HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
SATURDAY, November 27, 1858.The Journal of yesterday was read and corrected.
STANDING COMMITTEES.
Mr. POWER was excused from service in the Committee on Roads.
The SPEAKER supplied vacancies made bv declinations of service on the standing committees as follows:
Mr. TREADWAY, to the place in the Committee on Roads vacated by Mr. Power; and Mr. Durham to the place on the same committee, vacated by Mr. Sullivan.
page: 46[View Page 46]Mr. HALL, of Rush, to the place on the Committee on engrossed Bills, vacated by Mr. Sullivan.
Mr. STILES to the place in the Committee on Corporations, vacated by Mr. Baird.
Mr. BAIRD to the place in the Committee on Organization of Courts of Justice, vacated by the declination of Mr. Stanfield, who, upon his own request, for reasons personal to himself, without any disrespect to any member on the floor of this House, has been excused from acting in that honorable position; and Mr. Robinson to the place in the same committee, vacated by Mr. Dobbins, who declines serving on that important committee.
Mr. DUVAL to the place on the Committe on Canals vacated by Mr. Robinson.
Mr. MANSFIELD to Mr. Blythe's place on the Committee on Education.
Mr. HARNEY to Mr. Wood's place in the same committee.
Mr. POWER, to the place on the Committee on Military Affairs, vacated by Mr. Clements, and Mr. Hartley to the place on the same Committee, vacated by Mr. Prosser.
Mr. MANSFIELD to the place on the Temperance Committee vacated by Mr. Parrett; Mr. Durham to the place on the Committee vacated by Mr. Dobbins, and Mr. Boxley to the place on the same Committee, vacated by Mr. Shull.
Messrs. SCOTT and PARRETT, members of the Judiciary Committee - the former to the place of Mr. Blythe, who by his own request has been excused from serving thereon, and the latter to the place of Mr. Davis, who, from personal consideration, but without disrespect to any member of that Committee, or to any member upon the floor of this House, has been, upon his own request, excused from serving on the same.
Messrs. CLEMENTS and GRIFFIN to serve on the Committee on the Judiciary, under the resolution of Mr. Robinson, requiring two additional members of that committee.
Mr. MANSFIELD and Mr. WILSON asked, and obtained excuse from service in the committee on Rights and Privileges of the State of Indiana, and Mr. Row and Mr. Tebbs were appointed to their places.
ADJOURNMENT TILL MONDAY.
Mr. BRANHAM submitted the following:
Resolved, That when this House adjourns, it shall be till Monday at 2 o'clock P.M.
I have several reasons, Mr. Speaker, for offering that resolution. One is, that unless we give the committees some time for organization and examination of subjects, it will be impossible for them to make reports to this House. I for one am unwilling to remain in the House all day and then work at night on the committees. Another reason is, that the health of members demand this recess. We cannot prudently occupy more than five days in the week, sueh weather as this, in this House. There is another reason: for the two last sessions never more than once or twice were we able to have a quorum on Saturday evening and Monday morning.
The SPEAKER stated that at this present time the rain was dripping through the roof on the Clerks desk, so as to render it nearly impossible to proceed with business.
Mr. STILES proposed to amend, so as to read,"That all adjournments on Saturday shall be at eleven o'clock A. M., till Monday at two o'clock P. M.
Mr. BRANHAM accepted:
And so the resolution was adopted - affirmative 62, negative not counted.
LIBERTY OF SPEECH.
Mr. TREADWAY submitted the following:
Resolved, That no member shall speak more than ten minutes at one time to the same question, without leave of the House.
Mr. MURRAY proposed fifteen minutes.
Mr. POWER twenty minutes.
On motion by Mr. TURPIE, the resolution and pending amendments, were laid on the table.
COMMITTEE ON SWAMP LANDS.
Mr. TURPIE moved an order, that Mr. Snyder, of Jasper, be added to the Committee on Swamp Lands.
The SPEAKER suggested Mr. Merrifield, also.
Mr. TURPIE acquiesced, and so the order was adopted.
INDIANA UNIVERSITY.
Mr. ROW submitted the following, which was adopted by consent:
Resolved, That the Door-keeper be and he is hereby authorized to lay upon the tables of members such numbers as they are entitled to, of the catalogues and reports of the Board of Trustees of the Indiana University for the years 1857 and 1858.
UNITED STATES SENATORS.
Mr. PARRETT submitted the following
WHEREAS, By the Constitution of the United States each House of Congress is judge of the election and qualification of its own members; AND WHEREAS, the Senate of the United Statee did, on the 12th of June, 1858, declare and adjudge, that Graham N. Fitch and Jessee D. Bright, Senators returned and admitted from the State of Indiana, were entitled to the seats they now hold as Senators aforesaid the former till the 4th of March, 1861, and the latter till the 4th of March, 1863, according to the tenor of their respective credentials; therefore,
Resolved, That we recognize such decision of the Senate of the United States as a final adjudication of the right of these Senators to ther respective seats; that, whatever may be the opinion of members as to the legality or the illegality of said election, we have no power to review the facts, or declare void the said decision made as aforesaid by the Senate of the United States; that we acquiesce in said decision, and that we deem it unwise, inexpedient, un-constitutional and irregular for this House to entertain any motion or resolution for the election of United Senators at the present session.
