1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 835 

Mr. CHRISTIANCY. I have no question in regard to the issue of 

these certificates; and if certificates were issued under this st.atnte, 

subsequent to its taking efl'ect, I do not think they could be issued in a negotiable form. I see nothing in the statute which gives them the 

properties of commercial paper01: negotiable pa:per. Hence I think that 

any equities existing between the original holder and the Government 

might be shown for the purpose of defeating their validity in whose- soever hands they may come. Not being negotiable, they must come into the hands of third persons merely by assignment, and that assignment should appear upon the ba{lk of the instrument., and would con- vey but an equitable right. It would not therefore prevent the Govermnent from setting up any defense as between the original parties. 

This shows, in my VIew, the propriety of stopping the issue of bonds 

for these certificates until the whole thing bas been investigated. 

The payment of them can then be provided for if they are found to 

be valid, t~itber by the issue of further bonds or by any other provision the Government may see fit to make. 

Mr. NORWOOD. I move that t.he Senate adjourn. The motion was·agreed to; and (at five o'clock p. m.) the Senate 

adjourned. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

WEDNESDAY, February 2, 1876. 

The House ~t at twelve o'clock m. Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. 

I. L. TOWNSEND, D. D. 

READING OF THE JOURNAL. 

The J ourna.l of yesterday was read. 

The SPEAKER. Is there objection to the Journal as read f · Mr. COXGER. 'I notice that in the Journal as read the Clerk has 

noted the f.irue when the motion to adjourn was made, but not the time 

when the motion to a1ljourn was actually agreed to. 

The SPEAKER. The r ecollection of the Chair is that the requirement of the rule relates to the time when the motion to adjourn is 

submitted. 

Mr. CONGER. I s~ppose the object was to tell when the House 

did a{ltually adjourn. 

The SPEAKER. No doubt that is the object. 

Mr. CONGER. Other business miglJt intervene after the motion 

to adjourn was submitted, so that half an hour might elapse before 

the motion was agreed to. _ The SPEAKER. After the motion to adjourn is submitted, usually 

only such business intervenes as happens to be upon the Speaker's 

table, not of importance and having no relation to the current busineHs of the House. 'rhe rule upon the subject is: "The hour at ·which 

every m9tion to arljonrn is made shall be entered upon the Journal." 

The Clerk hnEI lit.erally followed the rule of the House. 

1\lr. CONGER. I was not aware of that rule ; I thought the time 

when the House actually adjourned was the time to be noted. 

The Journal as read was then approved as correct. 

ELECTION CONTEST-BROMBERG YS. HARALSON. 

The SPEAKER, by unanimous consent, laid before the House the 

report of the supervisors of the congressional elections in 1874 for the 

first congress~onal district of Alabama; which was referred to the 

Committee of Elections. 

C_OMMERCIAL TREATY WITH FRANCE. 

Mr. O'BRIEN. I ask unanimous consent to submit for consideration at this time the preamble and resolution which I send to the 

Clerk's desk. 

The Clerk read a.s follows: 

Whereas, owing to the fa{)t that no treaty regulating commercia-l affairs between 

the lJnited States and the republic of France exists, the productions of the United 

States are not received into the ports of France on as favorable terms as are the 

productions of other nations; and whereas the citizens of the United States are placed at a great disadvantage in comparison with citizens of other states in com. peting for the trade of the republic of France on account of the discriminations 

aforesaid : ThPrefore, - .Resolved, That the Committee on Foreign A.ft'a.irs be instructed to inquire into 

the expediency of requesting the President to negotiate a. commercial treaty be- tween the United States and the republic of France placing the citizens of the 

United States on as favorable a footing as :the citizens of other and more favored 

nations in respect to duties and charges imposed upon imports into the republic of F1-ance. · 

1\fr. CONGE.R. I think the recital in the preamble is not strictly 

correct. I think that by an old treaty between the United States and 

France it is provided that in all future time the same regulations 

sbonld operate upon importations of goods from this country as from 

t.he most favored nations. 

Mr. O'BRIEN. The gentleman is in error upon that precise point; 

there are other nations more favored than the United States. 

Mr. CONGER. I think the treaty with France required that the 

t'e6rnlations in relation to the United States should be the game a.s for 

the most favored nation. I only question the strict correctness of the 

assertion in the preamble. - Mr. O'BRIEN. There is no incorrectness in that. 

The preamlJle and resolution were adopted. 

ELIZABETH A. SANFORD. 

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

No. 1799) granting a pension to Elizabeth A. Sanford, widow of U. 

W. Sanford; which was read a first and second time, referred to the 

Committee on Invalid Pensions, and ordered to be printed. 

REVISED STATUTES FOR REPORTERS OF DEBATES. 

Mr. FORT, by unanimous consent, submitterl the following resolution; which was read and referred to the Committee of Accounts: 

&8olved, That the Clerk of the House furnish each of the official reporters of the House one copy of the Revised St.atutes of the United States. 

ORDER OF BUSINESS. 

Mr. SPRINGER. I call for the regular order of business. 

The SPEAKER. Befure entering upon the regular order this morn- ing, the Chair desires to inquire of the House if there be any objection to taking from the Speaker's table and referring to the appropriate committees the bills and resolutions from the Senate f 

There was no objection. JOL~T RULES. 

The first business on the Speaker's table was the :£allowing conclU'-

rent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules: 

Resolved by the Senate, (the House of Represmtatives concurring,) That the joint- rules of the Senate and House of Representatives in force at the close of the last session of Congn>ss, except the twenty-seconrljointrnle, be, a-nd the same are hereby, 

adopted as the joint rules of the two Houses at t.he present session. 

COMMISSI03ER OF TU~"'IS AT THE CENTENNIAL. 

The next buEiiness upon the Speaker's table was the amendment of 

the Senate to the joint resolution (H. R. No. 11) authorizing G.Harris 

Heap, United States consul at Tunis, to accept the trust of commissioner of the Bey of Tunis. 

Mr. KASSON. Owing to the rapidly approaching time when this 

commissioner must enter upon his duties, if at all, I would suggest 

that the House concur in the amendment of the Senate, unless there 

be objection. - ~ 

Mr. SPRINGER. There is objection. 

The joint resolution and Senate amendment were referred to the 

Committ-ee on Foreign Affairs. 

The next business on the Speaker's table was the joint resolution 

(S. R. No. 3) authorizing the acceptance by G. Harris Heap, comml of 

the United States at Tunis, of the trust of the commissioner of the 

Bey of Tunis at the international exhibition of 1876 at Philadelphia; 

which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

CIRCUIT COURT IN €ALIFORJ\'1A1 OREqON1 Al\'D NEVADA. 

The next business on: the Speaker's table was the bill (S. No. 53) fixing t.he time of holding the circuit court of the United States in the 

dtstrict of California, Oregon, and Nevada; which was read a first 

and second time, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

ACCEPTANCE OF PRESENTS BY GEORGE P. MARSH. 

The next business on the Speaker's table was the bill (S. No. 62) to 

authorize George P. Marsh to accept a certain present from the government of Switzerland and a certain present from the government of Italy; which was read a first and second time, and refer1·ed 

to the Committee on Foreign .Affairs. · 

NAVAL MONUMENT. 

The next business on the Speaker's table was the bill (S. No. 83) to 

provide for the completion and location of the naval monument; 

which was read a first and -second time, and referred to the Committee on Naval .Affairs. · LIQUOR TRAFFIC. 

The next business on the Speaker's table was the bill (S. No. 124) 

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

al<>A>holic and fermented liquor traffic and manufacture; which was read a :fh-st and second time. 

Mr. MORRISON. I move the reference of this bill to the Commit:. 

tee of Ways and Means. 

Mr. FRYE. This subject is already before the Judiciary Committee. 

:Mr. GARFIELD. I think the bill should go to the Judiciary Committee to which a large number of petitions on the subject have 

already been referred. - · Mr. MORRISON. They ought not to have been so referred. This 

bill comes from the Finance Committee of the Senate. 

Mr. GARFIELD. The bill has relation to the temperance question, 

not to any question of taxation. 

The motion of Mr. MoRRISON wa-s agreed to, and the qUI was ~ 

ferred to the Committee of Ways and Means. 

S. K. THOMPSOY ~ 

The next business on the Speaker's table wa~th~ pill($. No. ~6Q) 

for the relief of S. K. Thompson; wh~ch w~ rea-d a fi~t anq s~co~1 

time, and referred to the Committee on Milit~ry M.fa~rs~ . 

P~AS~~y & ~'C~Y~ 

The next bus:ine&s on the Speaker'~ table was the bill (S! No. l9H 

for the relief of Peasley & McClary, of Nashua, New Bampsbue; 

which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committea on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. 
. 

836 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 2, 

WITNESSES llEFORE 1\IILITARY COURTS. 

The next business on the Speaker's table was .the bill (S. No. 202) 

to secure the attendance and payment of witnesses before military 

courts; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the 

Committee on t~e Judiciary. 

HEIRS OF JAMES SL.VCLAIR. 

The next business on the Speaker's table was the bill (S. No. 225) 

granting six hundred and forty acres of land to the widow and heirs 

of James Sinclair, deceased; which was read a first and second time, 

and referred to the Committee on Public Lands. 

CUSTOM-HOUSE LOT, ROC~D, MATh""E. 

The next business on t;he Speaker's table was the bill (S. No. 235) 

providing for the sale of part of the custom-house lot in Rockland, 

Maine ; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the 

Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. 

. MILITARY ROAD LV OREGOY. 

The next pusiness on the Speaker's table was the bill (S. No. 252) 

donatin<,. the military road running from .Astoria, Oregon, to Salem, 

iu that State, to the several counties through which it passes; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Military .Aftairs. · LAND OFFICE IN UTAH TERRITORY. 

The next business on the Speaker's table was the bill (S. No. 279) 

to establish a land office in the southern part of Utah Territory to 

be known as the Beaver district, and for other purposes; which WaR 

read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on PubLic Lands. CONSULATES AT AIX-LA-CHAPELLE7 ETC. 

The next business on the Speaker's table was the bill (S. No. 305) 

changing the location of the consulates at .Aix-la-Chapelle, and at 

Omoa and Truxillo; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Fo:tleign .Affairs. 

