Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-04-23
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RULES OF THE HOUSE.
Republican Congressman Makes an

Republican Congressman Makes AT
Interesting Protest Against Them.
The rules of the house, whereby nj
bill public or private, can be brought
iup for consideration except with the
consent of the speaker, are growing
intolerable to many members Of the
Republican majority. Representative
Cushman, of South Dakota, Republi-
can, registered vigorous kick against
this condition Of affairs last Thurs
day that was heartily approved by the
Democrats.
"I make the statement on this floor
now" he said, that no member who
introduces a bill-not a private bill
but a public bill-can get 1t considered
or brought forward for final determi-
nation unless it suits the speaker, and
If anyone wants to deny that, I am in
personal position, and in peculiarly
happy frame Of mind right now, to
give a little valuable testimony on that
point" [Applause and laughter]. He
continued:
who is the speaker Of this house?
Is he a mortal man like the rest Of us?
Who is the speaker Of this house that
he sets up his immaculate judgment
to Judge on every bill that Is intro
duced? When a member introduces a
bill in this house. not a. private bill,
but a public bill, what happens? 1t is
referred to great committee of this
house. They pass their judgment on
it, recommend 1T for passage, and then
it goes on the calendar. Calendar?
That is a misnomer. 1t ought to be
called a cemetery. [Laughter.] For
therein lie the whitening bones of leg
islative hopes. [Laughter.]
when the bill lis reported, what does
the member who introduced it and
who Is charged by his constituency to
secure it's passage, do? Does he con-
suit himself about his desire to call 1t
up? No. Does he consult the commit
tee that recommended It? No. Does
he consult the will Of the majority of
this house? No. What does he do? /
will tell you what he does. He either
consents that that bill may die on the
calendar, or he puts his manhood and
individuality I'M his pocket and goes
trotting down that little pathway, that
leads where? To the speakers room.
Ah, the speakers room. All the glory
that clustered around the Holy of
Holes in King Solomon's Temple look
ed like thirty cents prolonged laughter
and applause1- looked like twen-
ty-nine cents, compared with that job
bling department of this government.
Applause and laughter.]
II have high7 regard for the speaker
of this house personally, and for him
politically; but the fact is that we have
adopted a set Of rules in this body that
are an absolute disgrace to the legis-
lative body Of any Republic. Demo
cratic applause.l They are unrepubli-
can, they are undemocratic. they are
un-American. democratic applause
We need the patriotic duty In this
body today of rising up and formu-
lating a new Declaration Of Independ-
ence. We need to restore this mouse
to the great patriotic plane on which
the fathers Of the republic placed 1t,
where every individual member on this
floor stands on an equal and an exact
plane with every other. [Applause.1 J
We operate here under a set of rules
confessedly designed to belittle The
hopes the dwarf the ambitions Of the
individual members Of this body, and
at the same time vest more power In
the hands Of one or two men than was
ever enjoyed by Oriental despot or
ten-button Mandarin. I say to you,
my friends, that the system Is rotten
at both ends. 1t is rotten at one end
because it robs the individual members
in this house Of the power that the
constitution of the United States and
his credentials as a member on this
floor entitle him to; it Is rotten at the
men that have no right to it, and Oft
times places on them duties that they
have no capacity to fulfill. [Applause
and laughter]
LET no man charge me now with try
ing to tear down the Republican party.
I am not trying to tear down the Re-
publican party, but I confess that l
sometimes feel that I would like to
put my hand upon the throat of one or
two men who conceive that they are
the Republican party. [Applause and
laughter.l The true friend Of his par
ty is not the man who sits by and
watches his party drift into disrepute
and toward destruction, but the man
who rises up and calls attention to the
evils that exist.
Now in the three years that I have
been a member of this body, have al
ways approached that little machine
with the Difference due to its age and
it's station; but hope you will excuse
NV frankness when 1 tell you that
from this time On I will devote a little
of my time and little Of my energy
to putting a few spokes in the wheel
of that machine that the designers of
the vehicle never ordered. [Laugnter.]
I realize that in the brief time allotted
TO me cannot do adequate justice to
the injustice of the subject. I will
leave it with the final observation
that some time between now and the
close of this session I will get little
time at suitable opportunity, and
will make a speech on the subject of
the rules Of this house. and I promise
..a., .ln+ thnt sneech will he sn hot that