The age-herald., 1900-04-28
POLITICAL GOSSIP AT
 THE NATIONAL CAPITAL

l personal friend in the senate cast the vote
 that defeated Matthew Stanley Quay's as-
 pirations to a seat in the senate. It was
 a case of splendid moral courage, such
 one as is very seldom met with in public
 life and that has not occurred in the sen
 ate in many year.
 Ever since he entered the senate George | Graham Vest has spoken and voted | against the right of governors to fill va
 eancies in the senate caused by the fail
 ure of a legislature to set. Yet, at the | close of his political career, with only
 few months, at most few years re-
 maining of life for him, Senator Vest had | to decide between his personal affection | for the Pennsylvanian and his duty. Had | he voted for seating Quay, the latter
 would now be member of the senate, but | the former would have stultihed himself
 MT. Vest chose the path of duty and as | he voted against his friend look of
 keen pain appeared his features He
 had wounded his friend, but he had done his duty fully. It was a trying situation for any man to face, particularly for i man in exceedingly i'll health.
 | And now some of Quay's friends are in l clined to criticise the Missouri senator be- | cause he did his duty. Yet during the long | fight over the Quay case MT Vest was one l of the advisers of the Quay men. He helped them in trying places, where he l could do so without going contrary to his | convictions. He wanted Quay to be | seated, hoped he would win and at times | wavered. He thought of absenting him.
 self or even of voting for Quay, and Quay | expected that Vest would vote for him. It 1 is understood that he even asked that | great sacrifice from his friend, but when | MT Vest was faced with the question of | seating his friend casting him out he | did his duty. It was splendid moral heroism, and with the exception of a few extreme Quayites, Mir Vest is being | praised and congratulated upon his cour- l age
 Not in the memory of the oldest men in | the senate or of the men whose duty it is | to report congressional proceedings has there been a closer vote than that upon the Quay case. By a vote of 32 to 8 the senate refused to strike out the word ''not in the words of the resolution re- ported by the majority of the committee on privileges and elections declaring that | Matthew Stanley Quay is not entitled to | seat''
 From the beginning of the vote to the 1 end the result was uncertain. It was like a neck and neck horse race a race from the beginning with each jockey pushing his | animal for all there was in it. When the | first four votes had been cast it was tie, | two to two: when twenty votes were cast | it was ten to ten; when twenty-six sena- l tors had voted it was thirteen to thirteen,
 and so it went through the roll call, though laf Ua -txyo against Quay to eighteen for him. Then | it was twenty-seven to twenty-seven, | twenty-nine to twenty-nine, then a bunch of negative votes against Quay, which | made it seem less clear than 1t was, and
 finally the result was g to 8 against the | motion to strike out the mot" The vote was recapitulated twice, and while the roll
 was being called not a sound came from
 the densely packed galleries, from the floor from the press gallery. Every
 vote was listened to with intentness.
 The Quay men looked as if they had been
 hit severe blows Penrose of Pennsylva-
 mia breathed hard and glowered around the senate. Then came the roll call on the adoption of the resolution declaring Quay
 not entitled to his seat. Every senator voted in the same spirit as he had before,
 save on this motion those who had voted
 no before voted yea and ayes voted no. Thirty-three to thirty-two, and Mir. Quay
 was beaten. Now he can only come in if
 he secures a regular election from the
 Pennsylvania legislature, and it is doubtful
 if he can.
 Throughout the debate on the up
 to the hour of Tuesday, when the vote
 was to be taken, there was suppressed ex-
 citement. Early in the day came the
 news that Senator Hanna had paired with
 Senator Depew against seating Quay.
 Then it was learned that Kean the junior senator from New Jersey, had refused to follow the wishes of Sewell, his colleague, and pair for Quay. Keen was paired
 with Foster of Washington against Quay.
 Senator Deboe of Kentucky was reported
 to be in doubt, but he finally voted for
 Quay Fairbanks of Indiana had been supposed to be against Quay, but it was
 learned that he had raired with Mallory
 in favor of Quay. McGumber of North
 Dakota the doubtful list but he voted against Quay Every effort was | made to have MT, Culberson of Texas obey the behests of many members of the
 Texas legislature and vote for Quay. Up to the moment of the vote Quay parti- sans were working with him, but Culber-
 son followed his convictions. Martin of Virginia was another democrat whom the Quayites tried to move, but he remained
 firm. What of Aldrich of Rhode Island and Beveridge of Indiana? They were absent and did not take the pains to be
 paired. Had they been present they would
 probably have voted for Quay. Clark of
 Montana did what has helped him in the
 senate considerably. He absented him. self and did not vote. He thought with
 his own contest impending and a unani-
 nous committee report declaring him not
 entitled to his seat he ought not to vote. Pettigrew of North Dakota thought Quay
 had no right to his seat but at the solici-
 tation of the Quay people he did not vote. Thus four men were impaired and did not 1 vote.
 | All day long the work for and against l Quay proceeded. Then, there were great