NATHANIEL G. SMITH. 

The next business on the Speaker's table was the bill (S. No. 358) 

for the relief of NathaniE'l G. Smith, postmaster at Flemington, New 

Jersey; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the 

Committee of Claims. POST-ROUTES IN TEXAS. 

The next business on the Speaker's table was the bill'(S. No. 360) 

to establish certain post-routes in the State of Texas; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on the PostOffice and Post-Roads. 

Mr. R.AND.ALL. I move to reconsider all these various references, 

and to le,y the motion to reconsider on the table. · 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

IDAHO ELECTIO~ CONTEST-FE~ VS. BE~'NETT. 

. Mr. HARRIS, of Virginia. On behalf of the Committee of Elections, I ask that the papers in the contested-election case of Fenn tB. 

Bennett, from the Territory of Idaho, be ordered to be printed. 

There being no objection, the order was made. 

KENDRICK & A VIS AND OTHERS. 

Mr. WELLS, of Missouri, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill 

(H. R. No. 1800) for the relief of Kendrick & .Avis and Kuner, Zise- mann & Zott from assesssment under the revenue laws; which was reau a first and second time, referred to the Committee of Ways and 

Means, and ordered to be printed. 

KANSAS INDIAN LANDS. 

The SPEAKER. The morning hour now begins at twenty-two 

minutes before one o'clock, and the House resumes the consideration 

of the bill reported yesterday from the Committee on Public Lands 

by the gentleman from Kansas, [Mr. GOODIN,] entitled "A bill (H. R. 

No. 797) providing for the sale of the Kan as Indian lands in Kansas to 

settlei'S, and for the di position of the proceeds of the 8ale." '.Vhe gentleman from Kansas is entitled to the floor. 

Mr. GOODIN. Mr. Speaker, in reporting this bill I d~sire to submit a few words respecting the subject-matter of it. 

The lands embraced in the bill amount to about 213,000 acres. Originally there were comprised within the limits of the reservation 

of the Kansas Indians 256,000 acres, of which amount 43,000 acres have 

been disposed of under the treat.y of June 7,1860, at an average price 

of $1.50 per aere. This bill proposes to make sale of the residue of the 

lands :to actual settlers only for the benefit of the Indians. In pursu- ance of an act of Congress, approved May , 1872, the Secretary of the 

Interior caused the lauds to be appraised, and parties were then authorized to purchase at such apprai ement. The lands were appraised 

at from four to seven dollars per acre, making an average of about 

$5 an acre. The country wa far more prosperous then than now, and 

yet it was found that the appraisement was too high and the lands 

coUld not be sold; and now in the present depressed condition of the 

country pnrehasers cannot be found to take them at the old appraisement. There are many poor people who have settled upon this tract 

an<). are, alike with the Indians, anxious for such a valuation to be 

pxed upon the lands as will enable them to be sold. 

The bill which I have reported from the Committee on the Public 

Lands is dubstan tially the same as that reported at the last session and 

which passed the House, but did not reach the Senate iu time for con- sideration, as I am informed, by that body. ThisbillauthorizestheSecretary of the Interior to investigate the appraisement to which I h:1ve 

referred, and if, in his opinion, the same is too high, to cause a re-appraisement to be made. I have examined the subject with some care, 

and :find no legal objections to the pru sage of the bill. I would furthermore add that I am satisfied that its passage would be a measure of justice to the settlers upon these lands, and would also be of benefit to the Indians, as the lands cannot be sold under the present appraisement. .As these lands are situate in the district of my colleague, [.Mr. BROWN,] and as he has bestowed a good deal of attention 

upon this subject, I yield to him, hoping that he will be able to give 

the House any information required concerning the provisions of the 

bill. 

Mr. BROWN, of Kansas. l\lr. Speaker, this bill, as haa already been 

explained by my colleague woo reported it from the Committee on Public Lands, haa for its sole object the re-appraisement of the Kan- sas Indian reservation, in Kansas, and its sale to actual settlers at 

reasonable prices and upon reasonable terms. This reservation, which 

co'.lsists of some 200,000 acres of land in central Kansas, is held by the 

Government of the United States pursuant to a treaty made with the 

Kansas tribe of Indians in H:l60 for sale for the benefit of that tribe . .At that time the Indians were living on what is called their diminished reserve, consisting of about 80,000 acres, which was withheld 

from sale until the tribe should seek and obtain homes elsewhere. 

The balance or the trust lands were offered for sale, and the bettor 

portion sold at a very low figure between 1 60 and Ul72. In the latter year, the Indians having removed to their· new homes in the Indian Territory, the unsold portions of the trust lands and the diminllihed ·reserve were appraised and offered for sale ; but, owing to the 

high valuation placed upon the lands and·the illiberal terms of payment, they failed to sell, and with the exception of a few scattered 

tracts the whole reserve to-day remains unsold. .After this appraisement in the fall of 1873 came the great financial crisis, which so affected values in all sections of the country, followed in 1874 in Kan- sas by the terrible visitation of the locusts, which destroyed our crops 

and left the State, as it were, almost a desert. These two calamities 

had the effect of depreciating all real estate in Kansas to a very great 

extent, so much so that this reservation oflered to-clay under the appraisement of 1872 presents to the purchaser the anomalous spectacle 

of raw prairie lands being offered forsaJe at a higher price than wellimproved farms equally well located can be purchased for. 

From 1866 nntil1873 I resided within twenty miles of this reserva- tion, aml business often calling me upon it, I became thoroughly ac- quainted with it as well as with other lands in that vicinity, and 

having examined the appraisement I can from personal knowledge 

state that the lands are appraised from 30 to 40 per cent. too high, 

and that even the railroad lands which are sold on eleven years' time can be bought at a much lower price than this reservation under this 

appraisement. Nor is this aU. ·under the appraisement improvements upon the lands are also appraised, and, if anything, at a more exorbitant figure than the lands themselves. Houses which originally 

built of our native cottonwood and hackberrv lumber have stood the 

weather and storms of twenty years are appraised at as high a value as fair houses could now be built for of the best material. I saw one bnii.ding at the agency appraised at $1,840 which I would consider dear at one-third that price, and the mission buildings are in the same condition. The stone houses built iu 1861 to improve and civil- ize the Kaws, and which they immediately utilized aa stables after 

selling off the doors, windows, and floors, and which are in many instances unroofed and have been for years, are appraised at from 

seventy-five to one hundred and fifty dollars apiece, although many 

of them are of no earthly use to the occupants of the bnd except 

perhaps as stables; and, worse than all, old breakings of the prairie 

sod made years ago and .grown up with sunflowers and weeds are appraised at from three to four dollars an acre, although every person 

acquainted with agriculture knows that such breakings are not only 

valueless but a positive detriment to a farm. No one objects to paying for the land and the improvements what they are really worth, 

but the settlers and those intere ted in their behalf do object to their 

being compelled to pay more than a fair price for what they get, and 

under this bill these improvements will be re-appraised as well as tJ!e 

lands. These settlers went upon these lancls as soon a the Indians 

had removed, with the understanding that they were to be sold to ac- tual settlers at reasonable prices, and here they have remained. They 

have built houses, inclosed :fields, and raised crops; they have made 

farms, and now to the number of at least a thousand are living on the reservation. Like all pioneers they are poor men, but they have 

energy and determination, and feel that their all is bound up in the 

. pa sage of this bill, and imless it passe::~ many of them must abandon 

their homes and the hopes of years, while others who have inve~:~ted 

too much to abandon will strug~le on trusting eventually to be able to 

pay out, and many failing in the end. Of this class Congress in its 

late legislation has ever been the friend. It ha.s invited him to settle 

the western prairies, and by the passage of the homestead law it has 

emmciated the grand principle that to him who bears the hardships and privations of frontier life, who by his labor reclaims the wilder- ness and makes that valuable which otherwise would be practically 

valueless, should belong the soil itself; and while iu this case were- cognize the rights of the Indian and desire justice done to him, we 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 837 

trust Congress will not forget this principle so as to do injustice to 

the settler. We have endeavored in this bill to do justice to the Indian. We 

have, in order that even the possibility of wrong might be avoided, 

provided that the Secretary of the Interior shall inquire into the cor- r ectness of the old appraisement, and make a new one only on condition it appears that the lauds have been appraised too high. 'Ve have 

also provided for bonds against waste in case timbered lands are sold, 

for a rate of interest on deferred payments fully as high as the Government pays for the use of Indian funds, and which is satisfactory to 

the Commis ioner of Indian Affairs; and finally, to make all secure, have provided that no_ titles pass to the purchasers nntil tho whole 

purchase-money, principal and interest, is paid. We desire, as the 

bill states, to have the lands sold at their cash value, neither more nor less. W e claim that it is an advantage to the Indian as well as to 

t.he settler t,o have this bill pass. It is no benefit to him to have these 

lau(ls unsold. He ancl his creditors, among whom especially is the 

United States, which has advanced large sums to this tribe, ought to 

desire to have the matter settled and the land disposed of. No one believes large tracts should bo held unsold for the benefit of anybody, 

an<.l I do not think Congress would favor Indian speoulators as against 

settlers any more than it would white speculators. Our State and . the counties in which the land lies have an interest that these lancls 

clo not remain nntaxable, but como in to bear their shares of the public burdens, and to the settler, as I have already shown, it is a vital 

matter that be may know what to provide for in the future. 

This bill in nearly its present shape passed this House at the last 

Cong-ress, and only failed in the Senate through lack of time. No 

parties are interestingthemselves against it. The Indian superintend- ency in Kansas and the Quaker agents, who are supposed to be the special friends of the Indian, have never interposed an objection, though 

they have been consulted by friends of the measure, and it has been 

well known in our State that this bill would be pushed at this session. 

The Secretary of the Interior last spring gave his virtual sanction 

to the measure by stopping the offering of the reserve for sale, in or- der that Congress might act in the premises. Carefully guarded as the measure is, I certainly can see no ground to oppose t.be bill, and 

sincerely trust that it will pass. 

.Mr. KASSON. I wish to ask the gentleman from Kansas [Mr. 

