The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-05-19
HOUSE FnIBUSTER
WILLIAMS WORRIES THE REPUBLI-
 GAN MAJORITY.
Numberless Roll Calls Are Had, Hut BiIl To Pay Heirs of the Negro Lee o10yl61 Is
 EanaIly Pasacd.

0 s Hs s.y 0il: M:r. AT. of H.S ss. But
 Negre Lee elo,4s9 Is
 Finally Passed.
 Washington. May 1S.--Reminiscent of the stressful days of the 47th Con. gress, were the scenes in and about tho House today. Hardly had the journal of the House been approved when the Democrats, under the leadership of Mir. Williams of Mississippi, began the first real filibuster in thet body In num- Der of years. their object being to de- feat the bill paying to the estate of samuel Lee of South Carolina s1o,4sa for allowances made by reason of the election of Lee. q negro contestant, for a seat in the l7th Congress.
 Tins bill had been reported favor ably at nine Congresses. six times by Republicans and three times by Demo- crats. The certificate of election whiok Lee contested was given to John q. richardson. The Committee on Elcc- tion reported In favor of Lee vote was taken on the resolution to give hin the seat held by Richardson, 124 voting in favor of the resolution. 114 against. Lees contest progressed no further. The Democrats began q noted filibus. ter and the 47th Congress died by oper. ation of law without quorum be- ing present
 Today a filibuster followed on simi- lar lines, Mir. Williams resorting to the well known Parliamentary tactics to encompass the defeat of the meas ure.
 There were numberless roll calls and still more divisions demanded and ta- ken, but the bill was finally passed.
 On one motion to adjourn, the ayes were 51; nays. 150.
 MT. Williams took new tack when the roll call was finished. nearly every member of the minority rising to change his vote from yea to nay. The Speaker allowed the changes to go on for some time, but finally his patience became exhausted and he declared the motion to adjourn lost.
 Finally the minority was at last face to face with the objectionable meas ure.
 MT. Miller fKansas) moved the pre- yious question on the Lee bill. MT. Williams made the point of considera- ton, which the Speaker declared clearly dilatory and directed that the roll be called
 MT. williams--well. that is the most remarkable statement I ever heard the Speaker made"
 Great confusion ensued when the Speaker permitted Messrs. Steenerson (Minn.) and Madden ull.) to be marked present after the roll call had been completed.
 MT. Williams. for the first time, was seriously nettled. His voice rang out like bugle blast. when he asked under what rule such a proceeding was per- mitted.
 The speaker had the rules read re- garding the calling of the roll and the manner in which quorum was to be secured. Mir. Williams. moving down the centre of the House, insisted that there had been no order to close the doors, and that the rules read at the desk did not fit the case. He called at- tention to what he said was the im- proper manner in which Messrs. Steen- erson and Madden had been permitted to vote and declared 1t was most un- usual
 Erase the names of the gentlemen" commanded the Speaker with consider erable vehemnce.
 Ar. williams then followed this slight advantage by suggesting that the gen. tlemen noted as present" should also be eliminated from the roll call.
 Speaker Cannot shook his head em- phatically.
 Then I appeal from the decision of the chair" replied Mir. Williams
 MT. Miller (Kan.) stated the appeal was clearly dilatury, which contention the Speaker sustained.
 This Is sad commentary on the way business is done" said MT. Williams, as the chair pounded for order. cries of regular order" echoing throughout the hall
 Mir williams-Then the chair de- clines to recognize my appeal? ! The Speaker--The chair does decline.
 Mir. Williams-I protest against this ruling. My motion Is clearly in order.
 Mir. Payne of New York-The chair ought to be protected. The gentleman from Mississippi imagines he is the whole House.
 Mir williams--The chair has enough authority, God knows. to take care of himself.
 Mfr Payne-But the gentleman seems
 MT. Williams-No the gentleman from Mississippi thinks--the gentleman from New York Is the one who seems to think"
 The Speaker put a stop peremptorily to further talk by ordering the roll call on the third reading and the engross- ment of the bill. which prevailed.
 Mir. Williams then moved to adjourn. This was held to be dilatory.
 The vote was ordered on the final passage of the bill.
 On a division, the absence of a Quo- rum was disclosed. Again the doors were ordered closed. The roll cali on the final passage was: Yeas. 124; nays, 40; present, 2s.
 The Speaker then announced the passage of the bill.
 An effort to amend the title of the bill led to further efforts to adjourn on the part of the Democrats, brt finally a quorum was counted and the motion to amend agreed to, yeas, 128; nays, 35; present, 2s.
 During a long wait, while the ser geant-at-arms was out looking for absentees, Mir. Williams added bit of gaity to the situation by reading from an evening paper that Speaker Cannon's boom for the Presidency was to be launched in a speech to he made on the floor of the House. He wanted to know whether 1t would be in order for the men who are to make the speech to practice 1t on the House at this time.
 The Speaker. his face illuminated with a smile. replied that while 1t might be enlightening, it would hardly be business.
 At :05 D. m., the House adjourned