Arizona republican., 1911-01-10
Speaker SmOte Insurgents
Hip and Thigh
A REVERSAL OF LAST MARCH
The Craze Having Passed
Away Since Then, Speak
er Successfully Appealed
to House from It's Own
Ruling at That Time.

Washington. Jan. Speaker Can
non had his hour of triumph in the
house TO-DAY winning the first impor-
taIt political maneuver If the pres
ent session of congress. Badly bat
tered in the three days storm that
swept the house last March, the
speaker came back" today ia "A way
that brought a grim smile Of salts
faction on his cuuntennance and left
his enemies, the insurgents dis
comfited.
The speaker today was sustained
by a large majority in a ruling iden-
teal with the one made last March
when the house overruled his deci-
sion through combination of in
sursent republicans and democrats.
On the eve of their return TO
power. the democrats voted To sustain
the ruling Of the chair The insur-
gents-tWenty- seVen-stood To their
guns and fought the speaker bravely
IN a lost cause.
1t was on the point whether a
proposed amendment 10 the rules. Of
fered from the floor, constituted a
question of high constitutional privi-
lege, that the storm broke IL was
the revolution" i'm March. when Nor
ris. o. Nebraska. offered an amend
ment providing that rules commit
lee of fifteen members be elected
b. the house. instead of three mem
bers. appointed by the speaker The
speaker ruled that the Norris resolu-
ton was out Of order.
Today Mr.. Fuller. of Illinois, offer
q Vfr.He az l.
relating to the discharge of commit
tees from the consideration Of bills
II was purely technical \ point of
order was raised against it, the
speaker declaring that he would ig-
more the precedent set by the house
in March when ii oerruled his rul-
ing in the Norris case. and he held
that the Fuller resolution was not
privileged.
An appeal from the chair was i'm
mediately taken by a regular repub-
lican, Mr.. Gaines of West Virginia,
who demanded a yea and nay vote
The speaker was sustained 233 to So
Mr.. Cannon's ruling was delivered
in a most impressive manner, he
gesticulated at times with the gavel
clutched i'm mis- left hand. Again
he would pause. put down the gavel,
and speak almost i'm a whisper The
attention was such. however. that
he could be heard in the far cor
ners of the gallery.
To point the similarity Of the
question raised today and the one
raised last March. the speaker had
the Norris resolution read i'm full.
together with an extract from the
journal of the house giving the de-
tails of the fight that followed and
that overthrow the speaker. He also
had read excerpts from remarks made
by Champ Clark and Representative
Underwood.
He said: THE chair declines To
follow the judgment of the house at
the last session of this congress I'M
der which il made the precedent In
making this decision the chair makes
il with the highest respect for the
house. because the present occupant
Of the chair. after nearly forty years
of service. has the highest respect for
the house. and has no desire now or
in the future by voice. vote or rul-
ing To favor any rules of procedure
which will thwart or unduly embar-
rass the house i'm working its will.
The chair therefore. in effect, ap-
peals To the house from a decision
of that same house, made i'm great
excitement. when the waves of par
tisanship were high. doing so after
the wind has ceased and the pillows
have passed away and the sea is
serenely blue. The speaker there
fore sustains the point of order
In the course of the debate that
preceded the ruling. the republican
members tainted the democrats un-
ceasingly for their change of front
The house was i'm its gayest mood,
and i'm the three hours of the fight.
there was an almost continuous gale
Of laughter.
Charged with inconsistency. Rep
resentative Fitzgerald. of New York.
one of the democratic leaders in the
rules fight. last March retorted that
for the sake of consistency he did
not propose TO be foolish.