1888. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. -877 

Mrs. Frank A. Helm, to be postmaster at Corvallis, in the county of 

Benton and State of Oregon. 

Charles A. Wustum, to be postmaster at Billings, in the county of 

Yellowstone and Territory of Montana. 

Charles W. Price, to be· po3tmaster at Fort Benton, in the county of 

Choteau and Territory of Montana.. 

Joseph F. Wisecarver, to be postmaster at 1\fcMinnville, in the county 

of Yam Hill and State of Oregon. 

Charles E. Dudley, to be postmaster at Maryville, in the county of 

Lewis and Clarke and Territory of Montana. 

Thomas Hall, to be postmaster at Preston, in the county of Fill- more and State of Minnesota. 

Nels J. Benson, to be postmaster at Tower, in the county of St. 

Louis and State of Minnesota. 

Harry L. Atchison; to be postmaster at Chatfield, in the county of 

Fillmore and State ofl\Iinnesota. 

La. Fayette J. Fulton, to be postmaster at Casselton, in the county 

of Cass and Territorv of Dakota. 

Frank A~t, to be postmaster at Lead City, in the cotmty of Law- rence and Territory of Dakota. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

WEDNESDAY, Febt·'u,ary 1,1888. 

The House met at 12 o'clock m. Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. W. 

H. MILBURN, D. D. 

The Journal of yesterday's proceedings wa>S read and approved. 

REPORTS OF COURT OF CLAIMS. 

The SPEAKER pro tempm·e laid before the House letters from the 

assistant clerk of the Court of Claims, transmitting copies of findings of 

fact by said court in the following cases against the United States, 

namely: C. C. Poindexter, C. W. Hunt, administrator, Mary E. \Veils, 

H. H. Dunnavant, and William K. Booe; which were severally referred 

to the Committee on War Claims. 

PENSIONS IN LIFE-SAVING SERVICE. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair desires to ask unanimous 

consent to lay before the House, and have printed in the RECORD, a memoria.l from Mrs. Morrison·R. Waite, president of the Woman's National Relief Association, and other officers of the various branches of 

said .association in the United States, and have it referred to the Committee on Commerce; also eight other memorials signed by Roswell P. 

Flower and other citizens of the United States, -praying that those en- gaged in the Life-Saving Service may receive a pension in the event of 

being disabled in or through the exposure of the service, and their families in case of their death, the same at least a.s for military service. 

The memorial is as fdlows: · 

To the Senate and House of Representatives in Cong1·ess assembled: 

Your petitioners, members of the "Woman's National Relief Association for 

the Relief of t..he Shipw;recked," and others who sympathize with the brave and 

suffering, respectfully represent: 

1. That the Life-Saving Service, from a small beginning, has grown into mag- nificent proportions; that its stations are destined to occupy every prominent 

point of danger on our vast lines of lake and ocean front; 

2. That the extension of the service will increase the number of men exposed to the unusual hazards of this work; 

3. That already many of them have fallen before the fury of the elements, and 

found watery graves; that others have been disabled, and that wives and children have been left to the tender mercies of friends, common charity, and the 

poor-house; 

4. That it is a public injustice that men engaged in a work fraught with so much danger, and of so much v~lue to its beneficiaries in life and property, 

should receive compensation so disproportionate to the value of the service 

rendered, barely sufficient to meet their most common daily necessities, leaving 

nothing in reserve for the contingencies of fatality and disability; 

5. That thousands of lives and millions of property are annually saved ::::.nd 

will continue to be saved by this service, which has more danger than any military or naval service; that ultimately nearly every man in it will lose his life or be disabled from exposure; that it bas no emolument or !!timulant save a meager wage and the consciousness of heroic deeds ; 6. That all travelers upon the waters and all shippers feel safer from the knowledge that there are heroic men always at the point of danger, guarding it with 

sleepless vigilance, always on the lookout for the victims of the angry elements, 

and always ready to jeopardize life to save life; 7. That this is not merely a work for the safety of our own people; it knows no na tionality, extends a. helping hand alike to all; 

8. That its service and success a re matters of national pdde ; that the nation's honor, and the honor of every citizen loyal to the interests of humanity and the cry of distress, is compromised by the failure to provide ample compensation 

for the risks and work done and to be done, and to secure t-o the wives, children, 

and dependents of the victims of this grand benevolence adequate support; 

9. That these men would meet the dangers always before them and perform 

their wot"k with braver hearts and strongu arms, having the assurance that _death in the discharge of duty would not leave those dependent upon them paupers, no one will deny; 

10. Less than this is not merely injustice, it is crime. 

11. With due appreciation of the t\vo years' p ension already grunted to the 

families in case of death, we pray that these men may receive a. pension in the event of being disabled in or through the exposure of the service, and their 

families in case of their death, the same at least as for military service. 

WITHDRAWAL OF PAPERS. 

By una.nimous consent, leave was granted to Mr. OsBORNE to withdraw papers relating to the claim of A. G. Hoyte, for reference to the 

Committee on Claims, to be used in the consideration of House bill402l, 

• 

Fiftieth Congress; and to Jltfr. HUNTER, to withdraw from the files of 

the House, without leaving copies, the discharge paper in the case of 

Noah Palmer, filed in the Forty-ninth Congress. 

LEAVE OF ABSENCE. 

By unanimous consent, leave of absence was granted as follows: 

To Mr. BOWDEN, for three days from February 1, on account of 

important business. 

To Mr. TOWNSHEND; fQr one week, on account ofimportant business. 

URGENT DEFICIENCY BIJ,L. 

Mr. BURNES, from the Committee on Appropriations, reported a bill 

{H. R. 6437) to provide for certain of the most urgent deficiencies in 

the Departments for the service of the Government for the fiscal year 

ending June 30, 1888, and for other purposes; which was read a first 

and second time, referred to the Committee of the Whole House on the state oftheUnion, and ordered to be printed. 

Mr. HOLMAN and Mr. WEAVER reserved point.s of order on said bill. 

.Mr. BURNES. I ask leave to file the accompanying report to-morrow, to be printed with the bill. 

There was no objection, and it was so ordered. 

THOMAS A. OSBORN. 

Mr. MORRILL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous oonsent to discharge 

the Committee of the Whole House on the Private Calendar from the 

further consideration of the bill (H. R. 2216) for the relief of Thomas 

A. Osborn and put it upon ita passage. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill will be read subject to objection. 

The bill is as follows: 

Be it enacted, etc., That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and is hereby, directed to pay to ThomasA. Osborn, late United States marshal for the district of Kansas, out of any money in the Treasury not otherW'Ise appropriated,the sum of 58, 701.96, on account of the loss of that amount of public funds uy the failure of the banking-house of E. H. Gruber & Co., on the Gth day of October, 1886, the loss being. 

without neglect or f11.ult on the part of said Thomas A. Osborn. 

Mr. BLOUNT. Is this reported unanimously from the committee? 

Mr. MORRILL. It is the unanimous report of the Committee on Claims. 

Mr. HOLMAN. Let the report be read. 

The report (by Mr. TAULBEE) was read, as follows: 

. The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred th~ bill (H. R. 2216) for the 

relief of Thomas A. Osborn, adopt the annexed report of the Committee on Claims made in the Forty-ninth Congress, and recommend the passage of the 

bill with the following amendment: 

Add to the bill the following words: ''Provided, It shall be proven to the satisfaction of the SeCI·etary of the Treasury that said money was lost without fault or nt!gligence upon the part of said Osborn." 

''t[House Report No. 3104, Forty-ninth Congress, first session.] · 

"The Committee on Claims, to which was referred the bill (H. R. 9008) for the 

relief of Thomas A. Osborn, having carefully considered the same, reports: 

"That the claimant, Thomas A. Osborn, was United States marshal for the 

district of Kansas in October, 1866, and for over two yearsl(>rior thereto; that as such marshal certain money of the United States came into his hands to defray 

United States court. expenses for his district; that his office as marshal was in 

the city of Leavenworth, Kans., in a room immediately over the banking house 

of E. H. Gruber & Co.; that the Government furnished no safe or other deposit- ory in which the claimant could deposit the public money in his hands. "It had been, and was on the said 6th day of October, 1866, the custom of the 

claimant, on receiving advances from the Government for the court expenses, to deposit the same with the said banking firm of E. H. Gruber & Co.; that the 

said firm was regarded by the business community of said city as being per- fectly safe; the leading and best citizens made their deposits with said bank; 

that on October 1,1866, the claimant had a. balance in said bank, of funds belonging to the United States, of $2,966.59 i that on said 1st day of October hereceh·ed from the Treasury of the United States the further sum of $6,596 for the purpose of paying the expenses of the October term of the United States district 

court, which sum he also deposited in said bank on said lst day of October, 1866; 

that on the 6th day of October, 1866, the said banking house of E. H. Gruber & 

Co. failed, having at the time of failure the sum of $9,562.59 of t-he moneys of the 

United States to the credit of the claimant as United States marshal; that the 

claimant at once made good said amount to the United States. "The committee is of the opinion that the claimant used due care in bandling the said money of the Unit-ed States, and that the loss was in no way the result 

of any negligence on his part. "In February, l867,the late Hon.l\iarkW. Delahay, then United States district 

judge for Kansas, made the following statement: 

"'I have been perfectly conversant with l\1arshal Osborn's manner of doing 

business since his appointment. I know that he has been doing his banking 

business through the house of E . H. Gruber & Co. This house I considered one of the safest in the locality until it failed, on the 6th of October, 1866. "• I beli~vetbatMarshal Osborn has guarded with unusual diligence the inter- est of the Government, and that he is in no way to blame for the loss which oc- curred with E. H. Gruber & Co. Many of the best business men in Leaven worth were doing business with said firm at the time of its failure. 1 had been doing my banking business with said firm for years. "'l\fARK W. DELAHAY, 

"'Uniled States District Judge for Kansas.' 

"The committee concurs in the opinion expressed in the statement just cited. 

It is shown to the committee by competent evidence that the claimant received 

from the assignee of said firm of E. H. Gruber & Co. 9 per cent. of said sum of !1 62.59 and no more. The committee is of the opinion from all the facts and 

circumstances attendi.ng the loss that the sum of $8,701.96 should be paid the 

cla imant. 

"The committee returns bill H. R. 9008 with the recommendation that the same do pass." 

In further support of the bftJ. we incorporate, as a part of the report, the following affidavits: 

"UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Dist1-iet of Columbia: 

"Thomas A. Osborn, being first duly sworn, deposes and says that in October, 

1866, and for two years prior thereto, he was marshal of the United States for the 

district of Kansas; that as such marshal money was advanced to him by the 
,' 

878 . CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. FEBRUARY 1, 

United States Government t-o pay the expenses of the Unite 1 States courts in 

said district; that his office as ruarsbal was in the city of L2 .venworth, Kans., 

in a room immediately over the banking house of E. H. <.:rru~or & Co., with which 

firm he did his banking business, and that he had no interest whatever in the 

profits of said firm. 

"Deponent further says that the Government declined to furnish him a safe 

in which to place his funds advanced for disbursements, and that no depository l!ad been designated for such purpose. It was the custom of the deponent at the 

time referred to, and had been from the time of his appointment in 1864, on re- · ceiving advances from the Government for the court expenses, to deposit the same with the said banking (house) firm of E. H. Gruber & Co., and check the same out as it might be required. 

"Said banking firm was regarded by the business community of said city as perfectly safe, and its depositors included many of the most conse:z;ovative and most successful business men of the neighborhood. No thougllt of their being embarrassed occurred to the deponent until he was informed, on the 6th of October, 1866, that they had failed, and he knows that the announcement of that event was a great surprise to the entire community. On October 1, 1866, de- ponent had a balance in said bank, of funds belonging to the United States, 

advanced to him for disbursements as aforesaid, of $2,966.59, and on said 1st day of October he received from the Treasury of the United States the further sum of $6,596 for the purpose of paying the expenses of the October term of 

the United States district court, which sum he also deposited in said bank on said lst day of October. 

"On the 6th day of October, 1866, the said bankin~ house of E. H. Gruber & Co. failed, having at the time of failure the sum of $9,562.59 of the money of the 

United States deposited, as hereinbefore specified. '' Deponent afterwards settled his accounts with the United States Government 

and made good to t·he Treasury the amount of said loss. The loss was afterwards 

reduced by the payment to the deponent by the assignee of said bank of 9 per cent. of said claim, amounting to SS60.63, so that the actual loss to the deponent was ,701.96. "Deponent says further that as to the manner of doing business in connection 

with the payment of court expenses be endeavored to follow, and, as he is informed, did follow, the usages of his predecessors in office, and that he used his 

best judgment in guarding the interests of the Government. 

"ln doing as he did he bad the advice and approval of the judge of the United 

States district court. "THOMAS A. OSBORN. 

"Sworn and subscdbed before mlfthis 9th day of January, 1888. 

[SEAL.] "R. B. NIXON, '' Notary Public." 

STATE OF KANSAS, 

Oounty of Douglas, ss: 

James S. Emery, being first duly sworn, says: I was United States district at- torney for Kansas in the years 1864,1865,1866, and a portion of 1807; that I am familiar with the facts attending the loss of ex-Governor T. A. Osborn while 

he was United States marshal in those years, caused by the failure of Gruber's 

bank, in Leavenworth; that this bank, at the time the marshal made his deposits 

in it, was regarded as the best and safest bank in th:J.t city. It did a large busi- ness, and was patronized by the leading business m en in Leavenworth, as well as of the surrounding country. Its failure was a great surprise to our whole 

State, so far as it was extending its business; and Leavenworth, at that time, 

did a large wholesale business in most of the towns of the St..'l.te; and this 

(Gruber's) was deemed the leading bank of the city. I baYe always deemed 

the governor's claim against the United States Government for his loss of Gov- ernment funds through the failure of that bank just, and one that should be 

paid. And further this deponent saith not. JAS. S. EMERY. 

Subscribed and sworn to this 16th day of January, 1888, before me, a notary public in and for said county. 

[SEAL.] PETER BELL, 

- My commission expires September 3, 1889_ 

Notm·y Public. 

There being no objection to the consideration of the bill, the amendment recommended by the committee was considered and adopted, and 

the bill as amendt'\d ordered to be engrossed for a third reading; and 

being engrossed, it was accordingly fead the third time, and passed. 

Mr. MORRILL moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was 

passed; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

ORDER OF BUSINESS. 

Mr. SPRINGER. Regular order! 

Mr. LAWLER. I rise to ask the privilege of making an explanation 

in reference to a resolution introduced by myself on Monday last. 

There was no objection. 

Mr. LAWLER. On Monday I introduced a resolution, which will 

be found on page 802 of the RECORD, and in the eighth line I omitted 

to insert the words "not necessary" after the words " deriving revenue" where t;hey should properly be inserted. I would like to have 

that correction made. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the correction will 

be made. 

There was no objection, and it was ordered accordingly. 

INSPECTIVE FORCE, POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT. 

Mr. DOCKERY, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 

6438) to provide for the appointment, organization, and compensation 

of the inspective force of the Post-Office Department; which was read 

a first and second time, referred to the Committee on the Post-Office 

and Post-Roads, and ordered to be printed. 

ASSIGNl\fENT OF ROOMS, CAPITOL BUILDING. 

Mr. SOWDEN. Mr. Speaker, I desire to make a privileged report 

from the Committee on Accounts. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The report will be read. 

The Clerk read as follows: • 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 16, 1888. 

Resolved, That the Committee on Accounts be, and is hereby, instructed to as- certain and report whether there are sufficient unoccupied rooms in the Capitol 

for the accommodation of the committees of the House, and if not, where and 

\ipon what-terms the necessary rooms can be procured. 

The report of the Committee on Accounts was read, as follows: 

The Committee on Accounts, to whom was referred the :fbregoing resolution 

of Mr. WHrrTHOR~E,_ introduced in the House on Jan nary 16, respectfully report 

that upon inquiry ana examination they find there are no unoccupied rooms in 

the Capitol that can be used for the accommodation of those committees of the House not already provided with rooms. . They report further that there are a number of rooms in lbe Butler building that are unoccupied, and can .be had for the use of such committees of the Honse as desire them, at a. rental that may be fixed by the Supervising Architect of the 

Capitol, or by any three members of the Committee on Accounts, as proposed 

by Ron. Benjamin F. Butler, the owner thereof. These rooms are unfurnished. 

And further, your committee report that they find that there are two suitable rooms for committee use in the Congressional Hotel, across from the Butler 

building, one of which was occupied during the last Congress by the special 

committee of which the Ron. A. G. Curtin was chairman. The proprietor 

offers to rent the two rooms for $50 per month, including tables, chairs, beat, 

and light. 

1\Ir. SOWDEN. I ask that the Committee on Accounts be discharged 

from the further consideration of this subject. 

\ir. WIDTTHORNE. I desire to submit a resolution. 

Mr. ANDERSON, of Kansas. I rise to make a parliamentary inquiry. 

l\Ir. WHITI'HORNE. In view of the report just submitted, I ask 

the action of the House on the resolution which I send to the desk. 

1\Ir. ANDERSON, of Kansas. I desire to make a parliament:·uy inquiry of the gentleman who has charge of this matter. I wish to know 

how long it will probably t:1ke. There is an order to-day for the consideration of the resolution r eported by the Committee on Commerce, 

and I wish to know how long this will occupy. 

Mr. WHITTHORNE. But a minute. 

The Clerk read the resolution submitted by 1\Ir. WHITTHORNE, as follows: 

Rfsolved, That. the Clerk of this House l;e, and be is hereby, directed to rent d nring the present and next session of this, the Fiftieth Congress, the furnished rooms located in the Congressiona l Hotel, mentioned in the report of the Committee on Accounts this day submitted, to be occupied by, and for the use of, the 

following committees of this House, namely, the C-ommittee on Indian Depredation Claims: and the Committee on tlle E leventh Census; the rent of which 

shall not exceed $>0 per month, and which rent shall be paid monthly out of the 

contingentfund of the House. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The pending proposition is on the motion of the gentleman from Pennsylvania [1\Ir. SowDEN] that the Committee on Accounts be discharged from the further consideration of this 

sub.iect. If there be no objection, that order will be made. 

