1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 955 

It would be a. pleasant service to quote from his speeches andrehearse his acts as proofs, if they were needed1 of his fidelity to liberty 

andbisfa.ithin theindestructibilityoftho Umon. There are no nobler 

acts or utterances on record. But I must ot detain the House longer 

with this sketch while others wn.it to unfold with better chosen words 

his cha.ra.cter and services. 

Before cldsing, however, let me refer to the crowning glory of his 

life. Mr. FERRY had a strong religious element in his character. 

This was with him a great controlling force, and not a sentiment. It 

added greatly to his strength and upheld him not only in great emer- gencies but in the daily labors ·of life. He loved to contemplate and 

discourse of the Infinite God and the glory of His reign. He dwelt 

with mpture on the majestic prophecies of Isaiah and the grand poems 

of the Hebrew minstrel king. His discourses on religion became a part of his beautiful life-work in his home. 

It was most beautiful and grand, amid failing strength and long 

years of pain, to hear him discourse ofRest a.t last, 

Repose complete, eternal; 

Love, rest, and home. 

No cloud obscured the effulgence of his hope or dimmed his vision. 

Clear and high his intellect a-nd his faith rose above all storms and 

darkness, and sustained him in sweet companionship amid the unre- vealed mysteries of pain. As his end drew nea.r he came back to his 

home, after a brief 9-bsence. There, under his own roof, with the 

angels of his household a bout him, he paesed to his rest. 

' Thinking of trials past, and knowing as we do how well he had 

wrought for the future, trusting in the merits of his den.r Lord, he 

could repea.t the sweet lines of BonarBeyond the parting a.nd the meeting 

I shall be soon ; Beyond the farewell and the greeting, 

B yond ?s~aftte~~~~er beating, 

Love, rest, and home! 

Sweet hope! Lord, tarry not, but come. 

Beyond the frost-chain and the fever, 

I shall be soon; Beyond the rock waste and the river, 

Beyond the ever and the-never, I shall be soon. Love, rest, and home ! 

Sweet hopei Lord, tarry not, but come. 

Ay, the sweeter words of inspiration-in the volume of the book 

it is written: "Lo, I come quickly. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." 

The resolutions offered by Mr. PHELPS were agreed to una.nimously. 

And then, on motion of Mr. PHELPS, (at four o'clock a.nd forty 

minutes p. m.,) the House adjourned. " 

PETITIONS, ETC. 

The following memorials, petitions, and other papers were presented 

at the Clerk's de k under the ru1e, and referred a.s stated: 

By Mr. AINSWORTH: The petition of Carter & Mills and others, 

for the repeal of the check-stamp tax, to the Committee of Ways and 

Means. • Also, papers relating to the petition of Mrs. Ann M. English, for 

pay for supplies taken by the United States Army, to the Committee on War Claims. 

By Mr. BAKER, of Indiana: The petition of Mary Ba.r, for a pension, to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

Also, the petition of Columbu8 C. Bennett, of India.na, for pay for 

property taken by the United States Army, to the Committee on War 

Claims. · 

By Mr. BELL: The petition of E. W .. Harrington, and other citi- zens of Manchester, New Hampshire, for the repeal of the checkstamp tax, to the Committee of Ways and Means. . By Mr. ELLIS: A paper relating to the contested-election ca-se of 

J. A. Breaux vs. C. B. DarraH, to the Committee of Elections. 

Also, papers relating to the petition of Jerome A. Eisenlord, for pay 

for services rendered the United States as a surgeon in the United 

States Army, to the Committ;ee on War Claims. 

Also, papers relating to the petition of Henry Olive, for commutation of rations while in the United States Army, to the same com- mittee. 

By Mr. GAUSE: Papers relating to the petition of Dabney Walker, 

for pay for services as scout and guide in the Army of the Potomac, 

to the same committee. 

By Mr. JONES, of Kentucky: Papers relating to the petitions of 

JohnS. Wadsworth and others, of Pendleton County, Kentucky, to 

have refunded 300 each on account of the same having been alleged 

to have been illegally collected from them under color of commutation money, to the same committee. 

By Mr. KELLEY: Resolutions of workingmen of Harrisbmgh, 

Pennsylvania, against any subsidy to the Southern Pacific Railroad; 

in favor of the repeal of the resumption act n.nd funding the natiiona,l 

debt into 3.65 bonds, to the Committee on Banking and Currency. 

By Mr. MAcDOUGALL : Papers relating to the payment of ferriale nurses during the war, to the Committee on War Claims. . By Mr. MONEY: Papers relating to the claim of W. G. Harwood, 

to the same committee. · By Mr. MORGAN: The petitions of Sarah B. Wilson and Elizabeth 

Ward, for pensions, to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. . By Mr. PAYNE: The petition of Morgan, Root & Co. and 52 other 

wholesale merchants and business men of Cleveland, Ohio, for the 

repeal of the bankrupt law, to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

Also, papers relating to the petition of Mrs. Julia S. W. Evans, for a pension, to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. POPPLETON: The petition of Professor F. Merrick, Charles 

Neill, B. Murphey, T. C. O'Kame, B. Dickinson, J. Waterman, Mrs. H. 

C. McCabe, Mrs. W. T. Constant, Mrs. A. S. Clason, Sarah Van Deman, 

and 1,5u0 others, citizens of the city of Delaware, Ohio, for a commission of inquiry c0ncerning the alcoholic liquor traffic, to the Committee of Ways and Means. 

By Mr. POTTER: The petitions of Graham, Morton & Co., of H. 

C. Morton and 68 other citizens of Benton Harbor, of S. R. Hughes 

and 500 other citizens of Benton Harbor, and a joint resolution of.the 

board of supervisors of Ben'ien County, Michigan, favoring an appropriation for the improvement of the Saint Joseph River and harbor, 

to the Committee on Commerce. 

By Mr. JOHN REILLY: The petition of 1,563 citizens of the seven- teenth district of Pennsylvania, favoring the grantin~ of aid to a southern Pacific railroad, to the Committee on the Pacific Railroad. 

By Mr. ROBB_INS, of Pennsylvania: Papers relating to the claim 

of John Hatfield, for military services, to the Committee on ·war Claims. . Also, papers relating to the claim of Charles B. Holbrook, for pay 

for loss of a barge while in the United States service, to the same committee. · 

By ?tir. THROCKMORTON: The petition of citizens of Bosque, 

Travis, and Hood Counties, ':fexas, for the extension of a post-route 

from Meridian to Granbury, to the Committee on the Post-Office 

and Post-Roads. 

By Mr. WALDRON: Petition of J. S. Kellog, attorney, for the names of certain soldiers to be entered on the records of the AdjutantGeneral, to the Committee on Military Affairs. . By M,r. WALSH: The petitions of Susan Ellen Stewart and Ellen 

Morrow, for pensions, to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. WELLS, of ~souri: Memorial of a large number of mer- chants of Saint Louis, for the repeal of the ba.nkrupt law, to the Committee on the Judiciary. . By Mr. WHITE : The petition of Elizabeth Murphy, for a pension, 

to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

Also, papers relating to the petition of Jackson Roberts, for arrears of pay as a United States officer, to the Committee on Military Affairs. · By Mr. WHITEHOUSE : The petition of Stephen Hull, for an ex- tension of his patent on harvester, to the Committee on Patents. 

Also, tbe petition of citizens of Red Hook, of Greensport, and of 

Rhinebeck, New York, for the repeal, of the stamp tax on safety 

matches, to the Committee of Ways and Means. 

By Mr. W. B. WILLIAMS: The petition of Henry Willis and 2,000 

citizens of Michigan, for an !tppropriation for a survey for a ship-canal 

!!.cross the State of Michi~a.n, to the Committee on Commerce. 

IN SENATE . . 

WEDNESDAY, FebrU~Lry 9, 1876. 

Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. BYRON SUNDERLAND, D. D. 

The Journal of yesterday's proceedings was read and approved. 

PETmONS AND MEMORIALS. 

The PRESIDENT pro ternpm·e presented a joint resolution of the 

Legislature of the State of Wisconsin, instructing her Senators and 

Representatives in Congress to oppose so much of the bill introduced 

by Senator SARGENT in the Senate January 10, 1876, to restore the 

lands conditiona,lly granted, the conditions of which h:.we lapsed, to 

the public domain, us will affect grants of hinds ma-de to the State 

of Wisconsin; which was referred to the Committee on Public Lands. 

He !tlso presented concurrent resolution of the Legislature of the 

State of Kansas, requesting that Congress provide for the organization of a territorial government and the estabJ..tshment of courts in 

the Indian Territory; which wns referred to the Committee on Territories. 

Mr. BOOTH presented the petition of A. S. Clark and 140 other citizens of Ventura. County, California, pmying for the re urvey of the 

Rancho Rio de Santa Clara, now in the county of Ventura, formerly 

in the county of Santa Barbar!t; which was referred to the Committee on Private Land Claims. ~1r. WALLACE pre en ted fifty petitions, signed by 5,000 citizens of 

Pennsylvania, artisans and workers in iron and coal, praying Congre to guarantee the interest on bonds issued by the Southern Pacific Rllilroa-d Company; which were referred to the Committee on Railroads. 
956 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 9, 

Mr. ALCORN presented the petition of Sarah T. Jefferies, the widow 

of Evan S. Jefferies, of Mississippi, praying Congress to pass a law 

making compensation for certain cotton destroyed; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Claims. 

Mr. WHYTE. I present the petition of Samuel H. Kettlewell, of 

Baltimore, Maryland, engineer, the only surviving professional civilian engaged in the expedition, commenced· in 1853 and continued 

through 1854, set on foot to explore the proposed route for p, shipcanal across the ·Isthmus of Darien from Caledonia Bay to Darien 

Harbor, by the authorities of the United States, Great Britain, l<rance, 

and New Grenada. 

The petition recites the trials and sufferings, the losses and services 

of the memorialist, and prays that Congress may pass a law granting 

him compensation for his said losses and services. 

I move that the petition and accompanying printed narrative be re- ferred to the Committee on Claims. 

The motion was agreed to. · Mr. ENGLISH presented three petitions of John P. Phi_llips and sun- dry other citizens of New Haven, Connecticut, praying for the issue 

of 3.6.5 gold-bearing bonds, the Tepeal of the act providing fo.r the 

resumption of specie payments, and that duties on unports be paid in 

greenbacks at par with gold; which were referred to the Committee on Finance. 

Mr. WADLEIGH presented the petition of Abby A. Johnson, widow 

of Charles~ ohnson, of Manchester; N ew Hampshire, asking to be re-instated on the pension-rolls of the United States and for arrearages of 

pension from September 4, 1871 ; which was referred to the Committee on Pensions. 

He also pre ented a petition, signed l>y officers of the Army, Navy, 

Marine Corps, officers' clerks, and other employes in the civil service, 

praying the passage of a law to the effect that when an officer in the 

Army, Navy, Marine Corps, clerk, or other employe in the civil serv- ice of the United States assign his pay, it shall be a part of the 

duty of the payma-ster, disbursing officer, or pay-cl erk by whom he 

is paid, to accept the pay-receipt voucher, duly assigned, when presented, and pay the assignee, when the pay so assigned shall be due; 

and that all laws and parts of laws inconsistent with this prayer be re- pealed; which was referred to the Committee on Milit·ary Affairs. . l\Ir. MAXEY presented a petition of 55 citizens of the State of Texa , praying to have refunded to them out of the Treasury the proceeds of 

the ales of certain cotton alleged to have been illeg::illy seized and 

taken posses ion of by United States officials in that State; which was referred to the Committee on Claims. - · 

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES. 

Mr. WRIGHT. The Committee on Claims, to whom waa· referred 

the petition of Lucy Jane Thomas, widow of Josiah Thomas, prayin(J' 

indemnity for the loss of property belon~ing to her husband, capturea 

by the rebel cruiser Florida on the high seas in 1663, have bad the same under consideration and instructed me to report the same back, 

asking to be discharged from its further consideration. There is no written report in the case. I desire to say that this is simply a petition without any accompanyfug evidence. We do not recommend 

that the claim be disallowed, but ask to be discharged from its further consideration. 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempore. The petition will lie on the table, 

and the committee will be discharged from its further consideration 

if there be no objection. 

llr. WRIGHT, from the Committee on Claims, to whom were re- ferred the petition and accompanying papers of Wakeman W. Edwards, praying compensation for property taken by the United States 

military authorities in 1864, submitted an adverse report thereon; 

which wn,s agreed to, and ordered to be printed. · He also, from the same committee, to whom were referred the petition and accompanying papers of James A. Harrold, praying payment for property taken by United States troops during the late war, 

submitted an a-dverse report thereon; which was agreed to, and or- dered to be printed. 

Mr. CLAYTON, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom wa-s referred the petition of the county officers of Knox C~unty, Nebraska, praying the removal of certain Indians belonging to the Santee Sioux tribe of Indians from that county to the reservation set 

apart for them by treaty in Dakota Territory,· asked to be discharged 

from its fnrther consideration; which was agreed to. 

Mr. CAPERTON, from the Committee on Claims, to who~ was r~ 

ferred the bill (S. No. 246) for the relief of MiRs Liz'zie DickSon, re- ported a-dversely thereon; and the bill wa-s postponed indefinitely. He also, from the same committee, to whom wn, referrerl the me- morial of Fred. A. Holden, praying for remuneration for property destroyed in Ceredo, Wayne County, West Virginia, submitted an 

adverse report thereon; which was ordered to be printed, and the 

committee was discharged from the further consideration of the pe- tition. He also, from the same committee, to whom was referred the bill 

(S. No. l65) for the relief of Michael W. Brock, of Meigs County, Tennessee, late a private in Company D, Tenth Tennessee Volunteers, re- ported it without amendment, and submitted a report thereon; which was ordered to be printed. Mr. McMILLAN, from the Committee on Claims, to whom was re- ferred the bill (S. No. 20) for the relief of Hortensia H. Cook, submitted an adverse report thereon; which wa-s ordered to be printed, and 

the bill was postponed indefinitely. · Mr. COCKRELL, from the Committee on Claims, to whom was re- ferred the petition of James R. Roche, praying extra compensation 

for services rendered as disbursing clerk.in the War Department from 

July 1, 1871, to March 31,1875, submitted an n.dverse r eport thereon; 

which was ordered to be printed, and the committee was discharged 

from the fmtber consideration of the petition. . He also, from the same committee, to whom was referred the petition of Christopher Stucke, praying compensation for certain property 

taken and destroyed by the United States Army in Ascension Parish, 

Louisiana, in 1863, submitted an adverse r eport thereon; which was ordered to be printed, and the committee wa discharged from the further consideration or the petition. 

Mr. CAMERON, of Wisconsin, from the Committee on Claims, to 

whom was referred the petition of Alexander C. Crawford, of Galveston, Texas, praying compensation for the use and occupancy of his 

property by the United States forces during the late war, reported 

adversely thereon, and asked to be discharged from its further con- sideration; which was agreed to. He also, from the same committe<', to whom was referred the petition of George Hibben, for the fum of Hibben &Co., praying to have 

refunded certain taxes asse sed and collected on tobacco wrongfully, as aUeged, asked to be discharged from its further consideration, and 

that it be referred to the Committee on Finance; which was agreed to. Mr. HOWE, from the Committee on the Library, to whom was re- ferred the petition of Anna·c. Carroll-and M..<trtha C. Fitzhugh, pray- ' 

ing compensation for their lands occupied by the United States for 

the Botanical Garden, in the city of Washington,. asked to be discharged from its further con ideration, and that it be referr·ed to the 

Committee on the Judiciary; which was agreed to. 

CANNON FOR SOLDIERS' MO:mJMENT. 

Mr. RANDOLPH. I am directed by the Committee on :Military 

Affa.irs, to whom was referred the bill (H.R. No. 217) donating con- demned 'cannon and canuon-.balls to the La-dies' Monumental Association of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, for monumental purpo es, to 

report it without amendment and recommend its passage. I ask for 

its present consideration . By unanimous consent, the Senate, as iu Committee of the Whole, 

proceeded to consider the bill. It authorizes the Secretary of War 

to deliver, if the same can be done without detriment to the Government, to the Ladies' Monumental Association of Allegheny County, 

Pennsylvania, four condemned cannon and twenty cannon-balls, to 

be placed on a monument to be erected over the grave of deceased 

soldiers in the Allegheny cemetery. 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered 

to a thiTd reading, read the thiTd time, and passed: 

DfPROVEMENT OF CAPITOL GROUNDS. 

Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont. I am directed by the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds to report a bill (S. No. 417) for con- tinuing the work of improving the Capitol grounds, and I ask for its 

present consiueration. for I tbmk there will be no objection to it. 

By unanimous consent the bill was read twice and considered as in 

Committee of the Whole. It a.ppropriates 25,000 for continuing the 

work of the improvement of the Capitol grounds during the pre ent 

fiscal year. 

Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont. !'desire to saythatthe appropriation 

made last year is now exhausted, the ~rk having been done, and it 

is deemed important by Mr. Olm ted, who has charge of the work, 

that this appropriation be made in advance of the regular appropriation for the year commencing July 1. I ask that a brief letter from 

Mr. Olmsted, which I send to the Chair, be read. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Tho letter will be reported. 

The Secretary read as follows : • W .A.SHINGTON, FebTuary 8, 1876. 

Sm: I beg to call your attention to the fact that the appropriation for tbe im- provement of the Capitol groundlt is exhausted, what remains of it being no more than is necessary to meet existing liabilities. In view of the oiroumstanc s I 

would su ~; stthat an appropriation of $25,000 is desirable in advance of the a.nuuaJ. 

appropriation. First. In order that planting may proceed, it is desirable that all transplanting of trees in the lower grounds sl10uld be done early in the spring, not only because a year's time will thus be ~ained in the ~wtb of the trees, out because if this 

work is delayed longer it must go over till the fall, and with it the fini hing of the grounds in other respects, whfch would otherwise be proceeded with, must be 

postponed. 

Second. The finishing of the second gradient and of the water-works is immediately cle irable. About three-quarters of the work is done. Third. To pel'!Dit of the necessary watering, cultivation, and care in all respects of tbe grounds. If this is neglecteu unill .r uly much may be lost of the value of the 

works aJ.ready done. · The probability that the Capitol will be much more visited by strangers next summer than ever before makes it tnore desirable than it might otherwise be that 

they shol\lll be put and k ept in as good order as pmctic.'hble. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, . FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED. 

Hon . .r. S. MoRRILL, 

Ohairman Senate Oommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds. 

Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont. I think that letter fully explains the 

object, and I do not see that there can be any objection tQ present 

action on the bill. 

Mr. DAVIS. One question only. Does this bill come from a com- mittee 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 957 

Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont. It is unanimously reported from the · Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered 

to be engrossed for a third reading, read tLe third time, and passed. 

TREASURY ACCOUNTS. 

Mr. SHERMAN. I am directed by the Committee on Finance, to 

whom was referred a resolution introduced by the Senator from West 

Virginia [Mr. DAVIS]" that the Committee on Finance be directed to 

investigate the books and accounts of the Treasury Departn:aent, particularly with reference to iliscrepancies and alterations in amounts 

and figures that have been made in them, especially in the annual 

statements of the expenditures of the Government, revenue collected, 

and the public debt contained in said reports; and if any such discrepancies and alterations be found to exist, to report the same and 

the extent and nature thereof, the years wherein they occur, by what 

aut.hority made, if any, the reasons that induced them, and to report 

generally such other d.nd further information bearing upon the subject as to them may seem best, and that said committee have power 

to send for persons and papers," to report it back with a substitute; 

and if there be no objection, it may as well be acted upon now. It is 

a resolution of inquiry. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempm·e. The resolution will be reported, 

subject to objection. 

The CHIEF CLERK. The committee report to strike out all after the 

word "reBolved" in the resolut;ion, and insert the following: 

. That the Secretary of the Trea~mry be, and hereby is, directed to furnish the 

Senate, as soon as practicable, a. statement of all balances due to the United States 

from public officers, and all such balances due from other parties no longer in ~he 

public service, diRtinguishing those whose account with the United States have 

been finally pa-ssed upon and adjudicated and those whose accounts are yet unset- tled and subject to additional credits, stating the nature of such accounts and the 

credits in question ; the statement to embrace the accounts of all such officers or parties in which such balances have respectively accrued since the 1st day of 

January, 1830, and to set forth respectively and as near as practicable the period over which the accounts extended and the amounts involved therein. 

