Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-03-19
Press Gallery Crowded.


entered upon the crowds in the corridors
leading to'the gallery doors continued to
increase. long lines Of men and women
holding tickets of admission waiting with
the vain hope that some might leave
their places and make il possible to ad-
NIT others. - e
The approval of The journal was the
signal for numerous suggestions fer COR
rections. Amid the~Ilproar and confusion
Representatives Gaines of West Virginia,
arose ana attempted to gain recognition.
MIR. Speaker. AIR. Speaker shouted
the West Virginian. II move that tie
House take "A recess"
Il object. The motion IS out of order .
shouted Mr.. Hughes, of New Jersey.
continued uproar gave way to partial
quiet restored by the Speaker after
pounding his desk vigorously.
The Speaker being ready TO rule on
the point OF order, announced Mr.. Can
Of the gentleman from Nebraska lMr.
Norris).
Original Norris Resolution.
The clerk then read.
Resolved. Thai the rules Of the House
be amended as follows:
The committee on rules shall consist of
fifteen members. nine OF whom shall be
members of the majority party and six
OF whom shall be members of the minori
~ party, To be selected as follows:
The states of the. Union shall be diz
vided by committee. of three selected
by the House for that purpose into nine
groups, each group containing as near
may be all equal number of members be-
longing to the majority party. The states
of the Union shall likewise be divided into
six groups. eaca group containing as near
as may be equal number OF pembers
belonging
AT 1870 O'Clock on the day following
the adoption of the report OF said COM
mittee' each of said groups shall meet and
select one OF its members member of
the committee on rules The place of
meeting for each OF said groups shall be
designated by the said committee Of three
in its report Each of said groups shall
report To the House the name of the
member selected for membership on the
committee on rules,
The committee on rules shall select its
own chairman The Speaker shall not be
eligible to membership on said committee.
All rules or parts thereof inconsistent
with the foregoing resolution are hereby
repealed.
The reading of the resolution was re-
ceived in silence.
Speaker Reads Decision.
Taking up q bundle of typewriter man
uscript. the Speaker then read his ruling
IN a clear voice that could be heard dis
tinctiy by every one. The most intense
silence prevailed on the floor and in the
galleries. He said:
The chair has been somewhat criti-
'cised because in this matter ne has
been slow to rule But the question
which. was brought SO unexpectedly
upon the attention Of the House, In
a revolutionary manner, as 1t seems
to the chair. is of such transcendent
importance to the future procedure Of
the House that the fullest, even the
most protracted discussion, seemed
justifable In no other manner could
the most complete Information be
brought to the consideration of the
question; and in no other way could
the largest participation of the MEN,
bership OF the House be assured.
Arose Thirty Years Ago.
The question of constitutional priv
ilege in this House has not been re-
viewed. and the principles governing
for the last thirty years have not,
prior to this week, been questioned in
the House for many years. Those
principles are relatively simple. It has
been held always that the ordinary
legislative duties and functions Of the
House. exercised by authority OF the
Constitution. must proceed according
to the order prescribed by the rules.
The fact that the Constitution says
tnat the Rouse snail nave power to-
lay taxes, regulate commerce, make
naturalization laws. coin money, es-
tablish post offices. create courts, sup
port armies and navy. etc, has not
given those subjects, when embodied
In bills, any right to disturb the order
OF business provided by the rules. The
very object Of the rules Is to provide
an orderly way for considering those
and other subjects intrusted to its
judgment. To give all those subjects
rNrfr,
establish constitutional chaos in the
House.
There are. however. certain functions
which the Constitution enjoins on Con-
gress TO do. and fixes the time for
doing those things. Thus. the clause
directing the disposition Of a bill We
toed by the President says that the
House shall proceed to consider it,
This has always been understood as
meaning that the House should at
once proceed to some act of consid-
Grafton. And therefore it has been
held that no rule should prevent the
House from proceeding to this con-
stitutional duty.
Census Also Enjoined.
!. In like manner the Constitution spec
.ifies that the Congress shall provide
for census Of population and an APP
portionment of representatives, and
specifies the time when 1t shall do it,
every; tenth year. Therefore, on the
tenth. year bills to make the required
provisions have been admitted with
out regard TO the requirements of the
rules. Whether that construction pro-
yceeded too far, when the Constitution =
gave a year within which to perform
the duty. II q matter as To which there,
might be doubt But for thirty years :.
the practice was unvarying. and when :.
confronted with the question this
week the chair followed the practice
of the House, as he would obey every !,
other rule, without questioning the
wisdom that originally created 1t. -
Today. however. the chair Is asked
to permit proposition f0r a new rule
to come in. although the rules pre-
;Dcribing the order of business require
us TO proceed to other matters. and
1t Is claimed that the chair would be :
justified IN doing this because the Con-
'stitution says that each house may
determine the rules Of its proceedings"
Whether the word may means :
shall or not the chair Will not stop
TO examine. The Constitution fixes
no time when il shall be done, and as
the House may, and has in one notable
instance. proceed without rules. 1t does
not seem to the chair that there is
here given any constitutional mandate
which would justify the overriding OF
the rules. -
Hanks Back to Precedent.
Fortunately In this crisis the chair
lis not compelled to rely on his own
Judgment, swayed as 1t might be by
the passions and purposes OF this
hour. He can look back to another