offer any amendment under
| general parliamentary law. Here is the
| Record:
The Speaker He has a right to offer
any amendment, Ssbut the gentleman
from Iowa (Nr. Henderson, is recognize
ed toSeontrolsthe. question:.
! Mr. Henderson, ask for the previous
isausstion, andw will say to, my colleague
that the rules. will probably be reported:
Elong before the thirty days expire.
1s The 3Speaker-The gentleman from
| Iowa. {Mr. Henderson, asks for the
| previous question. ssF
| of order My amendment must, be in
ftssorder iinsSthe absence Of rules. There.
asis no previous question without rule,
and there is-no$rule here which gives
to the gentleman. from Iowa (Mr. Hen
derson) the right to make that motion.
His motion is to adopt rules, which Is
| a concession that there are none; there
fOp II iv1cf lot VIC 10 10
this amendment.
II The Speaker chair. overrules the
/ point of order
/ Noreasonz was given for this ruling,
7 and Mr.. Hepburn took no appeal. He
/ evidently thoughtsthat it was useless.
f7TheSs house never reverses the ruling
,isof the speaker. The real feeling IN this
+ case WIS Shown, however, when on a
.Erisingsyote there were 1853 yeas and the
Same number OF; nays. 1t was a result
i dumfoundings to those imbued with the
T. inlperator idea Mr.. Henderson was not
I dismayed. He promptly asked for the
yeas and nays on his demand for the
| previous question, and secured them.
| The new members were all at sea.
There was much confusion and some
exquisite buttonhOling. The vote re-
corded 1872 yeas and 1874 nays. This
| was a loss ct four votes for those op-
! posing the motion, and an increase Of
| twenty-four for those sustaining>the de-
| mand,,, The increase came from old
Republican members who were rousted
! out, of the committee rooms and the
! restaurant.
AfterwaFd the representatives drew
their seats. While they were doing
| this, under the rules of the last con-
| gress, the four appropriation bills left
over by that congress were handed to
| the file clerk of the house by Messrs
| Cannon, Wadsworth and Sherman. Mr..
Cannon was chairman of the commit
tee on appropriations that reported the
sundry civil and deficiency bills to the
last congress. Mr.. Wadsorth, as chair
man of the committee on agriculture,
reported the agricultural appropriation
bill, and Mr.. Sherman, as chairman of
| the committee on Indian affairs, report
ed the Indian appropriation bill. In
this congress however they were simply
members of the house, as none Of these
committees had been, or have been, APP
pointed. The house could have no
knowledge Of the Introduction Of these
bills until the following morning, when
the. record showed that the file clerk,
under the supervision of the speaker,
had referred them to- the committees on
appropriations, on agriculture and on
Indian affairs. These committees did
not then exist and do not exist today.
just before the house adjourned on
that day5,the speaker appointed a COM
mittee on rules, one on ways and means
and one on. mileage These are the
only committees that have been APP
pointed since his election as speaker.
On the next day. Wednesday,, the
house was not in session. On Thursday,
March IS, it adjourned as soon as the
minutes were read. In that time 7O4