There was no objection. 

The SPEAKER p1·o tempore. Tbe question is on the adoption' of the 

resolution submitted by the gentleman from Tennessee. 

The resolution was adopted. 

Mr. WHITTHORNE moved to reconsider the vote by which the 

resolution was adopted; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be 

laid on the table 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

CLAIMS REFERRED TO THE COURT OF CLAIMS. 

1\Ir. STONE, ofKentucky, by unanimous consent, submitted the following resolution; which was read, and referred to the Committee on 

Accounts: 

Resolved, That J. B. Holloway is hereby appointed to prepare and continue a digest of all claims refen:ed to the Court of Claims under the so-called •• Bow- mun act," and the act approved l\Iarch 3, 1£87, "to provide for bringing suits 

against the United St.11tes ;" to keep a. record of the findings of the court in each case reported to Congress, and such other necessary duties as the position may require; and that he shall be paid the same eompensation as is now paid the clerk 

of the Committee on War Claims, out of the contingent fund of the House; and 

that the C-ommittee on Appropriations be, and hereby is, instructed to provide for the annual salary of said clerk for the next fiscal year in the legislative, ex- ecutive, and judicial appropriation bill. 

PRESENTATION OF EX-SPEAKERS' PORTRAITS. 

Mr. RICHARDSON. I rise to present a privileged report from the 

Committee on Printing. 

The resolution referred to the committee was read, as follows: 

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate. conC1J.n·ing), That there be 

printed 10,00() copies of the addresses delivered in the House of Representatives on January 19,1888, upon the presentation of the portraits of Speakers Sedgwick, 

Varnum, and Banks, for the use of the House. 

The report of the committee was read, as follows: 

The committee have considered the concurrent resolution of the House pro- viding for the printing of 10,000 copies of the addresses delivered in the House of Representatives January 19, 1888, upon the presentation of the portraits of 

Speakers Sedgwick, Varnum, and Banks, for the use of the House, and direct me to report sa.me with recommendation that it do pass. The estimated cost of printing and binding same in cloth is $2,823.50. The ap- proximate cost of amount of printing previously estimated upon for Congress 

within present fiscal year is $631,930.50. 

The resolution was adopted. 

Mr. RICHARDSON moved to reconsider the vote by which tpe resolution was adopted; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be • 

laid on the table. -

The latter motion was agreed to. . 

EULOGIES ON JOHN A. LOGAN. 

1\Ir. RICHARDSON. I ask unanimotis consent to submit a report 

from the Committee on Printing. I am directed to report back with 

a favorable recommendation a Senate bill which will not take a moment. It is the bill (S. 191) to make additional appropriations for the 

printing--
'' 

1888. CONGRESSION .A.L RECORD-HOUSE. 879 

Mr. BRUMM. I object, and call for the regular order. 

Mr. RICHARDSON. I ask that the title of the bill be read. When 

that is done I think the gentleman from Pennsylvania will not object. 

:Mr. BRUMM. The gentleman from Tennessee knows that there is 

a special order for to-day which we desire to reach. Mr. ANDERSON, of Kansas. We have done nothing since Congress 

began but ask unanimous consent. I think we should adhere to the 

regular order. 

l\Ir. RICHARDSON. I hope there will be no objection to having 

this read. 

Mr. BRUl!Il\I. I withdraw my objection. 

The title of the bill was read, as follows: 

A bill (S. 191) to make additional appropriations for the printing of the eulo- gies delivered in Congress on the late John A. Logan. 

The SPEAKER p1'0 tempore. Is there objection to the consideration 

of this bill? 

There was no objection. The bill was ordered to a third reading; and it was accordingly read 

the third time, and p~sed. 

M:r. RICHARDSON moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill 

was passed; and also moved· that the motion to reconsider be laid on 

the t..'l.ble. 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

ASSISTANTS TO UNITED STATES DISTRICT ATTORNEYS. 

Mr. RYAN. I rise to present a privileged report from the Committee on Appropriations, and ask it~ immediate consideration. 

The resolution referred to the committee was read, as follows: 

Resolved, That the Attorney-GeneL·al be, and he hereby is, requested to com- municate to the House of Representatives the names of all assistants to United States district attorney1>who have been or are being paid out of the apP,ropria- tion of$100,000 made by the sundry civil appropriation act approved March 3, 

1887, ''for payment of assistants to United States district at,torneys;" also the places of employment and the present rate of compensation to each of said as- sistants, and how much greater or less is the rate of compensation of each of such assistants fur the fiscal year 1S'l8 than for the fiscal year 1887, and the reason for any such increase or reduction, and such other information in relation thereto as in his judgment may contribute to just and intelligent legislation upon the subject. 

The report was rean, as follows: 

The Committee on Appropriations, to whom was referred the :l(!Companying 

I'esolution, calling upon the Attorney-General for information with reference to assistants to United States district attorneys, report the same back and recom- mend that it be adopted. 

The resolution was adopted. 

:Mr. RYAN moved to reconsider the vote by which the resolution was adopted; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid,on the 

table. 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

ORDER OF BUSINESS. 

Mr. ANDEHSON, of Kansas. Now, ?tfr. Speaker, I call for the regular order. 

The SPEAKER p1'o tempore. The gentleman from Kansas [Mr. ANDERSON] demands the regular order. The regular order is the call of 

committees for reports. · 

PROMOTION OF AGRICULTURE. 

.:Mr. GLASS, from the Committee on Agriculture, reported back with an amendment the bill (H. R. 1844) to promote agriculture, and for 

other purposes; which was referred to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the state of the Union, and the accompanying report ordered 

to be printed. 

JESSE G. HAWKINS. 

Mr. FORD, from the Committee on Military .Affairs, reported back 

with a favorable recommendation the bill {H. R. 437) for the relief of 

Jesse G. Hawkins; which was referred to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the Private Calendar, and the accompanying report ordered to 

be printed. 

R. H. MONTGOMERY. 

Mr. FORD also, from the Committee on Military A:ftairs, report_ed 

back with an amendment the bill (H. R. 4246) for the reliefofRobert 

H. Montgomery; which was referred to the Committee of the Whole 

Honse on the Ptivate Calendar, and the accompanying report ordered to 

be printed. 

SECTION 2133, REVISED STATUTES. 

Mr. DARLINGTON, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, reported 

back adversely the bill (H. R. 1417) to amend section 2133 of theRevised Statutes of the United States. 

Mr. PERKINS, by unanimous consent, obtained leave to submit the 

views of the minority; and the bill, with the report, was referred to the 

Honse Calendar. 

PETER MARCH AND OTHERS. 

Mr. S'I'ONE, of Kentucky, from the Committee on War Claims, reported bac.k with a favorable recommendation the bill (H. R. 3957) 

for the rehef of Peter March, Thomas J. Wright[ adiministrator and 

others; which was referred to the Committee of the Whole Ho~e on the Private Calendar, and, with the accompanying report, ordered to 

be printed . 

REPORT ON EUROPEAN DOCK-YARDS. 

:rtir. HIESTAND, from the Committee on Printing, reported back 

with a favorable recommendation the joint resolution (H. Res. 25) to 

print 4,000 copies of the report of Naval Constructor Philip Hichborn, 

on Em:opean dock·yards; which was referred to the Committee ofthe 

Whole House on the state of the Union, and, with the accompanying 

report, ordered to be printed. 

Mr. HIESTAND. Is that report privileged? 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. It is not. 

STORM-TRACK CHARTS. 

Mr. RICHARDSON, from the Committee on Printing, reported back 

with a favorable recommendation the joint resolution (H. Res. t:S) providing for the printing of 4,500 copies of Finley's Storm-Track Chart~ of 

the North Atlantic Ocean; which was referred to the Committee of the 

Whole House on the state of the Union, and, with the accompanying 

report, ordered to be printed. 

CAPT. RODERICK l\I 1INTOSH. 

!lfr. KERR, from the Committee on Claims, reported back with an amendment the bill (H. R. 393) to provide for the payment of the claim 

of Capt. Roderick Mcintosh; which was referred to the Committee of 

the Whole House on the Private Calendar, and, with the accompanying report, ordered to be printed. 

AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE OF ALABAMA. 

Mr. UAISH, from the Committee on Military A.ffairs, reported back 

with a favorable recommendation the bill (H. R. 4082) for the relief of 

the Agricultural and Mechanical College· of Alabama; which was re- ferred to the Committee of the Whole House on the Private Calendar, 

and, with the accompanying report, ordered to be printed. 

ORDER OF BUSINESS. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The call of committees for reports is 

concluded. The regular order now is the call of committees for the 

consideration of bills for one hour. The hour begins at ten minutes of 

1 o'clock. The call rests with the Committee on Public Buildings and 

Grounds. 

I\Ir. SPRINGER. That committee has exhausted its time, I think. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. It did not finish, yesterday. 

Mr. SPRINGER. It exhausted its time. There was no bill pending at the expiration of the hour. If there had been a bill pending, the 

committee would be entitled to finish it, but there was none. The SPEAKER pro tempore. There was a bill called up by that committee wh~n the hour expired yesterday. 

J.Al\IES ALBERT BOKSACK. 

M:r. WEAVER (when the Committee on Patents wa,s called). Mr. 

Speaker, I call up the bill (H. R. 593) for the relief of .James Albert 

Bonsack, and I yield the floor to the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. O'FERRALL], the author of the bill. 

J\fr. McMILLIN. Mr. Speaker, is this bill called up under the 

morning hour for consideration? 

The SPEAKER pro te-mpore. It is. 

Mr. :McMILLIN. I do not know what the nature of the bill is, but 

in order to keep the practice of the House correct, I make t.he point 

that in this hour a private bill can not be considered. I do this without any reference whatever to the merits of this particular measure. 

I do it simply because such has been the practice of the House hereto- fore, and it is a practice which I think should be observed. 

Mr. WEAVER. I hope the gentleman will not urge that point. 

This bill can be disposed ofin a moment. There is no objection to it. 

M:r. McMILLIN. I understand that; but the difficulty is that if we get into the habit Qf doing these things we shall use up the whole of 

this hour with that cla..'>S of business. 

Mr. BLOUNT. In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, I desire to suggest--

The SPEAKER pro tempore. TheChair:isreadytoruleon the point. 

The point of order is well taken. In this hour gentlemen can call up 

only bills that are on the House Calendar, or the Calendar of the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union. 

Mr. WEAVER. I know it can only be done by nnanimous consent, 

but I ask unanimous consent to consider this bill. . 

1rir. BLOUNT. I hope the gentleman will not press that request. 

There are other bills here of a public character that ought to be reached 

in their own time. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 

gentleman from Iowa? 

Mr. SPRINGER. I will not object at the end of this hour. 

Mr. ANDERSON, of Kansas. I object. I want the regular orde1·. 

Mr. MATSON (when the Committee on InvalidPensionswascalled). 

I understand the Chair to rule that private bills are not in order in this 

hour. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair has so rnled. 

l'tlr. l\IATSON. The Committee on Invalid Pensions has no other 

kind of bills to report. 

S.PECIAL REPORT UPON WOOL 1ANUF ACTURES1 ETC. 

Mr. RICHARDSON. I am directed by the Committee on Printing 
880 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. FEBRUARY 1; 

to call up for present consideration the joint resolution (H. Res. 23) 

authorizing the printing of 14,000 copies of the recent special report of 

the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, Treasury Department, upon wool 

and the manufactures of wool. This joint resolution is on the Calendar of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union. 

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee of the Whole be discharged 

from the further consideration of the resolution, and that it be now considered in the Honse. 

' The SPEAKER p1'o tempore. If there be no objection, that order 

will be made. 

, There was no objection, and the House proceeded to the consideration ofthejoint resolution; which was read, as follows: 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Re,presentatives, etc., That the1·e be printed 

14,000 copies of the recent special report of the Chief of U1e Bureau of Statistics, 

Treasury Department, upon wool and the manufactures of wool, as follows: 10,000 copies for the use of the members of the House of Representatives, 3,000 for the use of the members of the Senate, and 1,000 for the use of the Bureau of Statistics, Treasury Department. 

The report ofthe"Committee on Printing (by ~fr. RICHARDSON) was 

read, as follows: The Committee on Printing, to whom was referred H. Res. 23, submit the following report: That they have condsidered House joint resolution 23, authorizing the printing of 14,000 copies of the recent special report of the Chief of the Bureau of Sta- tistics, Treasury Department, upon wool and the manufactures of wool, and report same with recommendation that it do pass. The estimated cost of same is $1,778. 

The joint resolution was ordered to be engrossed and read a third 

time; and being engrossed, itwas accordingly read the third time, and 

passed. 

Mr. RICHARDSON moved to reconsider the vote by which the joint 

resolution was passed; and alsomoved that the motion to reconsider be 

laid orr the table. 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

J .. EA VE OF ABSENCE TO PRINTING-OFFICE E:ll:PLOYES. 

1\Ir. RICHARDSON. I am also directed by the Committee on Printing to c.·111 up for consideration the bill (H. R. 1338) to extend the leave 

of absence of employes in the Government Printing Office to thirty 

days per annum. This bill is also on the Calendar of the Committee 

of the Whole House on the state of the Union. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered in the House. 

There was no objection, and the House proceeded to consider the 

bill; which was read, as follows: 

Be it enacted, etc., That the act entitled ".An act granting leave of absence to employes in the Government Printing Office," approved June 30,1886, be so amended as t.o extend the annual leaye of absence therein described to thirty 

days in each fiscal year. 

The report of the Committee on Printing (by Mr. RroH.A.RDSON) 

was read, as follows: 

The Committee on Printing, to whom was referred House bill 1338, beg leave to submit the following report: . The committee ha.ve considered the bill (H. R. 1338) to extend the leave of ab- sence to employes in the Government Printing Office to thirty days in ea-ch fis· cal year, and 1·eport Eame with recommendation that it do pass with two amendments, as follows: First, that these words be added: "Provided, It shall be lawful to allow pro rata leave to those servfng fractional parts of a year." 

.And, second, add these words: "A..nd further to facilitate the public work, the Public Printer may, in his discretion, in special cases, credit employes with the amount due them for leave of absence without their actually taking such leave." 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The :first question will be upon agreeing to the amendments reported by the Committee on Printing, just 

read as a part of their report. 

Mr. REED. I hope we shall have some explanation of this matter. 

Mr. RICHARDSON. blr. Speaker, this bill simply places the employes in the Government Printing Office upon the same footing, as I 

understand, with employes in all the other Departments of the Government. ·In all these other Departments employes get annually thirty 

days' leave. Heretofore, under the law, employes of the Government · Printing Office have received only :fifteen days. I can see no objection 

to placing the employes in the Printing Office upon the same footing 

with persons employed in other Departments of the Government. 

The :first amendment reported is to add these words: 

Provided, It shall be lawful to allow pro rata leave to those serving fractional parts of a year. 

This provision, it seems to me, is manifestly just. An employe may 

serve six or nine months only, but under the existing law unless he 

serves for the entire term of twelve months he is not entitled to his 

leave. 

1\Ir. REED. I may not have understood the amendments correctly, 

but I thought I caught the idea that they authorize either leave of absence or commutation for leave of absence. 

Mr. RICHARDSON. The gentleman is correct; that is provided 

for in the second amendment. 

Mr. REED. What is the object of that? 

Mr. RICHARDSON. The second amendment providesThat to facilitate the public work the Public Printer may, in his discretion, in special cases, credit employes with the amount due them for leave of absence 'Without t.heir actually taking such leave. 

Mr. RYAN. The gentleman will allow me to inquire whether that 

is the rule in a11y other Department of the Government? 

Mr. RICHARDSON. lam notprepared to answerthequestion with 

full knowledge; but I do not think it is. 

Mr. RYAN. I understand it is not. 

M:r. RICHARDSON. I am not prepared to make, and do not make, 

any positive statement on that point. But the gentleman will understand that the arrangements of the Government Printing Office are peculiar in reference to the employment of persons-are different, possibly, 

from those of almost any other Department. In drawing this amendment, about which I may state the Committee on Printing are not very 

tenacious, we have simply followed the recommendation of the Public 

Printer, who states that the interest of the public service will be advanced by the adoption of the am~ndment. I beg to call attention to 

the report of the Public Printer, who, on page 12, uses this language: 

Under recent decisions of the Comptroller of the Treasury, all employe "! who have received their leave of absence for one year are en titled to pro rata leave for any shorter period thereafter for which they make application. A number of em- ployes discharged in the reduction of force a year ago are now entitled to pro rata leave for longer or shorter periods, but no appropriation exists out of which they can be paid. The amount estimated to be due suqh employes is ~.500, and I would recommend that Congress make provision for its payment. It would facilitate the public work if Congress would authorize the Public Printer, undm·special circum- stances, to credit employes with the total o.mount due them for leave of absence without their actually taking such leave. In certain cases employes can not take their leave wit.hout embarrassing the work of the office, and it seems a hardship that tllose who are til us compelled to sacrifice pleasure to public duty should be denied the bounty which Congress has awarded to faithful service in the office. Nor should the office be compelled to forego such special service rather than deprive such employes of any benefits under the act. 

In other words, as I understand, the law compels an employe· of the 

GoYernment Printing Office either to take his leave of absence or to 

lose a.n.Y benefit he might derive from it. The Public Printer sugGests 

the amendment I have read, and the committee recommend its adoption. 

I yield now to the gentleman from New York [Ur. FARQUHAR]. 

MESSAGE FROM: THE SENATE. 

