Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-07

II was George Washington who said that
the senate Is the saucer in which the tea
Of the house brew is cooled. Not only is
that body fitted for such a purpose by the
character given II by the fathers. but By
the nature OF its own rules Of procedure
as well. With its members elected for a
term three times as long as that OF a
representative. and limited to two from
each state. the constitution intended it to
be q body in which thought and deliber-
alton would be assured While there has
been a tendency toward concentrated one
man power in the house, in the senate
any one Of the entire membership may
have an opportunity freely to discuss and
propose legislation.
There are many differences in the pro-
cedure Of the senate and the house. Not
only is IL possible for the house to cut
Off debate on any subject at any time. by
ordering the previous question, bur il can
abate the right to offer amendments. thus
giving the organization measure a clear
track from the committee to the In
the senate the right to offer amendments
can be denied to no senator, and debate
cannot be ended until every senator has
been heard. 1t is true that these rules
theoretically do give to the Individual sena-
tor a vast power, and they theoretically
Justify the assertion Of Speaker Cannon
that the senate legislates by an every
body willing method, but as a matter of
fact. 1t is an unwritten law that they
are to be taken advantage Of only upon
extraordinary occasions.
How faithfully this unwritten law has
been observed is shown by the fact that
however angry the majority may becume
and however much it smarts under such
restraint, after II is all over, there is no
effort to change the rules which permit a
flibuster. The very men who complain
most when their projects are held up by
a filibuster are the first to resort to it
and to defend it when they are in the
minority.
Many efforts have been made to cut off
the right Of unlimited debate in the senate.
Henry Clay advocated the adoption Of the
previous question rule when the sub
treasurer bill Of 1871 was pending. and he
made a strenuous fight for that parliamen-
tary principle. But the senate would have
none of it. Again IN 1850 Steven a. Douglas
c%aptained the forces who would have
changed the most characteristic rule OF the
senate. Again in 1870 there was a fight
to reverse the principle that had then OBJ
tanned for nearly a century. Hannibal
Hamlin and Henry a. Wheeler were the
leaders of the movement. Many times
since then there have been efforts OF
greater or less proportions to make the
senate minority amenable to the previous
question gag, and even Senator Allison
favored the adoption OF a mild cloture
rule.
But even If tho majority did decide to
change this great rule Of senate procedure
it would be difficult to accomplish the pur-
pose, for there would be such a determined
minority against 1t that they could stretch
the fight out so long that even a large
majority might not be able to write a
cloture rule into the organic law Of the
senate. The senate would have the right
Of unlimited debate on the motion to adopt
a cloture rule.
The rules of the senate differ in many
essentials from those Of the house, and il
other ways than with respect to unlimited
debate. The practice OF counting a quorum
in the senate differs from that in tn,
house. In the senate a quorum is counted
as Of those present and voting, when q
vote is taken. There may be a dozen sen
ators present who are paired on a measur,
and who do not, therefore, vote on tn,
pending question. Yet their votes may b,
essential to make a quorum for passing
the pending motion. Thus is presented tht
anomaly of a quorum present for the con
sidera lion Of a bill but not for its passage
The men present and not voting help max
a quorum for debate, but not for voting.
The senate differs from the house in tn,
character Of its presiding officer. exceD
when he is a president pro tempore ~selecte'
because OF the death of the vice presiden
or his promotion to the presidency. TIL
house elects its presiding officer and tn
nation elects that Of the senate. The pre-
siding officer Of the senate is that an,
nothing more. He cannot name the stand
ing committees Of the senate, the choic
OF recognition does not lie in him, and h
has practically no hand in directing tn
business OF the senate. The speaker OF tn
house exercises all these powers
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