MERRY LEGISLATORS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1110, 25 April 1911, Page 4

MERRY LEGISLATORS.

SONGS AND JOKES. OBSTRUCTING RECIPROCITY. A campaign of obstruction against thfl Omnibus War Claims Hill l-occntiy paralysed business in the United States House of Kepim'iitativos, After a continuous sitting of twenty-six liours, fays Router, n truce was declared to permit ol eulogies boinjr pronounced upon deceased Congressmen. Tlio proceedings during the night sitting were interspersed both with acrimony mid hilarity. Tho members sung and joked while a quorum was being sought for, and arrest orders were to ensure (lie attendance of absentees.

Amazing Obstruction. com.tn' lli 'l S , to . thc " Dnil - V ™<*rapb> pu lisp i " v lhc - obst tactics or-' 11 oik y I! T° s,illlalivo Mann, of 11I";,,;;, the-Sen j T J:sttst^™ske}t' 1 epresenta ive Mann and hi, cwr. The tactics the hit-l-of employed were bold and resourceful, and oftentimes daringly or* Rinal, and the majority of 200, though angry, were absolutely helpless in tU presence of the shameless sixty.

Saturday Declared to be Friday. It is true lliat Speaker Cannon, by hii niliug on Saturday morning, declaring !-'u in a legislative sense, was still Iriday, tho Representatives on tli'o previous night not having adjourned to .Saturday, but simply "taken a recess," directly aided the marauders. It follow-' ed, of course, that if Saturday was Friday then Sunday wns Saturday, and in this genial spirit the minority, who had been in the firing-line .-inec ten o'clock on Friday morning, again settled down ; on .Saturday Jo a general lield-daj-, -and an assault all along the line. I Tho subject^which provided the minorily with a iieid for manoeuvre, continues the "'Daily Telegraph" correspondent, was "The War Claims Bill." .All Friday, i from 10 a.m. to 9.30 p.m.,tho battle raged, 1 and again from yesterday at U a.m. right through the night into Sunday, the pro-' ccedings being varied by bitter 6peech, ! sharp dialogue, jibes, burlesque, irrelevant questions to tho chair, funny stories, <' smoking, buffoonery, and horseplny. In pushing on his "filibuster," Jlr. ,Mann repeatedly made a point that there was ■ no Quorum, forcing a roll-cail at frequent intervals. He . also insisted that the Claims Bill should be read from cover to ! cover. This consumed two hours, and during the reading cf the measure thero ' were more roll-calls, and then the amend-" nients had to be read. ], Representative Jleilin, of Alabama, asked the Speaker for permission to address the House for ten minutes. Tho' Speaker replied that, in the absence of a quorum, the .chair could, not recopniso anyone. "Then I give myself fifteen, minutes, blandly remarked the Alabama l Democrat, A Variety Performance, i Amid groat laughter, Mr. Heflin bognu a variety performance reminiscent of your London music-hall favourite Chirgwin, tho White-Eyed Kaffir, which continued for nearly half an hour. He told negro, dialect stories, and acted them with great i skill.

In the meantime the'Sorgeant-al-Arms, furnished with warrants, was searching the highways of Washington to arrest absent members, and, incidentally, lie raided.several dinner parties, and.returned to"th<j;"Jl6use with his. prisoners wearing evening dress, quite an unusual spectacle in tlie House of Representatives. ilr. lleflin's contribution was a great success, aud the House demanded more Representative' Stanley, of Kentucky, also a Democrat, led a group of colleagues iu singing tho "Siiwannce River" and "My Old Kentucky Home." This ended.iu discord, while everybody on the floor aud in the crowded galleries laughed uproariously. At this point Mr. Stanley captured one of tho pages who carry messages from tlio lobby into the House to members, a bright lad, named Joo Merritt, and insisted that ho should sing; As soon as the first notes of "My Old Kentucky Home," in a good tenor voice, floated over the Chamber the noise subsided as if by magic. He was asked to -sing again and again, and was finally carried down the aislo on the shoulders of several members as everybody cheered.

Insisted on Smoking, By this time all .formality had boon abandoned, and members were smoking in violation of tho rules, although tho Chair announced repeatedly that tho rule against smoking niiist' be enforced. flepresentative Eucker, of Missouri, ap. peared with a large-bowled iiipe, from which great clouds of sinolce were escaping. - Members began to cough and move away, and ho was finally told to stop smoking. Mr. Kuckcr always, lms his pipo before bedtime, and said' ho did not proposo to bo beaten out of it by a mere filibuster.

"I move that I bo permitted to smoke," said Mr. Rueker, addressing the Chair.

"Tho point is over-ruled," snid Kopre-i sentativo Olmstead solemnly. Mr. Olm-' stead by this time was acting as substituto for Speaker Cannon, who had slipped away lo keep an engagement with the. Gridiron Club at Washington, and was present in that institution when the s-er- " g(sant-at-arms appeared, raiding the members and arresting those who happened to be legislators.

Incidentally, Mr. Mann was (old a few home truths. Mr. Clayton, of Alabama, called him a monument of colossal arrogance and egotism, "a living example of all that modesty should be." Mr. Hobson, of Alabama, dubbed him a sea- , lawyer, who should be thrown overboard.