Show SILliEFUL COJVDLCT S The Republicans in the lower House of Congress are largely responsible for the disgraceful delays in the conduct of public business Their continual filibustering fili-bustering and technical obstructions to legislation make the proceedings of that body a most contemptible farce It may appear very smart and very funny In the eyes of Mr Reed to interrupt the consideration and passage of measures necessary for the welfare of the country coun-try To lookers on It appears worse than childish and akin to a crime But if these strictures are just in view oC the congressional situation I what may fairly be said about the absentees ab-sentees whose neglect of duty gives occasion oc-casion for the course pursued by the I minority Are not those Democrats I who stay away from their posts when their presence Is necessary to form a quorum almost equally guilty with the wilful obstructionists Those Democrats Demo-crats who are to some extent responsible respon-sible for the condition of affairs day after day when no business can be transacted deserve the strongest condemnation con-demnation They ought not to be paid for the time they are absent without leave and their conduct should be a bar to their reelection Mr Reed fondly hopes that by continual con-tinual filibustering when there are not members enough on the side of the majority ma-jority to form a quorum he will drive the Democratic Speaker to adopt the despotic tactics of his Republican predecessor pre-decessor This would be a sort of vindication vin-dication of the Reed policy and remove re-move from him the obnoxious title of Czar Reed Speaker Crisp will not fall into the trap He will not count a vote which has not been cast even if the member is present So Reed and his followers are deliberately and intentionally inten-tionally wasting the public time and hindering the public business with no I good result to anybody I The Democrats ought to be in their seats when duty calls They ought to maintain the majority which the country coun-try has formed in the House by their election They are greatly to be blamed for their failure to do so But Their conduct is after all not so open to public reprobation as that of the Republicans Re-publicans who being present refuse to answer to their names and thus in effect ef-fect make the record a lie showing that no quorum is present while in truth there is more than a quorum in the House and thus there is no good reason for the obstruction of public business There may be occasions which would justify such a course But they are of rare occurrence and form extreme cases It makes the practice of filibustering no better to say it has been resorted toby to-by Democrats The members present ought to perform their duty whether others do so or not And the voters of this country ought to show their detestation detes-tation of the shameful daily doings in the House by retiring from public life both the wilfully neglectful and the persistently filibustering members of Congress |