Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-12-10
ter Of fact, for a number Of ye


when recourse was had to 1t.
The general deficiency bill had been
reported, and was being read when
Mr.. John Wesley Gaines, Of Tennes-
see, arose and called out:
Mr.. Speaker"
He was told by the speaker that he
was out of order. To which he re-
torted, hotly, that the rules Of the
house were changed so often that one
couldn't tell when he was In order
even the speaker had to keep a man
to post him.
The Retort Diseourteous.
The speaker raped the gravel an
grily. THE gentleman from Tennes-
see is absolutely discourteous."
"The gentleman from Tennessee is
no more discourteous than the speak
err" replied Mr.. Gaines.
Instantly there was an uproar, the
speaker ordering the gentleman to
take his seat, and the gentleman re-
naming standing.
Finally the speaker turned and
said: "The sergeant-at-arms will en-
force order. Get the mace!"
The eagle-surmounted staff was
taken from its dusty resting place, and
the sergeant started in the direction
Of the billigerent Mr.. Gaines. Re-
luctantly, he dropped back into his
seat, and the mace was restored to its
place on the green pedestal at the
right Of the dais.
This wonderful symbol was, as we
shall see, borrowed from the usage Of
the English house of commons, after
which the house of representatives was
closely modelled by the trainers Of
our constitution.
The first mace was destroyed by
fire when the British burned the cap
itol in 1914. From 1914 to 1884 a
mace of painted wood did service but
in the later year, the present mace was
made after the model Of the original.
The date, 1841, Is engraved on 1t,
| but that was done at time when II
was repaired and remounted.
The mace is about three feet high,
and weighs about twenty pounds. II
consists Of a bundle Of ebony rods
thirteen in number, one for each Of
the original thirteen states, bound to-
gether with a band of silver, after the
| From the center Of this bundle Of
rods protrudes silver stem, on which
| IS a silver globe, four or five inches
In diameter. Surmounting the globe
Is an eagle of solid silver with out
stretched wings.
Such Is the peace-restoring instru-
ment of congress, which has been used
on some notable occasions.
Let a storm arise, and words and
fists come in evidence, and the mace
appears borne aloft majestically in
the area in front of the speakers
desk, up the main aisle, and down the
side aisles, calming the quickened
pulses, calling the house to its sober
self.
The congress that held the record
for its use was the Fifty-First 1889
1S91) where 1t was used five times.
Perhaps Speaker Cannon remembered,
while he was conjuring Mr.. Gaines,
the several times in 1890 when the
mace was used-once against himself.
Things were different then.
To be sure, they were revising the
tariff, but the present house dictator
was only a member on the floor and
the immortal Dictator Reed was
speaker. Here is what happened dur
ing this record d-breaking session.:
The first time the mace was used
was on January. 81, 1890, when the
Democrats made a fight against the
speakers assumption to count quo
rum under what he called general
parliamentary law. There was an at
tempt to unseat Judge Jackson, Of
West Virginia. The galleries were
packed, and the whole house was In
an uproar.
Even the careful John G. Carlisle
became so excited that he rushed
down the aisle, demanding recogni-
ton.
On the Democratic side, Mills,
Breckenridge, Mcmillan, Crisp, Bland
and others, clamored to be heard.
At the same time, Mckinley, Gros-
venor Rowell, Cannon, and other Re-
publicans, claimed the floor, and
shouted at the top Of their voices:
Regular order!"
Out of the chaos strobe the tall Mr..
Bynum, down to the front desks, and
with powerful lungs, gave the speaker
an execration that doomed like a
bass horn. The galleries were In up
roar. Vainly the speaker strove to
get the house in order. Then the
mace was brought out.
Oil on the Waters.
It was supposed, at first, that the
sergeant t-at-arms intended to arrest
Mr.. Bynum, and a brawny Illinoisian
stood by him, prepared to resist. But
the mace was merely carried up the
main aisle and down the side aisle,
amid turbulent knots Of members. 1t
was like oil on troubled waters. The
excitement died as quickly as 1t arose.
The members seemed to recognize the
significance Of the symbol.
Again, on May IA Of the same year,
the mace was in use. The house was
sitting in the committee Of the whole
on the Mckinley bill. General Gros-
venor, of Ohio, was in the chair.
There was a bitter personal dispute
between Mr.. Bynum and General
Bayne, of Pennsylvania, concerning
the character of a glass manufacturer
of Pittsburg.
The confusion became terrible.
Three-quarters of the members were
on their feet at once, shouting, ap-
plauding, and kissing.
At the height Of the controversy,
Mr.. Bynum said that the glass man.
ufacturer was a liar and a perjurer,
and that, Furthermore, he himself had
Just as great confidence in the man.
ufacturer's character as he had In the
80 rararo1 Povno