Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-01-07
56TH CONGRESS-.
LittIefeld of Maine Goes After
Hopkins Scalp.
Scores His Re-apportionment Bill
Without Fear and Without Mercy.
Eloquent aad Convincing Argumcn. in Favor
Of the Burleigh Bill.

Washington. Jan. C.-The debate up
on the apportionment bill again claim
Cd the attention of the House. Satur-
day. Eurleigh Of Maine, presented q
review of the claims of his bill
Littlefcld Of Maine, lead Il SHARP
tint with Hopkins which was tho
occasion OF some little excitement
and in WHICH it was generally conceded
that the Illinois man appeared TO De-
cided disadvantage. The immediate Oc-
casion of ii was the assertion of Hop
kins in his speech of Friday that Maine
had not kept up with the procession
This Littleield vigorously resented, as
serting with considerable vhemence
that wherever progress had been made
in this country, there would be found
the sons Of Maine.
Hopkins entered a protest against
the Interpretation put upon his
language which led Littlefield to assert
that the whole speech of the Illinois
man had been saturated with a petit
Jogging assault upon the State OF
Maine, and he warned him that he
could not continue that diatribe today
without having his attention called to
il.
He also reminded Hopkins Of the
men VINO like Lovejoy and Fuller had
gone from Maine to Illinois to confer
distinction upon that State.
IF there is any member of this
House who is an expert on pettifogging
it is the gentleman from Maine" re-
torted Hopkins.
The gentleman from Maine re-
piled Littlefield, never defended a
criminal, but he has prosecuted several.
and he is prosecuting one now
daughter and applause)
THAT is just the sort of a remark l
should have expected from the gentle
man, judging by his previous course
upon this floor" answered Hopkins.
Littlefeld then settled dcwn to his
argument. All through it he was vitri-
Ollie in his sarcasm. and most of this
was thrown in the direction of Hopkins.
The latter frequently was stung into
reply, and the two had several sharp
tiffs.
I.ittlefeld finally waved Hopkins away
with the remark: This isn't police
court
IIopkins-Then OF course the gentleman
is not at home. daughter.
Littlefeld-You would be at home in a
trial justices court on the frontier in the
purlieu Of civilization.
Proceeding with his analysis, Littlefield
showed how Maine now gained and now
lost a member. God help Mainer liz
said. when mathematics get after her.
After a sharper exchange than usual
with Hopkins, the Chair was obliged tc
call the gentlemen to order and to cal
attention TO the rule which provides thai
the gentleman on the floor cannot be in
terrupted without his consent, and also
to the rule that members cannot address
each other in the second person.
The gentleman has already interrupted
me about - times, in violation of the
rule, observed Littleield, as he was
about to resume.
and the gentleman from Maine has
violated the rule with reference to the
second person about 50 times" exclaimed
Hopkins.
The gentleman is becoming exceed
ingly technical and sensitive" retorted
Littleteld. II will refer TO him later in
the third person, and later still ! antici-
pate that he Will have shrunk sufficiently
to permit me 10 refer to him in the fourth
or fifth person, and perhaps in the end
can eliminate him altogether. UauSh-
ter and applause).
The majority bill Littlefcll said, was
under the argument made by its author
Friday. unconstitutional and in any
event il was in violation Of the prece-
dents observed since 1850 The plan of
ilmIUHC inc rtlre:it MA ives que To tn1
aggregate fractions Of populate to those
states having the greatest majority frac-
tons, leaving some states having major
ity fractions unrcprescntei in the in
crease. he said. WAS not a good one.
Hopkins had introduced Gen. Francis
4. Walker as 4 witness in support OF
that plan, but Litticfield read a letter
written by the chief clerk OF the census
of 1880, and approved by Gen. Walker, add
hitting that the plan was faulty and I'M
satisfactory.
Lacey. Rep, Ia, called the attention of
LittIeGeld to the fact that the Hurleigh
bill gave Maine four representatives, ana
Iowa. with three times the population OF
Maine, only IL representatives. He asked
if he thought that did equal and exact
justice between all the stat
iIittleteld said he would frankly con-
cede that in any bill framed upon the ba-
sis used in the pending measure instances
of inequality We're inevitably bound to
occur
Littlefield argued that the demands of
the constituents were so great now as TO
preclude the possibility of members know
House, and to increase these constituent
Cies would be to decrease the value of the
members to the country at large, maxim g
them merely large erTand boys.
Littlefield, like Hopkins, spoke almost
two hours and received hearty applause
at the close of his remarks.
Shattuck. Ohio, who followed Little
field, insisted that in making the reappor-
tionment the representation should be re-
duced in all states where the right to vote
is abridged. He claimed that 10 states
abridged the suffrage an average of 20
per cent. They were: California. ~ per
cent: Connecticut, So: Delaware, 1l5:
Louisiana. ASS; Maine, SIS Massachusetts,
So; Mississippi, 20; North Carolina, 35.7;
South Carolina, IS; and Wyoming, 34
KlutZ, y. c., a member of the census
committee, argued in favor of the Hop
kins bill. The real question at issue, he
was whether the membership
of the House should be increased He
favored 357 because he thought the House
was already large enough and because on
That basis there would be no partisan ad-
vantage to either party either in the
House or the electoral college.
Fox, Miss. replied 10 the attacks upon
The Southern states. especially defending
the action of his state in adopting her
new constitution.
Sutherland, Neb., replied briefly to
structures on Nebraska and Populism.
their oaths to support the constitution
members in voting upon the reopportion-
ment question must take cogniZance of
the abridgment of the suffrage in the
Southern states. He gave an entertain
ing description of Democratic election
methods in North Carolina, scoring the
Democrats merciiessly.
Sims, Dem. Tenn. asked if the real
cause of the alleged crime recited by Lin
new was not to prevent negro domination
Kinney replied that the fear OF negro
WIS pure rot that all pre-
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