.Also to furnish a uetailed statement of the stocks held by the United States in trust or to secure moneys paid, the character of·such stocks, under what law or by what authority, nnd at what time the sn.me were acquired, and on what amount thereof, if any, has there been a. defuult in the payment of interest due thereon. 

Mr. DAVIS. This resolution is a long step in the right direction. 

Though there are to my mind some omissions in it, and some amendments might be of great service, yet as the chairman of the Fi- nance Committee [:M.r. SHERMAN] asks its present consideration, I 

do not want to delay the information a single day. Therefore, without offering any amendments at all, I simply ask that the papers and 

resolution be printed. 

The resolntjon was considered by unanimous consent. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempo·re. The question is on the amendment of the Committee on Finance. 

The amendment was agreed to. · The PRESIDENT p1·o tempore. The question recurs on the resolution as amended. 

The resolution, as amended, was agreed to. ' 

Mr. DAVIS. I ask that the resolu,tion and papers be printed. 

The PRESIDENT P'ro tempore. The Chair hears no objection, and 

that order will be mane. . 

DECORATIO~S TO NAVAL OFFICERS. 

Mr. ANTHONY. I a1p instructed by the Committee on Naval 

Affairs, to whom was referred the joint resolution (S. R. No. 4) au- thorizing Captain Temple and Lieutenant-Commander Whiting, of 

the Navy, to accept a decoration froqt the King of the Hawaiian 

Islands, to report it back and recommend its passage. I ask its present consideration, as it is a formal matter. . By unanimous consent, the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, 

proceeded to consider the joint resolution. It authorizes Captain 

William G. Temple and Lieutenant-Commander William H. Whiting, 

of the United States Navy, to accept the cross of officers of the Order 

of Kamehameha I, conferred upon them by the King of the ·Hawaiian 

Islands as evidence of His Majesty's :tppreciation of those officers 

in connection with his visit to Washington. 

The joint resolution was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, read the third time, 

and passed. BILLS INTRODUCED. 

Mr. WADLEIGH (by request) asked, and by unanimous consent 

obtained1 leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 418) to legalize assignments 

of pay ot officers and others in the Government service; which was read twice by its title, referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, 

and ordered to be printed. 

He also (by request) aslred, and by unanimous consent obtained, 

leave to introduce a. bill (S. No. 419)fortherelief of William H. Ward; 

which wa.s read twice by its title, referred to the Committee · on Pa.-

tents, and ordered to be printed. . Mr. WINDOM. By request, and without committing myself to all 

of its provisions, I ask leave, without notice, to introduce a bill. 

By unanimous consent, leave wa-s granted to introduce a bill (S. No. 

420) respecting the limits of reservations for town sites upon the public domain ; which was read twice by its title, referred . to the Committee on Public Lands, and ordered to be printed. 

Mr. KERNAN asked, and hy unanimous consent obtained, leaveto 

introduce a bill (S. No. 421) referring to the Court of Claims for adjudication and determination the claims of the parties therein named 

for the past and future use of the Norton post-marking and postagecanceling hand-stamp anu the Robertson improved hand-stamp ; 

which was read twice by its title. 

Mr. KERNAN. I desire to state that I present this bill by request. 

I move that it be printed and referred to the Committee on PostOffices and Post-Roads. . Mr. EDMUNDS. All these bills, so far as I know, which are to au- thorize people to bring suits against. the United States in the Court 

of Claims, have gone to t.he Committee on the Judiciary, whenever 

that has appeared; and although that committee is overburdened 

with work, I think it due to the regular order of business in the Senate to make a sug~estion that bills providing for a suit at law ought 

to go to the JudiClary Committee. , Mr. KERNAN. This bill, I find from the party requesting me to 

introduce it, has been before the Committee on Post-Offices and PostRoads. I do not know what discussion has been had upon it, but it was either passed or reported favorably, and that is the reason why I 

a-sk now thatitbe referred to that committee. I understand they are familiar with it. 

Mr .. EDMUNDS. I have no objection. 

The PRESIDENT P'ro tempore. The bill will be referred to the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Ro:tds q,nd printed, if there be no objection. • Mr. GOLDTHWAITE asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, 

leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 422) to amend section 190 of the Revised Statutes; which was read twice by its title, referred to the 

Committee on Priv'heges anu. Elections, and ordered to be printed. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. I desire to submit a bill that itmaybeprinted, 

and I give notice that I shall move to substitute it for Senate bill No. 

2, to repeal section 2303 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, 

making restrictions in the disposition of the public lands in the States 

of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, n.nd Florida, when that 

bill is np for consideration . By unanimous consent, leave was granted to intro&uce a bill (S. No. 

423) to repeal the pre-emption laws and to provide for the sale of timber upon the public lands of the United States; which was read twice 

by its title, ordered to lie on the table, and be printed. 

Mr. MORTON a-sked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to 

introduce a bilJ (S. Nq. 424) for the relief of Rev. Erastus Lathrop; 

which was rean twice by its title, referred to the Committee on Claims, 

and ordered to be printed. 

SURVEYS IN NORTH CAROLINA AND VIRGINIA. 

Mr. MERRIMON submitted the following resolution; which was considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to: 

Resolved, That the Secrerory of War be requested to furnish for the use of the 

Senate the report and accompanying maps, diagrams, estimates, &c., ma-de in pur- suance of the act approved March 3, 1875, directin~ the survey of "a line between 

the Neuse and Cape Fear ·Rivers, in North Carolina, with a view to connect the waters of the same; and a. like line with a view to connect the waters of the Norfolk Harbor, in Virginia, with the waters of the Cape Fear River, at or near Wil· 

mington, North Cq,rolina." 

WASHINGTON MONUMENT. 

Mr. EDMUNDS submitted the following resolution; which was con- sidered by unanimous consent, and agreed to: 

.Resolved, That the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds be, and it is 

hereby, instructed to inquire into the expediency of mn.king an a-dequate provision for the speedy completion of the Washington Monument, in the city of Washing· 

ton, and that it have leave to report by bill or otherwise. . 

PU:BLIC LANDS IN SOUTHERN STATES. 

Mr. WRIGHT. If there be no other resolutions, I ask the Senate 

to proceed to consider Senate bill No. 58, which was before the Senate yesterd,ay morning, and which I had unanimous consent, I believe, 

to call up this morning. 

Mr. CLAYTON. I nsk the Senator from Iowa to allow me to give a notice. · The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Does the Senator from Iowa yield 

for that purpose Y · 

Mr. WRIGHT. Yes, sir. 

Mr. CLAYTON. I desire to give notice to the Senate that when 

the centennial bill is disposed of, or as soon thereafter a!' I can get 

the attention of the Senate, I will call np Senate bill No.2, to repeal section 2303 of tho Revised Statutes of the United States, making 

restrictions in the disposition of the public lands in the States of 

Alabama, .Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida. 1 am satitl-

:fied that the measure is going to elicit more discussion than the morn- ing hour this morning will admit of, and for that reason I givenotica 

that I will call it up as soon as the centennial bill is disposed of. 

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF SAINT ALBANS. 

Mr. WRIGHT. I ask -the Senate to resume the consideration of . Senate bill No. 58; and I inay·state that when it was before the Senate yesterday morning the Senator from Ohio [Mr. SHERMAN] asked 

time to examine the bill, and I understand that he has examined it, 

and is satisfied with the report. I trust there will be no difficulty now in passing the bill. It wa-s read yesterday} and the report also. 

The Senate, as in Committee of the Who e, resumed the consideration of the bill (S. No. 58) to pay the First National Bank of Saint 

Albans, in the county of Franklin, and State of Vermont, the value 
958 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 9, 

of certain United States Treasury notes held by said bank as .financial 

agent of the United Stat.es, and forcibly taken ther from by raiders 

from Canada in October, 1864; the pending question being on the 

amendment of the Committee on Finance, in line 10, to strike out the 

words, "with interest thereon from the 19th day of October, 1864, to 

the time of such payment." 

The amendment was a,greed to. 

The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the a,mendment was concurred in. The bill wa-s ordered to be eugros ed for a third reading; and it was accordingly read the third time, and passed. 

Mr . .ALCORN rose. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Does the Senator from :Mississippi 

rise in regard to the bill just passed Y 

Mr . .ALCORN. The purpo e for which I rose has ceased. I rose to 

have the yeas and nays called on the passa.ge of the bill which I 

thought ought not to pa-ss. 

The PRESIDENT P''O temp01·e. If the Senator from Mississippi ro e for that purpose the Chair will regard the question as still being upon 

the pa-ssage of the bill. 

Mr . .ALCORN. I have accomplished my purpose by stating my 

object in rising. NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

Mr. KELLY. I ask the Senate to take up Senate bill No. 14. I do 

not think it will ta,ke a very long time. It is simply for the purpo, e of extending the time for the completion of theN orthern Pacific Railway. It limits the grant rather than extends it; but it is for the 

purpose of giving the company a little longer time for the completion 

of the road. I move to take up the bill. • The motion was agreed to; and the bill (S. No. 14) to extend the 

lime for the construction and completion of the Northern Pacific 

Railroad was considered as in Committee of the Whole. 

The Committee on RailToads reported an amendment to the bill, so as to make it read : 

That ten years' additional time is hereby granted to tlie Northern P11diic Railroad Company to construct and complete its road unuer its charter and the resolutions of Congress J"elating tJ1ereto; and the proviso to section 1 of the act of July 

15, 1870, entitled "An act maldn~;r appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the 

Government for the year enrling June 30, 1871, and for other purposes," which requires the payment of the costs of urvoys by saitl company, is h ereby repealecl. SEc. 2. That thi exten ion is granted upon the expre s contlition and understanding_ tha.t where pre-emption andnomcsteau claims w r e initiated or private entries ana locations were allowed upon land embra'ted in the grant to said company prior to the receipt of the orders of withdrawal at the r espective tlistrict land offices, the same may be perfected and caiTieu into patent, and the companv shall be entitled to indemnity therefor as now provided by law: Provided, That this condition shall not apply to lands h er etofore patented to the company nor to entries already can- celed anU upon which the purchase-money Ol' Other COnsideration has been returned to the respective par·ties in int re t. 

SEC. 3. That entri es remaining unadjusted and suspended in the General Land 

Office on account of an increase in price of the even sections within the limits of 

the ~t, where the same were made or ba ed upon settlement made prior to the 

rece1ptof the respective orders of withdrawal afore aid, shall be r elieved from uch 

suspension and carried into patent; but nothing in this act shall be construed to affect existing adjustments nor to authorize the refunding of any moneys received 

for such lands under existing laws. SEC. 4. That the extension of timo granted by s ction 1 of this act shall not apply to the branch line of said road from Lake Pend d'Oreille, across the Cascade 

Mountains, to Puget Sound in \Va.\l hin~n Territory; but all acts and parts of acts, so far aa they make any grant of lanas or other mu for the construction of said 

branch, are hereby repealed; and the lanlls heretofore gr3.llted therefor shall be, and they are hereby, restored to the public domain, to be denJ.t with as other pub- lic landS under the ilirection of the Secretary of t.be Interior. . SEc. 5. That the said Northern Pacific Railroad Company shall file with the Secretary of the Interior, within six months from the date hereof, its assent to, and 

acceptance of, the provisions of this a.ct, or be forever debarred from taking or re- ceivmg any benefit from or under the same. 

Mr. MORTON. I desire to inquire of the Senator , from Oregon 

when the time fixed for the completion of this road by law now will 

expire; how much time they have to go on Y . Mr. KELLY. A little more than a year fTom the present. time . . I 

do not know the exact date, and cannot tell without reference to the 

act, although I know it is in 1877, and that · the reason why the 

company desire the present consideration of the bill, so that they 

may know what to do. It is the intention of the company to prosecute its work if further time be allowed for the comp~etion of it. 

Although there is a year remaining, yet for a work of such~agnitude 

it would hardly be expected of the company to commence construction now when so much remains to be completed. . I will say that there are five hundred and fifty-five miles of this 

road alTeady completed. The company is now out of debt. A great 

amount of money, it is tme, has been expended; some $30,000,000 

have alTeady been expended upon the construction of that portion of 

the road alTeady constructed. Bonds were i sued and a mortgage 

given to those who loaned their money for the purpose of building the 

road. That mortgage has been foreclosed, tho company being unable 

to pay the money. The bondholders, the mortgagees bought it in at 

the foreclosure sale, and now they are the q"\\·ners of the road or have 

preferred stock in the company, taking the road of course for the indebtedness, so the company is now unincumbered; and if the time be 

extended for the completion of the road they are quite confident that 

they can procure capital and commence the construction of it immediately. I understand that it is the intent.ion of the company to 

prosecute the work the coming summer if this Lill shall be pas ed; 

and as the great Northwest is entirely disconnected by raHroad with 

the other portions of the country, I think it is uue to that section 

and to the North that this exten ion should be allowed. 

It will be perceived that the bill as reported by the Committee on RailToacls protects those who have taken homestead and pre-emption 

claims between the time of the filing of the map and the withdrawal 

of the lands at the local land offices. Senators will remember the 

discu sion which aro e the other day about a bill that pa ed the Senate for the same object-that is, t~ relieve settlers. This is an adequate 

protection to those who took up homesteads and those who filed preemption claims between those dates, as also those who have purchased 

lands, I think giving them ample protection. The company has con- sented, or at least it will be bound to consent to this if it accepts the 

extension, and I understand there will be no opposition to it. 

1\Ir. SHERl\IAN. Will the Senator allow me Y On that point I 

should like to have his explanation of the provision that, where the 

lands are now held under pre-emption or homestead entries, the hold- ers of the lands shall have title; but this bill provides that the com- pany shall be entitled to " indemnity therefor as now provided by 

law." 

l\fr. KELLY. The provision is that the company has a right to se- lect new lands, as they are termed, where homestead and pre-emption 

claimants• have taken a portion of the odd sections, or where there 

had been reservations made for governmental porpo e . In such cases the company is a.uthorized to take lands in lieu of tho e, within 

ten miles beyond the limit; and this simply authorizes the company, 

where these lands have been taken by pre-emption and homestead 

claimants, to go within the ten-mile limit beyond.and be indemnified 

by other lands in lieu of these. That. is the provision. It is simply 

giving to homestead and pre-emption claimants the-ri~ht to the lands 

they occupy, and allowing the company to take other land.<:~ in lieu of 

them. . It will be perceived, by the fifth section I think, that this extenion does not apply to what is lplown as the branch extending to Puget Sound aero s the Cascade Mountains, a distance, I presume, of ab~ut five hundred miles, so that that land will be re tored to the 

public domain as soon a-s the time limited by the present grant shall 

have expired. So this is lessening the grant, instead of extending it; 

and, taking everything into consideration, it seems to me it is but an act of justice to the people of the Northwest that the time hould be 

extended. 

Mr. SARGENT. lli. President, I am disposed to look with some favor upon legislation that will give us a competing line to the Pacific. Realizing as I do, and a-s do the citizens of my State, the burdens which are imposed upon us by a monopoly, I think I shall not 

vote against the extension of the time during which this road may be 

built, but at .the same time I suggest that in passing such a bill we ought to take all reasonable precautions that the settlers whQ are upon these lands may be protected in their rights. Were this a new propo 'ition to grant this wide belt of country on, both sides of this 

road, I t.hink I hould vote against- it. Originally I voted against it, 

thinking that Congre had carried too far the policy of making land 

grants to railroads, and I saw furthermore that these land grant were used for the purpo e of obtaining a credit abroad, increasing very 

largely- the indebtcdne s borne by om people and the amount of interest which we were compelled to pay to foreigners, sometimes for the 

building of roads which the bn iness of the country did not require. 

I am willing, however, to waive those considerations, and especially as Congress has dt}termined that this grant should be made; but I 

suggest to the friends of this bill that they are raising again a difficulty which we attempted to obviate by a bill which wa passed the 

other day, with regard to settlm · who in good faith go upon these 

lands. I stated in debate at that time-and I wish again to call the 

attention of the Senate to i~that these grants lie for years and years 

unsurveyed and unsegregated; tha,t no pre-emption settlers an,d no homestead settler can procure title from :the Government of the United 

States until such time as those surveys are ma-de and the land is segrega,ted, entered on the tract-books, and can be certified at the land 

office ; then he can take proceedings to ripen his inchoate right :into a title. · 

This grant was ma-de in 1864. Eleven years have passed, and during this time settlers have not been able on a va-st proportion of these 

lands to procure any title, and it is now proposed to extend it for eight 

years longer, carrying forward into that dim future this disability 

under which settlers labor. Now this trouble arises: Settle1-s go upon 

these lands in good faith ; they make their homes there ; they die and 

their right passes to others, or they become insolvent, or they find 

that the climate where they settle is not favorable to their health 

and desiTe to move away, and they ell their pre-emptions or homesteads under the belief that they have a right to do so; and their suc- ce sors, desiring only the same amount of land, purchase of them their 

homes, expecting to procure title whenever the lands are surveyed; 

but by the general pre-emption law no such sale is recognized, and 

these parties, finding that they cannot deraign from the original pos- essors of the land, are met by a railroad ~rant made prior to the time 

that they went upon the land, and they lose their homes, and to my 

knowledge they have lost them in my State by hundreds; they have 

lost them by the thousands upon railroad grants, simply becau e we extended the time, making it impossible for the settler to ripen his 

rights into a title. I think the legislation is oarele , and in its effect 

is most beartl . Now, there i no buny about this bill. It is not necessary that it 

shall pass "rithin tho next ten minutes. I think it is doe t,o this great 
• 

i876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 959 

interest to which I have atlverted, and which certainly movetl tho 

Senate the other day in retaining a very important, clause in a bill 

against strong opposition, that this bill be recommitted to the com- mittee in order that they may see whether some apt :J,mendment cannot b~ framed which ~1.1 pro~ect these settlers, which will prevent 

the r~ilroad from acqmrmg t1tle to these lands. It can be done in 

several ways. One is by a di~nct and clear provision that where at 

the date of notice in the land offico there was a settler either by preemption or homestead upon the lands who subsequently abandonedand the word "abandoned" I use in the technical sense-who transferred his claim to another, which works an abandonment under the 

homestead law, the railroad company shall not take title to that land 

but ~t shall be open to pre-emption or homestead by another settler: 

and 1f necessary go on and say that you will recognize to that limited _ext:e~t a deraigUJ?1ent of title to this sub equent possessor from th~ m_d1VId~al fro~ whom he had honestly bought. A provision of 

this kind will be JUSt and humane, and there is a necessity for it, I 

know from what I have observed of the operation of these railroad 

grants. I doubt if Senators desire that an interest like this shall be 

neglected or that this oppression shall be visited upon the settlers. 

While railroads are necessa,ry and do much to build up the business 

of the country, they are not more necessary to the country than are settlers and the business which settlers bring with them. I submit 

the motion that this bill be recommitted in order that the committee 

may consider this proposition and report some amendment which-will 

cover it. 

Mr. KELLY. I do not wish to urge the passacre of this bill without a full examination of it by these who think it has not been properly 

guarded. My own impression is that it is properly restricted, at least so far as concerns all settlers on the public lands before the notice of 

withdrawal was filed in the local land office. I do not wish to urge 

it now if there is plausible objection to it, but I am willing that the 

bill shall go over until to-morrow or such time as Senators can exam- ine it. I do not wish it to lose its place as the order of business for 

the reason, as I stated in the opening remarks I made, that the dom- pany is desirous that the work shall be commenced at an early day. 

So '_Vith the distinct understanding that the bill shall be the order of 

busmess, and only on that understanding, will I consent that it shall 

go over till to-morrow. 

Mr. SARGENT. I Mk that it be referred t.o the committee. 

Mr. WEST. I trust the Senator from California will not insist on the motion to recommit, because with the opportunity that he will 

have between now and to-morrow I am satisfied he will be convinced 

that the very point he desires to guard in the case of settlers is met by_~s bill. If, after examination to-morrow, he should not be of that 

opmwn, and should move for a recommittal, perhaps the Senate would 

be mo~e in disposition to do it; but I think the better plan to-day is 

to let 1t go over, and he can renew his motion to recommit to-mon·ow 

if he shall think it proper. 

