The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-10-26
House Organizes
To Gust Blanton
From Congress
Leaders Say Expulsion
Resolution VIII Fail
of TIOo-Thirds Vote.


When the House convened Majority
Leader Frank W. Mondell. of Wyoming,
offered a resolution declaring that
Blanton had caused to be printed in
the Congressional Record grossly in
decent and obscene language. un.
worthy of a member of the. House Of
Representatives, contrary t6Athe rules
of the House, derogatory to its
dignity and in violation OF it's con-
hdence."
Calls for Expulsion
The resolution concluded with the
that Blanton "by his con-
as a Representative in the Sixty
seventh Congress and is hereby ex-
pelled and declared TO be no longer
a member Of the House.''
Because Representative Blanton had
gone to Wheeling. w. Va, to make a
speech last night before the Indus
trial Relations Association. it was de-
cided not to call the resolution up for
consideration immediately, but 1t was
agreed that Blanton should be notified
apd that the resolution should be
taken up tomorrow for final determina-
tion.
Several Of the House leaders, Re-
publican as well as Democrats, pre-
dicted last night that the Mondell
resolution will not command the two
thirds vote necessary to expel Blanton,
although nearly every member OF the
House takes the view that the char
acter Of the matter printed by the
Texan under his privilege Of leave
to extend his remarks" is one OF the
most unusual. II not the most unusual,
ever seen in the Congressional Record.
striekP from ReeOrds-
The material which prompted the
resolution of expulsion was ordered
stricken from the permanent record
Of Congress by the House Monday by
a vote of 313 to l. .Blanton was the
only member who voted in favor Of
retaining 1t in the record. The words
objected were contained in a letter
from an employe of the Government
Printing Oflce to George H. Carter,
head of the Government Printing Of
fee. in which the former related
conversation alleged to have taken
place between himself and one Of his
superiors.
Before Mondell acted yesterday, he
took counsel with his party leaders
in the House. First, the Republican
Steering Committee met and approved
resolution to expel Blantou. Rep
resentative MOndeIl then consulted a
group Of twenty Republicans in the
Office of Speaker Gillett. At first
some of the leaders were inclined to
the belief-that a resolution OF eenspre
would be preferable to a move to
expel. but finally all but two OF those
present approved the more drastic
proposal
Burton Active In Move.
Representative Burton. of Ohio. was
one of the four Representatives who
drafted the Mondell resolution, and
expects to take an active part in the
move to unseat Blanton- Last night
he was making a study Of precedents
established when similar resolutions
to expeI were introduced in the House
and Senate, but so far no one has
the Blanton case.
At the meeting of Republican
leaders It was reported that the
printers at the Government Print
ing Office at first refused to set into
Blanton and appealed to Mr.. Carter,
but the head of the Government
Printing Office stated that he had
no authority to censure material
that had been sent there for publi-
cation, and that it must be set by
the compositors.
Insisted on Printing.
Furthermore, it was reported by
Mondell that Blanton had written
on the back of his copy instructions
to the printing office that the ma
terial should be printed Saturday
night withoutu fail. This was con-
strued by various members of the
House as an attempt to get it In
general circulation throughout the
over the weekend, because
the House would not convene until
Monday noon, too late to stop its
distribution.
Even after the House had or
dered the matter objected to
stricken from the permanent record
by an overwhelming vote Monday,
BlantOn is said to have threatened
to give it further consideration by
ordering 25O,OO0 copies printed at
his own expense.
When Blanton was notified at
Wheeling yesterday of the Mondell
he replied that he would
be back in the House today, and
that whatever he had to say would
be said on the floor, not elsewhere.
On numerous occasions Blanton has
aroused the ire of the House be-
cause of the character of his un-
tempered language.
Takes TwO-thirds TO Expel.N
The Constitution provides that,
Each House may punish its own
members for disorderly behavior,
and with the concurrence of two-
thirds, expel a member"
The two methods of punishment
are censure and expulsion. In the
case of censure the member to re-
ceiye is brought before the bar by
the sergeant at arms and the re-
buke is then administered by the
Speaker. whoa expulsion proceed
ings are in order, 1t is provided that
the member in question shall not be
present. The rule Is that IL a charge
against a member arise out of the
report of a committee or examina-
tion of witnesses, the member may
be heard on these points before any
question Is moved against him. He
Is then to be heard, and withdraw
before any question is moved,
UNTERMEYER RAPS
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