Colonel Roosevelt promptly put Sullivan's name in nomination for
vice-chairman. Mr. Abbott of Ohio seconded it and further moved that
the sergeant's election be made unanimous. Sergeant Jack Sullivan was
elected by acclamation. Then Colonel Wood was chosen secretary, the
rules of the House of Representatives were decided upon to govern the
procedure, and debate was limited to five minutes.
Insistence on that point was unnecessary. Our new American back from
the wars has been too accustomed to action to like words that aren't
concise and aimed right at the heart of the point. There was a good
deal of noise and talk at this particular juncture and someone moved
the appointment of a sergeant at arms. Captain A.L. Boyce of Boyce's
Tigers (those young men who drilled so persistently in Central Park in
New York preparing for the war) was picked. While this guardian of the
peace was being appointed at least five gentlemen from as many
delegations started to speak at once, perhaps against the five-minute
debate rule, and in the confusion a delegate, whom Checkers might have
described as carrying a load he should have made three trips with,
took the platform and began something that sounded about as
intelligible as Cicero's oration against Catiline in the original.
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