Mr. lNGALLS. I desire to give notice that when this bill is called 

up again for action by the Senate 1 shall move to strike out the proviso contained in the second section. 

. The PRE~IDENT p1·o tempm·e. By common consent the bill will 

lie over until to-morrow. Is there objection T The Chair hears none. Mr. EDMUNDS. Does that common consent mean that it is to ex- clude all other business to-morrow until it is disposed of Y 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tentpm·e. It is not a special order. A vote of 

the Senate can dispose of it. The morning hour has expired. 

MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE. 

. A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. G. M. ADAMs, 

1ts Clerk, announced that the House bad concurred in the amendments 

of the Senate to the bill (H. R. No. 1053) providincr for the payment 

of judgments rendered under section 11 of chapter0459 of the laws of 

the Forty-third Congress . . The mes age also announQed that the House had non-concurred in 

the ~endment of ~h~ Senate to the j?int. resolution (H. R. No. 52) directing the coiDIDlSsioners of the Dl.Strict of Columbia to pay the 

interest on the bonds issued in pursuance of the act of Con!!Tess appro-yed June 20, 1~4! ~ut of an~ funds~ the United States Theasury 

subJect to the req~Itwn of said comiDl.Ssioners, and for other pur- poses, asked a comrrutteeo£ conference on the disagreeincr votes of the 

two Houses thereon, and had appointed Mr. A . H. Buch"'ER of MiSsouri, Mr. G. W. CATE of Wisconsin, and Mr. GEORGE WILLARD of 

Michigan, managers on the part of the House. 

T~e m~ssag~ furt~er ~nnounoed that the House had passed the fol- lowm~ bills; m which 1t requestea the concurrence of the Senate: 

. A bill (H. R. No. 356) concerning cases in bankruptcy commenced m the supreme courts of the several Ten-itories prior to the 22d of 

June, .1874, and now undetermined therein; 

A ~ill(H.R.No.390) to repeal the act entitled "An act to establish a umform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States," approved March 2, 1867, and all laws and parts of laws amendatory 

thereof; • 

A bill(H.R.No. 555)·to amend section 856 of the Revised Statutes· 

and ' 

. A bill (H. R. No. 1210) authorizing actions in cases of death resultmg from wrongful act, neglect, or default. 

ENROLLED BILLS. 

The message also announceu that the Speaker had signed the following enrolled bills and joint resolution; which were thereupon 

signed by the President p1·o tempm·e: · A bill (S. No. 62) to authorize George P. M:ush to accept a. certain 

present from the government of Switzerland and a certain present 

from the government of Italy; 

A bill (H. R. No. 1053) providing for the payment of judgments ren- dered under section 11 of chapter 459 of the laws of the first session 

of the Forty-third Congres8; and 

A joint resolution (H. R. No. 11) authorizing G. Harris Heap United 

States consul at Tunis, to accept a trust as commissioner of the Bey 

of Tunis. . CENTE~~"'IAL EXPOSITION. 

Th~ Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider 

the bill (H. R. No. 514) relating to the centennial celebration of American Independence. 1 

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. Mr. President, the facts and legislation 

up_on ~hich this appropriation is asked are stated in the preamble of 

thlB b1ll. It proceeds upon the assumption that, as for a public service 

?r some obligation o~ undertaking on the part of the Government, it ~s a ~t and proper thmg for qol?gre~s to appropriate 1,500,000 to aid ~ this ~nterprl.S~. As much lS 1~phed as the judgment of the Senate m sending the bill to the CoiDIDlttee on Appropriations. 

On a former occasion the Senate of the United States hesitated to 

make I. pecuniary contribution to this enterprise from the uncertainty 

of the future contributions it might under the circumstances then ex- isting be called upon to make. But, according to my understandinO' 

of the general relations of Congress to this enterprise and of this en~ terprise to the American people at the present time, the period for 

argument and hestitation and doubt seems to have passed; and that 

'Yhatever ~peculati<:m of op~on there may have been, it has crystal~ lized now mto a national sentiment that the American peoplo this year ~re to celebrate that august event, the Declaration of Independence m 1776, by a grand international exposition, in which the representatives of the nations of the Old World are to gather around Inde- pe!ld~nce ~all in Philadelphia to pay homage to the New World, 

bnngmg w1th them the products of their art, of their industries and 

of their civilization. ' 

Mr. President, in the few words I think it necessary to address to 

the Senate in opening this matter to their attention I shall confine 

myself entirely to the attitude of Congress to this question and the 

relations it may be supposed to sustain by its own acts. In the :first 

pl3.?e, I submit that Congress inaugurated this centennial celebration 

by 1ts own enactment in 1871 ; and that it is to be an international exposi~on is no longer a question of doubt. Let me read the preamble, which sets forth the statement of Congress on that question: 

Whereas the Declaration of Independence of the United States of .America was prepared, si~ed, and promulgated in the year 1776, in the city of Philadelphia; 

and wher~ 1t behooves th~;~ poopl~ of the Unite~ States to celebrate, by appropri- ate ceremorues, the centennial anmversary of this memorable and decisive event. 

Mr. President, I desire to emphasize this statement because here 

begins our connection with the enterprise for which we' are now asked 

to ma.ke a pecuniary contribution. It behooves the United States the 

AI?-erican people, the Gove1:nment of the. American people, to celebrate t~ great event; h~re. begrns the relation of Congress to this enterpnse ;. there b~gms 1ts mterest; and here, I think, we shall find, if we examme the history of events from that period to the present begins 

its responsibility. A little further on we shall see what was the idea 

of this celebration. 

And whereas it is deemed fitting that the completion of the first centw·y of our national existence shall be commemorated by an exhibition of the natural resources of the coli?-trY. and their. devel?pment, and of its progress in those arts which ben· 

efit mankmd, m companson With those of older nations· and whereas no place is so appropriate for such an exhibition as the city in which' occurred t.he event it isde- Slgn~d to. com~emorate; and whereas, as the exhibition should be a national celebration, m whiCh the people of the whole country should participate it should have 

the sanction of the Congress of the United States. ' 

Now, Mr. President, look atthefactsstated in the preamble. First 

the United States announces the celebration; second, that the enter~ prise shall have the sanction of Congress. I pause only to say that 

whatever._has been done in Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania in the 

States at large, by individuals, has all been done in the nam~ of the 

United States, the United States taking the initiative, declarinO' the 

fitness of things, and declaring, moreover, that it should be done ~der its authority and under its sanction. The next fact which tends to commit the Government of the United 

States is the further provision of the act that ''the exhibition of Amel'-

ican and foreign arts and products and manufactures shall be held 

under the auspices of the Government of the United States in the 

city of Philadelphia in tP,e year 1876." In the next section of the act a commis~on was provided for "whose duty it shall be to prepare 

and supermtend the execution of a plan for holding the exhibition." 

T?!li' taking, by its authority, the direction and control and superVlSlOU of the whole work. A commission was instituted with authority to. examin~ ~lans, and the whol~ subject was to be reported upon 

by thiS comnnsswn to Congress a "I{ 1ts next session. 

. So much for the inaugura~on of this enterprise. The next questwn. was of co~e the creatiOn of the ~nds necessary for its com- pletiOn. How 1s Congress connected With thatf Where does its 

obligation begin and end f Having inaugurated the proposition, 

Congress was to create the funds or to provide the means for ere-
960 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 9, 

ating the funds. I am aware-and I would not have it overlooked 

in this connection-that the act provided: 

And the United States shall not be liable for any expenses attending such exhibition or by r eason of the same. 

Undoubtedly Congress did not intend to authorize those who were .acting as its agents to incur on its account any legal liability. That 

is not the proposition I am arguing; I am arguing the responsibility 

of the Government growing out of its• relations to this enterprise. 

Although it would not allow its a~ents to involve its Treasury or in- -volve its faith, the responsibility It has taken has identified it with 

it in such a way as that, I submit, it becomes the dut y of the Government of the United States at this period in the pro~ress of events 

to lend its aid; and that its interests, its honor, its faith, in my judg- ment, are involved in the success of t he centennial exposition. 

Coming, then, to the question of raising the means, Congress also interposed its authority and lent its sanction. It created the next year, 

in 1872, a board of finance, to which was committed the duty of pro- viding the ways and means by an appeal to the American people 

at large. As it was determined by Congress that the celebration · of this great event should be by an international exposition, it was thought the best method of providing the ways and means would be 

to .appeal to the people at large. Hence a board of finance was au- thorized to issue certificates of stock to present to the people for subscriptions. Now, ~oming down to the question of ways and means, I have this 

to say-and this is the point at which ·the parties come and ask. the 

favor of Congress to grant them the aid which they hold they have a right to ask from the position and relations of Congre s to the enterprise from the beginning-in 1872 the board of finance, authorized 

and created by this act. of Congress, proceeded to the execution of 

their work. I will not stop here to detail its progress; that is matter 

of history; that is mat ter of information I suppose C"mmon to all of ns. That the buildings have been erected, that they ar8llilow near completion, that the enterprise is an assured success, is beyond con- troversy, beyond cavil. 

Mr. EDM NDS. Without this money do you mean f 

Mr. MORRILL: of Maine. No, sir; I do not say without it. I will. pre ent that question so t hat the Senator will see by and by whether 

there is a necessity for this or not. My own belief is that it will lle 

carried out if Cong1·e s withholds this appropriation. That is not the 

ground on which the bill is presented. I have no doubt at all that it 

will be a success if Congre s withhold the appropriation; but I am not here to argue t.he legal respon ibilit;r of Congress, because that in 

every stage of it has been provided against. But I am here to present the relations which Congress has to this enterprise. It is a great 

national enterprise, which has l)een from the beginning under the 

sanction of Congress and under its authority; n.nd it has reached a point now where the honor, the faith; and the good name, in my judgment, of the Congress of tho United States are in it. It has become 

emphatically a gren.t national question, which the Congress of the 

United-States cannot afford to turn its bn.ck upon. Well, Mr. President., to return to the question of finance. As I 

have aid, the general expectation in Congress and out of Congres was that funds might be obtained by an appeal to the people of the 

several States. That has failed. That has failed from the operation 

of causes which could not have been foreseen. It is believed that but 

that for the panic of 1873 funds enough could have been procured 

from the American people without an appeal to Congress. .As the 

matter now stands, I am authorized to say that the. bills have a,ll 

been paid up to the present time and that $1,537,100 will pay all 

expenditures D;om this time up to the time of the opening of the ex- position on the lOth of May next, leaving it entirely free of debt. I 

ha.ve a list of these expenditures here. I do not know that it is nec- essary that I hould read it. I believe it has been · so often in print 

that it is hardly worth w bile that I should do so. Then, Mr. President, to state simply the position upon which this 

application rests; having shown that the exposition nroceeds by au- thority of Congress ; that Congress inaugurated the enterprise ; that 

it has a,dvanced under its sanction; that Congress undertook to provide the ways and means as demonstrated, and the people in Pennsylvania, and chiefly the city of Philadelphia, having raise the funds 

thus far expended and the anticipated resources having failed, they 

ask that the people's representa.tives should supply the deficiency of 

$1,500,000 out of six or seven millions, which will.be the whole expense, 

and thus enable them to go into this exposition on the lOth of May 

next free of debt. Mr. President, there is one other feature to which I shall advert, and that is the interna.tional character of the exposition. It is not 

only a national celebration, but an international celebration, and the 

Government of tlie United States has connected itself with that feature as well as with the national celebration. I have here a list of 

the nations who have been invited to attend this celebration by the 

President of the United States and who have accepted those invitations and are to be here. In fact, their representatives are already 

here, making elaborate pre-parations for the exhibition. They are thirty-six in number. I will send to the Clerk's desk to be read a few 

of these acceptances, that the Senate may Ree the relation which the Government of the Unitetl St-utes has to foreign nat.ions on this snu- ject. I send the acceptance of the invitation from Russia. 

The Chief Clerk read as follows: 

ST. PETERSBURG, 3-15 October, 1875, 

Imperio.l Mini-stry of Foreign Affairs, Department of Internal Relations. 

No. 8082.] 

Mr. MlxlsTER : Tbe iinperial ministry has taken. into serious consideration the 

communications both written and verbal, which you have been good enough to make to it on the subject of the universal exhibition to take place at Philadelpllia·in 1876 It follows from these communications ·that this new international rr~th ring wit 

dift'er essentiall_v from the previous exhibitions at. London, Paris, anil Vienna. The Philadelphia exhibition, by making part of the fetes arra.no-ed for the cele- br:~.tion of the centennial jubilee of the Independence of the United'States of Am r- ica., presents itself on this very account as an essentially national undertaking, in 

which friendly nations are invited to participate. 

These considerations have been the subject of a report to His Majesty the Em- peror, and my august master ha-s deemed it agreeable to the traditions of friemlship which have a-lways existed between Russia and the United States to accept 

the cordial invitation from the Cabinet of Washington to take part in a nation:tl 

solemnity for comm mora~n~ one of the grandest facts in the hL'!tory of hum:1nit.r. By supreme order a special commission has been constituted in the miuiHtr.v of 

finance. nncler the presidency of the privy councilor Butofsb.--y, for the orgauiza . tion of the Russian section of the Philadelphia exhibition. 

I have ba tened to communicate the foregoing to our representative at Wasb- ·ington, and I have requested him to bring it to the knowledge of the United States GOvernment. , · Accept, Mr. Minister, the assurance of my most distinguished consideration. B..uw, JO.MINI. :Mr. BOKER, &c., &c., &c. 

Mr. MORRILL, of :1\Iaine. Now I send to the desk to be read the 

acceptance of Germany. 

The Chief Clerk read as follows : 

LTranslati<!n.] -BERLIN, January 2, 1874. 

Sm: In pursuance of my dispatch of October 29 lnst, relative to tbe international 

exhibition intended to be held in the year 1876 at Philadelphia, I request you r e- spectfully to communicate to the Secret.·wy of State, Mr. Fish, that the German 

EmJ.lire accepts with the sincerest thanks the invit::ttion of the Government of the Umted State of America to take part in tbe abo-v-e-mentioned exhibition. The ap- pointment of a special commission for the exhibition, as also of a. plenipotentiary of 

the same residing in Philadelphia, will therefore be made in time. I reserve me a special communication in this matter, and beg to be furnished with 

the rules propos ell under No. 10 of the general regulations as soon as the same sball 

have been published; . - The Chancellor of the Empire, BISMARCK. 

To the lmperial6-erm!i-n Envoy, Mr. VON SCHLOZER; &c., Washington. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. 

the e are replies T 

Has the Senator from Maine the letters to which 

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. No, sir; but I understand the Senator fr~m Vermont to have the whole body of the correspondence between 

the State Department and foreign governments. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. As to Russia I was looking for the letter of Mr. 

Schuyler or 1\Ir. Jewell or Mr. Boker, whoever it may have been, to 

"the minister of foreign affairs of Russia giving the invitation, as it is 

called, but I do not find it. I did not know but that the Senator from 

Maine had it. Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. I suppose the papers are all here. · My 

understanding is that thirty-six nations have accepted the invitation. 

I will now sencl the acceptance from Turkey to the desk and ask the 

Clerk to read it. The Chief Clerk read as follows: 

No. 39922.) 

fTranslation.] 

SUBLIME PORTE, MINISTRY OF FORElG AFFAIRS, 

February 11, 1875. 

Mr. MINISTER RESIDE.'iT: The Imperial Government, having accepted the invitation of the Cabinet of Washington, has decided to uake part in the international 

exhibition which will take pl:we at Philadelphia in 1876. · 

The necessary dispositions have already been made to that effect. I request you kindly to inform your Government of it, and to. accept the assurances of my very distingui. hed consillemtion, 

S.A.FVET. Mr. BOKER, 

Minister Resident of the United Slates of America, &c. 

Mr. :MORRILL, of Maine. I will not t1·ouble the Senate to have more of the e communications read. Suffice it to say that I understand the whole body of correspondence between the Secretary of 

State ancl foreign nations is in tbe Senate and can be referred to, if 

Senators desiro more on this point. - Mr. EDMUNDS. Mr. Presi<1ent., when this subject was :first pre- sented to Congress I was under the impression that an appropriation 

of money of this character was not warranted by the Constitution; 

but a subsequent examination of the subject leads me to qelieve that 

Congress has power to appropriate money to any object that it deems 

to be for the common defense or general welfare of the United States. The power of taxation in the Constitution is given in express terms, 

and the purposes for which taxation may be imposed are stated in 

the same paragraph, and one brauch of those purposes is to provide 

for the common defense and the general welfare of the United States; 

that is the substance of the language. Therefore I am of opinion, 

saying nothing about this preamble, but looking to the bill itself, that we have the constitutional authority to ma:'ke this appropriation ; 

because it would be equivalent to a declaration by Congress that the 

general welfare of the Unitecl States required this expenditure of 

money. As I say, in respect to the expenditure of money I do not 

understaml that tile power of Congress is limited to any one of the 

• 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 961 

specific objects which Congress is authorized to provide :for in a subsequent part of the Constitution. 

There have been three views taken of this clause in the Constitution: The first is, that this power to provide for the common defense 

and general welfare is an unlimited power, and authoriz~s Congress 

to do anything by way of affi1·mative legislation which we think to 

be for the general welfm:e; but that notion has been long since ex- ploded, I think. The next view that has been taken of it has been 

that the power ro provide for the c:!ommon defense and general wel- . fare, even by an appropriation of money, was confined to the specific 

execution of the other powers in the Constitution enumerated in the 

order in which they stand. The third interpretation that has been 

given (which I think is the true one) is to treat the clause of taxation, of which this provision about the common defense and general 

welfare is a part, as an independent and plenary power to raise money 

by taxes impo ed upon the people of the United States, and to dispose 

of that money thus raised in any manner that Congress believes to be 

for the genera] welfare of the people of the United States. Such was the opinion to which the earlier rulers of this country came when, in one inst~nce, the question abont the Cumberland road was a question 

greatly mooted under the Constitution. It was maintained, with a good deal of show of reason, that Congress had no power to build 

the Cumberland road; but President Monroe, although be stated in a message to Congress that in his opinion Congress bad no power 

under the Constitution to provide for building that road, so far as any action was concerned, yet was clearly of opinion that, the road 

having been built, Congress had the power, under this clause of the 

Constitution to which I ·have referred, to raise money and appropriate it to keep the road in repair, although the thing itself, so far as Congress had any connection with it, was outside the constitutional 

power of the Government. I believe this is the conclusion of Judge 

Story, who deals with the subject very elaborately in his Commentaries on the Constitution; and I believe it to be the sound conclusion. 

'l he ref ore, so far as the bill itself is concerned, saying nothing of its 

preamble, which I think in any event <1Ugbt to be struck out, it is 

not open to any objection on the ~round of constitutionality. 

But it is unfortunate, Mr. Pres1dent, that the thing stands in the ' 

attitude in which it does now. Had this arrangement or enterprise, 

whatever name we give it, met the support of the people of the United 

States individually, as it was expected and be1ieved it would do, 

there would have been ample funds to carry it on to complete success without impo ing on the people any burdens in the way of taxation, 

and we should not have been applied to as we were a year or two ago 

for an appropriation which was then refused, and we should nothave 

been applied to now for an appropriation which the House of Representatives has provided and w bich we are asked to concur in. It was not the expectation, if as evidence of it :we can take the declarations 

of the promoters of this celebration, it wa not the expectation, if we can take the specific reservations and exclusions in the a.ct of Congress authorizing it, that the Treasury shonltl in any event be taxed 

to aid it or supp01t it ; and in the very first act it was stated that the 

people of the country, and of Pennsylvania in particular who would 

chiefly so far as renown and so far as mat rial benefits were con- cerned, receive the advantage of it, and a]so that provision would be 

made by the promoters of the enttirprise without any assistance from 

Congress for carrying it to a conclusion; and in order, as I say, to 

make this secure it was provided in the act of Maroh 3, 1871, which 

created the Centennial CoumlissionThat whenever the President shall be informed by the governor of the State of 

P ennsylvania that provision has been made for the erection of suitable buildings for the purpose, and for the exclusive control by the commission herein provided for of the proposed exhibition, the President shall, through the Department of 

State, make proclamation of" the same, setting forth the time at which the exhibition will open and the place at which it will be held ; and he shall communicate to the diplomatic representatives of all nations copies of the same, together with such r egulations as may be adopted by the commissioners, for publication in their re- spective countries. 

