The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-13
AN INNOCENT AMENDMENT
By Overwhelming Vote Deci- SiOu of Chair was Reversed
In Committee of Whole Proposition to Elect Railroad Commissioners Was Hacked on General E1ec- ton Bill-Child Labor
 Bill Passed.

The rank and fle of the House yester- day broke into open revolt and in deh- ance of the leaders showed that an over whelming majority of the members fla vored an elective Railroad Commission. The revolt came near the close of the morning session, too late for the ma jority to use it's strength in accomplish Ing any result
 Friends of railroad corporations were given additional alarm yesterday by message sent to both houses by Govern or Jelks urging enlargement of the pow CT of the Railroad Commission.
 The House leaders with their minority following, and in control of the House machinery for fifteen minutes success fully blocked the determined efforts or the majority to provide for the election ot Railroad Commissioners The mil pority fought desperately against time and won. No action was taken on the question but test vote showed that the House favored an elective commisslon' the vote being nearly two to one-
 The question was unexpectedly intrud- cd upon the members of the House while they were sitting as a committee or the whole to consider the Bankhead general election bill MT. Foster, of Tuscaioosa' was presiding.
 Section 25 ot the election bill names the State and county officers who shall pc elected by the people. At the conciusioi. ! of It's reading Representative Dubose' oL Jefferson, offered an amendment tnal drew the close attention of every mem . Ina f the Railroad Commissioners should De added to the elective officers.
 DuBose Caused the Storm.
 Then the storm broke. It was then fifteen minutes to 1 o'clock, the hour on which the committee on the whole, unoer the rules, was to rise and report prog ress to the House and the hour at Whlcn Inc House was to adjourn.
 MT. Hoffman, of Mobile. immediately objected to the consideration of the amendment declaring that it was out Of order. A bill providing for an elective Railroad Commission, he said. had been Introduced and referred to standing committee of the House. He protested against any attempt to override a com nittee and declared that the occupation If the committees would be gone if the House proceeded to arbitrarily withdraw umportant measures from their consid- eration.
 MT. Bankheai, of Walker, declared that the amendment was not germane to the bill and should not therefore be con- Eidered. He could not, he said, see any reason why such outside matters should he legged into the consideration of the election bill. He announced that he ia yored an elective Railroad Commission and would at the proper time vote for 1t. He said that the law changing an ap pointive office to an elective office could not be enacted by merely inserting a paragraph in the election bill, He raised the point of order that the amendment was not germane to the subject.
 Chairman Foster ruled that the point of order was we'll taken.
 ~ appeal from the decision of the chair to the members of the committee of the whcle," exclaimed MT. DuBose.
 The committee by a standing vote re- fused to sustain the decision of the chair. The vote on sustaining the chair was 26 ayes and A nays.
 Leaders Were Alarmed.
 It was evident that House leaders were alarmed. Hurried consultations were held. Speaker Tunstall. who was in the lobby. hurried to a front desk to watch and advise in the fight. Excitement rose and the committee of the whole became disorderly
 Mir. Curry. Of Pickens, moved that the committee of the whole rise and report progress to the House. The majority re- fused to do it. They voted down the proposition ayes 20 and nays 59.
 MT Lusk, of Marshall. a strong friend of the elective Railroad Commission bill moved that the committee remain in ses- sion until the pending question was dis posed of.
 Chairman Foster ruled that the motion was out of order. in that the committee of the whole could not under the rules extend its sessions beyond the hour for adjournment of the House.
 MT. Bankhead, of Walker. obtained leave to offer an amendment to the amendment. It took him some time to prepare 1t and in the meanwhile the hands of the clock moved steadily on to o'clocok. Mir. Bankhead's amendment provided that the Railroad Commissions CTS were not to be elected until 1910.
 Mir Blackburn. of Jefferson, moved to table the amendment but at that instant Sneaker Tunstall on the floor made the point of order that the hour of l o'clock had arriVs and the committee of the whoIp would have to rise and report tn the Touse The committee was declared adjourned Mir. Tunstall resumed the gayel and Mir. Foster reported from the committee the progress that had been made on the election bill.
 As soon as the report was made Repre- sentative Hoffman, of Mobile, raised the point of order that the House. under the rules. had adjourned, the hour of ] o'clock having arrived. The Speaker ruled that the point was well taken. At that time there were two or three mem- bers on their feet wishing to move an ex- tension of the session that some action might be taken.
 Child Labor Bill Passed.
 The exciting scene at the close of the session was preceded by the tame and uninteresting passage of the Child Labor . bill. All parties interested in the Child Labor measure had agreed upon it and it -xsnt through without discussion and with