-1874. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1599 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

WEDNESDAY, Feb1"'ttary 18, 1874. 

The House met at twelve o'clock m. Pmyer by the Chaplain, Rov. 

J. G. BUTLER, D. D. 

The Journal of yesterday -wa.s read and approved. 

GREEN BAY AND LAKE MICIDGAN SHIP CA..L~AL. 

Mr. SAWYER. I ask unanimous consent to take up and put upon 

its passage the bill (H. R. No. 447) extending the time f~r t~e comp~etion of the Green Bay and Sturgeon Bay n,nd Lake M1eh1gan Shipcanal, in the State of Wisconsin. This bill hn,s the unanimous approval 

of the Committee on the Public Lands. 

The bill was read. It provide that the time for the completion of 

the Green Bay and Sturgeon Bay aud Lake Michign,n Ship-cn,nal be 

extended to the lOth day of April, 1876. . . Mr. HOL~f.A.N. I wish to inquire of the gentleman from Wisconsm 

[Mr. SAWYER] whether this laud grant is bein~ used to construct a canal for the benefit of a private corporation, or lS it to be a free canal 

for the whole people¥ . 1\>fr. SAWYER. It is to be a free canal for the whole people when- ever the money put into the enterprise by the company is refunded. 

Mr. HOLMAN. Is that a condition of the original grant~ · • · 

~fr. SAWYER. It is. 

Mr. HOLMAN. Will the gentleman inform the Honse how much 

of this c~nalis already completed 

Mr. SAWYER. About one-quarter. There wa-s originally a grant 

of two hundreu acres of land. That grant has had one renewal; but 

the compn.ny were unable to organize U:J?-der th~ grant; a_nd the~ have now no org~uization. They have put mto this enterpriSe their own money, and have completed one-quarter of the ?ana:l without using 

any of the land whatever. Wh~n. comple~ed this will mak~ one of 

the best harbors of refuge; n,nd It IS very rmportaut for the mterests of the lake commerce that the work should be finished as soon as po sible. There is no harbor of refuge upon the shore of that lake from 

:Manitou Island to Mil waukee or Chicago, a distance of three hundred 

miles. A survey was made for a harbor of refuge f:uther south than 

this· but when this project was brought up the other was abn,ndoned. The 'Government has expended 40,000 during. the la.st yen:r on t~e harbor on the ln.ke side ; and . 40,000 more will complete It. This 

will be one of·the very best harbors of refuge, as it will be sufficient 

to hold the entire shipping of the lakes. 

Mr. HOL!IIAN. .A13 everybody here understands, I am opposed to 

these land O'r::t.nts. The only redeeming quality in this project is, 

that the ura~t does not inure to the benefit of the company. I shall 

not objec~ to the bill coming before the House for ~onsidemtion. But 

I certainly think these grants ought not to be reVIved. 

The SPEAKER. If there be no objection the bill will be regarde(l 

as before the House for consideration. 

Mr. STORM. I object. 

CORa.ECTIO:N OF THE JOURNAL. 

1\fr. L.A.M.A.R. I am represented in the Journal as not voting on the 

call of the yea-s and nays on the resolution of the majo:ity of the CoJ?-

mittee on Elect ions in the Arkansas contested-electiOn case of Wil- shire vs. Gunter. I voted in the n egative, and ask to have the Journal corrected in that respect. The Journal was corrected accordingly. 

WASHINGTON CITY AID POINT LOOKOUT RAILROAD CO:\IPA..L'TY. 

Mr. HALE, of New York, from the Committee on the District of 

Columbia by unanimous consent, reported back a bill (H. R. No. 27 4) suppleme~tary to an act entitle~ "An act to authorize the W:~:hin~­ ton City and Point Lookout Railroad Company to extend therr rallroad into and within. the District of Columbia," approved Jan nary 22, 

1873; which was ordered to be printed and recommitted. 

l\IA.RINE-HOSPITAL SERVIC~ . 

:Mr. HALE, of New York, also, from the Committee on Printing, re- ported back the following resolution with amendments : 

Re.~olwd, (the Senate concurring,) That the Government Printer be ins~ct d to print five thou.s::md copies of .the report of .John M.. ·woodworth, supernsmg sur- rreon of the marine-hospital service of the United States, for the fiscal year 1 73, 

for the use of the Senn.te and House. 

The committee recommend that the r esolution be amended as follows: · 

After "1873" insert "fift.een hundred;" and strike out the word "House," and 

insert" thirty-five hundred for the use of the House." 

:Mr. WILLARD, of Vermont. I rise to a point of order. 

The SPEAKER. This comes from the Committee on Printing, and 

is a privileged report. 

Mr. WILLARJJ, of Vermont. I make the point of order that the 

resolution proviues for an expenditure of money. 

The SPEAKER. The Chair would not hold to such ruling in regard 

to printing, a printing is clearly an exception, beca,use the mode of 

this printing is regulated by law between the two Houses. 

Mr. WILLARD, of Vermont. I wish to inquire why the committee 

provides for the publication of this document nntil the question of 

reviving the fTanking privilege is consiuered and a-cted on l.>y the two 

Houses ¥ 

1tfr. HALE, of New York. The publication, the printing of which 

is now r ecommended is the report of John M. Woodworth, M.D., the 

supervising surgeon' of the n;tar~e-:~wspi!al se_rv:ice of. the ~nited States. The Committee on Printmg lS satisfied 1t IS a highly Important work, and especially in the d?-·ection .of econO!fiY . in l~ying out 

for the first time a plan for marme hospi~aJs, whi?h 1s said t~ save about 90 per cent. upon the old form of manne hospit~ls. The J~ormation it contains is highly va;Juable both to the med1ca~ profe ~Ion 

and to all persons interested m the welfare of the marme-hospital 

service. 

.A13 to the specific question p:nt by the gentleman from Vermont, the 

Committee on Printing did not deem it their duty to await the ::t{ltion 

of the House in reo-ard to whether documents should be sent free or at 

the expen e of e~bers. When a question comes to them for decis-; 

ion, the committee deem it their duty to report to the House whether,~ 

in their judgment, the document ought to be publis~ed or no~; and 

with that their duty ends. I have made the r eport m that VIew by· instruction of the committee. 

1\fr. WILLARD, of Vermont. I make no question in respect to the: value of the publication. I know nothing about it. I presume the: 

statement of the gentleman from New York is entirely warranted bY, 

the character of the publication itself. The only point I make is this: 

So far as I am aware of the practice in respect to the distribution of 

public documents. by memb.eTs of eithe~ House, it has ~een done und~l 

the franking privilege; so It has been m some sense, if not a perqm-:: site of the member. at lea t a privilege, though it has frequentlY} 

proved an onerous burden upon the member. If this document is to. be distributed at the charge of the person who may wn,nt i~, the physi-j 

cians and surgeons of the country who may want It, there IS no reason, 

why members of Congress should ~e .charged with its. distribution.; 

That can be done by the office where It lS prepared. It did occur to me~ 

and it seems to me so now, this House should refrain from ordering the\ 

publication of any document for distl·ibution by members of the Sen~ 

ate or House until some action is taken in the way of a law providing 

for such distribution. As I understand, (if it is proper to allude to the; 

action of the other body,) t~e proposit~on passed here several. 'Yeek~ 

since, reported by the Comnnttee on P!mtmg, to add to the editlOn ot; 

the agricultural report, has been held rn the Senate, anclhas not bee~ 

acted on by that body, because there is now no provision of law ini 

respect to the distribution of public documents. 

I am not arguing whether there should be a franking privilege; or not. That question will bide its time, and when the bill come~ 

before us if I can get an opportunity I will express my judgment on it.1 

But so far as this action is concerned, it seems to me eminentlY! 

advisable that we should wait until we ascertain what provision th~ 

law has maue for such distribution. Otherwise I see no propriety; 

whatever in charginu members of Congress-! do not mean in a pecuniary sense-in charging members of Congress, or putting upon:. 

them a duty, in the distribution of public documents, or provicling. that a certain number of documents shall be printed, such a pTOpor-; 

tion for the House and such a proportion for the Senate; and unless. the committee think that there is some special need of haste in re pect' 

to this matter, I would suggest to them that the resolution be recom~: 

mitted to await the action of the House upon the other measure. ! 

}.fr. HALE, of New York. I ought to have stated that this document has already been printed by the Treasury Department, n,nd I 

understand the forms are now in existence. Mr. WILLARD, of Vermont. Is it stereotyped~ 

11-fr. HALE, of New York. It is not stereotyped .. Theyme~elyyrinfrom t he forms, as I understand, n,nd the result will be if action lS det· ferred that new expense will be cau ed for composition. As the forms: are still standing, it seems to me very d~irable that whatever .num-~ 

ber of copies is needed shall now be prmted. As to the qnest10n of 

franking, I do not believe th3.t the members of this House are going 

to s~ that we shall send no documents home, nor have any for distribution, unless we have the franking privilege. 

1tfr. SPEER. Is this the Medical History of the War~ 

Mr. HALE, of New York. Not at all. It is a simple document. 

The report of the Committee on Printing was agreed to-ayes 89, noes not counted. . The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Vermont has raised a point 

in connection with this resolution which ought to be made clearthat containing an appropriation of money, or requiring one, it ought 

to g~ to the Committee of the Whole. . ~he Chair hol?-s differen~ly. He does not consider that the rule apphes to resolutions touching 

matters to be printeu, because the Committee on Printing is a jo~t 

committee, and by the Statutes at Large, volume 12, page 117, thetr 

duties are laid down, and there is an agreement between the two 

branches of Congress as to how they should be performed. · The sa:me privilege is o-iven as regards each branch by a common understanding as to how the committee will report. 

Moreover, the rule is that all bills making appropriations of money 

or property, or requiring such appropriations, shall have theiT :first 

consideration in Committee of the Whole. It has always been held 

that any rule a,pplying to a bill, applies also to a joint re olution, but not to a concurrent resolution; and this being a concurrent reso- lution, r eported by the committee in pt_ITSuance of a s~atute at: large, the Chair tloes not hold that the rule m regard to bills making an appropriation of money appFes to it. 

.1\lr. \VII ,LARD, of V cra: ... ut. It i.~ a provision of the Constitution 
1600 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. F EBRUARY 18, 

th:l.t each House may determine the rules of its own procedure. I 

would inquire of the Chair how a law which requires the signature 

of the President can regulate the procedure of either House 

The SPEAKER. The two Houses have agreed to this mode of pro- cedure by that which is tantamount to a joint rule. :Mr. WILLARD, of Verm,ont. I was not aware of the existence of such a joint rule. The SPEAKER. It h as been regarded in that light and t reated as snch at all times. 

1\fr. WILLARD, of Vermont. I do not :find any j oint rule t o that 

effect. The SPEAKER. The Chair will further observe that there is 

another objection to allowing the point of order to apply in this ca e. The ricrht given the Printing Committee to report at ::my time is becaus~ of the necessity of their having a document printed very 

promptly. If a single objection could send their report to the Committee of the Whole on the General Calendar, it would defeat the 

whole end of the printing. It clearly lies outside the rule, and does 

not in any way come within it. :Mr. WILLARD, of Vermont. I do not desire to antacronize the 

rulincroftheChair; butiftheChairwillallow me I would c~ attention 

to th~ suggestion made by the Speaker, -that, inasmuch as this was a report privileged at any time, to be permitted to raise the point of 

order would have a tendency to defeat that privilege; and I would 

'lsk the Chair if any other committee should be privileged to 1·eport at 

any time, would the point of order lie against any report it might 

mn.keY 

The SPEAKER. The Chair did not make the right to report at any 

time a point at all. He merely mentioned that as another reason why 

the point of order should not apply in this case. 

LAND-GRANT RAILROADS. 

:Mr. HOLMAN. A resolution was adopted directing the Secretary 

of War to inform the House what payments bad been ma-de·to certain r ailroads which it was thought had not been entitled to receive pay 

for transportation of troops. The Department of War informs the 

House that that information can only be obtained through the Treas- ury. I desire that the Secretary of the Treasury shall be directed to 

furnish the information ; and with that view I move the following ro olution. The Clerk read as follows : 

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, :md he is hereby, directed to inform this House how much money has been paid since the 1st of Janua,ry, 1866, 

for tho transportation of property and troops of the United States over each of the 

several railroads which have been constructed in wl10le or in part by the aid of 

lands granted by the United States to any State or company for that purpose, on tho condition that such railroads should be and r emain "public highways for the use of the Government of the United States, free from all toll or other charae 

upon the . t:ansportatioD: of any prop rty or ~oops of the United States," or upon like condttiOn except usmg the t.erm "free from all toll or other charg'.l ;" :md that 

the said Secretary furnish such information to this Honse at as early a day as may be pmcticable. 

The resolution was adopted. 

NYATT POINT LIGHT-IIOUSE. 

1\Ir. HOOPER, by unanimous consent, reported back from the Com- mittee on Commerce, with a recommendation tl1at the same do pass, 

the bill (S. No. 438) to withhold from sale the site of the ola Nyatt 

Point light-hou e. . The bill was ordered to a third reading, read the third time, and 

pas ed. :Mr. HOOPER 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. 

EIGHT-HOUR LAW. 

Mr. COX, by unanimous consent, submitted the following resolu- tion ; which was read, considered, ::md adopted : 

Resolved, That the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds be, and they are hereby, directed to investi~at.e the alleged viole.tion of the eight. hour law in the 

work on the :rew York post-office, and to send for persons anu papers if necess::try. 

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

table. The latter motion was agreed to. 

LEGISLATIVE APPROPRIATION BILL. 

Mr. DONNAN, by unanimous consent, reported from the Committee on Printing the following resolution; which wa read, considered, and 

adopted : 

Resolved, That there be printed for the nse of the House seven hundred extra, 

copies of t.he bill making appropriations for the legislative, executive, and j udicial 

expenses of the Government for the year ending June 30, 1875. 

Mr. DONNAN moved to reconsider the vote by which the resolution was adopted; ancl also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

NATIONAL BANKS. 

Mr. PENDLETON, by unanimous consent, present ed the following 

memorial; which was referred to the Committee on Banking and 

Curr:ency, and ordered to be printe~ : 

To the honOTable the Senate and HmLSe of Representatives of the Oongress of the 

United States: 

The undersigned, citizens of the State of Rhode Island, representing the various national bankfug institutions of the State, respectfully represent : That the provtsions of the sixth section of the act to provide for the redemption of the 3 per cent. temporary-loan certificates, and for an increa e of national-bank 

note's, al?proved July 12, 1 70, directing in effect the withdmw.tl from the b:mkin<T 

associations which were the first to organize under the act to provide a nation;il 

banking currency, &c., of their circulating notes to the amount of 25,000,000, will 

operate, if enforced b:v :my-legislation providin.g for machinery to give effect to the 

section of tho law reterred to, very prejudicially t.o the interests of this St..'tte and 

of ew England. The national banking capital in the Stateam01mts to 620,500,000, :md the amount of bonds pleclged for circulation is about 15,000,000. 

All of the national banking associations organized promptly o.fter the passage of 

the act, and at the time when it was of vitallm.portance to the preservation of the 

Government that the financial system by the act in.'l.ugurated should be accepted by the country. The very l:tr~e. :md varied manufacturing andmech:tnical industries in this State, 

tho extent of wnich will be best apprP..ciated from the fact that the. first collection 

district paid a larger internal-revenue tax on manufactures for several vears into 

the Treasury than any other in the country, require for their successful prosecution all the banking :t'acilities which the Stat.enow has. To contra.ctanypart of the 

circulation would directly diminish the >olumo of money resources, enhance the 

value of currency necessarily required for the weekly payment of thousands of opera- tives, and create financial disturb:mce, all resulting in the end in an increase of 

burden upon the consumer. The undersigned believe that the attempt to equalize the ilistribution of currency 

by withdrawals from the earlier org-.mized b::mldng a sociations of a percentage of their circulation, to be given to associations in States and Territorie having le s than their proportion, would be attended with ~eater lo s to the industrial com- munities which would suffer thereby than corud possibly re ult from equalizin.!? 

the proportions of circulation by increasing the volume of currency to the eA-tent.of 

twenty-five millions, for the benefit of associations in the States and Territories 

having less than their proportion. 

The undersigned therefore pray that the sixth section of the act above referred to be repealed; and they respectfully protest a~ainst the pas age of the bill just 

reported from the Fin:mce Committee, to pro-viae fur carrying into e:flect the sixth 

section ()f said a-ct. National Bank of N ort.h America, S. Padelford., president; C. E. Ja-ckson, cashier. 

National Bank of Commerce, Amos D. Smith, president; J. Fo ter, cashier. 

American National Bank, S. Harris, president; W . Olnl:'y cashier. 

Old :rational Bank, George W . Hallett, president; F . .A.. Cranst.on, cashier. Mechanics' National Bank, Lewis Dexter, president; S. H. Tinale.y, cashier. 

Third Nation..'ll Bank, 0 . .A.. Washburn, jr., president; C. H. Childs, jr., cashier. Lime P..ock National Bank, Thomas J. Hill, president; J. W. Angell., ca-shier. 

Second National Bank, J. M. Kimball, president; W . W . Paine. cashier. 

Rhode Island National Bank, E. P. Ma on, pre ident; . H. Tabor, ca bier. 

Weybosset National Bank, G . .A.. Seagmve, president; W . R. Greene, cashier. 

Traders' National Bank, E. Knight, cashier. 

National Eagle Bank, C. F . Sampson, jr., president; J. A. Angell, cashier. First Nation..'l.l Bank, Samuel Foster, president; H . .A.. Hunt, ca bier. Commercial National Bank, Daniel Day, president; J. Wilbour, cashier. Fifth :rational Bank, P.M . .Mathewson, president; A . V. Stillwell, cashier. 

City National Bank, A. C. Barstow, president; E . .A.. Smith, cashier. 

Roger Williams National Bank, C. Harris, president; W. H. Waterman, cashier. 

Manufacturers'" ational Bank, T . Harkness, president; G . .A.. Phillips, cashier. 

ca-:--J:~eck National Bank, Newport, T. Coggeshall, president; C. T. Hopkins, 

Land-holders' National B:mk, Kingston, N . C. Peckham, president; T . P. Wells, 

cashier. :!Sational Eagle Bank, Bristol, J . B. Munro'\, president; J. G. Wat on, cashier. 

First .r ational Bank, Bristol, S. W . Church, president; M. Bennett, cashier. 

Pascoag National Bank, Pascoag, D. M. Salisbury, president; J. S. Cook, ca hi r. National Bank of Rhode Island, Newport, W . .A. . Clarke, president; T. P. Peckham, cashier. 

Cumberl:1nd National Bank, Cumberland, D. Cook, president; G. Cook, c..•1.shier. Ashaway National Bank, Ashaway, J. S. Champlin, president; G. N . Langworthy, C..'lshier. · First National Bank, of Hopkinton, A . G. Nichols, ~~esident; J . B. Potter, cashier. 

Newport National Bank, Newport, W . Brownell, president; H. C. Stevens, 

cashier. . Woonsocket National Bank, Woonsocket, L . .A.. Cook, president; L . W . Ballou 

cashier. National Union Bank, Woonsocket W. Cook, president; E. T . Rend, cashier. 

Wakefield National Bank, Wakefield, B. F. Robin on, president; D. M. C. Sted- man, cashier. 

National Exchange Bank, Wakefield, J. P. Sherm:m, president; .A.. Robinson, ca. bier. 

PROVIDENCE, RHODE lsLA..l'ffi, February 5, 1874. 

FORT STEILACOOM RE ER\ ATION. 

Mr. :McFADDEN asked unanimous consent to have taken from the 

Speaker' table, for the purpo e of reference, the bill (S. No. 254) to 

donate the militn.ry re ervation of Fort teilacoom to the Territory of 

Washington, for the use of an insane a-sylum. No objection was mat1e; and the bill was taken up, road a :first and 

second time, and referred to the Committee on the Public Lands, not 

to be brought back on a motion to reconsider. 

REVENUE-CUTTER RELIEF. 

:Mr. BRO::\-IDERG from the Committee on Commerce, reported a bill 

(H. R. No. 2076) to authorize the Secretary of the Tr asury to discontinue the u e of tho cutter Relief as a revenue-cutter, and to use aid 

ves el for a boariling station in Mobile Bay ; which was r ead three 

times, and passed. EXPLOSIVE SHELL-FUSE. 

Mr. BURLEIGH, by unanimous consent, reported back from the 

Committe on N~val Affairs the petition and accompanying papers 

of William Wheeler Hubbell, for settlement of his explosive shell- fuse patents, and moved that the committee be discharged from the 

further consideration of the same, anu that it be referred to the Com- mittee on Claims. The motion was agreed to. 
1874. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1601 

REFERE...."'WE OF BILLS ON SPEAKER'S TABLE. 

Mr . .ARCHER. I ask unanimous consent that the House now proceed to business on the Speaker's table, for the purpose of referring 

bills only. 

No objection was made, and it was ordered accordingly. 

EPIDEMIC CHOLERA. 

The first business on the Speaker's table was Senate amendments 

to House joint resolution No. 29, authorizing the Secretary of War to 

detail medical officers of the Army to inquire into and report upon 

the causes of epidemic cholera; which were taken up, and referred to 

the Committee on Commerce. 

WILLIAM KILBURN. 

The next business on the Speaker's table was Senate bill No. 437, to 

redtore William Kilburn, of San Francisco, California, to the Navy of 

the United States as an ensign; which was taken up, read a first 

and second time, and referred to the Committee on Naval .Affairs. 

FORT RANDALL MILITARY RESERVATION. 

The next business on the Speaker's table waa Senate bill No. 149, 

for the relief of certain settlers on the Fort Randall military reserva- tion; which was taken up, read a first and second time, and referred 

to the Committee on Military Affairs. 

JAMES M'DONALD. 

The next business on the Speaker's table was Senate bill No. 238, 

permitting James McDonald, a warrant officer of the Navy, to accept a silver medal from the government of Italy; which was taken up, 

rea.d a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Naval 

Affairs. W. W. ELLIOTT. 

The next business on the Spea.ker's table waa Senate bill No. 310, 

for the relief of W. W. Elliott; which wn.s taken up, read a first and 

second time, and referred to the Committee on Claims. 

JOSEPH MONTANARI. 

The next business on the Speaker's ta.ble was Senate bill No. 311, 

for the relief of Joseph Montanari, and for other purposes; which was taken up, read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Claims. HENRY C. SMITH. 

The next business on the Speaker's table was the bill (S. No. 317) 

for the relief of Henry C. Smith, of Indianapolis, Indiana; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Claims. 

ANDERSON J, SMITH. 

The next business on the Speaker's table w~s the bill (S. No. 341) 

for the relief of AndersonJ. Smith; which was read a first and second 

time, and referred t.o the Committee on Military Affairs. 

D. B. ALLEN & CO. 

The next bu.siness on the Speaker's table was the bill (S. No. 439) 

to provide for the payment of D. B. Allen & Co. for services in carrying the United States ma.ils; which waa read a first and second time, 

and referred to the Committee on Cla.ims. 

LIEUTENANT OLIVER V. RICHARDS. 

The next business on the Speaker's table was the bill (S. No. 100) 

for the relief of Lieutenant Oliver V. Richards; which was read a first 

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

MATTHEW WOODRUFF. 

The next business on the Speaker's table was the bill (S. No. 365) ·for the relief of Matthew Woodruff, late first sergeant Company G, 

Twenty-first Missouri Volunteers; which was read a first and second 

time, and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. . 

OLIVER POWERS. 

The next business on tbe Speaker's table was the bill (S. No. 366) for 

the relief of Oliver Powers; which was read a first and second time, 

and referred to the Committee on Claims. 

SCIOTHA BRASHEARS. 

The next business on the Speaker's table was the bill (S. No. 361) 

granting a pension to Sciotha Brashears, late of the Seventeenth 

Regiment Kentucky Cavalry; which was read a first and second time, 

and referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions~ 

ELIZABETH F. THOMPSON. 

The next business on the Speaker's table was the bill (S. No. 316) 

granting a p~nsion to·Elizabeth F. Thompson; which was read a first 

and second trme, and referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

TITLES OF NAVAL OFFICERS. 

The next business on the .Speaker's table was the bill (S. No. 269) 

to <:hange the titles of certain nav~l officers, and for other purposes; 

which was read a first and second trme, and referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs. 

RECO:NSIDERATION OF REFERENCES. 

lli. GARFIELD moved to reconsider the votes by which the bills, 

&c., had been referred or recommitted; and also moved that the mo- tion to reconsider be laiu on the table. 

The latter mot~on was agreed to. 

101 

EXPEXSES OF INDIAN SERVICE. 

The SPEAKER, by unanimous consent, laid before the Honse a com- munication from the Secretary of the Interior in answer to a resolution of the House of January 7, 1874, transmitting a detailed statement of the amount of moneys expended and indebtedness incurred 

in connection with the Indian service from June 30 to December 31, 

1873; which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and 

ordered to be printed. 

RAYMOND'S REPORT ON MINING. 

The SPEAKER also, by unanimous consent, laid before the House a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, transmitting the 

report of Rossiter W. Raymond on the statistics of mines and mining 

in the States and Territories west of the Rocky Mountains; which wn.s referred to the Committee on Mines and Mining, and ordered to 

be printed. 

. COLUMBUS, FAYETTE AND DECATUR RAILROAD. 

:Mr. HERNDON, by unanimous consent, reported from the Committee on the Public Lands, a bill (H. R. No. 2077) authorizing the Columbus, Fayette and Decatur Railroad Company, of Alabama and Mississippi, to purchase public lands; which was read a first and second 

time, ordered to be printed, and recommitted, not to be brought back on a motiou to reconsider. 

STOCKTO~ AND COPPEROPOLffi RAILROAD. 

Mr. PAGE, by unanimous consent, presented current resolutions of 

the Legislature of California, relative to lands granted to the Stockton 

and Copperopolis Railroad Company; which were referred to the 

Committee on the Public Lands, and ordered to be printed. 

ARKANSAS ELECTION CONTEST-GUNTER VB. WILSHIRE. 

Mr. KILLINGER. I call for the regular order. 

The SPEAKER. The regular order being called for, the question 

isuponthemotionofthegentlema.nfromNorthCarolina,[Mr.THOMAS,] 

that the vote agreeing to the resolution awarding the JYrima facie seat 

for the third district of Arkansn.s to Mr. Wilshire be reconsidered, and 

that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. 

Mr. HALE, of New York. I wish to make a parliamentary inquiry. 

If the House should reconsider the vote agreeing to the resolution to 

admit Mr. Wilshire to a. seat, and should then defeat that resolution, 

would the effect be to leave the matter in the h:mds of the Committee on Elections, to report upon the merits who is entitled to the seat 

from the district in question f 

The SPEAKER. The Chair hardly thinks that the gentleman's 

inquiry, which relates to the effect of a vote, is a parliamentaryquestion. 

Mr. HALE, of New York. It seems to me to bo strictly such. 

:M:r. GARFIELD. It might be called a parliamentary statement. 

The SPEAKER. The Chair is always ready to answer parliamentary questions, but he does not wish to have arguments extra-cted from 

him in that form. 

Mr. HALE, of New York. I wish to ask--

:Mr. BUTLER, of Maasachusetts. I call for the regular order. I 

would inquire whether it is in orde~ now to make an unparliamentary 

speech in the shape of a parliamentary inquiry f 

The SPEAKER. It is not. 

Mr. HALE, of New York. I beg to modify my question. If the 

House should decide to reconsider this vote and should negative the 

resolution, I ask the Speaker where that would leave the question f 

The SPEAKER. The Chair does not see that there would be any 

question left. [Laughter.] There would be nothing before the 

House. 

