The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1908-12-16
INSURGENTS Win
PARTIAL VICTORY
OVER CANNON
Alliance With Democrats Shows
Working Strength
CONSERVATIVES ALARMED
Speaker Forced to Resort to Strict
Interpretation Of Rules to Prevent
Radical Action

Washington, Dec. l6.-By a clever
parliamentary manOeuyre the Repub-
lican insurgents in the House yester-
day demonstrated that on straight
vote on the rules an alliance with the
Democrats would insure defeat for
the speakers system. The manoeu-
yre was led by Representative Angus
tus p. Gardner of Massachusetts. The
reason why 1t did not succeed alto
gether was that in the struggle he was
compelled to appeal from a decision
of the Chair. Loyalty to the person Of
the speaker alone saved the day for
the conservatives.
A week ago Mr.. Gardner introduced
an apparently harmless resolution ask
ing the secretary Of state to report
whether or not the British house VI
commons had recently passed a reso-
luton ITO the effect that a committee
OF eight, five to be appointed by the
speaker and three by the leader of the
minority, consider the rules and report
such changes, II any that. may be
deemed necessary, not later than Feb.
H."
The resolution as containing d re-
quest for information, was privileged
so when it was tabled by the commit
tee on foreign affairs and the required
seven days had elapsed, the house was
entitled to discharge the committee
from its further consideration. Mr..
Gardner made the motion yesterday.
The vote showed the strength Of the
insurgents and the resolution was Ia
ken up, 146 to 14S.
Mr.. Gardner at once moved to
amend his own resolution by striking
out everything after the opening
clause down to the word effect, at
one stroke eliminating all the requests
for information and making his reso.
buttons a plain provision for the APP
pointment OF a committee to revise
the rules. Mr. Payne and John Dali
zell saw the plan at once and sprang
10 their feet with points Of order. Mr.
Payne said that the amendment II
carried would place the resolution out
side the privilege and therefore the
whole discussion was out Of order
This brought on long parliament
tary fight Mr.. Gardner quoted au-
thorities to show that until amended.
his resolution was strictly in the
hands OF the house as a privileged
proposition and that the house could
do what It wished with It. Mr.. Fitz-
gerald OF Brooklyn took the same
stand. The speaker after a hurried
consultation with Parliamentary Clerk
Kinds ruled the amendment out of or
der. Mr.. Gardner appealed from the
speakers ruling and Mr.. Payne's mo-
ton to table that appeal was carried
by ll9 to 139
Then Mr. Gardner started to speak
on his original resolution with its
privileged request for information, but
by the strictest Interpretation OF the
rule requiring that remarks be ger
name to the subject his speech was
headed of Having no further inter
est In his resolution Mr.. Gardner, to
the great amusement Of the House,
himself moved to lay II on the table.
Il recognize that Il is not proper to
Introduce wolf In Sleeps clothing,
began Mr. Gardner u have intro
duced resolutions In times gone by
and they have been sent to the com
mittoe on rules. where they have re-
coived rules. where they have receiv-
ed scant consideration. | am glad
that the matter now comes up, as Il
suggests that there are few loop
holes remaining. What the people
want 20 know is that matters OF great
importance be recognized In the
house. It has come to pass that such
matters cannot be recognized without
the consent Of the committee on
rules"
In spite Of the technical defeat ol
the resolution and the shutting OF by
the speaker Of a speech on the rules
the insurgents expressed themselves
as lubilant over the showing they had
made. They gleefully pointed on
that on the floor Of the house they ha'
carried one motion by a small maiori
~. Also they had forced the speake
TO seek protection In the strlctest IN
depreciation Of his rules and as al