The Portland daily press., 1899-12-02
Decision at Conference
of Republicans.
Precedents Against His Eligi-
bility.

washinetoB, December lat confer
encs Of about 90 prominent House Rspub-
liesns held ct the capitol tonight II was
decided that the eligibility Of representa-
sive-sleot Roberts Of Utah too occupy q
seat In tue House Ct Representatives
should be Investigated and deter mined
and that pending the decision be should
not bs permitted 20 take the oath CT Office.
This decision was arrived at by thoss
rrssant without dissenting vot. Repre-
sentative Taylor Of Ohio who will have
cunrss Of the matter In the House, sx-
plAiusd after tho conference had sd-
journed, that this proceeding does not In.
yolys q pre- judi amsnt Of the oase, but. ir-
respective Of party, viii afford the
mem bsrs an opportunity to vots after a
thorough Investigation and complete prs-
sensation Of the case for tnelr oonsidera-
tion.
Mr.. Taylor had made study of the al
legations and prscsdents and presented
them at length to his colleagues. He
offered plan OF procedure which was
agreed to after general exchange OF
view. The procedure is to be as follows:
When Mr. Roberts appears at the bar Of
the House to take the oath. objection is
to be maue upon the ground that he Is
Ineligible. He Will thsn ep aside. and.
after the other members are sworn In.
the member making tho objscticn-who
will probably by Mr.. Isylor-wilI recits
the allegations and offer resolution for
thsir invett cation BY special commit
tea yAis viii give the House an cppor-
the question Of postponing the admins
tration OF the oath until after the aliega-
tions have bsen Investigated. The rsso-
lutious have not bssn formulated vet, but
they will include the investigation Of
whether Mr.. Roberts alleged conviction
Of violation Of the Edmunds act 1889
renders him ineligible by the terms Of
that act; whether ths fact that he Is an
avowed poly ygamist renders him ineligible
and whether the State Of Utah In elect
ing him has not violated the compact BY
which she obtained statehood. MIR.
Taylor says the precedent for objecting to
the swearing In Of q member duly elected
and bearing proper or ,dsntisis are mum.
erous and in point. Among others are
the we'll known cass Of Proctor Knott,
Boyd Winchester and John II. Rice Of
Kentucky, who were elected to Congress
shortly after the war. and also were
charged with ineligibility on the ground
Of disloyalty. All these prscedents were
cited at the conference tonight. TEess
preosdsnts lead to the conclusion that OBJ
jecticn can be properly made to the
swearing in of member where there Is
apparently well grounded reasons for be-
Iisving him ineligible. The resolutions
will provide for the appointment Of u
special committee Of either seven or nine
to be appointed BY the Speaker.
Representative Powers Of Vermont. pre-
sided at tho conference tonight Those
present were Msesrs. Henderson Of Iowa;
Grosvenor, Shattuok. Sout,ard, Kerr and
Taylor Of Ohio; Powers Of Vermont; Nc
Pnsrson Of Iowa; Dslzell Of Pennsyi-
vania; Payne and Sherman Of New York
Hin Of Connecticut; Thomas OF Iowa;
Alexander and Ray OF New York; Curtis
of Kansas; Warner of Illinois; lands Of
Indiana; Cannon of Illinois; Norris OF
Minnesota; Steele Of Indiana; Long OF
Kansas.
The Roberts case is not to come up for
consideration at the Republican caucus
tomorrow night The Republican leaders
do not desire to make the question In
= ~..S- taara