BROWN] a question touching the provisions of the pending bill. 

Mr. BROWN, of Kansas. I yield to the gentleman for that purpose. 

Mr. KASSON. Contrary to the custom in the conveyance of lands to 

the United States the proposition is here made to interpose a title back 

to the United States together wit.h notes secured by bond, thus putting the United States iu the position and subject to the liabilitv at 

law of a common transaction between individuals in r eal est ate. I r efer to these words, "which payments sl!all be secured by notes payable to the United States and by mortgage on the premises." The 

question I desire to put is w betber the bill will not be much more perfect ancl much more in accord with precedent by striking ont the 

yorda which I have read, so the section will then read, after prescribmg five equal annual payments, "that the Secretary of the Interior 

shall withhold title until the last payment is made." The United 

States wants no security but the land. It does not want to be troubled 

with the management of promissory notes. I find the amendment is 

acceptable to the gentleman who reported the bill from the Committee on Public Lands, and I hope it will be adopted by the House. 

1\Ir. BROWN, of Kansas. Neither my colleague, [Mr. GOODIN,] who 

reported this 'bill from the Committee on the Public Lands, nor myself 

has any objection to the amendment suggested by the gentleman fro~ !owa. The wood~ were included in this bill because they were put m at the last sess10n by the then Committee on the Public Lands. 

That is the only reason they have been included in here now. 1\Ir. FORT. I desire to ask the gentleman from Kansas to yield to me for a moment. 

Mr. BROWN, of Kansas. I yield to the gentleman if he desires any 

explanat.ion in regard to the provisions of this bill. 

Mr. FORT. I should like to know what is the average valuation 

put upon these lands T 

1\Ir. DROWN, of Kansas. They are appraised from three and a half 

to seve~ dollars an acr~. !:;orne, nearer t~e town, have been appraised 

much higher, but I think the average will be from five to six dollars an acre. 

Mr. FORT. Have the Indians abandoned these lands and made 

application to have them sold T 

Mr. BROWN, of Kansas. The Indians are living now in the Indian 

Territory. They have left this reservation, and it is now held by the 

Government in trust to be sold for their benefit. 

l\1r. FORT. Have they applied to have these lands sold T 

1\Ir. BROWN, of Kansa . Y C8, sir; again and again. I understand 

they are perfectly satisfied to have them sold in the way here provided. 

Mr. PHILLIPS, of Kansas. If my colleague will permit me, I will 

make a. brief statement. The Government purchased lands for these In~iaus in the Indi~n Territory. At both sessions of the last Congress 

thiS House appropnated money to locate these Indians there a,nd pay 

for the lands which t hey !low occupy. The money paid by the Government; for tJwse lands It was providecl should be repaid from the 

price r~cei ved fr~m t~e proceeds of the sale of these la_nds in Kansas. 

In my Judgment 1t w11l take nearly all the money whiCh will be re- ceived from the sale of these lands in Kansas to a~tual settle1·s to rep:ty 

the Government of the United States. 

Mr. BAKER, of Indiana. Let me suggest to the gentleman from 

Iowa tha,t he should still further amend, to carry out l!is object, by 

striking out lines 2"2 .and 23 of section 1. 

Mr. KASSON. I wish to complete the amendment to which I have 

a,lready called attention. At the end of the first section I move to 

strike out the words "and give his notes with a lien on the land to secure the purchase-money on the terms aforesaid." Now it will be 

evident those words should be stricken out as a complement to the 

others which I have moved to strike out. 

Mr. GOODIN. I do not object to the amendment proposed by the 

gentleman from Iowa. - Mr. DUNNELL. I insist that the gentleman from Iowa shall make ~i~ motion in writing, so that we may all understand exactly what 

It IS. 

The SPEAKER. If the gentleman from Minnesota insists-on his 

demand, the amendment must be reduced to writing. 

Mr. KASSON. I send my amendment to the Clerk's desk so that it 

may be reported. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

· At the end of the first section, in lines 22 and 23, strike ont the words "and giv-e his notes with a lien on the land to secure the purcilase-money thereof on t-he terms aforesaid." 

Section 2, lines 13, 14, and 15, strike out the words "which payments shall be se- cured by notes payable to t.be United States and by mortgage on the premises." 

The amendment was a!P-·eed .to. 

Mr. KASSON. There IS one other amendment which ought to be 

made on page 3, where it reads "shall be subject to entry, &c., by 

actual settlers." I would be glad to have the word "only" inserted 

after the word "settlers," so as to exclude all possibility of these 

lands going into the hands of speculators. 

Mr. BROWN, of Kansas. That is the object of this bill, and what we want to secure.t beyond all doubt. 

Mr. KASSON. l:SO I understand. 

The amendment wna a~reed to. 

11-!r. DUNNELL. I only desire to make a single remark in relation 

to the bill now before the House. I recollect distinctly that the Committee on Public Lands in the last Congress gave to this subject very 

careful conaiderat.ion. It was before the committee a number of ses- sions. The history of the entire affair was gone over very carefully 

and tue Committee on Public Landa at the last Congress wa-s uuani~ mons in recommending the passage of a bill similar to this one. It 

was evident tha~ these Ian~ had b~en al!prais~d at too high a figure. 

It was very eVIdent f,hat. 1t was neither rn the mterest of prospective 

settlers nor in the interest of the Indians that these lands should be 

held at the appraisal made upon them; and we were clearly of opinion that it was not only in the interest of the State of Kansas and in 

the interest of the settlers, but also of the Indians themselves that 

these lands should be aga,in appraised. I assure the House that 'there 

cannot be any safer proposition than is made by this bilL 

Mr. GOODIN. I now demand the previous question. 

The previonsqnestion was seconded and the main question ordered· 

and under the operation thereof the substitute, as amended, wa~ adopted. . The bill, as amended, was ordered to be engrossed and read a third 

time; and being engrossed, it was accor<lingly read the third time. 

The question was on the passage of the bill. . Mr. HOLMAN. I ask that the bill, as amended, may be again reported. 

The bill was again read. 

Mr. HOLMAN. I wish to inquire of the gentleman from Kansas 

[Mr. GOODIN,] who bas reported this bill, whether any other person~ than actual settlers are authorized to become purchasers of this land or any part of it Y • 

Mr. GOODIN. They are not. . Mr. HOLMAN. The sale is expressly limited to actual settlers f 

Mr. GOODIN. It is expressly linllted to them. But I have no objection, if the gentleman so desires it, to insert the word c' only." 

The SPEAKER. That word has already been inserted. 

The bill was then passed. 

:Mr. GOODIN 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. 

REORGANIZATIO~ OF THE JUDICIARY. 

Mr. McCRARY. The Committee on the Judiciary have had under 

consideration the bill (H. R. No. 1563) re-organizing the judiciary of 

the United States, and have unanimously directed me to report a substitute for that bill, and to recommend its passaue. 

The bill is of considerable importance, and n~erous gentlemen are desirous of examining it, and wish that a time shall be fixed in the 

future for its consideration. I report the substitute, and ask that it 

be read by title at this time, and t hat it be printed, and fixed for con- sideration at a future day. 

The"title of the substitute (H. R. No. 1798) was read, as follows: 

A bill to re-organize the judiciary of the United States. 

?If:. McCRARY. On ~ehalf of the committee I suggest that the followmg order be made with reference to the consideration of this bill . 

That the substitute be printed, a.nd made t.he special order for consideration ~ the .Ho!Jse on Wednesday next.at two o'clock, and from day to day at the same bonr bft~ disposed of, to the exclns10n of all other business except-regular appropriation 
838 CO.NGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 2, 

1\lr. HOLMAN. I trust the gentleman from Iowa wm consent to 

postpone the consideration of this bill a week later, so that we may 

have ample opportunity to examine its provisions. The subject-matter is a very important one. M1·. McCRARY. I desire to give a.ll the opportunity that any gentleman desires; and if that will be satisfactory I will say one week 

from next Wednesday. I desire, however, to have the bill considered as early as possible. 

Mr. WOOD, of New York. If this order be adopted might it not 

interfere with reports of a very important nature from the Committee on Ways and Means T . 

Mr. McCRARY. I have.excepted the regular appropriation bills. 

Mr. WOOD, of New York. I should like that reports of the Committee of Ways and Means should also be excepted; as it is at least 

possible that there are matters to be reported by that committee on which the House might be called upon to act summarily, and with 

which this order might interfere. 

Mr. McCRARY. I do not think that the debate on this bill will be 

at all protracted. It is the unanimous report of the committee, and 

I think when gentlemen examine it it will meet with general approval. It involves the appointment of no additional judges, and so far from increa.sing expense it is a measure of economy and retrenchment. I think there will be no confilct between the Judiciary Committee and the Committee of Ways and Means with regard to the con- trol of the floor. 

Mr. WOOD, of New York. ~ had supposed that the bill involved 

the necessity of a reconstruction of the organization of the whole judiciary of the United States. 

Mr. CAULFIELD. O, no! 

Mr. McCRARY. It does not involve that. 

Mr. BANKS. The order introduced by the gentleman from Iowa, 

representing the Judiciary Committee, restricts the consideration of 

the House to the substitute. The substitute can only come in as au amendment to the original bill, and the bill should be included in the 

order. 

Mr. McCRARY. I have no objection to that. 

The S?EA.KER. The order will be made to read accordingly. 

Mr. WOOD, of New York. I object to the consideration of the bill 

being ordered to run from day to day until disposed of. I am willing 

to give it that day, but not from nay to day. 

The question being taken on Mr. McCRARY's motion as modified, ·twas agreed to-ayes 93, noes not counted. . Mr. McCRARY moved to reconsider the vote just taken; an-d also 

noved that the motion to recom<ider be laid on the table. 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

Mr. McCRARY. On behalf of the committee I also desire to submit • report in writing, expressing the views of the committee in refer- ~nce to this hill, and I move that the report be·printed and that it do 

lio on the table. 

The motion was agreed to. 

PAY OF THE CLE.RK OF THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE. 