Mr. G. F. HOAR. I wish to put a parliamentary inquiry. As a preliminary, let me 'lsk whether it is not proper to inquire of the 

Chair whether, in the event of a certain disposition of a particular 

motion, n,nother motion would be in order f 

The SPEAKER. Certainly; but that was not the question of the 

gentleman from New York. 

Mr. G. F. HOAR. I wish to inquire of the Chair whether, if this 

vote should be reconsidered, it would then be proper to move to amend 

the resolution by substituting a recommitment of the case to the Committee on Elections f 

The SPEAKER. The Chair could not see how, because the previous question is operating, and has been partly executed. 

Mr. G. F. HOAR. That is what I wish to know. 

The SPEAKER. It would not be in order. 

1\Ir. G. F. HOAR. Cannot that be reconsidered! 

The SPEAKE.R. T~e previous question partly executed cannot be 

reconsidered. • 1\Ir. WILLARD, of Vermont. My inquiry is whether, if this bo 

reconsidered '1nd the resolution rejected, it would not then be in order 

to reconsider-on the motion being made by the proyer person, of -course-the vote by which the House refused to substitute the reso- lution of the minority for the resolution of the majority f 

Mr. G. F. HOAR. I desire to call the attention of the Chair to the 

fact that under the previous question the vote was taken on the 

motion to amend. - The SPEAKER. The Chair is ha.ving the Journal examined. 

1\lr. G. F. HOAR. The motion to amend was included. The pre- vious question was on the original resolution and the amendment. 
·1602 CONGRESSIONAL. RECORD. FEBRUARY 18, 

The amendment was voted down and the original resolution was a.do p ted. Now if thrr t be reconsidered, will it not be in order to reconsider the vote rejecting the amen~ent T • • The SPEAKER. That would. be m order. The la.titude of parliamentary inquiry must not be a.bnsed. . Mr. McNULTA. I demand the regular order of busmess. 

The SPEAKER. It is an abuse of the privilege of parliamentary 

inquiry when an advantage or disadvantage t o one side or the other 

is attempted. The Chair desires to lJe perfectly impartial. H there 

is a.ny enlightenment as to the effect of a. rule it is the duty of the 

Chair to give it, but it is not the duty of the Chair to so shn.pe decisions that advantage or disadvantage may result to one side or the ot her. 

Mr. 1\IcKEE. Is it not a question of the highest privilege to swear in a memberT Hn.s not the House passed a. resolution tha.t the gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Wilshire, is entitled to a seat -upon this 

floor T As the question of reconsideration to lay upon the ta,ble is 

not an essential part of legislation, is not the gentleman from Arka.n- sas entitled now to present himself a.t the bar of this House and ask 

t.o be sworn in T 

The SPEAKER. The Chair differs from the gentleman from Mississippi in reg!trd to the essentia.l part of legisla.tion. It is essential. 

It is not an accomplished fact until the motion to reconsider is laid 

upon the t:>.ble, if the motion to reconsider is made. H the motion to 

reconsider is not made, of course the gentlemrm can be sworn in; but 

being made, it must be disposed of. 

Mr. McKEE. But suppose the House adjourns without acting on itf 

The SPEAKER. It is the duty of the House to act on it. It is of 

the highest privilege, and the House fails to discharge its duties to 

the cla.imant of the seat if it does not act on it. 

Mr. McKEE. Is it of higher privilege than tho right of this claimant to the sea.t, aftor the retiolution has passed that he is entitled 

to itT 

The SPEAKER. He has not the right to be sworn in until that is 

done, no more than if the first resolution had passed. 

Mr. McKEE. But ouppose the gentleman withdra.ws the motion to 

reconsidert 

The SPEAKER. Of course then there is nothing pending. 

Mr. McKEE. I hope the gentleman will withdra.w his motion to 

reconsider. . Mr. McCRARY. I wish to inquire whether, if the motion to recon- sider shall prevail, and the pending resolution be voted down, it will 

be in order to recommit the contest to tho Committee on Elections, 

with instructions n.s to what thoy shall do'¥ 

The SPEAKER. The Chair does not know how a resolution of that 

kind can be got in. 

Mr. McNULTA. I call for the regular order. 

Mr. DEWITT. I wish to mn.ke a parliamentary inquiry. 

The SPEAKER. The practice of allowing parliamentary inquiries 

hM grown up of late years. Formerly they were sternly refused. A 

question as to the effect of n. vote was alwa,ys denied. 

Mr. DEWITT. I think my parliament..'l.ry inquiry is a legitimate one. 

The SPEAKER. H parliamentary inquiries are to bmnch out so as to delay the vote after the previous question h.)S been seconded and 

is operating, the Chair will be compelled to return to the old usage, 

and absolutely to decline to hoar them. The presumption is tha.t 

every member of the House knows the effect of a motion as well n.s the Chair. H he does not, he ought to. 

Mr. DEWITT. My question, I think, is a legitimate one. Do we vote on the motion to lay the motion to reconsider upon the table, or· do we vote on the motion to reconsider 7 

Tho SPEAKER. The Chair does not know how he can make it 

plainer tha.n he has done. The pending motion is to lay the motion 

to reconsider upon the table. It is a proceeding as common as the 

motion to wjourn. 

The question wa,s on laying on the ta.ble the motion to reconsider 

the vote by which the resolution was adopted. 

l'lr. SPEER. I ask for the yeas a.n.d nays. 

The yeas and nays were ordered. 

The question was taken; a.n.d there were-yeas 135, nays 129, not 

voting 25; as follows: 

YEAS-Messrs. Albert, Albright, Averill, Barrere, Bass, Begole,Biery, Bradley, 

Bundy, Burchard, Burleigh, BUITOWS, Benjamin F. Butler, RoderickR.Butler, can. non, Cason, Cessna, Amos Clark,jr., Freeman Clarke, Clayton, Clements. Clinton L. Cobb, Stephen A. Cobb, Conger, Corwin, Crounse, Crutchfield, Curtis, Danford, Darra,ll, Dobbins, Donnan, Dunnell, Farwell, Field, li'.ort, Foster, Frye, Gooch, 

Gunckel, Hagans, Harmer, Harrison, Hathorn, H avens, John B. Hawley, Hays, John W. Hazelton, Hersey, Hodges, Hooper, Houghton, Hnnter, Hurlbut, Hyde, K elley, Lamport, Lawrence, Lawson, Lofland, Loughridge, Lowe, Lowndes, Mar- tin, Maynard, Alex..'tllder S. McDill, .James W. McDill, MacDougall, McJunkin, McKee, McNulta., Moore, Myers, Negley, Nunn, O'Neill, Orr, Orth., Packard, 

Pa.cker, P:1ge, Isaac C. Parker, Parsons, P elham, Phelps; Phillip , Pike, James H. 

Pl:J.tt, jr., Thomas C. Platt, Pratt, Rainey, Rapier, Ray, Richmond, James W. Robin· son, Ross, :Rusk, Sawyer, Henry B. Sayler, Henry :f. Scudder, Isaac W. Scudder, 

Ses ions, Shanks, Sheats, Sheluon, Sherwood, Lazarus D. Shoemaker, Smart, .A.. H err Smith, George L. Smith, H. Boardman Smith, William .A.. Smith, Snyder Spntgne, Stowell, Strait, Strawbridge, S.VPher, Thomas, Thornburgh, Todd, Wal: 

lace, Walls, Jasper D. w·ard,MarcusL. Ward, Wheeler, White, Whiteley, Wilber 

George Willard, John M. S. Williams, William Williams, William B. Williams' J er emiah M. Wilson, and Woodworth-135. ' 

N.A. YS-Messrs. Adams, .Archer, Arthur, Ashe, Atkins, Beck, Bell. Berry, Bland, 

Rlount, Bowen, Bright, Bromberg, Brown, Buckner, Buffinton, Valclwell, John B. 

Clark, jr., Clymer, Coburn, Comingd, Cook, Cotton, CoX, Crittenden, Crocker, 

Crooke, Cross1and, Alexander M. Davis, John J. Davis, Dawes, DeWitt, Durham, 

Eames, Eden, Eldredge, Gartielil, Giddings, Glover, Eugene Hale, Robert S. lla.le, 

Ha.mil.ton, Hancock, Benjamin W. Harris, H enry R. Hams John T. Harris, Hatcher 

,Tosoph R. Haw lev, Gerry \V. Hazelton, Hendee, Hereford, Herndon, E. Rockwood 

Hoar, Goorge F. Hoar, Holman, Hunton, Hynes, Jewett, Kasson, K endall. Killin~ r, Knapp, Lamar Lamison, Leach, Luttrell,"Lyncb, Magee, Marshall, McCra.ry, Mc- Lean, Mellish, Merriam, Milliken. Mills, Mitchell, Monroe, Neal, Nesmith, Niblack, 

Niles, O'Brien, Hosea W. Parker, Pendleton, P erry, Pierce, Poland, Potter, Ransier, Rawls, Rice, Robbins, Ellis H. Roberts, \VilliamR. Robert , .James C. llobinson, Mil· ton Sayler, .John G. Schumaker, Scofield, Saner, Sloss, Small, J. Ambler Smith,.!. John 

Q. Smith, Southard, Speer, Stanard, Standeford, Starkweather, Stone, ::storm, Swann, Townsend, Tyner, Vance, Waddell, Waldron, Wells, Whitehead, Wllit.e- house, Whitthorne, dharles W. Willard.,~ ... Charles G. Williams, Willie, James Wil- son, Wolfe, Wood, Woodford, John D. Youn_g:, and Pierce M. B. Young-129. NOT VOTING- Messrs. Banninrr, Barber .narnum, Barry, Cv.in, Creamer, Dnell, 

Elliott, Freeman, Hoskins, Howe, ilubbell, Kellogg. Lansing, Lewis, Morey, Mor- rison, Purm::m, Randall, Read, Stephens, St . .Jobri, Taylor, Tremain, and Ephraim 

K. Wilson-25. 

So the motion to reconsider was laid on the table. 

During the call of the roll, 

Mr. SMITH, of Ohio, said: My colleo,gue, Mr. B~-rmG, is detained 

from the House by sickness in his family. 

The result of the vote WM then announced as above recorded. 

The SPEAKER. The House having laid on the table the motion 

to reconsider the vote by which the House passed the resolution giv- in~ the pt'i1na facie seat to 1\fr. Wilshire, that gentleman is now en- titled to be sworn in. 

Mr. WILSHIRE appeared and qua,lifi.ed by taking the oath prescribed 

by the law of July 2, 1862. 

ORDER OF BUSThTESS. 

The SPEAKER. The morning hour begins at twenty-five mfnntes 

past one o'clock, and reports are in order from the Committee on the 

Judiciary. 

PUNISllliENT OF MANSLAUGHTER. 

Mr. FRYE, from the Committee on the Judiciary, reported ba-ck 

the bill (H. R. No. 1593) rela.ting to the punishment of the crime of 

manslaughter, with an a,mendment. . . The bill was read. It provides that whoever shall hereafter be 

convicted of t.he crime of manslaughter, in any court of the United 

States, in any State or Territory, including the District of Columbia., shall be imprisoned not exceeding ten years and fined not exceeding 

1,000. The second section repeals all acts or parts of acts inconsjstent with this act. 

The amendment reported by the committee was to strike out the 

word "ten," before the word "years," and to insert "twenty." The amendment was agreed to. 

The question was on ordering the bill as amended to be engrossed a,nd read a third time. 

Mr. DAWES. I shouldlikotohearthegentleman fromMv.ine [Mr. 

FRYE] expla.in what change this bill makes in the law. 

Mr. FRYE. I will state briefly, ~.Speaker, the effect of this bill. 

Under existing law there were two degrees of homicide. Murder is 

punishable by death; manslaughter, under existing law, by imprisonment not exceedinO" three yea,rs. Now, in a great number of cases there is a shadow of doubt as to whether the crime is murder or ma,nslaughter; and, the punishment of murder being death, the jurors 

rightly give the benefit of that doubt to the accused; so that one-third 

of the cn.ses of manslaughter come as close to murder as they possibly can v.nd escape. And yet the discretion in the judge who has to pa s sentence is only to the extent of three years. This extends that discretion, giving a.la.titude to the extent of twenty yoars. 

Mr. LAWRENCE. Will the gentlema,n allow me to ask him a question T 

Mr. FRYE. Certainly. 

:Mr. LAWRENCE. This repeals an existing statute for the punishment of manslaughter. Is there any saving of pending prosecutions f 

The repeal of a cri.mi.na.l sta,tute puts a.n end to all pending prosecu- tions, unless there be some general laws to sa.ve them. I believe we have no such general law. As this bill, therefore, repeals the exi ting law relating to manslaughter, ought there not to be a cla.use saving pendin()" prosecutloUB T 

Mr. FRYE. I have no objection to that. 

1l'lr. HALE, o.f New York. The bill should a.lso except all cases pending at the passage of the la.w; otherwise, if we increase the penalty, 

it would be an ex post facto law. 

l\Ir. HAWLEY, of Illinois. I should like to hear the bill again read. 

The bill as amended was again read. 

Mr. FRYE. I do not understand that that repeals any law. 

Mr. BASS. I ask the gentleman, would not this be an ex post facto 

law, so that any offense of manslaughter already committed would 

not be punished under it Y By this Jaw you provide a. greater degree 

of punishment for crimes that may have been to-day committed 

than was provided at the time of the commission of the offense ; so that the effect of this statute would be that, if an offense has been 

already committed, the offender not having been puni hed cannot be 

punished under thls statute, because it provides for a. grea.ter punish- ment than the statute provided at the time of the commission of the 

offen e. · In the State of New York we have had this precise question before 

the com-to£ a.ppea.ls, the Legislature of NewYorkhaving,in 1862, passed an act providing for a. different punishment for the oftense of murder. 
1874~ ·' CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. J603 

The consequence was that, although there were offenses of murder 

which had been committed but not jmni.Shed at the time the new statute was enacted, all those oflenders escaped punishment under 

the new law. The lawyers upon this floor are doubtless familiar 

with the case of l\Iary Hartung, the recent notorious case of Rosenweig, and other cases of that character, which have been before our court of appeals, and in which the offenders escaped punishment. If 

this bill shall be passed·without providing that it 8hall not apply to 

offenses alrea-dy committed and not punished, then all offenders who 

have not been tried will escape punishment under this act, it being 

in the nature of an ex post facto law. . . Mr. FRYE. I do not agree with the arguments offered, but I will move the following amendment, for it will do no harm: 

Provided, That this net shall not affect any prosecnti.on now pending, or the prose- cution of any offense already committed. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. G. F. HOAR. We passed a law some two years ago, creating 

the territorial Legislature of the District of Columbia, .by which we tmdertook to depute to that Legislature all legislative authority over this District, including the right to make laws which should affect all 

crimes and misdemeanors, general legislative authority with certain 

exceptions. Now, is it the purpose of the Committee on the Judiciary 

to resume the whole legislative authority over this District, or is it 

their purpose to reserve it for certain special cases f It seems to me the Law Committee of this House should have some policy on this 

subject which may be announced to the House. 

:Mr. FRYE. I do not see any purpose to be accomplished by excepting the District of Columbia from a law which we regard as healthy 

for the whole cOtmtry, so far as United States courts are concerned. 

l\Ir. G. F. HOAR. The point of my question is this : Congress went on the ground that in the future, with certain specified exceptions, 

the Djstrict of Columbia should be governed by its own Legislature, · just as States are governed by theirs, having full authority to make 

laws on nJ.l subjects. 

Mr. FRYE. Those laws are still subject to revision by us. l\Ir. G. F. HOAR. I do not raise any question of authority. I simply ask what is the policy of the Judiciary Committee of this House 'f . Mr. FRYE. So far as this bill is concerned it is the policy of that 

committee to legislate for the District of Columbia at any rate. 

Mr. G. F. HOAR. The committee have considered the questionf 

Mr. BARBER. I ask the gentleman from l\Iaine [l\Ir. FRYE] to 

yield to me for an amendment. 

Mr. FRYE. I cannot yield for the purpose of receiving an amendment; but I will hear it read. 

Mr. BARBER. I wish to move the following amendment: 

And the punishment of murder shall be confinement in a State prison for life. 

Mr. FRYE. I do not yield for that amendment. . Mr. BASS. .A.n amendment ha..~ been adopted on motion of the gentleman from Maine, [Mr. FRYE,] providing that ''this act shall not 

affect any prosecution now pending," &c. I suggest that there should 

be a further amendment, by inserting n.fter the words "not affect,'' 

the words "or apply to." 

Mr. FRYE. I have no objection to that amendment. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

1\Ir. FRYE. I now call the previous question. 

The. previous question was seconded and the main question ordered; 

and under the operation thereof the bill as amended was ordered to be 

engrossed and read a third time ; and being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time and passed. · 

l\I r. FRYE 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. 

PUNISHMENT OF EXTORTION. 

Mr. FRYE, from the Committee on the Judiciary, reported back with 

amendments the bill (H. R. No. 1594) for the punishment of extortion 

by officers or persons acting under the authority of the United States. 

The .bill provides. that if any officer or. person acting under the 

authonty of the Umted States shall be guilty of extort.ion under or 

~y color of his offi~e ?r his authority afor~said, every person so offendmg shall, on conVIctiOn thereof, be pumshed by fine not exceedinO' 

500, or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, accordin(J' to th~ aggravation of the offense. 0 

The first amendment to the bill WM to insert the word "hereafter" 

before the words "guilty of extortion," so that that portion of the 

bill will read "shall hereafter be guilty of extortion," &c. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Tht} next amendment wa-s to strike out " one year " and insert 

"three years," so that it will read "be imprisoned n,ot ex~eeding three 

years." 

The amendment was agreed to. 

':fhe ~ill, as amen~ed, was then ordered to be engrossed and read a. third time ; and berng engrossed, it was accordingly reacl the third 

time, and passed. 

Mr. FRYE moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed· 

and also moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the table. ' 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS. 

Mr. FRYE, from the Committee on the Judiciary, also reported 

back with an amendment the bill (H. R. No. 1592) limiting the time 

for prosecutions, trials, and convictions in certain criminal offenses. 

The bill was read . . It provides that no person shill be prosecuted, tried, or punished in any court of the United States for any 

State or Territory, including the District of Columbia, for any offense 

not capital, or for any fine or forfeiture under any penal statute, 

unless the indictment or information for the same shall be found or instituted within five years from the time of committing the offense, or incurring the fine or forfeiture aforesaid; provided that nothing 

therein contained shall extend to any person or persons fleein~ from 

justice. The second section repeals all a.cts a.nd parts of acts rncon- sistent with this act. 

The amendment was read, as follows: 

At the end of the first section add these words: 

That it shall apply to no case barred by existing 1'\W. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The bill, a-s amended, was ordered to bo engrossed and re!ld a. third 

time; and being engrossed, it was accordingly rea.d the third time, 

and pa-ssed. . Mr. FRYE 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. 

OCCUPYING CLAIMANTS. 

Mr. FRYE, from the Committee on the Judiciary, reported a bill 

(H . R. No. 2078) for the benefit of occupying claimants; which was read a first and second time. 

The bill was rea-d. It provides that when the occupant of la,nd, 

having color of title, in good faith has made valuable improvements 

thereon, and is in the proper action found not to be the rightful owner thereof, such occupant shall be entitled to all the rights and reme- dies, and, upon instituting the proper proceedings, .such relief as may 

be given or secured to him by the stn.tutes of the State or Territory 

where the land lies, although the title of the plaintiff in the action 

may have emanatecl from the United States after said improvements were so made. · · 

Mr. H.A. WLEY, of illinois. I hope the gentleman reporting this 

bill will explain the reasons for its passage. I confess I do not quite 

understand its e:ffect.from the reading. 

Mr. FRYE. l\Ir. Speaker, as I understand, this bill simply controls 

the United Sta,tes courts in this matter of betterments. It merely 

provides that in cases of this kind the United States courts shall be 

governed by the same rules of law which prevail in the courts of the 

State where the land in controversy lies. It relates to cases where 

improvements are made under color of title and in good faith, but 

where the title fails. 

Mr. WILLARD, of Vermont. Is not that the law nowT 

Mr. FRYE. · It is generally in the State courts, but not in the United 

States courts. - Mr. HALE, of New York. Are not the United States courts now governed in these cases by the law of the State in which the land 

lies Y 

Mr. FRYE. Not in all cases. Thi~ bm provides that it shall beso. 

Mr. HALE, of New York. I v.maware of no case where such is not 

the practice. Mr. FRYE. I will yield to the gentleman from Iowa, [Mr. McCRARY,] who will st::tte a. case showing the necessity for the passage 

of this bill. 

Mr. H.A. WLEY, of Illinois. Let me ask the gentleman from I owa whether the efft}ct of the bill is not to give a party in the Federal 

courts the same rights in this respect that he would have in a State 

court. 

M1·. McCRARY. Mr. Speaker, the effect of this bill is, as suggested 

by my .friend fTom Illinois, [Mr. HAWLEY,] to give to occupying claimants the same rights in the Federal courts that they have under the 

laws of tho several States in the State courts. My friend from New 

York [Mr. HALE] inquires whether that is not their right now. I answer that it is in almost every case; and possibly it may be in all 

cases; but a question very important to a. large number of settlers 

upon lands in the State o.f Iowa has arisen-the question whetheP a party can be regarded as having color of title to land when the tit le 

is finally adjudged to have been in the Government itself. This bill 

is designed to meet that question. It grows out of these circumstances: Several grants of land have been made to Iow:11 both as a Territory and as a State, at various dates. The first was a grant 

for the improvement of a river in that State; the subsequent grantd were ma-de to railroad companies. These grants crossed each other ; 

and a question arose as to the extent of the river grant. Upon that 

question there were conflicting decisions, not only by the Departments 

here but by the local authorities. At one time this river grant was held to extend to the northern boup.dary of the State. While that 

construction was placed upon it by the authorities of the United States, 

patents were issued to a large number 9f persons, many of whom 

have made improvements of great value. Some of them have farms 

on which they have resided for twenty years. The decision under 

which these patents were issued has been reversed by the Supremo 

Court of the United States, and these titles are all held to be invalid. 

The effects of this bill will be to allow these persons to claim pay for 

their improvements Jllll,de in goo~ faith and under color of title _. 
1604 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 18, 

Mr. G. F. HOAR. It strikes me that the phrase "color of title," as c~ mtained in the bill, may not be the proper language to cover all 

the c:Jses contemplated. I would suggest that the point would be 

met by a provision that where parties have in good faith made improvements they shall be allowed for them, if such is the provision of 

the State law in similar cases. Mr. McCRARY. The phrase" color of title" is pretty well understood and settled by the courts where I reside. It is used in nearly 

all of th~ statutes upon this subject, and I think it would be hardly 

safe to strike it out from this bill. We are content with it as it is. 

Mr. FRYE. I yield now one minute to the gentleman from Kansas. 

Mr. COBB, of KansM. Mr. Speaker, I wish to. indorse this bill by 

saying it is a law in the right direction. The gentleman from Iowa 

[Mr. McCRARY] has referred to a case in his State. I wish to say all over the State of Kansas there are cases of this kind, where settlers 

lw.ve gone on the lands, paid for them, taken receipts, put up valuable and lasting improvements, 3.Ild then there ha-s come a decision of 

the Secretary of the Interior that they have no rights to their homesteads. Thus they have been despoiled of the roof that sheltered them. 

This bill, if it does not accomplish all we desire, is at least a move in 

the right direction, and puts it in the power of the State itself to apply 

the remedy. It seems to me it is one of the wisest measures which 

has come before this Congress during the session. In behalf of many 

wronged constituents, I welcome any law which promises relief. 

Mr. FRYE. I yield one minute to the gentleman from Ohio. 

Mr. L.A. WRENCE. There is a large number of settlers I know 

who are interested in this bill; but I wish to suggest to the gentle- man who has it in charge whether it would not be better to amend it, so as to make it applicable to improvements heretofore made and in 

actions now pending. It is a general rule in the construction of 

statutes that they are to be deemed prospective in their operation 

only, unless by clear terms in the act they are to apply retroa-ctively. 

This bill is so drawn, it seems to me from the reading of it, as to be 

retroactive; but to avoid all doubt 3.Ild to remove all ground for con- troversy, it may be well to amend it. I know very well actions are to 

be tried and controlled by the law in force '"'hen they are heard, us a general rule. .A.s a matter of abundant ca.ution I move to add to the 

bill the words which I send to the Clerk's desk. 

The Clerk rea.d a.s follows: 

And this a.ot shJ.ll apply to improvement-s heretofore made :md in actions now ponding. 

Mr. BUTLER, of Massa.chusetts. It does now clearly. There can be no doubt about it. You might a-s well add the Lord's prayer. 

Mr. LAWRENCE. It will dono harm. The Lord's prayerrequi.res 

by its precepts that this bill be pa-ssed. 

Mr. FRYE. I do not yield to the amendment, because I think the 

bill is ample a-s it is now. . Mr. H.A. WLEY, of Illinois. I desire to say, Mr. Speaker, that I 

think this is a just and wise measure, so far a.s I can judge from hearing it read and the explanations which have been ma.de by various 

e;entlemen. It will secure uni.fornll,ty in the administration of justice m reference to the titles to lands in various States. I hope it will 

pass. 

Mr. FRYE. I demand the previolU1 question. 

The previous question wus seconded and the ma.in question ordered; 

and under the operation thereof the bill was ordered to be engrossed 

and read a third time; and being engrossed, it was accordingly rea<l 

the third time, and passed. · 

Mr. FRYE 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 agr~ed to. 

PERSONS CHARGED WITH CRIMES COMPETENT WITNESSES. 

Mr. FRYE also, from the Committee on the Judiciary, reported 

back a bill(H. R. No. 49'2) to make persons charged with crimes and 

offenses competent witnesses, with the recommendation that it do 

pass, with an amendment. 

The bill ~hich was read, provides, in the first section, that in the 

trial of all indictments, informations, complaints, and other proceedings ~ainst persons cha.rged with the commission of crimes, offenses, 

and nnsdemea.nors, the person so charged shall, at his own request 

but not otherwise, be a competent witness. 

The second section provides that nothing therein contained shall be 

construed as compelling any such person to testify; nor shall any inference of his guilt result if he does not testify; nor sha·ll the counsel 

for the prosecution comment thereon in case the respondent does not 

testify. 

The third section provides that the provisions of the act shall 

apply to all prosecutions now pending. 

The amendment of the committee was read, as follows: 

In line 5, after the word " misdemeanors," insert these words: cJ"iu!~~nited States courts in any State or Territory, including the District of 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The bill, as amended, was ordered to be engrossed and read a third 

time; and being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time. 

1\fr. HOLl\I..A.N. I hopo now the bill will be reported as amended. 

The bill was again read. 

\. 

1\fr. GOOCH. I should like to vsk the gentleman who reported this 

bill if it covers cases of courtS-martial? 

Mr. FRYE. I should say it did not. 

Mr. GOOCH. It seems to me that principle should be applierl to 

courts-martial as well as elsewhere. Iha.venow in mind a case where 

the court who tried it found the man guilty, but the majority certified on the back of their finding that if the party ha-d testified the same that he stat.ed on honor they would have found the other way. 

I suggest to the gentlem3.Il there can be no objection whatever to 

applying this principle so as to allow parties to testify in cases where 

they are tried by courts-martial. .A.nd I would like to suggest an amendment including that, if the gentleman from Maine sees no objection. It is a. mere verbal amendment. I will write it niter scc- in{Y' the bill. 

~1r. DEWITT. I would like to suggest an a.mendment forbidding 

the judge to comment in his charge on the fact that the respondent 

does. not take ad vantage. 

The SPEAKER. The gentlem3.Il will pleasereducehisamendment 

to writing. 

Mr. FRYE. I accept the amendment which the gentlem3.Il from 

Massachuset.ts [Mr. GoocH] proposes to offer. 

Mr. SPEER. Does this bill relate to capital cases f 

Mr. FRYE. To all criminal ca.ses. 