Thereupon, on the 24th of June, 1873, the governor addressed this 

communication to the President of the United States: 

EXECUTIVE CH.umxR, 

Harrisburg, Jttne 24, 1.813. 

Pursuant to the provisions of section 8 of the act of Congress approved March 3 

1871, providing for a national celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of 

.Amencan Independence, a copy of which aet is appended hereto, the undersigned, 

governor of the State of Pennsylvania, has the honor to inform the President that 

provision has been made for the erection of suitable buildings for the purposes of 

the international exhibition of artR, manutactures, and products of the soil and 

mine proposed to be held at Philadelphia. in the vea.r 1876, :md for the exclusive 

control of the said exhibition by the United States Centennial Commission, as it 

will appear by a copy hereto annexed of the notice, duly certified to me by the United States Centennial Commission and the contenni.al board of finance, that 

said provision has been made pursuant to the provisions of aforesaid act of Congress. The undersigned makes this annoWlcement to enable the President, in accord- ance with the requirements of the Mt above mentioned, to issue hts proclamation concerning t.he said exhibition, and to cause official invitations to be given to foreign governments to participate therein. 

That is accompanied by the ~ertificates, to which the governor of 

the State oi Pennsylvania refers1 of the gentleman having the matter 

iu charge, stating to him that this provision has been made. You 

will observe that by the act of Congress the PresidE'Int of the United 

States was to rely solely upon the governor of the State of Pennsyl- vania. He had no means, under this act of Congress or otherwise, of 

IV-61 

ascertaining whether it was a :fact, so far as the actual provision 

should be made or the actual management carried on, that suita.ble 

buildings had been provided for; and' therefore the sole evidence to 

him, and the conclusive evidence to him, was this official certificate 

of the governor of the State of Pennsylvania. 

At the date I have named, about t~o years ago, the governor of the 

State of Pennsylvania informed the President of the United States, 

upon which the President'~ action was taken, that suitable provision 

for the buildings had been made, and for their exclusive control by 

the gentlemen in charge. If the governor of Pennsylvania was-eor- rect in that statement, then I shall be glad to have the chairman of 

the Committee on Appropriations tell the Senate how it is that this 

bill declares that we, by. this million and a half of dollars, are to provide "for completing the centennial building~; and other preparations." I do not understand what this communication could have 

meant and what the eighth section of the act of Congress authorizing 

this commission could have meant: if it did not mean, as cerminly I 

believe as a fact it was intended to mean, that, before the United 

States by any act of\ its Executive should be the medium of commu- nicating invitations to anybody, we should have the final and absolute assurance that the necessary money bad been provided or other means by which these buildings should be brought into a process of com- pletion and turned over to the exclusive control of t.his board, ready 

to receive the objects which should be brought by the people of vari- ous countries for exhibition. · 1 think it will take a great deal of ingenuity to show that there is 

any other fair interpretation of this provision of the act of Congress 

and of this communication from the governor of Pennsylvania than 

what its plain language imports; that is, that adequate, complete 

provision had been made which would insure the erection of the 

proper buildings and their being put into a proper oondition for the uses of the exhibition. Now it turns out to be untrue. If we are to 

take the representations npon which this bill is founded, it turns out 

to be untrue that suitable provision had been made or that any adequate provision had been made ; and yet 'On the faith of it the President of the United States, in the exercise of his duty and under the 

supplemental act, also in the exercise of his duty, has communicated 

to foreicrn governments the fact that such an exhibition is to be 

held and has invited them, pursuant to the act of Congress based upon 

the faith of these representations thus officially made to us that all 

that was required now was that the people who had objects of art, 

of industry, and of _science to exhibit should come forward and put 

them in place. 

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. Has the Senator the date in la73 when 

that commnnication was ma-de by the governor of Pennsylvania t 

Mr. EDliUNDS. Yes, sit; the 24th of June, 1873. • Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. Now, if the Senator will allow me I will 

say one word--

Mr. EDMUNDS. If the Senator will excuse me, I will be done in a n:inute. · 1\u·: MORRILL, of Maine. Very well. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Following that, Mr. President, which as I was saying I hope can be satisfactorily explained, because to my mind it 

calls for a full explanation, we come to the next stage in this operation, that by a subsequent act of Congress further provision was made. 

On t.he 5th of June, 1874, the additional a{lt of Congress was passed 

which the Senator from Maine has rea-d: 

That the President be requested to extend, in the name of the United States, a respectful and cordial invitation to the governments of other nations to be repre- sented and take part in the international exposition to be held at Philadelphia, 

under the auspices of the Gi>vernment of the United States, ill the year 1876: Provided, however, That the United States shall not be liable, directly or indirectly, for 

any expenses attending such exposition or by roo-son of the same. 

The prior communications ma-de by the President were not invitations; he had no authority to make them, and did not make them; 

but by this act he was directed to extend invitations, which he did, 

and here we have the correspondence and circulars addressed to our representatives at various foreign capitals, directing them to present 

this subject in pursuance of this act of Congress to the various goyemments to which they were accredited; and they proceeded to do so. In some instances our representatives in making that communication, as I see by the papers, accompanied it with a copy of the act of Congress which I have last referred to, which therefore gave distinct in· 

formation to the foreign government that so far as providing means for it was concerned, the United States bad nothing to do with it; and 

in some of the communications not only was the act communicated, 

but also attention was drawn to that provision of it. But, unhappily, 

in others of these communications I find that onr ministers abroad did 

not communicate to the foreign governments the circumstance that it was not in all ·respects a Government exposition to which the Government was inviting, as a king would do to a royal banq net that hew as to pay for himself, all our fellow-cosmopolitans over the whole world: 

Well, a{lceptances came to these invitations, a{lceptalices to those 

where they did understand it as well as to those where they did not; 

and I al)l obliged to confess tha,t the result is to my mind, inasmuch . as many of these governments were not informed of the whole truth 

about this business, that we are in honor bound as to them (and of course that covers the whole question, because we cannot make provision for one without making provision for all) not to disappoint those nations who, being kept in ignorance ofpreciselywhatthecon-
962 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.· FEBRUARY 9, -

dition of affairs was, have accepted the invitation that we have ex- tended to them and their subj cts and citizens, and have made extensive preparations, at large expense undoubtedly, for going into the .x bibition. That is the re ult to which I have come in studying this 

thing and looking at its history. What is to be said in respect of the means by which we are led to be obliged to appropriate a million and a half of dollars that we never intended t(/ appropriate, that we took 

at every step especial care to <leclare by public statutne we were not 

to be called upon to appropriate, is another question. But with that 

other question of course the foreign governments and -their citizens 

whom we have invited to come here have nothing to do. 

I have only to add, 1\ir. President, in dismissing this subject as far as I am concerned, one or two further observations. In the first place, 

I wish to say that I believe it will turn out that this million and a half 

of dollars which is here appropriated will not be adequate to carry this 

exhibition through in the way in which it ought to be carried through, 

and that we shall be called upon for further appropriations, notwithstanding this act repeats what all the previous acts have contained, 

"that tl::e Government of the United States shall not, under any circumstances, be liable for any debt or obligation of the United States Centenni~l Commission or the centennial board of finance, or any payment in addition to the foregoing sum." These w~rds that I have 

read I believe will turn out to be just as effectual as and no more so than similar words that we have heard in the two preceding acts of 

Congress we have passed on this subject. It will be found that the 

Treasury of the United States must be called upon for still further appropriations, and it may be found, as I am very much afraid as I have 

said it is in this present instance, that in order to redeem ap.d defend 

the national honor we may be obliged to take the step and pay the 

money. If our invitation to foreign exhibitors and foreign governments, covering a large proportion of all the civilized governments of 

the world, means anything, (and it certainly seeme to do so,) we are bound to do everything in respect of those governments and their"citi- zens and subjects that good faith and fair dealing can require. We are bound, for the time being at any rate, in my opinion, to see that 

they are properly received and provided for. I do not mean that their 

board bills are to be paid by any means; bnt I mean that where citi- zens and subjects of other countries come here in great numbers under 

such circumstances, if through the ten thousand accidents of business 

and life any of them come to necessity and distress of any kind. we are bound in the exercise of a fair hospitality to get them out of it; we are bound to see that their goods are properly protected ; we are bound to see that their premiums and awards and medals are properly provided for. In other words, every engagement which the Centennial Commission and the centennial boJtrd of finance may properly 

enter mto or properly ought to enter into in respect of all that is due to 

foreig-n exhibitors we stand from this time fort.h a the proper guarantors tor the proper performance of. So then I wish iio pnt in a caveat, 

if you call this a caveat, or a proviso, that we should not any further 

delude ourselves with the notion that we are not committed, this bill 

passing, to all the consequences of seeing this thing completely through 

and disposed of. We must not be surprised if we are called upon to 

appropriate another million or two or three millions more. In the next place, Mr. President, I wish to state what will be the 

result, as it appears to me, if this exhibition should on the contrary 

turn out to be a financial success; and that it will be a success in 

respect of the objects it has in view if we provide this money I have 

very little doubt. It would be a success if nobody but the people of 

the Unit.ed States exhibited at it, for the resourees and the invention 

and the industry of this country are boundless. But if it shoul<l be a .success in respect of finance, and there should be accumulated from 

the various fees and incomes of the body a large sum of money, the 

House bill-has provided that that money shall not be divined among 

the stockholders until, after paying the company's debts, this million 

and a half shall be re-imbursed to the Treasury of the United States; 

but the Hou e bill has failed to provide that this provision shall be 

assented to by the Centennial C.ommission or by the centenrual board 

of finance. Now, the e persons, in the sens<\ in which t.bey are act.ing, are a private corporation. They have .stock; they have directors; 

they are in all e sential respects for busine s purposes a private cor- poration.· I very much question whether we have power by a direct 

statement in an act of Congress, not assented to by them, to declare 

under what circumstances they shall make t_h.eir dividends or what 

they shall do with their money. • Then, 1\Ir. President, at the proper time, in order to give this clause 

effect if there should be sufficient good fortune in a ·financial way to 

bring out a balance at the end of this affair, I shall move to add to 

th.e second section, which now providesThat the money by this act appropriated shall b«;J paid· to the treasurer of the cen- -tennial board of finance only after he and tho pres1dent of the board shall have ex- ecuteu a bond in the sum of $.100,000 to the United States, with sufficient security, to be approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, for the safe-keeping and faithful 

disbursement of the sum hereby appropriatedThese words: 

And only after the Centennial Commission and the centennial board of finance sb:ill respectively tile in the Treasury Department of the United States a resolution duly passed, declaring their assent to the provisions of this act. 

"\Ve shall then, in respect of the application of any profits that they 

may gain out of the exhibition, haye got a compact with two par-ties 

to it. We shall then have au obligation which, if thel' should be any 

' 

money- left, will bind them to obey this provision now existing in the 

House bill for repaying this million and a half before making a dividend. Without it, in my opinion, they would not be legally bound 

to do so. lli. SARGENT. Will the Senator allow me to direct his attention 

to a proposition here f 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Yes, sir. 

Mr. SARGENT. The bill as it is before us provides that there shall 

be no dividend or percentage of profits paid to the holders of stock 

until after the re-imbursement of the amount of this appropriation. 

I should like to ask the Senator whether the proper construction of 

that is not that the stockholders shall receive back their money which 

they have paid on their stock before this appropriation shall be re- imbursed to the Government of the Uruted States. In other words, 

I ask whether this does not refer to profits after that stock has· been 

paid. I think that is the construction of it, and consequently the 

amendment proposed by the Senator would not have the effect of re- quiring this money to be pai<l before the stock s.hall be returned to 'the stockholders. . ~ir. EDMUNDS. I entirely disa.gree, I am sorry to say, with my 

friend from .California as to the mearung of the phra e in the bill to 

which he has alluded; but if he were right the amendment would oe just as proper. The amendment does not enlarge the existing provision as to the repayment of the money. It only says that we will 

not advance the money until the two corporations, if you call them 

such, the Cent.ennial Commis io and the centennial boa,rd of finance, 

shall themselves assent to the provisions of this act. Then the question 

is, what are the provisions of the act! 

Mr. SARGENT. Let me make myself a little clearer. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. I think I unde1·stand my friend perfectly, and I 

a k him to hear me a moment. I understand him to maintain that the 

true apf'lication of these words, "shall be paid in full into the Treasury of the United Stat.es before any dividend or percentage of the 

profits shall be paid to the holders of sai<l stock," means that before 

thi mC\ney is repaid to the Tl:easury there may be paid the principal 

of the stock ·which the.stockhol<lers have paid in. 

Mr. SARGENT. In other words, the words "dividend" and "percentage" have the same meaning substantially. . Mr. EDMUNDS. I WM quite sure that I understood my friend. 

I entirely disa!ITee t.o that construction. I und.erstand the wor<ls 

"any dividend?' followed by the words "or percentage of the profits" 

to mean that there shall be no dividends of any kind. When a private corporation is wounu up and there are no profits at all, the stockholders get hack their original investment, if it has not been lost, by a divirlend. It is a term of art. A divi<lend is that thing which is to 

be divided accordin~ to the interests of the persons who are entitled 

to share in the divisiOn. There may, therefore, just as properly be a dividend of capital as of profits. 'fo guard against dividends of capital in private corporations, there· is always a provision in charters 

and general laws. that there never shall be a dividend of any part of 

the capital stock of such a concern until it is womid up. So then in 

point of fact I should have said there was no doubt about it but for 

the fact that my frien from California, who e knowledge of law is 

at least quite as great as mine, thinks otherwise, that this was a clear 

provision against any clivi ion of any part of the capital, profits, or as ets of the concern until this money shall have been repaid to the 

United States. But, however that may be, it is clear to my mind that 

that requirement of this act is one which will not bind the centennial · board of finance in its character as a private corporation of stockhoMers, unless. it assents to it; and my proposition, therefore, is to 

amend the bill by adcling to the second section a provision, which of course it is perfectly ea y for them to comply with; that they shall 

assent to the provisions of this act before they take the money. 

It a,ppears from what I have hear<l of the history of this transaction 

(and it oug:j:tt perhaps to have been stated historically in connection 

with the action of the governor of Pennsylvania) that the money 

which the State· of Pennsylvania has appropriated in aid of this enterprise has been exclusively invcste(l in a permanent building which is 

to stand as a memorial buililing or an art-building for all time to 

come; and, therefore, the contribution that she has made has been 

merely the use of this buililing, which she bail erected on these grounds, 

during the exhibition; and, as for the city of Philadelphia, I understand-and I shall be glad to be correcte<l if I am in error-that the 

total amount of her municipal contribution has been invested in n. horticultural ball, if I am right in the description of the b11ilding, 

which is also her private property, and that neither of these buildings, constructed with the money furnished by taxing the people of 

Pennsyl varna and the people of the city of Philadelphia, goes into the 

stock to which we are now asked to contribute, and therefore they 

will form no part of the assets out of which dividen<ls can be made 

and no pa.rt of the property out of which the responsibilities of this 

corporation to exhibitors, or anybody else, can be collected. 

Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont._ My colleague desires, of course, to be 

entirelv accurate. 

1\Ir. ED..\1lThTDS. Yes, sir. . Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont. I thipk in relation to Memorial Hall 

there have ueen expended out of the appropriations made by the State 

of Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia $759,000, aud for the 

Horticultural Hall $213,000 and something more, and that the entire 

contributions of the State and of the oity were about t'Yo and a half 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 963 

.millions. This leaves about a million and a half that they have con- tribnted over and above these halli!. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Out of the treasuries of the State and the city f 

Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont. I so understand. 

Mr. ED~1UNDS. I understand exactly the reverse. It perhaps is 

not very material to the passage of this bill to offer authority that I 

thought I could 1·ely upon as it· was a person who ought to 1..'"Uow; and 

if I did not greatly misunderstand him, (and I repeated the question 

two or three times, for I wished to know the real truth about tills ·thing,) of all the money of the State of Penn ylvania contributed by 

its treasury-I am not speaking about the contributions of its inhabitants, who have been liberal in a very la,rge degree, and have put 

to shame the citizens of other States I must say-of all the money 

belonging to the treasury of the city of Philadelphia, I understand no contribution has been made to this exhibition except for the purj>o ·es of the two building I have named, and probably the beautifying 

and fixing of the grounds which are to belong to these buildings after 

the exhilntion is over. Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont. I desire merely to say that in the 

summary reported by the board of finance it appears that this cor- ·poration has received a million dollars from the State of Pennsylvania and from the city of Philadelphia 1,500,000; and, in addition 

to that, it has received subscriptions of st<Jck-I suppose mainly from 

Pennsylvania-to the arpount of $1,852,000. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. I should be very glad to know that that is cor- rect, aml that this million and the other sums named here have been an actnal contribution into the general assets of the corporation. 

Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont. It is so printed there. 

Mr. SARGENT. The proposition which I stated to the Senator from . Vermont [Mr. EDMUNDS] was considered by the Committee on Appropriations, ann I came to the conclusion which I expressed, as the 

result of. those deliberations. I must confess that my confidence in 

the accuracy of that conclusion is very much shaken by the dissent 

of my friend from Vermont, whose ability and learning as a lawyer ·1 appreciate. Bnt I suppo e it is well for us to understand exactly 

what we are doing; and I therefore venture to suggest, in addition, 

-that as I unuerstand it the construction which I have given is that 

which wa.s put upon it by the board of centennial commissioners, acting under the advice ()f counsel, eminent counsel, having assured 

them that this was the· construction to be put upon it, and that they 

would be able to carry out the original contra~t with their stockhold- ers even if this bill 'pas ed; that the amount paid for their stock 

shoulU be returned to them oefore any diviuends of profits or before 

any other disposition of the fund. Now, if there were in this bill the 

provision, and it should be effectual, whichobtainsinmostof theacts 

of incorporation in New Engla,nd and many of the other States, un- questionably his construction would be correct; but it contains no limitation of that kind, and, therefore, it seems to me that, even if the 

boru·d of centennial commissioners or this corporation should assent 

to this act, theywou.ld have no power, without a general meeting of 

stockholders competent to pa s upon the question and authorizing 

thPm to do it, to surrender these ri~hts contained in tbeori~inalcontract between the corporation and Its stockholders. Even if this is 

so,·and the proper constn1ction of the act is that which I put upon it, 

and which is claimed by others so much interested, I do not see that 

for that reason I should vote against the bill. I am disposed to think 

that, if the Government is going to aid this exhibition at all, it on~ht 

to do it with a free band. If a million and a halfistheamount whiCh we ought to contribute, we ought to give it without any after-thought. or any expectation of recovering it ba~k. I am disposecl t.o let the 

persons who have put in their little means, their · 20 or 50, receive 

their money back, or at any rate to receive such percentage of it back as the sale of the old m.'tterials of the exhibition may enable them to 

realize. ·· . · The former stages of this proposition were obstructed by myself 

and some other Senators to the full extent of our power. It is well ·understood by the Senate that for two or three years, when this 

proposition came up in rliflerent shapes, I contended as strongly as I 

could that the public faith ought not to be pledged by our legislation 

upon rhis matte'r to pay the expenses of this exhlbition or to make 

good deficits which might a~crue from the failure of the exposition to 

pay its expenses. I still think that I was right in the position which 

I then took. I did not believe that this was the best manner to celebrate a centennial occasion. At best, this exhibition, however great a success, will make but a ripple during this year. It will almost be . forgotten the next year; it will not be remembered at all perhaps ten 

years thereafter. I was in favor of markin~ the passage of this era . by some permanent monument, by some evidence of the appreciation 

of the men of this generation which should speak. to futnre generations of t-he fact tha.t a hundred years of great prosperity had a-ccom- panied the RepubliC!, and that at the end of the hundred years we had preserved our unity, our liberties, and our institutions substantially as they were framed by our fathers. I did not believe that this 

could be done by a gathering, however large or magnificent, in a single city of the Union. I believe that, while there might be same temporary commercial advantages in a meeting of that kind anq ~orne 

pleasant expression of feelings of patriotism, it. would do nothlrig to 

mark to the future the great appreciation whic:4 w~ :feel auq' ~ught 

to feel of so interesting an occa.siun. Hence I did not believe that tills 

ought to be a, national movement. If .citizeus of any patriotic ~ity or 

community, or the citizens of the United States generally, in their 

private capaeities or organized as they saw fit, saw proper to have a celebration of this kind, I would not impede them in any way ; but 

I did not think that that was a proper manner to employ the Treasury 

of .the United States. 

