198 



DISCIPLINARY POWER OF LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES. 



of Congress to arrest and punish for contempt 

 arose in the case of William Duane, editor of the 

 " General Advertiser or Aurora," of Philadel- 

 phia. In his paper of February 19, 1800, he in- 

 serted some paragraphs defamatory to the Sen- 

 ate, and having failed in his appearance he was 

 ordered to be committed.* Suffice to say that 

 each House of Congress has constantly exer- 

 cised the power of arrest and commitment. 



CENSTJKE OF THE PRESIDENT. In the height 

 of political excitement relative to the removal, 

 by President Jackson, of the Treasury funds on 

 deposit in the Bank of the United States, the 

 Senate, on March 28, 1834, passed a resolution 

 declaring that, in that proceeding, "the Presi- 

 dent had assumed upon himself authority and 

 power not conferred by the Constitution and 

 laws, but in derogation of both." This is the 

 most extreme declaration which one branch of 

 the Government has ever officially made on 

 the conduct of another. It was a sentence of 

 judicial weight uttered without a judicial in- 

 vestigation ; and its personality was, perhaps, 

 removed in a great measure by the fact that it 

 was adopted by the strict vote of the opposing 

 political party. A short time after the adop- 

 tion of the resolution, President Jackson sent 

 a protest to the Senate, declaring that u the 

 resolution was in substance an impeachment 

 of the President, and its passage amounts to a 

 declaration, by a majority of the Senate, that 

 he is guilty of an impeachable offense." After 

 its presentation Senator Benton gave notice of 

 a motion to expunge the resolution from the 

 pages of the journal. The question he regard- 

 ed as identical in all its features with the one 

 growing out of the famous resolutions of the 

 English House of Commons in the case of the 

 Middlesex election, in 1768. The House was 

 judged and condemned for adopting a resolu- 

 tion which was held by the subjects of the 

 British crown to be a violation of their con- 

 stitution and a subversion of their rights. It 

 was expunged after fourteen years of annual 

 motions. It was not until after three years that 

 his motion (Benton' s) was successfully present- 

 ed in the Senate. It then became a resolution 

 to expunge a portion of the record of a preced- 

 ing Congress, and was carried into effect in the 

 presence of the Senate, immediately after its 

 adoption. Instantly a storm of hisses, groans, 

 and vociferations arose from the left wing of 

 the gallery. The order was immediately given 

 to the Sergeant-at-Arms to seize the disturb- 

 ers, and the ringleader was brought to the bar 

 of the Senate. This example intimidated the 

 rest. 



During the administration of John Quincy 

 Adams as President the question of a proposed 

 mission to a congress of American nations, at 

 Panama, came before Congress. No question, 

 in its day, excited more heat and intemperate 

 discussion, or more feeling between a Presi- 

 dent and Senate. Owing to some expression 



* " Manual of Parliamentary Practice," by Thomas Jeffer- 



used by John Randolph, in a speech in the 

 Senate, Henry Clay, then Secretary of State, 

 sent to him a challenge. The answer ran thus : 

 "Mr. Randolph accepts the challenge of Mr. 

 Clay. At the same time he protests against 

 the right of any minister of the Executive 

 Government of the United States to hold him 

 responsible for words spoken in debate, as a 

 Senator from Virginia, in crimination of such 

 minister, or the administration under which 

 he shall have taken office." Mr. Clay had 

 been erroneously informed that Mr. Randolph 

 waived his privilege. The matter was kept 

 secret until the affair was over, without in- 

 jury to either, and the Senate took no notice 

 of it. 



On occasions such as arise at almost every 

 session, when the passage of a bill is resisted 

 by the minority, and it becomes rather a ques- 

 tion of physical endurance, the daily session 

 is often protracted to a late hour of the night, 

 or until the next day. The absentees are often 

 arrested and brought in by the Sergeant-at- 

 Arms, and, in some instances, fines have been 

 imposed, and subsequently, on a satisfactory 

 explanation, they have been remitted. 



LIMITATIONS OF THE FEEEDOM OF SPEECH. 

 The freedom of speech is regarded as the high- 

 est prerogative of a member of a legislative 

 assembly ; nevertheless, some arbitrary limita- 

 tions have been placed upon it in the House 

 of Representatives. The first of these is the 

 previous question. When a motion is made 

 for the previous question, and it is ordered by 

 a majority of members sufficient to form a 

 quorum, it has the effect to cut off all debate, 

 and bring the House to a direct vote upon the 

 immediate question, or questions, on which it 

 has been asked and ordered. It may be asked 

 and ordered upon a single motion, a series of 

 motions allowable under the rules, or an amend- 

 ment or amendments, or may be made to em- 

 brace all authorized motions or amendments, 

 and include the bill to its engrossment and 

 third reading, and then, on renewal and second- 

 ing of the motion, to its passage or rejection. 

 Two or three attempts have been unsuccess- 

 fully made to adopt in the Senate a rule au- 

 thorizing a call for the previous question. 



An apparent limitation of the freedom of 

 speech is to be found in the rule that u no 

 member shall speak more than once to the 

 same question without leave of the House, un- 

 less he be the mover, proposer, or introducer 

 of the matter pending, when he may reply aft- 

 er all other members who wish have spoken." 

 It is safe to say that this rule, in practice, 

 causes no real limitation in the freedom of 

 speech. The House has invariably manifested 

 a willingness to listen to important remarks of 

 members. A rule of the Senate provides that 

 "no Senator shall speak more than twice upon 

 any one question in debate on the same day 

 without leave. of the Senate." 



Another more serious restriction on the 

 freedom of debate in the House of Represent- 