Mr. KNOTT. I am unanimously instructed by the Committee on the Judiciary to report the following resolution and ask its adoption: 

Resolved, That the clerk of the Committee on the Judiciary be, and he is hereby, jl~~~=~ for his services $5 per day, to be paid out of the contingent fund of the 

1\Ir. HOLMAN. Will not the gentleman from Kentucky consent 

that that resolution shall be referred to the Committee on Accounts i' 

Mr. KNOTT. I do not think the reference at all necessary. The 

House must be awaTe from the amount of business referred to the 

Committ.ee on the Judiciary that the time of the clerk of that com- mittee is as much occupied as that of any other employe in the House. 

1\lr. HOLMAN. Wbat is his present pay f 

Mr. KNOTT. Only $4 per day. 

The question wa.s taken; and the resolution was a."'reed to. Mr. KNOTT moved to reconsider the vote by which the resolution was adopted; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. 

The latter motion was agre~d to. 

PRACTICE IN UNITED STATES COURTS. 

Mr. Kt~OTT also, from the same committee, reported back, with 

the recommendation that it pass, t.he bill (II. R. No. 934) regulating 

the practice in United States circuit and uistrict courts as to the time 

and manner of instructing juries and arguing the ca.use. · The bill was read. It provides that the circuit and district courts 

of the United States, in all criminal trials and civil causes other than 

equity l:!ond admiralty causes, shall conform to the practice existing 

Bt the tim~ . in like trials and causes in the courts of record of the 

State Within wltich such circuit or district courts are held, both as 

to the t.imt:t.l:J'nd manner of instructing the jury and conducting the 

argument of the ·cause before the jury, any rule of the court to the 

contrary n9twit~standing. · Mr. KASSO'N'. 1 woill<llikethe gentleman from Kentucky to state 

whether in the States wherejndges are now im~tructed in writing this 

bill would not require all the juuges of the Uniteu States cotuts also 

to put their instructions in Writ~ng f If that is the effect it is a very 

important change in the practice. If the gentleman will be kinu 

enough to explain what effect it is designerl to produce, I shall be 

glad to hear him. . 

Mr. KNOTT. I did not hear the gentleman's question. 1\fr. KASSON. This bill provides not only in relation to juries, bnt 

that the instructions given to the juries shall conform in.the mode 

of giving them in the United States courts to the practice in the States 

where those courts are held. Now, il! some of the States the law re- quires the judge to give all his instructions in writing to the jury. That is not the case in the United States courts, and I doubt very 

much whether it is the desire of the lawyers in the House to require a United States judge to give all his instructions in writing. My inquiry Is whet.her this bill is designed to require that they shall do so. Mr. KNOTT. Manifestly the bill is inte~ded to accomplish precisely what its language imports. Where the State law requires the 

instructions to be given in writing in the State courts, that same practice is t.o prevail in the United States courts; and when the law 

authorizes or requires a verbal charge, the practice in the Unite<.l 

States courts must conform to that practice. And further, · sir, I 

would say that this bill is reported back with the unanimous approval 

of the Committee on the Judiciary, who I believe have with myself taken some pains to ascertain the feelings of the members of the 

bar on this floor on this subject. 

I know that in some localitit\s there has been considerable com- plaint on account of the judges of the United States courts refuswg 

to conform to the established rule of practice in the StiJ,te courts, and 

I cannot conceive that this bill will work any hardship on anybody. 

Mr. KASSON. Then lwouldlike to inquire of the gentleman why 

if it is a good rule in one State it is not in all to require all instructions to the jury to be given in writing. And if we are going to 

regulate the judges, why should we so regulate them as to subordinate them in one State to one rule and in another to another f 

I do not know that I should object to this bill if it would make 

the practice uniform in all the States, but it seems to me that if there 

is any usefulness for the protection of suitors that the direction!'\ of 

the judge to the jury should be given in writing iu one State it should 

be the same in all. In my own State our local judges give their instructions in writing, and must clo so. Our United States judges do 

not do so. If, therefore, we desire the United States coUTts to come under the rules that prevail in my State, let us so provide and let 

the rule be uniform, for otherwise we adopt a rule that subjects the 

United States judges iu this respect to local jurisdiction. 

Mr. KNOTT. I would ask the gentleman one question. 'Vould 

not the bar in his own State be satisfied to have the judges of the 

United States courts instruct the jUTies in writing precisely as their 

State judges are requU.-ed to do f 

Mr. KASSON. I cannot speak for the bar of my State. I can only 

say that I never heard an expression of discontent in the bar of my 

State with the habit of the judges of the United States court, which 

is, to give oral instructions, and I know that that practice has in many cases been found useful by giving more latitude in the consideration 

of the case. Mr. LAWRENCE. I suppose that the gentleman from Iowa knows 

very well that by an a.ct of Congress, I think in 1871, incorporated 

into the Revised Statutes, the practice and pleadings adopted in the 

State courts are adopted in the courts of the United States. 

Mr. KASSON. There was a special reason for that; bpt that does 

not embrace the mode of giving instructions by the court. 

1\f.r. LAWRENCE. Why notT 

1\fr. KASSON. It does not, in pQint of !"act. Mr .. TOWNSEND, of New York. I desire to say that I wish the 

system which prevails in Iowa, requiring the instructions of the judge 

to the jury to be in writing, might also be extended to the State of 

New York, wherewehaveno such practice, either in civil or criminal cases. In our State a trial often degenerates into a trial by judges, 

instead of one by jones. I have no fear on the subject of this bill 

affecting the States where instructions are now given in writing, and can only say that I wish the same rule existed in the State of New 

York. , 

Mr. PHILIPS, of Missouri. As already stated by the gentleman 

from Ohio, [.Mr. LAWRESCE,] there is now upon the statute-books this 

provision, section 919 of the Revised Statutes: 

The practice, plea~in~s, and forms and modes of proceeding in civil causes, other 

than equity and admiralty causes, in the circuit and district courts shall conform, as near as may be; to the practicf', pleadings, and forms and modes of proceeding existing at the time in·like causes in the courts of recortl of the State within which 

such circuit or district courts are heltl, any rule of court to the contrary notwiLh· 

standing. 

The evident object of this provision is to assimilate the practice in 

the United States, circuit, and district courts, to the practice prevailing in the State courts of the State within which United States courts are held. It is maintained by many lawyers that the statute just 

quoted is sufficiently explicit to require the United States courts to 

conform their practice in the matter of instructing juries, and the ma.nner of conducting arguments before juries t.o the existing pract.ice of 

the State courts. Bn t, in some .of the States, for some reason or ot,her, 

the judges of the Federal courts adopt a difl"ereut rule. 

The object of the bill now before the House is simply to make ex- plicit and to put beyond all possibility of controversy or dispute the 

meaning of the existing statute of the United States on t.he subject. As 

is known to the House, the United States circuit and uistrict court.s are established in all the States .. The jurisuiction of these courts has been 

extended, until now they have absorbed to a large ext.ent much of the 

practice and business of the States. As these judges) the district j udges 

• 
• 

1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 839 

especially, a.nd in many cases t.he circuit jndges, are taken from the 

States where the ·courts are established, and are familiar with the 

rules of practice prevailing in the State courts, it is no inconveni- ence or int,erference with the judges to require them to instruct the 

juries in the same way as is provided in the State courts. It will be a great conven~euce to the attorneys who practice in these courts that 

the manner of charging jnTies should be the same as in the State 

courts, because they are already familiar with that practice. The 

juries of the State are familiar with that mode of conducting business, 

and I cannot see what possible objection there can be to req uil;ing the 

district and cil'cuit judges of the Pnited States to conform theiT practice in this respect to that of the State courts. It makes the law ex- plicit, so that both attorneys and jurors cn.n understand it. 

If the policy is to be persiste(l in of not only erecting the Federal 

courts in the States, and extending their jurisdiction to almost every cause local to the States, I can see no reason why the mode of procedure in those courts should not be made to conform as nearly as possible to those of the respective Stat.es. That evidently was the 

purpose of the statute just read, and the bill under consideration will 

simply carry out the object. 

Let the bill become a law. 

Mr. KNOTT. I now call the previous question. 

Mr. STEELE. I would like the gentleman from Kentucky to allow me to move an amendment to this bill, to which I think there will be no objection. 

Mr. KNOTT. I will hear the amendment read. 1\Ir. STEELE. My amendment is simply to make this bill, if it be- comes a law, apply to the Territories when the district courts of the 

Territories are exercising the j urisdlction of district and circuit courts 

of the United States. I propose to amend by inserting after the word 

"States" the following: 

And to the district courts of the several Territories when exercising jurisdiction aa district and circuit courts of the United States. . 

1\fr. KNOTT. I must decline to yield for any amendment. 

1\lr. STEELE. I would like to have a vote on my amendment. 

1\ir. KNOTT. The purpose of the gentleman can be reached in a separate bill. I must insist upon the previous question. 

l\Ir. COX. I call for the reading of the bill. • _ The SPEAKER. The morning hour has expired. 

PUBLIC BUILDING AT NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. 

l\Ir. ATKINS. Before the House proceeds to the consideration of 

other business, I desil'e to report back from the Committee on Appropriations House bill No. 664, making an appropriation for the purchase 

of additional grounds for the custom-bouse at Nashville, Tennessee, 

antl to move that the committee be ilischarged from its further con- sideration, and that the sa.me be referre4 to the Committee on Puolic 

Buildings and Grounds. 

There was no objection; and it was ordered accordingly. 

COMMITTEE O:N POST-OFFICE AND POST-ROADS. 

Mr. CLARK, of Missouri. The Committee on Post-Offices and Post-· Roads deem it necessary, in order ta properly dispatch the business now befere them, to ask permission of the Honse for that committee 

to sit during the sessions of the House. 

There was no objection, and it was ordered accordingly. 

TERM OF PRESIDE-NTIAL OFFICE. 

The SPEAKER. _The morning hour having expil'ed, the House now resumes the consideration of the joint resolution (H. R. No. 41) 

proposing an amendment to the Constitution, upon which the gentle- man from Ohio [1\Ir. WOODWORTH] is entitled to the floor for twenty 

minutes, at the expiration of which time the gentleman from Ken., 

tucky [Mr. KNOTT] will be entitled to the floor to call the previous 

question upon the rPsolution antl pending amendments. 