Mr. GOOCH. I move to amend by adding the words "courts-martial and courts of inquiry." 

Mr. SPEER. The bill, of course, if passed, will apply to the trial 

of all offenses committed previous to its pa-ssage, including the case of General Howard. I suppose that was the case the gentleman from 

Ma-ssachusetts [Mr. Goocn] referred to. 

Mr. GOOCH. I had no reference to the ca-se of General Howard. 

I referred to another case now in the War Department. 

Mr. SPEER. It would include all cases of that kind. 

Mr. FRYE. The court in General Howard's ca-se is not a court-martial. I doubted whether that would apply to his case, and I suggested to the gen tlem3.Il from Massachusetts to use the words "courtsmartial and courts of inquiry." 

1\fr. GoocH's amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. BUCKNER. I desire to nsk the gentlem3.Il from Maine if tho 

effect of this bill would not be to create two rules of evidence in 

the States where this was not adopted for the State courts. 

Mr. FRYE. Yes, sir. 

1\fr. BUCKNER. Would it be in order to move to lay the bill on the table! 

Tho SPEAKER. Not at present. The gentleman fromMaine [Mr. 

FRYE] still holds the floor. . 1\fr. DEWITT. I would like to have my amendment read. It is 

to insert a.fter the word "prosecution" the words "nor the judge in 

his charge." 

Mr. FRYE. I have no objection to that. 

Mr. POTTER. 0, no; that cannot be admitted. 

1\Ir. FRYE. Let me understand the gentleman's amendment. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

.Amend by inserting after the word "prosecution," in secton 2, the words "nor 

tho,iudgein his char~e;" so it will read: 

That nothing herem contained shall be COlli! trued as compelling any such person to testify, nor shall any inference of his guilt result if he does not testify; nor shall the counsel for the prosecution nor tlie judge in his charge comment thereon 

in case the repondent does not testify. 

Mr. FRYE. No; I cannot admit that amendment, because it prevents the judge from saying a single word in favor of the prisoner, if 

he chooses, in case he does not testify. . Mr. ELDREDGE. It defeats the very purpose which is intended 

by the provision of the bill, tha.t the counsel shall not be allowed to 

comment upon it; because the judge will not be even allowed to gnH.rd 

the jury against considering the fact. I hope my friend will not 

insist on that a,mendment. 

Mr. FRYE. I decline to admit it. 

Mr. ELDREDGE. It is the very worst amendment that could be 

put upon it. 

The SPEAKER. It is not pending. 

1\fr. SPEER. Will the gentleman from Maine yield to me for a moment? 

1\fr. FRYE. I yield to the gentleman. 

Mr. SPEER. 1\fr. Speaker, I a.m indebted t.o the courtesy of the 

gentleman from Maine for enabling me to say a word in opposition 

to this bill. The principle involved in it is one of the very highest 

importance in the administration of criminal justice. It has been 

much discussed in many of the States, 3.Ild a. step in the direction 

contemplated by this bill has been taken in my own State. There, 

in criminal trials, the defendant, at his election, is permitted to testify 

in a.ll prosecutions for misdemeanor, but not in prosecutions for felony. 

This bill allows the defendant, at his election, in all criminal cases, to 

testify. The indictment may be for rape, for arson, for murder, for 

treason, the highest of all crimes known to the criminal law. 

Now, what is the effect of it¥ Suppose the defericla.nt is guilty, hi~ 

life is at stake upon the ti·ial. He will not, perhaps, by his pe1jury secru·e his acquittaL On the one hand the law says to him, "Peijure 

yourself, ancl you shall be acquitted; hold fast to your integrity, and 

you shall be hung." That is the alternative which this bill presents 

to every man on trial for murder or any ca.pital offense. 

If the la.w pnsses, of course jurors, who are supposed to be intelli-
1874. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1605 

gent gentlemen, and generally are in United States courts, will know 

t.ha.t such is the law. They will know that the defendant has a right 

at his election to be a witness. Suppose, then, that he declines to 

testify f It is true that the bill says that no reference sha.ll be ma.de 

to his declinature by the counsel in arguing the ca.se to the jury; but 

jurors must know that, under the la.w, he has a right to be sworn, and 

they will naturally, nay, inevitably and irresistibly, conclude that if 

he is an innocent man he would open his own mouth in defense of his own life. · Mr. FRYE. Will the gentleman show how that is an objection to 

the bill~ . Mr. SPEER. I think that is an objection to the bill for this reason: The law presumes a man to be innocent until he is proved to be 

guilty. The jury should not be put in the attitude of drawing an inference, not from evidence but from the want of evidence, from the 

silence· of the accused; of drawing an inference of his guilt, not from a.ny evidence adduced in the trial of the case, but from the refusal of 

the party himself to become a witness. I trust this House will pause 

before it makes a change so radical, so fundamental, in the administration of criminal justice in this country. · I am requested by gentlemen to a.sk the gentleman from Maine 

[Mr. FRYE] to state how many States have adopted the principle 

involved in this bill T I believe his own State has. 

l\fl·. FRYE. I think that perha,ps one-half of the States in the 

Union have done so. I know tha,t a,ll the New England States have, 

and so have New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, and 

other States. 

l\fr. E. R. HOAR. I would say that the State from which I come hf..s adopted this principle. I have assisted in proceedings at a very 

considerable number of capital trials under a provision like this, 

and in the opinion of the courts, a.s well as of the community, the 

experiment bas worked absolutely favorably. In one of the most 

remarkable trials that has ever occurred in our State within the last 

ten years, a case of secret murder, where the accused might, if he had 

chosen, have testified in his own beha.lf, he was not put upon the 

stand, and was acquitted. 

Mr. BUCKNER. Will the gentleman allow me to ask him a question 'I 

l\Ir. E. R. HOAR. Yes, sir. 

l\fr. BUCKNER. If a criminal should come before a court of the 

United States, is it not a rule of the United States courts that the same practice shall be followed as is adopted in the State courts upon 

that subject f 

Mr. E. R. HOAR. I do not know what rule the gentleman refers to. :Mr. BUCKNER. The rule of evidence. Is not that the rule of the 

United States courts f 

Mr. E. R. HOAR. In those States where in the State courts a defendant is allowed to be a witness 7 

Mr. CROOKE. The United States courts.have declined to adopt 

any such rule. 

Mr. E. R. HOAR. I underatand that is the rule now. Mr. HAWLEY, of Illinois. I desire to v.sk one question of the gentleman from Maine [Mr. FRYE.] I understand t h at this bill applies to 

all t he courts of the United States. It seeffil3 to me it would be a very 

unjust rule to apply this principle to all the States. For instance, in 

the State of illinois the defendant is not allowed to be a witness. It 

is proposed by this bill to apply this rule to the courts of the United 

S"k'l.tes in the State of Illinois, with other StateH, and permit the defendant to be a witness, when in the State courts he is excluded from 

testifying. But a short time since the House pa.ssed a bill which I 

earnestly supported, in which a rule in regard to land claims was adopted, providing that the rules of the State courts shall be enforced 

in the United States courts, in order to have a uniform rule. I think 

that such a rule as this bill provides should only apply to such States as have adopted that rule in their courts. Mr. FRYE. Then, if the State of illinois should pass a law next 

winter admitting such testimony, there would be an inequality in the 

pr:wtice. Mr. HAWLEY, of illinois. You can provide in this bill so that in 

States adopting this rule the rule shall be in force in the United States 

courts in those States. 

Mr. DEWITT. Will the· gentleman yield tt> me a moment? 

l\Ir. NIBLACK. I a.sk tbe gentleman to yield to me for a few 

minutes. 1\fl.·. FRYE. The objections which are urged here by certain gen- tlemen I have heard urged again and again. This law has been in 

force for years in my own State. It is simply a step forward in the 

pro!rress of civilization; nothing more :md nothing less. 

When I commenced the practice of law, a man who had a sing1e cent of interest in a question pending before the court was not 

allowed to testify. To-day no interest divests him of the right to tes- tify. That is the advance of civilization. A criminal has more inter- est in the case than any man in the world, if innocent, to have t he 

truth known. But now his mouth is closed in the courts of the United 

States. ·witness after witness may come on the stand and detail circumstance after circumstance, and the man who is charged may be 

the only man livingwho can point those circumstances t o where t hey ought t o point. But his voice is now silent . As attorney-general of the St.ate of Maine, I remember one case in 

pn.rticular, a case of a charge of arson against a poor crippled soldier 

up in a b;wk count y of the State. Seven witnesses came on the sta,nd 

and swore to facts which seemed to render it absolutely cert ain that 

the soldi-er was guilty of the crime of arson, and should be punishe<l 

by death. I doubted the statements of those witnesses; and when the 

respondent took the stand to testify, I told him to stand up like a ma.n, to testify without fear and without fa.vor, to state what he 

knew, only t o tell the truth, and he should be protectecl, and no inter- position of rules of evidence should be placed there to prevent him 

from telling his story. Sir, he went on and told his story; and the 

judge, and the attorney-genera,! himself, concurred, and the jmors, .wit hout leaving their seats, concurred in the opinion that the whole case was nothing but a combination to hang an innocent man. In my own practice I have known two men charged with murder 

to be cleared on their own testimony, and on theirown testimonyalone. I tell you t here is no danger in this practice when truthisin the man. Our chief justice once said that truth is a cube; pile error upon it 

mountain high, ancl the cube is still there. But untruth is irregular. Attempt to hide the cube of truth with a thousand irregular untruths, 

and it will still be seen. 

Sir, I believe this bill is right, just, and humane, and that it woulcl 

be a blot upon the civilization of Congress and of the age to refuse 

its passage. I call for the previous question. 

Mr. SENER. Is a motion to recommit in orderf 

The SPEAKER. It is not, unless the .House should refuse to second 

the demand for the previous question. Mr. SPEER. Pending the demand for the previous question, is not a motion to lay on the table in order f 

The SPEAKER. Certainly. 

Mr. SPEER. Then I make that motion. The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Missouri [Mr. BucKNER] has 

indicated his purpose to make the motion. Mr. BUCKNER. I move to lay the bill on the table. 

Mr. COX. Will the gentleman from l\Iaine [Mr. FRYE] allow me a moment 'I 

The SPEAKER. The motion to lay on the table is n ot debatable. 

The question being taken, the Speaker declared that the negative 

vote appeared to prevail. . 

Mr. SENER. I call for the yeas and nays. The yeaa and nays were not ordered. 

So the motion to lay on the table was not agreed to. The bill wa,s ordered to be engrossed and read a third time ; and 

being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time, and passed. l\Ir. FRYE moved to l'econsider 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. 

UNITED STATES COURTS IN MISSOURI. 

Mr. FRYE, from the Committee on the J udiciary, reported back, 

with amendments, the bill (H. R. No. 933) to provide for the holding 

of terms of the district court of the United States for the western 

district of Missouri, at Springfield, in said State. 

The bill was read. 

It provides that the western district of the United States district 

court for the State of Missouri be divided into two divisions, a.s fol- lows, to wit: the counties of Vern on, Cedar, Polk, Hickory, Dallas, and 

Laclede, together with all that part of said district lying south of said 

counties, shall constitute the southern division; anil the remainder of 

said district shall constitute the northern division. · The second section provides that terffil3 of the court for the north- ern division shall be held at the city of Jefferson at the same times, 

and be governed by the same rules and regulations now provided 

by law for the western district of Missouri. Terms of the court for 

the southern division of the district are to be held at the city of 

Springfield, commencing on t h e first Mondays of J anua.ry and J uly of 

each year. -

The third section provides that such number of jurors shall be 

summoned by the marshal of the district at every term of court for 

the southern division as may have been ordered at a previous term 

or by the district judge in vacation. In case of a deficiency of j uro~ 

talesmen may be summoned by order of the court. 

The fourth section provides that special terms of the court may be 

held at any time that the judge of the district Qourt may order. The fifth section authorizes the judge of the district court to adjourn the court for the southern division, from time to i.lme, to suit the 

convenience of the litigants and to meet the necessities of the busi- n ess of such terms; and the intervention of a term of court at any 

other place shall not preclude the power to adjourn over to a future 

day. 

The sixth section provides that all suits that may hereafter be 

brought in the district court shall be brought in the court of the divis- ion where the defendant resides; but if there be more tha.n one 

defendant and they reside in different divisions of the district, snit 

may be brought in either division. · 

The seventh section makes it tho duty of the clerk of the district court for the western district of the State of :Missouri to appoint a deputy, who shall r eside at t he city of Springfield, and keep an office 

for the tr::msactionof the business of the courtin that city, nnd where 

the records of all causes in the southern division shall be perma.nently 
1606 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 18, 

kept. This deputy is to exercise all the official powers of t.he clerk 

at that place within said division, and · shall, before he enters upon 

the discharge of his duties, take the usual oath for the performance 

of his duties as such deputy; and nothing herein is to be held to excuse or release the clerk from legal responsibility for the acts of 

the deputy performed in behalf of the clerk in the office aforesaid . . The eighth section provides that the marshal for the western district of Missouri, in person or by a sistant, shall attend the cot~ 

whon in session at the city of Sprin~fi~ld, and perform the duties 

required by law of United States marshals. 

The ninth section repeals all acts and parts of acts inconsistent 

with this act. 

fr. HALE, of New York. I wish to inquire whether this bill creates a new judicial district in the State of Missouri. 

Mr. FRYE. It does not. It simply provides for the holding of two 

courts for the present district, dividing the labors of the judge. 

The amendment reported by the committee was read, as follows: 

After the word "Laclede," in the first section, insert the words, "Pulaskii Phelps, :md Dent·" and at the end of the second section adcl the words, "snitab e court- rooms :md offices being provided, without cost to the Government." 

The amendment was agreed to. The bill, as amended, was ordered to be engrossed and read a third 

time; and being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time? 

and passed. Mr. FRYE moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was p:1 sed; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the 

table. 

The I q,tter motion wa-s n,greed to. 

EASTERN JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY. 

Mr. FRYE. I am directed by the Committee on the Judiciary to 

report back a bill (H. R. No. 1017) to establish the eastern judicial 

district of Kentucky. As this bill contains an approp!'iation, and is 

liablo to a point of order, I move that it be refened to the Committee 

of the Whole on the state of the Union. 

The motion was agreed to. 

CODIFICATION OF LAWS OF DAKOTA. 

Mr. BUTLER, of Ma.ssachusetts, from the Comniittee on the Judiciary, reported ooversely on the memorial of the Legislature of Dakotn,, relu.tive to codifying the territorial laws; which was laid on the 

+,able, and the report ordered to be printed. 

SALARIES. 

On motion of Mr. BUTLER, of Massachusetts, the Committee Qn the 

Judiciary was discharged from the further consideration of the bill 

(H. R. No. 13~4) fixing the salaries of certain officers; and the same w~ts refened to the Committee on Civil-Service Reform. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF GOD ~ THE CONSTITUTION. 

1\Ir. BUTLER, of Massachusetts, from the Committee on the Judici.'\ry, reported adversely upon a petition for an amendment of the 

Constitution of the United States, incorporating in that instrument an acknowledgment of Almighty God and the Christian religion. 

The petition was laid on the ta.ble, and the report ordered to be 

printed. HOLY CROSS MISSION, DAKOTA. 

On motion of Mr. BUTLER, of Massa.chusetts, the Committee on the Judiciary was (lischarged from the further considemtion of the 

bill (H. R. No. 1509) for the relief of the Holy Cro s Mission in the 

Territory of Dakota ; a.nd the same was refened to the Committee on the Public Lands. .DWIGHT F. HAYES. 

On motion of Mr. BUTLER, of Massachusetts, the Committee on the Judiciary was discharged from the further consideration of the 

petition of Dwight F. Hayes, praying the pa.ssa.ge of a bill referring 

to the Court of Claims his claim for cotton captured by the United 

States Na.vy; and the same was referred to the Committee on Naval 

Affairs. 

LIQUOR TRAFFIC. 

Mr. POLAND, from the Committee on the Judiciary, reported back, 

with an amendment in the form of a substitute, the bill (H. R. No. 489) 

to provide for the appointment of a commission on the subject of the 

alcoholic liquor traffic. 

The SPEAKER. The substitute will be treated a8 an original bill. 

The substitute (H. R. No. 2079) was read. 

It provides in the first section that there shall be n,ppointed by the 

President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a com- mission of five persons, neither of whom shall be a holder of any office 

of profit or trust in the General or a State government. These commissioners are to be selected solely with reference to personal fitness 

a.nd capacity for an honest, impartial, and thorough investigation, and 

sha.ll hold office until their duties shall be accomplished, but not to 

exceed two years. It shall be their duty to investi:pte the alcoholic 

liquor traffic in its economic, criminal, moral, and sCientific aspects in 

connection with pauperism, crime, social vice, the public health, and 

general welfare of the people; 8.nd also inC}_uire and take testimony as to the practical results of license and restrictive legisla.tion for the 

provention of intemperance in the seveml Sta.tes. 

The second section provides that the said commissioners shall serve 

without salary; shall be authorized to employ a secretu.ry at a reason- able compensation, not to exceed $2,000 per yea,r, which, with the neces- sary expenses incidental to said investigation of both the secretn.ry 

and commissioners, shall be pa.id out of any money in the Trcasm-y 

not otherwise appropriated, upon vouchers to be approved by the 

Secretary of the Treasury; but the whole amount -shall not exceed 

10,000, and the amount necessary is thereby appropriated. It shall 

be the further duty of said commissioners to report the result of their 

investigation, ana the expenses attending the same, to the President, 

to be by him transmitted to Conbrress. 

Mr. WILLARD, of Vermont. I rise to a question of order: that 

this bill makes an a,ppropriation, ancl must have its first considera.-

tion in Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union. 

The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Vermont makes the point of 

order that this bill must ha.ve its first consideration in Committee of the Whole on the sta.te of the Union; and the Chair sustains the 

point of order. 

1\Ir. POLAND. The committee desire to submit a report in connec- tion with this bill. It is not yet prepared; and they desire to submit 

it and have it printed before the bill comes up for action. 

The SPEAKER. The Chair hears no objection, and the report will 

be permitted to come in and be ordered to be printed. 

The bill was referred to the Committee of the Whole on the state 

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

:Mr. COX. Is tha,t a unanimous report from the Committee on the 

Judiciary¥ 

Mr. POLAND. Very nearly so. [Laughter.] 

Mr. ELDREDGE. !tis not a unanimous report. There is a majority 

in favor of it, but a strong minority against it. [Laughter.] 

:Mr. BUTLER, of Massachusetts. Strong, but not numerous. [Laughter.] DEDUCTIO~ OF DEBTS DUE THE UNITED STATES. 

1\Ir. POLAND also, from the same committee, reported a. bill (H. R. 

No. 2080) to provide for deducting any debt due tho United Sta.tes from any judgment recovered against the United Sta.tes by such 

debtor; which was read a first and second time. 

The bill, which was read, provides tha.t when a.ny :fina.l judgment 

shall be recovered in a.ny court against the United Sta.tes, a.nd the 

plaintiff in such judgment shall be indebted to the United States in 

any manner, either on his own account or as surety for any other 

person or persons, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury 

to retain out of such judgment so much thereof as ma.y be necessary 

to sa.ti!:!fy such indebtedness, and if such plaintiff shall deny his lia.-

bility for such indebtedness to the United States or refuse to a.ssent 

to such deduction, the Secretary shall, if the same is not alreMy in 

snit, immediately cause proper legal proceedings to be commenced to 

enforce collection of the same; and in such case the Secretary shall 

withhold from such judgment such sum in addition to the debt claimed 

to be due the United Sta.tes as in his judgment will be sufficient to 

defray all legal costs and cha.rges of prosecuting uch snit to final 

judgment. And if :final judgment shall be recovered by the United 

States in such snit, the same shall be satisfied out of the money thu!:! 

withheld by the Secretary, if sufficient, a.nd any balance remaining 

shall then be paid over to the party entitled thereto, with 6 per cent. 

interest thereon dnring the time it has thus been withheld. The bill was ordered to be engrossed n,nd read a third time; n.nd 

being engrossed, it was accordin~ly rea.d the third timehand passed. 

Mr. POLAND moved to reconsider the vote by whic the bill was passed; a.nd a.lso moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the 

table. 

The la.tter motion was agreed to. 

ORDER OF BUSINESS. 

1\Ir. DAWES. Has not the morning hour expired f 

The SPEAKER. It has. 

Mr. DAWES. I move, then, to suspend the rules, for the purpose of 

going into Committee of the Whole on the sta.te of the Union, a.nd ta.ke 

up the t.ax bill, which is the special order. 

1\lr. PACKER. Pending that motion, I ask the House to proceed to 

the considera.tion of the special order, which is House bill No. 825, to 

provide for the distribution of public documents printed by the a.uthority of Congress and of seeds furnished by the Agricultural Department, for the free exchange of newspapers between publishen;, and 

for the free tmnsmission of weekly newspapers by mail within the 

county where published. 

1\lr. DAWES. I hope the gentleman will not press his motion, and 

I make the request not for myself but for two members of the Committee on Ways and Means who are anxious to go home, a.nd desire to 

submit some remarks on the pending bills in the Committee of the 

Whole on the sta,te of the Union. 

1\lr. PACKER. I would be glad to accommodate my friend from 

Massa.chusetts, but I cannot do so on this occasion. I yielded several 

dn.ys since to the Committee on Ways and Means. . Mr. DAWES. I run awa.re of that, and am obliged to the gentle- man for so doing. • . Mr. PACKER. Gentlemen are exceedingly anxious to have the 

bill from the Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roadd brought 

up for consideration. 

The SPEAKER. The specia.l order in the House takes precedencE', 

to the exclusion of all other business sa.ve appropria.tion billk!. 
1874. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1607 

- :Mr. WOODFORD. I move that the pending order be laid aside. 

The SPEAKER. The Chair will interrupt the gentleman a moment 

to ask him whether he proposes to apply his motion t<D laying aside 

the special order in reference to the franking privilege. 

Mr. WOODFORD. I do. 

The SPEAKER. That cannot be done. The better motion would 

be to move its postponement. It would still hold its precedence as the special order. 

Mr. WOODFORD. Under the suggestion from the Chair, I move that the pending order, being what is popularly known as the bill for 

the partial restora.tion of the franking privilege, be postponed. Let me also give notice that if this postponement be agreed to, I shall move to lay aside all pending orders, one after the other, so as to bring the 

House directly to the consideration of what seems to me the one pressing question of national interest, the status of the forty-four million reserve. Let us do this promptly, so that the dead-lock which para.-

lyzes all our business interests may be broken and the wheels of our 

varied industries be set in motion. 

:Mr. P .ACKER. I do not yield to the gentleman for the purpose of 

making that motion. 

:Mr. WOODFORD. I move that the present consideration of this 

bill be postponed. 

The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is upon the 

floor, and the only way he can be dispossessed of the floor is to raise a question of consideration; that is, whether the House will now proceed with the consideration of the bill for the franking privilege 

reported from the Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. The 

rules give to the majority of the House the absolute control of the 

order of business. The bill which the gentlem3.D. from Pennsylvania 

has charge of is a special order for this hour, and for the same hour 

every day, or ra.ther at half-past one o'clock on every day, until disposed of. But of course when that hour is reached and the bill comes up it is competent for the House to mise the question of consideration, whether it will proceed with it. 

Mr. PACKER. We have postponed from dayto day the consideration of this bill, and a number of gentlemen are very anxious t.hat it 

shall in some manner be disposed of, affirmatively or negatively. It 

is a matter of very considerable importa.nce to the people. .A.nd having 

given way to the Committee on Ways and Means before, we think we must now insist on going on with the consideration of the bill. 

Ur. WOODFORD. I simply ask the attention of the Honse to the 

fact that the question is practically this: public printing and franking on the one side, and the consideration of the :finances of tho coun- try on the other. :Mr. KILLINGER. I rise to a question of order. Can this question 

be debated f 

The SPEAKER. It ca.nnot bo debated. The question is, Will the 

House now consider the specin,l order 'f 

Mr. WOODFORD. I hope that the Honse will, with just regn,rd 

to the depression of all our business, agricultural, and industrial interests, postpone the special order, and get at a. discussion and practical 

settlement of the forty-four million question. 

The question being put, the House agreed to proceed to the considera.tion of the special order. 

MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE. 

.A. message from the Senate, by Mr. SYMPSON, one of its clerks, informed the House that the Senate had passed a bill of the following 

title; in which the concurrence of the House was requested: 

.A. bill (S. No. 510) donating condemned cannon and cannon-balls to 

the posts of the Grand .A.rmy of the Republic a.t Philadelphia, and 

other associations, for monumental purposes. 

DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC DOCUl\IENTS, ETC. 

The House proceeded to consider the special order, being the bill 

(H. R. No. 8-25) to provide for the distribution of public documenta 

printed by the authority of Congr!}ss, and of seeds furnished by tho 

.A.gricultura.l Department, for the free exchange of newspapers between publishers, and for the free transmission of weekly newspapers 

by mail 'vithin the county where published, reported with amendments by the Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. 

The bill was read. 

It provides that, from and after the passage of the act, all public 

documents, books, or publications, and all printed matter procured or published a.nd issued by authority of Congress, or of either House 

thereof, and all packages of seeds, cuttings, roots, and scions furnished by the .Agricultural Department, under authority of law, havin~ :first been stamped as provided and directed in the second sec- tion, shall be allowed to pass in the mails of the Unit.ed Sta.tes, to any 

citizen thereof, or person residing therein, without charge. 

The second section provides that the Secretary of the Senate a.nd 

Clerk of the House of Representatives of the United States shall cause to be prepared, for their respective Houses, a special stamp, or stamped envelope or wrapper, of such form and de ign a shall be 

directed and approved by the Postmaster-General, to be used by the 

said Secretary and Clerk, or by such assistants as may be appointed 

by either of them, for their respective Houses, only upon such printed 

matter or documents, or packages of seeds, cuttings, reots, and scions as a.foresaid, as the Vice-President, the Senators, Representatives, and 

Delegates in Congress, the Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the 

House of Representatives, may, by their. respective written autograph 

signatures, indorsed upon the 'lv:rappers or envelopes thereof, direct 

to be so sent by mail, as is prf>vidad in the :first section of the act. 

The third section provides that from and after the passage of the 

act the following mail matter shall be allowed to pass free in the 

mail: First, newspapers, periodicals, and magazines, reciprocally interchanged between publishers, and not exceeding sixteen ounces in 

weight, to be confined to a single copy of each publication; seco1:1uly, 

weekly newspapers, one copy to each actual subscriber residing or receiving the same within the county where the same is published ; 

but carriers shall ·not be required to distribute such papers unless 

postage is paid upon them at the usual rates. 

It is provided in the fourth section that any person who shall knowingly, and with intent to defraud the Government of the United 

States, use, or cause to be used, any of the said stamps, stamped. 

envelopes or wrappers, therein authorized to be prepa.red and. nse<l, for 

any other purpose, or in any other manner than as is anthori:r.eu 

by the act, or who shall cotmterfeit the name or signature of any 

person therein authorizea to indorse his autograph signature upon tile 

wrappers or envelopes aforesaid, or who shall willfully utter or use any such counterfeit indorsement,, with the intent to avoid the payment of postage, shall, on conviction thereof, be deemed. guilty of a misdemeanor, and be punished by a :fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000, or by imprisonment not less than three months nor more than twelve months, or by both :fine and imprisonment, in the 

discretion of the court. 

The first amendment reported by the committee was to add the 

following proviso to the second section : 

Provided, That the Postmaster-General may, if the welfare of the service shall 

require, make rules and regulations delaying, in whole or in part, the transmis:;ion 

of documents and pa-ckages hereinbefore mentioned, for any period not exceeding thirty days from the time of delivery for mailing. 

The second amendment reported by the committee was to insert 

the word "dollars" after the word "thousand," in the fourth section. 

