Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 February 1890 — WHY THEY FIGHT REED. [ARTICLE]

WHY THEY FIGHT REED.

DEMOCRATS MAKE AN APPEAL TO ’ THE PEOPLE. A Forcible Statement of the Reasons Which Impel the Minority in the House to Oppose the Dictatorial Rule of the Speaker. An address to the country explaining the pos tiou of the Democratic members of the House has been prepared by exSpeaker Carlisle, and signed by all of the minority members. After describing the present situation of the House and attributing it to the failure of the committee on rules to report. the statement says that the Hous© has been compelled to conduct Its business without any rule or system except the general parliamentary laws as construed by the Speaker. “The constitution of th© United States provides that a majority of each House ‘shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and may bo authorized to compel the attendance of absent numbers in such laahnor and under such penalties as each House may provide.’ Another clause of the constitution requires each House to keep a journal of its proceedings, and provides that when one-fifth of the members present doslro It the yeas and nays shall be taken on any question and entered In the journal. Since the beginning of the government under the constitution, more than 100 years ago, the Hous© of Representatives and Senate have construed the first clause of the constitution quoted anove to mean that a majority of all the membprs-elect must bo present and actually participate In the transaction of business, and that whenever upon a call of the yeas and nays it appeared from the journal, which is the only official record, that less than the constitutional quorum had voted on any proposition the vote was a nullity and no further business could bo done until the requisite number appeared and voted. “Every presiding officer in the Senate and eVerv Speaker of the House, except the present one, has held that when less than a quorum voted on a call of the yeas and nays, no matter how many might bo actually present, it was his duty to take notice of the fact and do-. dare that the ponding bill or motion had not passed. When the vote Is not taken by yeas and nays it is not entered upon the journal, but if any member makes the point that no quorum has voted the proceeding is a nullity, avd the vote must bo taken over. The presumption of the law Is that when nothing appears to the contrary the proceedings of a legislative body are regular and valid, and therefore when the official record does not show that less than a quorum voted, or attention is not called to the fact in such a way as to furnish legal evidence of It, the question can not be made afterward. Many bills have been passed when there was no quorum voting and It is equally true that many have passed when there was no quorum actually present, but this does not prove that the proceeding would have been valid In either ease If the official record had shown the fact. “Speaker Reed himself, when in the minority on the floor of the House, stated the true moaning and the true philosophy of the constitution when he said: ‘The constitutional idea of a quorum is not the presence of a majority of all the members of the House, but a majority of the members present and participating in the business of the House. It is not the visible presence, but their judgment and votes, which the constitution calls for.’ “Gen. Garfield. Mr. Blaine, Mr. Hawley, Mr. Conger, Mr. Robeson, and other eminent Republicans have taken the same position. If any legal or political question can be settled in this country by the long acquiescence of jurists and statesmen of all parties, certainly this question has passed beyond the domain of discussion. “We arc not contending for the right of the minority to govern, as the supporters of the Speaker have endeavored to make the country believe. On the contray we are denying the right of a minority to eject members from their scats or to pass laws for the government of the people under the Constitution. A majority of the members of the Hous© constitute a quorum to do business, and wo are simply insisting that less than a majority shall npt do business. We ar® contending that the majority shall take ’ the responsibility which properly be» longs to them, and shall come to th© House of Representatives and vote if they desire to control its proceedings, and we are protesting against their right to carry their measures by counting us when we do not vote. “The claim of the majority that they have a right to govern the House without attending Its sessions and taking part In the conduct of Its business Is too preposterous to require refutation. It must be evident to any one who understands the position taken by the Democratic minority in the House that it can not possibly result in any Injury to the country or any injustice to the majority. Its only effect will be to compel the Republican majority, elected by the people, to assume the responsibility imposed upon them. v “On the other hand no one can foresee the .evils that may result from the inauguration of the practice of counting votes not cast in order to make a quorum. Under it a minority of the members elected to the House and Senate may pass the most tyrannical laws for the oppression of the people, the most corrupt laws for the spoliation of the treasury. Whether so intended or not its direct tendency is to break down the barriers heretofore existing for th© protection of the citizen against the encroachments of power and the spoliation of the treasqry by destroying the limitations which the .constitution has wisely Imposed upon the • legislative department. ConsUlittlfirifcU&re made to restrain majorities, and': protect 'minorities. A majority Without limitations or restraint upon It® power is a pure despotism and is inconsistent with our system of govornmentv- i - ,