A message from theSenate, by Mr.McCooK, its Secretary, announced 

the passage of joint resolution and bills of the following titles; in which 

concurrence was requested: 

Joint resolution (S. 13) proposing an amendment to the Constitution 

of the United States; 

A bill (S. 1022) to relinquish the interest of the United States in 

certain lands in Kansas; 

A bill (S. 425) to grant the right of way throu)l;h the public lands 

for irrigation purposes; 

A bill (S. 23) to authorize Dalles City to construct a bridge across 

the Columbia River, in the State of Oregon and Territory of Wash.: 

ington; 

A bill (S. 388) for the relief of L. B. Townsend, Louis S. Lovel, 

W. C. Page, Alonzo Sessions, Hampton Rich, Harvey Harter; BenJamin Harter, and Peter Hackett; · 

A bill (S. 182) to provide for the purchase of a site and the erection 

of a public building thereon at Omaha, Nebr.; and 

A bill (S. 217) to change the limit of appropriation for a public 

building at Jacksonville, Fla. 

LEAVE OF ABSENCE TO GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE EMPLOYES. 

The SPEAKER p1·o tempore. The House resumes the consideration 

of the repoclifrom.the Committee on Printing, and the gentleman from 

New, Yqrk [Mr. FARQUHAR] is entitled to the floor. 

Mr. FARQUHAR Mr. Speaker, I desire to know from the chairman of the Committee on Printing if this same feature of the enforcement of taking thirty days' leave of absence does not obtain in. all the 

other Departments of the Government? 

l\'lr. RICHARDSON. I believe it does. 

111r. FARQUHAR. I presume the recommendation of the Public 

Printer is in order that at certain seasons of the year he may have a 

continuation of the · labor of the men employed in the Government 

Printing Office. Now, while I am willing, and have been during the 

times these bills for leave of absence have been discussed on this :floor, 

to grant this to this branch of the sE-rvice, which does more honest 

work, I may say, than any other in the city of Washington, yet I question the propriety of placing it in a better or more advantageous position than is suggested by this amendment now proposed. 

When the bill granting :fifteen days' leave of absence to the employes 

of the Government Printing Office passed in tte Forty-ninth Congress, 

and the committee presented a report which c~vered th.e ground and 

made the leave of absence equal to thirty days, there was only one 

contingent matter which came before the Printing Committee of that 

year, and that was whether Congress would admit of any leave of absence at all. As one of the members of that committee I took a more 

liberal view, but being overruled by a majority of the committee, I 

agreed to the proposition of fifteen days. In other words, Mr. Speaker, we only got half the apple for the employes of the Government Printing Office, 

Now, the proposition of the Forty-ninth Congress had a better effect, 

and it is only justice and fair play to the employes in that Government 

Printing Office that they should be placed on the same foot-ing as the 
1888. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD- HOUSE. 881 

other clerks and employes in other Departments in this city of Washington. For, sir, first of all they are skilled mechanics and experts in their 

calling, and, added to their skill in mechanics, they are also scholars; 

from the foreman down they are all required to possesS qualities in the 

discharge of their peculiar duties greater than are required under any 

civil-service rule adopted for any other Department. More than that, 

- while their work is both intellectual and mechanical it is as hard as that 

any employe can be called on to perform in any other Department; 

and while the last Congress granted fifteen days, I thinkthe Forty-ninth 

Congress would have just as willingly given thirty days. The reasons 

for so doing are now even stronger tha.n then. 

I say it is an anomaly to make a distinction between copyists and 

clerks in the Treasury or Interior or any other Department of the Government, and yet fix them at thirty days' leave of absence with pay, 

arid take your printers, your skilled mechanies, and the hard workers 

in this bureau of the Government, and only give them one-half of that 

time to which by every fair consideration they are entitled. 

:Mr. DING LEY. Before the gentleman takes his-seat let me ask him 

a question. 

. fr. FARQUHAR. Yes, sir. 

Ur. DINGLEY. I understood the gentl'emaufrom New York tosa.y 

that this bill would put theemployes of the Government Printing Offi ce on the same basis as the clerks in the various Departments. 

Mr. FARQUHAR. Yes, sir. 

Mr. DINGLEY. What I wish to know is if the clerks in the several 

Departments of the Government have the benefit of this commutation 

provision. 

Mr. FARQUHAR. That is the question I myself asked of the chairman of the committee, and I said in regard to it at the beginning of my 

remarks that I que tioned the judgment of this amendment, which gave an advantage to the employes of this bru·em"! that is enjoyed by no other 

employes under the Government. 

Ur. DING LEY. . Then, as I understand it, this is not a proposition to 

put the employes of the Government Printing Office on the same basis as tbe cJ erks in the several other Departments of the Government, but to 

give them an additional advantage over the other clerks. 

Mr. FARQUHAR. So far as this amendment is concerned. That is, 

that they shall have pay for the time of this thirty days' leave of ab- sence, provided they do not take it but. continue to work over and above 

the time that they are entitled to under the proper leave of absence. 

Mr. RICHARDSON. If the gentleman from Maine will permit me 

to make a. statement again which I made a short time ago, I think I can make this plain. Under the prese!lt law granting leaves of ab- sence to Government employes with pay they get paid for full twelve 

months, although they work bnt-eleven. Now, I can not see, if in the case of an emergency where the Public Printer thinks the services of 

the employesinbisdepartmentarenecessaryfor the full twelvemonths, as ·it may be sometimes in expert work or special emergencies, why 

they should not have the benefit of this lea\e which is granted to other 

employes, and give them an additional month's pay for twelve months' work as compensation for it. Especially a,s the whole matter is left 

optional with the Public Printer, who would only resort to this practice in the exercise of a sound discretion. 

1\lr. REED. The only ground for granting a leave of absence of 

thirty days to anybody must be based on the assumption that the work 

is so exhausting that a month's rest is required to refresh t.he man to 

enable him to perform his duties during the eleven months. 

We are giving a gratnity to the employes in the public service for 

the public benefit, and unless it is done on this ground there can be no other sufficient reason given. That "is the reason for giving furloughs to Department employes, and that must be the reason we propose to give it to the employes of the public printing establishment. 

Now, then, instead of g~ving .hem this furlough, whereby they are to 

be refreshed, we give them an additional month's pay instead, and :re- quire them ·to work during the whole twelve months; we are not acting upon the principle that has governed us heretofore, but are simply 

raising the pay of these emplo~ 8 per cent. above what it is now. Is that the intent of the committee? 

Mr. RICHARDSON. The gentleman will miderstand, I understand, a.t least, that in all other Departments of the Government the employes are furloughed for thirty days upon full pay; that is, they work eleven 

months, and the Government pays them for twelve. In this particular case, that is to say, in reference to the employes of the printing department, they are entitled to but fifteen days' leave upon pay, and 

this bill wiil extend the time to thirty days if it passes. The amendment provides that in an emergency- and leaves the determination of 

that to the Public Printer as to whether it exists or not-be may keep 

the force at work for twelve months, but give them one extra month:s 

pay to compensate for the furlough of which they have not been able 

to amil themselves. Emergencies may require this force to be kept 

at work. · 

Mr. REED. Then you i.J;lt,end that the employes there shall work 

twelve months and get thirteen months' pay? 

Mr. RICHARDSON. It is no more than is done where the employes 

of other Departments work eleven months and get twelve months' pay under the present law. 

Mr. REED. And they lose their month's recreation? 

1\lr. RICHARDSON. If they see fit they do, or if a · contingency 

shall arise where their work is required. They can take the leave if 

they wish. It js left entirely discretionary with the Public Printer 

and the employe. They can take thirty days' leave and get compensa- tion, but if the Public Printer needs their services, and they are willing 

to work, he is at liberty to keep them at work and give them thirteen 

months' compensation·for the year's work. 

I now yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. MATSON], who introduced the resolution. Mr. RYAN. . Before that I wish to ask a question for information, if 

the gentleman will allow me. Under this proposition of his, if the employes of this department, or an employe of this department, shall work twelve months he will get 

thirteen months' pay? 

Mr. RICHARDSON. Yes, sir; provided the Public Printer says 

that the emergency exists for employing him the whole twelvemonths. Mr. RYAN. If betakes his leave of absence he gets twelve months' 

pay? 

Ur. RICHARDSON. Yes, sir; if he takes his leave under the law ns it is now he will work only eleven months and will g~t twelve 

months' pay. 

Mr. BLAND. I desire to ask the gentleman from Tennessee a ques- tion. Is the Public Printer compelled under the amendment of the 

committee to employ these men for twelve months: provided the work 

requires it? Or is it left optional with him? . :Mr. RICHARDSON. It is left optional with the Public Printer; 

and he need not retain the man twelve months unless he sees fit. This 

is only intended to be done in case of an emergency, where the work of 

the employe is necessary for the public service. 

Mr. REED. Will the gentleman from Tennessee allow me one other 

question? 

Mr. RICHARDSON. Certainly. 

Mr. REED. Is it the intention to extend to the other Departments 

this principle of thirteen months' p:ty for twelve months' work? 

Mr. RICHARDSON. The gentleman from Maine very well knows 

that I do not represent in the matter now pending any Department ex- cept the printing department. And I will add, I know of no other 

Department that contemplates such an arrangement. 

Mr. REED. .Wonld yon be able to resist the argument for equality 

when that comes up? 

Mr. RICHARDSON. I think there is a distinction between the em- ployes in the Printing Department, because of the peculiar nature of 

their work, and those in the other Departments. But that is a matter 

for the House to decide, and what shall be done in other cases should 

not now be decided, but should be determined on the merits involved 

in the case when presented. 

Mr. BLAND. Do not the employes in other Departments get extra 

pay for e~tra work? 

Mr. RICHARDSON. I think they do in some ea,ses. ~lr. ?liATSON. I bad the honor to introduce the original proposi- tion which gave fifteen days' leave of absence to employes of the printing department as well as this which extends that leave to thirty days 

in a fiscal year. The original bill, which was passed nearly two years 

since, was framed ou the recommendation of the then Public Printer. He recommended fifteen days' leave of absence. His recommendation was doubtless made because he supposed there would be opposition to 

it, and it would be easier to obtain fifteen days' lea.ve than thirty days. 

It was probably made for fifteen days also because there was some opposition to the measure growing out of the fact that many of these em- ployes were not employed for any period of time, but employed on piece-work, as it was technically termed; so that there was some o~iec

tion as to whether it was practica.ble to give any leave at alJ, and some discussion. But that objection has been dissipated. There can be no 

objection of that kind now. Under the administration of the former Public Printer, as well as un- der the administration of the present one, there bas been found no diffi- culty whatever in administering this law and giving to each one of these 

employes his proper share of leave. 

I introduced the bill in the first instance, and have introduced this 

one, which doubles the leave of absence, because I believe that of all 

the employes of the Government these who are in the Government 

Printing Office are the ones that work most with their hands. They are those who perform manual labor more than any others in any de- partment-at least, in the city of Washington, if not in any other de- partment of the public service anywhere. I believe they are entitled as much as any other employes, if not more, to the rest which the Gov- ernment gives its employes of thirty days in each year. I therefore 

pressed that measure: and was glad again in this Congress to introduce 

the measure now under consideration, because I believed it would meet 

the almost unanimous approbation of Congress to extend the leave and 

put these on an equality with the other employes of the Government. 

As regards the amendments of the committee, the simple proposition 

being only to exte:iid the leave to thiriy days, I have no objection to 

those amendments. The proposition that there shall he a pro rata leave 

to those serving fractional parts of the year I presume will not be seri- ously objected to. 

The other amendment, however, which proposes that if the employe 
882 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. FEBRUARY 1, 

sees fit to work for twelve months he sha.ll be paid for thirteen months, seems to meet with some objection, perhaps from a misapprehension. 

The principle announced by the gentleman from Maine [.Mr. REED] 

was certainly a very sound one, one that can not be attempted to be 

gainsaid by any one, that this leave is granted in order that these em- ployes may have the rest to fit them for the performance of their duties 

during the remainder of the year. That of course is the principle on which this leave is gmnted at all. But if they see fit to work the twelve 

months, it seems to me there should be no objection to paying them 

for the month they work. There may be some of them that are well 

able to work during the twelvemonths, while there are others that need 

the rest. It seems to -me, therefore, the suggestion of the committee 

in the way of amendment should not be objected to. 

1t1r. RYAN. Will the gentleman allow me to interrupt him a mo- ment? 

Mr. MATSON. Yes, sir. Mr. RYAN. I understand that many of the employes of the department work by the piece. How can this provision apply to them? Or 

does it? 

lYir. MATSON. I have not given that consideration to the amendment coming from the t:ommittee which would enable me to answer the 

gentleman's question. 

Mr. RICHARDSON. Does not the first amendment answer the inquiry of the gentleman from Kansas when it. says it shall be lawful to 

allow pro rata leave? 

Mr. RYAN. I think not. These men are compensated for their serv- ices, not by the hour; not by the day; not by the week; not by the 

month; but by the piece. Now, how does your le:n-e of absence or your 

commutation clause apply to them at all? 

Mr. RICHARDSON. It does not apply to them unle ... s they are there 

for the whole year. 

Mr. RYAN. Then there is a very la.rge class of employes in the office that get no relief under this provision? 

M:r. RICHARDSON. That is true. M:r. MATSON. I only want to add to what I have already said, that 

these amendments proposed by the committee are the result of suggestions made by the Public Printer in his report. I think they have 

probably grown out of the fact that there was a reduction of wages there 

several years ago, and possibly this may be an attempt to cure wh::tt 

seemed to the Public Printer at that time to be a wrong. Perhaps there 

is something in that. 

Mr. RYAN. I submit to the gentleman that it would be a great inj ustice to th~s class of employes, constituting, as I understand, nearly a majority of the whole, to leave them entirely unprovided for. 

Mr. MATSON. I agree with the gentleman from Kansas, that 

whatever is done for these employes ought to be doue impartially, so that all may be treated alike. I hope there will be no unnecessary 

delay in passing this bill. I will say to the gentleman from Kansas 

that the original bill which I introduced does provide for the piece men. I wish the gentleman to understand that. 

M:r. RYAN. That is the question I asked, whether it did provide 

for them. Mr. MATSON. It does. Mr. Mcl\IILLIN. I will say to the gentleman from lfunsa.s [Mr. 

RYAN] that that poiut was discussed at the time, and I think there 

was no difference of opinion about it. 

1\fr. FARQUHAR. I wish to explain to the gentleman from Kan- sas [Ur. RYAN] thttt during the fifteen days' leave of absence the piece work was counted by the former Public Printer in such a manner that 

the piece hands were put on an equality with those who were hired by 

the day. That was the way the roll was made up for the fifteen days' 

leave, and I know no reason why the present Public Printer should not adopt the same plan. Mr. RICHARDSON. Now, Mr. Speaker, if there is no other gen- tleman who desires to be heard-- M:r. RY A...W. I do not understand yet, Mr. Speaker, that this bill 

provides for the piece employes, while the original bill did. Mr. MATSON. It provides for the extension of time. Mr. RYAN. Leaving the provisions of the original law in operation? 

Mr. MATSON. Certainly; untouched. 

ltir. RICHARDSON. I yield now to the gentleman from New Hampshire [Mr. GALLINGER]. How much time does the gentleman want? 

Mr. GALLINGER. Five or seven minutes. Mr. RICHARDSON. I yield to the gentleman. 

1\Ir. GALLINGER. Mr. Speaker, my attention was diverted when 

this report was read, but I think I have gathered the purport of it 

pretty correctly from the discussion that has been bad here. As I understand it, the report embraces three proposit.ions. First, to increase 

the leave of absence of the employes of the Government Printing Office 

from fifteen to thirty days; next, to allow them pay for that thirty 

days provided they choose to work, thus giving them thirteen months' 

pay for twelve months' work; and third, to permi those who are dis- charged before the year expires a pro rata allowance. Now, Mr. Speaker, I desire to say to the House that so far as I am concerned I very cordially recognize the j ustice of the first proposition 

to increase the leave from fifteen t o thirty days. Next, it occurs to me 

that it would be violative of good business judgment and of the purpose of this House, in granting the leave of absence to these employes, 

to permit them to work twelve months and receive thirteen months' 

pay. The House will recall the fact that two or three days ago the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Printing made the remarkable 

statement that the present Public Printer was getting more work out 

of 2,000 men than the former Public Printer got out of 2,400 men. As I understand the matter, the late Public Printer compelled the em- ployes-certainly at least dtiring the last year of his term-to take 

this leave of absence; but the present Public Printer proposes to let 

them continue to work and draw. their pay; and the next thing we shall 

hear from the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Printing 

will be that 1,800 employes are doing more work under the present 

administration than 2,500 did under the late Public Printer. I am opposed to this proposition on that ground, and I am opposed to it also on the broader ground that it is violative of the purpose of the House 

in. granting this leave of absence. Now, Mr. Speaker, in relation to 

this pro rata allowance, I desire to propound a question to the distin- guished chairman of the Committee on Printing. 

As I understand the case, Judge Durham, the Comptroller, decided 

that the men who were discharged from the Government Printing 

Office who bad served a portion of the year were entitled to an allowance of one :md a quarter days' pay per month. As I understand further, there arc perh!:tps twelve or fifteen hundred of those men who 

were employed under the late Public Printer who have been turned 

out of that office, and who, although they have the opinion of Judge 

Durham that they are entitled to this allowance, ha\e been kept out 

of it for twel ye long months, and when they apply to the present Public 

Printer they are met with a stern and positive refusal. That refusal, as I understand, is put upon the ground that there is no appropriation 

to .meet this deficit or to pay these men what is due them. Now, I 

want to ask the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Printing 

if he has taken into consideration the rights and the wants of these 

men, and if any means have been taken by him, or by any member of 

this House, to his knowledge, to see that a proper allowance is made, ~hrough some deficiency appropriation, to meet the obligations of the 

Government to these poor men who have been turned out of office simply because they happen to be Republicans. Will the gentleman an- swer the question? 