Mr. HALE, of New York. Will the gentleman in charge of the bill 

aU ow me to send up to be read a substitute for the entire bill, which 

I desire to move at the proper time Y 

Mr. P .ACKER. I yield to ha.ve it read. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Be it enacted, &c., That the act entitled ".A.n act to abolish tho franking privilege," approved January 31, 1873, be, and the same is hereby, repealed, and all acts and parts of acts which wero repealed, annulled, or made of no effect by said act hereby repe..'l.led are hereby revived and continued in full force. 

Mr. PACKER. I do not accept that amendment. 

:M:r. KASSON. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is aware thn.t 

there is a bill presented by myself, which I have had printed, and 

which I desire to offer as a substitute. That bill presents two systems of dealing with public documents. Is he willing that I shall 

offer it now, or shall I offer it at a. future stage 'f 

Mr. PACKER. I prefer that he should offer it after awhile. 

1\fr. HALE, of New York. Is my amendment considered pending! 

:Mr. PACKER. Under instructions from the committee, I think I 

will have to decline to admit anv amendment. 

Mr. GARFIELD. I rise to a·point of order. Should not this bill 

be sent to the Committee of the Whole T It is for expenditure of 

money. 

The SPEAKER. That point of order is not good, because the House 

agreed by a suspension of the rules to· consider the bill in the Houso. 

The point would be good in itself but for that fact. 

[l\fr. PACKER addressed the House. His remarks will appear in 

the .A..ppendix.l 

:Mr. KASSON. I send to the df'sk an amendment, which I offer ;ls a substitute for the pending bill. I ask that it be read: 

Mr. P .ACKER. I desire to say a word to the gentleman. The gentleman's bill has been referred to the Committee on the Post-Office 

and Post-Roads. We have considered it very fully and are giving it a respectful attention. It contemplates provision as to the future, 

nnd is entirely different from the bill now submitted to the House :ior 

its consideration. For that reason I think I cannot, as at present 

advised by the committee, yield for that amendment. 

Mr. KASSON. If, then, I understand my friend from Pennsylvanin. 

correctly, he must intend to close the debate within a few m:inlltes. 

Mr. PACKER. Not at all . Mr. KASSON. Because otherwise, when the gentleman has yielded 

the floor, somebody will have an opportunity of offerirlg ame:nd.ments 

to the pending bill. I do not wish to speak at present, but only wish 

to offer this, that it ma.y be read for the information of the House. 

The SPEAKER. Does the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. 

PACKER] desire to ha\'e the bill voted on without amendmenU 

J\.fr. PACKER. Yes, sir; that is what I desire in regard to voting. 

The SPEAKER. In what position, then, does the gentleman propose 

to put his bill f 

Mr. P .ACKER. For the present I will enter a motion to recommit. 

I now yield the remainder of my time to my colleague on the committee, the gentleman from Illinois, [Mr. C.umoN.] 

I\fr. CANNON, of Illinois, Mr. Speaker, the Committee on the PostOffice and Post-Roads, to whom were referred various bills for the 

restoration of the franking privilege in whole or part, aft.er thorough investicration, have reported, as a substitute for the different bills, the 

bill umfer consideration, and a-skits :passa~e by the House of Representatives. It provides, in substance, that a1l public documents prin.ted 
1608 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 18, 

by authority of Congress, including seeds, cuttings, &c., from the Agricultural Department, shall pass free thlough the mails, upon having a stamp, to be devised by the Postmaster-General, placed upon them, and ·tho signature of a member of Congress written thereon, and that aU 

newspapers in the counties in which they are published shall go free 

through the mails. 

The bill does not provide for the correspondence of members of Congress or with them going free through the mails; on the contrary, the 

committee have been careful in framing this bill to provide against 

any matter going free, in the event it becomes a law, except such as is 

specially mentioned therein; and I for one am opposed to any legislation by virtue of which abuses could creep in similar to those that 

obtained nuder the former law, and I am not in favor of the restoration of the franking privilege as it formerly existed. 

I desire briefly to assign a few of the many reasons why this bill 

should pass, and answer such objections as have been or may be urged 

against it. I am satisfied that the masses of the people never objected 

to public documents and seeds and cuttings from the Agricultural 

-Department passing free through the mails; but, on the contrary, have 

been and are in favor of the same, and that it was only the abuse of 

the franking system by forgery of the frank, farming it out by some members, and the sending of matter through the mails free that was notentitled under the law to go, that the people objected to, and the 

objection to which was mistaken by Congress for an objection to the 

whole franking system. 

The objections usually urged to sending public documents free 

through the mails are- . First. The alleged additional expense to the Post-Office Department, 

without payment of postage for additional service. 

Secondly. That documents are distributed at the common expense, 

and cannot be evenly distrilmted so as to give every citizen a document or one of equal value and size. 

Thirdly. That the mails on post-routes from Washington to Pittsbm·gh, at certain times when large quantities of documents are to be 

forwarded, are delayed 8-nd cumbered thereby at Harrislmrgh. 

Your committee, on inveotigation, became satisfied that there is no danger of the mails west of Pittsburgh being delayed or cumbered by 

the plethora of public documents; and in view of the fact that a much larger portion than formerly of the New York mails to and 

from the West now pass over the Erie Railroad, and the power and 

probable policy of the Department to make some one of the great 

trunk lines peculiarly mail-routes for the transmission of through 

'm.:tils from New York to theW est, thereby getting superior speed and 

accommodations for the service, they are satisfied that the pas age of 

documents free through the mails will not call for an increa e of the 

service between Wa~hington and Pittsburgh, or elsewhere; for while 

occasionally the service might be embarrassed on one or more days, 

if there were no regulations as to when clocumeuts should be transmitted, it is believed the power proposed to be given to the Postmaster-General by this bill to delay transmission of documents, in 

whole or part, for a period ofthirty days after the same are ready to 

be sent, will obviate all danger of delay in tra.nsmission of the ordinary 

mails of· the country. 

Mr. Speaker, as to the question of additional cost to the Government of sending documents free through the mails, I have to say that, 

from an examination as to the diflereut mail-routes and contracts for 

carrying the mails over the same, it is apparent that the additional 

cost of carrying documents as provided by this bill will be merely 

nominal. As shown by the Postmaster-General's report, the aggregate leufrth of mail-routes on the 30th day of J nne, 1873, was 256,210 

miles. Of this, 63,457 are by railroad,l6,762 by steamboat, and 175,991 

miles by other routes. It is well known that when a contractor 

makes his bid to carry the mails the principal matter taken into con- sideration is the cost of making the trip over the route, and not the 

amount of mails to be carried ; and on more than two-thirds of all 

the mail-routes in distance in the United States the amount paid by 

the Government for carrying the mails by contract is the same whether 

there is much or little mail matter to be carried; so that on ove1· twothirds of all the mail-routes in the country the sending of seeds, cuttings, &c., from the Agricultural Department, and a~ricultural reports, 

with other public documents, free through the mails will not cost the 

Government one cent. · [Here the hammer fell.] 

Mr. KASSON. I do not desire, Mr. Speaker--

:Mr. CANNON, of Illinois. Have I not an hour in my own right' 

The SPEAKER. The Chair must reco!!llize first a gentleman on one side of the question and then a gentleman on the other. It is 

not rulable to recognize two gentlemen on the same side of the question for an hour each. 

Mr. KASSON. I will yield to the gentleman from Illinois, [Mr. 

CANNON, l so that he may now go on and conclude his remarks. 

Mr. CANNON, of Illinois. Not being accustomed to therulesofthe 

Honse, I supposed that I had an hom· in my own right. The SPEAKER. The gentleman was speaking in the remainder of the time of the gentleman from Pennsylvania, the chairman of 

the committee, [.l\fr. PACKER.] The gentleman from Iowa [.Mr. KAsSON] now yields to the gentleman, and he can proceed. 

Mr. CANNON, of illinois. For compensation to railroads for car- rying the mails the law provides as follows: 

The pay per mile per annum shaJ.lnot exceeu tile following rates: On routes carrying their whole length an average weight of mails per day of two hundred pounds, $50 ; five hundred pounds, $75 ; one thousand 11ounds, 6100 ; fifteen hundred pounds ..,125; two thousanu pounds, $150; thirty-five llundreu pounds, $175; five tl.wus:ond 

pounds, ...,200; and $25 additional for every additional two thous:md pounds. 

Under the operation of this law a great many railways do not carry on au average daily per annum, the whole length of their respective 

lines, two hundred pounds of mail matter, and would not with the 

addition of all the public documents theywould be required to carry, so they cannot receive to exceed fifty dollars per mile whether th y 

carry public documents or not. There are, however, a few great trunk 

lines, such as the Erie or Pennsylvania Central, that are carrying an average daily of more than five thousand pounds of mail matter tbe 

whole length of their lines, and so far as documents pass over tho o 

roads their compensation would be increased. But, .Mr. Speaker, I a k 

memberstol)bservethattheincrea ewould besmall; forastheamount 

of matter carried increases under the law, in proportion the price 

decreases, so that the price paid these few trunk lines carrying daily over five thousand pounds of the ordinary mails of the country, for all 

matter in excess of that amount, is at the rate of one-twentieth of the 

price they and other roads receive for the first two hundred pounds 

they carry; and as to such matter over the first five thousand pounds 

they would gladly get rid of carrying the sa,me, reta,ining the compensa,tion for carrying the first five thousand pounds; so that it cn.n be 

truly said as the mail service is organized the increa-se of cost to the 

Government for carrying public documents free will be merely nom- inal. 

As a further proof tha,t the co t of the posta,l service has not been 

materia,lly decreased by the abolition of the franh.ring pri'\1'ilege, and 

will not be increased, in fact, by sending documents through the mails a-s provided by this bill, I will briefly compa,re the cost of mail service 

in former years with that of the present and coming fiscal years, as estimated by the Postmaster-General: 

The expenditures of the Post-Office Department for the fiscal year 

ending June 30, 1873, were...................................... $29, 084 945 07 

And the ordinary revenues for same time......................... 2-2,996:741 57 

Leaving a deficiency of ...•••..•..•••.•..•...••••.•.•••..•.•......• G, 088, 204 10 

The estimated deficiency by the Postmaster-General for the year 

commencing 1st July, 187 4, is $6,310,602; and for the year commencing 

1st July, 1875, is 6,886,363, excluding the estimated revenue from offi- cial stamps which has to be met by an appropriation. So that, 

instead of a lessening of the deficiency, as the people generally have 

supposed, by the abolition of the franking privilege, the deficiency, a shown by the estimates, will be increased. Still, in fairne s, I should 

state that the increase in the free-delivery system, which has been 

made since 3d June last, and otherwise, will probably account for the 

increase in estimated deficiency. 

The Postmaster-General, in his letter of January 20, 1874, to the 

President of the Senate, estimates that the receipts of the Department for the quarter ending 30th September, 1873, since the abolition of tho franking privilege, will exceed on certain items receipts 

of same quarter of 1872 $614,000, and impliedly points to that as the 

result of the abolition of the franking privilege. He does not state or estimate what the increased cost of sustaining and operating the 

Department is over the same quarter in 1872; and on examination of 

his report, it will be seen that the increase in the mail service over . what it was the year before was as great as the increase in the reve- nues. On examination it also appears that the increase in revenues for the quarter ending 30th September, 1870, over same quarter in 1869, 

was, in round numbers, $500,000, and that the increase of revenue in 

18G9 was 2,151,000 over that of 1868; and the revenue of 1872 was, . in round numbers, $2,000,000 over that of 1871, while in other yea,rs 

there was a smaller or very little increase. Yet during these different years the franking privilege was in full force. 

An examination of the facts will convince any candid man that the · estimated increase of revenues-and mind it is only estimated-for 

the quarter ending 30th of September, 1873, was not <ln account of posta,ge paid on mattertha theretofore went free, for the Postmaster-General 

tellsusinhisreport, that which everybody knows, namely: "Publications of the class heretofore printed and sent out by order of Congre s have been almost entirely cut off since the 1st of July last." So that the 

increase of revenues could not have come from payment of postage on that cla-ss of matter ; and he has supplied official stamps to all the Departments, postmasters, and special agents in the cotm try, so that 

the increase in revenue cannot come from those sources. 'l'hen the 

only source it could come from is from payment of postage on letter , &c., sent and received by members of Congress; and this bill in no way 

interferes with such increase of the revenues, whether it be much or little, for, as before stated, it does not give the frank to members of 

Congress for their correspondence or other miscellaneous matter. 

Suppose, however, that it really will cost to send these public documents through the mails free as much as the postage at full rates 

would be if it were prepaid, still I think it would be wiso to distribute 

them. In this Republic of ours the people are sovereign, and to gov- ern properly they must have not only patriotism and hone ty, but 

also intelligence and a lmowledge of the principles of the Govemmeut and tho manner in which the Government is administered, and 

therefore they have establi hed 'free schools all over th country for 

the instruction of the people at the public expeu e; and the temper 

of our people is to make that irrstruction compul~ory, and properly 
1874. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1{)09 

so ; for each citizen practically is as much interested in the proper 

exercise of the ri~ht of fr~u?his~ by the humble~t and poorest ci~izen of the Repubuc as he 1s m his own proper actwn; and as t.b.e different executive officers of the Government, as well as persons con- stituting the Legislature, are only for the time being acting as the 

agents of the people, it is important, ay, not only important, but 

indispensable, if th~ genius of our institutions is preserved and the 

Government properly administered, that the people should keep track 

of the a-cts and doings of their agents. It is true that now news is 

given very generally to the people through the newspapers of the 

country; but when we consider the hurried manner in which it is prepared, as well as in which it is read, and that the papers frequently, 

I may say generally, contain a mere digest of the proceedings of Congress, of the transactions of the <Ufferent Departments connected with 

the executive, and that from the very nature of things the reports, as diO"ested and published, frequently contain errors, and are frequently warp.ed by partisan feeling, the necessity of a correct and 

complete record of the proceedings of the legislative and executive 

branches of the Government being published in convenient form for use and preservn.tion, and distributed to the people for their information, is at once seen. :M:r. MYERS. These documents should go also to the libraries. 

Mr. CANNON, of Illinois. Yes, sir; these documents should go to 

the libraries in the different school districts. Let them go to the people throughout the country who will read them sitting around the fireside after the day's labor is over, and who, when they get information, 

will circulate it from mouth to mouth through their neighborhoods. 

I do not know whether the ~~mtlemen in the cities h ave constituencies of that sort, but my fellow-members from the West will ag:ree 

with me in sn.ying that the farmers of the country get a great part of 

their information in that way and impart it in the same m:mner to 

their brother farmers. 

But the amount of postage that would accrue to the General Government on these public documents, if paid in full, has been greatly 

magnified. The superintendent of the folding-room reports that the 

postage on all the documents printed by authority of the Forty-second Congress, for the full term of two years, was to each member of 

the House $892.57 per annum, provided it had been paid in full. I 

desire to call the attention of the House particularly to this matter 

for the purpose of comparing this expenditure with'the expenses of 

another branch of the postal service for the year ending J nne 30, 1873, 

in fifty-two cities of the United States, as shown by the PostmasterGeneral's report. Mail matter was delivered free by the carriers at 

the houses or places of business of persons living in such cities; 

whereas in the smn.ller cities and villages and rural districts the people go to the office for their mails. The total cost of this system last 

year, in the fifty-two cities, as shown by the Postmaster-General's 

report, was $1,422,495.48; n.nd giving such cities the benefit of every 

cent of local postage collected therein, to pay for this special service, 

which the balance of the country does not have, and which for the same year amounted to $1,112,251, there is a deficit for the payment of car- riers, &c., of $310,244, which has to be paid by the people of the United 

States; an amount substantially equal to what all the postage would 

have been, at full rates, on all the public documents printed for tl,le same year by the order of Congress. 

Mr. MYERS. In this connection let me say to the gentleman that 

year after year there are deficiencies in the postal service amounting to 

$4,000,000 or $5,000,000, mostly for theW est and South ; and we gladly 

do our part in meeting those deficiencies. I agree with the gentleman's argument ; but let him, as of course he desires, do justice in thj.s 

matter. The free-delivery system is a blessing to the people. 

Mr. CANNON, of Illinois. I am for the free-delivery system in the 

large cities, where it is needed; but I want to call the attention of the 

House to the fact that the free-delivery system in fifty-two cities of 

the United States costs within a fraction as much aa it did last year to 

send all the documents that were published by order of the Forty-second Congress, provided postage at full rates had been paid on the sn.me. The State of Illinois, which I have the honor to represent in part, 

with its three million people, second to no other State in the intelligence and industry of its inhabitants, had in the Forty-second Congress sixteen members. On the above showing, as to postage on public 

documents printed by authority of the Forty-second Congress, the 

proportion to ea-ch member would have been ~892.57 per annum, and 

if paid in full would have amounted for the year ending June 30, 1873, 

to 14,281.12 on all documents distributed in that State. In the city 

of Chica(To alone the cost of the free-delivery system for the same year was $108,873, and the totallocal postage$47,793, leaving a deficit 

of $61,079 to be paid by the people of the United States; or, in other 

words, it cost the Government last year, to deliver at the doors and 

offices of the people in the city of Chicago their letters and papers, 

four times as much as the postage in full would have been on all the 

public documents printed by order of the Forty-second Congress and 

distributed in the State of illinois during that year. And what is trne 

as to the cost of this free-deli very system in Chl cago is substantially so as to Saint Louis, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and almost all the ot her 

cities, except New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. Mr. Speaker, the Government is now building in tbe city of Boston a post-office that will cost · 4,000,000 ; one a.t New York that will co t 

$8,000,000; one at Philadelphia that will cost $4,000,000; oue at Chica~o that will cost $4,000,000. Cincinnati and Saint Louis are also 

bemg favored in this way to the extent of $6,000,000. The improvements of the streets and avenues of Washington n.lone since 1865 have 

cost the Government over $3,000,000 ; and the expenditures at the 

hands of the Government in the District of Columbia, in the same time, have been, for public improvements, over $14,000,000; and, as shown by a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury of 7th Jan nary, 

1874, the expenditures of the Government from June 30,1865, to June 

30, 1873, upon public works alone in the United States amount to the enormous sum of $103,000,000. And now the District of Columbia} 

with nearly all the principal cities, for public improvements to be 

made therein, by their Representn.tives in Congre s are knocking at 

the door of the Treasury, crying, "More, more." I do not speak of 

these ma.tters as arguments against the free-delivery system, or the 

proper expenditure by the Government of moneys for public buildings or public improvements; but I do speak of them to show that it 

is not just and fair for the people who are gathered together in our large cities, and enjoying to a greater extent than others these several 

benefits at the public expense, to object to the smaller towns and 

rural districts enjoying, in common with them, free public documents; 

and it is well enough once in a while to take an account of stock, post 

the books, and see how.the balances stand. 

But the objection is made by those opposed to free public documents, that every citizen cannot get a public document; therefore documents should not be supplied to some at the expense of all. 

This objection is met by the fact that no law operates equally upon 

all persons. All legislation is for the general good. As well say break 

up the public-school aystem, for the reason that some citizens have no children to send to school, or some persons have more property than 

others to contribute to the expense of keeping them up; or discontinue the cn.rrying of the mails at the expense of the Government 

because some men write or receive more letters than others, or be- cause it costs more to carry a letter or paper a thousand miles than it 

does to carry the same a hundred miles, yet the postage is the same in each instn,nce; or that the Post-Office Department should be discontinued becn,use it does not pay expenses, or that the free-delivery 

system in c1ties should be discontinued because all persons cannot be 

supplied with their mail matter free at their homes. 

The truth is, the people get valuable information concerning the 

n.dministration of the Government in all its departments and branches 

from these documents; and my observation is, that informn.tion 

obtained therefrom passes orally from man to man; and while I am proud of our great cities, and many of the citizens who reside therein, 

noted for their proficiency in their respective callings, and their 

great energy and industry in accomplishing that which they undertake, yet in the country, among the producers, the men who earn bread 

by the sweat of their faces, you :tind equally as gren.t industry, and I 

dare say more general intelligence and patriotism; and this clas of men especially are anxions to receive public documents and ren.d them. 

A 1\fEM:BER. The gentleman from Illinois must have oats in his 

pocket. 

Mr. CANNON, of lllinois. I understand the gentleman. Yes, I 

have oats in my pocket and hay-seed in my hair, [great laughter;] 

and the western people gener::ill.y at·e affected in the same way ; and we expect that the seed, being good, will yield a good crop, I trust 

tenfold; and the sooner legislation is had, not only as proposed by 

this bill, but in all other respects as the people desire and eqnity and 

justice Shall dictate, the better it will be in the long run for all people in this country1 whatever may be their calling or wherever they 

may reside. 

Now, .Mr. Speaker, let us inquire for a moment who are opposing 

the provisions of this bill, and their reasons therefor. 

Well, we are told the Postmaster-General opposes this legislation. 

I certainly h ave no war to make upon the Postmn,ster-General. He is a courteous gentleman and an excellent officer. But let us see if his 

objections are well founded. He says in his letter of January20, 1874, 

to the President of the Senate: 

In my last report I recommended a reduction of postage on books to one cent for ten ounces, wh1ch is the lowest rate now allowed by law for any kind of matter. If that suggestion should be adopted I cannot see why postage should not be paid 

upon .congressional documents, as well as upon depn.rtmental matter, by an appro- pr~ation from the Treasury. 

Behold, there it is, [laught-er;] no objection to it, provided Congress shall make the appropriation, [laughter;] "cannot see why Congress should not make an appropriation from the Treasnry to pay 

postage upon congressional documents." 

A }.lEJ\fBER. What is the date of that letterY 

Mr. CANNON, of Illinois. The date is the 20th day of last January. It is a letter written by the Postmaster-General, and addressed 

to the PresidentoftheSenate, concerningtherestorationofthefranking privilege. Well,now, let's see howthatwillhold water. [Laughter and rappings to order.] 

A careful reading of the Postmaster-General's report and above 

letter, and all his statements, so far as I am informed, concerning the 

same, show that he does not object to the pas age of documents 

through the mails, provided Congress will make an appropriation to 

buy the stamps to pay postage on the same. Suppose Congress does 

make an n,ppropriation, aa the Postmaster-General desires, to pay postage on these documents, what does that amount to . Merely to this, 

that tho United Stn.tes goes to the expense of printing stamps and 
1610 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 18, 

handling the same; that the UnitedStatesmaybuy of the United States 

these stamps to put on documents, thereby to send them free through 

the mails of the United States; to what end' That the Po t-Office 

Department may be self- ustainiug, we are told; and, strange as it 

may appear, the Postmaster-General in his L.,st report, in ma~g 

estimates of the revenues of the Department for the pre ent fiscal 

year, estimates the income from appropriations to pay for stamps to 

enable the other Departments of the Government to use the mails in 

the business of the Government, at $2,225,000. 

Does it make any difference to the Government, which has to pay 

the 2,225,000 in any event, whether you call it a deficiency of one Department or the othert Yet it has been claimed on this floor that 

the $2,225,000 was an increase of the revenues of the post-offices in 

consequence of the u.bolition of the franking privilege. As well might a man spend his time in taking money from his right pocket and putting it in his left, and point to the increase of his left pocket as an evidence of his increasing wealth or revenues. The purchase of stamps 

by the Government of the Government to prepay postage on public 

documents has no advantages over the plan proposed by this bill, 

unless it be to enable the Postma-ster-General to show a mlc're paper 

profit. On the contrary, such a plan is liable to great abuse, for under 

such appropriation the stamps when purchased may be used upon 

other documents or matter than those intended by law to go free, just as the franks of members of Congress were formerly abu eel. 

Indeed, under the present system I am informed that the Postmast,er-General is furnishing to nearly forty thousand persons, postmasters 

and those connected with the different Departments, official tamps, 

and it is becoming notorious that they are frequently used upon private correspondence. All objections of that kind are remedied by 

the provisions of this bill. There cannot be an abu e of the system 

untler its provisions, for persons having the peculiar stamps m charge 

cannot send documents without the frank of members, nor can mem- bers send them without they are stamped with this peculiar stamp. 

Nor will the frank and stamp combined pass documents through the 

mails unless they are placed upon docnment.s printed by authority of 

Congress. 

The mail contractors, railroads, and express companies oppose tho 

passage of this bill, for, as before shown, as the mail service is organized, the increase of pay to contractors carrying the mails, other than 

railways, for carrying these documents will not be one cent, and to the 

rail ways will be merely nominal; therefore they would like to be exempt 

from such service. The express companies oppose the bill for a different reason, namely: If individuals receiving these documents have 

to pay out of their pockets for transporting the same, the charges by 

express will be less than full postage; and so while the Government saves nothing, the people, who in their aggregate capacity have paid 

for their service as before shown, as individuals would pay a second 

tim; for the service to the express companies; and nearly all the documents now being sent are sent by express and not through the mails. 

And last, but not least, we are told that the city press of tho country 

oppo e this bill, or any other measure that will give the people free 

public documents, for the reason, as alleged, that the individuals or incorporated companies conducting the srune are desirous of monopolizing the means of information touching the affairs of the Government, at lea-st to the exclusion of information to be furnished by the 

Government at the general expense. And it is also claimed by some that members cannot afford to advocate and vote for this bill, for the reason that the city press will declare war upon them and continue 

the same until they lose standing with their constituency. I do not ·believe that the city pre swill, as a unit, oppose this bill. A portion 

of it may from selfish motives, in some instances, and honestly in 

others. I certainly have no desire to call upon myself the assaults 

of the city press, or any portion of it. Nor do I fear it a-s long as I 

truly represent my constituents and act, in my repre entative capacity, for the interest of the people generally. Nor would I change 

the power of the press to assail my acts or those of any one else. On 

the contrary, every member of Congress, or other agent of the people, 

should court a fair criticism of his acts, and if he vitally misrepresents the people they should, and no doubt would, fail to continue 

him in places of trust. But no man is a proper person to represent 

the people unle she has the honesty and the backbone to stand and 

do what is right and for he interest of the people, without reference 

to what any one may say of him, or what the action of the pre s may 

be in the premises. 

However, 11Ir. Speaker, I desire to say that it will come with a bad 

grace from the city press to oppose this legislation or to condemn it, 

for the Post-Office Department is organized to accommodate the people and to assist in disseminating knowledge, even if it does not 

pay expenses ; and this is peculiarly so with regard to the seniling 

of city newspapers and periodicals that circulate generally throughout the country, for under the law the large city newspaper goes a 

thousand miles or farther, anywhere in the United States, for the same postage that t h e small country paper requires which is transmitted twenty-five miles. It also appears with reasonable certainty that the carriage of letters through the mails is a source of great 

profit to the Department, and that the carriage of newspapers :mel 

periodicals, so far as postacre on the same is compared with letters, 

is a source of great loss to the Government. 