But, sir, this matter has gone on step by step. In spite of all the 

protestations wl;tich we were able to make, laws have been passed 

which give some countenance for this preamble; I do not believe, 

however, to the full extent which is claimed in this preamble. I 

think there is too much assumed here; and I am afraid, if this bill 

pa.sses with this preamble, that they can come to us with more grace 

than they could at the present, or certainly with more than they have come at any previous time, and say to us, "You ought to make good 

any deficit in our resources." Take the fourth" whereas" here, and 

let me call the attention of the Senate to its gravity: 

Whereas the President of the United States, in compliance with a joint resolu· 

tion of ·congress, approved ,June 5, 1174, did "extend, in the name of the United 

States, a respectful and cordial invitation to the governments of other nations to ba 

repre en ted and take part in the international exposition to be held at Philadelphia, under the auspices of the Government of the United States," and as the gov- ernment.~ so invited, to the number of thirty-eight, have so accepted such in vita. 

tion, and many of them aremakin$ extensive preparations to embrace the courtesy so extended to them, thereby renaering proper arrangements for the coming cere- monies on the part of the Government of the United States a matter of honor and 

good faith; and whereas--

That is to say, we must make these proper arrangements; otherWise we violate our honor and good faith. If we fail to make adequate 

arrangements and others acting for us do make these arrangements, 

these-men to whom we have given organized capacity and have coun- t-enanced by this present appropriation and by some other appropriations we have made, shall perform this work for us, then we are bound 

to mp,ke good whatever indebtedness they may incur; otherwise we are liable to imputations upon our honor and good fru.th. · I am not prepared to say that. While I am willing with open hand 

to give them the million and a half in consideration of the great ex- ertions which they have made to make this exposition a success, I 

would do it on the one hand without an acknowledgment that it is 

because we are pressed to it by conside~ations of honor and good faith, 

involving subsequent considerations, and on the other without saying 

"We make tbis temporary loan and require that-you shall taktl all the 

assets of this concern and put them into the Treasury of the United 

States in order to make good the amount which we have stingily 

doled out." 

If this bill is to be amended at all, if the amendment proposed by 

the Senator from Vermont is to be incorporated into it and it is to go 

back to the House of Representatives, I think it better to strike out 

this preamble; and I think the House woulU cheerfully n,ssent to that, 

if I have the right to make that remark. I do not know that I would move to strike out the preamble unless the bill shall be amended in 

other particulars; but if an amendment is made to the bill requiring 

the action of the House upon it, then I desire to submit an amend· 

ment to strike out the preamble.· Mr. CAMERON, of Pennsylvania. I desire to say a word only in 

reply to the Senator from Vermont, [Mr. EDMUNDS.] The total cost 

of the centennialexhlbition is $6,724,000. Of this sum $4,699,700 have 

been already raised toward it, and a million and a half is yet required. 

The State of Pennsylvania from her treasury gave 1,000,000. The 

city of Philadelphia from her freasuryappropriated$1,500,000. Tli re was a clause in the State appropriation act that one of the buildings-Memorial Hall-shoulu be made so permanent, of so substantial a character, with such beautiful architecture, that it would be a mon- ument to remain for all time, a monument of the progress which we have made 'in the century which has passed. Pennsylvania did not 

require that that building should belong to her; she did not put any 

restriction upon it at at all; but she supposed that it would be a mon- umenj; of which every man, woman, and child in this broad country 

would be proud, standing there, one of the finest buildings in the 

world, in one of the finest and most beautiful parks that there is in 

any part cif the world. It was to be a monument which she desired 

should remain there and not be torn down, aa all the temporary buildings will be after th~ exhibition is over. Two years ago, when this question was up, I assured the Senator 

from Vermont that I would not aak anybody to vote for an appropriation for the centennial exposition. Upon my assurance he withdrew 

his opposition to the bill then pending, and by the withdrawal of his opposition the bill passed. I regret that. uow there is a demand for a.u additional sum of money. That would not b@, however, if there had 

not been a new consti_tution ~dopted by our State, soon after the titue 

I made this pledge to the Senator from Vermont, which contameq ~ 

clause prevent.ing any appropriation for any such purpose frotu the 

State treasury. A million and a half of dollars to Pennaylvu,nia would 

be nothing. I should be· muc~ prouder, if we had the power, to llla~e 

that appropriation than to receive it from the Govem:rueut of the 

United States. ' I 'woilld be ·glad if P.ennsylvania, whict\ was QUe of 

the foremost in, the work of the RevolU:t:iot\ and which ltas.p.lways con- ducted heriifll£. so as·ioue·bonored by all the'othel' States, should b~ 

the host on this occ~io!l to· gi · her fOurtesies ll>Ud hospitalities t\) ev~ry natioDr ill the W.o:rlq, I am sure she would be proqd to do so, ana~ am sure the Pl'e ent Legislatwe would gla,qly have made thit:1 

appropriation of 1,500,000 if they coQlQ. Oq:r whole :re~l deut doea 

not amount to $1·2100010001 1\Dd ~ ll\ill.iOJ,l ~qd {\ ll&lf tuON would be 
964 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 9, 

nothing to us.· I could point o~t hundreds of people, and I think 

thousands, who would be glad to have it said that Pennsylvania addeel that $1,500,000 more to her debt, for she will in seven or eight 

years be entirely without debt, but unfortunately some very radical, 

and perhaps very wise and good men put a clause into the new State 

constitution which prevents her from doing so. 1 

I trust, if this money is to be given for this purpose, that we shall 

not amend the bill. Any amendment will send it back to the other 

House, where, in the present state of feeling, it may hang for months. 

If the appropriation is to be given, it ought to be given now. All the 

debts have been paid that have been incurred for this work. The 

buildings are nearly finished, and this money is necessary now because, unless you finish the buildings, they will not be ready when 

the different articles which are already shipped shall arrive at Philadelphia. I believe that the whole of the management there has been 

perfectly honest, ~erf~ctly economical, and that ~h~ conduct_ of eve~­

body connected w1th It has been pure and patriotic and wiSe. It IS 

not a question for Pennsylva~ia; it is a qnestion for the United States. 

We are to assemble in Philadelphia ~fter a hundred years have passed, 

after four generations havo been buried with their fathers, after this 

country has grown from three millions of people to forty millions, and 

after her wealth bas increa ed thousands and thousands of fold, when 

the intelligence and the culture and the education of this people have 

increased in a ratio far above all our physical wealth. Philadelphia 

will be the gathering-place for almost everybody who has gone from 

New England to the "\Vest. All that great western country has been 

peopled by persons who have migrated from the East to the West, 

and they will all collie there, or a representative from every family 

will come, and there will be such a hand-shaking and such a kissing 9:S has never taken pla{}e in any part of the world. I cannot imagine 

how anybody should hesitate a moment about contributing this little sum for a great family gathering. Who is there with children and 

grandchildren who does not like to bring them aU together once in a while f And how much greater this family gathering will be than 

any oth~r which bas ever happened. 

I reuret tha.t I have not been able to keep my word with my friend, 

the S~nator from Vermont; and yet I have tried to do it, for I have 

not asked a man to vote for the bill, except just now I believe I am pretty near asking you all. [Laughter.) I am sure that his good 

heart and his great head will induce him again to withdraw his opposition and let the bill go through without any amendment at all. 

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. President, I desire very much to vote for the 

appropriation of $1,500,000 to aid in the completion of this g_reat ex- position. I have heretofore refused to vote for any of the bills that 

have been passed on this subject, because I did not wish to complicate the Government of the United States with the management or with the responsibility in any way of the commissions or corporations 

under whose guidance it is to be carried on; but now that the work 

approaches completion, that the buildings have been erected, that we can see it has been done fairly, honestly, superbly I may say, I am.willing to vote for the bill under consideration. The buildings are far greater in proportion, more beautiful, more extensive in every 

way, than the buildings erected for auy of the great expositions of our a!re. Compared with the buildings that were erected at the Paris 

exposition they are more than twice the size and more complete in 

all their appointments; and so when. compared with the expo i.tion 

at Vienna, if I may judge. from the measurements and the details 

that have been given to us, not having seen them myself. The people 

of the United States have already in their individual capacity an- swered fully the expectations of every one. All the States have been 

called upon. The people o:f; Ohio have been called upon. The General .Assembly of Ohio have, with great liberality, voted a pretty con- siderable sum of money to aid in the exhibition of the products of 

Ohio, and our leading citizens in Ohio have contributed with their 

money and with individual effort; and now, when the Government 

of the United States is called upon, which represents all the great 

powers of government, which collects in the way of taution from 

the people of the United States between two and three hundred million dollars, to contribute to an exposition of its own industries, the 

industries of its people, to have a family gathering on the one hundredth anniversary of the birthday of American lnde_vendence, I 

should consider myself not exactly as mean, but as not ~owg my u~y 

to the people I represent, to the whole people of the Umted States, If 

I waa not willing to take from the Treasury of the United States that 

which we have demanded of the people of Ohio and of all the States, 

and of each individual ·citizen. 

One million and a half to the Treasury of .the United States is nothin~ compared ~th our resources and o~r greatness. 'Yben States 

and cities have contr1bnted, when corporations all over this land have 

been called on to contribute, and when private citizens have con- tributed to the amount of thousands of dollars, it seems to me that we ought not to hesitate to make our contribution COffi!Uensurate with our ability and our importance. 

Therefore I have no hesitation in voting for an appropriation of A> 

million and a half to complete this exhibition; but I do dislike this 

bill above all things, on account of the way in which it has been 

framed. I think myself if this bill were stripped of all the phrase- olouy which raises and implies a doubt about our willingness to vote th~ million and a half, it would be more satisfactory to the people of 

the United Stat.e.q and to the House of Representatives. The provisos 

to this bill raise ambiguous questions of law. If they are construed one way, they are very lll'lfair on behalf of the United States; if they are construed in another way, they are very unfair in favor of the 

stockholders in this corporation. I beg the attention of Senators to 

the language of the following proviso, which, like many other provisos in legislative bodies, has been put on in the nature of a riuer, 

without consideration and without re:tlection ; I read the. proviso beginning in line 10 of section 1 : 

Provided, That in the distribution of any moneys that may remain in the treas- ury of the centennial board of fin:mce, after the payment of its debts, as provided for by the tenth section of the act of Congress approved June 1, 1872, in· corporatin~ said centennial board of finance, the appropnation hereinbefore made 

shall be prud in full into t.be TreaSUIJ:Of the United States before any dividend or p~rcentage of the profits shall be paid to the holders of said stock. 

In other words, the intent of the person who first framed this proviso was to give the Government of-the United States an advantage over other people who contribute to this exhibition. We give a million and a half of dollars; States giye their proportion; cities give 

their proportion; individuals give their proportion; and now, when 

the United States is asked to give its proportion, we come in with a proviso, and say, ""\Ve will loan it until the exhibition is over; we will not allow these other people who have contributed their share to 

have any portion of the surplus after this show is over, but we will 

grab the whole of it before they get any of the a sets." That is the 

intention but not the legal effect of the proviso, because by ·the 

addition of three or four worus they have just reversed the object of 

the proviso. By inserting the words "or percentage of the profits" in 

the seventeeutllline they have postponed the payment of the United 

States Government until all the capital stock is refunded, under the 

tenth section of the act, plainly, palpably to my mind, and I think 

the Senator from Vermont did not catch the point made by the Senator from California, or be would at once have perceived it. Now,read 

the lanrruage a-gain. We are to be paid, it is true, according to the 

tenth s~tion of the act which is recited, J;>ut how to be paid t "Before any dividend or percentage of the profits shall be paid to the 

holders of said stock." Now, what are the profits of this concern f 

Clearly, the profits are what remain after refu nuing not only the debts 

but the capital stock, and everybody kuows that the addition of the 

words '• or percentage of the profits" make it read: No payment shall 

be made to the United States until the capital stock is refundeu, be- cause the payment of the United States i~:~ only made out of any dividend or percentage of the profits after paying the stock. Thus by the 

addition of thest:' words they lave reversed it. If the United Stat es stoocl as a simple stockholder of this concern it would be entitled to 

have the money refunded p1·o rata with other stockholUers; but.now, 

by the use of this lanrrua.ge, vague and ambiguous language, framed 

and intended for another object, to give the United States an advant.aue, it bas actually converted it into a provision that takes away 

frgm the Government the ordinary advantage of a stockholUer. 

It seems to me when the people of the United States are about to 

do a noble and a generous act it ought not to be subject to this double 

construction, and that thiS proviso ought to be stricken out. I believe 

the House of Representatives when they come to look over it more carefully would agree to its being stricken out, because I have no doubt that these provisions were adtled on iu the haste and huiTy of 

the last day of the discussion ; ancl they would no doubt see that they 

have not accomplished the purpose they had in view. I have the 

tenth sect.ion of the act here, which expressly requires these commissioners to refund 1n-o mta to the stockholuers first after paying the 

debts. Then comes in this provision that out of the profits · the 

United States shall be refunded its share of a million and a half. We 

all know that there never will be any profits, in. a legal sense. We 

all know that the capital stock will never be refunded ; and all any 

holder expects is to get a small dividend on his stock. The balance 

is gone and there will be no profits. 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Will the Senator read the tenth secti.on f 

Mr. SHERMAN. I will ask the Senator from California, who has 

it in his hand, to read it. 

Mr. SARGENT. The tenth section is as follows: 

That as soon as practicable, after said exhibition shall have been closed, it 11hall 

be the (luty of said corporation to convert its property into cash, and, after the pay- ment of all its liabilities, ·to divicle its r omairung as. ets among its stockholders, pro rata, in full satisfa.tltion and discharge of its capital stock. 

Mr. SHERMAN. Now there is an existing contract between this 

corporation anu the stockholders. The United States canno~ violate 

that contra.ct without doing the meane&St thing in the world. There 

is a contract mad·e between individuals upon our invitation a.nd a corporation created by us. We co~e in and say~ "We will giv:e you a million and a half to promote this common obJect, but we will de-~ 

prive yon of that -advantage which ouT law gives you." It ought not 

t-o bt' done. It seems to me no proposition of that kind ought to be 

sanctioned. But that is not all. The second proviso is as faulty as the first. The second proviso is: 

That the Government of the United States shall not, under any circumstances, 

be liable for any debt or oblirration of the United States Centenni:il Commisr,ion or the centennial board of tin:m'ce, or any paymen1i in ~dHion to the foregoing sum. 

In other words, we ~:~>re to have the benefit of special stockholders, 

accordinrr to the first proviso; we are to have some special advantage, but we a~e not to share a common liabUity. We are to have all the 

profits and share none of the liabilities. In other words, we are to 

be a special partner, yet we are not to be liable as a partner. It seems 
I.· 

1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 965 

to me that this is not the way in which we should deal with this 

question. The people of the United States, the city of Philadelphia, 

tho State of Pennsylvania., and the other States and corporations 

have given money Jiberally, heartily, with a free and open hand, to 

the amount of five or six millions of dollars to ~ill inthis great exposition, an<.l we are called upon to give a million and a half. Let us do it openly, manly, and in a geuerous way, just as they did. 'Ve can say very properly that this million and a half is the ultimate 

point to which we will go; that we will go no further, and thus give 

rlue warning to evorybouy tha.t that. is the extent of our contribution. 

The Congress of the United States has power to fix its contribution. 

We fix it and say we will not go beyond this poiut. Every individual can do the same, and the State of Pennsylvania can do the same. That we have the right to do. We may say when we give this million and a half that. it is all we will give; but we ought not to stipulate for 

auy particular favors or advantages, or exemptions or qualifications. 

It seems to me the bill does not employ the language in which such a gift should be given. 

In regard to the second section, I do not think there is any objection to it; but I do not like the idea of introducing into every law of 

Congress a clause punishing a man by sending him to the penitentiary or requiring him to give a bond. It seems to imply that the men engaged in·this great enterplise, who have been intrusted by 

corporations and States and individuals with $G,OOO,OOO, now when 

they may have ~o disburse a million and a half shall ~ive a bond to 

the United States. These gentlemen, no dou15t, can grve bond; but 

is it worth while to go into that sort of legislation in an act of this 

kind, when individuals all over this country have placed their money 

at the disposal of these mEm-men of the highest character, men se- lected from all over the United States under an act passed by us f It seems to me it ,is belittling our own legislation. That is the way I 

look upon it.. Why not have a penitentiary clatlSe in the bill that if 

these men violate their bond or violate their obligation they shall be 

sent to the penitentiary for ten years or imprisoned for life T 

Mr. SARGENT. And be forever afterward incapable of holding 

office. 

1\Ir. SHERMAN. Yes, and be forever afterward incapable of holding office. 

I bad. a notion to make the same remark the other day in regard to a bill pending before us where a penitentiary clause was stock in a joint resolution that had no relation to it; but there was no objection 

to it. If a man violates his duty, he ought to be sent to the penitentiary; but I do not think it necessary to convert all our laws, especially an enactment connected with this exposition, into a penal statute 

requiring these men to give bond or to go to the penitentiary, or the 

like of that. I would like to have a plain simple appropriation ·of a million and a half of dollars without provisos or preambles to commit us or bind us at all. The whole of these whereases are of no account. 

The only effect is to extend our liability and involve us in pledges we may not be able to redeem. When we give a million and a half to this 

purpose we have done our share, no more and no less, and we can limit ourselves by saying we have given our mite and there is the 

end of it. 

I hope, therefore, before this bill passes it will be stripped of its 

whereases, be stripped of its provisos, and contain a simple gratuity 

by the Congress of the United States, for the people of the United 

States, for our nation, our Government, for the national authority, to 

mix and mingle with the contributions given by the Stat-es, by individuals, by cities, and by corporations, and let the whole country join 

together, in all its corporate and incorporate capacities, as individuals 

and corporations, in this great exposition of American industry. 

I hope the people from every part of our broad land will flow to 

the city of_"brotherly love." I hope even _that the sentiment represented by that name "brotherly love" may extend itself to every 

man, woman, and child in the United States of America, that the 

feelings that were inspired by th•e revolutionary events of 1776 may 

animate us all, unite us, blend us together into one family of forty 

millions of people; and from that time forward unto th.e end of time we willlook upon all the events of our history, whether good or evil, 

with a kindly feeling, and contribute, in the future at least, every one of us to promoto the common good and the general welfare. 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Presidel\t. I certainly agree with the 

opinion expressed by the Senators from California and Ohio, that the 

true way for us to make this appropriation would be by a bill appropriating unconditionally a million and a half of money to this exposition. It is no more, no less than we ought to do; but the bill is not 

before us as an original proposition, and it seems to me that we should 

be doing damage, unless it is really essential, by amending this bill 

in any rest>ect. 

One objection to the bill stated by the Senator from California is 

the preamble. I agree with him that I would strike it out as an original proposition; bnt I do not think the preamble does any particular injury. It is in bad taste; it is cumbersome. There is, if it 

stood alone, an implication that we may be bound on .the ground of 

courtesy to foreign powers to go to still greater expense; but then we futd in the body of the bill this provision, which neutralizes that 

suggestion of the preamble: 

That the Q()vernment of the United States shall not, under any circumstances, be liable for any debt or obligation of the United States Centennial Com~ission 

or the centennial board ol: finance, or any payment in addition w the foregoing sum. 

It seems to me that that neutrulizes the preamble. Therefore, as it would injure the great object that we all have in view, I would not 

amend the bill by striking out the preamble. · Then the Senator from Vermont suggested that it was necessary 

to ai,Jlend the ill by adding a proviso that the centennial boaru of 

finance ac~ept this million and a half of dollars on the pledge that 

the money shall be returned if it is in their power to return it. 

:ltlr. SARGENT. Will my friend allow me a moment J I would 

like to inquire of him, as a lawyer, if that provision would not be inoperative provided it impaired the rights of st-ockholders¥ What au- thority have the United States centennial commission or the board 

of finance to impair those rights T Must it not be done by a general 

stockholders' meeting, if it can be done at all f • 

:ltlr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I suppose the Senator from California is 

certainly right, that there is no -efficacy in the amendment suggested 

by the Senator from Vermont, provided there is at this time a contract 

between those who have cout.ributed and the centennial board of 

finance that they are to be paid. If that is so, we cannot by any legislation here inject our claim to be a prior one to theirs; neither do we want to do it. 