Mr. WOODWORTH. 1\fr. Speaker, when I yielded last evening to a motion to adjourn I did so with the generous and unanimous con- sent of the House that I should be allowed twenty minutes to-day after 

the mornin~ hour had expil'ed, and before the order with reference to 

this resolutiOn had become operative, ip. which to proceed with my re- marks. This time will, I think, be sufficient for my purpose if I shall 

be permitted to proceed without tnterrnption. 

I said yesterday that my object in taking the :floor was to reply to some suggestions that had been advanced by gentlemen in support of 

the pending propositions, and to add a woru or two to what had been 

already so well and eloquently said by the gentleman from :Maine 

[l\Ir. l<,RYE] with regard to the third-term idea that had led· his com- mittee to report these resolutions. 

Sir, I am opposed both to the proposition of the majority and to the 

proposition of the minority of your Committee on the Judiciary. I 

do not believe thn.t there ought to be any change in the Constitution 

limiting the eligibility of a President to one term of any number of 

years. I have more confidence in the work of the men of 1787 than I 

have in tho wisdom of those who now, some of them for partisan ends as I believe, assume to be terribly frightened at the awful possibilities 

thn.t may arise out of the blunders of the fathers who tbour~bt it 

wrong to give to the nation tlle principle of democracy with a shackle 

upon it, as_is proposed by these resolutions. 

It was urged yesterday by the gentlemen who aclvocatecl a consti- tutional limitation of presidentin.l eli~ibility that the proposed inhibition would prevent a diversion of tne power and patrona,ge of the 

President from their legitimate uses to the furtherance of personn.l 

ambitions-would tend to secure a states nan instead of a politician ·in the executive office-would render more remote the possibility of 

the occurrence here of scenes similar to those which France witnessed 

in 1852 when the chair of a president, touched by the magic of human 

ambition, became the throne of a. king, and when the short-lived re- public of France proved to be but the chrysalis from which burst the 

empire of the second Napoleon. These, sir, were in substance the ar- guments, a] though this was not the manner of presenting them, used 

yesterday by gentlemen who addressed the House in behalf of the 

pa.ssage of either one or the other of the two resolutions now under con~ide:fation. · S1r, the reply final and conclusive to_ all these is the argument for 

the Constitution as it is-the argument that prevailed in the minds 

of the men of 1787, to whose prescience the experience of later years, 

to which allusion was made, coulil add nothing. The sovereignty of 

the people, absolute and supreme,-to choose their rulers as they please, 

limited only by prescribed and hi~b,ly essential qualifications as to 

age and citizenship, and in case of the President to nativity also, is 

the corner-stone upon which our fabric was built. rrhat this sover- eignty of the people might not be abridged, that the theory of a government by the people might be realized in its widest scope and 

broadest sense, the fathers refused to put into the'Constitution that 

which is proposed by these resolutions. As was said by the gentle- man from Indiana, [:Mr. NEW,] this question was prominent in the 

serious debates of the convention of 1787. Alexander Hamilton believed that the President should h(')ld a life 'office, while Benjamin 

Franklin thought that at clecent periods heshould be returned to the 

people, which he consi<lered no degradation l,mt a promotion, as it was a change from the condition of servant to that of master. John Randolph and others advocated a limit to one term, while Roger, Sherman 

and many other equally prominent members of the convention opposed such a limitation. In this debate it is useful to note that the 

idea of re-e1igibility found its strongest support when coupled with 

the proposal that the President should be elected bytheuationalLegislature, and that the argument for it was based upon the supposition 

that this would secure the executive office against the danger of too 

great an influence from the legislative bra~ch. When, however, it was determined that the President should be elected by the people 

through an electoral college, (which in passing let me say I cannot 

but regard as an unfortunate concession to an anti-democratic idea,) 

this body of wise and patriotic men refused to place this limit upon 

the free choice of the peoyle. The reason for this refusal, namely, a more unlimited democracy, is as good to-day as it was eighty-nine 

years ago. Tllis, sir, is worthy to be remembered by the House, if it 

becomes us to be heedful of the light which streams down upon ns through more than three-quarters of a century from the lamps which 

guided the fathers when they made successful search beneath the 

gloomy absurdities piled up by a _thousand years of despotisms for the 

grand truth of human government-s upon which to builu a new nation. 

By tbe Declaration of Independence, so much in all our minds ia 

this centennial year, and so much in all our uttemnces, too, I might 

add; by the a-chievements, both in Congress, where the experiment 

of self-government was fashioned in the anxious minds of men, aud 

upon the field where armies ''threw the iron death-dice" for human 

rights; by the convention of 1787, mentioned a moment ago, where 

all the experiences of the past and all the possibilities of the future were brou~bt together and made to join hands to work out the problem, the'm1ghty problem,-of how may this thing known as the rights 

of the people, so long hidden beneath the bald absurdity of the divine 

right of kings, be most surely realized-by these, sir, was our nation 

planted upon the foundation-rock of self-govermnent by the people; 

and this foundation-rock has become to be to us a politicn.l "rock of 

ages" upon which let no man or body of men lay desecrat.ing han<ls. 

Upon this foundation-rock our governmental superstructure rests-a 

superstructure so magnificent and grand that iu this hundredth year we exult that it is ours, realizing that it is the acme toward which 

struggled the nobler ambitions of the past, and that within it now the 

century-aloe of human hope is blossoming, :filling the- earth with in- cense. Its ba-se is the divinity of human rights. Its area is the breadth 

of a gigantic continent. Its bulwa.rk is forty millions of undaunted 

hearts. Its dome is crowned with the achievements of a hundred years. Thus, sir, it stands to-day, the boast of Americans, the wonder of man- kind. It is the temple of refuge for the oppressed of every clime, and 

is ere long to become the model upon which the artists and the arti- sans of Old World politics s_ball fashion a hundred emula-ting structures in a hundred lands .. The beneficence of its example must be 

felt. This year, thanks to the-patriotic city of Philadelphia,, thanks 

to the grand Commonwealth-of Pennsylvania, thanks to the country- loving men and women of the whole Union who have stretched <-b hantl 

to aid our proposed centennial Jubilee, and thanks, too, to the action 

of this Honse taken but a few days ago->this year there shall go ont 

.from it, as well from where the Golden· Gate stands open to the lisping southern sea as from where old Plymouth Rock still beats back 

. the angry Atlantic, a voice saying to the · nations of the East and to 

,t.he nations of. the 'Vest, Come up · higher! and that voice shall be 

echoe<I and re-echoed over the craggy continent and sea-girt isles of 

EuTope and-wafted even into-the slumberous haze of "farthest Ind," 

until one clay the response, We come! shall float back, and the clivinity of human rights, overthrown ten centuries ago by Charlemagne 
840 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 2, 

and tho conspiring prelates of that era, shall be reproc]aimed on the 

ruined walls of ma.ny a dynasty and planted a star, high up in heaven, 

there forever to remain a political guide-star for human kind. 

Do gentlemen smile at t.his as the perhaps pardonable rhetoric of 

this our centennial year f I indulge, sir, in no mere figures of extravagant speech. This is but a portrayal, a faint portrayal, of that which 

is in the hearts of aU our people-of the people of the North and of 

the South, of the East and of the West, as they now step out from 

the war-begrimed, victory-garlanded, peace-decorated corridors of the 

past into the full radiance of this centennial era, and bow their beads 

to receive the parting benediction of the grandest hundred years of 

human history, and turn their f::tces to listen to golden promise for 

the still granuer centuries that are to come. Now, sir, it is proposed upon this second day of the second month 

of our centennial year-proposed in the American Congress, the lineal successor to that body which a hundred years ago proclaimed to man- kind the doctrine of human rights; proposed, forgetful of that which 

has led usupintothe monntaiu-top wherewenowstand-proposed that we sh::ill begin the new century with a backw:trd step, and let its gray 

dawn reveal us working like undermining rats around the base of 

this grand, magnificent superstructure, to Jessen its strength by placing a shackle upon the complete sovereignty of the people. Sir, I 

doubt if gentlemen appreciate that this is a proposition to abridge, 

to curtail, to circumscribe our democracy. I a.m amazed that any 

should wish thus to begin the new century. Such a wish stands in 

sa-d contrast to the ]ofty aspirations that fired the hearts of the men who were upon the stage at the beginning of the century just gone, 

the echoes of whose retiring foot-fall still linger in the corridors of 

yesterday. 

Should this proposition succeed, the men of a hundred years hence 

will have less cause to be jubilant than do the men of to-day, for one step in the wrong direction renders another so easy, and the momentum 

of evil when once in motion is so irresist.ible, that none could then tell 

if the light which shall burst np from the East in a hundred years 

will throw its sheen upon that structure that towers up from our land 

to-d.ay overlooking the nations. Depend upon it that, upon this subject at any rate, the fathers were wiser than your Judiciary Committee, and that in this respect at least you can make the Constitution no better than they left it to us. If the progress of years has developed that a change in our fundamental law is necessary to secure or to carry out a principle of the 

fathers, I for one shall not be heard to object; na.y, I shall be among 

the first, in my humble way, to aid in se~uring such a change. But, 

sir, this is not an amendment to carry out but to destroy a principle 

of the fathers by limiting the prerogative of the people. Are not the 

people to be trusted f That they are not is the inference 'of this proposition. This antagonizes the views of the fathers. There is no idea. in these resolutions, nor is there anything that can be urged in their 

support, that is not incompatible with the spirit that gave birth and 

being to the Republic a hundred years ago. . To the argument that this amendment would tend to give more statesmanship and less political management in the executive office, 

I reply that it is of the very essence of republicanism, it is of the highest importance to democracy that the executive office should ever be as responsive to the will of the people as is the barometer to the imlicatious of the atmosphere. Our democracy else would be at best but a limited democracy. It may be true, as is sometimes said, that the 

people in the act of an election delegate for a period a portion of the 

sovereignty that is theirs, but it is not true that for this period their 

sovereignty is wholly lost, and that they relapse into the condition of 

subjects. No; by the powers which are reserved in their hanps tore- move t.hrougb other officers, and by the very genius of our institutions, all officers of the Government are but the agents of the people 

to carry out their will by the performance of acts which they are too numerous to do themselves as in a pure democracy. The sovereignty 

always resides with the people, and public officers are only the agents 

to enact or execute it. Hence, to follow the declared will of the people, keeping always within the Constitution, is the duty of every 

officer in a government like ours, and whatsoever will tend t.o make 

such an officer less responsive to the popular will tends to autocracy, 

and must be subversive in a greater or less degree of the idea that 

the people govern. Yet this is precisely what these resolutions propose, and this is the argument used by gentlemen to support them. 

