That section of the country was constantly apprehensive of danger which might happen at any time by reason of an institution it was maintaining.

Very naturally, all the rules of the House were bent for the obstruction of action on the part of Congress." It may be added that these observations apply even more forcibly, to the rules of the Senate.

The privilege of unrestricted debate was not originally granted by those rules but was introduced as a means of strengthening the power of sectional resistance to obnoxious legislation.
The revision of the rules in 1885, then, was not designed really to facilitate action by the House, but rather to effect a transfer of the power to rule the House.

It was at least clear that under the proposed changes the chairman of the committee on appropriations would no longer retain such complete mastery as Randall had wielded, and this was enough to insure the adoption of the majority report.

The minority report opposed this weakening of control on the ground that it would be destructive of orderly and responsible management of the public funds.
Everything which Randall said on that point has since been amply confirmed by much sad experience.