I had a conversation this mormng with the assistant postmaster 

of New York City. I asked him what proportion of the entire mail 

matter that passed through that office was composed of periodicals 

and newspapers, and what proportion were letters. He aiel t.bero was about one-half of 1 per cent. that consisted of miscellaneous 

matter, and that over 90 per cent. of all matter was newspapers and 

periodicals. • · And I hold in my hand a communication from the Third AssistantPostma-ster- General, written in reply to a note I dropped to him 

about another matter. I propose, after a bit, to send that communication to the Clerk's desk to be read as a portion of my remarks. It 

contains a statement of facts, from which it appears, with reasonable 

certainty, that over five-sixths of all the matter that is carried in the 

mails on which postage is paid is made up of newspapers and periodicu,ls, and a very large majority o those newspapers and periodicals are published in the great cities of the country. And while I am talking about that, I want to call your attention further to the fact 

that the report of the Postmaster-General shows that the revenues of the Post-Office Department for last year were, in round numbers, 

$23,000,000, and that the expenses of the Department during that 

time were, in round numbers, $29,000,000. It also shows that, in round 

numbers, the sum of $1,000,000 was all the postage that was collected 

from newspapers and periodicals, constituting, as they do, five-sixths 

of all the mail matter carried in the country. In other words, fivesixths of the mail matter of the country yi lded one-twenty-third of 

the revenues, and paid one-twenty-ninth of the expenses of the PostOffice Department. Or to put it in another form, it cost the United 

States Government last year at least $20,000,000 to provide transportation and mail facilities for the newspapers and periodicals of the 

country more than was received a-s postage on the same. But it may be asked, how can you justify such a stat.e of things 'i I answer that this state of things is not for the benefit of the papers; 

for while the proprietors of these publications ma,y be, and no doubt 

are, benefited by having the papers which they publish and sell to the 

people sent through the mails substantially without charge, still it is 

for the benefit of the Government, and i jusLifiable as a powerful means of dis eminating knowledge to a majority of the inuivitluals 

composing the Republic, in consequence of which they are more competent to conduct the affairs of the Republic; and for the same reason the distribution of public documents is demanded and justified. And before leaving this branch of the subject I desire to say 

that I believe the day is not far distant when the circulation of news- papers and periodicals through the mails all over the country to 

subscribers therefor will be free in name, they now being substantially :fl:ee in fact; and I believe the advantages resulting therefrom, 

by the increa-sed dissemination of useful knowledge to the people, 

would tenfold repay the cost of such service. In the mean time let us hope that in view of the premises, the press of the country will 

not seek to oppose legislation that allows the people to have that for 

which they pay whether they get it or not. 

And, Mr. Speaker, I do not believe that the people, now of all other 

times, when they are so justly sensitive to the encroachments of monopolies, will or should indorse our course if we, in tho interest of ex- pre s companies who desire no make charge for the transportation 

of public documents, and of a few mammoth news corporations who 

would glacUy monopolize all means of information, refuse to pass this 

bill or some other embodying substantially its provisions. 

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I desire to say the Post-Office Department comes more nearly to the people than any other. Hand in band 

withthecommonschool,itisefficient in carryinglight and knowledge 

to the door of the humblest as well as tne most powerful citizen, a product and at the same time one of the principal preservers of our civilization. 

We have already appropriated this session $4,000,000 for the Navy, 

and a bill is nowpendingto appropriate '17,000,000more, and the gen- tleman from Maine who has charge of it exults over tho small amount 

asked a-s an instance of great economy. The committee havin~ charge 

of the Army appropriation bill a,re asking for $28,000,000, claimin<" 

that to be a great reduction from the usual amount. I have no fault 

to find with these appropriations; they are necessary to the well-bciug 

of the Republic; at the same time they are appropria.tions made to a sist in enforcing our demands, in defending our rights by mere force, and bear fruit only while being expended. Then let it not be said that the Forty-third Congress, when called 

upon to provide for the fl:ee transmission of public documents at a. cost merely nominal, thereby aiding to bring knowledge to the mas ·es of the people, which in the end, with the aid of Christian charity, will 

do away with all necessity for appropriations to either armies or navies, failed to do its duty. 

I now send to the Clerk's desk to be read the communication from 

the Third Assistant Postmaster-General of which I have spoken. 

Not being familiar with the rules of the House, I am not certain 

whether it is necessary to have the whole of it read in order that it 

may be incorporated in my remarks. It is a document of considerable length, but it is valuable and interesting. 

The SPEAKER. It can be printed with the gentleman's remarks, 

if no objection be made. 

Mr. CANNON, of Illinois. I will not ask to have it read, then, but 

will ask leave to print it. 

No objection wa-s made. 
1874. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1611 

The letter was as follows : POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT, 

OFFICE OF THE THIRD AsSISTAN'l' POSTMASTER-GENERAL, 

Washington, February 9, 1874. 

Sm: The Postmaster-General ha-s directed me to r eply to your letter of the 28th 

January-, in which you inform him that such portions of his r eport for the fiscal 

ye..1.r nding June 30, 1873, as r elate to the prepayment of postage on ~ewsp:.tp rs 

and other matter of the second class, have been referred to a sub-comnnttee of the House Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads, of which sub-committee yon are chairman1 and request him to furnish you with approximate estimates of the amount of that kind of matter that passes through the mails as comp[1l'ed with other mat- ter, and the amount of revenue that should a~crue therefrom, with such other information as may be in his possession or can be arrived at by tho D epartment. I 

ther efore beg leave to call your attention to the following statement, which, it is 

thought, covers the whole ground of your inquiry and sets forth in as elear manner as possible the necessity for remodeling the system of collecting postage on mail matter of the second class. 

Official statistics, formulated for the Compendium of the Ninth Census, (page 508,) 

r>how that there were published in the United States and Territories, in the year 1870, 5,871 newspapers and periodicals. The following table shows their classification, circulation, and number of copies annually issued: 

Periods of issue. No. Circulation. Copies arum- ally issued. 