Ur. RICHARDSON. I do not know that such a proceeding was incumbent upon me more than upun any other member. Has the gentle- man himself taken any steps orthat kind? 

:Mr. GALLINGER. I hold in my hands two decisions or opinions 

of Judge Durham. He says: I lmve heretofore decided that all employes who may have served one year continuously in the Government Printing Office prior to the 1st day of July, 1886, were on that day entit.led to fifteen days' leave of absence. I have furlher de- cided thn.t they are entitled also to one and one-fourth days' leave for each 

month that they have or shall serve in that office after the 1st day of July, 1880. 

Now, as I unq,erst.'md the matter--

Mr. RICHARDSON. I submit that the gentleman does not read all 

that Judge Durha-m says. He says that the Public Printer has stated 

that the amount appropriated for that purpose bas been exhausted. 

Mr. GALLINGER. Exactly. I stated tbat fact. The question I 

raised was whether any steps bad been taken or any movement made 

to obtain any deficieney appropriation or other allowance, so that these 

twelve or :fifteen hundred men may receive what is justly their due. 

Mr. RICHARDSON. I have taken no steps of that kind, but it is 

perfectly competent forthe gentleman to go to the Committee on Appropriations and ask such an appropriation. He bas the same right to.do so that I have,· an_d it is as much his duty to do so as mine. Why has 

not be done it? I never heard of it until this morning. 

1\Ir. GALLINGER. We desire to do something which will compel 

the Government, under a Democratic dministratiou and Democratic 

auspices, to pay to these twelve hundred or1ifteen hundred men who 

have been turned out of the Government Printing Office during the 

pr<>sent administration the amounts to which they are entitled. I am speaking in the interest of fair dealing. I say that if an allowance of 

the kind now proposed is to be made, then, in justice to these poor people who were turned out of employment and driven out into the streets 

of Washington simply because they did not agree politically with the 

present administration, we ought in the first place to pay them the 

money due them before we pass any law giving this allowance to the men who have been put in the Government Printing Office under the 

existing administration. _ This is a matter of pure and simple justice. There are twelve hundred or fifteen hundred men to whom the Government to-day owes this 

money; andisaysomemeansonghttobebken topaythem their honest 

dues to which they are justly entitled under the decision of Comptroller 

Durham, before we pass any law giving these allowances to men who 

have succeeded them in that office. 

Mr. RICHARDSON. I do not desire to enter into any political dis- cussion here to-day. I do not understand-- M:r. BLAND. I would like to ask the gentleman from New Hampshire [Mr. GALLINGER] whether he has ever introduced any bill for the relief of these discharged employes or has gone before any com- mittee asking an appropriation in their behalf? 

Mr. GALLINGER. I can answer the gentleman by saying that I have 
I . 

1888. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. 883 

not, beca.use my attention had not been called to this matter until this 

very morning ; but the chairman of the Committee on Printing had his 

attention called to it long ago. 

1\lr. BLAND. I do not understand it is the duty of the Committee 

on Printing any more than of the gentleman from New Hampshire to 

take charge of all the discharged employes of the Government. Mr. GALLINGER. I want to say--

Ml'. RICHARDSON. I do not yield. 

Mr. GALLINGER. I would like to answer the gentleman from 

Missouri [Mr. BLAND]. 

Mr. RICHARDSON. In reply to the gentleman from New Hampshire, t wish to say that I do not see any use of our boiling over in political excitement to-day over thi~ question. It seems to be a matter of 

absolute imposibility to mention on this floor the Government Printing 

Office without exciting the gentleman from New Hampshire and a few 

others to such an extent that they fly into a fearful rage. Now, in this 

matter we b...we nothing to do witll politics. This is not a political 

question, bnt is one of business and of doing justice' to faithful employes. 1 t seems to me that the complaint which the gentleman makes 

that a few H.epublica.ns have been turned ont of office by an honest 

Democratic official is a matter which gentlemen should cease crying over, 

because it is a matter which was settled at the polls in November, 1884, 

when the people in their majesty decided that all Republican employes 

ough t to go and honest Democrats take their places. [Applause.] 

Mr. RYA...~. But your President, whE-n asking the people's votes, 

toJd them thn.t these employes should not go. 

Mr. RICHARDSON. No; these employesarenotprotected by civilservice rules. Let us not bring politics here every day. Let us settle 

a question of this kind on business principles, if we can. This is a 

simple mat ter of doing justice to employes in the public service. The 

law which we propose is not intended to apply simply for a day or a 

week or a year. 'Ve are undert..'l>king in our wisdom, or it may be our 

unwisdom, to frame laws which, if good, will continue in force ior more 

than one administration. I do not want to see politics dragged into 

this question; and I hope gentlemen will not indulge in any further 

partisan discussion upon it. 

I yield two minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Air. 

BRUl\U.I]. 

Mr. BRUMM. Mr. Speaker, I am heartily in fuvor of granting the 

additional fifteen days' leave of absence provided for in this proposition. 

:But I am opposed to this system of violating the principle involved in 

the eight-hour law. l\fy idea f01~ the 1)assage of the eight-hour law is 

that the l10urs of work shall be shortened. This is a proposition to pay 

men to extend their hoursoflabor. Now, if you wish to be consistent 

in carrying out the principle involved in the eight-hour law, you must 

not provide payment to men for overtime, whether ten, twelve, or 

fourteen hours in one day, or whether it is forcing them to work fully 

twelve months in the year, thus employing fewer men to do the work 

than would otherwise he required and thus throwing other men into 

the labor market for the purpose of cutting down the price of labor. I 

shall, the1·efore, oppose the proposition, except so far as to extend the 

leave for thirty days. 

Mr. SPRINGER. I hope the gentleman from Tennessee will yield 

to me before he calls for the previous question. 

Mr. RICHARDSON. I will now yield for two minutes to the gentleman from New York [Ur. FAEQ.UHA:n.]. 

Mr. FARQUHAR I desire, 1\Ir. Speaker, to conect the misapprehension cre..·1..ted in the House by the remarks of the distinguished gentleman from New Hampshire [1\Ir. GALLINGER), and 'Which I am sure 

h e did not mean to convey in what he said. I will read from thereport of the Pn.blic Printer the following parngraph, which will explain 

the matter to the satisfa.ction of the entire House: 

Under rece n t decisions of the pomptroller of the Treasury, sll employes who 

h ave received their leave of absence for one year are entit led to pro rata. leave 

for any shorter period thereafter for which they make application. A nnmbe1· of 

employes discharged in tbereductionoffo.rce a ye:ll'ago are now entitled to pi"o rata le!l.ve for longer or shorter periods, but no appropriation exists o.ut of which 

they can be paid. The amount estimated to be due such employes isS2,500, and 

I would recommend that Congress m.a.k:e provision for its payment. 

·That, Mr. Speaker, is the whole question. I think the misapprehension came from the remarks of the gentleman from New Hampshire 

[Mr. GALLINGER], that the Public Printer has desired to withhold thls 

pro rata. Now, the official sta.temento.f the Public Printer is that there 

were not sufficient funds to pay those men when they were discharged. 

He asks from Congress sufficient money to meet that deficit. I think 

it is only justice to the Public Printer that this fact should be stated 

publicly in the House. 

Mr. RICHARDSON. And, Mr. Speaker, I desire to say, in further 

answer on the same point indicated, the gentleman from New York is 

entirely correct. I know that the Public Print-er has said to these men 

that the appropriation has been exha.ustedand there is no way in which 

this deficit can be supplied and these men paid the amount they cillim 

unless this House makes an appropriation for that purpose. The gentleman from New Hampshire can assist in this work if he chooses. 

I will now demand the previous question on the bill a.nd pending 

amendments. 

Mr. SPRINGER. I hope the gentleman will yield to me before he 

demands the previous qu estion. . 

Mr. RICHARDSON. For how long? 

Mr. SPRINGER. For two minutes. 

Mr. RICHARDSON. I will yield to the gentleman for that length 

of time. 

Mr. SPRINGER. The gentleman from New Hampshire made the 

statement in reference to these charges against the Public Printer that 

the discharges from the Government Printing Office were of Republican 

employes. Now, sir, it is a fact, when Mr. Benedict came into the Government Printing Office. in September, 1886, he found that the appropriation for carrying on that office during the fiscal year bad been 

largely exhausted by his predecessor, an.d that it was therefore necessary, to keep within the limit of the appropriation, that the force of 

employes should be largely reduced_ And he did reduce the force of 

employes of the Government Printing Office to the extent of two hundred or three hundred in number. Now, in making that reduction he 

called upon the heads of divisions to name those employes whose services could be dispensed with with the least injury to tbe public service, 

at tbe same time calling attention to the requirement of the statute in 

reference to Union soldiers and their widows and orphan children. In 

making that discharge he acted entirely on the recommendation of the 

beads of divisions, who were Republicans ancl the appointees of his predecessOI·. 

I\Ir. BLAND. There were no Democrats to turn out. 

1\'Ir. SPRINGER. My friend from Missouri says there were no Democrats there to be turned ont. But I believe there were, although few 

in number, and therefore, according to the number of Republicans and 

Democrats, there were more Democrats turned out than Republicans. 

[Here tbe hammer fell.] 

Mr. GALLINGER. I wish to say a word in reply. 

l\fr. RICHARDSON. I do not want to h ave this matt-er again run into a political discussion on this floor, and therefore I believe I must 

insist on the demand for the previous question. 

The question was put on ordering the previous question. 

The SPEAKER pro tem.pore. The ayes seem to have it. 

Mr. GALLINGER. I call for a division. 

The House divided; and there were-ayes 115, noes 106. 

So the previous question was ordered. 

:Mr. BRUl\1M. I ask for a separate vote on the amendments. 

The first amendment was read, a~ follows: 

Add as fo Uows: "Provided, It shall be I awful to allow pro rat:lleave to those serving fractional 

pm·ts of a year." 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The second amendment WdS read, as follows: 

Add these words: 

"And further to facilitate the public work, the Public Printer may, in his dis- cretion, in special cases, credit employes with the amount due them for leave of 

absence without their actually taking such leave." 

The amendment was disagreed to. 

The bill as amended was then ordered to be engrossed and rflad a third time; and being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time, 

and passed. 

Mr. RICHARDSON. I move to reconsider the vote by which the 

bill was passed; and also move that the motion to reconsider be laid on 

the table. 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

ORDEB. OF BUSI:!\TESS". 

The Committee on the .Judiciary was called. 

Mr. CULBERSON. Inasmuch as but four minutes of this hour remain, I ask unanimous consent that it be considered as having now expired. 

Ur. BLAND. I object. 

!\ir. CULBERSON. I submit that under the ruling of the Chair 

this committee, if it now takes the floor, will b~ concluded in four 

minutes, instead of having a full hour to-day. 

Mr. BLAND. I do not wish to put the gentleman in that position, 

and hence withdraw my objection. I will ask consent of the House that the hour be extended. 

Mr. BRUl\BI. I object. 

l\Ir. CULBERSON. I move tbat tl1e Honse do now adjourn. 

The que:.--tion was taken; and on a division there weTe- ayes 24, noes 62. 

Mr. PERKINS. I ask unanimous consent that the morning hour 

be now considered as exhausted. That willl'elieve the difficulty. 

l\ir. SPRINGER. It wants but two minutes of the time now. 

There was no objection to the request of Mr. PERKINS. 

Mr. ANDERSON, of Kans-::tS. Regular order l 

JOEL J. G-O.S8. 

Mr. BANKHEAD, from the Committee on Public Buildings a.nd 

Grounds) reported back favorably the bill (H. R. 2056) for the relief of 

Joel .T. Goss; which was referred to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the Private Calendar, and the uccom:9anying report ordered to ba 

printed. • Mr. BANKHEAD. On yesterday, hy mistake, I sent up what I 

thought was this report, but I found it to be a bill of the Forty-ninth . 

Congr~. I ask consent to withdraw fu.q,t report. 

There was n o. objection, and it was so ordered. 
\ 

884 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD~HOUSE. FEBR.U.ARY 1, 

SUPERINTENDENTS, RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE. 

Mr. DOCKERY, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 

6439) authorizing the appointment of eleven division superintendents 

of the railway mail service; which was read a first and second time, 

referred to the Committee on the Post-Office and Posli-Roads, and ordered to be printed. 

TIRIDGE ACROSS THE MISSOURI RIVER NEAR Oli:IAHA. 

Mr. McSHANE, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 6440) 

to authorize the construction of a bridge over the Missouri River at or 

near Omaha, Nebr.; which was read a first and second time, referred to 

the Committee on Commerce, and ordered to be printed. 

MONTHLY PAYMENTS IN THE ARMY. 

Mr. McSHANE also, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. 

R. 6441) to secure monthly payments in the Army; which was read a 

first and second time, referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, 

and ordered to be printed. · 

RELIEF OF CERTAIN ARMY OFFICERS. 

1rir. SPRINGER, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 

6442) for the relief of officers in the Army who have served continuously in one grade for twenty-one years; which was read n.firstand second ·time, referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, and ordered 

to be printed. 

BRIDGE ACROSS OHIO RIVER. 

Mr. LAFFOON, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 

6443) to authorize the construction of a bl'idge across the Ohio River at 

or near the cities of Hawesville, in the State of Kentucky, and Cannelton, in the State of Indiana; which was read a first and second time, 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, and ordered to be printed. 

READING RAILROAD COMPANY. 

Mr. ANDERSON, of Kansas. I demand the regular order. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The regular order is the special order 

fixed on yesterday t{) begin at the end of the hour for the consideration of bills to-day, and the Clerk will report the resolution submitted 

by the Committee on Commerce. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That the Interstate Commerce Commission be requested to investigate all the circumstances connected with the alleged interruption of traffic on the Reading Railroad, and report the facts and their conclusions to Congress, and to exercise their power, if deemed necessary, in the interest of commerce between the Sta .. tes. 

Mr. CLARDY. I would like to have the original resolution read, for 

which this is a substitute. 

compensation which they were to receive. A short time afterward 

Mr. Corbin, the president of the Reading Railroad Company, published 

a card addressed to the public, in which he stated the iacts that I have 

stated in regard to what is known as the railroad strike, and then ep.-

tered upon a discussion of the miners' strike, as it is called. To this 

card of Mr. Corbinajoint committee of the miners and laborers of Reading and vicinity caused to be published counter-statements in which 

they deny specifically the statements of Mr. Corbin in regard to the 

miners' strike, but left undenied what he said about the railroad strike. 

To this counter-statement Mr. Corbin published a rejoinder in which he 

incidentally referred to the railroad strike, and in reply to this rejoinder 

the labor committee published another letter, which opens with the following statement: 

Of the railroad matter we have little to not.hing to say. For that is not, and 

has not been made by any one with authority to speak for the miners, an issue. 

The CommHtee on Commerce had no testimony before them showing 

that interstate traffic had been interrupted on the Reading road a 

week, a day, or an hour, if we except the interruption at Port Richmond, caused by the refusal of the men to obey the lawful orders of 

the superintendent. Ori the contrary, it appears affirmatively that 

there bas been no sort of interference or interruption with interstate 

traffic or any other traffic on the line of this road. 

But, Mr. Speaker, while I presume it. was not in the mind of the 

mover of the resolution at the outset that we should investigate anything but the result of .that strike upon interstate comme1·ce, there was 

a statement made to the committee that the Heading Railroad Company 

in making what are called its allotments of cars io the various mining 

companies in the Schuylkill and Lehigh regions discriminates in favor 

of some companies and against others, never forgetting the Philadelphia and Reading Qoal and Iron Company; that in fact the railroad 

company, for a series of years, has given undue preferences to the corporation to which I have just refer.!:ed. 

I know that railroad companies do not "walk in all the ordinances 

and commandments of the Lord blameless," and I conclude that this 

may be true. 

Hut the majority of the Committee on Commerce, Mr. Speaker, believe that there is a statute that affords all the remedies that can be 

afforded by any statute that may be passed at the instance of any committee appointed by this House. They believe that any of the persons 

aggrieved, knocking at the door of the Interstate Commerce Commission, 

in who!'!e integrity and ability the whole country has confidence, can 

secure the relief to which they are entitled. The third section of that 

act providesThat it shall be unlawful for any common carrier subject to the provisions of The Clerk read as follows: this act to make or give any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to - Resolved, That the Committee on Commerce is hereby empowered and directed any particular persons, company, firm, corporation, or locality, etc. 

to investigate forthwith the extent, causes, and effect upon interstate commerce The application may be made by the complainants to the Interstate of the continued failure by the Reading Railroad Company to transport such 

traffic, and to report to the House by bill or otherwise, for consideration at any Commerce Commission, or they may go into the United States courts 

time, such legislation as is necessary to secure to the publi<!>the regular and com- at ·Philadelphia, and there, too, they will realize the truth of the maxim, 

pleteexecution byarailroadcompanyofitsobligationsandserviceasacommon ''Wherever there is a right there is a remedy." carrier of interstate commerce. Said investigation may be made by a subcommittee at such place as it shall deem proper, and the said committee or sub- The minority of the committee state that the Reading Raihoad Comcommittee is hereby authorized to send for and examine persons, books. and pany and the Iron and Coal Company, to which I have referred, while 

papers, to administer oaths to witnesses, and to employ a messenger and ste- h · .::~:~ t · f: t d th t• · nographer; and the expenses of such investigation, not to exceed f5,000, are a>mg \lllleren names, are m ac one an e same corpora 10n; or, ln 

hereby authorized to be paid out of the contingent fund of the House in the other words, as I said in the outset, that tho owners of the stock of the manner now provided by law. Reading Railroad Company are the owners of the stock of the Coal and 

Mr. CLARDY. Mr. Speaker, the Committee on Commerce, to whom Iron Company. If that be true, and if it betrue, asrecitedin the minorwas refer,red the resolution introduced by the gentleman from Kansas ity report, thattherailroadcompanyis in that regard violating its char-

(Air. ANDERSON], which has just been read, believing that there ought ter and acting in contravention to the constitution of Pennsylvania, then 

to be at least a prima facie showing of the truth of the statements con- they ought to go into the courts of Pennsylvania and secure, as t~y 

tained in the resolution before recommending its adoption, instituted would be able to secure, a forfeiture of the ·charter of the ·company. 

an inquiry which resulted in satisfying a majority of that committee What is to prevent them from proceeding by a writ of quo warranto 

that the resolution ought not to be passed. The facts as the committee, against the corporation if it has abused its charter privileges as they 

or a majority oftbe committee, understand them are, in brief, as follows: claim? Their forum is in Pennsylvania, not in Congress. But, Mr. 

