The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-02-09
TROUBLE ON HOUSE FLOOR J. Lee Long Attacks Clerk Cy Brown. FRIENDS AVERT ENCOUNTER Prevent Two Men From Coming
 Together. rnterlineations Made In senate nin 10 Create Disturbance and Inves-
 figntion--Everyone Exon-
 crated After Excit-
 ing Scene.


 | As the result of charges that one of. the administration railroad measures | with, words being underlined in the engrossed copy after it had been con- l sidered by the House Committee on
 Commerce and Common Carriers. and just at the close of the report of the
 investigation committee, sensational
 occurrence took place on the floor of
 the House yesterday afternoon. J. Lee Long of Greshville, the ad- 1 mlnistra.ion floor leader on the rail-
 road measures, intimated very strong
 1y that the Clerk of the House, Cyrus
 B. Brown, had not acted in the matter
 as he should have done. and the Inter
 vention of friends probably prevented
 blows being passed on the floor of
 Representative Hall.
 The friends of Clerk Brown took up
 his defense and half dozen members
 of the House were on their feet at one | time to reply to the insinuations or Mir. Long. Two speeches were inaae declaring the Clerk had acted in an
 entirely upriss. course in the matter
 and both speeches received the warm
 est applause.
 The incident of the intimatlons
 made by MT. Long was closed by the passage of a resolution offered by Mr I Carmichael of Colbert, declaring MT.
 Brown entirely blameless and free ! from any gust criticism in connection
 with the matter. The comments of the l members were such that Mir. Long felt impelIed to vote with the rest of tho | House and the resolution was adopted | on 2 rising vote unanimously. | Wording was Changed.
 The controversy arose in connection | sith the consideration of Senate Bill No. Is. which had been set for spe- ciai order for yesterday morning in the House. The bill is the one liking the maximum rates to be charged on a | hundred different articles of commerce | for their transportation over the ratl-
 roads within the State of Alabama.
 The interlineations consisted simply uf two words written into the text Of
 the bill, and 1: transpireo, through the iuauiries of an Investigating commit tee of the House, that they had been made by Mrs. Mary V. Gesner. enroll ling and expressing clerk of the Sen ate to correct actual errors In the en- grossment of the bill They were made under the belief that she had the authority to correct errors of her own of1ce to which Her attention had been called by the Secretary of the Railroad
 Commission.
 The discovery of the interlineati | lrn,- TaYna aiah l who is recognized by the administra- ton leaders as a minority member, and
 MT. Longs strictures upon the clerk were predicated upon the fact, d. he i believed. that Mir. Brown had repot ted the interlineations to Mfr. Tunstall ! rather than to Mir. Long. or others Of the friends of the bill"
 | The measure had hardly been brought before the House. on the call of Mir. Long, before MT. Tunstall rose, and moved the measure be returned to | the Senate with the request that cor rectly engrossed copy be sent to the House-one without any interllne2- tions.. ....-. 1 There was silence for a moment. and
 then Mir. Long, who had advanced up l the aisle toward the clerks desk. as though to hear the statement of MT.
 Tunstall, the better. declared, as he shook his finger in the direction of Mir. Tunstall:
 Long Charges OpPonents.
 If there are any interlineations in | that bill, they have not been put there by the friends of the bill. but by it's | opponents.
 l Tunstall "by whom the interlineations ', had been made .n the measure
 simply called attention to their pres ence do not think we ought to
 consider the bill longer while they re- main theie. As to who put them there, or when they sere put there, l would suggest that the clerk be permitted ! to make statement.
 MT. Long readily agreed to that, | and Chief Clerk Brown of the House, ! in response to questions, declared the I .nterl!neations had not been in the bill at the time 1t reached the House, nor at the time it was re. orted back from MT. Long's committee. Another question brought out the fact that he lad had the receipt of MT. Sherrod of Lawrence for the bill for time Thurs day.
 The ihterlineations were read by Reading Clerk Swanson. consisting simply oF the words 'company" and | "classes," In places where they were not specially significant. Th"ra were some signs. also. at one pla'e. of an erasure. The interlinsatiens were in the same handwrit;nS, 1t was ported , out. as the halance 3f inc bill, and hao tlIe q raTanvc Of simply "Crrect- ing clerical errors.
 MT. Long moved lhe words in ques- ton be stricken fr1i1 tha measure, bm objection was raised thu: tho House l al no right Q change n any n..rrer. except by amendment: the en- grosse,l dC py of the Senate h'lI. Si.it hiG name hal been mrnrioEH,. !n connt tion with the matter M:, Sherrod of Lawrence had been claln- bring foc recognition, to explain his connection with the affair. He had se- cured the b!ll from the Jerk, giving hIs receipt for II. he said, at the re"ueSt of Secretary Virg,l Griffil 1r the Rail- 1 road Commission. When he obtain'd d ] 1t, ha gimply bandeI Il U Mir. 'Sl iiFin. and had never seen it afterward He had secured it for Mir. Griffin uiOn the statement from him that the Cover nor desired him (Mr. Grifin) and Pres- l ident. Henderson of the Commission to go over the bill and search for errors. 1 investigation Committee AppOInted. MT. Carmichael suggested the meas- ure should lie on the table temporar- Ily. while It's friends were determin- | ing the best course to pursue as to the 1 interIineations. One method of set tlipg the problem, he suggested, would | be to let the friends of the bill in the Senate request it's return to that hody 1 for correction.