Benjamin Harrison himself had been a member
of the ruling group of Senators, and as he was fully imbued with
their ideas as to the proper place of the President he was
careful to avoid interference with legislative procedure. Such
was the party harmony that an extensive program of legislation
was put through without serious difficulty, after obstruction had
been overcome in the House by an amendment of the rules.
In the House of Representatives, the quorum is a majority of the
whole membership. This rule enabled the minority to stop business
at any time when the majority party was not present in sufficient
strength to maintain the quorum by its own vote. On several
occasions, the Democrats left the House nominally without a
quorum
by the subterfuge of refusing to answer to their names on the
roll call. Speaker Reed determined to end this practice by
counting as present any members actually in the chamber. To the
wrath of the minority, he assumed this authority while a revision
of the rules was pending. The absurdity of the Democratic
position was naively exposed when a member arose with a law book
in his hand and said, "I deny your right, Mr. Speaker, to count
me as present, and I desire to read from the parliamentary law on
the subject." Speaker Reed, with the nasal drawl that was his
habit, replied, "The Chair is making a statement of fact that the
gentleman from Kentucky is present? Does he deny it?" The
rejoinder was so apposite that the House broke into a roar of
laughter, and the Speaker carried his point.
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