:ltlr. SHERMAN. I will ask the Senator if the tenth section, which 

has been reacl, does not itself make it incompetent for the Government to do thaU 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I think it possible it may have that con- struction. The tenth section, as I •heard it read, is that after their 

assets are converted into money it shall be used in paying their debts 

and in ma1ring a dividend to the stockholders. 

Mr. DAWES. I should liko to ask the Senator from New Jersey a. question. I should like to inquire if the corporation receiving this 

money could possibly receive it on any other terms than those ex- pressed in the act, and, therefore, if they would not bo bound to the 

extent of any obligation we should impose upon them for the use of 

it, and to the results of that use, which are expressed in the grant! 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. There certainly would be an honorary 

obligation upon them, whether there would be a legal one, in their 

accepting it on those terms. There might be something in that. 

!tlr. DAWES. I should like to inquire whether any words can be 

put into this bill that would furnish the Government any means by 

which they could enforce it any more than now. Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I suppose that if the Government of the 

United States had a clear contract with this board of finance which 

did not interfere with any pre-existing contracts the Government of 

the U nite<.l States might by judicial proceedings protect that fund and recover it. 

Mr. DAWES. Suppose we offer this board of finance a million and a half of dollars upon certain terms, and they take it npon those t.erms. 

'Vhatever obligation could exist would exist and what.ever power to 

enforce that obligation that could be created by statute would exist 

nowf 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I am by no means certain that the view 

of the Senator is correct, and I certainly should hav~ agreed with him 

if I had not found several Senators around me for whose opinion I 

have great respect differing from the view expressed by him. But it 

is very clear, Mr. President, that as we would give this money, and 

tbe subject is new to us, we do not want to incumber it by the amend_. 

ment suggested by the Senator from Vermont ; and as there is no particular evil flowing from the preamble, as it is neutralized by the 

act, I hope we may just pass this bill as it is. 

Mr. 'V ALLACE. I do not rise to discuss this subject in its general 

aspect, but simply to endeavor to correct a misapprehension into which 

the Senate may probably fall from what has been said in regard to 

the ownership of these buildings. Agricultural Hall has been paid for 

partially out of the money appropriated by the city of Phila<lelph.ia as well as from funds received from stockholclers. It belongs to the 

association and will be disposed of as the permanent property of the 

organization. Memorial Hall, which was built by tho money appropriated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,$1,000,000, as has been 

stat.ed by my colleague, is to be used as a general art building in all 

time to come. It is to remain there. It was a nucleus around which 

this organization grew up. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania gave 

impetus to the work by her gift of a million dollars, and around 

that the stock subscriptions or contributions of the city of Philadelphia have grown, so that there is nothing in the allegation that these 

buildings belong to the city of Philadelphia or to the State of Pennsylvania. 

Permit me to say in reference to the action of the governor of Pennsylvania, though I am not properly his defender, that when he made 

the communication to the President of the United States to which 

reference has been made there had been private stock subscribed· equal to about 2,000,000. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania had 

subscribed a million dollars. The city of Philadelphia had sub cribed a million and a half ef dollars. Here were four million and a half 

of dollars actually subscribed, and this was equal in amount to the 

whole cost of the buildings for the Paris exposition. Upon this state 

of facts w~ the governor not warranted in giving the information 

that he did give to the President of the United States, under which 

the proclamation was issued f Can there be fault found with him 

for doing that which t.he act of Congress plainly contemplated he 

should doT If the work has grown under the hands of the gentlemen who have charge of it, if .it be now not only in £lignity:1 in. magnitude, 
966 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 9, 

&.nd in its prospective results more than a State work, and assuredly a national 'YOrk, it is the more reason that we should help it from the 

difficulty into which it ha.s fallen by reason of the financial troubles · that ~re upon the country. Its appearance here for aid is not by reason of the negligence or want of energy on the part o~ those who 

h ave bad charge of the organization. 

But one thing more and I have done-the construction of this bill as it. comes from the House, and what those in charge de ire should 

be done with the bill. Can it he that this bill is to be so construed 

that the Government of the Uuited States shall, without any word of 

mortgage, loan, or lien in the bill, and without the consenL of the indiviuual stockholders, put its million and a half in the room of the 

2,230,000 subscribe.l by the stockholders t In ot.hP.r words, shall the 

Government say to the stockholders, We, without your consent, take 

from you 72 per cent. of the dollar that you have given toward the 

erection of these buildings! That is the pra.ctical efl:'ect of the con- struction placed on the bill by the Senator from Vermont. It. is in ~ffect to take away from these stockholders $1,500,000 of their stock 

without their consent. 

The amendment of the Senator from Vermont to the second section 

only provides for the consent of the board of direction and not for the 

consent of t,he stockholders. The consent of the stockholders cannot 

be obtained. It is impossible to obtain it in the nature of things. It 

would del2.y the progress-of the work. The bill would be practically a dead letter. Hence that amendment it seems to me is for two rea- sons inopportune and ought. not to be placed on the bill: first, because 

the true construction of the bill is against it, in this view it is unnec- essary; second, because it would delay and possibly defeat the passage of the bill. I hope that the bill will be passed just as it came from the House, without amenclment or alteration. 

:Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont. ~Ir. President, I have reached the 

conclusion, having waded in so far, that to go back woulcl be more dangerous than to go forward, and I shall accordingly, notwithstanding all my record is against the previous enactments in relation to 

this matter, vote in favor of this bill. I hacl on a former occasion some reluctance to inaugurating this style of an iuternational cele!Jration. I believe it might have been better to 1 ave bad the celebration 

take place in every city and town of our "hole connt1·y, where all 

might take pa1·t. I also believed that if we were to ba ve a grand celebration at any one point it would have been far better to have called 

it a national celebration, especially of the American people, instead 

of international, thinking and believing that as many foreign nations 

would come to a national celebration as to au international one, and 

that we should· thus avoid giving any offense to other nations 'vith 

different political insritntious arising from sending them out invitations to atteml what they might regard with somewhat different feelings from those entertained by our people as to the propriety of celPbrating the hundredth year of a republic. In any event we should 

have had a grand celebration of our own. · But, .M.r. President, all that has passed by, and we must accept of the 

Bitul)tion and do t"he best we can. It will be conceded, I think, by all 

that the buildings that h.:'\\e been put up are creditable to the coru1try. 

The celebration is to take place, and the only question is now as to 

what·is·our duty in the premises. It seems to me that we cannot afford 

to shirk ·all ·duty in a celebration of this character. Foreign nations 

have ah·eady 'Contributed lit>eral1y and several States have also con- trilmted to the success of the coming exhibition. The United States 

Government will be handsomely represented there, the War~ tlle Navy, 

the Interior Department and the Smithsonian Institution will make 

importa-nt -contributions, and we may very properly be asked to do 

somethiug. 

I know that my friend from Ohio says that he would prerer to 

make this appropriation in an open and manly manner, as Philadel- phia and Pennsylvania have done. If they have made their appropriation in an open and manly manner, as I do not dispute, I should 

have liked ver.v much to have copied their manner. They have provided that a building, which is to cost nearly a million of dollars, 

shall remain permanently for their future benefit. If I could have 

had my way, I would have made an appropriation for a building there 

in t-he shape of a national musuem of na1.ional history and of art, 

and in snell form, made of iron and ·other fire-proof materials, that it 

might have been brought to this city at the close of the celebration; 

for I feel sure that the contributions of the United States to the cen- teunial celebration are of so interesting~ character that they will immediately require a suitable place where they can be stored for all 

future time. It will ·be such a show as we shall have great reason to 

be proud of and to pre ·erve. Therefore I would have preferred to 

have copied the open and manly manner of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia in the construction of a building that we might have removed 

to this city at the close of the celebration; but it is ·too ilate for that 

purpose at the present time. . In relation to the constitutional question, let rue say this·: We have 

heretofore made appropriations for an international exhibition at 

Louuon, at Paris, a1i Vienna, and all at very considerable cost, author--

izing our own national vessels to be nsefl in the transportation of the 

articles to be exhibited. It is the-rp,fore too late to sa-y, if we ~an 

make these appropriations for an international exhibition abroad, 

tJw.t we have no power to make suc:.!J an appropriation f<'r an exhibi- tion here at home. This is to be our centennial celebration of American Independence. This central point of Philadelphia is to form the 

chief figure in that centennial celebration. It appears to me that we cannot afford to make a sorry figure of shirking a-ll expense at that 

time. The President, as he wa authorized to uo, has invited foreign 

guests, and we must be at home. I, therefoH•, aru in favor of ncb an a,ppropriation as will not suffer our name to be disgraced on the 

occasion ; and having given out the invitations, as we hav~ done·, and which have been accepted by at least thirty-eight of the mo t 

considerable nations upon the e:uth, who will come there with their 

!P'eat abundance of articles for show and exhibition, I think it is em- mently proper that we should do something, if not quite so much as Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. 

Bnt, beyond this, I am in favor of the general purposes of tills ex- hibition, because it is to work to the profit of the workingmen, of "the arti ana, of the whole United States. When our commissioners to the Paris and other foreign exhibitions returned they brought home 

ro.ports of all that they saw abroad. They were printed, so far as the 

Paris exposition ·is concerned, in six lar~e octavo volumes; and they were of almost priceless value. WI.Jcn this exhibit-ion shall have met, and the examination shall take place in relation to all the products of 

agriculture, oft he arts, and of man ufactnre , and a1l other articles t.hat 

will be contributed for exhibition, it will be found that those who are to make the most solid improvements therefrom and derive greatest 

benefit will be t-he workingmen and the skilled artllians of the United 

States. It will be their exhibition. I am therefore for it. 

Mr. McCREERY. Is it in order to offer an a·mendment at this timeT 

The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. ALLI o~ in the chair.) The 

amendment of t.he Senator from Vermont is now pending. 

Mr. CONKLING. But another amendment is in order. 

Mr. McCREERY. Then I will ofier a. substitute. I move to strike 

out aU after the t-itle of t.he bill and insert. what I send to tho Chair. _ The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky offers a substit ute, which will be reported. 

The CmEF CLERK. It is proposed to strike out the bill, including 

the preamble, and insert: . 

That. it be recommended to the people of the United States to assemble, on t.he 

4th of July next, in such numbers and manner as may be convenient, in their re- specti ve cities, towns, villages, neigh borhoOtls, or w here•er they may be, puulidy t{) t-estify theit· joy at the ono hundreuth r et.um of that auspicious day, by suitable eulo~es. orations, and discourses, or by pnblic prayer aml such relil.!ious excrci es and ceremonies as may be appropriate to the occasion and sanctioned by their own consciences. 

Mr. McCREERY. _Mr. Pre~idcnt, it will be observed at a glance 

t hat the propositions of the bill nnd the substitute are wiclely different. ·They seek to reach the same end, but by method8 of an opposite character. There is an entire change of pro:-,rramme. It is to the merit of 

this change t\lat I shall offer a few remarks. Whatever may be the 

fate of the amendment here, a~ enlightened public opinion will clecide 

that in every essential and in every particular it is more in harmony 

with the spirit of our free institutions than the novela,ncl expensive ruachiuery which it proposes to supersede. 

The amendment is national. It calls for a. celel)ration commensu- rate with the length an<I.1lreadth of the Union, or with the wide world 

over, whithersoever our countrymen may have wandered. The American cit-izen, wherever he may be, on the lancl or the sea, is invitecl to 

hail with j oy the one hundredth anniversary of""American freedom, 

Rejoicings will welcome the dawu on our en-stern shores and never cea e until the islands of the western ocean shall join in the strain. 

The hills of Canada will echo the· shouts, ancl the cattle-thieves of 

Mexico will flee from their stolen herds and hicle themselves in caves or thickest chaparral. Let us all take a hand in tbis great celebration. The bill before the Senate is sectional, and sectional favors or sec- tional wrongs, if persisted in, mny produce di gust, alienation, and 

enmity. The sad, the bitter experience of the past .is sufficient of 

itself to stifle all sectional views and to rally u as one man around 

the motto of "equal rights to all a!lil exclusive privileges to none." 

But it is worse than sectional; it is local. The appropriation, la.rge as it·is, is confined to one spot. Among all the cities of the United 

States a single one is selected to receive an appropriation or subsidy 

for an object in which all are equally interested. But it is worse than 

local; it is individual and personal. The donation goes not to the _ city of Philadclphia,but into the pockets of the stockholders of the 

centennial exhibition. TlJere is no pretense tha.t they are paupen'l, 

and, if they were, provision should be made by their own municipal 

authorities. There is no proof that they will lose anything upon 

their investment, and, if they do, they ought to share the fate of other 

speculators who have made unfortunate ventures. It must be that 

this donation is askeu to guard against that contingency, as the gov- ernor of Pennsylvania. more tha~ two years ago informed the President that their means were l'nfficient to erect suitable .buildings. 

How then can that joiut-stock company have the audacity to ask the 

Congress of the United St.ates to reach their hands into the Treasury 

and withdraw fifteen hundred thousand dollars, to be presented a a. gracious gift to that corporation, and I contend it will turn out to be 

nothing else, when the executive of Pennsylvania has officially an- nounceu to the Presiuent that their means are sufficient alr adyf There is soTJlething so supremely ridiculous iu the stat,ement that, 

although we are confronted by the fact, we scarcely recognize the 

reality. It ·is believed that the history of the legislation of the civilized world might be searched without finding a parallel, and that, 
1~76. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 967 

too, when the people are l::Lboring, suffering, and ~oaning under the 

weight of oppression which is taxing them to tno utmost of their 

energies and capa,cities. How sublime the patriotism, how wonderful ·the magnanimity, how gushing and self-sacrificing the generosity which halts not to inquire after facts, but presses eagerly forward to pour a princely ofiering into tho coffers of a private cor- poration, although the highest and best-informed authorities in the 

land have proclaimed under their hands and seals of office that the 

company ha-d already provided the means to carry out their enterprise ! 

If a statement ma.de by the governor of the Keystone State and 

indorsed by the President is to be questioned, where may we look 

for truth f Tho e who view the proclamation in the light of a treaty 

and deduce an obligation from its terms, have read the paper to little 

purpose, as .. instead of incurring, it is a positive guarantee against, 

obligation. The means have been pt·ovided. To this hour the Government is free from complication of any character; and I have an abiding hope, notWithstanding the heavy pressure, that the Senate of the 

United States will rise t.o the dignity of its earlier and better days, 

and, indi~nantly spurning all extraneous and misleading influences, 

will vindicate the Constitution of the country a,nd the rights of the 

people. 

I will not ask the Senator who reported this bill what amount of 

testimony was adduced before the committee in support of the claim. 

It might be embarrassing to him to have to say that no sworn statement was made, and that no affidavit, deposition, or other evidence was read, showing that the company needed any appropriation what- ever. I have seen the orphan meekly retiring from this Capitol 

without a cent when it had been established by proof clear as noon- day that under the order of one of your officers her house and her 

home had been destroyed. That economy went to the very verge of 

injustice. But she was a helpless exile from her birthplace, and may 

not be compared to a.corporatiou with a ca.sh capital of many millions. She had no money to pay the press to urge her cla,im· and no organized lobby to plead her cause. It is said that Alexander, during his migratory and victorious 

tramp, met a man who robbed the rich in order that he might be able. to give to the poor, while we-I leave the sentence unfinished. . But the paramount advantage of the substitute over the bill arises 

from the fact that it invokes the general co-operation of the religiolUl 

element, an element which, when sincere, has my profound respect 

and veneration. Counterfeits there are; but the genuine coin shines 

only the more bricrhtly in consequence. Hypocrites and knaves may 

debase and degrade themselves, but they cannot defile the altar nor shake the all-pervading hope and faith in the goodness and mercy of 

God. Let prayers ascend from ten thousand churches and let ten 

thousand choirs sound their highest and sweetest notes in anthems of 

thanksgiving n.nd praise. . I shall pursue the contrast between the commemorative characters 

of the two plans or propositions submitted in the bill and the substitute. Will there be anything at the Philadelphia exposition calculated to revive the memories of the revolutionary struggle 7 If old 

Stephen Hopkins, with his broad-brimmed hn.t and his pa,lsied limbs, 

could rise from his grave n.nd visit it while in full blast, he might 

mistake it for an Oriental hazar, but he would see or hear little that 

would remind him forcibly of what tmnspired one hundred years ago. 

Will the gay throngs of ple'Mure-seekers who glitter and flit like butterflies through Fairmount Park ever stop to think of Valley Forge, 

the Heights of Abmham, ancl King'.s Mountn.in, n.ncl Ti~onderoga, and 

the great Jehovah and the Continenta,l Congress, and the crossing of 

the Delaware, when the frozen ground was dyed red with the blood 

that trickled from the naked feet of the soldiers T - The legal mind of Mr. Evar-ts will be apt to overlook these and 

kindred topics; but what a field for the five thousand Fourth-of-July 

orators called into service by the substitute! Their eloquent recital 

would draw the briny tear from many a gra.y-headed sire and from 

many a b1·ight-eyed boy, who will never pa.ss the guarded gates of 

Fairmount Park. Will you chill their enthusiasm and crush out 

their inspiration by len.ving them to brood in silence over the melancholy retlection that, although they n.re unable to join in your festivities, they may at least ~o to work to pay the expensE's t 

A practical observa,twn now and then is not out of pla,ce even in 

this Senate of the United States. 

The last and greatest advantage claimed for the substitute ·is that 

it costs nothing. Reflecting men of all parties are looking with 

anxiety and apprehension and with dread foreboding upon the financinJ situn.tion of the country. They stand bewildered and appalled 

at the contemplation of our national, State, municipal, and individual 

illdebtedne s. How can we extricate ourselves from the difficulties 

and embarrassments that surround us f If it is done at all, it must 

be accomplished by the unwe-aried toil and by the productive energy 

of the people. They believe that they·are taxed enough already, and 

from one end of the land to the other the cry is for reform, for cur.: tailment of expenditure, and for an economical administration- of 

affairs. They are in earnest. Let no ma,n mistake their purpose; 

(J1·edit Mobilier passed the Congress of the United States. The-au-thors 

and supporters of that measure no doubt believed, a.s they pro~ssed 

to be engaged in a great work, that they would escape animadversion; but where are they now f Gone! and the places which-knew 

them may know them no more forever. . · 

I am not a candidate for a third term; I have no political aspirations, no personal or selfish ends to subserve; and from that independent position, I ask Senators to bewa-re how they trifle with the important interests intrusted to their keeping. We are the trustees of the 

people, the guardians and custodians of their hard-earned trea urcs. Let our conduct be such that an upright chancellor would approve our action. 

The newspapers have been industriously circulating" the idea that 

di grace would follow the failure of this appropriation. That ong were as well unsung, when it falls on the ears of men steadfastly re- solved· honestly to discharge their duty. 

What sort of government shall we have if all checks and all limitations to power are removed? Labor will be the prey of capital; 

the weak will be the victims of th strong; and de potism da,rk as night and cold a.s winter will spread its icy pall over the land. Where 

is the vigibnce of Old Hickory to guard, and where is the shield of 

Douglas to cover, our Constitution in the hour of its peril, and save it.from n. construction which renders it as worthless and as unsubstantial as the baseless fabric of a dream' 

Mr. CAMERON, of Pennsylvania. Mr. President, I am inclined to 

think that the proposition of the Senator from Kentucky is a goocl one. I like very well the idea of the Senator from Kentucky, and I 

will join with him if he will make his propo ition a separate bill. I 

shall be very sorry to see any amendment made to this bill, but I like 

the propo ition of the Senator from Kentncky and I will vote for it as a separate bill ; for I cannot imagine anything better than to have a jollification in every village and in every town and in every city in 

this broad country on the coming Fourth of July. I will go down to 

Owensborough and see my friend in the blue-grass country, because I 

know he will treat me kin illy and with great ho pitality; he will treat me and everybody else who comes there with the hospitality which I 

lmow will be extended by Philn.delphia and Pennsylvania to every one who goes there. The celebration at Philadelphia, is to last for 

months; but why can we not have a village celebration everywhere, 

and have the fiddle anu have the old contra-:uance-none of your 

new-fashioned affairs, but t.he old dance which wa.s danced in the tirrie 

of the Revolution f I would have all that revived. I would uuring 

the coming year revive everything that was jolly; and I would make 

everybody happy that I could make happy; and I .am sure that the 

Senator from Kentucky would be the most delighted of all delighted 

people to see everybody around him happy. He is not opposed to this 

exhibition, I am sure, but he believes tlla,t the people ought to have 

another opportunity-all the people. He says that will cost nothing . . Does it not cost a day's work lost by everybody who goes to have a country frolic t Let him look at home; every laborer who quits his 

workshop, every mechanic who leaves his place of business, every 

merchant who leaves his store to go and have a jollification loses a day's work surely, and the money be spends besides. Why should they 

not ha,ve an opportunity to do so if they desire it 1 I am for giving 

everybody that opportnnit~ But that docs not argue that we- shall 

not have a great international exhibition where everybody is coming, 

and where it is our duty to treat everybody well when he does come. It is no longer a question whether people will come; the invitations 

have gone out, and the host must be prepared to receive his guests, 

and receive them in such a way as will not only be creditable to him, 

but to those he invites to come and see him. 

