People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 March 1894 — HISSED MR. BLAND. [ARTICLE]

HISSED MR. BLAND.

Member* of the House DUlike the Mletoari&D’* Bitter Wordfe Washington, Feb 2A —The members of the house under arrest were finally discharged from custody Friday by dispensing with further proceedings under the calL It required four hours to accomplish this and although the scenes of disorderly turbulence which characterized Thursday’s proceedings were not repeated Friday the proceedings were fully as interesting. ~ After the arrested members had been discharged Mr. Bland returned to the silver bill, but his motion failed again for lack of a quorum. He lacked only two votes, however, and this is the highwater mark. After some preliminary skirmishing the speaker pro tern, declared the pending question to be the. motion to discharge Mr. Adams from the custody of the sergean^-at-arms. Mr. Reed called attention to the fact that the question had not been properly stated. It was to discharge Mr. Adams because the warrant under which he was arrested was unauthorized. Mr. Springer attempted to interpose an amendment, which had for its purpose the discharge of all members under arrest, as the most expeditious way out of the tangle, but Mr. Reed demanded the previous question and he was cut off. I The previous question was voted down —95 to 159. Mr. Bland then offered as a substitute for Mr. Reed’s motion a motion to discharge all members arrested by authority of the resolution passed by the house on the 19t,h inst Mr. Reed made the point of order that Mr. Bland’s amendment was not germane, and the point was argued at some length. *■ Mr. Bland decided to withdraw his substitute and confine it to the discharge from custody of Mr. Adams. On this modification of his motion he demanded to be heard. He pot the floor and delivered a scathing arraignment of his side of the house. Mr. Bland’s speech was sensational in its criticism of the disorder which reigned in the house on Thursday. He declared that the men who are obstructing legislation and defying the I house were anarchists and revolutionj ists. They were worse than the crimi- : nal who would throw dynamite bombs ! from the galleries. There were hisses j at this statement which grew louder j and culminated in thecriesof “shame.” Mr. Bland proceeded in his im- | passioned utterance. He said mobocracy had taken possession of the house. The mobism of anarchy ] was being given an object lesson, j The anarchist was being invited to pai rade the streets and c.ommit his deeds lof violence. Mr. Bland proceeded with ! frequent characterization of those | members who had obstructed legisla- ! tion as “anarchists,” and “revolution- ! ists.”

Mr. Bland said that since the deadlock the suggestion that the speaker should count a quorum had been advanced on the democratic side of the house. Quorum counting,he maintained, was an invitation to absenteeism. It was an invitation to members to go fishing and wandering up and down the earth. He insisted that it was the duty of the house to keep members in their seats. The democratic party had a majority of eighty in the house and ought to do business. “I don’t think it is the duty of the gentleman from Missouri,” interjected Mr. Dunn (dem., N. J.) “to lecture the democratic party.” “If that is a lecture,” retorted Mr. Bland, “the people will read it to the gentleman and every other man who is now obstructing business to his heart’s content. [Democratic applause.] While opposition has a perfect right to break the quorum, what a spectacle we present to the country, with eighty majority, rising in our congressional dignity and defying the authority of the house! We should proceed to do business or acknoweledge our incompetency. If we don’t the people will read the riot act to us.” Mr. Biand then drifted into a discussion of the merits of the silver seigniorage bill, which was being opposed by a portion o f the democratic majority, in the course of which he was three times called to order by Mr. Coombs (dem., N. Y.)“I thought the gentlemen on this side,” said Mr. Bland, “would realize ; that they coyld not afford to be revolutionists and anarchists. I say we Bhould either do business or surrender.” [Republican applause and shouts of: “Give it to them*”] “It will be no outrage for the people to rise up in a mob and cast us down, for we are exercising mobocracy here. If this is a bad bill vote it down. If you want more debate we will give it to you, but to slTty here and not vote is Bimply political suicide."