Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1908-02-20
HOUSE THE SCENE OF
Widest CONFUSION
HassIe Child Labor Bill The
Cause Of Ruch oratory and
Petty BickePIng.
MANY AMENDMENTS ARE OFFERED
Original Measure Could Not be
Recognized When it Finally Came
Up for Passagc-ouestion on CO :
rectncss of votc-suicidc Must Not
Bar Insurance.

RICHMOND. VA. Fob. l9-Thc So
called Massie child labor bill evils
! ccrated ana cmasculated beyond rec
| ognition. and now in a state which
practically beggars description. was
passed by the House this afternoon at
o'clock by a>vote OF ~ to 81. after
scene Of the Widest CONFUSION.
To make the foregoing statement is
to impart no definite information. for
not a man in the hall-cithcr dele
gate, reporter. clerk. or spectator IL
csn say at this writing Just how the
bill reads or whether IL even makes
sense.
To make Il long and labrynthian
| sorry short, the House 20, lost in n
maze of parliamentary technicalitics,
anu the fight became so involved that
no one could keep an accurate run of
things.
Delegate John w. Churchman of
| Augusta, who filled, the c:iair at the
time the confusion became worse
confounthl. looked rs IL he would
Gle of apopleXy before the matter was
settled. while Clerk Williams was
as pallid rs Il block of ma, bic.
Not for decades has the legislature
| witnessed such a scene. II was in
dcscribablc and some even said dis
graceful.
The Final Vote,
The final vote on Mr. Massics sub
stitute bill, as punctuatcd and pep
pend by some 10 or more amend
ments. was as follows:
Yeas-Messrs. Baker, Barrett Bell,
a. NJ. Bowman. Breckenridge. Brew
CT. Cation. Chitwood, Clement, Cooke,
Cox. Craig Edwards. Eilor. Glenn.
Goolrick. Griffith. Hodges. Hunt, Jen-
nings. Jett, Louderhack. Lowry, Luce.
Markham, Massic, Willard, Montague.
Old. Il. w. Owens. Page, Pendleton.
Pitts. Powell. Powers, Pulllam, Read.
Robinson. Spessard, Stebbins. Italia
ferro. Thrift. Throckmorton. West.
Wilcox. Wilson. Wingo, Withers-49.
Nays = Niessrs. B. b. Bowman,
Churchman, Clarke. Cornett, Curlett.
John Orr Daniel. William b. Daniel.
Dunn, Featherstone, NJ. NJ. Green.
Hall. Iiowic. Janney, +. NJ. Love. S.
II. Love. Moncure. Myers. Noting. Oil
yer, Rev, Richardson. Snead. Ster-
rett. Stratton. Stuait. Stubbs, Surratt.
Sutherland, Sydnor Sylvester, Tyler,
Walker. Weaver, Wilkins, j. w. Will
lams. Martin Williams. Wlssler-37
Even the Vote Doubtful.
Even the above recorded vote may
] be subject 10 questioning Delegate
Harry Houston is welnigh positive
that he voted for the measurable
certainly wished to do so-but he is
not recorded at all. Immediately af-
ter adjournment. he requested that his
name be added to the list of the
ayes. but whether this can be done
remains to be seen.
In all candor. IL must be said that
IT was The tenacity ana pugnacity of
the opposition which brought about
the chaos. Colonel Massie. willing TO
take almost anything he could get
rather than give up his valiant fight.
was bombarded with amendments
They piled mp 10 such an extent that
no human being could keep the rrn
of things.
| ih'H '"tii !idU 10 ne voted on sep
aratcly and in nearly every instance
a division was called for. In some
cases demand was even made for a
recorded vote. which necessitatcd the
calling of Tie long roll.
AS the hour for adjournment APP
preached, the fog became denser and
denser and the excitement more and
more intense. But along with the
turmoil the solons began to lose their
Judgment. and then. in spirit of
pcrversity they sought to tangle and
obfnscatc the chair with all sorts OF
parliamentary inquiries, points of or
! der. questions of personal privilege
and everything imaginable in de-
! batting body.
Even "SiIent" Ones Spoke.
Delegate after delegate spoke. Even
The quiet solons who usually abstain
most scrupulously from talk, arose
and piped their assent or disapproval.
! The speeches ran the gammt OF hu-
man emotions lin their entirety they
| constituted an "olla podridar of hui