In the month of December last, and I believe on the 18th day of that Speaker, while they claim that these orga.nizations are one and the same 

month, there arrived at Port Richmond certain cars loa~ed with flour thing, yet at the same time it is claimed that they are distinct entities, and 

consigned to the Philadelphia Grain Elevator Company. The employes that they have conspired together in order to affect the price of coaL If 

of the Reading Railroad Company in charge of the company's yard at that be true, then the resolution adopted by tho House the other day, 

Port Richmond refused to transfer the cars to the elevator company; authorizing the Committee on Manufactures t{) investigate questions-of 

and that fact coming to the knowledge of the railroad officials, the "trusts" and all manner of combinations and conspiracies, would be 

general manager issued an order addressed to the supe1·intendent of the applicable to this case, and I trust that it will not be th~ disposition of 

company, requiring him to cause the removal of the cars and to dis- this House to make another investigating committee of the Committee 

charge such men as refused to aid in their removal. on Commerce. I think one investigating committee during the session 

A number of men-five crews, it is stated-were in turn discharged will be-about all that we shall be able to stand. I do not believe that 

because of their disobedience to the orders of the superintendent, an investigation should be ordered, but if the House determine to do 

- whereupon the representatives of the labor organizations to which those otherwise, I trust that a special commit~e m~y be selected. I reserve 

gentlemen belong~d declared a strike, and the employes of the Reading the balance of my time. 

Railroad, to the number of. over twenty-five hundred, quit the service Mr. BLAND. I would like to ask my colleague one question, if he 

of t.be company. In a few days thereafter the strike was declared off, will permit me. 

I believe; anyhow the railroad company continued to do its accustomed Mr. CLARDY. I will. 

business, employing new hands in some instances and in other in- Mr. BLAND. I understand that this corporation is operating in coal 

stances taking back the old ones. and iron. Now. coal and iron being protected by the tariff come under 

That the statement of facts I have made is a correct one I think I can the revenue laws, and I want to ask my colleague whether that does not 

satisfy the House. On the 1st day of January lastthemen in the em- give us jurisdiction to inquire how it is that protection enables these 

ploy of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company, a cor- corporations to dominate labor? 

poration whose stock I am informed is owned largely, if not entirely, by Mr. CLARDY. In reply to my colleague} I will say that, like himstockholders of the Reading Railroad Company, quit the ·service of that I self, I had presumed that there was a duty on anthracite coal, and I had 

company because of an alleged violation of an agreement respecting the constructed an argument, a right good one, on that presumption, but 

. ' 
1888. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. 885 

I fonnd upon examination that there was no duty at an -upon-it. 

[Laughter.] 

M:r. BRUMM. And this is not an iron company,· either. 

Mr. RAYNER. Mr. Speaker, I think that when the House fully understands the two reports that have come in from the committee, it 

will find no difficulty in adopting the minority report. I do not believe, for one, in any half-way measures upon this subject. I am very 

frank to say that when monopoly combines to drive the ranks oflabor 

to starvation's point, labor has an equal right by every natural law of 

justice to combine and strike for living wages. The Reading Railroad 

Company can pool its interests with other roads to crush and grind 

the yeomanry of toil, but when the men upon whose bent bodies and 

bowed shoulders this great enterprise has been constr\}cted and sust-ained are on their knees begging for bread, we are told that their ranks 

must scatter and disintegrate at the bidding of a lordly clan, who have 

organized an infamous ''trust" to control the prices of articles of consumption and to corner the markets of this land. I utter this not in 

the spirit of demagogism, because I have neither the arts nor the 

aspirations of a demagogue. I utter it because I believe it to be the 

living truth. I am the mortal foe of violence in all its forms, but I am 

the friend of labor and of its sovereign power, ordained by nature, that 

by every peaceful method it may assert and vindicate its rights. 

The Reading mines are closed, and why? Because, as has been properly stated here, the company has violated a solemn compact that 

it had made with its employes, and now commands them to surrender, threatening that otherwise it will proclaim 1!9 the consuming public of America that that great channel of commerce shaH be 

closed, and not a ton of traffic shall be freighted over it. In other 

words, this corpomtion sn.ys to them, "We will unite the Lehigh ana 

the Schuylkill mines, and we will so appreciate the price of this commodity, coal, that the overwhelming power of public necessity, speaking 

from every hearth and fireside of this country, shall drive you to your 

dens.'' Shall this be done? I, for one, say never. Have we the power 

here beyond the power of the Interstate Commerce Commission to 

bring this greatmonopoly to bay? I saytbatwe have. I say that under the power to regulate commerce between the States this body has 

the right to pursue this investigation as an independent body, and I 

am sustained by an unbroken current of authorities and decisions, from 

the case of Ogden ts. Gibbons, in 9 Wheaton, to the last case, of Texas 

vs. The Telegraph Company, in 105 U. S. Reports, in support of 

this elementary proposition of constitutional law. · Now, gentlemen, 

I will ask you to give your attention to what I am about to say, be-

.cause I shall occupy only five minutes more of your time. 

Do you know that the constitution of Pennsylvania prescribes in express terms that this company has no right to carry on a mining business? Let me read a paragraph from the constitution of that State, and 

then observe what a fraud this company is practicing to-day upon the 

consumers of this country. I 1·ead: 

No incorporated company doing the business of common carrier shall directly or indirectly prosecute or engage in mining; nor shall any such company directly or indirectly engage in any other business than that of common carriers. 

What does the Reading Road do to evade that provision? It has incorporated a legal company, known as the Philadelphia and Reading Coal 

and Iron Company, managed by the same directors, officered by the 

same president-, controlled by the same agents and the same superintendents as the Reading Railroad Company, and under the mask of this 

legal fiction, that railroad company is now violating the constitution of 

the State that chartered and created it. But this is not aH. Let me 

call your attention to a most remarkable feature in connection with 

this controversy, which I think will somewhat surprise the learned 

chairman of the Committee on Commerce. 

Mr. GROSVENOR. Will the gentleman allow me to ask him a 

question? 

Mr. RAYNER. If you will give me five minutes uninterrupted, you 

can put me through a civil-service examination on this business. 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. GROSVENOR. I only want to ask you a question. · 

. Mr. RAYNER. Just give me five minutes first. 

Mr. GROSVENOR. I only wanted to ask the gentleman a civil 

question, directly in the line of his argument. 

Mr. RAYNER. .All right. Ask your question, then. 

Mr. GROSVENOR. If the Reading Railroad is a company chartered 

under the laws of Pennsylvania, and if it has deviated from the business which is authorized by that charter in the direction in whirh you 

have indicated, would not a proceeding in quo warmnto in the courts 

of Pennsylvania be the proper remedy? 

Mr. RAYNER. Oh, yes! The courts of Pennsylvania are in the 

habit of granting these writs of quo warranto ! We know too much 

about the courts of Pennsylvania--

:Tlir. O'NEILL, of Pennsylvania. I want to· say to the gentleman 

that the courts of Pennsylvania used the writ of quo toarmnto thirty or 

forty years ago, and were probably the first courts in the United 

States to use it. As long~go as I have stated that writ was granted on the application of William M. Meredith, one of the greatest lawyers of 

his time-no greater lawyer ever lived. I am referring the gentleman 

to the history of the law of the country as to writs of quo wan·anto. 

Mr; O'NEILL, of Missouri. We had Democratic judges then. 

Mr. RAYNER. The history of the law is in the law books. I wish 

to call attention to a point which we think decisive in favor of the 

opinion of the minority in this case. I am not referring to general principles, but I propose to give you a case in which this very road that 

we are now :seeking to investigate was the complainant. I refer to the 

case of the State of Pennsylvani:t vs. The Reading Railroad Company, 

reported in the Supreme Court decisions, 15 WaUace. ~r. Gowen, 

who was then the distinguished counsel of the Reading Railroad Com-

-pany, and afterwards its president, came into court and claimed that 

the Reading Railroad Company was not a State corporation, that it was 

:1 carrier of commerce between the States, that the State of Pennsylvania had no right to tax its freights, that Congress alone could do so in 

the exercise of its power to regulate commerce between the States. 

That was Mr. Gowen's argument; it was the company's argument. 

Now let me give yon the decision of the Supreme Court of the United 

States upon this question, delivered by Mr. Justice Strong: 

The transportation of freight is a constituent part of commerce itself. Hence a statute imposing a tax upon freight taken up within the State and carried out ot it, or taken up without the State and brought within it, is repugnant to the 

provisions of the Constitution of the United States which ordains that Congress 

shall have the right to regulate commerce between the States. 

.When this company is called into the courts of Pennsylvania to pay 

its tax as a company deriving its rights from the sovereignty of that 

State, it goes into the courts and says, "The State of Pennsylvania has 

no power over us; Congress alone can deal with us, because we are a 

carrier of commerce between the ~tates. ''. And now when we are seeking 

to investigate this traffic it says to us, "You have no power as Congress over us because we are a State corporation claiming our rights 

from the sovereignty of Pennsylvania.'' 

Mr. O'NEILL, of Pennsylvania. ·If the gentleman will let me a.Sk 

him a question, I will give him a corresponding portion of my own 

time. I only wish toaskhimrighthere whether he knows that any of 

these corporations are seeking to prevent this investigat:on-whether 

he bas any evidence of it? 

Mr. RAYNER. Yes, sir; we have the evidence hereof 82,000 starving men turned out of employment in the dead of winter with families 

dependent upon them for sustenance. [Applause.] 

Mr. O'NEILL, of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I did not ask the 

gentleman as to that. I asked him whether he knows that the Reading Railroad Company, or the Reading Coal and Iron Company, are 

seeking to prevent this investigation. I say for one, they are not. 

Mr. RAYNER. Then why not allow the investigation? If they 

are not seeking to prevent it, why not pass this proposition? 

:Mr. O'NEILL, of Pennsylvania. Very well; we will pass it. [Applause.] r 

Mr. RAYNER. If you · will pass it, then I am done. The only 

reason I am discussing this proposition is because I fear you may not 

pass it. [Loud cries of" Vote!" ''Vote!"] I want but two minutes 

more and then I will sit down. We shall have plenty of time to vote. 

Mr. BRUMM. The question is not yet in a shape to be voted upon. 

Mr. RAYNER. Before sitting down I want to say one other word 

to the House. [Cries of'' Vote!'' ''Vote!''] 

Mr. ANDERSON, of Kansas. I ask for order. 

'l'he SPEAKER pro tempore. The House will come to order. The 

gentleman from Maryland [Mr. RAYNER] is entitled to his hour. 

Mr. RAYNER. Mr. Speaker, this proposed reference of the question to the Interstate Commerce Commission will amount to nothing. 

You might af! well refer it to the Chinese embassy or to the Public 

·Printer; you would get it back again just as soon. [Laughter and :tpplanse.] Whitt is the use of my friend talking about knocking at the 

doors of the Interstate Commerce Commission? You may knock there 

until the day of judgment. They never ta.ke up a case ex mero motu. It is proposed that we 1·equest the Interstate Commission to pass upon 

this question-not command them to do so, butpolitelyrequestthem. 

By the time they will have done with it these men will all have starved 

to death. 

Let us investigate thissnbject; let us trace the .trouble to the fountain-head. Let us discover, as I believe we shall, that this is a conspiracy of capital, not of labor; and when we have done this, let us at once 

apply the most heroic remedies that legislation can devise to break up 

these infernal systems which, under the de-ceptive form of "trusts," are now overshadowing the prosperous homes and the business centers 

of this conn try. I know that it is a hard fight. I know that monopoly, utterly unscrupulous as to the methods it employs, is an enemy 

terrible to encounter. 

It lies in ambush) and under the cover of darkness its poisoned shafts 

fall thick and fast. But let me say to my friends that, within my 

humble experience, I have never yet seen the day in the halls of legislation when honor that bas no price and manhood that knows no fear 

con ld not drive it like a skulking coward from the field of battle. [A pplause.] · 

• Mr. CLARDY. I will take the floor and yield to the gentleman from 

Massachusetts for t.en minutes. 

Mr. RAYNER. I reserve the balance of my time. 

Mr. DAVIS. Mr. Speaker, both the majority and minority of this 

committee desire to ask for an investigation, and it is only a question of 

method in order to secure the fairest, most intelligent, and most searching inquiry and the best results. I wish to state now that no request 
886 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. FEBRUARY 1, 

was made, during all the discussions of this committee, from any interest or person directly interested, for action by Congre...~. 

It was rather singular that, upon the very day when these reports 

were made, a committee claiming to represent 85,000 people presented a petition asking for an investigation. 

Now, every member of this House represents a constituency of about 

170,000 persons, and in a general sense he represents a constituency of 

60,000,000, but he would hardly feel like signing a petition for all 

those citizens, and I very much doubt whether the 85,000 miners and 

railroad employes of Pennsylvania have placed their consciences and 

their judgments in the keeping of any committee. 

The petition appears before this House-coincident with the action of 

this committee, and while I do not charge that it has been suggested 

by any member of this committee, or any member of the House, it is 

at least a reasonn.ble inference that it has been the result of a parliamentary rather than a business exigency. · 

But, sir, all this is immaterial to the issue, inasmuch as we all desire 

an investigation. A majority of the committee object to an investigation by Congress oecause we do not believe a committee representing 

Congress is the body to investigate a subject of this character. 

I yield to no man in my respect for Congress when in the performance of its legitimate functions as the popular branch of the law-making power of the country, or as the custodian for a hundred years, and 

it is to be hoped for many centuries to come, of the rights and interests 

of the American people. 

But its constitution and character unfit it for such an investigation 

as this should be. Congress is a political body, mada up of two political parties whose antagonism is emphasized at this tim&, and its proceedings must inevitably partake more or less of a partisan character, 

and will just to that extent be impaired in value. An investigating 

committee of the House will be subject to the sa.me infirmity. Its 

members will be made up of each political party, and there will probably be two reports antagonizing and neutralizing each other. 

'l'he history of the Congressional investigation during the last Congress of the strike on the Southwestern railroads illustrates this fact. 

The committee had a most important subject to consider-a railroad 

disturbance which involved an immense system of railroads and aninterruption of interstate commerce throughout the country, and which 

was associated with violence, riot, and bloodshed . 

It was a subject which required probing to the bottom, and a r.ommittee of this House was appointed for the purpose; the distinguished 

war governor of Pennsylvania, Mr. Curtin, was its chairman; another 

member of the committee is a distinguished member of this Congress 

[Mr. BuRNES]; .the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. BUCHANAN], 

whose massive frame typifies his sturdy and vigorous intellect, was also 

a member of that committee. That committee spent much time which 

would have been valuable to this House, their constituents, and the 

country in the investigation of this matter. Did they come to any conclusion? Did they throw any light on this subject? . None whatever. 

It is remarkable, Mr. Speaker, that they came absolutely to no conclusion, and I can not characterize their action better than in the language of the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. BucHANAN] in his re- port, a paragraph of which I ask the Clerk to read. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

If ever there was occasion presented in which the whole problem of railroad 

transportation, the powers and duties of common carriers and their relation to the public, the power of the General Government to compel the carrier to trans- port interstate commerce, and the extent, if any, to which it may, in the exer- cise of that power, lay its hand upon the carrier, and the employes of such car- rier, through Federallegisiation; came up legitimately for discussion, it was the 

occasion in hand. No such discussion is had. But little, if any, consideration 

of the existence or character of the power of the Federal Government in the 

premises, and no discussion of the extent to which such power, if it exists, 

might be safely used, nor of the means by which it might be exercised, appears in the report. 

Mr. STEWART, of Vermont. That report was made a whole year 

afterwards. 

Mr. BUCHANAN. It was made thus late not through any fault of 

the minority of the committee. _ 

Mr. DAVIS. Now, M.r. Speaker, after all this blaze we had a right 

to expect something better than ashes, or the unsightly and blackened 

embers of a den.d controversy; but that was all we had. We had no 

advice, no policy suggested, no remedy proposed. I do not blame the 

committee for this, because, as I have already said, it was composed of 

gentlemen who were among the very ablest members of this body. It 

was the fault of their construction. They obeyed the law of their being, and could not escape from their environment, and consequently 

that investigation had no result. 

Mr. BURNES. Will the gentleman yield to me for a moment? 

11ir. DAVIS. Yes, sir. 

Mr. BURNES. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Massachusetts seems to be oblivious to the fact that when that committee reached the 

Mississippi River the governors of three States were in consult.ation, 

unable to devise a proper remedy to quiet the excitement and suppress 

the disturbances then emting. Commerce was paralyzed; cities of 

that country were without business or life; railroad trains were stopped, 

..../ and men were in the throes of anger and distress, were practically under 

arms. He seems to forget the fact that within twenty-four hours after 

the arrival of this committee in the city of St. Louis peace was restored 

and commerce made free. [Applause.] He seems to be oblivious to 

the fact that the committee, with the illustrious war governor at its 

head, ma-de serious and e..<trnest recommendations in its report to the 

House, after detailing all the facts and circumstances, which recommendations--

Mr. DAVIS. I hope the gentleman will not occupy the floor longer 

in my time. I yielded to the gentleman for a moment, not for a speech. 

