The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1910-04-07

any other way. The measures that are
called up on unanimous consent days
and calendar ednesdays are almost
always minor measures that can be dis
posed of at sitting or two.
The action Of the rules committee is
never binding till it has been ratified
by the house, bat the support of its
resolutions Is always made matter OF
party regularity. And il has worked
out that the rules committee exercises
in this way a tremendous influence
upon legislation.
There was parliamentary inconsist-
ency in the Norris resolution. If the
census Joint resolution of the previous
day was not privileged under the Con
stitution, as the Democrats and 1nsur-
gents, including Representative Norris,
had voted it was not. the Norris resolu-
tion for amending the rules clearly was
not privileged That inconsistency,
however, did not bother the Democrats
and Insurgents little bit. On the
other hand Speaker Cannon had ruled
that the census resolution was privi-
legged under the Constitution. AS the
people generally would view it if the
census resolution was privileged. the
rules reform resolution might also be
considered privileged, because the Con
stitution says that the senate and house
may make rules for the government OF
their respective bodies
An argument over the parliamentary
point was to be expected. Right there
came in nice little technicality, over
which the proIongation of the struggle
hinged Representative Dalzell. of
n+
the rules committee, had promptly
raised point Of order against the Nor
ris resolution. That meant an argu-
ment pro and con. The purpose OF
arguments on points of order is to en-
tighten the presiding officer, before he
announces his ruling. Speakers and
other presiding officers of the house al
ways allow the arguments to proceed a
reasonable time till thev are able to
look up the precedents and formulate
an opinion. And when the man IN the
chair has made up his mind, he soon
states that he is ready to rule. y
No one seriously doubted what
Speaker Cannon 5 ruling would be. He
would uphold the Dalzell point of order
= lie would declare the Norris resolution
not privileged under the Constitution
{ But it seemed very probable that the
= Democrats and Insurgents were still IN
, the majority There was some doubt
l about it. however, for the insurgents
had not been put to the test TO aScer
tain whether any of them could be
t"picked off. - Time must be had
, under the usual exigeney, to ascertain
whether the regular Republicans coulc
I win on vote that directly affected
; their prestige and control There wer,
, scores Of absenteea, some Republican:
and some Democrats. Every human
effort was undertaken to get the Repub
] lican regulars back to town. The Whlp
>, / went to work. The best outside taien
: at command was summoned. Ex-Repre
sentative HJim' Watson, of Indiana
L former Republican whip of the house II
= --hom Speaker Cannon has great conn
|. | dence, was called in to take oil H.
coat. Regular senators of great lnfu
ence and acumen in a rough and tumbl
!, party fight, including Senator crane, 0
II MaSsa chusetts, were summoned.
/ And for the time being the Speake
Z refused to rule. Of course, tins opene
: him to the accusation of conducting
r titanic filibuster, and the accusation, a
l everybody knew and as nobody unde'
r took TO DENY, was true. The allied ms
ioritv had no way of compelling MI
to rule Nothing was possible but I
n continue the debate, nOmlnaily upon I'll
II point of order, but in reality upon topic
n very foreign to parliamentary law, II
4 the NEGOTIATIONS for winning over II
n surcents had won or had failed, till tn
v Speaker was willing to announce HI
/ decision. 1t was as plain as day tina
le when he had ruled the house woul
L promptly appeal from his decision an
lc would in all probability overrule hin
I That would bring the Norris resolutlo
IT ND for consideration, and, once il wa
a up for consideration, once the house ma
overrued the Speaker 5 declsIon, 1t Wa
rs apparent that no power on earth coul
II prevent its adoption IN some form.
'e The fight continued through all
10 Thursday night and up until two 'cioc
le of Friday afternoon. The debate Wa
;. of the most fiery character. The SPeakt
10 was accused in most v1ruIent la'
er guace Representative Cooper, an y
N surgeut from Wisconsin, whom Speas>,
u Cannon a year ago deposed from II
Craftsmanship on insular affairs I
x party disloyalty. arraigned him IN u
- | measured terms. He called out the v
IS rious insurgents whom the Speaker ha
oI disciplined from time to time and e,
le couraged a recital of their storle
w Finally the Speaker came out IN n
OF own defense during dramatic peno
n Strenuous efforts to maintain a gu
ne rum failed during the night The h
r publican regulars gradually ''sneake
it, for home The allieu maJorll
n forced a call Of the house. The Sc
IN aeant-at-arms and his deputies are h
pubhcans-a part of the stalwart Ca
2d non organization. They naturally We
r. not dnrgent in dragging recalcltran
u from bed Many ordinations and T
TO examinations were made over has tal
IRE, but the outcome of It was that Il
: house did not get a quorum tn we
ne along into Friday forenoon, and aoo'
IN ten hours were frittered away IN fri
rs olities
IN Many attempts had been made durlT
Is the night 70 adjourn or to take r
nj cess Motion after motion was ma
&c to that effect, and As often voted dow
ne by the alliance. As z matter of fac
20 Friday does not appear in the ohiel
te record as a legislative day, The hou
n was in continuous session Thursday al
all Friday. and it Will all be known Of
N oiaDv as the legislative dav of Thur