The Anaconda standard., 1899-12-06

I When Mr.. Taylor began to speak Mr..
Roberts left the seat he had been occu-
| pylng and took a seat near the main
| aisle, where he could hear with greater
ease. Throughout Mr.. Taylor's re-
marks he sat facing his accuser, except
when he turned to his desk to take
notes of the points TO which he ie-
! sired to reply.
Continuing, Mr. Taylor read a decis-
ion of the supreme court defining poly
| gamy, which stated irrespective of
| whether a man had contracted a plural
marriage after the passage of the Ed
munds act and irrespective of whether
he had since cohabited with a plural
| wife. he was guilty of polygamy if he
| still maintained the relation of husband
toward more than one wife.
Referring again to the two proclama-
| tions of amnesty, he argued that the
| claimant was in no more peril than he
| would have been had no such procla-
| nation issued. But higher than the
civil law was a law of civilization.
which demanded that one so tainted
! should be excluded
Some Precedents,
He cited the case of Whttemore who
had been guilty of selling cadetships.
| and who upon his appearance at the
| bar of the house, was rejected as unfit
| to sit in the house. The power and
! the right were inherent, said Mr. Tay-
| lor. 1t was only a question of proprie-
! ty, of wisdom and of precedent. In all
of his investigation and study of prece-
| dents, Mr. Taylor said. he had failed
to find single case where the house
had hesitated to assert. upon proper
occasion, its right to halt member at
the bar when his qualifications for
seat were questioned He quoted eX-
tensively from "McCreary on Elec-
! tions' in support of his argument. He
reviewed the cases of Proctor Knott
Boyd Winchester and John M. Rice OF
Kentucky, who had been stopped at the
bar of the house or, the ground that
they were disqualified because they had
been disloyal.
we are told" said Mr.. Taylor in
conclusion, his voice ringing out clear
ly, that we are about to create an
unhappy precedent. Why, Mr.. Speak
er, we are doing this in the open gaze
of the whole world, not in a cloistered
court. We are the servants of the peo-
pie, empowered to do the right as we
see it, The public eye is upon us, the
public conscience quickens us. In that
presence we can do no wrong if we do
but obey it,"
Mr.. Taylor's words were greeted
with storm of applause both from the
floor and the galleries.
Mr.. Richardson's Contention.
Mr.. Richardson, the minority leader,
followed Mr.. Taylor He did not in
tend, he said, to discuss the merits of
the case. The question at issue was as
to whether the representative-elect,
Roberts. had prima facie right to his
seat. He was not willing to reject a
epresentatve-elect who appeared at
the bar of the house with his creden-
tials in due form. If he was denied ad-
mission a precedent would be created
which would rise to plague the house
= n Ttn nro11r
tional objection raised against the
member-elect related to his naturaliza-
tiCn, and that. Mr.. Richardson asserted,
would not hold. He defied the other
side to produce a single precedent where
objection was raised to the admnistra-
ton of the oath except on constitu-
tional grounds. The precedents cited
We're made during the war and We're
not to be relied on. In those days the
constitution was written with the
sword They had all been since over
ruled, after the passions that followed
the war had subsided.
Mr.. Richardson declared that the
minority was in no wise bound by his
position. He spoke for himself alone.
He was willing to say that if the
charges against the member We're
proven, he should favor his eXpul-
sion.
Purity OF the Home.
IF there is one thing in which the
American people are a unit" he said.
sit is that the American home shall be
preserved in all its loveliness, sweetness
and purity" (Applause)
But" he proceeded, 1T is not wise
to permit our Judgment to be warped
by public clamor. To do so amounts to
condemnation without trial"
Mr.. Richardson then brought forward
several precedents in support of his
position The first was that of George
*. Cannon. who appeared in the house
as a delegate-elect from Utah in 1873.
Mr.. Cannon was republican. Almost
the same charges now made
against Mr.. Roberts were made
against, Mr.. Cannon. He read from the
speeches of S. S. Cox of New York and
other prominent democrats who opposed
the denying of seat to MI Cannon,
on the ground that it would establish
precedent and produce chaos
in the future.
Above Party Prejudice. |
'Those democrats said he. rose
above party prejudice and stood by the
and the right" Demo |
cratic applause).
He also cited the case of RAINY, col
ored republican from South Carolina, !
IN the Forty fourth congress, where the !
democrats had insisted that he should |
have the oath administered to him. He |
also quoted the late President James
A. Garfield in support of his contention !
that where the credentials presented !
ire regular in form there is no power |
II the house 10 exclude him. Mr. Rich |
2rdson read the words of Mr. Garfield, !
Hnich concluded: There are no per- |
s0nal objections
But there are personal objections |
n the case before the holse." inter- |
posed Mr.. Taylor amid laughter and ap |
)lause