I will only repen.t, that after this bill is pa.ssed, as I trnst it will be, 

if the Senator from Kentucky will bring up his proposition as a separate bill I will vote for it, and I will contribute out of my own purse 

to pay for part of it. 

Mr. MORTON. Mr. President, my friend from Kentucky offers as a substitute for the centennial exhibition in Philadelphia a proposition authorizing the people of the United States to have orations and 

prayers on the Fourth of July. My friend seems to be under the impression that he has not a right to orate or to pray without an .act of Congre~. But he offers the further argument in· favor of the prayers 

that they will cost nothin·g. If the prayers were to cost a,nything, I 

infer that my friend would be opposed to ~lie prayer . Mr. McCREERY. I would not appropriate anything for them. 

Mr. MORTON. Now, 1\fr. President, we have got into a condition 

where the question of undertaking thlli exhibition has long pas ed. 

This is a nationa,l undcCrtaJdng. It is tinder the control of two boards 

of directors, each of which was created by an act of Congress. The 

State of Pennsylvaniaha.s no power over it. We have passed two acts, 

first, creating a board of commissioners authorized to take charge of, 

conduct, and supeiintend this exhibition. We then created a corpo- - ration for the plirpose of ena,bling people to take stock, and have 

established a-board of financial managers; so that this thing is in ita 

origin a national affair. I call the attention of the Senate now to the 

first ~t of Congress to show that it was inaugurated here. It did 

not st~~rt, as some suppose, with the State of Pennsylvania, but it 

started in this Chamber. I read the first act passed in 1871: . 

Be it enacted by the Senate and HOU8e of Rep~entatives of the United States of 

America in Congress assembled, That an exhibition of American and foreign arts, 

prod1icta,· and manufactures shall be held, under the auspices of the Government 

of the. United States, in the oity of Philadelphia, iu the year 1876. 

Here we provide that this exhibition shall be held under the an- spices of the Government of the United States. It has been started, .. is being now conducted bv officers appointed by the.UnHed St.3.tes 

• 
968 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 9, 

It is called an international exhibition of arts, manufactures, and · products of the soil a,nd mine. Do we mean to say that it shall be an international exhibition, that is to say, between nations of the Old 

World on the one band and the Sta,te of Pennsylvania on the othed 

Is that what we mean by an international exhibition to provide for 

celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of American Independence 

by boldinfl a:p international exhibition of ''arts, products, and manu- factures t' The United States started this thing, is now conducting 

it, bas the exclusive control over it; and the simple question presented is whether we shall require the State of Pennsylvania or private citizens to pay the expenses T We have invited the nations of 

the world to come here, and thirty-eight have responded; some of 

them are now building houses upon the grounds; some of them have 

made appropriations to the amount of half a million dollars to 

make exhibition of their products, of their wealth; nnd the question 

is, after having done all this, shall we require somebody else to foot 

the bill t 

If it was an original proposition the question might be different; 

but we cannot turn back now without being disgraced. The State of 

Pennsylvania has given a milion dollars; she has acted nobly. The 

city of Phila-delphia has given a million and a half of dollars; and 

she has done well. Private citizens have contributed two millions 

and a half of dollars; theyhavedonewell. But still the managers lack a million and a half of dollars to carry out and conduct this great exhibition in a creditable manner; and now, after it has thus been com- menced and the guests are present-foreign na~ions have already come by their agents and representatives, and their goods are in Philadelphia, and they are building houses and making all the preparations-we propose to say to them, "We will not pay the expenses." 

As a matter of rhetoric jt is all well enough to talk about the Fourth 

of July; itiswell enough to talk aboutpra.yers. We have brought the 

nations of the world to our doors. The President has been authorized 

to invite them. They are coming. The contributions are not sufficient 

fora great national e~hibition. When the government of England held 

the first world's fair, did it a~k the counties 6f England, or the cor- poration of Manchester or of London to pay t.he expense 7 No; it was appropriated for by the llritisl1 Parliament. When the l<'rench 

government invited the world to go to Paris, did it put it upon the 

corporation of Lyons or of Paris to pay the expenses or ask private 

individuals to do so! Not at all; but the government of France, re- garding it as a great national affair, appropriated the money. When 

the Austrian government invited us and the rest of the world to go 

to Vienna, did they ask the corporation of the city of Vienna or priate persons t.o pay the expenses t Not a bit of it. It was regarded a-s a national affair, and the whole amount was at once appropriated out of the treasury of the government of Austria. Here we invite the nations of the world to come; send abroad our invitation on the hundredth year of our national independence, a great national 

event, and we are willing to do so provided somebody else will pay 

the expense! It seems to me that a proposition of that kind needs 

onJy to be stated that it may be despised. 

Mr. President, I look forward to this great exhibition with pride 

and hope. We shall show to the world in a way that we cannot by 

orations and by prayer-meetings, that do not cost anything, what prog- ress has been ma.de in ope hundred years under free institutions. 

We sbaU·show to the world what our country produces, what it is 

capable of. It will be ~he grandest invitation that ha~ ever been ex- tended to the world to come here. We shall present the grandest inducements for the best people of the Old World to come and live with 

us, take up their homes here. We shall show to them what we are. It will be the best advertisement for free institutions and for the industry, the skill, and the intelligence of the UnU.ed States that ever bas been made or that can possibly be made. I should like to give 

this million aud a half, not considering it a donation, not considering 

it a gratuity, but makinfS it as an appropriation to a legitimate and 

highly honorable and a highly useful purpose. I would not· hamper 

it with the conditions that are in this bill. I am very sorry to see them; and I think there is one that is entirely illegitimate, because 

it is provided that this money shall be repaid to the United States 

after the debts of the company are paid "before any dividend or percentage of the profits shall be paid to the holders of said st.ock." We 

cannot make t.bat arrangement without violating a. contract. We 

have before created a corporation and have autbo1·ized men to subscribe stock, and ~e have provided by the tenth section of that act _ that after the debts are paid the proceeds of the property shall be 

divided p1·o rata among the stockholders. We cannot come in now and make the United States a preferred creditor or a preferred stockbolder. If we were to treat it as a loan, that might be a different 

thing; but it is not proposed to make it a loan. If we are to become 

stockholders, we cannot become preferred stockholders. It is a violation of the contract with every man who has subscribed 10 to the 

corporation. The Senator from Vermont [Mr. EDMUNDS] proposes that the board 

shall consent to it. How can the board consent for the stockholders T 

Every lawyer kriows that that cannot be done. Stockholders can only 

consent for themselves. But, Mr. President, I am willing to vote for 

this bill as it is for the reasons given by the Senator from Pennsylvania, believing that Congr..e&S l:,wre~r will not hesitate to repeal that provision in this b:ill.: · 

The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. ALLisoN in the chair.) The 

question is on the amendment proposed by the Senator from Vermont, 

LMr. EDMUNDS,] which will be read. · The CHIEF. CLERK. The amendme:q.t is to add to section 2 : 

And only after the centRnnial comrirlssioners and the centennial board of finance 

shall respectively file in the 'l'reasnry Department of the United St.ates a resolution duly passed declaring their assent to the provisions of this a{lt. 

The .amendment was rejected; there being on a division-ayes 12, noes 31. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question now is on the amendment proposed by the Senator from Kentucky [Mr. McCREERY] as a. substitute. Mr. McCREERY. I ask for the yeas and nays. 

The yf>as and nays were ordered. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Let the amendment be read. • The CHIEF CLERK. Th~ proposed amendment is to strike out the 

preamble and all after the enacting clause of the bill, and in lieu 

thereof to insert: 

That it be recommended to the people of the United States to assemble on the 

4th of JulY. next, in such numbers and manner as may be convenient, in their re- spective ctties, towns, villages, neighborhoods, or wherever th y may be, publicly to testify their joy at the one hundredth return of that auspicious day by suitable 

eulogies, orations, and discourses, or by public prayers and such religwus exer-

~~sc:~~c'f:~~:~nies as may be appropriate to the occasion and sanctioned b:. their 

The Secretary proceeded to call the roll. 

Mr. COCKRELL, (when his name was called.) I am paired in part 

with the Senator from Michigan, [Mr. CHRISTIANCY.] \Verebe here, 

be would vote "nay" on this amendment, and I should vote "yea." 

Mr. DAVIS, (when his name was called.), On all questions con- nect-ed with this bill I am paired with the Sepator from Ohio, [Mr. 

SHERMAN.] If present, he would vote "yea" and I should vote "nay17 

on this amendment. · Mr. NORWOOD, (when his name was called.) On the main ques- tion I am paired with my colleague, [.Mr. GoRDON.] I suppose he 

would vote <c nay" on this amendment, and I decline to vote. The call of the roll was concluded. 

Mr. ANTHONY. My colleagne, [Mr. BuRNSIDE,] whose name was not answered to, is detained at home by severe illness in his family. 

The result was announced-yeas 12, nays 45; as follows: 

YEAS-Messrs. Alcorn1 Cooper, Eaton, Goldthwaite, Kernan, Key, McCreery, 

Stevenson, Thurman, Waaleigh, Whyte, and Withers-12. 

NAYS-Messrs. Allison, Anthony, Bayard, Booth, Boutwell, Bruce, Cameron of 

Pennsylvania, Cameron of Wiscons1n, Caperton, Clayton, Conkling, Conover. Cragin, Da'\Vt>!l, Dennis, Dorsey, Edmunds, English, Ferry, Frelinglioy en. Hamlin, 

Harvey, Hitchcock, Ingalls, Jones of Florida, Jones of Nevada, .McDonaJd1 McMil· 

Ian, Maxey, .Mitchell, Morrill of Maine, Morrill of Vermont. Morton, lesoy, Pad- dock~ Patterson, Randolph, Ransom, Robertson, Sargent, Spencer, Wallace, West, 

Winaom and Wrigh~5. 

AnSEkT-Messrs. Bogy, Burnside, Christiancy, Cockrell, Dans, Gordon Hamilton, Howe, Johnston, Kelly, Logan, Merrimon, Norwood, Saulsbury, and Sher- man- 15. 

So the amendment was rejected. 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Is it in order at this time to move to strike out 

the preamble T 

The PRESIDENT pro tempo1·e. It is. 

Jtlr. EDMUNDS. I move to strike out the preamble. The preamble is inaccurate both in regard to dates, and in certain respects, as I 

construe it, in regard to facts. As we get the substance of the thing 

without this. long recital, I think it quite important that the preamble 

should be struck out. 

Mr. CAMERON, of Pennsylvania. I hope we shall not make any 

such amendment. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Vermont moves to amend the bill by strikiug out the preamble. 

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. If that motion should prevail, of course it would involve the necessity. of sending the bill back to the House 

of Representatives. It is not a material part of the transaction, any 

way. If it were an original proposition, I should be in favor of striking it out; but a~ it is immaterial in i t.s effect on the bill, I trust it 

will not be stricken out. I trust, therefore, the motion will not 

prevail. · The PRESIDENT pro tempo1·e. The question is on the amendment 

of the Senator from Vermont to strike out the preamble. 

The amendment W9.S rejected, there being on a division-ayes 18, noes 34. · :Mr. EATON. ~Ir. President, if we are joining ourselves to a cor- poration here and are to be regarded as one of the stockholders, I 

desire to have the bill amended. Let us look at it : 

Provided, Tbat in the distribution of any moneys that ml}y remain in the treaRury 

of the centenniaJ board of finance after payment of ita debts, as provided for by 

the tenth section of the act of Congress aJ?proved June 1, 1872, incorporating said 

centennial board of finance, the appropriation hereinbefore made shall be paid in 

full into the Treasury of the United Stn.tes before any dividend or percentage of 

the pro:fita shall be paid to the holders of said stock. · 

I disagree with the Senator from Vermont in regal'd to the meaning 

of the term "dividend," and therefore I desire to amend so as to 

make it read: "before any dividends to the stockholders upon their 

capital stock, or .percentage of the profits shall be paid to the hold-
• 

1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 969 

ers of said stock." After the word "dividend," in the seventeenth 

line, I move to insert "to the stockholders upon their capital stock." 

If this is a corporation, I do notwant any dividends marle until after the United States as one of the corporators shall come in. There- fore I desire to have the amendment made. 

Mr. SARGENT. I shall vote. against the amendment because it is 

in direct conflict with the tenth section of the a-ct incorporating the 

centennial board. With the construction placed upon it by the Senator from Connecticut., made certain by this amendment, we violate 

the provisions gf the original incorporation. The language in that 

section is too plain to be misunderstood, and certainly it conferred 

rights upon the stockholders, and the United States is bound in 

good faith to observe those rights. Section 10 provides: 

Tha.taa soon as practicable, after the said exhibition shall have been closed, il shall 

be the duty of s.1.id corporation to couvert its property into cash, and, after the pay- ment of all its liabilities, to divide its r emaimng assets among its stockholders, pro 

rata, in full satisfaction and discharge of it.s capital stock. 

I do not see how we are to come in at the present time with an amendm~nt that takes a. way the right of these stockholders to receive 

their pro rata of the proceeds of the sale of the old property of the ex- hibition. That in itself is conclusive in my mind against the amendment. 

Mr. KEY. I should 1ike to a,sk the Senator one question. If the 

corporation accept this gift with this condition, will they not be bound 

by itf 

Mr. SARGENT. Yes, sir; provided the assent be given at a general meeting of the stockholders, who are the only parties who ca.n release their rights. 

Mr. KEY. Or by those representing the stockholders, probably. 

Mr. SARGENT. No, I think not. I do. not think there is a representation in that sense, or that there is anybody able to represent 

them; but such a meeting of the stockholders is impracticable. There are thousands of these stockholders putting in as low, I believe, in some cases, as a dollar, and from that to twenty dollars-large num- bers of them. To get them together to give this consent is impracticable until another century shall have elapsed. 

Mr. KEY. I take it that the stockholders are represented by the 

officers they elect. 

Mr. SARGENT. I think not. 

Mr. MORRILL, of :Maine: I desire to say one word in regard to the 

amendment of the Senator from Connecticut. That Senator referred 

to the position taken by the Senator from Vermont in justification or as the reason why his amendment should be adopt.ed. The Senator 

from Vermont takes occasion to advise the Senate that they may be 

called upon for $2~000,000 or more hereafter. If that should be so, it 

will grow ont of the fact that the centennial exposition does not yield a surplus of funds after paying expenses.. I think that would be a very unhappy position if it were so; but upon ti.Je probability that it 

is so, on which my friend from Connecticut proposes his amendment, 

I submit to him that it is not of the slightest consequenC!3 to adopt 

his· amendment. If there are no a-ssets to be divided, and instea{} of 

there being anything to be divided we are to be called on for a still• larger appropriation, he :will see that it is not of the slightest conse- quence to insert this amendment. 

The Committee on Appropriations had under consideration the con- struction which would be placed on this provision of the bill ; and 

to say the best of it and the most of it, it is dubious precisely what 

the effect of it will be when you come to a division of assets, if assets are to be presumed. We would have been glad if it had not been 

here ; but to send the bill back to the House of Representatives was, 

if not to defeat the whole object of the bill, at any rate to a very 

great extent to impair its beneficence. In that view, considering it 

somewhat immaterial, or at any rate in doubt, the committee thought it 

wise to report the bill back to the Senate and recommend its passage 

without amendment; because everybody can see who desires to favor 

this enterprise and to give it a generous support that you cannot 

afford to delay it one moment; and therefore I submit that no amendment which is not considered an exigency ought by any means to be 

put upon the bill. 

I hope, the~fore, that the amendment of the Senator from Connecticut will not prevail, e.nd I submit to him whether he deems it 

very important himself. • Mr. EATON. If the Senator from Vermont is right in supposing 

that this corporation will come knocking at the doors of Congress 

hereafter for another million and a half, then the amendment is cer- tainly a matter of no moment; but I am not bound to say whether I 

think the Senator from Vermont is right or not in that conjecture. I 

propose to amend the bill a,s well as I can, so that if there should be 

anything left the Government of the United States may get its full 

share. I am not bound to say that I think it will be a success ; I am not bound to say that I think or do not think that there will be hereafter another installment called for within two or three months. I 

offer the amendment in good faith. 

The PRE~IDENT pro tempore. · The question iB on the amendlnent 

of the Senator from Connecticut. 

The amendment was rejected. 

Mr. EATON. 'Mr. President, it looks as though it was a foregone conclusion that this bill shall pass just as it is, with all its inaccuracies and all its untrnths. Everything that is false in the preamble 

we are to vote for. I do not propose to make an extended speech, for 

it would be folly fur a man to waste his t.ime in so doing on a questi.m 

that is prejudged; but I owe something to myself, something to my 

State, and something to the country. I am opposed to this bill on principle. The very distinguished Senater from Vermont says that 

he doubted originally the power of Con~ress to appropriate money for 

purposes such as are described in the b1ll, but he bas, upon examination, become satisfied that Congress possesses that power. I have 

upon examination become satisfied that Congress has no such power; 

and I go further, and s'ay that there is not one single piece of legislation from 1800 down to to-day like unt-o tb is. The purchase of Lou isi- ana has been alluded to; the grant of money to Lafayette has been 

alluded to, and fifty other things have been alluded to as being like 

unto this thing. They are no more alike than a chestnut horse is like a horse-chestnut. We owed a debt to Lafayette-a great debt. We 

paid it partly, as we paid pensions to om soldiers. We purchased 

Louisiana because the administration at that time believed that it was absolutely necessary, and there is not a Senator on this floor who 

does not know that Mr. Jefferson himself had great doubts with -re- gard to the power, but he deemed that the occa,sion demanded the 

exercise even of a doubtful power. 

This is making us a stockholder in a private corporation, legislating 

the United Sta.tes into a. private corporation as one of its stockholders. 

There never has been any l~gislation Jike it. But, sir: I will not go 

into the constitutional argument at length. I simply want to put myself right before too people. In my judgment Congress has no such 

power, and therefore I cannot vote for the bill. · Again, if I ha.d no constitutional . scruples, if I believed that Congress possessed the full power to pass this bill and appropriate this 

money, I would not vote for it to-d~y. I would uot vote for it in 

view of the misery there is now in every State, in every county, 'in 

every city, in every township, in every hamlet of this broad land. 

Sir, what is the debt of this country to-day; its national, its Sta~e, 

its county, its municipal debt T How mnch is it f It is more than 

$8,000,000,000. Sir, more than $700,000,000 a year is taken out of the 

hard earnings of the people of this country annually in the shape of 

taxes to pay the interest on their indebtedness. And yet Senat.ors are called upon to add another million and a half; preans are sung, 

Fourth-of-July orations are made, and grave Senators undertake to use offensive language on thi5 floor and tell Senators it is mean, dishonorable, unjust not to do so and so. Snch language is unworthy 

of this Senate. Is a Senator upon this floor mean, is he dishonorable, 

because he will not ·further load the people with debt f Sir, I scorn language of that cha:rncter, no matter from what source it comes. I am here as one Senator to do my duty toward my State arid the people of this country; and I am not to be told by any Senator that the 

people are disgraced by pursuing a course of action that t.he Constitution warrants and that common honesty induces me to pursue. 

Pay the debt ; pay the interest npon your obligations; do not tax 

the people $730,000,000 ~nnually; reduce your expenditures, not in- crease them; cut them down wherever you can ; relieve the people 

of some part of this vast amount of taxation which hangs over them. 

That is my duty ; and I am not to be told that either my country or my State or myself is dishonored because I pursue a course of this 

cbaracter. 