D:tily ...... ....••.•••••.•••••..•••..•....•...••.. 574 2; 601,547 

155,105 

247, 197 

10,594, 643 

1, 349,820 

5, 650, 843 

31,650 

806, 479, 570 

2-1, 196, 380 

25,708,488 

5."i0, 921, 436 

33, !'195, 6 0 67,810,116 

~~~~\_H--=-\Hf~\_-f-_\\\H-ii-: 189,900 ·· ~ 211,670 846,6 0 

---- -------- ---------- Total. ••..•••••.•••••..••••...........•...•.. 5, 871 20, 842, 275 1, 508, 548, 250 

Careful and thorough investigation, based on inquiries made of publishers, news- dealers, and postmnsters and other officials of the Department, seems to establish the 

fact that at least 10 per cent. of the daily circulation and 60 p er cent. of all other circulation of newspapers and periodicals pass throu~h the mails. 

Assuming that such is the case, and that the statistics published in the census r eport are correct, there is obtained, as an estimate of the revenue which the Post- Office Department should have received from this class of matter during the fiscal year 186!1-'70, the following res·:tlt: 

Class. 

~i!f.~~t;--:· :::::::::::::.::::: ~:~~~thly.:: :::::::::::::::: 

Monthly ....••.......•.........• Bi-monthly .... ................. . Quarterly* .......•.••.••..•••.. 

2, 601, 547 

1!55, 105 

247,197 

10,594,643 

1, 349,820 

5. 650,843 

} 243,320 

~:5 ]:g~ ~- ~ ..q~;:::: ~8 

~~ ~-~~ ~~ _so o~d ~~ 

~~,; ~ ~''aL; o"" 8ft~ -~...,.- Cl) 

~-sa ~as~ !A 

.10 

.60 

.60 

. 60 

.60 

. 60 

. 60 

1--'c..!...---1--

260, 154 [$1 20 

93,063 60 

148,318 40 

6, 356, 785 20 

808,892 24 3, 390, 505 12 

145, 992 04 

312,184 80 

55,837 80 

59,327 20 

1, 271, 357 00 

194, 134 08 

406,860 60 

5, 839 68 

1----------1-----1-----

Total ....••..•••••.... ~-.. .. 20, 842, 275 11, 203, 709 -- -... 2, 305, 341 16 

*Grouped together because there is no rate of postage for bi-monthly issues. 

During the :fisca.l year endina- .June 30, 1870, there wore received from "news- paper posta<Te," $835,727.99, whi~, ad comp[1l'ed with the revenue estimated ad prop- erly cOllectible from that source during the year, shows a loss to the Government v.m.otmtingto$1,469,813.17, or one and tliree-quarter times as much as was collected. 

The tab1es of the last cellilus (pages 510:..513 Compendium) also show th.1t during the decade extending from 1850 to 1860 the circulation of newspapers, &c., increased 166 per cent., and during the ten years ending 1870, 45 per cent. Taking, 

for tho purpose of these Mtimates, only the last decennial incrense, applying it fu 

the three ye..1.rs which have elapsed since 87~, gives an inorea:>e of 13~ per cent. for 

that period, and shows the Department entitled to have rec6lved from n ewspaper- postage during the last fiscal year (1872-'73) the sum of $2,616,789.21, instead of 

which it only collected $1,072,998.19, the estima.ted loss footing up 1,543,791.0'2, or one and a hatf times as much as was collected. 

Regardingthebranchofyourinquirywhichasksfor"approximateestimatesoftbat 

kind.ofmatter (newspaper, &c.,) that passes through the mails, as compared with other 

matter," I have to say that it is impossible to furnish you with speCific data on this 

point. On the books of the Auditor of the Treasury for this Department the postoffice revenues are classified under the heads of "letter postage," "newspaper postage," "wMte paper and twine," "stamps sold," and "emoluments." By r eferring to the report of the Postmaster-General for the fiscal year ending .J nne 30, 1870, 

(page 164,) you will perceive that the gross revenue derived from lett-er postage-- i.e., postage on short-paid letters, collected at offices of delivery--amounted during 

that year to $413,751.70, and that the sales of stamps for the same period footed up 16,5 1,050.44-in all for both items, 16,994,802.14. Deducting from this amount a sum sufficient to cover that received for stamps used in prepayment of postage on transient newspapers. books, and miscellaneous matter of the third class, say ~.000,

000, there is left 14,994,802.14 as the revenue from postage on letters. This sum, at the rate of three cents p er half-ounce, represents 15,619,585 pounds of matter. The number of copies of daily newspapers issued during 1870 was, according to the table herein inserted, 806,479,570, and the number of all other publications 

702,068.680. The assumed basis of 10 per cent. of daily, and 60 per cent. of all 

other issues as pa sing through the mails gives 501,889,165 newspapers, &c., trans- mitted to regular subscribers in the mails during that year. These, weighing on an average one and a half ounces, each, represent 47,052,109 pounds. 

Allowing, in order to give the greatest bulk possible to sealed matter, that each 

hree cents of the $14,994,802.14 of r evenue estimated as derived from letter postage r epresent-s a letter, there appear to have been transmitted, during the fiscal year 1869-'70, 499,826,738letters, which, attherateof 70 cubic inchesforeach100 letters,* occupied 20-2,505 cubic feet of space, and would have completely filled more than 

140 freight cars, each 30 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 6 feet high. The 501,889,165 

newspapers, at the rate of 1,400 cubic inches for each 100 papers,* &c., occupied 4,066,231 cubic feet of space, and would have pa{}ked 2,824 cars. It will thus be seen that durina- that fiscal year it is estimated that 499,826,738 

letters, weighing 15,61!1,585 poun;{g, and filling over one hundred and forty cars, were estimated as pMsing through the mails; for which the Post-Office Department is 

supposed to have received 14,994,802.14, while 501,889,165 papers and periodicals 

transmitted through the mails to regular subscribers, weighing 47,052,109 pounds, 

and filling 2,824 cars, yielded a revenue of only 35,727 .99. 

In connection herewith it is proper, if possible, to refer to the records of foreign 

countries, especially Great Britain, in order to obtain a cl'iterion by which to judgo 

of our relative position as regards. the number of publications and their annual 

issues, as well as the collection of postage on such proportion as is distributed tc1 

subscribers through the mails. 

Although there are no official data by which exact results can be obtained, Hud- son, in hls History of .Journalism, (page 774,) estimates that in 1870 there wei\l 

published in Great Britain 1,456 newspapers ancl periodicals, whose total issue.• amounted to 350,000,000 copies. During the year 1871 there pa sed through th•) 

mails of ·the United Kingdom, accordin~ to the r eport of the British postmasteigeneral, 99,000,000 newspapers, from whteh the government received a-s posta.gu $990,000, (in our specie currency,) the rate on eacli paper being a half-penny. Thi:l 

is exclusive of the amount derived from packn.ges containing two or more papern . which are transmitted at book-postage r ates. If we take this return and compare it with our record for 1869-'70, the result will 

ap1Jarently be as follows: Great .Britain, with 1,456 newspapers, issued 350,000,000 

copies, of which 99,000,000 passed through the mails as newspapers, at the rat.e of a half-penny each, yielding a revenue of $!190,000. The United States, with 5,8'/0 papers a.nd periodicals, i:~sued 1,508,548,250 copies, of which501,889,165 are estimated to have passed through the mails, and, despite the fact that nearly half a cent was properly collectible on ea{}h, only received for the whole a revenue of $835,727.99, 

Or, to place it in another shape, the United States, with four times t.he num~er of 

publications, with four times the annual issues, and with over five times the num- ber estimated as passinz through the mails, collected less post..1.geonall thr. papers, &c., transmitted, than crreat.Britain did on only the single newspaper mnil circulation of that country. 

Of course, at the same rate of posta~e as is charged in this country, Great Britain 

would have collected only 454,410; out this sum multiplied five and seven hundredths times (the difference in the estimated m:til circulation of papers, &c., in. the two countries) will show roughly what should have been collected here. Could an approximateestimatebemadeofthenumberofnewspapersdailytransmittedthrough 

the British mails in packages, weighing from four ounces to fourteen pounds, the 

discrepancy would be still more marked, and the arguments against our present 

system of collecting newspaper postage made still more forcible. 

I am sir, very respectfully, · EDWARD W. BARBER, Third Assistant Postmaster-General. Hon . .J. G. CANNON, 

Oommittee on the Post-Ojfice and Post-Roads, 

House of Representatives. 

Mr. KASSON resumed the floor. 

Mr. WOOD. If the gentleman from Iowa [1tfr. KASSON] will yield, 

I will move that the House take a recess. Mr. KASSON. l yield for that purpose. 

ENROLLED BILLS SIGNED. 

1tfr. PENDLETON, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, reporte<i 

that the committee had examined and found truly enrolled bills of 

tho following titles; when the Speaker signed the same: An act (H. R. No. 482) to authorize the cancellation of an export bond 

for a portion of the distilled spirits of John S. Miller on board of 

bonded cars of the United States; 

An act (H. R. No. 1041) for the relief of Robert N. McMillan, late 

collector of customs and superintendent of lights for the district of 

Teche, in the State of Louisiana; and 

An act (H. R. No. 1940) ~iving the consent of Congress to the 1Ccept- ance by James McDonnell, a warrant officer in the United States 

Navy, of a present from the King of Italy. 

The question being taken on the motion of 1tfr. WOOD for a recess, it was agreed to; and accordingly (at four o'clock and thirty-five minutes p.m.) the House took a recess until half-past seven o'clockp. m. 

EVENING SESSION. 

The House reassembled at half-past seven o'clock p.m., Mr. G. F. 

HOAR in the chair as Speaker pro tentpm·e. 

REVISION OF THF. STATUTES. 

The SPEAKER p1·o tempm·e. The House meets this evening to re- sume the consideration of the bill reported from the Committee on Revision of the Laws of the United States. It is entitled "A. bill (H. 

R. No. 1215) to revise and consolidate the statutes of the United States 

in force on the 1st day of December, A.. D. 1 73." 

Mr. POLAND. Mr. Speaker, in the division of this work among the 

members of the Committee on Revision of the Laws, that portion of 

it relating to duties upon imports was assigned to my colleague on the committee, the gentleman from New York, [:~fr. DUELL.] After 

the committee was fairly at work upon the revision, the Departments 

charged with the administration of this portion of the law became 

for the first time interested; and, aware of the importance of having 

this revision thorough and correct, they desired to furnish such information as they could, which we were very glad to receive. But it was quite a late period before we were able to avail ourselves of any of 

their aid. Iu the mean time the gentleman from New York whoba.d 

charge of this portion of the work has been called away; and it has 

fallen upon me to examine it as a sub-committee. The time I have 

had has been very short, though I believe I have been tolerably diligent, and except for some :hld I have had, especially from one of the 

appraisers-general, :Mr. Blodgett-whose aid in this respect I desire 

*These statements of bulk are from measurements of packages ofletters and news- papers. 
1612 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 18, 

publicly to acknowledge as of value-! should not h ave made much 

progress. But I have been able to brin~ a considerable portion of the 

work before the committee, and have tneir sanction for what I shall 

present to-night. . The first amendment that I propose is the transfer of section 2494- a general provision in relation to all articles that are not enumerated. 

The committee decided that this section, instead of being at the head 

of the list, should be at the end. They therefore propose to amend by 

striking out the section on page 581, and inserting it at the end of 

the chapt.er, on page 628, following section 2511. 

The section referred to was as follows : 

SEC. 2494. There shall be levied, collected, and paid on the importation of all raw or unmanufactured articles not herein enumerated or provided for a. duty of 10 per cent. ad valorem; and on all articles manufactured in whole or in part, not herein 

ennmernted or provided for, a duty of 20 per cent. ad valorem. 

The SPEAKER pro tempm·e. There being no objection the amend- ment indicated will be made. 

Mr. POLAND. The next amendment I propose to offer is to section 

2499. 

The section was as follows: 

SEc. 2499. The eqnipments, or any part thereof, including boats, purchased for, or the expenses of repairs made in a foreign country upon, a vessel enrolled and 

licensed under the laws of the United States to engage in the foreign and coasting trade on the northern, northeastern, and northwestern frontiers of the United 

States, or a. vessel intended to be employed in such trade, shall, on the first arrival 

of such vessel in any port of the United States, be liable to entry and the pay- ment of an ad valorem duty of 50 per cent. on the cost thereof in such foreign 

country; and if the owner or owners or master of such vessel shall willfnlly and 

knowingly neglect or fail to report, make entry, and pay duties as herein required, such vessel, with her tackle, apparel, and furniture, shall be seized and forfeited. 

But the owner or master of a vessel enrolled and licensed, or intended to be enrolled 

and licensed,· to engage in the foreign and coasting trade on the northern, northeastern, and northwestern frontiers, shall furnish good and sufficient evidence that 

such vessel, while in the regular course of her voyage, was compelled, by stress of 

weather or other casualty, to put into a foreign port and purchase eqnipments, or make r epairs, to secure tne safety of the vessel to enable her to reach her port of 

destination, then it shall be competent for the Secretary of the Treasury to remit or refund duties thereon, and such vessel shall not be liable to forfeiture. 

1\Ir. POLAND. I move to amend by inserting after the word "but," 

at the beginning of the second sentence of the section, the word "if;" so as to read, "But if the owner or master," &c. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. I wish to offer a further amendment to the same section, which, I wm state, is taken from a statute found in the fourteenth volume of the Statutes at Large, page 184. I move to amend 

by adding what is in fact the residue of the section, which has been 

omitted from this revision. The additional clause is as follow~: 

.And no license, or enrollment and license, or renewal of either, sh::ill hereafter 

be issued to any such vessel until the collector to whom application is made for 

the same shall be satisfied from the oath of the owner or master that all such 

equipments and repairs made within the year immediately preceding such application have been duly accounted for under the proviaions of this section, and the 

duties accruing thereon duly paid; and if such owner or master shall refnse to take such oath, or take it falsely, the vessel sh..'lll be seized and forfeited. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. On page 583, under schedule A, the commissioners 

have embraced the provisions in relation to the duties upon cotton 

goods, being all taken from the tariff law, found in volume 13 of the 

Statutes at Large; but they have changed the order somewhat. I am not able to see why the provisions as prepared by them are not a substantial and a correct revision of the existing laws. But there is very 

great jealousy in relation to any change of phraseology in any part of 

the tariff; and the committee have therefore decided to recommend 

the striking out from line 40 to line 95, inclusive, and the in,sertion of 

the statute literally. I send the amendment to the Clerk. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Page 583, section 2500, strike out from line 40 to line 95, inclusive, and insert the 

following: , On all manufactures of cotton (except jeans, denims, drillings, bed-tickin!!S, ginu. hams, plaids, cottonadesJ pantaloon stu~ and goods of like description} not JJ'fea.che:i, 

colored, stained, paintea, or printed, and not exceedin~; one hundred threads to the 

squart- inch, counting the warp and :fillinrr, and exceeding in weight five ounces poc 

square yard, five cents per s9.n:tre yard; if bleached, five cents and a half per square yard; il colored, stained, pamted, or printed, five cents and a half per square yard; and in addition thereto ten per cent. ad valorem. On finer and lighter goods of like description, not exceedin"' two hundred threads to the sguare inch, counting the warp and filling, unbleached', five cents per square y:trd; if bleached, five and a half cents per square yard; if colored, stained, painted, or printed, five and a half cents per square yard, and in addition thereto, 20 per cent. ad valorem. On goods of like description exceeding two hundred threads to tl1e square inch, counting the WM'p and filling, unbleached, five cents per square 

yard ; if bleached five and a half cents per square yard ; if colored, stained, painted, or printed, five and a half centa per square yard; in addition thereto 20 per cent. ad 

valorem. On cotton jeans denims, drillings, bed-tickings, ginghams, plaids, cotton- ades, pantaloon stuffS, an(i goods of like description, or for siinilil.r use, if unbleached, 

and not exceedinu one hunared threads to the sqna.re inch, counting the warp a.nd 

fHlinu, and exce&ling five ounces to the square yard, six cents per square yard; if 

bleac'tecl, six cents a.n d a half per square yard ; if colored, stained, painted, or printed, 

six cents and a half per square yard, and in addition thereto 10 per cent. ad valm·e1n. On finer or lighter goods of like description, not exceeding two hundred threrul ~ to the square inch, countino- the warp and :filling, if unblea{)ned, six cents per square yard ; if bleached,_ six an 'a a. half cents per square yn.rd ; if colored, stained, painted, or printed, six ana a half centspersqua.reyard, amlin audition thereto 15 per cent. ad valorem. On goods of ~~hter description, exceeding two hundred tbJ:eads to the square inch, counting tne -warp and filling, if nnblen.ched, seven c~nts per square _yard ; if bleached, seven and a half cents per square yard ; if colored, stained, 

painted, or printed, seven and a. half cents per square yard, and in addition thereto 15 per cent. ad valore-m : Provided, That upon all plain woven cotton goods, not included in tho foregoin<T schedule, unbleached valued at over sil---tcen cents per squ&re yard, bleached va'Iued at over twenty cents per square yarll, colorell valued 

at over twenty-five cents per square yard, a.nd cotton jeans, denims, and drillings, unbleached, valued at over twenty cents per square yarcl, and all other cotton goods of every description, the value of which shall exceed twent.y-five cents per 

square yard, there shall be levied, collected, and paiu, a duty of 35 per cent. ad 

valorem : And provided further, That no cotton goods having more than two hundred 

threads to the square inch, counting the warp and fillin~. shall be admitteu to a less rate of duty than is provided for goods which are of that nnmller of threads. 

That is exactly the language of the statute, punctuation and aU. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. I move on page 584, after line 111, to insert as follows: 

Cotton cords, gimps, and galoons, and cotton lace colored, 35 percent. advaloren1. 

These are now in the tariff law of 1862, but in revising it these · articles were omitted by name. They would probably be included in 

the general words which are used, but the committee deemed it 

advisable, inasmuch as they went on to enumerate all of the articles, 

these also should be enumerated. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. I move on page 584, line 118, to strike out as follows : 

Thread lace and insertings, 30 per cent. ad valorem. 

The duty is not changed, but left the same. The revisers seemed to 

think, however, it should not be put here, because those who profess 

to know say '!thread lace and iusertings" instead of being cotton are linen. They aJ'e therefore transferred to the schedule ofllnens. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

1\Ir. POLAND. On page 585, line 138, I move to strike out these 

words: 

On white chalk and cliff stone, ten dollars per ton. 

They are on the free list. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

1\Ir. POLAND. In line 145, on page 585, the committee recommend 

that "mold" should be spelled with a "u;" so it will read : 

ad~l~=· and mould and press glass not cut, engraved, or painted, 35 per cent. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. I move on page 586, after the line 191, to insert as follows: 

Glass bottles or jars filled with articles not otherwise provided for, 30 per cent. ad valoren1. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. I ofi:er the following amendment: 

On page 586, at the end of line 192, insert the following: "Glass pebbles for spec tacles, not ronah ;"so it will read: 

Porcelain an'a Bohemian glass, glass crystals for watches, glass pebbles for spectt\· 

cles, not rough; paintings on glass or ~lasses, and all manufa.ctures of glas , or of 

which glass Shal be a component rna. terral, not otherwise provided for, and all glaM bottles or jars filled with sweetmeats or preserves, not otherwise provided for, 40 

per cent. ad valorem. 

The amendment was agreed to. . Mr. POLAND. I offer the following amendment: 

On page 586, in line 204, after the words ''sisal grass,'' insert ''andother veget..'lule 

substances not enumerated, used for cordage;" so it will read: 

Jute, sunn, sisal ~ass, aml other vegetable substances not enumomted, nsod for 

cordage, fifteen dollars per ton. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLA.l\TD. I offer the following amendment : 

On page 586 strike out lines 205 to 209, inclusive, as follows: 

Brown or bleached linens, brown hollanus, blay linens, coatings, damasks, and 

drills, or other manufactures of flax, jute, or h emp, being of the value of tbirt.v cents and under, per sq nare yard, 30 per cent. ad valorem; valued above thirty centd 

per square yard, 35 per cent. ad valoren1. · 

The amendment was agreed to. 

}.fr. POLAND. I offer the following amendment: 

On page 587, line 210, strilce out the word "cotton," and insert in lieu thereof the 

word "cot;" so it will read: . Brown and blea.ched linens, ducks, canvas, paddings, cot bottoms, dia.pors, crash, 

huckabacks, handkerchiefs,l:J.wns, or other manufactures of flax, jute, or hemp, &c. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. I offer the following amendment : 

On page 587, after line 230, insert as follow~; : Cotton cloth, not bagging, valqed at ten cents or less per square y:trd, three cents per pound; valued at over ten cents per square yard, four cents per pound. .And strike out lines 252, 253, and 254, as follows : Gunny cloth, valued at ten cents or less per square yard, three cents per pound; over ten cents per square yard, four cents per llound. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. My next amendment has reference to the para-graph 

from lines 231 to 234, inclusive. 

The paragraph was as follows : 

Bags, cotton bags, and baggin ~, and all other like manufactures, not herein otherwise provided for, (except baggmg for cotton,) composed wholly or in part of flax, 

hemp, jute, gunny cloth, gunny bags, or other material, 40 per cent. ad valore1n. 

1\fr. POLAND. I move to amend byinserting that paragraph after 

line 240 on the same page. 

The purpose of these various provisions in reference to gunny cloth 

and bagging of all sorts is that the committee thought it advisable 

to state them in the order of their enactment. These amendments are for that purpose. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

1\fr. POLA.l~. I offer the following amendment : 

On pa~e 589 strike out line 304 and part of line 305, as follows: 

All sp1rituons liquors .not otherwise enlUilerated, 100 per cent. ad valorem. 
1874. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1613 

All liquors not specifically provided for pay two dollars per gallon. 

Wo therefore strike out the clause just read. 

The amendment was a,greed to. 

Mr. POLAND. My next amendment is to the parn.gmph on page 

590, from line 345 to line 353, inclusive. 

The paragraph was as follows: 

Iron wire briuht, coppered, or tinned, drawn and finished, not more than one- fourth of~ inch in diameter, not less than No. 16 wire gauge, two dollars per one hundred pounds, and in. addition thereto 15 per centum ad valorem; over No. 16~ 

o.nd not over No. 25 Wire gauge, t.b.ree dollars and fifty cents J?er one hunW::ea 

pounds and in addition thereto 15 per cent. ad valorem. But Wire covered With 

cotton, 'silk, or other material shall pay five cents per pound in addition to the foregoing rates. 

}'!r. POLAND. I offer the following amendment: 

In line 351 after the words "15 per cent. ad valorem," insert the following: . Over or futer than No. 25 wire gauge, four dollars per hundred pounds, and m addition thereto 15 per cent. ad valorem. 

I would state, Mr. Speaker, that that provision is found in the tariff 

n.ct of 1861, except that the specific duty was two dollars per hundred 

pounds instead of four dollars. It was afterward, by a s1_1bsequent 

stn.tute raised to four dollars per hundred pounds. The reVJBers, having go~e over the tariff ~~ts s!-nce that time, le~ this provision ~ut, finding it was not contamed m the seveml tariff acts pn.ssed smce 1861. The proviaion, however, is still in full force, and the language 

of the amendment is copied from the act of 1861. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Will the gentleman from Vermont 

examine line 289 f Is not the word " on" there intended for " all ! " 

As it stands n.t present the sentence reads thus: 

Brandl' and on other spirits manufactured or distilled from grain or other mate- rials, and not otherwise provided for, two dollars per proof gallon. 

Mr. POLAND. I think it would be very well to insert a comma after the word "brandy;" but brandy does not profess, I believe, to be 

distilled from grain. Wo considered that subject in committee, and were sn.tis:fied that the language was right as it stood. 

Mr. ELDREDGE. What kind of brandy is it you are speaking off 

:Mr. POLAND. It is not explained in the book, and I have no further knowledge on that subject. [Laughter.] ~Ir. ELDREDGE. If it is the brandy of commerce, I would like to 

have the gentleman tell us what it is made of. 

Mr. POLAND. My next amendment comes in after the paragraph 

commencing on line 417, which is as follows: 

Anvils and iron cables, or cable chains, or parts thereof, two cents and a half per 

pound. 

I move to amend by adding to the paragraph the following: 

P-rovided, That no chains made of wire or rods of a diameter less than one-half of one inch shall be considered a chain cable. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. My next amendment comes in after the paragraph on page 592, commencing in line 477, as follows: 

Steel, in any form, not otherwise provided for, 30 per cent. ad valorem. 

I move to amend by adding to the paragraph the following: 

Provided, That no allowance or reduction of duties for partial loss or damage shall 

be hereafter ma.de in consequence of rust of iron or steel, or upon the manufactures 

of iron or steel, except on polished Russian sheet-iron. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. After the word "iron," in line 497, insert the words 

"and tin," so that it will rea<l "iron and tin plates galvanized or coated with any metal by electric batteries, two cents per pound." 

That is the counterpart of the preceding paragraph. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

1\fr. POLAND. In liuo 520, before the words "German silver," in- sert the words "argentine, albata, or," so that it will read "argentine, albata, or German silver, manufactured," &c. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. I move to strike out line 530, "metals, manufactures of," as unmeaning. 

'l'ho amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. In the paragraph including lines 531 to 535, put 

in brackets these words, "except gold, silver, platina, copper, and 

steel." 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. After line 564 insert "on paddy one and :t half cents p~r r1ound." That is rice prepared in a particular way, and we thought 

it better to have it come in here after rice, and take it out of the miscellaneous schedule. 

The amendment was agreed to. . Mr. POLAND. In line 601, commencing "tank-bottom sh!Up of 

sugar-cane juice," it should be "tank-bottoms, sirup," &c. 

Mr. ELDREDGE. What kind of sirup is that f 

Mr. POLAND. I do not know. 

Mr. ELDREDGE. That is a very good answer. 

Mr. POLAND. We are only to find out what is the law; we are not to judge of its quality. 

Mr. ELDREDGE. A very sensible man. Mr. POLAND. "Tank-bottoms" is not a kind of sirup·; it is an article by it.self. 

Mi·. ELDREDGE. How does the gentleman know that¥ He could 

not tell what kind of sirup this was, and now he undertakes to put a comma in there, without knowing what that means, I suppose. 

Mr. POLAND. I cn.n read from the statutes. 

1\Ir. ELDREDGE. What business has the gentleman to insert a comma there Y · . Mr. POLAND. 'Ve are trying to make this conform to the statutes. 

We can compare it without knowing much about sirups. 

Mr. ELDREDGE. I only wanted to know what this "tank-bottom" is. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. After line 663 insert the following: 

Timber, hewn or s..1.wed, timber used in building wharves, and spars, 20 per cent. ad valorem. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. I now move to strike out lines 680 and 681, which 

read "timber used in building wharves, 20 per cent. ad valorem." That 

is included in the amendnientjust adopted. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. After line 679 insertSt.wes for pipes, hogsheads, and other casks, 10 per cent. ad valorem. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

MJ;. POLAND. I move to amend by inserting before line 723, and as the first part of the paragraph commencing with line 723, the followIng: 

The duty upon wool of the first class, which shall be imported washed, shall be 

twice the amount of the duty tow hich it would be subjected if imported unwashed. 

That is a provision of the wool-tariff law, which by some accident or other was omitted. It is quoted from the statutes. 

The amendment was a~reed to. 

lli. POLAND. After line 762 insert the following: 

Sheep·skins and Angora. goat-skins, raw or unmanufactured, imported with the 

wool on, washed or unwashed, 30 per cent. ad valorem on the skins alone. 

The amendment wa,s agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. At the end of line 771, after the word "alpaca," 

insert a comma, so that it will read, "the hair of the alpaca, goat, or other like animal," &c. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. MYERS. As we are upon the subject of commn.s, I move to 

amend on pa<Te 619--

Mr. POLAND. ·Wait till we get to 619. 

Mr. MYERS. I thought you had passed that. :Mr. POLAND. 0, no; I am just coming to page 601. 

Mr. MYERS. It seemed to me that as the question was upon com- mas, it would be well for me to move my amendment now. b!r. POLAND. We may insert a great many commas before that. 

Mr. MYERS. · I wanted to strike one out. 

1\Ir. POLfi"'D. On page 601, after line 878, insert the following: 

Argols, other than crude, six cents per pound. 

Crude argols are on the free list. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

:Mr. POLAND. In line 900 strike out "black," and insert it after 

"ivory-drop;" so that it will read "bone or ivory-drop black, 25 

per cent. ad valorern." 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. Amend line 904 so that it will read, "Manufactures 

of bones, horn, ivory, or vegetable ivory, 35 per cent. ad valorem.." 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. Amend paragraph commencing line 791 so n.s to 

read: 

Slack coal, or culm, such as will pa.ss through a half-inch screen, forty cents per ton of twenty-eight bushels, eighty pounds t? the bushel; ~itnminons coal and 

shale, seventy-five cents per ton of twenty-eight bushels, eighty pounds to the 

bushel. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND._ Amend paragraphs 985 and 986 so as to read: 

Compositions of glass or pa.ste when set, 30 per cent. ad valorem; when not set, 

10 per cent. ad valorem. 

The amendment wa,s agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. Strike out, line 1002, which is intended to be on the 

free list, " crocus colcottra, 25 per cent. ad valorem." 

The amendment was agreed to. 

1\Ir. POLAND. In liue 1010 strike out the words "wool or worsted," 

and insert "linen or silk," so that it will read "embroidery-manufactures of cotton, wool, or silk," &c. In the same paragraph strike 

out the words "manufactures of linen or silk, 35 per cent. ad valorern." 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. On page 603, in line 962, I move to amend by inserting a comma a.fter the word "linen." 

The amendment was agreed to. 

1\ir. POLAND. I move further to amend by inserting after line 1049, 

on page 605, the wor(ls, "fire-crackers not otherwise provided for, 30 

per cent. acl t:alorem;" and on the same page, after line lOGO, insert 

"Frankfort black, 25 per cent. ad val.ot·em." 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The SPEAKER p1'o tempot·e. The Chair will call the attention of 

the gentleman from Vermont to line 1032. When the amendment was made in regard to copper, in line 507, the gentleman stated that eye- lets were on the free list. 
i.6lif CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 18, 

Mr. POLAND. I was mistaken in saying thattheywereon the free 

list. Thev are provided for in another place. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair thought the gentleman was 

mistaken. . Mr. POLAND. I move to amend by transferring the followmg 

words, in lines 1175 to 1178, page 608, inclusive, to page 610, after line 

W9: . But the term "statuary " as used in the laws now in force imposing duties ou foreign importations, shall be understood to include professional productions of a. statuary or of a sculptor only. 

The committee thought that these words ought not to be in the pn,ragraph about ''marble," bnt should be in another place. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Ur. POLAND. I move to amend by striking out line 1~7, which is 

as follows. 

Paddy one cent and~ per pound. 

The amendment w agreed to. . · Mr. PO LAND. I move to aiOOD.d by inserting on page 611, after line 

1320, the following: 

Provided, That any philosophical 3J>.P. and instrumen~, imported forth~ 

u o of any society incorporated for religwns p es, are subJect to a duty of lv per cent. ad valorem. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. On the same ·page, in line I the word "and" 

should be changed to "or," so that the clause will :1'61¥\" pla.ster of 

Paris when ground or calcined." 

The SPEAKER p1·o tempore. That amendment will be madeii there 

be no objection. 

l'tfr. POLAND. I move to amend by inserting a comma after 

word "lead," in line 1313. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

:Mr. POLAND. I move the following amendments: 

In line 1353 after the words "precious stones," insert ·'jewelry." In line 1355' strike out the word " in," before "imitation," and insert "on." In line 1376: insert after the words "provided for," the words "and rosin." 

The amendments were agreed to. . Mr. POLAND. I move to amend bv striking out line 1402, on page 

613 ancl insertino- the same on page 624, after line 427, in the free list. 

The line propo~ed to be transferred is in these words : 

Skins, fuied, salted, or pickled, 10 per cent. ad valorem. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

1\fr. POLAND. I move to amend by ine:erting after line 1440 these 

words: "twine or pack thread not otherwise provided for, 35 per 

cent. ad valorem j'' also by st~ing out lines 1457 and 14~8 o~ the same page and byinsertino- "vitnol" aftertheword "blue" rnline 1463. 

In' relation to thes~ lines, 1457 and 1458-" vegetable substances 

not enumerated, five dollars per to~ and 10 per cent. ad va.lonmt".-I • will say that in several of the tariff acts where hemp, JUte, .sisal 

gra s and various other articles of that character were made liable 

to d~ty the words "other veo-etable substances used for cordage" wm·e added. Finally, in one t~riff act the words " used for cordage" w-ere dropped out, while the words '' ot:J;ter vegetable substances" were retained. The revisers seemed to think the language must be 

continued in that form. The words have never been used, in any 

tariff act we can find, in any other connection than with hemp, jute, 

and sisal o-ras and generally in connection wit.h the words" use(l for 

conlao-e/"' Th~ committee did not believe that it was intended to 

include potatoes, turnips, &c. Therefore we recommend the striking 

out of the words. 

Tho amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. I move, on page 615, after lirie 7, in se<;~tion 2501, to 

insert these words: 

And all acids of every description used for chemical and manufacturing purposes, not otherwise provided for. 

The amendment was agreed to. _ . . . 1\fr. POLAND. I move, in the same section, rn line 5, near the top, 

to strike out the letter "e" and insert the letter "c," so it will read 

''succinic" instead of "suceinic." 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. I move on the same page, line 23, after the . word 

"exported," to strike on t the comma ; so it will read : 

American manufactures of casks, barrels, or carboys, and other vessels, and grn.in bags (the manufacture of the United States,) if exported containing American pro- duce' and declaration be made of intent to return the same empty, uncler such 

reguiations as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. I move on page 616, line 89, after the word" birds," 

to inert "singing and other; and land and water fowl.". · · They are the very words of the statute. It has been decided by some 

court that land and water fowl are not birds. vVe follow simply tho 

l..'lllguage of the statute. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

1\fr. POLAND. I move on page 618 to make a verba-l correction in 

line 163. The word which is printed "conian" should be "conium." 

The amendment was agreed to. 

:Mr. POLAND. I move on page 619, in line 206, to strike out the 

letter "s" from "fi·uits" and the comma after "plants;" so it will 

read: 

Fruit, pln.nts tropical and semi-tropical, for t.he purpose of propagation or cultivation. -

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. I move after the word "pieces" in line 214, page 

619, to insert "and old glass;" so it will read: 

Gla{;s broken in pieces and old glass which cannot be cut for use, and fit only to be remanufactured. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. I wish to say a word about the amendment which 

has been adopted. We propose to strike out the letter "s" from 

"fruits" and to strike out the comma after "plants" because they a.re not in Little & Brown's Statutes at Large. We propose to make it 

in the precise lan~nage and with the precise punctuation of the statute. 

1\fr. MYERS. .1\fr. Speaker, I move on page 619, in line 206, to 

strike out the comma after the word "fruit," as just amended by the 

gentleman from Vermont, and I desire to make a statement in this 

connection. 

Mr. Speaker, it will bo remembered the first meeting we had on this 

subject I called the attention of the House to the fact that by the insertion of a comma, which had no bu ine in the laws, we were losing 

half a million of revenue, and that already one hundred and fifty to 

two hundred and fifty thousand dollars harl been refunded to parties. By pla-cing a comma after the word" fruit" the Trea.sury Department, 

by some loo-ic and law not known to me or my reading, has been able 

to decide ttat fruit is on the free list. I wa.s answered that evening 

by the gentleman having charge of the bill1 as I nppo e I shall be 

this evening, they had to take the laws-Little & Brown's, I suppose-just as they were, comma for comma, colon for colon, and period 

for period, sense or no sense, I suppose, because in this instance that 

woulcl have to be the result. Now, I take it we are here not to alter 

the laws and not to allow any misspellin~ to make. them read ot.her- . e than they should. The section is ' fruit, plants,',. but the law on the subject must be taken with its context. On page 605 of the 

codification which we have here it will be foundFruits: onwges, lemons, pine-apples, and grapes, 20 per cent. ad valorem ; _limes, bananas, plantains, shadclocks, mangoes, 10 per cent. ad valorem; eon, r~p e, or dried, not otherwise provided for, 10 per cent. ad valorem ; preserved in theu· own juice and fruitjniQE\ 25 per cent. ad valorem. 

On page 612 wlll be found "raisins, two and a half cents per 

pound," and elsewhere other fruits are so much a p01md. If a comma is there and it reads that fruit is free, the pamgraphs are utterly 

contraalctory. These gentlemen who have labored so faithfully- never men more faithfully than they have-told me the o~her evening 

this comma would have to remain, because they find it in Little & 

Brown's edition of the Statutes. Now I beg to differ from thorn. 

Let me refer them to page 611. Thert> you will find thatPlants: Fruit, shade, lawn, and ornamental ~s, shrubs, plants, and flowerseeds, not otherwise provided forare 20 per cent. ad valorem. They might as well say, because a comma is put after the word "fruit," that fruit there is 20 per cent. ad -valorent. 

But on page 605 it will be found upon examination-it could not 

be found without that-that these gentlemen have undertaken to 

make an alteration, and very properly, because their duty has been performed most assiduously and faithfully. The paragr ph at the 

foot of that page is as follows: 

Fruit-s: Oran~es, lemons, pine-apples, anti grapes, 20 per cent. ad valm·em; limes, 

bananas, plantains, shaddocks, mangoes. 10 per cent. ad valorem. But no allow- ance shall be made for loss by decay on the voyage, unless tho lo shall exceed 25 per cent. of the quantity, and the allowance then ma~e shall be only for the ~mount 

of lo sin excess of 25 per cent. of the whole quantity. G~een, :r;1pe, or _ru:ed, not otherwise provided for, 10 per cent. ad valorem; preserved m therr own JUICe, and 

fruit juice, 25 per cent. ad valorem. 

That is not the way it read in the law originally. They have the 

rio-ht to put it that way because it does not alter the sense. Down 

to"'the word "quantity" it is according to the act of 1870. The clause 

"green ripe, or dried," &c., is under the act of 1861. The clause" preserved/' &c., is under the act of 1864. Now a semicolon follows the 

words" adval<Yrern;" and then they go on with another act. 

They have the right to do this, because it d?es not a~te~ the sense. They put semicolons frequently wheTe they d1d not ~~t m the law; 

and they insert colons frequently, and commas ad li.h~tum, to make sense. And yet they cannot strike out a comma to make sense and save the Government half a million dollars. 

I know that these gentlemen are not any more familiar 'vith the 

word which just precedes this one about which I am talking, but 

they have taken the liberty there, as they had the rig.ht to do, of 

spelling the word (t fossils" correctly. In the act which they are 

quoting, and the language of whic~ th~ysay they must_follow comma for comma "fruit" has a comma after It, and theyretrun that comma after it· b~t when thejfound the word "fossels" in that statute, they 

have altered the "e" into an "i." Whyf Because they had a right 

to make sense of it. And a little while ago the gentleman moved 

n.n amendment to change the word "mold" by putting a "u" into it. 

Mr. POLAND. That i8 in the statut-e. 

Mr. MYERS. Very well; I will leave that moldy word, but in ist 

that they have altered the statute in 1·eference to the word "fosseJs," so as to spell the word correctly as they had a right t.o do. And they 

had an equal right, where the thing is "fruit plants," not to leave jt 

"fruit." This decision has been made in the Treasury Department, 

and as I said under that decision $250,000 have been refunded, and 

hall a million' dollars ammally will be lost to the Government. The 

gentlemen say, and in good faith, that there is before the Committee 
1874. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1615 

un Ways and Means a bill which proposes to enact anew what was the law and which will strike out the comma.. But how do we know 

that that bill will passT That we cannot tell. We know what the 

law is . .And let me say, further, to the gentlemen of the committee that I 

have traced out the matter, and they will find over in the Senate 

committee that this whole sentence was ~erted in the Senate. It 

read" plants, tropical or semi-tropical." I believe the amendment was offered by Senator MORRILL, and ove.r it is written the word 

"fruit," with an insertion mark makingit":frnit plants." 

Now, this is "fruit plants," because the context shows it; because 

the whole bill shows it; beca11.8e there is in another part of the bill 

and in a number of parts of the bill an imposition of duty on fruits. .And why sha.ll we not here make this read correctly and have some sense and have some revenue to the Government which we are seek~ 

ing- so much, instead of blindly saying that because a comma was there we will adhere to itT Now this can be done or else this House 

is powerless. Mr. LA. WRENCE. Will tl1e gentleman allow me to ask him a question f 

:Mr. MYERS. I yield to the gentleman for a question, although I do 

not know that he should interrupt me. This is probably only the 

second or third time I have said anything on the subject. I repeat, 

and I do so earnestly, that I believe this can be done. 

Mr. LA. WRENCE. Does the gentleman insist that we can go back 

of the enrolled bill or act in the office of the Secretary of State T 

Mr. MYERS. I have already given the gentleman an Irishman's answer to that. I have shown J¥m that the committee have so gone 

back, and I could show it in a hundred instances. 

1\fr. ELDREDGE. If the gentleman from Pennsylvania will allow 

me, I would ask him if it has not been the constant effort of the ~entlemen who have had charge of this revision to make the law con- form to the decisions of the Department; whether their amendments 

have not tended to conform not only to the language of the law but 

to the decisions of the Government t 

Mr. MYERS. I think not. . Mr. ELDREDGE. I think I can show several instances where that 

is done. Mr. LAWRENCE. We have not varied the words of the statute 

for that purpose. · Mr. ELDREDGE. If the gentleman will look at what we have t pas ed in reference to "crude argols," he will find that they have con- { formed the duty to the decision of the Department. In the original : law it was "argols or crude tartar." They have left "crude tartar" 

out of the free list altogether, and put in "crude argols." That is 

the language here; and that change is made for the very reason or purpose, as I suppose, of conforming this codification to the decisions 

of the Department. .And that seems to have been the effort of the 

committee; not only to reconcile the statutes, but to conform the 

codification to the decisions of the Department. I so suggested to 

the gentlemen several times, and yet they insist ·that no amendment 

shall be made. They leave out whole chapters and whole sections, 

and in a few words attempt to give us what the law is, and yet they 

refuse other gentlemen here the opportunity of making a single amendment to make certain the law, which is.very uncertain. 

Mr. KELLEY. If my colleague [Mr. MYERS] will permit me, I 

would like to ask the gentleman from Wisconsin, [Mr. ELDREDGE,] 

whether there is any difference between "crude argols" and the other 

phra e he uses T 

Mr. ELDREDGE. I might answer the gentleman just as lucidly as the gentleman from Vermont [Mr. POLAND] answered me a little 

while ago, that I do not kp.ow . . I tis not material whether I know or not. The language of the original act was " argols and crude ta,rtar ;" 

that was in the free list. Now we have in the free list here only 

" crude argols." 

Mr. KELLEY. If "argols" means "crude tartar," and "crude tartar" means "argols," why should all three words be used T 

Mr. ELDREDGE. That is what I want to know. It is said that it was held by the Department that "crude tartar'~ was the same thing as "argols." Hence, they put in this revision "crude argols." In the 

statute "argols" was put in the free list with "crude tartar." Now, 

iu order to conform it to the decision of .the Department, they have 

put in this revision only "crude argols." 

Mr. POLAND. If the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. MYERS] 

will allow me to say a word about "argols" while he is loo~g up 

his comma-- Mr. MYERS. I do not need to look it ·up, for I have it all here. 

Mr. POLAND. The gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. ELDREDGE] is 

entirely mistaken in suppo ing that we are trying to back up any 

Department doctrine or decision in this case or. in any case. Now, 

upon this subject of "argols," I have not looked to see how it was in 

the earlier statutes. But in the very latest statutes it is "crude 

argols" in the free list. And it is quite evident from their use of this 

language that there is anoth-er description.of "argols" not covered 

by the description "crude:" And I learn that argols are scarcely ever imported in a cmde condition, but the article imported is on the 

way to make cream of t a rtar. We have therefore inserted h ere the 

words "argols not crude" a-s subject to duty. We ha,ve followed no decision ot the partment~ but we have endeavored t o embrace just 

what we find to be in the statute. 

Mr. ELDREDGE. Will the genileman from Vermont [Mr. POLA.t"'ID] 

refer me to the page and line where he has made" argols not.crude" 

subject to duty 1 

Mr. POLAND. No, sir. . . _ Mr. ELDREDGE. If he can, then he can do what I have not been 

able to do. 

Mr.POLAND. Thelawsaystn.a.t'r-crndeargols"'maycomein:free;- we say that the law remains that ''argols not crude" are subject to 

duty. . Mr. ELDREDGE. Will the gentleman give me the page where 

"argols" are subjected todutyf 

Mr. POLAND. Certainly. Mr. ELDREDGE. That is what I would like to know . Mr. E . R. HOAR. It was inserted as an amendment, on page 601, 

after line 878. 

Mr. ELDREDGE. I think the gentleman is mistaken. 

ltlr. MYERS. I do not believe that the committee are trying to 

make the law acnord with any decision of the Department. They 

have been trying very faithfully to do their duty. But they must 

not object when gentlemen come here and point out to them a Illil;-

take and show them out of their own mouths that they are mistaken ; 

they must not object to that, but be willing to let the House do as they please. The gentleman from Ohio [1\Ir. LAWREL~CE] has asked me to point out where there had been any alteration of the enrolled 

bill, and I will give him one. Ex uno disce omnes. He likes quotations, 

and I give him a IJlll.Xim, though I believe I have never made a Latin 

quotation on this floor before. ·Mr. HA.LE, of New York. Which means "a bird in the hand is 

worth two iu the bush." [Laughter.] 

Mr. 1\ifYERS. Yes. Now on page 611 of this revision, the paragraph 

from lines 1331 to 1334, inclusive, is as follows: 

Plants: Fruit, shade, lawn, and ornamental trees, shrubs, plants, and flowerseeds, not otherwise provided for ; garden seeds, and all other seeds for agricul- tural and horticultural pu..--poses, not otherwise provided for, 20 per centum ad vu-lorem. 

How does it read in the enrolled bill, or in Little & Brown f It 

reads : "On fruit, shade, lawn, and ornamental trees," &c. The" on" 

is entirely omitted in this revision, which gives "plants" as a heading, and then "fruit, shade, lawn, and ornamental trees," &c. The 

word "on" is left out, the commas are put in; and, as I have shown 

in another case- 1\lr. LA. WRENCE. The sense is exa-ctly the same. ~ 

Mr. MYERS. Of course, and I want the sense to be exactly the same. The gentleman asks me where they have altered the existing 

law Y I say to him that they have done so in five hundred pia-ces in 

or!ler to conform to the sense. I have shown just now a case where 

three laws have been incorporated into one, and where a semicolon 

4ad been put in place of a period. It did not alter the sense. It was right to make the change. I am not quarreling with the com:. mittee. Mr. POLAND. Does the gentleman want the committee to alter 

the lawT · 

Mr. MYERS. No, sir ; I claim that you have done your duty well; th t you have spent upon this work a great deal of time and labor, 

for which perhaps the country will never sufficiently thank you; but 

I claim that you are not.perfection, and that as you have made alterations in certain places in order to convey the sense of the laws, we have a right to make an alteration here with the same view. I invite 

any member of the committee reporting this bill, especially the gentleman from Vermont1 to say whether the sense of this provision was that fruit plants or fruit was to be free. Before the gentleman answers that question, however, I see that my amiable friend from New York 

[Mr. IlALE] wants to propound an inquiry to me; and I am ready to 

hear him. · 

~Ir. HALE, of New York. The gentleman from P ennsylvania [Mr. MYERS] is citing particular instances in which hesaysthecommittee 

have altered the,.language without altering the meaning. Now, I a k 

him whether he thinks that the alteration he proposes will or will not 

change the meaning · 

Mr. MYERS. I think that ·the amendment which I propose, con- forming as 'it does to what·was written in tho law and what wa passed by Congress, will not alterthe meaning. 

1\fr. HALE, of New York. Does my friend mean that it does not 

alter the meaning of the ·provision in the statute, or that it does not 

alter the meaning of the enrolled billY I understand the gentleman 

to be arguing that his amendment is an alteration, and that the provision onght to be altered, because the law intended something else. 

Mr. MYERS. I will answer the gentleman. Perhaps I cannot ex- plain myself as lucidly as my. friend from New York; but I suppo ed 

that every gentleman on this floor understood my proposition. I 

undertake to say that if there had been no decision in the Treasury 

Department making a question upon the meaning of this paragraph, 

deciding that fi:uit came in free, although a numbe1· of previou.S paragraphs provided that various kinds of fruits should pay duty, there 

would have been no objectioJ;l whatever in ·this House to striking out 

the comma, which was inserted by mistake, and making the language r ead "fruit plants." 

Mr. LAWRENCE. How do you understand that? 

1\Ir. IYERS. Does not my friend understand me 1 Have I not 

ma-de myself clear T 

.. 
1616 CONGRESSIONAL REC.ORD. FEBRUARY 18, 

Mr. LA. WRENCE. Perfectly clear. 

Mr. MYERS. Then just as the gentleman has left out the word 

" on," just as he has inserted semicolons, just as he has come to his 

rounded periods whenever he wanted to, so I affirm (and I point to 

the instances) the committee have left out words that are to be found 

in Little & Browns publication of the laws. 

Mr. LAWRENCE. We have not altered the law. 

Mr. MYERS. Nor does this alter the law. 

Mr. LAWRENCE. Does it not alter the law from what it wa-s in 

the enrolled bill T 

Mr. MYERS. Let me say in this connection that I am earnest in 

this matter; I believe these gentlemen of the committee are earnest; 

but I have not yet been answered sufficiently. I agree with them 

that leaving the comma in does not make the sense diffe.rent; that 

with the comma in the provision means fruit plants, because it could mean nothing else. That being the meaning, and as leaving the comma out would make it no worse and no better, I propose to have 

the language as the context shows was the intention of Congress in 

passin9, the law, so that we shall not have any more such decisions 

in the l'reasury Department. The decision may have been made-no 

doubt it wa-s made-with perfect honesty; but we ought to know the meaning of the laws we pass; and inasmuch as the gentlemen of the 

committee have done what they pleased with grammar and punctuation in order to make the language conform to the sense, I propose to 

strike out this comma, so as to make this provision conform more perfectly to the sense; which we have a right to do, unless I have 

read the law to very little purpose. I would like some answer upon 

this point before we pass from it, and I wish also a vote upon the 

que tion. 

.Mr. POLAND. I do not propose to enter into a very long debate 

with my friend from Pennsylvania, [Mr. MYERS.] It is undoubtedly 

true, as he says, that these revisers of the statutes have changed the 

phraseology of the laws to a great extent; they have left out a great many words that they deemed unnecessary and unmeaning; they 

have endeavored to improve the phraseology; and where they wanted 

to extract what was the existing law from a largenumberof statutes 

they have taken from all of them what seemed to be in force, and 

have cast a new form of statute, embracing the substance of the 

existing law. Hence, in reference to the motion of my friend from 

Pennsylvania to strike out this comma, I have no complaint to make 

that it proposes to go beyond what tho jurisdiction of the revisers or the committee in going over this work would authorize. But I 

understand that the gentleman himself is entirely content that the 

purpo e of this revision should be what it proposes to be- a codification of the laws a-s they existed at the commencement of the present session of Congress. What he proposes, he says, is not any alteration 

of t he law. Now, Mr. Speaker, that brings us to the very point. Does 

