of prosperity, rather than those of the war, entered public life.
The House grew unwieldy in size and its business increased
alarmingly. The minority, meanwhile, retained the power, through
filibustering, to hold up the business of the country.

It was under such conditions that Speaker Reed, in 1890, crowned
himself "Czar" by compelling a quorum. This he did by counting as
actually present all members whom the clerk reported as "present
but not voting." The minority fought desperately for its last
privilege and even took a case to the Supreme Court to test the
constitutionality of a law passed by a Reed-made quorum. The
court concurred with the sensible opinion of the country that
"when the quorum is present, it is there for the purpose of doing
business," an opinion that was completely vindicated when the
Democratic minority became a majority and adopted the rule for
its own advantage.

By this ruling, the Speakership was lifted to a new eminence. The
party caucus, which nominated the Speaker, and to which momentous
party questions were referred, gave solidarity to the party. But
the influence of the Speaker, through his power of appointing
committees, of referring bills, of recognizing members who wished
to participate in debate, insured that discipline and centralized
authority which makes mass action effective. The power of the
Speaker was further enlarged by the creation of the Rules
Committee, composed of the Speaker and two members from each
party designated by him. This committee formed a triumvirate (the
minority members were merely formal members) which set the limits
of debate, proposed special rules for such occasions as the
committee thought proper, and virtually determined the destiny of