Allen As A Presiding Officer

The most excellent correspondent of tin1 Ypsilantlan, M. II. O., jrives this account of an attempt ronde to "rattle" Allen a few diya siuce while he was presiding : rridriynfternoon, the 14th, was a lively 8essioo. The democrat leaders trled to "rattle" Allen, and utterly inil.d. The House being in committce of the whole on the private calendar, the first businen was a bilí for the relief of Albert Emery. On the preceding Friday, the commiltee was dividing on a motion to report it favorably, when Springer mude privileged motion to recommend that uil after the enacling clause be ttrloken out. Tiiis carricd, but the House refused to concur, which, under the rules sent it back exactly, the Chair Allen) ruled, where the Springer motion interrupted it, that is, the first duty of the committce was to vote on the motion to report it favorably, on which the committee was dlvldlng wlien it rose the Friday previoua. Instantly Crisp, McMillin and twenty others were on their feet yelling "Mr. Cbairinan." McMillin, being recojrnized, complained bitterly that the HotlK had rcturncd tbc bill lor consideration, and the Chair was giving no chance to consider, debate or amend it. Criap said the actiou of the House put tlie bill heforc the committee as if it were a new bill] as the House liad refuscd to concur In the previous action of the committep, and therefore the bill was open for general debate. The Uhair remimled him that the House had merely refused to concur in Springer'srecommendation. Springer, Crisp and Oates, (Ala.), deiiounced the Chair as coercive, unjust, etc. Kerr (Ia.) and Walker (Mass.) also protested. The Chair suavely repeated hls statement of the status of tbc bill, and explained that the committee had full control of it. If they wanted more debate, they could vote down the pending motion; if not, they could conflnu the motion, but they must vote on it. All the Chair could do was to put the Question. During the fiïst of the racket, Speaker Reed stood by the desk watching the circus, and oecasionally saylng to the Chairmuo, 'Tou're riglit. Just keep cool Allen." The Speaker's support was, of course, reassuring. Finally Mr. Reed, evidently satUtted, went down on the floor. Soon Breckenridge (K.) tnoved an amendment to the pending motion and was overruled as out of order, the thecommittee being in the act ofdividing. Then the row broke out afresh. McMilliu denied that they were dividiug. The cominittee wns in wild confusión, hut the Chair kept track of the objections, points of order and parliamentary inquines hurled at him, answerlna: each in their order, and irapartially reco;nizing again and again ('risp, McMillin and Oates, who only threshed over old straw. Finally the repeated clear statemeuts of the Chair had their influence. Cannon elaborated them, and Dockery (Mo ) and McAdoo (N. J.). leading demócrata, supported tbem. Oates appealed trom tlie Chair's decisión cuttii){ off debate. The Chair stated that the cominittee itself out off debate on the bill by its own action at its last session; that by unanimous consent the debate on the ruling hnd proceeded till nearly every member of the committee had said something on the subject either in iiis seat or standing addressin the Chair. The committee sustuincd the Chair, volint; by división and by tellers. Haten, (Mo.) a democrat, not only rose in the ifflrmative despite Me.Milliu's angry protest, but pulled up several other demócrata. For nearly two liours the Chalrman had been under a constant strain. If he had jimvn the least confused, it would have been all up with liim, and he kuew Keed and Carlisle were watching him closely, but he never lost lii? cool self-posscsslun. Carlisle afterwards told Burrows it was miahty hard question, but Allen was right, and McMilllu afterward acknovvledged it. It seems the question had never come up bef'ore, but Allen insitinctively ruled correctly. After all that rum pus, the motion wus voted down, leaving the bill open to amendment and debate, llow mucb do you suppose they did ? They ameuded it by reducing the appropriation from $100,000 to $50,000, and in ten minutes the bill was favorably reported. Mr. Reed was so pleased that when on the following Wednesday, he was obliged to go hom", he called Allen to the Uliair a few minutes after twelvp, saylng: "I guess I can trust you to run the House," so 11 day Captain was Speaker pro tempore. Michigan men are coming to the front. Burrows, of course, is often in the Chair. Allen is there every day. O'Donnell has several times been chairman pro tempore of the Committee of the Whole; he presides nicely, too- and Brewer was Speaker pro tempore a little while the other day. The people in the little town near Pittsburg, Pa., who collected u a mob when the authorities attempted to raise the United States flag over the school house, should be immediately banished. Tliey ought to be sent back to the country they came from - or to China - or Siberia- or VanDieman's Land or somewhere.