Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1922-11-21

declared. he would cast his vote in
the Affirmative. A determined fli-
| buster developed. The proponents OF
the bill attempted to tire out its OPP
ponents by keeping the Senate In
continuous session and thus preciud-
ing the consideration Of any other
business until the pending measure
| was disposed of.
| Cots were brought to committee
rooms. so that the members might
sleep there or IN their ofacss and be
against the bill were required to keep
the floor; but. on the other hand. the
proponents OF the bill were required
t., maintain a quorum. BY the rules
q quorum Is suggested, all business
steps; the Senator who has the floor
takes his seat; but does not lose his
| right to the floor. The clerk Is di-
it's call a suiaeient number OF Sem
ators do not answer to their names
to constitute q quorum, this fact is
| announced by the Chair and then the
geant-at-arms be Instructed to re-
quest the attendance of absent Sem
| ators. The call Of the roll and the
time necessary to secure report of
| the sergeant alarms upon this in
| struction can be relied upon to con-
sumo considerable time-often two
hours. If the sergeant at a rms re-
ports that he is unable to obtain the
| attendance Of a sufficient number Of
| Senators to constitute a quorum a
| sergeant-at-arms to compel the at
! tendance Of absent Senators. This
will take further time-perhaps an
| hour or two.
In the meantime the Senator who
was compelled. temporarily: to yield
| the floor. can regale himself with re-
freshments in the restaurant or steal
away for a little sleep.
| When q quorum is secured he will
f! then resume the floor. There cannot
be another roll call until business has
interviewed. Those who favor the bill
are thus required to keep quorum
| in attendance about the capitol,
which is not always easily done when
they have but a slight margin of
votes in it's favor. Those who are
opposed and who are in league with
| the speaker who has the floor, may
| get off out of town, as was done in
the case of the Shipping Bill. and be
beyond the reach of the sergeant-at-
arms. where they can get good
| nights rest.
In the case Of this bill, Senator
| Smoot held the floor for seventeen
| hours, until his co-conspirators could
/ of them. who had spent the night in
Baltimore. appeared in the Senate the
next morning looking fresh and ready
to take the floor when he should
yield il. The rest of us, who had
attended the continuous session Of the
| were pretty weary.
! Holding the floor for seventeen
/ hours was by no means record. as
it has been several times exceeded
! the floor more than twenty hours. 1t
will be seen that this does not mean
that the Senator was speaking all the
| time; but that. with Interruptions oc-
to the floor during that time. Eel
low Senators who wish to assist him
can. with his consent, interrupt him
with questions. which it will take a
| speech of considerable length to
! elaborate, and such questions need
not be germane to the pending meas
ure, but may be so framed as to be
easily answered and afford the speak
er to whom they are addressed rest
and diversion. He cannot. however,
farm out 4he floor to other Senator's
for the purpose of making speeches
and Is liable to lose the floor If he
| does so.
He is assisted. also. by an unwrit-
ter rule of the Senate. having all the
force of a written rule, that Sen
atnr is TO be the sole judge of the
relevancy and materialty of his re-
| marks. so that he cannot be called
|
ton and can quote from Hume's His
| tory of England. agricultural reports.
or read long extracts from books
upon any subject and in some in
stances he is able to secure their
reading by the clerk at the desk; al
though. if there is objection: he is
compelled to read them himself
| l heard the question of whether a
| Senator could be called to order for
J not speaking to the question. dis
then
| it was decided that under the rules.
no Vice President or presiding officer.
nor majority of the Senate. could sit
! in judgment upon the materially or
/ relevancy Of the remarks Of Sem
ator from a sovereign State; but that
he should be the sole judge.
! 1t will thus be seen that the feat
/ of holding the floor for several hours
| is not q remarkable one. and that a
man Of physical vjgor and resource
| fulness is easily able to keep the floor
until he voluntarily yields it to some
associate. who will continue the fill
buster 1t is all the time necessary
t that somebody be at hand to take the
| floor: otherwise. as ! have stated, the
| bill automatically goes to vote. But
| three or four Senators OF the vigor
| Of Senators Reed and Borah, with
their great ability and resourceful-
ness and lung power. are easily able
| to continue filibuster almost indeff-
| nitely.
/ The part taken by Senator Works,
! oe California. in the filibuster on the
! Shipping Bill well ILLUSTRATES the
! latitude allowed Senators in the range
which may he covered by subjects
when particular measure Is under
consideration
The Senator was firm believer in
| Christian Science, which he had
! shown on two or three occasions on
the floor of the Senate. 1T was known
by those who opposed the Shipping
| Bill that he had prepared a long
| speech upon this subject which he
, was waiting an opportunity to deliver.
in order that it might appear in the
j Congressional Record" He was
| therefore asked to consume some
time and readily seized upon the OPP
portunity. He arose. ostensibly to
Bill, the pending measure. but began
Christian Science which consumed
1t would have been useless to raise
the point of order that Senator
| Works was not speaking to the bill.
because the Vice President would
have been compelled to rule that the
Senator was in order and was the
sole Judge Of the relevancy and ma
teriaIity OF his remarks. The alb
surdity of an adherence to this rule
could not be more forcibly shown:
and until the Senate is willing to eX-
ercise it's undoubted power to compel
s"s"sss-esesosso'e~s"s"s-e.es
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