But this is not all. Often it may occur in times of great business 

calamity or of social upheaval, like the war of the rebellion, that it 

would be disastrous to change an executive. New men mean new measures. A change signifies that the value of experience shall be 

thrown away. There was much homely wisdom in what .Mr. Lincoln 

is reported to have said in 1864, that "it is dangerous to swap horses 

while crossing a stream." The rea-son of this truth when applied to 

the Presidency is apparent. Suppose, sir, that this proposetl amendment had been a part of·the Constitution· in 1864. We scarcely dare 

to contemplate what might have been the result. Yet similar cir- cumstances may environ us again, though ·God in His infinite mercy 

graut that it may be otherwise. At any rate, let us not put it into the 

Constitution that we must commit national suicide should such an event again transpire. The dangers of which gentlemen have spoken as possible under the 

Constitution as it is are, in my judgment, wholly improbable, nay, 

absolutely impossible. Why> sir;. the people are the ma-sters here, and 

propose to remain so. Are they, with their intellirrence and might 

and with every means to prevent within their reach, to submit to ·a pervers~on of the Government f Such thing~:~ can only be suffered by a more 1gnorant and a less fortunate people than ours. Our country, 

sir, will never need a Brutus, for our people will never permit a Cresar. 

But suppose that there is some tinge of reality to the dangers which 

gentlemen apprehend. Is it not true that, by immemorial practice, 

by the usages of nearly a hundred years, the precedent of no more than two t.erms in the presidential office for one citizen bas been es· tablisbed; and it~ not this a sufficient safeguard Y As I said a moment 

since, it may occur again as in 1864 that the election of a President to a second or even to a third term may be necessary t-o the existence of 

the nation. I can conceive this as entirely possible. To provide for 

such an emergency let ns tie ourselves down by no constitutional 

amendment, but let us rather tJ:ust to the precedents of the past and to 

the good sense of ~be people to take care of their libertie . Have no fear tha.t they will not do it. They will by "eternal vigilance" take care of their liberties and show that the picture which J<"'ranklin con- templated upon the last day of the convention of 1787, as emblematic 

of the work just accomplished, wa.s a picture of the rising and not of 

the setting sun. Now, sir, a word or two more with regard to the idea that has led 

up to this proposition and I shall then have said my say. 

[Here the hammer fell.] 

:Mr. PAGE. I ask that by unanimous consent the gentleman have 

five minutes more to complete his remarks. · There was no objection, and it was so orrlered. 

Mr. WOODWOH.TH. I am very much obliged to the House for its 

courtesy. 

The charges of improper ambition on the part of our present worthy 

Chief Executive and the innuendoes of machinations on his part to se- cure the presidential chair for a third term, made not so much in the course of this debate as frequently in this House since the se ion 

began and throughout the country during a series of years by those 

opposed to the political party which elected him, have led up to the 

presentation, in serious, sober, downright earnest, of these most (langerous propositions. Sir, I cannot but regard all such charges and 

innuendoes as these as the highest injustice to a worthy, an unambitioua, and a patriotic President; a President whose administrative 

acts, when they shall have been t·aken out from the murk of partisan censure and the spume of personal animosities and ambitions and 

placed truthfully upon the pages of American history, will shine with a luster undimmed by any hint of ambition; will g1itt.er and glow 

upon those pages a-s administrations which, although surrounded by 

peculiar difficulties, nevertheless ga.ve to the countr.v results of peculiar patriotism, justice, and purity. As men of all political parties today turn ith pride to the memory of him whose venerated a-shes now sleep in the shades of the Hermitage and quote the immortal utterance, "By the Eternal, the Union must and shall be preserved," so I 

believe that in the near future men of all political creeds will point 

with pride to the two ndministrat.ions of President Grant and repeat 

the sententious utterances, "I will fi~ht it out on this line if it takes 

all summer," "Let us h:tve peace," "Let no guilty man escape." 

Sir, I voterl the other day upon the motion of some one oi the nu- merous \Varwicks upon the other side of the House, and I have at this 

moment for~ot ten whom, so immorta1 and immortalizing was the act, 

for a resolutiOn declaring against a third term. I did so because I do not 

think that the exigency isu pon us which would justify a departure from 

the time-honored practices of the past. But I here and now most solemnly declare that I believe that it would be better, far better, for the 

people of our country, better for every interest that is sacred to the 

American heart, that President Grant should be elected to a third 

term than that the chair which he now fills with such honor to the 

Republic should be occupied by a man who because of party obligation must incline his ear to the counsels of those who only twelve 

years ago stood with arms in their hands seeking to destroy this grand 

Government which our fathers !>ave to us, and who by their own con- fession are only back in the Umon again not from choice but because 

they could not help tbemsel~es. Sir, it is not in my mind to st.ir up 

the fast-dying embers of fought-out battles. We are glad to welco.me them back to the common hearth- tone. In the beginning of this new century we are ready to grasp them by the hand, and with them look 

forward int:> the future toward our common destiny as a people. To 

the spirit of conciliation we will surrender everything but the safety 

of that common future. "With malice toward none, with charity 

for all," we will go forward, but in our memories there must abide 

just enough of the sorrowful past for an assurance most absolute that it~ darker part will recur no more forever. 

Sir, I do not approve of all the acts of President Grant, or agree 

with some of his ideas touching certain economic questions, regarding 

which there is the widest diversity of opinion among men of all political parties. The leading acts of his administrations, however, I believe to have been founded and executed in wisdom, and I know that 

they are indorsed by the great national party which elected him. 

Upon what pretense of foundation are these charges made7 Sir, I 

chalJenge any gentleman upon this floor or in the whole country to 

point to a single act or utteranee of President Grant which would 

indicate that he is animated by any' ambition save always the honorable ambition to faithfully execute the laws, to stand stoadfast by 

the Constitution of the co-untry and the rights and libP:rties of the 

• 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 841 

people. That he is moved by other ambitions than these is bnt the 

wild chimera of dreaming political antagonists, fitting perhaps for the 

demagogue, but certainly unworthy an influence in this Hall. It is, 

sir, however, according t,o the eternal fitness of things that such a proposition as the one before us should be born of such a chimera. I 

trust that we shall be letl no furth'}r in this direction by the·mirage 

which appears only to the distempered visions of scheming politicians, and that these resolutions, each as it shall come up in its order, 

will be promptly voted down. 

[Here the hammer fell.] 

Mr. WELLS, of Missouri. I ask that the Hme of the gentleman from 

Ohio be. extended. 

The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Ohio does not ask any extension of time. 

Mr. KNOTT. I call the previous question on the bill. 

Mr. YOUNG. Mr. Speaker, before t.he previous que-stion is ca11ed I · desire to relieve the gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. WooDWORTH,] who 

has just spoken, of the apprehension which seems to trouble him that some one who bore arms against the Federal Government in the 

late civil war may by some chance be elected President of the United 

States when the term of t.be present incumbent shall expire. As one of the representatives of that class whose presence in this House 

excites the alarm of the gentleman from Ohio and his party friends, 

I take the responsibility of saying that there are no candidates for the 

Presidency among those to whom he refers. They are entirely willing to int.rust for the present their own fortunes and the government 

of the country in the hands of the honest and true . men of the na- tion who stood by the Union during the war and now support the 

Constitution when it is over and peace prevails throughout the land. 

The gentleman may dismiss his fears. . The previous question wa.s seconded and the main question ordered; 

and nuder the operation thereof the resolution was agreed to. 

Mr. KNOTT. Mr. Speaker, if I did not think it probable that I would 

be expected to say something in support of the proposition reported 

by the m~jority of the Committee on the Judiciary, I donotknowthat 

I would f eel disposed to add a single remark to what has already been 

said upon the question under discussion ; for I presume, sir, that 

there is scarcely an intelligent. mind either in this House or out of it 

which h~s not already re:whed a conclusion upon the subject under 

consideration which no argument of mine would be likely to alter or confifm. 

The opinion that therE~ should be some limit to eligibility to the 

chief executive offico of the Government is by no means a new one in American politics. If gentlemen wi1l turn to the Articles of Confederation they will find that by the fifth article the delegates in Congress to whom were intrusted the executive as well as the legislative 

functions of government were rendered ineligible for three years in 

every six. Moreover, if they will take the trouble to examine the 

proceedings of the convention which framed our present. Constitution, the.y will find that this idea, this mistrust of executive power, 

not only antedated the existence of that instrument, but that no question was more frequently or earnestly discussed by the illustri- ous men who composed that convention, nor one upon which there was a more remarkable concurrence of opinion than upon the very 

proposition now under consideration, tl.Jat the Chief Executive of 

tho Government should be ineligible to t.hat distinguished position 

after a single term. Indeed, the very first business proposed to that 

body was tho famous series of fifteen resolutions submitted by Mr. 

Randolph, of Virginia, the seventh of which was as follows: 

ll ~;ol ed, That a national execntive be instituted, to be chosen by t.he national 

Legislature for the term of -- years, * * * to be ineligible a second 

time, &c. 

This resolution having been earnestly discussed and maturelv con- sidered, the question was taken upon agreeing tO the clause ,·,to be 

ineligible a second time," and it was carried in the affirmative by a vote 

of almost unprecedented unanimity, only one State voting against it, 

while the delegation from another was divided. The vote was as follows: Yeas-Massachusetts]. New York, Delaware, .Mn,ryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South caroHna, and Georgia-B. Nay-Connecticut--!. Divided-Pennsylvania. Having been thns determined in 

the convention, it was referred, along with a variety of other matters, 

to the committee of five appointed to prepare a draught for a constitution, and was afterward reported back to the convention in article 

10 of tho plan submitted by them, which was a.s follows: 

ARTICLE X. 