We are told that the President of the United States was instructed 

by Congress to invite foreign powers here, and therefore we are d'ishonored if we do not give this amount of money. The President of 

the United States was instructed to invite forei&'n powers here under 

certain provisions of h~w, which were read by tne Senator from Vermont; and if any of our public servants abroad in seuding these invitations failed to do their dut.y, let us disavow their act, disavow it as the Senate of the United Stat.es ought to do, and not say because a foreign minister has failed to do his duty we dare not do ours. This was not a public act of the United States at all, because the whole 

world knew that the Congress of the United States hail said that 

under no circumsta.nces would it become liable for one single dollar 

of expense on this account; and yet we are told that the country is 

dishonored if the act of Congress is lived up to. 

:Mr. President, I do not quite understand that logic. It is logic 

learned in a school that I know nothing about. The Congress of the 

United States has said to the President of the United States that in 

extending his invitation to foreign powers this 'Government would 

not be bound for one dollar of the expenses attending this great ex- position. Now we are told that if we carry out the law of Congress we dishonor the country. Sir, I hope I am as alive to the honor of my 

country as any other Senator on this floor. I trust that I shall be the 

last man, or among the last, to do anything to dishonor the fair fame 

of the United States. I do r.ot well see how I am doing it when I 

stand upon the very legislation of Congress with regard to this very 

matter. 

Mr. President, I did not intend to consume half the time I have 

occupied. I simply desire my own people-who are as deeply interested a.s any other people can be-to know my views. They ·are a manufacturing people, full of the arts, and they will be represented. 

My State has ~ven money and her liberal and wealthy men have 

poured out the1r money for this exhibition at Philadelphia. I desire 

the people of my State to know that I stand upon the Constitution 

and by the laws of Congress as passed heretofore with regard t.o this 
970 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 9, 

very exposition, and therefore I have deemed it my duty to myself to sa:v the little I have said on this supject. ~ 

Mr. MAXEY. Mr. President, if I can have the attention of the 

Senate for a few moments I will give brie.fly the reasons why I shall 

support the measure now pending. 

The prealflble of the Constitution reads: 

We, the people of the Unit(ed States, in order to formamore·perfectunion, estab· 

lish justice insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote 

the rreneral' welfare, and Sflcure the blessin.!;s of liberty to oursel"t"es and _our pos· 

terity, do ordain and est.'l>ulish this Constitution for tlie United St:l.tes of America.. 

There are six great objects set forth in that preamble why the Constitution was made:· A more perfect union, justice, domestic tranquillity, the commQn defense, the general welfare, nml the grand pur- pos~ of securing the blessings of liberty to the fr~mers of ~he Constitution, the people of the United States, and therr posten~y forever. 

I believe the Constitution carries out by apt. and appropnate words 

every one of these great objects name~. ~ believe that the purp?se 

an.d desi(J'n of the framers of the Const1tnt10n and of the States wh1ch 

in conve~tion assembled ratified that Constitution are fully carriecl out 

in apt and appropriate words in the body of the Constitution. So believing, I bave not been troubled with these doubts in regard to the 

constitutionality of this measure that seem to have troubled some .gen tlemcn. 

I reganl this measure, Mr. President, as tending to form a more perfect union; I regard this measure as conducing t~ domestic tranquillity; and for these reasons, if I had no others, I would support it. 

.But, sir, if I had a doubt in regard to it, when I look to the great train 

of precedents commencing in 1791 ancl winding up with the last precedent when the waters of the Mississippi had overflowed a whole 

country and put people at the point of starvatioq, when the grasshopper was infesting the Western Stat-es, I take it for granted that 

when we have these precedents, which have been voted for and advodted and approved by such men as Jefferson, Henry Clay, Daniel 

Webster, and the great master-mind of Mr. Calhoun himself, that 

doubt would be resolved in favor of the measure, more especially as I reo-anl the end and aim to be accomplished as right in itself. 

]}{;.President; we have passed through a great war. That war, like ·au other civil wars, left some of its bad efiects iu the minds of the 

people. Passions were engendered, and it was difficult to allay those 

passions. I believe that those passions are gradua.Uy giving way and 

that the count.ry is coming back to the condition of peace again. I 

have seen t.he good effects of an intermingling of the people North, 

South, East, and West. A few years ago a delegation from the Congress of the United States passed tmough the State which I have the 

honor in part to represeut, from the Red River to the Gulf of l\1exico, 

and wherever they went they were received by the people with all 

tho hospitality that the people of the South are proverbial for; and 

when they returned home, even as far as Maine, they scattered the news wherever they went that the people of Texas at lea-st were not 

the character of people which they had been represented to be, but 

that they were hospitable and sociable. . · · :Mr. President, another great occasion did still more good than that. 

I shouid say in.regard to that that it was the initial point of that intermingling of the people north and south which culminated last year 

in the audition of aOO,OOO to the popnlatiou of our State, a large por- _tiou of whom came from the Northern States. When you had the 

centennials at Concord and Lexington and Bunker Rill last year, ·when men who went from the Sout.h to Massachusetts were received _there with ovations by tne people of New England, it showed the 

people of the South that when you struck the great heart of the peo- . pl~ t~ere was no animosity left, but that the soldi~rs who had worn. the 

blue and worn the gray met like brethren, carrymg out the great Idea 

of Bayard Taylor, that 

The bravest are the tend.erest The loving are the daring. 

Mr. Presid('lnt, this at Philadelphia will be on a grander scale. ·There you will see not only people from the North and from the 

South, from the East and from the West, but peopl13 from all parts of =the world will be there. Let the people of the great sections of this ·Union meet together; let them pass day after day and week after 

week together, knowing each other. The people of the North will see that the people of .the South are men like thems~lves, having no -malice toward the North on account of the war; and the people of. :the South will see the same of those of the North. This intermingling 

of the people will have a happy intlu(:lnce, in my judgment, and will do more toward breaking down the asperities of the war and bringing 

the people together than any other one thing. 

-' That is the view I take of it; and if that be the result, even par- ·tially, the million and a half of dollars will b~ well spent. Ii we can 

form a more perfect Union, if fraternal concord between the various ·sections of the country can be promoted by this measure, the money 

will be well expended. But, sir, in an economic point of view, as was sng~sted by one of the gentlemen who have spo_ken, I would v?~for 

it on that account. In the vaults of the banks m the North millions 

and millions of dollars are locked up. Capitalists cannot receive em- ployment for their money; money cannot be loaned at any reasonable 

interest; while the people of the South, with their _magnificent ·lands, their undeveloped country, cannot obtain money upon any 

terms. Let the people become better acquainted with each other and 

that want of confidence, whlch is the foundation and corner-stone of 

all the trouble that is in the country at this time, will disappear. Let 

the people of the North, South, East, and West come together and 

know each other, and it will go greatly toward restoring confidence; 

and, when confidence is restored ag'ain, peace and prosperity will follow. 

These, Mr. President, are a few of the reasons that induce me to 

vote for the measure. I believe it will be a measure in the interest of 

peace. I believe it will be a measure in the interest of prosperity. I 

want to Hee this whole country prosper. I know that there are men who seem to regard anything which may be saic.l. by one like myself, 

who in the last great war wore the gray and fought under the ban- ner::~ of the confederacy, as not.being sincere, as coming only from the 

lips.' But, sir, I want the people of the Union to know that these 

gentlemen around me from the extreme Southern States have, upon 

every occasion, so fa.r as the vote has been taken, voted for this measure, because they want peace, they want prosperity, they want 

that fraterna.l union which was designed by our forefathers when they 

framed the Constitution. I want to seeA union of States none can sever A union of hearts and a tmion of hands, 

And the flag of our Union forever. 

When I took the oath before the Vice-President, whose death was commAmorated the other day in the Senate, to support the Constitution of the United States, I meant what I said. I meant that I waut 

that Constitution carried out in full faith; I meant that I want the 

six great objects which are named in the preamble to the Constitution carried out to the letter; I meant that I want a more perfect 

Union; I meant that I want domestic tranquillity; I want justice 

established in every part and parcel of this great countr~; and I ~ant 

the common defense provided for, and the general welfare prov1detl . for, and I want the hberties of the American people secured now and 

forever. Let us come together, burying our little sectional animosities, and act like one great people, standing together for the Union; 

and I say it, who .fought against that Union to the best of my ability. 

Let us stand up together and remember that brave men following 

out their convictions, according to the way they believed tho right to 

be, may differ. The man who cannot understand that on a tlifference 

of judgment honest men may differ knows nothing of human nature. 

Take a jury of the country, which ha-s heard the same testimony and 

the same arguments, and received the same charge from the court. 

That jury go out, honest men, and they differ. Can you say that one part of that jury is honest and another part dishonestY When you 

submit •a constitutional question to the highest judicial tribunal 

known to America, you futd the court divided, as has often been t-he ca..se recently in our Supreme Court. Can you say that one part of 

that court is honest and another part dishonest f And when you come to a great national question such as brought on the late civil war, I ask 

you as honest men can you say that one part, uecause they thought one way, were just and right, and the other treacherous and wrong T Sir, 

the causes which brought about the war commenced away back iri the 

earlier portion of our history. A little thread will spring out from the 

main body of the Mississippi through the levee; it cannot be seen; but 

year after year it grows and gains strength; the water presses into it, 

and after a while a tremendous crevasse comes, and the whole country 

is flooded with a great waste of water. So it was in this late war. The 

conflict of ideas which ultim~tely resulted in civil war began years and 

years ago. A little thread just at the outset of the Union, wa-s going on gathering strength, gathering power, gathering force·, unt!-1 after a while this conflict of ideas, this wa,r of I":Onvictions, became a war in 

fact, and resulted in such a civil war as the world never saw before . Can you tell me that you were right and I was wrong f Can I say to 

you, sir, t.hat I wa-s right and you were wrong 'I I give to the men who fol1owed their convictions acconling to what they conceived to 

be the right credit for honesty. I claim for the people of my country 

the same honesty. I believe that when the people of the North and 

the South, the East aud the West, me~t and talk together, when they 

again come together face to face and talk over these matters, it will 

do more to break down the asperities still outcropping from the lato war than all things else put together. For these reaMns I believe 

this centennial celebration, whtch will be on a grander scale than 

anything of tbe kind in America before, will have great good. . I hav~ another rea£on for supporting this bill. I see gentlemen from 

the North almost solidly vote for this centennial exposition to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of American Independence. Sir, 

when I remeru her that my ancestors on both sides were in the revolutionary war, struggling for the liberty and independence of the Ameri- can Colonies; when I know that Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, ancl Georgia sent out their full quota of men to that seven-yearslong and desperate struggle, and t.hat their sons fought for the liberty 

and independence of the St.ates which had declared themselves free 

and independent on the 4th of July, 1776, I, a-s one of the descendants 

of the men who were in that struggle, claim the right to be repre- sented at the centennial anniversary of their work. I claim, as one ofthedescenuants of the men whogavetoAmericaherliberty, theri&ht 

to be represented, and I claim for my constituents the same rignt. 

Sir, I represent in part t.he State of Texas, whose galla.ntry has never yet been questioned. Go to the Alamo. Unlike Thermopy1oo the 

Alamo had no one left to tell the story. Go to San Jacinto which 

gave birth to a Republic. Go to Mexico; go into this late war; trace 

• 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD~ 971 

it from Gettysburgh to Arizona, and wherever you go you will find 

the gallant soldier of Texas baring his breast to leaden hail and the 

storm of shot and shell, never turning his back, but always to the 

front. I represent such men; and I say to the Senate of the United 

States that the men whom I represent entertain the same opinion that 

I do, and I am speaking the sentiments of the great and glorious State 

which I in part repre ent when I express the views that I have ex- pressed here to-day. I shall vote for the bill for the e reasons and 

many others that I might give, but which I do not think it necessary 

to enumerate. 

:Mr. President, I apolo~e to the Senate for speaking so long as I 

have. When I got np I nad no expectations of occupying five minutes. . Mr. WITHERS. 1\!r. President, I had not designed entering upon 

this debate to-day, but finding it apparently the purpose of the friends 

of the bill to push it to a vote before we adjourn, I feel it due to myself and to the people whom I represent to express my dissent from 

this bill. I shall do it in a few brief words, so that the friends of the measure shall not be long dehyed on my account in the consumma- tion of their wishe~. 

I belong, Mr. President, to th~t class of now apparently antiquated men who revere the Constitution and regard its obligations as paramount to all others. I have listened with careful attention to the 

progress of this debate to find upon what constitutional provision its 

friends predicate this measure. I have listened in vain. True, my 

friend from Texas, who la..st addressed you, found in the preamble of 

that instrument the authority of law for the appropriation which is 

sought. But we have not in times past been accustomed to look to 

preambles for law and to preambles as defining what were constitutional rights and duties. I shall not, however, amplify this view of 

the subject, because I know that I speak but to the idle wind when I 

urge a constitutional objection 'l..S applicable to any measure which 

this body may think proper to pass. . I oppose the bill, however, not only on constitutional ~rounds, but 

because it is in my opinion contrary to the soundest prinCiples of good 

government, to the interests of our whole people, North and South, t.o establish the precedent which will be established by the passage of ·this bill, that it is right and proper for the Con!!Tess of .the United 

States to make au appropriation to a private st.ock company~ I join 

issue with the distinguished Senator from Indiana who a-sserts in the 

most flogmatic phrase that this is a national enterprise. I point to its 

inception and to the various steps taken in the progress of the legislation of the country to the present moment to vindicate my asser- tion when I declare that it is naught but a privat.e enterprise, a jointstock concern for the purpose of making money. Its organization indicates it. The provisions which have been so repeatedly quoted here 

of the act under which it was organized go to show that like any 

other joint-stock company, a bank, a life insurance, a transportation, a railroad, or any other company, it makes provision for the 1ssue of 

stock and ultimately when its purpose shall have been completed for 

the division of its assets among the corporators. In no essential particular does it differ from any other stock company, except in this one particul:u, that aid is asked of the Government of the United States 

to give it such a degree of nationality as will induce foreign people 

to send their contributions to the exhibition. . If time were allowed me, and if I were not conscious that I am 

trespassing on the attention of the Senate, I would go more elaborately into the act of incorporation and the subsequent act..s of Congress on the subject to establish the position I have stated. My 

friends urge me to go on, but my own sense of propriety must make me cut short my rem<trks, aud make them as brief as possible. 

As the next point of objection to this joint-stock enterprise, I urge . the disingenuous manner in which it has been brought before Congress. I do not charge any intentional decept"on in the matter; but 

if you will trace the history you will find that each application to 

Congress for recognition has been coupled with the assurance that it 

would involVe no charge on the Treasury, and that not a dollar of 

appropriation should be asked for; and the distinguished Senator 

from Pennsylvania, in his remarks to the Senate, adinitted the fact 

that he secured this recognition by Congress on the assurance that 

not one dollar should be asked from Congress in furtherance of this 

scheme. NoJV, when that recognition has been 1ssured, after Congress has given it the recognition a..sked, coupled with this assurance, 

these same friends of the measure come forward and base upon that ver.v recognition the claim that we shall pay one million and a half 

of dollars a,s a bonus to this joint-stock company to enable them to ·carry out their wishes and purposes. And the Senator from Indiana 

indignantly denounces any opposition to this measure as indecent, as dishonest, as mean, because, forsooth, as he asserts, the national honor 

is involved in carrying it through its glorious consummation in a manner worthy of this nation; and yet the distinguished Senator 

himself, in the very argument which he used to convince lll:i of its ·nationality, brought forward, to my mind, most conclusive evidence 

that it lacked that essential element, failing in which his whole re- marks fell to the ground. He quoted the example of other nationalities. He showed us that in England, in Fmnce, in Austria, in each 

and every case where a national exhibition of this kind had been inaugurated the expenses were paid by the government. And yet here w~ are charged with being mean for opposing au appropriation, when, .if the meanness was perpetrated at all, it was by your Congress in, 

the act passed to recognize the nationality of this enterprise, because they coupled it di<~tinctly with the asseveration that, although yo11 

be invited here and asked to participate, you are to do it at your own expenRe, which constituted the essence of meanness that 1 he Senator 

from Indiana so indignant ly denounces. If there has been any mean- ness, it has not been on the part of those who oppose this mea trre, 

but it has been on the part of Congress who previously enacted the 

law under which you now claim recognition for this as a national 

enterprise. · National honor is saicl to be involved. Sir, it was well remarkecl by 

the Senator from Vermont that if we designed this as a grand national 

festival, to which we had invited the · people and the world to come and unite wit h us iu glorification of our republican im~titntions 

that they might see the degree of development which·was possible 

nuder the beneficent influences of republican iaws, it would have been more comrsensurate with our dignit.y as a nation, and with the hospi.: 

tality to which we have invited them, to have imitated the example 

of England and France and An tria and footed all the bills of those 

who brought their products here to enable us to ma.ke this show and 

demonstrate what we desire. 

But, sir, I find that I am wandering rapidly away into a line of re- mark which would cause .me to occupy more time than I designed 

to do on the qu<:stion now. I have merely one thing t.o say in con- clusion; and that is that my hostility to this bill does not have its 

origin in any indisposition to celebrate in the most appropriate way 

this centennial alliliversary of the birth of this Union. Sir, the State 

which I have the honor to represent had as much to do with our ex- istence as a Union as any other State whatever. She has labored as strongly, her sons have fought as nobly, her statesmen have labored as assiduouRly and effectively in consummating this Union as those 

of any other State within the broad limits of the nation. Sir, her 

statesmen stood by the very birth of this Government, and with their 

firm hand steadied the reeling pillarR of the infant State and fixed 

them on the :firm ba..sis of a free Constitution, and I venture to assert 

that Virginia will be the last to turn her back on that sacred instru- ment whose framing she bore so conspicuous a part in. But·, sir, 

although it has been intimated that opposition to this bill from gentle- men hailing from the locality from which I come would be misinterpreted and misconstrued, I say that I would feel myself unworthy of 

the position I occupy here as a representative of Virginia if I were a harned or afrai(l to meet any and every responsibility b'TOWing out 

of my position a.nd to cast my vote on this floor in accordance with 

the dictates of my own convictions of right and propriety. 

1\fr. President, I will not longer delay the vote upon this measure by 

any remarks which I have to make. · The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is.on ordering the bill 

to be read a third time. 

Mr. NORWOOD. It is now nearly half past four. I think I ought 

t.o make some remarks on this bill. It is too late to go on this afternoon, and I therefore, unless there is some other business to be presented, mQve that the Senate n.~ourn. · The PRESIDENT pro ternpm-e. The Senator from Georgia moves that the Senate do now adjourn. 

The motion was not agreed t-o. 

1\!r. NORWOOD. Does the Senate understand that l desire to 

make some remarks on· this bill! I have already indicated to the 

Senator from Maine who has control of the bill. the reasons why I do 

not desire to go on to-day. Do I understand by the vote that I am to be compelled to go on this eveningf 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair understands the Senate 

to have declined to adjourn, leaving the Senator on the floor. 

Mr. NORWOOD. Very well, sir, I ask for a divi.siou . The PRESIDENT pro tempore. That call is too late, the result 

havincr been announced. 1\Ir. EDMUNDS. I have understood that :the Senator from Georgia 

who wishes to speak on this bill is unwell and feels himself una.ble to 

proceed this afternoon. If I am right in that understanding I think 

the fair courtesies that have always prevailed in this body tshould 

give him an opportunity to speak to-morrow; and so understanding 

the fact to be, I will venture to move that the Senate proceed to the 

consideration of executive business. 

The motion was agreed to. 

SX.."'DING CARDS TO SENATORS. 

Mr. MERRIMON submitted the following resolution for considera- tion~ - · 

Re&olved, That the Committee on Rules be instructed to prepare and report an appropriate rule to the Senate to proW bit t)le annoyance of sending visiting-cards to Senators while the Senate is · session. 

WITHDRAWAL OF PAPERS. 

On motion of 1\:lr. IDTCHCOCK, it was 

Ordered, That leave be granted for the withdrawal from the files of the Senate 

of the papers in the matteJ_" of the St. James mission. 

EXECUTIVE SESSION. 

The Senate proceeded to the consideration of executive business. After forty-eight minutes spent in executive session the doors were re-opened; and (at five o'clock and fifteen minutes p.m.) the Senate 

adjourned. ·