"They're going to play straight politics, Stewart."
"God save the state—in times like these!"
"They're going to admit to seats only the Senators and Representatives who are clearly and indisputably elected by the face of the returns."
"The picked and the chosen!" scoffed Morrison.
"The matter of the right to take seats is going to be referred to the full bench instead of being left to the legislature—taken out of politics, they say."
"Going to be put into cold storage, with all due respect to our eminent justices!"
"It means the careful weighing of evidence—and the courts are obliged to move with judicial slowness, Stewart!"
"And in the mean time those picked and chosen ones will elect the state officers whom the legislature has the power to name, will have the machinery to distribute all state patronage and to make the legislative committees safe for the big measures. There's no telling when the bench will hand down a decision."
"No telling, Stewart!" admitted the sage.
"After it has been done, it will be hard to undo it, no matter what the judges may decide as to members."