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Show WHITE METAL BETRAED. The Bland Bill Practically Killed in the House - Crisp Backslide -Mr. Bland's Statement. Washington, March 1 The silver question ques-tion is an issue of the past. Speaker Crisp has been whipped into Hue. Enough cowardly Democrats who have howled out loud protestations of devotion to free coln-age coln-age have bee n driven to the woods, and the free coinage hill is In all probability killed for the session. The developments of yes-terday yes-terday clearly indicate tbai the cloture will not be invoked by the committed on rules to assist too free coinage people to force a final vote on the passage of the bill, and, without such a decree, all resources of parliamentary parliamen-tary law would be powerless to resurrect it. It was not until the house had met and passed to the consideration of uninteresting routine business that Speaker Crisp tinally anuounccd that the committee on rules would not deem it proper to report rules preventing Bllbosttag unless a majority of the Democratic members should sign a petition pe-tition demanding such an arbitrary procedure. proced-ure. There is liitle hope that the requisite number num-ber of signatures will be secured. Mr. Bland "as indignant, and Iat evening made the following statement; -'When the rule was first reported setting apart three days for the consideratfWl of the silver bill, he insisted in-sisted that the rule should be a continuing order, to be considered from day to day until un-til disposed of, knowing thai three days could be lillibustcred out. Speaker Crisp replied that we ought to trust the committee on rules in that matter, that if three days were lillihustered out without disposing of the Mil, the committee ou rules would report re-port a rule preventing tillibustering motions and compelling a vote. The night of the last day's debate the friends of the bill determined de-termined to continue in sesilou to prevent the lapse of the legislative day. "Myself, Pierre and others weut to Speaker Speak-er Crisp and asked whether he thought the tillibustering had proceeded long enough to satisfy the house and the country that the coiumitteo on rules would be warranted in reporting a rule by which all lillibustering motions wou'.d be prevented, and bring the house to a direct vote upon'.the bill. He assured us that he thought the fillibnstering had gone long enough to demonstrate the fact, and that the committee on rules would report to bring the bill to a vote. "Friday I went to the speaker's room, and Crisp advised the introduction of a rule to be voted on Monday, preventing all filibustering filibus-tering motions and compelling a vote upon the bill. He sat down and wrote the rule himself. I introduced it at his request and had it referred to his committee, with the distinct understanding that the rule would be reported today. I never heard anything about his wanting a petion of a majority of the democrats until this morning, when we ought to have been voting upon the order itself. it-self. A telegram in the New York Jf-nild this morning stating that the correspondent had information from the highest authority, that Speaker Crisp would exact a petition before acting upon the rule, was the first intimation in-timation i had of anything of that character. charac-ter. "When wc found that the attitude of the speaker had changed it created confusion and consternation among the free coinage advocates. They felt that they har. been deceived de-ceived land disappointed by the act on of the apeakci, and deceived friends caus id a great many filse coinage people to weak' T.and see that at Ms' ffltrttv " ' Vrf ting a majority of the members Op trie petit tion asking the rule to be reported. Speaker Crisp defined the situation to be simply this: "If a majority of fhe democrats demo-crats In the house desired the committee on rules to make a report which wily enable the house to come to a direct vote oh the silver bill, and if they signify that desire the committee com-mittee will make the report. If they do not signify the committee will understand that the majority does not desire it, and the responsibility re-sponsibility will rest with the majority of tho democrats of the house, and not with the committee. With reference to the speaker's opposition to silver, his duplicity, the speaker said that he had nothing to say, except ex-cept to recall that, by his casting his vote, he himself had prevented the bill from being tabled, and to his statement that, as a representative repre-sentative from Georgia, he favors and will vote for the free coinage of silver." Speaker Crisp when shown Bland's statement state-ment this evening, said he was surprised that Mr. Bland should so far have forirotleu himself and the true situation as to endeavor en-deavor to mislead the public by such statements. state-ments. In justifying his position Crisp said that, when the rules were being considered, consid-ered, he, in the caucus, pledged the party that no rule would be reported prohibiting prohib-iting filibustering or cuttiug off dilatory motions, except at the request and desire of a majority of the democratic members of congress. A majority of the democrats requested re-quested that a time be fixed for consideration considera-tion of the free coinage bill, but making mak-ing no reference therein to any change in the rule. Iu response, the committtee permitted per-mitted three days. The speaker said that, as well as he recollected, recol-lected, Bland did want to incorporate a limitation limit-ation of the right to filibuster, or waited a continuing ordiT, but the committee determined deter-mined that until the necessity for such arule was demonstrated they would not report it-The it-The bill was taken up and debated for three days and tinally saved from the table by the casting vote of the speaker. Crisp said that his vote was a great surprise to all parties, because when tbe original order was made it was generally understood that the majority in favor of free coinage was thirty to forty. A majority of the democrats voted against tabling the bill and thereby demonstrated that they favored its passage. Speaker Crisp said that he assumed that the gentlemen so voting were iu favor of a rule which would bring the house to a direct vote on the bill and prevent pre-vent filibustering, and, so believing, he said to Bland tuat he had uo doubt that the committee would report the rule. He also sale to Bland that, in his judgment, there had been sufficient fillibnstering to demonstrate the impossibility of the passage of the bill without a rule to bring the house to a direct vote. The speaker also drew the resolutionintnidiiced by Bland, still believing that those gentlemen who had voted against tabling the bill were in favor of forcing a direct vote upon the measure. But, after that time, friends of the silver bill, as decided friends as Mr. Bland, said the speaker, had come to blru aud said that the ydid not desire their vote against tabling the bill to be construed into a request that a rule prohibiting lillibustering should he reported; re-ported; that, while they favored the free coinage of silver and wanted to vote for it, they were opposed to any ru;e in the democratic demo-cratic house which would cut off the right to iillibuster. |