Rensselaer Republican, Volume 24, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 March 1892 — ALMOST DEFEATED. [ARTICLE]

ALMOST DEFEATED.

A Test Vote in the House on the Silver Bill ' Resulted 148 Ayes to 148 Nays—An Exciting Day AU Round—The Vote in Detail. Thursday, the last legislative day of the silver debate in the House, opened with crowded galleries and a full attendance of members of the House. The greatest diligence has been exerted by the leaders of both sides for the past three days to secure the presence of every member not absent from the city when the hour of final vote should arrive, and so well had they succeeded in their efforts that only the gentlemen who had been granted leave by the/House were absent when the gayel tell, and these were so equally divided on the question that neither side derived any advantage from their non-attendance. Immediately after the reading of the journal the period of general debate was extended three hours by the announcement of Mr. post-

pone the motion for the previous question until 5 o’clock, in order to give opportunity for greater debate. The debate followed, participated in by more than a dozen members, and at times was warm and exciting. At 5 o’clock Mr. Butler of lowa being recognized, closed the debate by saying that when the act of 1813 had brought the farmers of the country into a condition of suffering the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Taylor), a millionaire, arose with a committee substitute for the bill and added insult to Injury and mocked the farmers in their suffering. As Mr. Butler sat down, Mr. Bland, the persistent advocate of the bill, was recognized by the Speaker, and in a quiet tone of voice demanded the previous question on the pending bill. Mr. Burrows, like half the members of the house, was on his feet, but he was there not from anxiety, but as his party’s ipokesman. The chair recognized him xnd Mr. Burrows moved to lay the pend_ Ing bill on the table and said that motion look precedence of the motion of the gentleman from Missouri and demanded the jreas and nays on this motion.

The chair decided in favor of Mr. Burrows, and then amid intense excitement the clerk began to call the roll on Mr. Burrow’s motion, whfehbrought the question to a square test vote. Excitement became Intense as the call progressed and nembers plainly showed it in the restless nanner in which they moved about and crowded to the space in front of the ipeaker’s desk. At the conclusion of the roll call the excitement had risen to fever heat. At first I rumor spread that the motion had been carried by three votes and the Bland bill was beaten. An anti-silver man in the rear of the house started to shout but quickly checked himself as a doubt overcame him.

Private information given out'that the rote stood yeas 148, nays 147, excited every nember and the aisles were thronged as the clerk proceeded to recapitulate the rote. The tension to which the members were subjected had the effect of reducing them to a state of comparative quiet, although anxiety way shown on every countenance. But in the galleries the buzz of sxpectation was very noticeable, and it vas with difficulty that the clerk, reading n a clear, resonant voice could make himlelf heard. The recapitulation being completed the speaker rose from his chair to mnounce the result, but before doing so llrected the clerk to call his name. The •Jerk called “Mr. Crisp, of Georgia,” and 'Mr. Crisp, of Georgia,” availing himself )f his’ilght as a Representative, cast his rote in the negative amid the deafening ipplause of the advocates of the measure. Mr. Bland, not aware that this vote laved his measure from immediate annihilation, changed his vote from the negative to the affirmative in order that he night have an opportunity to move a retonsideration, but being advised in a monent that the motion was defeated by a lie vote again changed it to the negative.

In the meantime the members had clus.ered in the space in front of the Speak;r’s desk, and many propounded questions is to the-side upon which they were retorded. In each case the reply was a satisfactory one, and no change was made in the result. As the inquiries as to the manner in which they had been recorded were being mswered, Mr. Enloe of Tenn., with his hat on, hastily strode into the h use and laid he desired to have his vote recorded. The Speaker—“ Was the gentleman in the House during the roll call and failed to hear his name called?” Mr. Enloe was compelled to respond in the negative. The Speaker was inexorable and said the gentleman could not vote* Mr. Enloe yielding and announcing that he had just come in from an investigating committee. Mr. Herbert (Ala.) next asked the same privilege of being recorded and replied in the affirmative to that part of the inquiry as to whether or not he was in the hall of the House during the vote, but when the Speaker/) second time Inquired if tl>e gentleman failed tohear his name called, Mr. Herbert was fain to reply "I could not say that,” and accordingly the speaker refused to permit him to vote. The motion was lost by a tie vote of years 148, nays 148. The following is the rote in detail: YBAB. Amerman, Andrew, Atkinson. • Bacon. Berwig. Beldon, Belknap, Beltzhoover, Bentley, Bergen, Bingbam, Boutelle, Bowman, Brawley, Brlckner, Brosius. Brunner. Buchanan (N. J.). Bunting. Burrows, Bushnell, Cable, Cadmus, Caldwell, Castle, Cause, Chapin, Chipman, Clancy, Cobb (Mo.), Coburn. Coykran. Coggswell, Coolidge, Coombs, Covert, Cox [N. Y.), Craig (Pa.), Crosby, Cummings, Curtis, Cutting, Dalzell, Daniel, Deforest, Dingley, Doane, Dolliver, Dunphy, English, Fellows, Fitch, Flyck, Geary, Geissenhalner, Gillespie, Greenleaf, Griswold, Grout. Hall, Hallowell. Hamilton. Harmon, Harter, Haugen, Haves (la.), Haines (O.), Henderson (la.), Hitt, Hoar, Hooker (N. Y,). Hopkins (Ta.l. Hopkins (III.), Houk (Tenn.), Huff, Hull, Johnson (Ind.), SlohnsonfMd.), Ketcham, Kribbs, Logan, Laphan, Lind, Little,"Lockwood, Lodge. Loud, Lynch, Magner. McAleer, McDonald, McGan, McKaig, McDenna, McKinney, Meyer, Miller, Milliken, Mitchell.Mutchler, Newberry, O’DoneM, O’Neil

