The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-01-08

inc discussion OF the EedpDGrJluIHeIL
/ bill was resumed in the House today. Mr.
Hopkins at I2-1G calling it up as the spe-
cial order He yielded one hour to Mr.
Dalzel. who then addressed the House n
support OF the Hopkins bill. reported by
The majority Of the Census Committee and
which provides that the membership OF
the House during the next Ten years shall
remain as at present. 357-
Despite the fact that Mr.. DaIzell is one
OF the prominent men Of the House he was
listened TO with very Ianguid interest. ez-
cept by small number Of Representatives
TIE reason for this is that the speech pc
roid Of the reapp0rtiOHmenL subject IS
practically passed, the general debate is 70
close at } O'Clock this afternoon. ard the
vote 20 be taken before adjournment
Mr.. DalzeH went over much Of the
ground that had been traveTsed by other
advocates of the Hopkins bill. He con-
tended that the present membership Of
the House is large enough: that any in
crease in that membership would tend TO
retard the transaction OF public business
and cause the House 20 drift farther
away from the ideal OF a deiiberatiVe
body. He read at length from Alexander
Hamilton to sustain his contention lay
ing it down as a general proposition that
the larger a legislative body becomes the
more apt is it to permit itself TO be
swayed by passion rather than to be con
trOlied by reason He quoted from Ham
ilton that the larger the number of Rep
resentatiycs the smaller would be the
number OF men Who would control and di-
rect the proceedings Of the House
Nj. Dalzeu insisted that liberties Of the
people could be as truly and as intelIi-
gently safeguarded by 357 members as
by 3S7- He charged that the House was
already noisy turbulent and at times in
capable Of control The time had already
arrived when the Individuality OF a mem
Der counted for little or nothing One of
the theories Of Congress IS. he said that
Representatives Of The people come 10
/ Washington to confer with each other.
and yet in the period Of two years The
members could not become acquainted
with each other
At this point Mr. Moody. Of Nassa-
/ chUsettS. interrupted 70 say that the Hall
of the House could be made more commo-
diCUS and could accommodate an in
creased membership by the removal OF the
desks This would also take away the
temptation Of members to write letters.
read papers and books. and hold cousuIta-
tons and jCVial cCnyersGtiO during de-
bates upon important measures SIR
Moody received applause from many Of
tlIe advocates OF an increase II the mem
bership OF the House
Mr. Dalzen said that the important
committees had been oTerburdeRed with
members, and that about fifteen useless
committees had been created 90 relieve he
pressure committees which never net
and committees to which no bill is ever
referred
Referring to the comparison of the
rr-TfI he CF
mons and the French Chamber OF Depu-
ties, Mr.. DaIzeH said here was no anal
ogy whatever between the House and
either of the other TWO bodies. Members
OF the House of Commons we're elected b.
constituencies whom they neither knew
nor cared for Forty members made q
quorum, and he had been in the House Of
Commons half Z dozen times and had
never seen loo members present That
was Parliamentary Government this was
Congressional Government. (AppIauseD
As TO the French Chamber of Deputies,
Mr. DalZeu said that If there were q more
diSgr2ceful and infamous Parliamentary
body IN existence he would like 10 know
where il was The Speaker had the power
TO adjourn its sittings by ringing a bell.
and within the past two years, # mem
bers had read the papers they would have
seen that the Chamber had been ADJOURN
ed by the bell in order TO avoid bIoCdshed
on the floor
In the FIfty-ffth Congress- Nj DalzeI
said, the number OF bills Introduced in
the house was Halt; the number reported
back 2,lG2. and the number passed 1.+6I. I
Mr. Daizeu concluded his remarks At lie I
Mr. Bingham Of Pennsylvania opposed |
the majority hill and supported that pre- /
scented by the minority of the Committee |
on the Census. HIS reason for this posi- |
ton he said. was because the Hopkins |
bill does injustice 10 the State Of Penn /
sylvania-
Mr. GrOsvenor advocated the Hopkins /
bill He did noJ believe that an increase /
in the membership of the House was 10 he !
desired
Mr. Oley Of Virginia opposed the Hop
kfnS bill. and replied 10 UT. OlmsJed who |
ne said, had sought TO degrade and hu-
initiate the South