The record-union., 1899-01-03
IN THE ASSEMBLY.
6oS the House Organized and How
It Was Hiudered.

6oS the House Organized and now
It Was Hindered.
The Assembly was called to order at
II O'Clock noon by S. j. Duckworth,
Chief Clerk of the Assembly of 1S9y-
As the gavel fell Duckworth said:
"As Chief Clerk of the last Assembly
it becomes my duty, by virtue OF the
authority vested in me by the Constitu-
ton of the State of California to re-
quest the members of the thirty-th1rd
session of the Assembly to come to
order.
1.-THE Minute Clerk will note that, in
conformity with the law, the follow
ing officers of the last session are here
to perform their duties: S. ]. Duck
worth, Chief Clerk; R. @. Wickham,
Minute Clerk; VIM. o. Banks, Ser
| geant- at-Arms."
| Duckworth then continued as follows:
Gentlemen: In it's zeal to force
economy upon the last Legislature, the
to open this session with the usual in
vocation. I will, therefore, request that
for two minutes the members OF the
Assembly preserve utter silence while
each, in his own way and according to
|
peals to the Throne of Grace for
strength and wisdom to perform the
duties of his office"
| At the end of two minutes the
gavel again dropped and Duckworth an
nounced the following temporary APP
pointments: w. H. Dahle, Assistant
Sergeant-a Arms; Postmaster, N. I.
Hamilton; Gate Keepers, Daniel Nc
Partland, W. IS. Reyner, ]. Hooking;
Pages, A. A. F'riedlander, w. w.
Benchley, G. w. NJ. Condor
Dibble offered the following resolu-
ton:
| Resolved, That each member take his
seat and his oath on the reading Of the
roll call as prepared by the Secretary
Of State. Adopted.
| Dibble then moved that the members
be sworn in and sign their names ten
at a time. Carried.
! The oath of office was administered
by Superior Judge E.. c.. Hart Of Sac
ramento.
| White Of San Francisco wired that
his son had died and he should be alb
sent for few days.
| Caminetti Of Amador did not get in
to take the oath with his confreres,
but arrived later in the day and was
sworn in by Speaker Wright.
DUCKWORTH'S DAY.
| The members having been sworn in
and being ready to proceed with the
organization of the Assembly, an I'M
expected delay was interposed by Duck
worth, who, standing in the Speakers
desk and letting fall the carpenters
hammer he was using as a gavel, spoke
these somewhat remarkable words:
Il desire as your temporary presiding
officer to address a few words of ad.
vice and explanation to you and to
| the people of the State represented by
you upon this floor
Duckworth then proceeded to reopen
IN his own fashion the story Of the at
| taches scandal which marred the thir-
| ty-second session Of the Assembly. He
rehearsed the story of the opening day,
| claimed that he read the stuffed list
of temporary attaches at the request
of members, declared that he yielded
the chair to Speaker Frank Coombs at
4:3O o'clock on the day Of organization
and was thenceforth free of all respon-
sibility in the matter of the extrava-
gance of the House; that the blame for
the adoption of the list lay wholly with
| the House.
Belshaw rose to a question of infor-
nation, and being recognized desired to
know il it was in the province of the
Chief Clerk to deliver lecture to the
House or whether it was not rather
his duty to proceed with the organiza-
ton of the Assembly
Belshaw was applauded, but Duck
worth coolly informed him that up to
| 1897 it might not have been permissible
| but that he now had the right to place
| himself right before the House and the
public He proceeded with his story
telling how the newspapers took up the
| matter, how he was misrepresented on
| all hands and how members came to
him and demanded that for the sake
| of the party he should shoulder the al
| legged iniquity of the unlawful appoint
ment of attaches.
Melick sprang to his feet and moved
that the Assembly do now proceed to
the election of officers"
There was a turnult Of cries of Eyes,
yes and of seconds to his motion.
The House was getting hot tempered
and Disguised, and anxious to get to
business.
Duckworth used his hammer freely
and shouted:
Come to order. Nothing else is in
order while the Chair is addressing this
House,
Continued on Fifth Page)