Mr. BURNES. I will yield to the gentleman out of my time. I 

say he seems to have forgotten the fact that this committee, in summing up all the evidence taken upon that occa.sion, added a recom· 

mendation to the House and the country--

lllr. DAVIS. I must object to the gentleman entering into a vindication of the committee in my time. 

Mr. BURNES. I only desire to say, with the consent of the gentleman from Uassachusettsand in response to his own statement, thatth.e 

committee alluded to recommended seriously and solemnly to Congress 

to place every railroad employe under the control of the Government, as 

the employes of steam-boats carrying interstate commerce on navigable 

rivers and the high seas are placed by existing law. 

Mr. DAVIS. I will give the Clerk time to read the paragraph out of 

the brief time allotted to me, if the gentleman from Missouri will point 

out the page of this report on which any recommendation occurs. 

Mr. BUCHANAN. I wish to state, as a member of the minority of 

that committee, that I never agreed to any such recommendation. 

Mr. DAVIS. I shall be obliged to the gentleman from Mis....c:ouri if 

he will point out any paragraph in this report, which is now at his 

service for that purpose, where such a recommendation occurs. .The 

gentleman pointed it out to me as he thought, but I could not :find it, 

and I do not think that any membe1· of this House can find it. 

The report was a nullity, and it is for this reason that we desire another tribunal. We desire a tribunal of a judicial character which can 

calmly investigate, in a judicial manner, all the facts and circumstances 

connected with this strike. We have such a tribunal created by the 

last Congress; a tribunal which has amply justified its existence, because it has dealt most ably, and to a great extent successfully, with 

the g_reat problem of transportation over the complex system of railroads in all parts of this country, numbering now over 130,000 miles 

in extent. 

It has brought order out of chaos, and substituted amicable competition for destructive rivalry. An investigation of this character, as will 

be shown by an examination of the twel1th section of the act creating 

that commission, is already within its province and could be proceeded 

with and a report made to Congress which, it seems to me, would embody some general suggestions lor future action as '\'fell as a remedy for 

present troubles. 

If the present strike terminates promptly, still there are great questions to be considered, and some proper and efficient policy for the future evoked from the existing condition of things, on a full consideration of all the circumstances. There should be some remedy for these 

frequent disturbances which will at the Rame time protect the rights 

and guard the interests of labor. No class need quiet and freedom from 

these confl..icts between capital and labor, which check production and 

obstruct the channels of trade and commerce, more than the workingmen of the country. Such interruptions always affect their interests 

fu-st and most seriously. 

!yield to no man in mysympathyfortheworki.ngmenof onrcouRtry. 

My life bas been spent among them in one of om busiest cities, and my 

professional avocations have brought me into the closest relations with 

them in their hours of trial, sickness, suffering, sorrow, and poverty. 

I have closely observed for many years the struggle between bbor and 

capital in that city, famous for its strikes, some ofthettt bitter and Jlrolonged to the injury of both parties; and, sir, I have seen and bailed 

with joy the gradual approach to a better policy, which I now believe 

to be firmly established. 

Within ·a fortnight a committee representing the manufactureTs of 

Fall River have met a committee of the opera.tivesemployedin the fifty 

mills of that city, and have agreed upon a schedule of prices which provides for a satisfactory advance of wages now, and also a sliding scale 

to be adapted to future conditions of the market. }""all Rive1· having 

first learned in the school of bitter experience the lesson of mutual concession and compromise, has now the honor of teaching it to her sister 

manufacturing cities, who will not be slow to learn the sa.me lesson. 

Our railroads must at some time adopt a similar policy. Me..wtime 

let us have this investigation irt some form-let it be colorless, impartial, judicial, and complete. Let us have a report from the commission, which shall present the facts and their conclusions, and which may 

suggest safe and beneficent legislation. 

Ur. CLARDY. 1\ir. Speaker, oub of deference to hat seems to be 

the wish of the Hoose to order this investigation I want to say, and I 

think I speak for the majority of the Committee on Commerce, that if 

the gentlemen representing the minority will so amend their resolution as to take the committee from the House, so far as we are concerned, 

we will withdraw all opposition. 
/ 

1888. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. 887 

Mr. BRUMM. That is all we want. 

Mr. RAYNER. We will amend our resolution accordingly. 

Mr. ANDERSON, of Kansas. I will offer, Mr. Speaker, this amend- ment, which I send to the desk and ask to have read. It is intended 

as a substitute for the existing substitute, and in order that it shall come within the parliamentary rules, I shall put it in the form of a mo· tion to strike out of the substitute proposed by the chairman of the 

committee all after the word "resolved" and insert before that word 

the preamble which I send to the desk, to be followed by the resolution 

accompanying it. 

:M:r. RANDALL. I suggest to the gentleman from Kansas when the 

resolution is read to call the previous question. · 

Mr. CLARDY. I have not yielded for that purpose. I retain the 

floor. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Wherea.'! it is authoritatively alleged that a certain unlawfulcombinatiou has 

been formed between sundry corporations and individuals for the purpose of 

unduly raising the price of anthracite coal, and in pursuance of said purpose ha>e forced a lockout, whereby they have prevented the mining and shipping of coal from the Schuylkill and Lehigh 1·eg ions, thereby entailing great buffering and distress among thousands of our people, and clogging the wheels of commerce: Therefore, be it 

Resol1:ecl, That a special committee of five members of the House of Repre- sentatives be appointed to investigat-e forthwith tb.e extent, causes. and effect upon interstate commerce of the continued failure of the Reading Railroad Com- pany to transport such commerce, and to report to the House, by bill or otherwise, for consideration at any time, such legislation as is necessary to secure to the public the regular and complete execution by a railroad company of its obligations to serve as a common carrier of interstate commerce, and to inYesti- gate :-Jl the facts in relation to this matter, and to 1·eport the same to the House with such recommendations as the committee may agree upon; and that said 

committee be authorized to sit during the sessions of the House, and at such 

places as it may find necessary, to employ a stenographer, to administer oa,ths, 

examine witnesses, compel the attendance of persons, and the production of 

books and papers; and the expenses of such investigation shall be paid out of 

the contingent fund of the House. 

Mr. CLARDY. I adhere to my proposition and ask that the original proposition may be reported; I mean the proposition reported by 

the minority of the committee. 

Mr. O'NEILL, ofPenm;ylvania. I desire to ask the chain:Il!l.n of the 

committee a question as to how any further time in discussing this 

subject is to be given out. There are some members of the committee 

who want to say a word. 

Mr. CLARDY. Not wishing to interrupt my fri&nd from Pennsylvania, I will say '&hat I propose t{) call the previous question. 

Mr. ANDER80N, of Kansas. That will be acceptable to us. 

Mr. RANDALL. The best speech the friends of this proposition can listen to is a vote of the House. 

l'lfr. O'NEILL, of Pennsylvania. Might not the chairman of the com- mittee consent that the special committee should comprise more than 

five members? I think myself this is the proper solution of the subject, to have an investigation by a committee of the House rather than 

by a portion of the Committee on Commerce. Let the Speaker of the · Ho,lse select the committee, but let itcomprisesevenor nine members. 

And then let the investigation be started at an early day. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from .Missouri [.Mr. 

CLARDY] calls for the reading of the resolution reported by the minority of the committee. Is there objection to considering as pending the 

amendment of the gentleman from Kansas which bas now been read? 

Mr. CLARDY. I object. I ask to have the resolution reported by 

the minority read. 

Mr. DAVIS. I would like to know what is the exact position taken 

in tllis matter by the chairman of the committee. 

Mr. CLARDY. I am now calling for the reading of the resolution 

reported by the minority. I said out of deference to what seemed the 

sentiment of the Honse, I spoke, I thought, for the majority of the 

Committee on Commerce when I said that I would assent to the appointment of a committee, if it was a special committee; and if the 

resolution reported by the minority was amended in that regard I 

thought there would be no objection to it. 

:Mr. DA. VIS. I have no objection to that proposition. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from 1\fissouri [Mr. 

CLARDY] calls for the reading of the minority resolution. 

Mr. RAYNER. I am willing _that the minority report shall be 

amended as suggested. That report as it stands is in favor of the original resolution offered by the gentleman from Kansas, which sends the 

investigation to the Committee on Commerce. I am willing to accept 

the proposition on the part of the minority if other gentlemen agree 

with me to send the investigation to a special committee, adopting a resolution to that effect without any preambles or whereases. 

Mr. BRU~HI. I desire to ask one question. If the report of the 

minority be adopted, amended as suggested, leaving the investigation 

to a special committee-the number I do not care about-will not that 

limit the examination t{) the railroad company alone? 

Mr. CLARDY. I think not. 

l'lfr. BRUMM. Let the resolution of the minority be read. 

The resolution was read, as follows: 

Resolved, That the Committee on Commerce is hereby empowered and di- rected to investigate forthwith the extent, causes, and effect upon interstate commerce of the continued failure by the Reading Railroad Company to trans- port such traffic, and to report to the House, by bill or otherwise, ,for consideration at any time, such legislation as is necessary to secure to the public the regular and complete execution by a ru.ilroad company of its obligations and service as a common carrier of interstate commerce. Said investigation may be ma,de by a subcommittee at such places as it shall 

deem proper, and the said committee or subcommittee is hereby authorized to send for and examine persons, books, and papers, to administet· the oath to witnesses, and to employ a messenger and a stenographer i. and the ex~enses of 

such investigat ion, not to exceed $5,000, are hereby autb.or1zed to be p a1d out of 

the contingent fund of the IIouse in the manner now provided by law. 

.1\fr. RAYNER. I offer the amendment which I send to the desk. 

The Clerk read as follows: Strike out the wo-rds" Committee on Commerce" and insert" a special com- mittee of five members." 

Mr. ANDERSON, of Kansas. I also call the attention of the gen- tleman from Mary land to the fact that in the following paragrapli there 

should be stricken out the words ''by a subcommittee," and in the 

next line the words "or subcommittee." 

Mr.. WEAVER. I suggest to the gentleman from Kansas that it 

would be better for him to insist ou his own resolution . ~fr. ANDERSON, of Kansas. I desire to make a parliamentary inquiry, which is this: I understood the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. 

CLARDY] to consider as pending the substitute which I offeyed, which was first read. That, I think, was the statement of the Chair at the 

time; and I would like to suggest this to the gentleman, that the House 

first take a Yote upon the substitute, the preamble and resolution which 

I offered, and, if that be voted down, that we then take the vote upon 

the amendmentproposecl by the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. RAYNEB.]. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair does not understand that 

the amendment of the gentleman from Kansas is pending. 

Mr. ANDERSON, of Kansas. I think if the Chair will look at the 

record he will find tha,t the gentleman yielded the floor for that purpose. 

?lir. CLARDY. I yielded in order to have the amendment read. J ow I want to say to the gentleman from Kansas that I am willing 

to accept any amendment enlarging the powers of the committee, but 

I do not think that the preamble to the resolution should stand. .Mr. A:t-.TJ)ERSON, of Kansas. Very well. If I withdraw the preamble will the gentleman then accept the substitute? 

Mr. CLARDY. I think I wilL Let ns have it read. 

The Clerk read as follows: - Resoked, That a subcommittee of five of the House of Representatives be ap- pointed to investigate forthwith the extent, causes, and effect upon interstate commerce of the continued failure by the Reading Railroad to transport such commerce, and to report to the House by bill or otherwise, for consideration at any time, such legislation as is necessary to secure to the public the regular and 

complet-e execution by a railroad company of its obligations to serve as a com- mon carrier of interstate commerce; and to investigate all the facts in relation to this matter, and report the sa.me to the House with such recommendations as the committee may agree upon; and that said committee be authorized to sit 

during the sessions of the House, etc. 

Mr. BRUMM. With the preamble stricken out the resolution oes 

not affect the miners at all. If the gentleman will consent to include 

the miners we will withdmw all objection. 

Mr. CLARDY. All right. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will inquire whether this 

is intended to be a substitute for the original or for the substituted res- olution. 

Mr. ANDERSON, of Kansas. Will the Chair please state whether 

the original resolution, which was referred to the Committee on Commerce and reported back, is before the House, or whether the question 

before the House is the resolution which was reported as a substitute by 

the majorit-y of the Committee on Commerce? 

The SPEAKER pro temp01·e. The Chair will state that the original 

resolution is before the House, but the vote must first be taken on the 

substitute reported by the committee. 

The Chair understands that the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. RAYNER] has now pending an amendment to the substitute. Does the gentleman withdraw that amendment? 

Mr. RAYNER. If it does not meet the approval of the gentleman 

from Pennsylvania [Mr. BRUl\I.l\1] I will withdraw it. I do not insist 

upon the amendment. M~. ANDERSON, of Kansas. I want to hear from the gentleman 

from Missouri [Mr. CLARDY] on this subject. 

:Mr. CLARDY. There is objection. If this investigation is to be 

made, I trust that the committee will have power to go to the bottom 

of the whole matter. 

Mr. ANDERSON, of Kansas. That is what we want. 

Mr. CLARDY. I suggest, therefore, that an amendment be inserted 

including the Iron and Coal Company. 

Mr. ANDERSON, of Kansas. All right. 

Mr. BRUMM:. Mr. Speaker, I think I can suggest an amendment 

which will meet the case. I propose to amend the resolution so as to 

read in this way: 

Resolved, That a special committee of five of the House of Representatives be 

appointed to investigate forthwith the extent, causes, and effect upon interstate commerce of the continued failure by the Reading Railroad to transport such commerce, and to report to the House by bill or otherwise, for consideration at any time, such legislation as is necessary to secure to the public the regular and 

complete execution by a. railroad company of its obl.igations to serve as a com· mon carrier of interstate commerce, and to investigate all the facts in relation to the miningcompaniesand individual miners of anthracite coal in connection 

therewith, etc • 

• 

• 
888 CONGRESSIONAL RECORl)-HOUSE. FEBRUARY 1, 

Mr. RANDALL. If the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. CLARDY] 

will give his attention, I think I can suggest a proposition in the nature 

of an amendment which, added to the resolution of the gentleman from 

Kansas [Mr. ANDERSON] will constitute the better part of this proposition. The controversy between the railroad company and i..,ts employes 

is but one branch of the inquiry. The much more important controversy is in 1·elation to the difficulties which exist between the coal cor- porations and the miners. The case of the miners, in my judgment, 

is a vast deal stronger than the case of the employes of the railroad 

company, and I therefore suggest that the proposition of the gentleman 

from l{ansas be amended by adding these words: 

And , further,to in >estiga te the existing difficulties in the Schuylkill and Lehigh 

coal regions of P en nsy lva n ia b etween th e corporations miniJ:!g coal and the 

miners. 

Mr. BRUMM. We will accept ihat. 

1\Ir. ANDERSON, of Kansa-s. I accept that. I now move my reso- lution with that amendment. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The vote must be taken first on the 

substitute reported by the committee. 

Mr. CLARDY. I ask leave to withdraw it. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection? The Chair bears 

none, and the substitute reported from the committee is withdrawn. 

Mr. ANDERSON, of Kansas. Now, Mr. Speaker, I propose, in place 

of the original resolution, my amendmel\t, with the amendment of the 

gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. RANDALL] added. 

Mr. McMILLIN. Will the gentlemal! from Kansas permit a suggestion? The resolution provides for the employment of a stenographer. I will remi:J.!d him that we have two stenographers for com- mittees regularly employed by the House under the law, and probably 

their services can be secured if they·are not otherwise engaged. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the amendment 

of the gentleman from Kansas, and then the proposition as amended. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

R csol'lied, That a subcommittee of five of the House of Representatives be ap- pointed to investigate forthwith the extent, causes, and effect upon interstate commerce of the continued failure by the Rea<ling Railroad Company to trans- port such commerce, and to report to the House, by bill or otherwise, for con- 8ideration at nny time, such legislation as is necessary to secure to the public 

the regular and c :>mplete execution by a railroad company of its obligations to sen·e as a common carrier of interstate commerce; and, further, to investigate 

the difficulties existing in the Schuylkill and Lehigh coal regions of Pennsylvania between the corporations mining coa l and the· miners; and to investigate all the facts in relation to mining corporations and individual miners of anthracite coal in connection therewith. 

:M:r. ANDERSON, of Kansas. As I understand it, that last clause is 

withdrawn by the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. BRUMM]. 

Mr. BRUMM. No. Leave it all in; it does no harm. 

Mr. TARSNEY. Mr. Speaker, only one moment shaH I occupy the 

attention of this Hoose. I regret very much, sir, that I have to differ 

from the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Commerce, but 

I think that we are getting into a little bit of confusion over this matter. I want to say to my distinguished friend from Pennsylvania [Mr. 

RANDALL], who has just offered his amendment, that I do not believe 

this House has any authority whatever to investigate local institutions 

within the State of Pennsylvania. It becomes simply an incident to 

the general inquiry which is contemplated by the minority of this com- mittee, with whom I am in hearty accord. As a member of the Commerce Committee, who served upon it during the last Congress, and 

who has the honor to serve upon it now, I want to know whether these 

railroad companies are defying the law. I want to know whether this 

strike in Pennsylvauio., as some people call it, is not a lockout forced 

by the railroad corporation itself. · _ 

Now, I want to know whether it is true, according to information 

which seems to be reliable-information which we ab~orb on all sides, no matter from what source-that these thousands ofmen who are out 

of employment, and who with hundreds and thousands of hungry wives 

and children are suffering over in Penn.sylvania, are not actually forced 

out of employment by this railroad corporation, simply for the purpose 

of raising the price of my coal in Saginaw, 1\Iich., $2 a ton. [Lau~ter 

and applause.] 