everybody agree to thatY The gentleman himself says that a high 

officer of the Government has decided that the law is directly con- trary to what the gentleman himself claims, and that decision has 

been made, he says, at the expense of a million or two of dollars to 

the Government. Now, the question as to the true construction of this law, whether 

it puts fruit on the free list or leaves fruit subject to duty, is a question in which a great many people of this country are interested. The 

ri~~ts of numbers of persons depend on the decision of the question. rur. MYERS. I defended the gentleman-he needs, however, no · ilefen e from me-but I defended him against the intimation of the 

gentleman from Wisconsin, [1\I.r. ELD:REDGE,] which was that these 

gentlemen were conforming their codification of the statutes here to 

the decisions in the Department. Now, it would appear as if that was being done in this instance. · 

l\I.r. POLAND. 0, not 

Mr. :MYERS. I wish to ask one question : Does this read "fruit 

plants" in his opinion f We are entitled to his mature judgment. 

Does it read ''fruit plants" or "fruit f" Which should be upon the 

free list Y ; 

1\fr. POLAND. I do not suppose it makes any sort of difference 

what my opinion is. . Mr. MYERS. Yes, it does, a great deal. 

Mr. POLAND. Perhaps I might agree with my ·friend from Pennsylvania, whether "f!he comma is there or is not there, it does not make 

any sort of difference in the law; but it is a question touching the 

rights of men in relation to this, as they claim the construction of the 

law depends on whether that comma remains there or not . .'Therefore 

while this is an important question, we deem it enough for om purpose and the fulfillment of our duty. where this was not a number of 

statutes to be brought to~ether and· out of them to extract what is 

the essence and spirit ana. meaning of the law. But here is a single 

line in the statute about which there is a difference as to its legal 

construction and meaning, and whether it is to be construed as making "fruits" free, or whether it is to be construed as making only 

"fruit plants" free, is a question which may vary the rights of a great 

many men. We do not feel at liberty to change it while we are not 

legislating at all, while we are merely undertaking to bring forward just what are the existing statutes. And all then~ is of this is 

one single line. If we leave it on the statute-book just where we :find it, with the precise words and in their precise order and with 

their precllie punctuation as they stand on the statutes, we think we have exactly·fulfilleu our <.luty to the House and the country. 

Mr. 1\IYERS. Is the word "fruits" in the lawT 

Mr. POLAND. No. 1\Ir. MYERS. That has been a long answer, and I do not know what 

is the §entleman's opinion, whether he means "fruit plants" or "fruits. ' We h ave a right to his opinion, even if the Treasury Department has decided. 

1\Ir. POLAND. I thought I answered. It is a matter of no account 

which way I think it is. 

Mr. ELDREDGE. Will the gentleman allow me to make a suggestion f . Mr. POLAND. Certainly. 

1\Ir. ELDREDGE. I am astonished at the gentleman's remark, I 

confess, but it is not the first time I have been astonished. I have 

been astonished at the amount of labor the fuentleman has done, and 

the amount of industry he has exhibited. commend him for that. 

The gentleman says it is a matter of no sort of account what his 

opinion is on this subject. I think the gentleman certainly ought 

not to be so understood. All of the gentlemen of the committee have 

told us they were boiling down into one volume sixteen or seventeen volumes of statutes, and in doing that they have to extract what they 

believe the law to be in any given and in every given ca e. Now, 

then, the gentleman tells us here is a statute which he tells us it is 

of no earthly consequence what his opinions are on it. Yet he is ex- tractingthe law and putting sixteen volumes intoone,givingus the gist 

of it, and making it clear and unmistakable. Nevertheless he t ells us he has no opinion on it he is willinO' to give the House. In answer to the gentleman from Pennsylvania he coolly tells us it is no sort of 

consequence what his opinion is on a given statute. 1\fr. MYERS. I will read the language which is so much talked 

about: "Fruit, plants, tropical and semi-tropical, for the purpose 

of propagation or cultivation." Should that read "fruits" to make 

sense 

1\Ir. POLAND. I do not t>uppose we should contract the statutes or we could get them into less space by striking out this comma. [Laughter.] So far as brevity is concerned, we would not accom- plish much by striking out this comma. 11r. ELDREDGE. I ask in all candor whether it is not of some sort of consequence whether the comma should be out or in 'I Whether the law would be clearly expre sed with the comma in, or whether it 

would be more clearly expressed with the comma out 'I 

Mr. O'NEILL. I would suggest to the gentleman from Wi.sconsin 

that at la-st "ye shall know them by their fruits." ~fr. ELDREDGE. I do not understand the gentleman from Pennsylvania. 

Mr. POLAND. It is from the Bible ; you will not understand tha,t. 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. HALE, of New York. Will the gentleman from Vermont yield 

to me for a few moments 'I 

1\Ir. POLAJ\TD. Certainly. 

l\fr. HALE, of New York. The gentleman from Pennsylvania [~1r. 

MYERS] insists that the proper construction of this statute requires 

the striking out of the comma, because he sa.ys it is inconsistent with 

the other provisions. He states that it is inconsistent with the other 

portions of the statute which provide for a duty on fruits; and on that 

the gentleman from Pennsylvania ba-sed his argument that this could 

not have been intended as a separate word, "fruit," with a comma 

following it. ' 

Now, I call the gentleman's attention to the fact that the paragraph, 

the provisions of which he referred to, laying the duties upon fruits-

" oranges, lemons, pine-apples, bananas," &c.-is not a part of the same statute by which this free list was created, but belongs to a statute 

passed some two years previously. The statute of 1870 placed a tax 

on certain frui~s-oranges, lemons, pine-apples, &c.-and is found in 

volume 16 of Little & Brown's Statutes, on page 265. The statute of 

1872 contained the words which are in question here, placing on the 

free list "fruit, plants, tropical and semi-tropical, for the purpose of 

propagation or cultivation." · 1\Ir. MYERS. I understand the gentleman's point, and to relieve 

his anxiety I will state-- Mr. HALE, of New York. Allow me a single moment. Mr. MYERS. And I will answer that fully. 1\fr. HALE of New York. Now, then, I th:inkwecomeright to the 

meaning of tbe Treasury decision and to the very gist of the question, 

whether we are here to change the law by undertaking to strike out 

the comma. The decision of the Treasury Department was that this 

word "fruit" included in the free list, as I understand this decision, was a word standing by itself and constituting fruit an item upon the 

free list. That being so, they held, and they must have held of ne- cessity, that it repealed the provisions of the act of 1870, which laid 

a tax upon oranges, lemons, pine-apples, grapes, &c. And there 

precisely was the ground on which the Treasury was justified in so 

doin~, if the statute rea-d as it apperu.'S on the face of it to have read, 

"frmt" constituting an item by itself, while "plants" designed for 

propagation1 &c., constitute another item upon the free list. Now in this r-evision-and the matter it seems to me is an important 

one-the committee have retained in their report, and give us on 

page 605, the provisions of the act of 1870 taxing oranges, lemons, 

pine-apples, &c. There it seems to me they are wrong. If the con- struction of the Treasury Department was right, that clause was repealed by the act of 1872 placing fruit upon the free list. There-
1874. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1617 

fore I think the committee, if they retained "fruit" with the comma here, should have struck out the paragraph on page 605, beginning 

wit h line 1054; because, occurring in the same statute, they are inconsistent with each other. 

Mr. MYERS. Now, Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman from New York 

[Mr. HALE] has finished, I will proceed to answer the point he has 

attempted to make. . Mr. LAWRENCE. Before the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. 

MYERS] proceeds, will he allow me t.o ask him a question' 

Mr. MYERS. Let me answer one at a time. The SPEAKER p1·o te;npore. The gentleman from Vermont [Mr. 

POLA.l\TD 1 has the floor. He will state to whom he yields. Mr. POLAND. I think it is now the turn of my colleague, the gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. LAWRENCE,] and I yield to him. Mr. LAWRENCE. I wish to ask the gentleman from Pennsylvania a question. His amendment, as I understand, is to strike out a certain comma between "fruit" and "plants/' His object is to make 

the sentence read "fruit plants," as though "fruit" and "plants" were parts of one word. Now, I ask him if be accomplishes his object by striki~ out the comma, wi~hout inserting a hyphen between the wordsT He is a learned gentleman--

1\Ir. l\IYERS. · Not at all. The learning of the House is almo t 

centered in the committee. 

l\Ir. LAWRENCE. The gentleman has translated books from foreign languages, from languages other than our own, and I therefore 

appeal to him as a learned gentleman. 

1\ir. 1\IYERS. We are now discussing the construction of the English language, in which my friend from Ohio ought to be well versed. 

To tho gentleman from New York [:Mr. HALE,] I will say, though not 

at all disrespectfully, that his argument is not worth a fig. In the same act where "fruit, plants, tropical and semi-tropical," are inserted-in the same act, not another- we haYe "figs, two and a half 

cents per pound;" "raisins, two and a half cents per pound;" "dates 

and prunes, one cent per pound;" "curr3J:!.ts, Zante or other, one cent 

per pound.'' 

Mr. HALE, of New York. Are dates, prunes, &c., fruits 'i 

l\lr. 1\IYERS. I think they are fruits, and n. duty is imposed upon 

them. Yet the insertion of this comma would allow certain gent le- men still to read that fruit is on tho free list. The gentleman sought 

out a paragraph belonging to another act, n.nd founded his argument 

upon that. I suppose he intende<l t.o do what was right; but he did not 

know that I would find in the very same act something that woul<l 

destroy his argument. I refer the gentleman to a section which 

establishes the fact that duties are imposed on fruits of various kinds, 

which is not consistent with fruit being on the free list. 

Mr. HALE, of New York. As I understand, the Tr ury Department uo uot hold that currants, dates, &c., come in uuuer the h ead of 

fruit ; but that the green fruits on which unties we:;:e imposed by the 

act of 1870 do come under that de ignation. 

l\'Ir. l\fYERS. I will say that these answers continually bring us to a fact, which I did not before suppose to be a fact,-that the gentle- men who reported this code are led away by the decisions of the 

Treasury Department. 

1\fr. LAWRENCE. O, no. 1\Ir. l\IYERS. They refer to them constantly. 

Mr. POLAND. I referred to them merely to show that there was a controversy as to the meaning of this paragraph, and that we did not 

understand it to be our business to decide as to the meaning of a statute that was in controversy and upon which the rights of parties were depending. 

l\fr. MYERS. I still come back to the pointMr. POLAND. You charge us with-- Mr. MYERS. I charge you with nothing, only of laboring too much, 

and of giving us but little credit when we try to labor with you in 

:what we deem to be the right direction. I asked a question, to which 

I failed to get an answer, of tho very learned, able, and distinguished 

gentleman and lawyer who reported this code, [1\Ir. POLAN'v,] whether 

he thouuht this meant "fruit plants" or not. He eva{}ed the question, and very properly, perhaps, because he cannot give any answer but tho one I had indicated. I read the sentence "fruit plants, tropical and semi-tropical "- what for 'I "For purposes of propagation or cultivation." Now if it means that fruit should be on the free list, 

then will it mean that fruit is imported for propagation or cultivation? Sir, that is not the men.ning of the statute. T~ese gentlemen, in gathering up these various statutes, putting 

in and leaving out commas and colons here and t here, endeavor to 

get at the meaning of the law. But it shows itself on this floor that 

there is a fear that they shall offend some high officer of the Govern- ment who has decided otherwise. Instead of being a law unto our- selves, instead of saying manfully and rightfully what we believe 

the Jaw to be, we put what seems to be sense in some sections and nonsense in others. 

l\Ir. LAWRENCE. What about the hyphen 'I 

1\Ir. MYERS. The gentleman wants to know, if a comma is struck 

out, whether I will not have to put in a hyphen. Not at all, though 

there would be no objection to it. 

l\fr. FIELD. I would suggest to the gentleman from Pennsylva.nia 

[Mr. MYERS] that he modify his amendment so as to strike tho letter 

"s" out of "fruits," and to insert a hyphen between "fruit" and 

"plants." 

102 

~lr. 1\IYERS. The lett.er "s" should also be struck out. The gentlemen put in an ''s," thinking it meant fruits, and they found by 

looking at Little & Brown that the "s" was not there. 

Mr. POLAND. We did not put it in there. 

Mr. MYERS. It was in the print; I saw it there. 

Mr. POLAND. \Ve did not make the print. 

l\Ir. l\fYERS. Very well; I apologize on the "s" question. 

Mr. FIELD. I think a hyphen would improve the meaning very 

much. 

l\fr. IYERS. I would have no objection at all, except that it is 

very plain as it is. We are inserting nothing at· all. It would read 

as intended, as I read it, "fruit plants.'' 

I will now yield to the gentleman from 1\fassachusetts, [Mr. E. R. 

HOAR.] 

Mr. E. R. HOAR. I think I can answer the question which the 

gentleman from Pennsylvania [l\fr. MYERS] _asked. I will premise, so that he will listen with more candor to my explanation, that the 

conclusion I have come to agrees with his own. 1\fr. MYERS. I always listen carefully to the gentleman. 

1\Ir. E . R. HOAR. I say that I have not been aware that the com- mittee had in any case endeavored to change their views of the law, or the letter of the law, to correspond to any decision of the Department. We have in several cases, in one or two of which I had the 

honor to explain to the House on previous evenings, where the law was ambiguous, where, on the reading of the words, it was equally 

susceptible of either construction, and where there has been a uniform usage and practice of the Government under the law, commenc- ing from the time it passed, and continuing a series of years-we 

have considered that the rule of contemporaneous construction was sufficient to justify us in making the language of the law clear and 

explicit in conformity thereto. I believe that is the rule adopted 

always in the construction of laws by the courts. We have done it 

to tllat extent only. · Now I concur with my friend from Pennsylvania, that it is neces- sary for the chairman of om· committee to have an opinion upon the 

meaning of this statute. There was once a judge in my State who 

had two young men before him to be examined for admission to the 

bar. After the examination was over, he came into court and said 

that h e had examined those two young men, had asked them about a hundre<l questions each, and only one out of the whole fot had been 

answered correctly; that is, he asked one of them what an escrow meant, and he said he did not know. [Laughter.] 

Mr. POLAND. What State did they come fTOm t [Laughter.] 

1\lr. E. R. HOAR. That is a point I never inquired about. The reason that I think this House, and perhaps therefore the Committee on Revision, should have a conclusion upon the meaning of this 

statute is this : In a former a{lt "fruits" were incluued, with an enu- meration of various kinds, such as "oranges, ban.:'l.nas, pine-apples, 

lemons, grapes," &c. That was taken from a former statute, which 

imposecl tho e duties, and the committee have reported it h ere without alteration. Now, it i obvious that if the meaning of this phra.se- ology is that fruits are made free, we should. uot leave in this revision 

those other-provisions to be re-enacted. We should report that they 

be stricken out; because the very object of this revision was that 

where there were upon the statute-book two laws apparently contradictory, it should be determined which was the existing law, and that 

the one found not to be in force should not be included in the revision. It would seem to follow that if the Treasury construction of this provision is correct, there is no law in force uch as is found on page 605; 

and if that construction is incorrect, then the _language of the statute, 

which n,llows the laws in regard to fruit on page 605 to stand, should 

be made so explicit and clear (although we may change the phraseology) as to give t.he meaning of this second provision. I am afraid., therefore, that the committee, as a part of their duty, will be obliged 

to determine what the meaning of this provision is, whether cor- responding with the construction of the Treasury Department or not. 

Now as to the reasons why the Treasury Department would say 

dried fruits were not covered by this. In the same statute in which is 

found this critical provision that we are dis ecting in regard to fruit 

plants, there are found specific duties on dates, prunes, figs, and other 

dried fruits. But it is also true that in the former statute, which con- tained the general provision found on page 605, giving the enumera- tion of the e fresh fruit -oranges, lemons, and pine-apples-gentle- men will find, in line 1005, datos and prunes, and in line 1044, :figs. 

Therefore, dried fruits were distinguishe<ffromfruits just as much in 

the previous statute as they would be in this. If the statute we are considering had, without saying anything about tropical plant., provided that fruits shoul1l be on the free list, it would, of com e, be 

consistent with having dates, prunes, &c., subjected to specific duties 

iu the same statute, just as in the former statuto fruits were embraced 

under one provision and dried fruits under au other. 

l\Ir. HALE, o'f New York. Let me call the attention of the gentle- man fTom l\Iassachusett.s to the fact that he is in error in supposing 

that the word "fruits," which appears in the report of the committee on page 605, is found in the statute of 1870. It is not found there. The duty is only on orn.nges, bananas, &c., not enumerated as fruits. 

The word "fruits" is placed as a heading. 

l\1r. E. R. HOAR. The gentleman from New York is correct on that 

point; but fresh fruits arc enumerated in a separate clause from dried 

fruits. 
1618 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 18, 

Mr. :MYERS. The answer which has been made is perfectly satis- factory; and I woultl not quibble about dried fruits. I onl.v illnstmtecl· that they .wero in the samo act. It does not ma.tter which act 

they a.re in; we are enacting n. codo. But still the gentleman from 

Massachusetts, [1\fr. E. R. HoAR,] agreeing with me in my first proposition, and agreein~ that the committee should answer and should do one thing or the otncr- either strike out the previous section or do as I propo e, make the langua.ge read at all events (with or without the 

hyphen) "fruit plants." I call his attention fnrther to the fact that, 

though deciding against his colleague on the committee, he has not 

himself yet expressed an opinion as to what should be done. There- fore I ask him whether the language "fruit, plants, tropical and semitropical, for the purpose of propagation or cultivation," .can in his 

judgment mean fruit 

Mr. E . R. HOAR. Ihaveno hesitation in answeringthatinmyopin- ion it very clearly never was intencled to make fresh fruits free; and 

that the construction adopted by the Treasury Department should 

have been different. Mr. MYERS. And the words "for propagation" serve to illustrate 

the meaning Y 

Mr. E. R. HOAR. I think that whatever will make the meaning 

clear- whether by the use of the words "fruit plants for propagation or cultivation," or the use of a hyphen, or by the ch:111ge of tho letter "s"- should be adopted by the House. This is the coUTse which as an inclividual I should favor. Though members of the committee are not obliged to express their inclividual opinions, I think the House 

must decide as to what the statute should contain. 

1\fr. l\fYERS. Imovetostrike out the comma after the word "fruit," 

and to insert a hyphen. The SPEAKER pro tmnpore. The gentleman from Pennsylvania., as the Chair understands, modifies his previous motion so as to strike out the comma and connect the two words by a hyphen, making the 

language Tead "fruit-plants.~: 

1\Ir. SAYLER, of Ohio. I submit that the hyphen ought not to be 

inserted. l\fr. MYERS. I am not tenacious about that. 

1\fr. SAYLER, of Ohio. The word "fruit" is used as an adjective as well as a noun. \Ve talk of "fruit trees," &c.; and in this very 

schedule the word is used as au adjective. 1\fr. E. R. HOAR. 1\ir. Speaker, I wish to say, before I sit down, 

that in what I said in answer to the gentleman from Penn ylvauia 

I was not speaking for the committee, as I had no authority to peak 

for the committee, but I was simply giving, in answer to his inter- rogatory, my own individual opinion. 

Mr. POLAND. After what has been said, l\fr. Speaker, I wish to 

say a word more, not, however, to prolong this diseus ion. n is quite 

clear to the committee, having examined this work, haying recom- mended no change in relation to that provision taxing fruits by name or by description, if they tmderstood this line put fruits on the free 

list, they would have changed one or the other. It would not require a very l'emarkably wise man to determine what the opinion of the 

committee must have been as to the legal meaning of this section. 

But the view the committee took of it as to their duty ,what they 

ought to do : we do not suppose, where here is a single statute, 

although it may be doubtful in its meaning-people might differ as to what its true construction was; there may he litigation pending; 

the rights of parties depend on it; where it should be ; we did not 

understand- at least I did not understand- it came within the pur- view of this committee to solve all doubtful questions of law. If 

here are ha1f a dozen statutes, and the statutes have been amended 

in various particulars, of course, in order to condense, in order to r e- duce them, the duty of the reviser the duty of the committee, in 

looking over the work, is semi-judicial. But here was a single line 

in a very recent statute upon which there was a dispute as to the meaning, and the rights of parties depended on it; and though apparent enough to the committee what the opinion must be as to the meaning a:r;td the right ~onstruction of it by any sensible Department, or any sensible man at tne head of the Department, they did not deem 

it to be their duty to change that single line of the law at all, but to 

let it stand just as they found it in the statute. And I for one did 

not deem it my duty to undertake to pass judgment anu change that 

law so as to make the meaning of it clear in ono direction or the 

other. 

Mr. ELDREDGE. Will the gentleman tell us why he gave the answer that it was entirely immaterial and of no sort of consequence 

what his opinion of it was Y 

l\1r. POLA.i~D. That is my view at this very moment. [Laughter.] 

Mr. El,.DREDGE, '!'he gentleman tells us he thinks no man could 

have had any doubt; as to whq,t t4o opinion of the committee was of 

that lan!!llage. 

Ml'. PBL.AND. That was their good nc~. [Laughter:] 

Mr. ELDREDGE. I submit to the gentleman ho ie exceedingly 

mo<lest., and giving more credit to the gentleman who had an opinion 

?f tho meaning of this language than to himself. He saiq, ho'fever, 

1t was of no sort of consequence what his opinion was. 1\!r. POLAND. I say if the committee understood this statqt~ to 

bear tb.o meaning they say some people give to it, it is very clear they 

could not have loft another statute which they had compiled and. left 

m force which they said would be in conflict with that construction. Mr. ELDREDGE. I really supposell the gentleman from Vermont 

intended we should understand that answer he gave to me, that he did 

not know, shonld apply to this. 1\ir. POLAND. Not that I did not know, but it was nobody's busi- ness what I did know. [Laughter.] 

Mr. CASON. l\1r. Speaker, I wish only to say one word on tb.is 

question, and I will occupy only for a moment the attention of the 

House. I do not uuderst:aml, when the chairman of the committee 

says it is not any business of the House what Iris opinion is as to the 

construction of this law, he means by that to say it is not the busi- ness of the House to know what his opinion is in relation to the statute. I understand him to mean thls, that when you come to give a construction to tho statute and make it plain, one way or the other, 

that is a construction which a court would have to give it, that is a construction from the language of t.he law. But I say here, 1\Ir. Speaker, it is not the proper duty, it is not required of us, to state 

what our opinion of the construction of the law is. It is oUT duty to 

ay what we find a law to be. 1\Ir. ELDREDGE. That is precisely what the gentleman from Vermont [Mr. PoLAND] would not sa.y. He says it is nobody's business 

what the opinion of tho committee was on that point. 1\Ir. CASON. We find this law to be "fruits," with a comma, "plants, 

tropical and semi-tropical, for the purpo e of propagation or cultiva- tion." That is what we find the law to be. Now let the gentleman 

give it the construction he pleases. 1\fr. LAWRENCE. We find the law to be expressed in those words. 1\Ir. CASON. Yes, sir; we find it expressed in those words, anll we find it nowhere else; and when they ask us to give it a construction they ask us to do the duty of a court. Mr. MYERS. I will ask the gentlemen if they have not conscien- tiously tried to ascertain tho sense of the laws; if they have not <lovetailed them as they judged they should be. l\1r. CASON. We have presented this revision as we judged the 

statutes to he, not as we judged the construction of a court would be. Wo have endeavored to ascertain what the language of these statutes, the literal letter 9£ them, means. M.r. MYERS. Does the gentleman understand that fruit can be 

imported for the purpose of propagation Y 

1\lr. CASON. I do not say anything auout that. I say I find th so words in the statute, and that is sufficient for me and should be suffi- cient for the gentleman from Pennsylvania unles!l he wants to change 

the law. 1\fr. MYERS. I have stated that I have found instances in which 

the committee have inserted tho word" on" and inserted semicolons 

which arc not in the law. Mr. CASON. But you will find that none of those changes alter 

the letter of the law. But if you make this change you do alter tho 

letter of the 1 w. l\1r. ELDREDGE. It would seem that if we take the speech of the 

gentleman from Indiana [Mr. CASO.r ] and the speech of the gentle- man from Vermont [1\fr. POLAND] it is of no sort of consequence what 

the committee think. Mr. CASON. I leave the gentleman to decide that for himself. I 

do not think it matters very much to the House whether OUT speeches 

exactly correspollfl or not. But I wish to say a word more on this matter aml then I have done. It has been stated by the gentleman from Wisconsin [l\fr. ELDREDGE] 

that the committee is captions in relation to acccpt.ing amendments. I think that the chairman of this committee has said time and again, 

and several members of the committee have repeated it, that we are a.nx).ous to have information and suggestions from any person and 

from every person. We have listened with the greatest patience to all 

kinds of sul?gestions and we are anxious to have them. We are anx- ious to recmve suggestion~ on this matter; and we are nut, as I under- stand the committee, at all tenacious whether thls amendment is made or not. As we report the section it is our.opinion, and we hold that 

opinionjustashone tly as the gentlemanfromPennsylvaniaholdshiB 

opinion, that we give what is found in the law. We are perfectly 

willing to hear tho gentleman from Wisconsin on any question, but we cannot agree with. him when he gets up and says that because 

he as an individual member of this House makes a suggestion to the 

committee, the committee ought to ignore their own judgment, arrivecl at after careful and considerate study. And yet at the same time the 

gentleman charges us with being captious because we do not give OUT 

opinion. I do not understand how the gentleman can make it out that 

he is consistent with himself in r elation to that . 1\lr. ELDREDGE. I understand the gentleman from Indiana [ Ir. CASO:N] to say that the committee were perfectly willing to give their 

opinion. Taking him at his word, will he tell us what he thinks is 

intended by the portion of the statute now under consideration Y 

Mr. CASON. When did I make the statement to whlch the gentle- man refers'f 

Mr. ELDREDGE. Almost in the la-st sentence which the gentle- man uttered. 1\h. CASON. I did not mean to say t hat. I said we were willing 

to hear all snrts of suggestions. I did not speak of giving my opinion, but said we were willing to hear tho opinions of any person. ~:J:r . E~DREDGE . Then, as one of the committee, you are unwill- ing to give your opinion of that statute'f 

1\4'. Cl\.SQN. I m not. I am willing to state that I understand tho 

statuto to be jqs~ n~ jt reads. And if the gentleman wants to con-
1874. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1619 

strue it one way, and the gentleman from :Massachusetts [Mr. DAWES] 

wants to construe it in another way, anu the Treasury Department 

want to construe it their w:ty, they have the right to do it. But I 

say the statute is just as it reads. 

Mr. WILBER. But if, by a particular construction of the statute, we axe losing $500,000 a year, should it not be changed t 

Mr. CASON. The gentleman says if we are losing $500,000 annu- ally by this construction of the statute it ought to be changed. I 

think if there is any doubt abouttheconstructionof thelawthereought 

to be an act changing it. But we stated at the outset, on the very first 

evening that the House met to consider this revision, that we were to 

take the law as we found it on a certain day. Now, as I said a few moments ago, I do not understand that the 

committee are tenacious whether this ch:tnge is made or not. All 

that we ask is simply this: when we report what we think the law 

to he, we submit that matter to the House. If the Honse desire to 

change it from what we report it, then let them change it; the com- mittee will not quarrel about that. We simply ask to have our own views in relation to this question; to bring the law before you as we think it is. If the Honse think the law should be changed from 

what we report it, then the Honse have the right to change it. But 

do not let members come forward, as the gentleman from Wisconsin 

[Mr. ELDREDGE] has several times done, and say that the ·committee 

have chauged the law. 

Mr. WILBER. If the committee have changed the statute in any 

places to mako it just cover the exact meaning intended, then why 

not change this, if we feel confident that is the case here'? 

Mr. CASON. The gentleman from Yermont [Mr. POLAl."'ID] has 

given the reason for that ; whether it is a good reason or not it is 

for the House to determine. The gentleman from Vermont has 

ah·eady said tha-t there may be litigation; that there has been a con- struction of this law by one of the Departments of the Government; ·that the language here is susceptible of more than one construction. And finding that to be the fact, we did not feel like taking the re ponsibility on ourselves to determine the que tion by construing 

it one way or the other, but we gave the identical language as we found it. • Mr. ELDREDGE. Will the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. CASON] 

tell the House whether, in his opinion, if the comma is struck out it 

will chano-e the meaning of the law'? 

Mr. CA§ON. I will answer as the gentleman from Vermont did; I 

do not think it is any business of the Honse what my opinion is. It 

is tho duty of the House to U.etermine the question. If I wanted to 

etlucate the House, then I might tell the gentleman what my opinion 

is. I presume he can tell th:tt as well as I can. If he wilJ agree to 

vote according as I will give my opinion, then I can see some reason for giving it. · Mr. ELDREDGE. I am not here tourive a sharp bargain with my 

friend from Indiana. l1r. CASON. I understanu that verv well. llr. ELDREDGE. Nor would I enter into ·such :tn arrangement, 

becau e it might not be parliamentary. But the learned gentleman 

h:tving examined this statute with the other gentlemen of the com- mittee, and knowing precisely what it is, I think that since the gentleman from Pennsylvania, [Mr. MYERS,] who is very captions always, 

determines to knock this comma out, I would like to know of the 

gentleman from Indiana [:Mr. CASON] whether that would change 

the effect of the law or notT I ask him in all candor. 

l\1r. CASON. That is not the question for us to determine, but 

what the law is as we find it. But to accommodate the gentleman I 

will give him my opinion. My impression is that if the comma wa.s out it would not change the true construction of the la,w. I give 

that opinion simply as a gratuitous matter, not that I think it is our right, or our privilege even, to state to the House what are our individual opinions of the law. 

1\Ir. ELDREDGE. If it would not change the meaning of the law, 

would it not lessen the size of this volume to knock a comma outY 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. CASON. I can answer that question just ahout as well by 

saying that if the representation from Wisconsin in this House was one less, perhaps it would les en the representation of that State. 

:Mr. ELDREDGE. I think so, too. [Laughter.] 

1\Ir. CASON. And so I suppose, if this comma is struck out, there 

would be one less comma in the statute. Mr. DA \VES. I do not know that it will be of any use for me to 

say what I am going to say. I wish to say a few words a-s to the way we have _got into t.b.is difficulty. I undertook the other day to tell 

how it came about, but I did not tell quite all, and I woulcllike to tell 

the rest of it now. As I said the other day, all there was about fruits in the free list in 

the bill when the Committee on Wa.ys and Means reported it to the 

House was struck out; so that when the bill went to the Senate there was not a word in the bill about fruits in the free list. But over :tmong the" P's" in the free list was" plants tropical and semi-tropical, for the purpose <:>f propagation or cultivation." Some gentleman 

in the Senate, for the purpose of restricting that clause, moved this 

amendment, which was written in, right over the word "plants," the 

word "fruit," with a caret before the woru u plants," and it appears on the paper in that way, so that one would naturally read ''fruit 

plants," as one would read "Zante currants," over on page 604. It 

occurred to that gentleman in the Senate that "plants tropical and 

semi-tropical, for the purpose of propagation or cultivation" was a little hroader than he wanted it to be, and he wautell to restrict it a. little more, and to say that what was meant was" fruit plants," and 

nothing else. So be wTOte the word "fruit" over the word "plants," 

and put a caret right before the word "plants." I think that there never was a,uy hyphen between the words. \Vhen the provision came to !Je written out, the gentlemen who wTot-e it out did not quite un- derstand what was meant by this language, "plant fruit." They 

concluded that·wbat was intended was "fruit plants," and they put 

it among the F's. I think when gentlemen come to look at the original papers they will find that is the way it got there. 

Then at the State Department there is an old gentlema,n whose 

business it is to superintend the printing of a copy of the laws for the use of the Departments before Little & Brown's edition is printed. He has been in the habit of putting in commas, &c.; of fixing the 

punctuation of bills just as he thinks they ought to be. There has never been any difficulty in such matters, because it has been very 

apparent in our other statutes where the comma.s, &c., ought to be, anu no such importance is attached to them as in a tariff law . . The 

probability is (though I do not know anything about it) tb:tt when 

this gentleman prepared the copy of this law for general use about 

the Departments, he threw in the comma at th:tt place, and that in this 

way it got there. 

Mr. \VILLARD, of Michigan. How is it in the eurollcd bill 'I 

Mr. DAWES. I have not seen the enrollecl bill myself, but I am told to-night by one of the enrolling clerks that in the manuscript 

there is no "s" after the word "fruit." 

Mr. WILLARD, of Michigan. Is there a comma T 

Mr. DAWES. Wben the word "fruit" was written over the top of 

the word ''plant," there was no comma. 1\Ir. BROMBERG. How is it in the enrolled bill? 

1r. DAWES. As I -have ju t said, I have not een the emolled bill 

my elf. The Committeo on Ways and Means had this matter before 

them, and they have :tgreetl upon some measures on this subject--

among others that their chairman should go and look at the enrolled 

bill ; hut he has not done so. Mr. LAWRENCE. I am told by a gentleman who has seen the en- rolled Lill that the comma is in tha.t . But, sir, a court or a Department 

ought to disregard punct-uation in the construction of a law, for the reason that the punctuation is never put in by the action of Congress. That i the work of a committee or of a clerk, and it ought not to interfere with the true construction of a statute. Now, it has sometimes 

happened that where an original statute has been amenuetl, the 

amendatory statute again amended, and perhaps another amendment 

made on top of that, the committee has found it utterly impossible to 

select any words of the existing statutes which would convey the pre. - cnt state of the law. In such a case the revisers have necessarily trans- lated t-he law into their own words so as to convey the idea intenued. 

But where, as in this ca e, the existing law is found in a recent statute, 

unamended, in tbeworlis which have been!;ldopted by Congress, there- visers have generally thought it proper, and I think the committee 

has in every instance hou~ht it proper, to· adopt the words which 

Congress has employed; ana. in this instance we h:tve clone so, lest it 

might be said that the committee had changed the existing law. We 

have adopted the statute verbatim, et lif:e~·ati?n et pttnctuatirn. 

But with the single exception of a case like this, where the attention of Congress, or one branch of it, is called to the punctuation 

and it is put in or left out uy order of Congress, a punctuation point 

ought not to interfere with the construction of a statute; and. a court or head of a Department that would boggle and blunder over it does not, in my judgment, understand its or his duty. 

Mr. KELLEY. Why can we not come to a vote and get this comma out of the way ¥ 

1\Ir. 1\IYERS. Enough has been said about it; I do not desire to 

say anythin~ further. 

The questiOn being put on the motion of Mr. MYERS to strike out 

the comma and. insert a hyphen between "fruit" and "plants," 

The SPEAKER pro ternpore declared that tho "ayes" appeared to. prevail. 

1\Ir. HOLMAN. I call for a division. Mr. O'NEILL. I hope the gentleman from Indiana [1\Ir. HoLMAN] 

will not insist on his call for a division. 

1\Ir. HOLMAN. I insist that the proposition involves a deviation 

from what has been understood to be the function of this committee. 1\h'. POLAND. I suggest to my friend from Indiana that he with- draw his call for a division, and allow me to enter a motion to recon- sider the vote on this amendment, so that the question can be called 

up when tho House is full. 

Mr. HOLMAN. I have no disposition to prolong what has certainly 

not heen a very profitable discussion. With the understanding that a motion to reconsider shall be entered, I withdraw the call for a division. The SPEAKER p1·o ternpore. The amendment will be considered as agreed to. Mr. POLAND. And I enter a motion to reconsiuer, so th:tt if we choose t.o call it up in a full House we can do so. 1\lr. HALE, of New York. I wish to enter a motion to reconsider 

another vote that has beeu taken to-night. On pa.ge 595, line GOl, the 

House, . on motion of the gentleman from Vermont, [Mr. POL.U.L>,] 

. 

-
1620 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 18, 

votod to amend by adding "s" and inserting a comma after "tankbottom," in the clause" tank-bottom sirup of sugar-cane juice." The 

chairman of the committee, [Mr. POLAND,] in whom I nave great 

confidence, assnred us t hat this phraseology was wrong; that the language intended was'' tank-bottoms," as an item of itself, anu "sirup 

of sugar-cane juice" as another separate item. Now, with all my 

confidence in the gentleman's legal know lellge, I think he is mistaken 

in this matter of sirups. I refer him to the original statute on page 

262of the sixteenth volume of the Statutes at Large, where the clause is 

in these words: "Tank-bottom sirup of sugar-cane juice," precisely as it is in the printed report, and not as it is in the amendment which 

the House. has adopted. I therefore think that, following the rule of 

the committee, we should reconsider the vote on that amendment, 

:.md leave tho provision so a-s to levy a duty on tank-bottom sirup of 

sugar-cane juice, not on tank-bottoms as well as sirup of sugar-cane 

juice. .Mr. FIELD. I move that the House adjourn. :Mr. POLAND. I hope the gentleman will withdraw that motion. 

I have an amendment or two more, which will complete this chapter, 

and which I would like to get in to-night. 

Mr. SAYLER, of Ohio. I desire to call the attention of the gentle- man from Vermont [Mr. POLAND] to an amendment proposed l1y 

him in line 900, page 602. I understand my colleague on tho committee to propose an amendment which places the woru "black" at the 

end of the word "drop." I call his attention to the fact that the articles enumemted in this schedule are enumerated in alphabetical order, 

strictly and carefully, and this will change the order adopted in that respect. I suggest now whether that amendment should not read 

"black, of bone or ivory drop." 

Mr. HALE, of New York. I ask that the question be put on my 

motion to reconsider. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Ohio has the 

floor. . Mr. SA. YLER, of Ohio. If the amendment is not put in the form I 

have suggested, but retained in the formsuggestedbythecommittee, 

this section, instead of being put in line 900, should be put between 

903 and 904, or, in other words, the word" black" should come between the word "blacking" and the word" bladder," to retain its 

order ; for otherwise there would be confusion. Mr. POLAND. I think the amendment would be in better form as suggested by my colleague, and save changing the order. It woulu 

preserve the alphabetical sequence, and I consent that it may be 

changed if nobody else objects. 

The SPEAKER p1·o tempm·e. The gentleman from Ohio will state 

his amendment. 

Mr. SAYLER, of Ohio. I move, in line 904. to strike out the comma after the word "black" and insert the word "of," so it will read 

"black of bone or ivory drop." 

The amendment was agreed to. 

MJ.·. HALE, of New York. I withdraw my motion to reconsider. MJ.·. POLAND. I move, on page 620, to strike out lines 274, 275, 276, 

277, which are as follows: " 

Lastings, mohair cloth silk, twist, or other manufactures of cloth, cutin strips or patterns of the size and shape for shoes, slippers, boots, bootees, and gaiters, not combined with India rubber. · • 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. I move, on page 621, to strike out lines 292, 293, and 

294, which are as follows: 

Machinery suitable for the manufa{lture of flax and linen goods only, :md imported-for that purpose solely, but not including that which may be used for :my other manufactures. 

And on page 623, line 389, to insert after the word" gems" "statues 

and specimens of sculpture," so it will read: 

Regalia :md gems, statues and specimens of sculpture, where specially imported, in good faith, for the use of any society incorporated or established for philosophical, litera~, or li~ous f:urposes, or lor the enoo~em nt of the fino arts, or for 

~~= u.xti~~d §t.~t!s~r er 0 any college, academy, Schoo , or seminary of learning in 

Now, Mr. Speaker, in relation to one of these amendments to strike 

out in lines 292, 293, 294, "machinery, suitable for the manufacture 

of flax and linen goods only, and imported for that pm11ose solely, 

but not including that which may be used for any other manufacture," I propose to state precisely what we find to be the condition 

of the statute on tha_t item. In 1861, in a tariff bill, this kind of ma-- chinery was put on the free list. In 1864, in n.nother tariff act, they 

declared that kind of machinery might be alloweu to come in one year duty free. But there is a clause in that bill repealing all former 

laws inconsistent with it. That was the only reference, even in gen- eral terms, to the statute of 1861. Before that year expiretl, in 1865, 

they passed another act providing that kind of machinery might be 

allowed to come in duty free for one year .from the passn.ge of that act. 

That is the condition of the statutes as we find them. The com- mittee regard this putting it on the :free list in 1861 as virtually repealed by this la,w of 1864, which limited its freedom fTom duty to one year, 

with this clause repealing ali former laws inconsistent with it. We 

therefore think it comes under the general class of machinery. There is no place where this is fixed eo nomine, but there are gfmeral pro- vision.<; of duty on machinery embracing this. The opinion of the committee was that the construction of the statutes on •his subject left 

this no longer upon the free list. The amendment was agreed to. · Mr. POLAND. There is a clerical correction t o be made on page 620, 

line 253, by striking out the word " Indio" and inserting " Inilia ;" so it will read : 

India. or Malacca joints, not further manufactured than cut into suita.ble lengths for the manufa~tures into which they are intended -to be converted. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. I move, on page 620, in line 259, to strike out" irris," 

and insert "iris," so it will read : "Iris, orris root." 

The amendment was agreeu to. 

Mr. POLAND. I offer the following n.mendmeut to the free list: 

On page 624, after line 427, insert: ''Skins, dried, salted, or pickled." 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. I offer the following amendment: 

On page 624, strike out line 434, a.s follows: "Specimens of natural history, min- eralo,!IT, and botany." 

The ameullment was agreed to. .Mr. POLAND. I offer the following amendment: 

On page 625, after line 477, insert «weld " before " woad," so it will read: "Weld, -woall, or pastel." 

'fhe amendment was agreed to. Mr. POLAND. I offer the following amendment: 

re:?d: page 625, in line 483, add to the word "painting" the letter "s," so it will 

.,Yorks of art: Paintings, statua,ry, fountains, a.nd other worka of art, the produc- tion of American artists. · 

'fhe amendment was agreed to. 

11r. POLAND. I offer tho following amendment : 

On pa.ge 625, in line 490, strike out "county or" after tho word "State," so it will read: 

Works of art: Paintings, statuary, fountains, and other works of art, imported 

expressly for present.1.tion to national institutions, or to :my State, or to any municipal corporation. 

The amendment was agreeu to. Mr. POLAND. I offer the following amendment : 

On page 626, line 35, strike out "and the prccciling," before the word "section," so it will read, "the provisions of this section, " &c. · 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POLAND. I offer the following amendment: 

On page 628, after section 2511, in ert ection 2494 from page 581. 

The amendment was agreeu to. Mr. POLAND. I offer the following amendment : 

On page 624, strike out" tiea." and insert "tica." 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. POL.AND. I believe this completes the work which the com- mittee had proposed for to-night; and I move that the House do now adjourn. 

The motion wa,s agreed to; and thereupon (at ten o'clock and five 

minutes p.m.) the House adjourned. 

PETITIONS, ETC. 

The following memorials, petitions, and other papers were presented 

at the Clerk's desk under the rule, and r eferred as stated : By Mr. ALBERT: The petition of Sophia Sparks, Julia C. Sparks, 

and Sallie Sparks, for compensation for article fnrni heel the Navru 

Academy at Annapolis, faryland, by the late Dr. Edward Sparks, to 

the Committee on Claims. 

By Mr. ARCHER : The petition of Ann R. Vom·hces, widow of 

Captain Philip F. Voorhees, Uniteu States Navy, fora pension, to the 

Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. BECK: The petition of John Shubert, for a pension, to the 

Committee on InvaJid Pensions. 

Also, the petition of tho Medical Society of Franklin County, Ken- tucky, for the passage of the bill to increa ·e the efficiency of the 

Medical Department of the Army, to the Committee on l\lilitary Affairs. 

By Mr. BUTLER, of Massachusetts: The petition of Isaac Taylor, 

of Boston, Massachusett , owner of the bark Alvarado, captured at sea by the United States sloop of war J amest.own, fOl' t he pa sage of a law 

conferring jurisdiction and authority upon the Court of Claims to 

hear and determine his equitable loss, to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

By Mr. CLA. YTON: Resolutions of the Legislature of California, 

in favor of an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 

providing for the election of United States Senators by a direct vote 

of the people, to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

Also, re olutions of the Legislature of California,, relative to the 

restoration to settlement an<l entry of lands granteu tho Stockton nd 

Copperopolis Railroad, to tho Committee on the Public Lands. 

llyMr. FARWELL: The petition of Lenora l\farshall, fora pension, to t he Committee on Revolutionary Pensions ancl War of 1812. 

By Mr. HOLMAN: Paper reill":.ing to the position on tho Navy 

Register of Commander Bushrod ~.Taylor, United States Navy, to 

the CoiD.lllittee on Naval Affairs. Also, the petition of Captain Ja.mes Roberts, of 1\ia-dison, Indiana, 

for relief, to the Committee on War Claims. . 
1874. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1621 --------------------------~------------------------.-----------------------_,· ------~-----------------

Also, papers relating to the claim of I. & 0 . P . Cobb & Co., of Aurora, Iniliaua, for boats aud barges taken and destroyed, by order of 

General Boyle, on the Ohio River, in July, 18G3, to the Committee on 

W a.r Claims. 

By Mr. L.A. WSON: The memorial of Reid R. Throckmorton, of New 

York, for reward and compensation for the invention of the tubular 

locomotive boiler, to the Committee on Commerce. · Also, the petition of Buckman & Fogg, of New York City, con- tractors for carrying United States mails on route No. 6435, for increased compensation, to the Committee on the Post-Office and PostRoads. By Mr. LYNCH: The petition of Victoria L. Brewster, for a pension, 

to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. MERRIAM: The petition of George W. Blunt, of New 

York, for indemnification for alleged infringement by the Hydrographic Bureau of the copyright of Rogers & Black's code of signals, to the Committee on Naval .Affairs. 

By Mr. RICE: The remonstrance of bankers of Chicago, Illinois, 

against any additional issue of paper money by the Government, to 

the Committee on Ba.nking and Currency. 

By Mr. SCUDDER, of New York: The petition of citizens of Huntington, Suffolk Cotmty, New York, that FrankM. Crossman may build 

at his own expense a breakwater in Cold Spring Harbor, to the Committee on Commerce. 

Also, the petition of coasting captains, vessel-owners, and others, 

of New York, for an :tppropriation for the erection of a light-house at 

the entrance of Colcl Spring Hu,rbor, Long Island, to the Committee 

on Commerce. 

By Mr. SMITH, of Virginia: The petition of the heirs of E. 0. 

Watkins, for compensation for property tnken during the late war, to 

the Committee on War Claims. 

By Mr. SPRAGUE : The petition of Peter M. Ward, of Pomeroy, 

Ohio, for correction of his military record, to the Committee on Military Affairs. By Mr. WHEELER: Resolutions of the common connell of the 

city of Buffalo, New York, asking an appropriation of the sum esti- mated by the Chief of Engineers for the prosecution of the harbor 

improvements in progress at Buffalo, to the Committee on Commerce. By Mr. WILLIAMS, of Wisconsin: The p etition of De Lorm:t 

Brooks, of Wisconsin, prayiu~ for an amendment of the Constitution which will dispense witn the present judiciary system, and 

substitute therefor arbitration by persons chosen and paid by the 

parties litigant, to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

IN SENATE. 

THURSDAY, February 19, 1874. 

Prayer by Rev. E. D. OWEN, of Washington. . The Secretary proceeded to read the Journal of yesterd:ty's proceedmgs. 

Mr. FENTON. I move to dispense with the further reading of the 

Journal. 

:Mr. ROBERTSON. The Senate is too thin to attempt to do any 

business at present. I therefore think tho reading of the Journal had 

better be proceeded with. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempoTe. The Senator from South Carolina 

objects. 

'£he Secretary resumed the reading of the Journal. 

Mr. ROBERTSON. As several Senators havo jnst come in, I withdmw my objection. T~e PRESIDENT pro _tempor~. If there_benofurtherobjection, the reading of the Journal will be dlSpensed With. The Chair hears none. 

HOUSE BILLS REFERRED. 

The following bills from the House of Representatives were sever- ally read twice by their titles, and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary : .A. bill (H. R. No. 492) to make persons charged with crimes and 

offenses com pent witnesses; 

.A"J:>ill (H. R. No. 933)_to provide for the holding of terms of the 

distnct court of the Umted States for the western district of Missouri 

at Springfield, in said State; 

.A. bill (H. R. No. 1592) limiting the time for prosecutions and con- victions in certain criminal offenses ; 

.A. bill (H. R. No. 1593) relating to the ptmishment of the crime of 

manslancrhter; 

A bill (H. R. No. 1594) for the punishment of extortion by officers or person acting nuder the authority of the United States· and 

.A. bill (H. R. No. 207 ) for the benefit of occupying claim~nts. The bill (H. R. No. 2076) to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury 

to discontinue the use of tho cutter Relief as a revenue-cutter and use_sai~ vessel for a boarding station in Mobile Bay, was read twj_ce by 1ts t1tle, and referred to the Committee on Commerce. 

MARINE-HOSPITAL REPORT. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore laid llefore the Senate the resolution 

o~ ~he House of Represe~tatives ~or printing the report of the super- Vlsmg surgeon of the manne-hosp1tal service for the year 1873 · which was read, as follows : ' 

~oloed, (the Senate c?ncu·rring,) That the Government Printer he instructed to prmt fi_ve thouS!lnd cop1~s of th? report of John W. Woodworth, supervising sur- geon of tho manne-hosp1tal semco of th~ United States for the year 1873; fifteen 

hundred for the use of the Seiillte, and thirty-five hundred for the use of the House. 

The resolution was referred to the Committee on Printing. 

NATIONAL SA VINGS-BAJ.'fK. 

The PRESIDENT pm tempore laid before the Senate the annual statement of the National Savings-Bank of the District o;f Columbia in ac- cordance with section 8 of tJ:!.e special act of incorporation approved 

May 20, 1870, for the year ending December 31,1873; which, on mot.ion 

of l't'lr. SHERMAN, was referred to the Committee on 1!-..in:.LUce and ordered 

to be printed. ' PETITIONS AlirD MEMORIALS. 

. The PRESID~NT p1·o ternporo presente(l the following joint resolution of the Leg1slature of the tate of Iowa; which was read : 

Joint resolution relative to the amount due from the United States to the State of 

~~vt:~~~o~:! ~f lands conveyed to non-commissioned officers and privates in 

Wher?as in t~e act.admittin~ the S~~e of Iowa into the Union, for and on account of c~rtam consulerations thercm s~emficd, Co~g~·e s stipulated .to pay to saiu State 

5.per ce1_1t .. on !Jle sales of the 1mblic lands Wlthm the same, w1thont anyrescr,-:1-

tion or lim~ tatwn whatever; 3:JJ~l wilereas a ve~y large portion of saiu public lands 

has ~e.en disposed .of und~r military ~varrants Issued to non-commissione:l officers, mns1~1ans, aml_pnvates m tho J.:I;ex1can war, upon which the Departrnentof the 

In tenor has rl?fused to pay the smd 5 p er c~nt .. ; a~ul whereas, in the opinion of the 

members of this General Assembly, s:ud claim IS a Just andequit..1.bleone andshoulu 

receive a favorable consideration and the sanction of Congre s : Ther fore, 

Resqlvcd by tlw G&neral Assembly of. tlw State of Iowa, That Congx·e s be, aml the same IS hereby, requested, by resolution or otherwi e, to direct tlio Q-Qneral Land 

Office to tako accotmt of all the public lanus within the State of Iowa. which may have been dispo ~cl of unde!' said military warrants, and to allow aml pay ::; per cent. thereon, at an estimate of :.;1.25 per acre. · esol~ed1 That our Senator" he instructed and our Representatives requested to 