(Mass.), O’Neil (Pa.). Outhwalte, Pagvfß. Lk Page (Md.), Pattison (O.). Paine. Per* kins, Post, Powers, Quackenbush, Raines, Randall, Ray, Rayner, Reed, Heyburn, Rife, Robinson (Pa.) Russell, Scull, Seerley, Shonk, Smith. Sperry, Stephenson, Stevens, C. W. Stone, Storer. Stout, Stump, Taylor (Ill.), J. D. Taylor, Tracey, Walker, Warner, Waugh, Weaver. Wheeler (Mich.), Wilcox. Williams (Mass.), Wilson <Ky.), Wilson (Wash.), Wilson (W. Va.), Weiverton, Wright—l4B. .Nays—Abbott, Alderson, Alexander, Allen, Arnold, Babbitt, Bailey, Baker, -Bankhead, Bartine, Beeman, Blanchard. Bland, Blount, Bowers, Brandi, Breckln ridge (Ark.), Breckinridge (KyJ, Bretz, Broderick, Brookshire, Bryan, Buchanan (Va.j, Bnliock, Bunn, Busey, Butler, Bynum. Caminetti. Capchart, Carturn, Gate, Clark iW. Va.) Clark (Ala.), Cobb (Alai), Cowles, Cox (Tenn.), Crain (Tex.), Crawford, Culberson. Davis, Dea moad, Dickerson. Dixon. Dockcry, Dungan, Edmunds, Fllis. Epes. Everett. Fithian, Forney, Fowler, Funston, Fyan, Gantz,Gooch i'ht, Gorman. Grady, Halverson, Haro, Harris, Hatch, Heard, Hemphill, Henderson IN, C.), Hermann, Holman. Houk <€).), Johnson (O.), Jolley, Kem, Kilgore,Kyle. Lane, Lanham, Lawson (Va.), Lawson 'Ga.), Layton. Lester (Ga,), Lewis, Livingston, Long, Mallory, NLansur. Martin. McClellan. McCrory. McKeigban, McMillin. McRae. Meredith, Mills.Montgomery.Moore, Moses, Nor ton. O’Ferral 1. O’Nei 11 (Mo.» Otis, Owens. Parrett. Patterson <Tenn.) Patton, Pai n ter, Pearson, Pend le ton. Pi cider. Pierce, Price, Reilly. Richardson, Robertson Sayers, Scott, Shively, Simpsop, Snodgrass, Snow, Stackhpuse, Steward (Ill,), Steward(Tex.), Stockdale, Stone (Ky.). Sweet (Vaj, Taylor, Terry. Tillman, Townsend, Tucker, Turner, Turpin. Warwick, Washington, Watson, Weadeock, Wheeler (Ala.),White, Whiling. Williams IN. C.), Williams (I)L), Wilson Mo., Winn, Wise, Youmans, the Speaker—l4B. Mr. Outhwaite atonce moved to adjourn The motion temporarily;, left members a( sea as to their coursed Mr. Bland, arising to a parliamentary Inquiry, asked if the effect of an adjournment would be to make another special order necessary to call up the bill. The speaker said it would. The vote on adjournment was declared lost—yeas 99, nays 193 Then Mr. Johnson (O.) took a hand in the fight with a motion to reconsider tbe vote by which the house refused to table AhelbHL-and Mr. Bland parried hisfoi) with a motion to lay that motion on the table. The motion to table the motion to reconslder was reiected, yeaS.l4s; nays, 149. Then it was the turn of the anti-silver men to applaud, and they did so with vim and enthusiasm.

Thc Speaker stated that the vote recurred on the motion to reconsider and Mr. Reed sprang to his feet and demanded, the yeas and nays, and the roll was called Then the thunderstorm, which had been brooding over the House all day, burst in full violence and for twenty minutes or more the cyclone raged supreme throughout the House. The speaker(without ordering a recapitulation) announced that the motion to **econsider was defated by a tie vote of yeas, f 49, nays 149. Mr. Cockran demanded a recapitulation of the vote. The Speaker stated that the demand came too late. The confusion was then redoubled and the speaker was compelled to calf in the services of the Sergeant-at-arms to restore order. Finally the vote was recapitulated by unanimous consent and was announced as yeas 150, nays 148, and the result was loudly applauded by the anti-silverites. The question then was on the motion to lay the pending bill on the table, and after a scene of the wildest disorder the vote was an_ bounced—yeas 145, nays 148—so that the House refused to lay the bill on the table. The chair announced that the question, recurred to Mr. Bland’s motion for theprevious question on the bill and amendments. A motion to adjourn was lost, 80 to 202 - . Motions to adjourn to take recess, to ad? journ till Saturday and to adjourn till Monday were lost, and then Mr. Bland, stating that it was evident that no fair vote could be taken at that time, moved an adjournment, which motion was carried at 12:35 Tuesday morning. » The silver bill now goes on the calendar, but it is probable that the committee on rules will at an early day report a resolution for Its further consideration.