SECTION 1. Tho executive power of the United States shall be vested in a singlo 

person. His style shall be" The President of the United States of America," and 

bis title shall be "His excellency." He shall be elected by ballot by the Legisla- ture. He shall hold his office for seven years; but shall not be elected a second time. 

Tho question as to the ntanner in which the President should be 

elected having given rise to considerable discussion and elicited a variety of conflicting opinions, the section was referred to a committee of eleven, which subsequently reported it back with a plan for 

electing the President by electors, but, for some reason which has 

never s:-et been explained so far as I know, leaving out the clause 

limiting his eligibility to a single term, notwithstanding it had been 

previously adopted by the convention by a most emphatic and decisive vote as I have already stated. 

It was that very omission, sir, which gave rise to the animadversion 

of Luther Martin in his celebrated report to the Legislature of Maryland, read by the gentleman from Indiana [1\lr. NEw] on yesterday, 

and the party to whom Luther .Martin therein alluded as being desir- ous of making the tenure of the presidential office for life was Alexander Hamilton, the ardent advocate of a strong executive government, the known and avowed friend of a qualified monarchy, and one whom I must confess I was very much surprised to hear my friend 

from Indiana quoting as authority against the propriety of limiting 

the eUgibility of the President to a single term. 

Mr. NEW. Will the gentleman permit me to interrnpt him to say 

that I did not refer to Mr. Hamilton's pJan in support of the proposition that I was favoring in my remarks. A reference to my language will show that in connection with Mr. Hamilton's name I was only enumerating the different propositions which were submitted by 

different delegates upon the suuject of the presitlential term, and 

among others gave l\Ir. Framilton's plan. · .Mr. KNOTT. Nor is this all, sir. When the Constitution was submitted to the several States for their ratification, the convent.ion of 

Virginia submitted along with its resolntion of ratifica1ion, among a variety of other propositinns, an amendment to render the President 

ineligible eight. years in every sixteen; North Carolina proposed t.hat 

be should be made ineligible for eight out of fifteen years; and New 

York insisted that. he should be forever ineligible after a single term. 

In fact, sir, from the time our Constitution was proposed down to the 

present hour there has never been a time in which the propriety of 

limiting the eligibility of the President to a single term has not attracted the attention and elicited the earnest approval of many of 

the most dist inguished American statesmen, without regard . to their 

political views in other particulars. 

The gentleman from Indiana [Mr. NEW] on yesterday cited the 

opinion of the great apostle of American democra-cy, Mr. J e:ffersou, 

and as his testimony may perhaps still meet with some consideration on this floor, I beg leave to read an extract from a letter addressed by 

him to John Adams, dated at P::nis, November 13, 1787: 

How do you like our new Constitution 7 I confess there are tbin"'S in it which 

stagger all my disposition to subscribe to what tmcb an assembly h..~ proposed. 

The 1rouse of Federal Representatives will not be adequate to the management of 

affairs either foreign or f ederal. Their President seems a bad edition of a Polish 

king. He may be elected from four years to four years for life. Reason and ex- perience prove to us that a chief magistrate so continnablo is an officer for lifo. 

When one or two generations shall have proved that this is an office for lifo, it be- comes on every occasion worthy of intrigue, of bribery, of force, ami twen of foreign interference. * "" * Once in office ana possessing tbe military force of the Union, 

without the aid or check of a council, he would not be ea~ily dethi'One<l, even if the 

people could be induced to withdraw their votes for him. I wish that at the end 

of four years they had made him forever ineligible a second time. · 

Again, in a letter addressed to Colonel Smith, he remarks: 

There are very good artit'.les in it and very bad. I do not know which preponderate. 

What we have lately reafl in the history of Holland, in the chapter on the stadtholder, would have sufficed to set me against a chief magistrate eligible for a lon~ 

duration if I had ever been disposed toward one ; and what we have always rean of t.he elections of Polish kings should have forever excluded the idea of one con- tinuable for lif~. 

Again, sir, in writing to Mr. Thomas Martin, September-20, 1813, he 

says: 

·I am for responsibilities at short periods, seeing neither reason nor safety in 

making public functionaries independent of the nation for life, or even for a long term or years. On this principle I prefer the presidential te rm of four years to that of seven years, which I myself had at first suggested, anne:ring to it, however, 

ineligibility forever after that, and I wish it were now annexed to tne second quad- r!l~l election of President. 

But, sir, a.s the very eloquent gentleman from Ohio [Mr. WooDWORTH] who bas just taken his seat ha.s invoked the shade of the 

hero and sage whose ashes sleep in the quiet precincts of the Hermitago, it may not be inappropriate for me to call his attention to tho 

repeated utterances of that great oracle of the democracy upon tho 

very question under discussion. · If he will turn to the first annual message of President Jackson 

he will find this language: 

I would therefore recommend such an amendment of the Constitution as may remove all intermediate agency in tbo election of President and Vice-President. 

The mode may be so regulated as to preserve to each State its present relative 

·weij!ht in the election; and a failure in the first attempt ma,y be provided for, by eonfin.ing the second to a choice between the two hi <Thest candidate.~. In connec- tion witli such an amendment, it would seem advisatle to limit the service of tho 

Chief Magistrate to a single term of either four or six years. If, however, it should not be adopted, it is worthy of consideration whether a provision disqualifying for 

office the Representatives in Congress on whom such an election may have devolved would not be proper. 

Again in his second annual messago he reiterates tho suggestion 

with renewed earnestness. · 

It was a. leading object with the framers of the Constitution to keep as separate as possible the aetion' of the legislative and executive branches of the Government. To secure this object, nothing is more essential than to pr·eservo the former from 

the temptations of private interest, and, therefore, so to direct the patronage of the 

latter as not to permit such temptations to be otl'erod. Experience abundantly 

demonstrates thart every precaution in this respect is a valuable safeguard of liberty, and one which, my reflections upon the tendencies of our syst-em incline me to think, should be made still stronger. It was for this reason that, in connection with 

an amendment of the Constitution removing aU intermediate agency in the choice 

of the President, I recommended some restrictions upon the re-eligibility of that 

officer, and upon the tenure of officers generally. The reason still exists, and' I renew the recommendation with an increased confidence that this adoption will 

strengthen those checks by which the Constitution designed to secure the independence of each Depart-ment of the Government and promote the healthful and 

equitable administration of all the trusts which it has created. Theagentmostlik.ely to contravene thit! design of the Constitution is the Chief Ma..,oistrate. In order, 

particularly, that ·this appointment may, as far as possible, be plaeed beyond the 

-
842 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 2, 

re..1.oh of any improper influ.enoes; in order that be may approach the solemn re- sponsibilities of the highest office in the gift of a free people nncommitt.ed to any other course than the strict line of constitutional duty, and that the securities for this independence ma_y be rendered as strong as the nature of power and the weak· ness of its possessor will admit, I cannot too earnestly invite your attention to the propriety of promoting such amendment of the Constitution as will render him in- eligible after one term of service. . 

In his third annual message he says: 

I have heretofore recommended amendments to the Fedflral Constitution giving the elect,jon of President and Vice-Presirlent to the people and limit,jug the service of the former to a single term. So important do I consider these changes in our funclamentallaw t.hat I cannot, in accordance with my sense of duty, omit to im- press them upon tho consideration of a new Congress. 

Aga.in, sir, in his fifth annual message, after he had himself been 

elected a second time, he most earnestly invited the attention of Congress to the various suggestions he had made as to the propriety and 

necessity of amendi.r;Ig the Constitution so as to limit the eligibility 

of the President to a single term, which, it will be observed, he says 

he considers "as all-important to the futur6 quiet and ha.rmony of 

the American people." He says: 

I would also call your attention to the views I have heretofore expressed of the propriety of am udin~ the Constitution in relation to the mode of electing the Pres- ldent and Vice-Presi<lent of the United States. gardin~ it as all-important to the future quiet and harmony of the people that every intermediate a crency in the election of these officers ~:~h uld be removCll and their eligibility shoul'il be limited to one term of either four or six years, I cannot too earnestly invite your conside1·· ation to the subjeut. 

But., sir, this is not all. Who is there here who has forgotten one of the most remarkable political contests that ever occurred upon the 

American continent-the memorable canvass of 1844 7 Who has forgotten the battle-cry of the great whig party, which rang ont from one end of the country to the other, "A. single term for the Presidentf '' 

One te1·m for the Pre ·ident was the watch-word at the Harrisburgh 

convention which nominated General Harrison in 1839, whose very :first 

utterance upon his inauguration was t.o echo the sentiment of his 

party, and to declare his own unalterable determination nevP.r to con- travene it by becoming a ca.ndidate a second time. 

In his inaugural address he said : 

It may be observed, however, as a general remark, that republics can commit no greater eJTor than to adopt or continue any feature in their systems of J;OVernment 

which may be calculated to create or increase the love of power in the bosoms of tho~e to whom necessity obliges them to commit the management of their affairs. 

.And surely nothing is more likely to produce such a state of mind than the long continuance of an olliceof high trust. Nothing can be more corrupting, nothing more destructive of all those no ole feelings which belong to the character of a devoted 

republican patriot. When this corrupt,jug passion once takes possession of the. human mind, like tbe love of p;olu, it becomes insatiable. It is the never-dyinp; worm on his bosom, grows with his gro,vth, and strengthens with the declinin_~ years of his victim. If this is true, it is the part of wisdom for a. r epublic to linlit tne sernce of that officer at least to whom she has intrusted the management of her foreign re- lations, the el.."CCutiou of her laws, and the command of her armies and navies to a period so short as to prevent his forgettin::Lthat he is the accow1tahle agent. not the pl'incipal; the sen·ant, not the master. until an amendment of the Constitution can be effected, public opinion may secure the desired ohjcct. I give my aid to it by renewing the pledge heretofore given, that nndor no circumstances will I con- sent to serve a second Lime. 