When you talk about interstate commerce, Mr. Speaker, it does not mean the method of transportation; it does not mean whether it shall 

go on keelsons or on wheels; it means traffic; it means trade between 

the people of different States and different nations And if we have 

builded up in our country these immense corporations that are combining to absorb the very life-blood of the nation, then we ought to know 

it; and as a member of the Committee on Commerce I want to see this 

investigation go on, so that when the report comes back we may have 

intelligent and reliable information. · 

I am not here to fight a railroad corporation; nor am I he~ in the interest specially of the miners. I am one of those who believe in the 

general equality of mankind. Labor will take care of itself, if it has an equal chance. But I want to say to you who areformingthesecombinations, these great monopolies through this country, that you are simply throttling and robbing labor. I do not claim to be a laboring man in the ordinary sense [laughter], although I think I work pretty 

hard-more than twelve hours a day. But I am not here as a member 

of any labor organization. I am here to say in behalf of common hn-

·-

manity that we should do all that we Can. to equalize the laws, so that 

all the members of the community shall have an equal chance in the 

world. We do not ask anything more. [Applause.] 

Mr. ANDERSON, of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, let the amendment be 

read as modified. 

The SPEAKER p1·o tempore. The Clerk will read the pending proposition as modi.fied·bythe gentleman from Pennsylvania and the gentle- man from Kansas. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That a special committee of five of the House of Representatives be 

appointed to investigate forthwith the extent, causes, and effect upon interstate commerce oftbecontinuedfailure by t.be Reading Raiiroad Company to transport 

such commerce, and to report to the House, by bill or otherwise, for conside rllrtion at any time, such legislation as is necessary to secure to the public the reg- ular and complete execution by a railroad company of its obligations to serve as R. common carrier of interstate commerce, and to investigate the difficulties 

existing in the Schuykill and Lehigh coal regions of Pennsylvania between the 

corporations mining coal and the miners, and to further investigate all th e facts in relation to the mining corporations and individual miner a of anthracite coal 

in connection therewith, and all the facts in relation to the m a tter, an d report 

the same to the House, with such recommendations as the committee ma y a gr ee upon, and that said committee be authorized to sit during the sessions of the House and at such places as it may find necessary, to employ a stenographer, to administer oaths, examine witnesses, compel the attendance of persons and 

the production of books and papers; and the expense of such investigation shall 

be paid out of the contingent fund of the House. 

· Mr. CLARDY and Mr. ANDERSON, of Kansas, called for· the previous question. 

Mr. BAKER, of New York. I understood it was suggested and agreed 

to that the committee should consist of seven members. 

The SPEA.KER p1·o tempore. The Chair does not so understand. 

TP.e question is on the amendment as read, upon which the gentleman 

from Kansas and the gentleman from Missouri demand the previous 

question. 

Mr. BAKER, of New York. I would like to move an amendment 

to provide that the committee consist of seven members. 

The SPEAKER pro tempm·e. The gentleman from Missouri [Mr. 

CLARDY] is entitled to the floor. 

.Mr. CLARDY. I have demanded the previous question, but withdraw the demand temporarily, and yield for a moment to my colleague 

[Mr. BURNEs], who desires to have read a passage from the report of a previous investigating committee. 

Mr. BURNES. Mr. Speaker, it will be remembered that the gentleman from Massachusetts made an issue with regard to the report of 

Governor Curtin, claiming that it contained no sugge3tion of a remedy 

in such cases of disturbances as that of the Southwest strike. As an answer I now desire that a paragraph be read from th~t report. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

The power of Congress to deal with the situation presented by this strike must be found in the provisions of section 8, Article I of the Constitution of the 

United States, by which Congress is empowered to provide for the general welfare of the United States, and t-o regulate commerce among the several States, 

and to establish post-offices and post-roads. Congress bus already provided, by section.3964 of the Revised Statut s, "that 

all rai.lroa s or p arts of railroads which are now or may hereafter be m opera- tion shall be post-roads, established as such under the authority of the Constitution." ' Having cited the express provision of the Constitution authorizing Congress to regulate commerce among the States, we ne!ld but refer to the statutes ~nacted protecting post-roads, and those regulatmg commerce upon the h1gh seas, and on our navigable rivers, in defining the duties, obligations of, and penalties against, those engaged therein, as proof that ample power to control and 

regulate so far as interstate commerce is involved, as well the rights and duties 

of the e~ployers as of the employes therein, exists, and has been and may be 

further exercised. 

1\Ir. CLARDY. I yield for a moment to the gentleman from New 

Jersey (Mr. BUCHANAN]. 

Mr. BUCHANAN. Mr. Speaker, what is known as the "Curtin 

committee " has been referred to here. The House will pardon a few 

remarks from one who was a member of that committee and who knows 

personally of its labors. The committee began the examination in 

Washington. It then proceeded to the city of St. Louis; after taking some testimony the committee divided, ·one part going South to Arkansas and Texas, the other proceeding to Kansas. These subcommittees 

subsequently reunited at St. Louis and completed the taking of the 

testimony, with a slight exception. The committee th~n retumed to 

Washington. In the records of the report of the committeeThe subcommittee in the Southwest was absent ten days, and in that time 

traveled 2 000 miles and examined 328 witnesses. The subcommittee which went to Atchiso'n, Kansas City, aud !3eda.lia traveled over7~ miles and examined 250 

witnesses, making a total of m1les traveled from Washmgton and return of 4,880 

miles and an examination of 578 witnesses. 

Certainly the committee was as industrious in the collection of testimony as "the most exacting economist could have demanded. It did 

this at a total cost to the Government of $4.002.40. Upon the return 

of the committee to Washington a long delay ensued in the preparation of the report, and when presented I felt it my duty to myseJ! to 

file with it my views as a member of the minority. As these views 

state more fully the matters connected wi1;h such delay, I will ask the 

privilege of making it a part of my remarks. 

The minority report Teads as follows: 

VIEWS OF THE MINORITY. 

. The undersigned is one of those referred to in the report of t~e ~joritr ns not being able to assent to all portions of that report. .The report.1s d1v1ded .mto two parts: First, a narrative of the events antecedent to and durmg the str1ke: 
1888.· CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. 889 

and, second, conclusions arrived at from a consideration of the testimony. 

The narrative portion is the result of much labor spent in the study of the tes- timony, and the arrangement in consecutive order of the facts contained therein. 

'l'he result is a clear and comprehensive statement, correct in the main. In one important particular, however, this statement is defective. By inadvertence, no doubt, one of the main causes of discontent on the Texas and Pa- cific just preceding the strike on !Jlat road is but incidentally mentioned in the 

report, and even that men lion is not in its proper place in the narrative. Convinced that any history of this most disastrous strike must be incomplete which 

does not make prominent the grievances suffered by the employes on that road, 

their abortive efforts to have those grievances redressed, and the angry and discontented feeling engendered ther~by, the undersigned has thought it impor- tant to supply this deficiency by giving the matter somewhat more in detail. 

'.rhat sucli grievances existed is abundantly shown by the testimony. They were of vadous kinds, such as reduction of wages below the point named in 

the agreement signed on the termination of the previous strike, non-payment 

of wages at the rate of "time and a half for overtime," as provided for in said 

agreement; no extra pay for work in water, or travel on Sunday and at night; 

small deficiencies in amounts of checks forwarded for wages earned, and other matters. The testimony taken by the subcommittee which visited Texas, as to the existence and character of these grievances, was so complete as to be con- clusive. and, in fact, after a few attempts at overcoming it on the part of the railroadofficials, all further effort to disprove it was practically abandoned by them. 

These grievances not being redressed, save in a few instances, the uneasy feeling left by the old strike was thereby deepened into discontent, and the way was the more easily prepared for the strike which followed. The failure· to have these grievances redressed was very unfortunate. The responsibility of 

such failure will be located by a moment's attention to the testimony as to methods adopted by the workmen to secure redress. It appears by this testimony that when a workman suffered what he felt to be· a grievance, the orderly method was for him to make complaint of the injury to his local assembly. It was then investigated by the committee on grievances of 

such assembly. If his complaint was found just, it was then forwarded to the 

chairman of the executive committee of the district assembly, to be by him pre- sented to the officials of the company for adjustment. 

Many such grievances we1·e thus investigated, found well founded, and forwarded to Mart.in Irons, chairman of District Assembly No. IOL No redress 

arriving, the parties aggrieved naturally supposed that their grievances had 

been presented and remained unredressed. In fact, a number who testified that 

they had complaints which had been presented and which had not been rectified, when subjected to cross-examination admitted that all they knew about 

the matter was that the complaints had been forwarded and no redress had 

arrived. 

The supposition that the officials had refused redress was undoubtedly 

strengthened by the promise of the redress of ''many other grievances" con- tained in the circular issued by Mr. Irons to the subordinate assemblies on the eve of the strike. asking for a vote upon the ordering of the strike, and as stated 

the discontent and anger among the employes were greatly increased by this 

supposed failure to redress their wrongs. Upon the cross-examination of Mr. Irons at St. Louis, he admitted receiving these grievances, and said that he had 

presented but one of them to the railroad officials at St. Louis, and that one was p romptly reC!ressed. He claimed, in· explanation of his failure to present them, that these grievances were not properly to be presented to the chief officials of 

the road at St. Louis, but belonged for adjustment to the local officials stationed at the points where the grievances arose. Whether this claim be correct or not, it will be seen at a glance that, between 

the local assemblies and Martin Irons on the one hand, and the chief officials of 

the road at St. Louis and the local officiaJs at other points on the other hand, 

the apparently well-devised maehinery.for the redress of g"rievances failed in its 

intended operation and efrect. Had the full fact been made known to the work- men that their grievances bad lodged somewhere between them and the per- sons they were designed to ultimately reach, no doubt a kindliedeeling would ha~·e existed. Without this knowledge, and believing, and with reason to so believe, that their complaints had been persistently ignored, they were incensed, 

and who shall say, from their standpoint, that they had no cause to be incensed? 

At all events. all this largely prepared the way for a hearty co-operation by 

them in the strike when ordered, and largely contributed to their willingness to unite in favor of the strike being ordered, and no history of the strike on the Texas Pacific is complete without mention of this fact. 

As to the destruction of property and the assaults upon life which occurred 

during the strike, attention is called to the fact that perhaps in no State in the 

Union is there any lack of local law sufficient, if enforced, to protect both per- son and property. Certainly, with possibly an exception, by the faulty wording of one of the statutes of the State of Texas, .the committee found the local 

laws already in existence sufficient for such purpose. That these laws were not enforced in some places, for weeks even, can not be disputed; but the fault lay not with the law, but with its sworn administrators. The protection of life and 

property within the confines of any State is primarily the duty of that State. The policing power is f0r the State t.o exercise, and if those charged with that power fail to execute it, the remedy would seem to be, not the enactment of more law, but a change of officials. 

And yet the fact must be recognized that the problem of railroad manage- ment and regulation seems to be rapidly outgrowing State lines and is pushing to the front for recognition and solution. 'While the police powers are for 

the State,-the security of uninterrupted transportation for the shipper of inter- state commerce seems to be within the power of the General Government to protect. Some legislation, crude, it must be acknowledged to be, and but ten- tative at the best, in relation to the transportation of interstate commerce, has 

been enacted by the present Congress. 

The practical workings of that fegislation may suggest further and additional 

regulation and more complete remedies in the future. While we are wise, per- h~ps, in relying upon such workings for additional suggestions for legislation, 

still regret must be expressed that th~ report does not discuss more fully and 

exhaustively the various questions which present themselves to any intelligent reader of the testimony relating to this question of the regulation and control 

of the carriers of interstate commerce. Here was a strike which presented, in one phase or another, every question ~hich can arise in connection with this subject. The strike was unprecedented tn extent and completeness. It covered, among others, a road already in the 

hands of the United States court. It extended to a demand for the severance of 

all traffic with another road in the hunds of another United States court. All 

the roads affected were engaged in the transportation of interstate commerce. By the stoppage of traffic large quantities of interstate freight were detained · and some of it perished for want of transportation. ' If ever there was an occasion presented in which the whole problem of raill"?ad transporta~ion, the powers and duties of common carriers, and their relatiOn to the p~bllc, the power of the Genetal Government to compel the carrier to transport mterstate commerce, and the extent, if any, to which it may, in the 

exer.cise of that power, lay its hand upon the carrier, and the employes of such earner, through Federal legislation, came up legitimately for discussion, it was t!Ie occa,;;ion i? hand. No such discussion is had. But little, if any, consideratiOn of the eXlStence or character of the power of the Federal Government in h~ premises, and no discussion of the extent to which such power, if it exists 

mJght be safely used, nor of the means by which it might be exercised, appear~ in the report. 

The undersigned will not undertak~ such discussion. If other reasons for declining such undertaking were wanting the following facts would seem to be 

sufficient excuse. They are stated not by way of complaint, hut by way of ex- planation. The committee immediately upon its appointment met and arranged 

for the prosecution of its work. It proceeded to the West, divided into subcommittees, and took testimony simultaneously at different points. It is confidently claimed that no committee ever traveled more miles, examined more witnesses, and took more testimony in a given time. The matter was probed to the bottom, every essential fact. was obtained, and every effort made to a r- rive at an impartial ascertainment of the truth. This done, the committee re- turned to Was}J.ington. 

One witness, whose testimony was tliought by some to be desirable, was sick 

and could not be examined. He remained ill, and finally died, never having 

rallied sufficiently to appear in answer to the subpc.ena of the committee. 

Meanwhile the committee were not called together, and at the commencement of the present session some members of the committee made urgent and re- peated requests for a meeting. Finally a meeting was held, and the steps taken to formally close the testimony. Another meeting for consultation was held, at which the undersigned could not be present. . The first draught of a report was not presented to the committee for consideration until about the middle of February. It was referred to a. subcommittee 

for revision. The undersigned first saw the revised report March 1, and it was first read to the full corr..mittee l\Iarch 2. The undersigned expressed his 

dissatisfaction with the report, and his conviction that it was then too late to properly frame and supply the discussion which the importance of the subject 

demanded. 

