The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-11-19

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effective disinfectant will be -ap piled just
now to the affairs of the Quaker City.
A NOBLE LEGISLATIVE BODY.
The senate Of the United States has
been frequently referred to as the Amer
lean house Of lords The senate of the
United States is not, in any sense in
which the term may be used, a popular
| body. There are many offenses which
may be charged up against it. While 1t
| is, like most parliamentary bodies. the
| judge of the qualifications of its own
! members, it is coming to be recognized
| generally among this people that the
possession of sufficient skill to enable the
political machinery to run smoothly is
nowadays the main qualification to rem
der a seat In the senate reasonably GER
tan and secure Sentorial prerogative
seems to be regarded as being in it's ma
ture as high political privilege as might
be exercised by even the members of the
British house Of peers, and the rules Of
the senate are hardly any more promottve
Of the speedy transaction of public bust
ness than those which prevail in the up
per house of the British parliament. Yet,
even in the light of all this, it is not al
together a compliment to the senate to
ltken it In any way to the other body
The vote taken recently In the British
house of lords adversely to the erection
of statue to Oliver Cromwell has been
effective in directing general attention to
some of the conditions attending the
transaction of business by that body.
The vote in question stood 8 in favor of
the resolution and 4 against. and that
same vote is regarded as being an ex-
traordinary one, numerically Three of
their lordships constitute a quorum for
the transaction Of business, and the fact
that there were so many as ten Of them
present to show their adherence Of the
memory Of Old NoIl is explained by the
fact that very urgent "whip'-that is,
an appeal for attendance-had been sent
out to those lords who were known to be
favorable to excluding CromwelTs statue
from Westminster
1t Is now quite a number of years ago
since the vote was taken in the British
house of lords on Mr.. Gladstone's Irish
home rule measure. That occasion was
one of such transcendant Importance to
the nobility, so called, of England, that
quite a number of noble lords who had
ter the house Of parliament in person
were in the seats reserved for them, look
ing quite as much In touch with their sur
roundings as might number of railway
navvies In Westminster palace. The APP
pearance of as many as ten of the noble
lords to pass upon the claim to fame of
that ruthless foe Of their fathers, oliver
Cromwell, is to be taken as an indication
that hardly as important a matter had
been submitted to their consideration
since the downfall of Gladstone and all
his home rule projects
To the average American politician the
rule Of the British lords in making three
a quorum must present itself as a most
convenient provision. What an admir-
able arrangement such rule would be
found to be in our own federal senate
1t would be effective in dispensing, for In
stance, with that troublesome piece of
parliamentary machinery known as the
executive session. Presidential appoint
ments would be confirmed without any
~.
such operations, especially when a given
appointments is not acceptable to the SEN
'ators of given state. Who knows but
, that. the imperial presence Of Roscoe
Conkling might have been saved to his
colleagues for many years had 1t been
possible on the memorable day of his
downfall to bring together quorum of
three, with the one dissenting Democrat
loyalty doing his duty by his party? But,
as has been frequently pointed out by
many admirers Of the noble Anglo-Saxon,
American institutions have so many
drawbacks and disadvantages that they
suffer greatly when compared with the
grand and imposing system of the king,
lords and commons of England
Is 1t not impossible that the altogether
convenient arrangement of attendance
for business in the grave and reverend
senate of the British empire may suggest
to some of the more advanced of our
imperial brethren at least one direction
in which We may be able to render our
political institutions and methods more in
accord with true models of constitutional
architecture. Among the other advan-
tages Of such a provision which will at
once suggest themselves to the intelligent
observer of our own somewhat crude at
tempts at constitutional government Ia
the one that 1t would save the world from
many sweeping torrent of senatorial
eloQuence,. such as breaks upon the