~~~ ~;~~nence to_secure a proper recognition and an equitable adjustment of 

R esolved, T~t the secretarY. of state be instructed to forward a certified copy of these resolutions to the President of tile Senate anc.l to the Speaker of the House 

and to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress. ' 

JOHN H. GEAR, .Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

JOSEPll DYSART, P1·ebident of the Senate. 

Approved February 6, 1874. 

C. C. CA.RPE~TER. 

STATE OF IOWA, SS : 

I, J~siah T. Youn<T, secretary of st..1.te of I owa, do hereby certify the above and for~golflg to he a ftill, true, an.Ci. complete copy of the said orirrinal resolution now on lllem my office. " • WitnC?Ss my_hand and the peat seal of the State of ~owa.. Done at the city of 

Des Momes this 14th day of 1rebruary, A. D. 1874. 

[SEAL.) JOSIAH T. YOUNG, 

Secretary of State of Iowa. 

I hereby certify that this joint resolution originated in the senate. J. A. T. HULL, Secretary. 

Mr. WRIGHT. I move that that memorial be referred to the Committee on Public Lan<ls, and I desire to say that to-morrow or Monday _morning I shall introduce a bip. upo;u that subject, and I shall ask 

the mdu1gence of t.he Senate for five mmutes while I explain it. 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempore. The resolution will be referred to 

the Committee on Public Lands. 

1\:Ir. SCOTT. I present the memorial of shippinO' merchants busi- ness men, and other citizens of Philadelphia, prot~stinO' acrain~t the 

passage of the House bill leasing to Messrs. Dupont of'Wi'lmincrton 

Delaware, th~ Old Lazare~o ~ite, ne~r Penro~e Fer~y Bridge, o~ th~ bank o_f the n~er Schuylkill, m the cttyof Philadelphia, for a powder 

maga~me,_setting forth t?e dangers to s~rrounding buildings and the 

effect 1t Will have upon 1mprovement.s m that neighborhood of the 

c_ity. Th~ memor~al is signed by officers of three of the steamship 

lines of ~hiladelphla, and by a large n~ber of the leading commercial 

and busmess men of that City. I believe the bill was referred to the 

Committee on Military Affairs, and I ask the reference of this petition 

to that committee. The PRESIDENT pro tempm·e. It will be so referred . Mr. SCOTT. I notice~~ the Associated Press dispatches in refer- ence to one or two petitions on the same subject that they were referred to the Committee on Commerce. If that be dorrect, I will ask 

to have the reference changed. I am not aware how it is on the 

Journal. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The other petitions were l'eferred 

to the Committee on Iilitary Affairs . Mr. SCO'Yr presented the petition of Jolm Barnard and others of C~e~ter Co_unty:, enusylv~n a, praying fo! the appointment of a c~m­ llllSSlOn o~ mquu:y concerm!lg _the alcoholic liquor traffic, its relations 

to pauperlSm, crnne, the publtc health, and general welfare · which 

was ordered to lie on the table. ' 

Mr. BOGY pre~ented_ a memorial of .A.. G. Neugent, agent of the 

State of ~lls oun, praymg the passage of a bill to reimburse that 

State for expenses incurred in placing soldiers in the field during the 

wa,r of tho rebellion; which was referred to the Committee on Militu.l'y Affa,irs, a,ud ordered to be printed. 

Mr. ALLISON presented the following joint resolution of the Legis-