It was then near the close of the session; important legislation was being 

finally acted npon, and the duties of the members lay in attendance upon the session. · However, he obtained leave to add some supplemental views, and an adjournment was had, as he understood, until 2 o'clock in the afternoon of the next day. Before the time fixed for such adjourned meeting had arrived the 

~~~r; -!.~"'-f~;':~~d, and all opportunity to present and discuss additional 

No bad faith in this is charged. It was, no doubt, a pure inadvertence, but the effect was the same nevertheless. The effect of this late presentation of the report must necessarily be to prevent any consideration of the subject being en- tertained by the present Congress, and the only benefit to the coun.try at large 

of the labo1·s of the committee must consist in the fact that a large mass. of tes- timony covering every phase of a. widely-extended, fiercely-fought, and long· continued suspension of operations on thousands of miles of railway has been 

gathered together for the study of the economist and ~~~l~~CHANAN. 

I do not know.but that the concluding remark in that report about 

the " only benefit," etc., is a little too broad.· The majority say in their report that- On the evening of the 1st of 1\Iay a. correspondence was begun between the executive board of the Knights of Labor, which was at that time in St. Louis, and members of the committee, which resulted in declaring off the strike, to take effect on May 3. 

And when· they say furtherThe effect of the strike was and is a serious loss to the business interests of 

that section of the country; the public generally, the producing classes, the mer· cantile population, and everybody was caused to suffer even more than the stl"ikers, or the railroads, for their losses were beyond computation. The, loss to the strikers alone. 9,000 of them, for 50 days, at $2 a day, would amount to the enormous sum of $900,000; 

The loss of the non-striking employes, necessarily deprived of employment 

pending the strike, is roughly estimated at $500,000; • The loss of pro{Jerty. destruction of engines, cars, bridges, machinery, of the company and the loss of revenue to this company, taking the earnings of 1885 as a compa1·ison, was about lt2,800,000; 

The loss to the general public certainly amounts to millions of dollars; 

apd thus .show the magnitude of the strike and the disastrous effects 

of its continuance, it must be admitted that any action of t~e co~ttee which hastened its termination was a benefit to the country. I 

have thought proper to say this much as to the work of our committee. 

Its work was done speedily and with a thoroughness none will question. Its failure to report in time for such report to be of value is not charge· able to the minority in the least degree. 

Mr. WHITE, of New York. The gentleman from Missouri [Mr. 

CLARDY] yields to me, as I understand, that I may read an amend- ment which I desire to offer: . . 

Amend the resolution by adding the following clause: 

"And that said committee be, and is hereby, directed to inquire also whether there h313 been any unlawful combination of large bodies of men to interrupt 

the business of·said Reading Railroad, and to deprive it of freight destined for transportation by said railroad to points beyond the limits of the State of Penn• sylvania, and if such illegal combination is found to exist, to report what legislation is necessary and proper on the part of Congress to prevent and punish 

such combinations in the future." 

Mr. BRUMM. I do not object to that. 

¥r. CLARDY. I do, and demand the previous question on the resolution and amendment. · The previousquest.ion was ordered; and under the operation thereof 

the amendment was agreed to, and the resolution as amended was adopted. -

Mr. CLARDY moved to reconsider the vote by which the resolution was adopted; .and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid 

on the table. 

The latte1· motion was agreed to. 

Mr. SPRINGER. I move that the House do now adjourn. 

The House divided; and there were-ayes 145, noes 31. 

So the motion was agreed to; and accordingly (at 3 o'clock and 10 

minutes p. m.) the House adjourned. 

PRIVATE BILLS .AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS INTRODUCED .AND RE· 

FER RED. 

Under the rule private bills and joint resolutions of the following 

titles were introduced and referred, as indicated below: 

By Mr. PLUMB: A bill (H. R. 6444) for the relief of Eliza Mur- phy-to tbe Committee on War Claims . 

• 

• ·l. 
890 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD- HOUSE. FEBRUARY 1, 

By Mr. MATSON: A bill (H. R. M45) for the relief of James F. 

Fee-to the Committee on War Claims. 

By Ur. GEAR: A bill (H. R. 6446) for the relief of Hiram 1\IcGinnis-to the Committee on Military Affairs. · 

By 1\fr. FINLEY: A bill (H. R. 6447) for the relief of Edward Marcnm-to the Committee on Military Affairs. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6448) for the relief of Elizabeth A: South-to the 

Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. G. 1\I. THOMAS: A bill (H. R. 6449) for the relief of John 

Moran-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. HUNTER: A bill (H. R. 6450) for the relief of John Burnam-to the Committee on War .Claims. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6451) for the relief of George P. Stone-to the 

Committee on War Claims. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6452) granting a pension to Robert Herrin-to 

the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6453) granting a pension to George P. Stone-to 

the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. DINGLEY: A bill (H. R. 6454) granting a pension to Mrs. 

Harriet A. Howse-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. HEARD: A bill (H. R. 6455) for the relief of Ervin McCayto the Committee on War Claims. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6456) for the relief of Daniel Bentley-to the 

Committee on \Var Claims. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6457) for the relief of the Christian Church of 

Marshall, Saline County, ~lissouri-to the Committee on War Claims. 

By Mr. STONE, of Missouri: A bill (H. R. 6458) for the relief of 

Colman Guthrie-to the Committee on War Cbims. 

Also (by request), a bilJ (H. R. 6459) to authorize the Secretary of 

the Interior to approve the lease of certain lands in the Quapaw Indian 

reservation for mining purposes, and for other purposes-to the Committee on Indian Affairs. 

By Mr. MORGAN: A bill (H. R. 6460) to amend the record of Rob, 

ert Walter-to the Committee on Naval .Affairs. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6461) to placethenameofElizabeth White on the 

pension·rolls-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6462) for the relief of Henry L. Hawkins-to the 

Committee on War Claims. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6463) for the relief of Paul Leary-to the Committee on War Claims. 

By Mr. RICE: A bill (H. R. 6464) for the relief of certain Indians 

who sen·ed in the armies of the United States against their own people 

when at war with the United States, and of their families·and descendants from the operation of certa,in acts of Congress passed to punish the 

hostile Indians-to the Committee on Indian Affairs. 

By Mr. H:A.TCH: A bill (H. R. 6465) granting an increase of pension 

to Abraham L. Shepherd-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6466) granting a pension to Christian Louth-to 

the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6467) granting a pension to Henry Keller- to the 

Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6468) granting a pension to Fritz Holzer- to the 

Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6469) for the relief of Robert Phillips- to the Com- mittee on Invalid Pem:ions. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6470) for the relief of Nancy Mru·phy- to the Committee on Pensions. 

.Also, a bill (H. R. 6471) for the relief of Thomas Caul-to the Committee on Claims. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6472) for the relief of Thomas Murphy- to the 

Committee on Invalid Pem~ions. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6473) granting a pension to l\Irs. R. E. Ward-to 

the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

#Also, a bill (H. R. 6474) granting a pension to Amanda F. Deck-to 

the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

_Also, a bill (H. R. 6475) granting a pension to George Harmon-to 

the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6476) granting a pension to Hemy H. Green-to 

the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6477) granting a pension to Charles P. Pool-to 

the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. :QORSEY: A bill (H. R. 6478) granting a pension to Elizabeth Smith-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By M:r. CUMMINGS: A bill (H. R. 6479) for the relief of Albert H. 

Geering-to the Committee on Claims. 

By Mr. DAVENPORT: A bill (H. R. 6480) for the relief of Luzerne 

Todd-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. CROUSE: A bill (H. R. 6481) for the relief of A. B. Ackerman-to the Committee on l\Iilitary .Affairs. 

By 1\'Ir. J. E. CAMPBELL: A bill (H. R. 6482) granting a pension 

to Eliza A. Clark-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. By Mr. J?UGSLEY: A bill (H. R. 6483) granting a pension to Thomas 

1\fcClannahan-to tl:e Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By :M:r. CHARLES O'NEILL: A bill (H. R. 6484) to remove the 

charge of desertion from the record of John Cronin-to the Committee 

on l\Iili tary Affairs. 

By Mr. J. H. O'NEALL: A bill (H. R. 6485) granting a pension to 

Riley Davis-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. OSBORNE: A bill (H. R. 6486) granting a pension to Erastus H. Warner-to the Committee on Inmlid Pensions. 

By Mr. BAYNE: A bill (H. R. 6487) for the relief of John Montgomery- to the Committee on War Clahns. 

By Mr. BUTLER: A bill (H. R. 6488) for the relief of Elisha P . 

Coffee-to the Committee on Military Affairs. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6489) for the relief of John C. White-to the · 

Committee on Military Affairs. · 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6490) granting a pension to SolomonS. Cropenhite-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Ur. WISE: A bill (H. R. 6491) for the relief of Lowman & Co.-

to the Committee on Claims. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 649?.)forthereliefofRobertF. Williams & Co.-

to the Committee on Claims. 

By Jlt:fr. GUENTHER: A bill (H. R. 6493) granting a pension to Alfred Davis-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. _ 

By Mr. J. R. BROWN: A bill (H. R. 64!)4) granting a pension to 

Sarah A. Williamson-to the Committee on Pensions. 

By Mr. W. L. WILSON: A bill (H. R. 6495) granting a pension to 

Theophilus Moore-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

· Also, a bill (H. R. 6496) for the relief of John F. Smith-to the 

Committee on War Claims. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6497) for the relief of William 11!. Morrison-to 

the Committee on Indian Affairs. 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6498) for the relief of the sureties of Dennis Murphy-to the Committee on War Claims. . 

Also, a bill (H. R. 6499) to remove the charge of desertion from the 

record of Tunis Covert-to the Committee on Military Affairs. 

Changes in the reference of bills improperly referred were made in 

the following cases, namely: 

A bill (H. R. 234) for the relief of David ~forrow-from the Committee on Claims to the Committee on War Claims. 

A bill (H. R. 651) for the relief of George A. Norton-from the Committee on Claims to the Committee on War Claims. 

PETITIONS, ETC. 

The following petitions and papers were laid on tl1e Clerk's desk, 

under the rule, and referred as follows: 

By Mr. E. P . ALLEN: Resolutions of the Detroit (Mich.) Board of 

Trade, favoring the organization of a naval reserve corps on the Great 

Lakes-to the Committee on Naval Affairs. 

Also, petition of Charles E. Adams, W. JI. Spalding & Co., and C. 

B. Coburn & Co., of Lowell, Mass., for relieffrom the hardship of tho 

special-license tax imposed upon those who sell pure alcohol only-to 

the Committee on Ways and Means. 

By Mr. C. L. ANDERSON: Petition of S . .Abraham and others, citizens of Attala County, Mississippi, to place saJt on the free-list-to tho 

Committee on Ways and Means. 

By Mr. C. R. BRECKINRIDGE: Papers in the claim of Henry H . 

O'Neal; of estate of David Alexander, and of Michael C. Henderson, 

of Arkansas-to the Committee on War Claims. 

By Ur. BREWER: Petition of Ralph Watson, E. C. Keeziey, and 

30others, citizens of Riley, Clinton County, Michigan, in favor of a postal 

telegraph-to the Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. 

By :Mr. BUTLER: Papers in the claim of George W. Pierce, of Jefferson County, Tennessee-to the Committee on War Claims. 

Also, petition of Elisha P. Coffee, for removal of charge of desertionto the Committee on Military Affairs. 

By Mr. BUTTERWORTH: Petition in behalf of assistant surgeons 

of the United States-to the Committee on Military Affairs. 

Also, resolution of the National Guard Association for an appropriation of a million dollars for the militia of the United States-to the 

Committee on Military Affairs. 

Also (by 1·equest), petition of Anne Lucas for relief-to the Committee on War Claims. • • By :Mr. CUTCHEON: Resolutions of citizens ofPoc.:'lhontas, Va., in 

regard to duty on coal-to the Committee on Ways and Ueans. 

By Mr. DINGLEY: Petition of John N. Hill and 28 others, of C. H. 

Welr.h and 32 others, of William B. Thurlow and 91 others, of Charles 

E. Staples, of S. S. Marble and 80 others, of General D. Tillson and 

200 others, of H. V. Lane aud 110 others, of F. N. Tellison and 37 

others, and of George C. Dow and 37 others, citizens of Maine, for the 

erection of a light-house on Goose Rocks or Channel Rocks-to the Committee on Commerce. 

By Mr. ER.M:ENTROUT: Memorial of S. S. Turner, M.D., for tho 

relief of acting assistant surgeons of the United States Army-to the 

Committee on Military Affairs. 

Also, memorial of 0 . S. Shepherd, for refunding income tax: paid by 

soldiers during the late war-to the Committee on Ways and Means. 

By Mr. FINLEY: Petition of Josiah W. Bland, of Gabriel Wru:ren, 

of W. P . Vanarsdale, of John Brown, of Benjamin C. Embry, and of 

Elijah Warren, of Green, and of Harriet L. Wooten, and of Eliza C. 
1888. CONGRESSIONAL. RECORD-SENATE. 891 

Shoddy, of Barren County, Kentucky, for reference of their claims to 

the Court of Claims-to the Committee on War Claims. ' 

.By Mr. GROUT: Petition of J\1ahala Dexter, for a pension-to the 

Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

Also, petition of A. B. Stark and others, of Vermont, for a law to 

refund to drafted men commutation money paid by them-to the Committee on Military Affairs. 

Also, petition of the gold and silver beaters of the United States, for 

increased duty on certain articles-to the Committee on Ways and 

Means. · 

Also, papers relating to pension claim of H. H. Buck-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

Also, statement of Reuben Spaulding, relative to his claim for a pen: 

sion-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. HAYES: Petition to grant soldiers of the late war 160 acres 

of land-to the Committee on the Public Lands. 

Also, petition of citizens of Iowa, for a national system of telegraphy 

-to the Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. 

By Mr. D. B. HENDERSON: Petition of the Society of Friends of 

the United States, for the settlement of differences between the United 

States and Great Britain by arbitration-to the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs. 

Also; in relation to the poor of the District of Columbia-to the Committee on Appropriations. 

By Ur. HUNTER: Petition:of Elizabeth F. Carter, for a pension-to 

the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

Also, petition of Robert Herrin, for a pension-to the Committee on 

In valid Pensions. 

Also, petition of the Society of Friends in convention at Richmond, 

Ind., for international arbitration-to the Committe.e on Foreign Affairs. 

Also, petition of the faculty of Bethel College at Russellville, Ky., 

for an international copyright law-to the Committee on Patents. 

Also,. petition of Elizabeth A. Whalin, of Warren County, Kentucky, 

for reference of her claim to the Court of Claims-to the Committee on 

War Claims. 

By l\fr. JOSEPH: Two petitions of citizens of the Territory of New 

Mexico, for a reduction of postage on seeds, bulbs, etc. -to the Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. 

By Mr. KENNEDY: Papers in the case of :M:artin Barringer, for relief-to the Committee on Milit.:'lJ.·y Affairs. 

By Mr. LEE: Petition of Robert C. Rogers, of Stafford County, and 

ofGeorge W. Virtz, of Hillsborough, Loudoun County,Virginia, for reference of his claim to the Court of Claims-to the Committee on War 

Claims. 

By lli. LODGE: PetitionofcW...zensofEssex County, Massachusetts, 

for a treaty of arbitration-to the Committee on Fore]gn Affairs. 

By Mr. LONG: Petition of New England Conference of Methodist 

Episcopal Church, for free admission into the country of certain Chinese 

preachers-to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

By l\Ir. McCREARY: Petition of Larkin Fain and of Scott Morton, 

of Jessamine County, Kentucky, for reference of their claims to the 

Court of Claims-to th~ Committee on War Claims. 

Also, petition of W. H. Boswell, of Anderson County, and of John 

McCrocklin, of Spencer County, Kentucky, for reference of their claims 

to the Court of Claims-to the Committee on War Claims. 

ByMr.l\IORGAN: Papers in the claim of Helen l\1. Breal...---field, and 

of Rebecca Foster, of Mississip{li-to the Committee on War Claims. 

By Mr. MORROW: Papers· to accompany House bill No. 183 relating to the claim of George A. Norton, for relief-to the Committee on War Claims. 

By Mr. NEAL: Papers in the case of Mary Josephine Fowler, of 

Monroe County, Tennessee-to the Committee on War Claims. 

By l\ir. NELSON: Resolution of the Duluth (Minn.) Board of Trade, 

in favor of a naval militia-to the Committee on Naval Affairs. 

. By Mr. NUTTING: Concurrent resolution of the Legislature of New 

York, in regard to immigration and importation of foreign laborers-to 

the Committee on Labor. 

By Mr. OUTHWAITE: Petition of James D. Harris and others, and 

of F. Bartendes and others, of Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, in 

favor of a Government system of postal telegraph-to the Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. 

By Mr. PARKER: Resolutions of the Legislature of New York, in 

1·elation to immigration-to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

By Mr. ROCKWELL: Petition of business men and other citizens 

of Springfield, Mass., for increase of pay of post-office clerks-to the 

Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. 

By l\1r. ROMEIS: Petition of Bearnard Teague, for relief from the 

charge of desertion-to the Committee on Military Affairs. 

By M~STOCKDALE: Papers in the claim of Mary E. Hall; of 

}.faryBnil; of James Stattings; ofWinny Williams; of Mary E. Jeter, 

and of 0. P. Wright, executor of Lucy Cordell, of Mississippi-to the 

Committee on War Claims. · . 

By Mr. STONE, of Kentucky: Petition of A. Gales Lee, and of Col- man Guthrie, for reference of their c1aims to the Court of Claims-to 

the Committee on War Claims. 

Also, papers in the claim of Charles F. Swain-to the Committee on 

Claims. 

By Mr. E. J. TURNER: Petition ofSamuel Wilcoxson and 95 others, 

of Decatur Count-y, Kentucky, for a system of postal telegraphy-to 

the Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. 

By l\lr. VANDEVER: Petition of numerous citizens of Colorado, for 

a law favoring international arbitration-to the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs. 

Byl\lr. WARNER: Petition of F. 0. Allen and 55 others, andofEmile 

Docke and 351 others, citizens of the Fifth district of l\lissouri, for a national system of telegraphy-to the CQmmittee on the Post-Office 

and Post-Uoads. 

By lli. WHEELER: Petition of Maria Wilson, of Jaekson County, 

and of John Wysingear, of Colbert County, Alabama, for reference of 

their claims to the Court of Claims-to the Committee on War Claims. 

By Mr. WICKHAM: Petition of Henry P. Stentz and 206 others, 

citizens of Hmon County, Ohio, for a general pension of 1 cent per day 

to all soldiers, sailors, and marines of the late war-to the Committee 

on Invalid Pensions. 

The following petitions for an increase of compensation of fourthclass postmasters were severally referred to the Committee on the PostOffice and Post-Roads: · 

By Mr. J. S. HENDERSON: Of J. H. Gouger and 26 others, and of 

J. L. Cruse and others, of Davie County; of Henry E. Shone and others, and of A. Hampton and others, ofYadkin County; of William Go· 

forth and 49 others, and of John Nicholson and 30 others, of Iredell 

County, and of W. A. Austin and 41 others, of Montgomery County, 

North Carolina. 

By 1\fr. JACKSON: Of 39 citizens of Old Concord, Pa. 

By 1\fr. T. D. JOHNSTON: Of Hattie E. Wright and others, of Cross· 

nore, N.C. 

By l'r!r. WHEELER: Of W. W. Kidd and 27 others, of Getup, Ala. 

The following petitions, asking for the passage of the bill prohibiting 

the manufacture, sale, and importation of all alcoholic beverages in the . 

District of Columbia, were severally referred to the Select Committee 

on the Alcoholic Liquor Traffic: 

By 1\lr. CUTCHEON: Of 181 citizens of the Ninth district of Michigan. 

·By Mr. KEAN: Of 98 citizens of the Third district of New Jersey. 

SENATE. 

THURSDAY, Februa1·y 2,1888. 

Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. J. G. BuTLER, D. D. 

THE JOURN .AL. 

The Journal of yesterday's proceedings was read. 

Mr. HOAR. I obsen-e that in journalizing the ruling of the Chair 

yesterday on which an appeal was taken to the Senate, the Journal says 

that the Chair held that the ~otion of the Senator from Virginia [Mr. 

RIDDLEBERGER] was out of order under Rule XXII. I understood the 

ruling ofthe Cha.ir to be, and voted accordingly, thatthe Senator from 

Alabama [Ur. PUGH] being entitled to the floor it was notinorderfor 

a Senator to interpose another motion. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. That was a part of the ruling of the 

Chair. -

Ur. HOAR. That does not come under Ru1e XXII. Will th~ Chair 

be kind enough to have that part of the Journal read again? 

ThePRESIDENTprotempore. The Secretary will read the entryin 

the Journal. 

The Secretary re~d as follows: 

When .i\Ir. RIDDLEBERGER submitted a. motion that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the resolution yesterday submitted by him to amend the thirtyseventh rule of the Senate, the President pro tempore decided that the motion- was not in order under Rule XXII. From the decision of the Chair Mr. RID- DLEBERGER appealed to the Senate. 

The 'PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair suggests that the J onrnal 

would be correct if the descriptive words were omitted, merely stating 

that the motion was not in order. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. I find on looking at the RECORD that the Chair 

does not appear, so far as I can see in running it oyer rapidly, to have 

mentioned any particular rule at all. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair did mention Rule XXII, 

and d:irected the Qhief Clerk to read it, but upon further disclosure of 

the facts in the case it appeared to be unnecessary, and therefore the 

rule was not read. The Journal will be amended by omitting, after the 

word '' order,'' the words ''under Rule XXII.'' T'ne clause -will be 

read by the Secretary. 

The Secretary read as follows: 

The President. pm tempore decided that the motion was not in order unde1· Rule XXII. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempo're. The Journal will stand with the 

words after "order" omitted, jf there be no objection. The Chair