The SPEAKER ruled this resolution out of orderas in conflict with the resolution of Mr. Austin, adopted yesterday.
Mr. PARRETT. The resolution of the gentleman from Wayne involves but one point, and that is, the illegality of the election of United States Senators in 1857. This resolution says nothing whatever of the opinion of members as-to the legality or illegality of that election, but that acquiescing in the decision had thereon, we will entertain no motion or resolution for the election of Senators at the present session of the Legislature. This is the point involved, and it has no bearing upon the matter embraced in the other resolution, as I understand the two.
The SPEAKER read Mr. Austin's resolution, page: 47[View Page 47] and decided that Mr. Parrett's resolution would be a reversal of its declaration.
Mr. PARRETT. I respectfully ask for an appeal from the ruling of the Chair.
Mr. MURRAY. I would suggest that the gentleman reduce his appeal to writing.
The SPEAKER. It must be so done before it can be considered.
Mr. PARRETT wrote to this effect: "The Speaker decides that the resolution of the gentleman from Wayne, adopted yesterday, and the matter just now submitted, are in conflict, and therefore the present resolution is not in order: and thereupon I, William F. Parrett, appeal to the House from said decision."
Mr PARKS. I would inquire whether a similar resolution, submitted yesterday by the gentleman from Johnson and Morgan, (Mr. Dougherty,)reciting the same points was not indefinitely postponed?
The SPEAKER. It is not ruled out on that ground.
Mr. TURPIE. I second the appeal. I do not see why a direct vote on this resolution should not be in order. It was declared by the resolution of yesterday, that the opinion of the United States Senate in the co-tested election case of the Senators from the State of Indiana was wrong That was the extent clearly of that resolution. As to that, of course, any future consideration of a directly conflicting proposition would be unparliamentary. But the resolution of the gentleman from Warrick takes another step. It does not express an opinion directly adverse, but it takes another step and says, that the election of United States Senators, at the present session, would be unwise, inexpedient, unconstitutional and irregular. It is patent to all, that there are two minorities on this floor: one composed of the representatives of that splendid fossil, the old Whig party; the other is that with which I have the honor to stand. The former made their record yesterday, and now all we ask is, that this expression of our opinion may go upon the record also. It seems to me, that gentlemen might vote for this resolution, and still retain the opinion that the Fitch and Bright election was unconstitutional, and be ready to go into another Senatorial election at the regular session of the Legislature; and it is to that point that I would particularlv direct the attention of the Chair.
Mr. MURRAY. I am but little acquainted with parliamentary rules. Like most of us, I am a new member here; and with all due deference to the gentleman, (Mr. Turpie) who is an old member and better acquainted with parliamentary rules, I differ with him on this question. I think the sum and substance ot the resolution come in conflict with the resolution we adopted here yesterday. That is my opinion, and I think the rules preclude the gentleman from offering it. I think the Speaker is right. We have declared here, by vote, that Fitch and Bright are not entitled to their seats as Senators from Indiana. This resolution declares the contrary - that they are entitled to their seats under the decision of the Senate of the United States; and if we adopt this resolution, we of course reverse our decision of yesterday. I would just remark, that if we do not sustain the Chair, we shall find no end to the discussions of these political questions. I had hoped, that when we decided this point yesterday, it was forever put to rest, and that we would not hear the election of these bogus Senators contested here again.
Mr. GRIFFIN moved to lay the appeal on the table.
The yeas and nays being demanded by Mr. Parrett, were ordered and taken thereon, resulting - yeas 55, nays 39 - as follows:
YEAS - Messrs. Austin, Baird, Boyd, Boxley, Branham, Brotherton, Cavins, Clark, Colgrove, Collier, Comstock, Cotton, Davidson, Davis, Duvoll, Edwards, Fordyce, Gregory, Griffin, Hall of Grant, Hall of Rush, Hamilton of Boone, Hamilton of Wayne, Harrison, Hunter, Jeffries, Johnston, Jones, Major, Mansfield, Mellett, Miller, Murray, Martin, Nebeker of Vermillion, Nebeker of Warren, Parks, Power, Ritter, Robinson, Row, Rynearson, Scott, Sherman, Shields, Snyder, Stiles, Thompson of Elkhart, Trsadway, Whetzel, Whiteman, Wildman, and Speaker - 55.
NAYS - Messrs. Black, Blythe. Bowman, Carr, Clements, Claypool, Dobbins, Dougherty, Durham, Early, Eastham, Firestone, Gifford, Hancock, Harney, Hartley, Jordan, Keefer, Kelly, Kempf, Lewis, McLain, Massey, Nelson, Newton, Parrett, Prosser, Shockley, Shull, Smith of Perry, Stanley, Sullivan, Summers, Tebbs, Thompson of Madison, Turpie, Usrey, Waterman, Wheeler, Wood - 39.
Mr. DAVIS, when his name was called, said: I think the decision of the Chair is sustained by parliamentary usage, and I shall therefore vote to lay the appeal on the table. At the same time I should like to see my friends on the right have an opportunity of putting themselves on the record as they desire; but the question of order being raised, we must decide it correctly.
So the appeal from the decision of the Chair was laid on the table.
The House then adjourned till Monday at two o'clock P. M.