But, sir, I need not weary tbe House by groping amid the records of 

the -past for arguments in support of the proposition to limit the eligibility of the Presiueilt to a. single term, or for suggestions showing the 

necessity aDd importance of some such measure. I spoke yesterday 

of the singular unanimity of sentiment which I belieYed to exist all over the country upon this point, and it would seem that the dis.tingoished gentlemen who represent the other side of the House with 

such signR>l ability upon the Committee on the Judiciary are themselves convinced of the propriety of fixing some limit to the ~ligibility 

of the President, for certainly they woul<l not have reported back their 

proposition limiting it to sixye~rs unless they thought some such limitation necessary and proper. And, sir, there is another quite recent 

and somewhat remarkable event which suggests in the very strongest 

possible light the propriety of some such measure as this. On the 15th 

day of December, in the year of grace 1875, just before the early dawn 

of "this our centennial year," two hundred a.nd thirty-two gentlemen, selected from a.mong their fellow--citizens on account of their su- perior virtue, int.elJigence, and patriotism no doubt, in full view of 

the solemnity of the ouligation they had bnt,recently, with uplifted 

hands, taken upon themselves, deliberately declaredThat in the opinion of thiR House the precedent established by Washington and other Presidents of the United States in retiring from the presidential office after their second term has become by universal concurrence a part of our republican 

system of government, and that any departure from this tJme-honored custom would be umoisc~ unpat1'iotic, and fraught with peril ro O'U1'freeinstitution8." 

[Laughter.] 

It is true there were eighteen heroic gentlemen who showed by 

their votes thatthey)Verenot a particle more terrified than the Lieutenant-General of the Army of the United States wa.o;; on that memorable 

occasion when bis person was exposed to the perils of the banditti of 

New Orleans. Tltey were not afraid. [Laughter.] But, sir, when two 

hundred and thirty-two gentlemen on this floor solemnly declared that 

the continuance of a President in office for more than eight yea-rs would be "unwise, unpatriotic, and fraught with peril.to our free institutions," I presume they meant ·wha.t they said, and that they 

would do what they could to remove that. peril as far as possible by 

fixing some constitutional limit to tlle eligibility of the President. 

That they would fix tho bounds a.nd sa.y to him, "Thus far sh:1.lt thou 

go but no farther." 

The one all-sufficient rea-son for limiting eligibility to the pre_siden- tial office to a single term i~:~ stated either dii"ectly or inferentially in 

every one of the utterances to which I have called attention. It is to 

be found, sir, in the natural and almost inevitable_inclination of one in 

possession of 3D honomble and lucra.tive office to reta.in possession of it, 

and in the equally natural and probable disposition on his part nnder 

such a temptation to make use of the tremendous appliances under 

his contl·ol to perpetuate his power. It has been many and. many a time remarked that an incumbent of a good fa.t office seldom dies, a.nd never resigns; and, sir, it is true. There is s~arcelJ anything else 

within the entire range of human affection which under some circumstances may not he surrendered with cheerfulness. Friends, homo, 

country, and even life it-self may be given up without a murmur; but 

the disinterested patriot once in possession of a good paying public 

office hangs on to it with a grim -determination and a deathless con · stancy that would have added a brighter l.Jalo to tlle crown of a. Christian martyr, [la.ughter,] especially when his salary is $50,000 a year; 

when he is supplied with a palace maintained in a style of luxury of 

which Lucullus himself never dreamed, furnished, repaired, and 

heated at an annual expense of 25,000; where the very air he breathes 

is redolent with the perfume of rare exotics prop::~ gated in a :fi.fty-:fi.vetllous::md-dollar greenhou e, maintained out of the public Treasury at · an expense of $5,000 per annum, [laughter;] an office in which he has 

his writing done by a private secretary on a salary of 3,500 a year, 

with an assistant secretary on a salary of $2,500 to do the writing of 

the private secretary, [Jaugbter,] and two clerks at $4,500 to do the 

writing of the assistant secretary, [renewed laughter;] where he ha-s a steward a.t 2,000 per annum to purvey for his table the choice ·t 

wines and the daintiest viands that can either tempt or satiate the 

appetite, and where he is allowed $o,OOO a year for books, papers, 

periodicals, telegrams, and "general contingencies." What general 

contingencies may include I do not know, but let us thanl'- God for 

the contingencies anyhow. [Laughter.] Why, Mr. Speaker, if the 

children of Israel sighed for the "flesh-pots," the leeks and onions and. 

garlic and other beggarly concomitants of their bondage in E&rypt, 

what must be the emotions of a sensitive and patriotic soul on con- templating a last, long farewell to a salary and perquisites like these f 

[Laughter.] Now, sir, I ask gentlemen who would lengthen the· present term of the presidential office to go home to their honest-hearted, 

hard-working, over-taxed constituents and explain to them if they can why it is that four years are not a. sufficient length of time for any one American citizen to enjoy the luxuries I have mentioned. 

Ah! but say gentlemen on the other side, we want the benefit of 

the President's experience after a four-years term fo1· a.nother term of 

similiar duration; that of all the offices in the gift of the American 

people there is no other in which experie-nce is so necessary as in the 

office of Pre8ident; that the greater experience the incumbent may 

have had as Presiuent the better President he will make. But if this 

is true, by w bat process of reasoning can they justify their votes upon 

the anti-third-term resolution t Will not General Grant at the end 

of his eight years, with all his w;peri.ence, be a. far uetter President 

tha.n he was when yon first elected him f Then why S..'1Y that it would 

be "unwise, unpatriotic, and fraught with peril to our free institutions" to continue him in office when we stand so much in need of 

his vast experience f 

But I ask gentlemen to point out a. solitary instance in wliich the 

last year of the administration of any President has been more satisfactory to the people than the :first. . .. Mr. GARFIELD. Would you apply that remm-k to the second term 

of General Jackson f 

Mr. KNOTT. Does the gentleman mean to say that General Jack- son was any better President th~ last year of his administration than 

he was the fin~t year! That is t.he question. 

]')lr. GARFIELD. The gentleman will allow me to say that I think 

General Jackson's second term was much more illustrious than his 

first, and that the country recalls far more gratefully the things he 

a-chieved in his second term than those he accomplished in his first. 

I am not now discussing the general results of the gentlernaD's argument, but only the historical point that he has incidentally touched 

upon. 

Mr. KNOTT. But, sir, if the argument is sound that a man who 

)las had no experience as President is not qualified for the office, we had better establish a school for the especial purpose of training pre~->idential aspirants at once. [Laughter.] \Ve had better set up some such institut-ion as the one we have a.t West Point to supply our Army with commanders, which has now, as I am informed, only one commissioned officer to every eleven men. I am corrected," sir, uy 

the honorable chairman of the Committee ou Military Affairs, who 

tells me we hav"' only one commissioned officer for every six men. 

[Laughter.] 

But where, sir, let me ask, did. all the illustrious ~:~tatesmen who 

have filled the presidential chair acquire their experience a~; Presidents before they were elected 7 'Vhero <lid the hero of l\ew Orleans 

receive his training, and iu what school did our present gifted Execntlvo learn the art and mystery of preRiding over the destiilies of forty 

millions of people~ Sir, gentlemen will pardon me, I hope, if I suggest that snch au argnment seems to me to bo somewhat specious. 

Moreover, sir, it has been urged with a. great deal of zealand ea.rnest- ness by gentlemen on the other side, and especially by the very elo- quent ~entlema.n.who was last up, that the time ma.y come when the 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 843 

very necessities of the case will imperatively demand that we should 

re-elect a President a second or even a third time; but I deny that there ever was or ever will be such a condition of our people or our public 

affairs that only one man can be found out. of the millions of our citizens, only one man capable of discharging the duties of the presidency. 

If such a time should ever arrive, then, sir, the American people will 

be unfit for freemen, utterly unw01thy of their liberties. I know it has 

been sometimes suf(J'gested that such an overshadowing necessity bas 

really existed, but will venture the aasertion that if the truth could 

be ascertained such suggestions have invariably had their origin in 

the brain of the incumbent of the office. It was considered absolutely 

necessary that :Marins should be elected to the consulate a second 

time in violation of the Roman constitution because of the threatenin(J' approach of the Cimbri, and he cantinu.ed to be elected for five su~ces..'livetimes; and I have nodoubtin the world that when the chair- man of the convention notified him 'that be had been nominated for 

the third term, he wrote to him that he" did not desire the nomination 

then any more than he did the first tin1e." [Laughter.] Neverthe· 

less he took it. 

Again, sir, it is argued on the other side that this :measure indicates a distrust of either the virtue or the intelligence of the people-that 

it is to limit the choice of the people. But nothing could possibly be 

further from either its intendment 01: its effect. It is designed solely 

for tbfl protection of the people from the encroachments of executive 

ambition and power. I aumit that if the-people primarily determined 

the question as to who should be their President, it would go far to 

ward answering a great many objections to the unlimited re-eligibility to that office which now exists; but we all know that such is not 

the case, or at least only to a very limited extent. We know that the 

presidential candidate is thfl creature of the convention, which is 

itself the creature of State conventions, which in their turn are the 

offspring of county caucuses, in which the great mass of the people 

have but little, if any, participation whatever. 

Under such circumstances it is not at all difficult to see how the 

forebodings of Mr. Jefl"erson may be realized, that a President may be 

elected from four years to four years during life if he should be disposed to make use of the appliances at his command. Sir, if :Mr. 

Jefferson, who saw from afar t.he dangers lurking in there-eligibility 

of the President, if he could realize those dangers as vividly as he seems to have done under the circumstances by which he was sur- rounded, with what emotions of alarm would he.contemplate the con- . dition of thiugs as it now exists! 

Last yeru· there was wrung mainly from the labor of this count.ryand that, too, through the instrumentality of an indirect, insidious, 

and cunningly devised system of taxation which holds the anesthetic t~ the nose of the tax-payer while pillaging his pockets of his bard 

earnings-the enormous sum of $:l84,020,770, which was collected 

and disbursed mainly through the agency of, and in a great part 

to, a vast army of office-holders, almost asinnum~rable as theswarmsof 

frogs which infested Egypt in the days of Pharaoh; every oue of whom 

is dependent either directly or indirec.tly upon the presiuential fiat 

for the breath of his official existence. There is the Secretary of St.ate, 

at the head of his division of milli!:lters, and consuls-general, and con- suls, and consular a~ents, and clerks; and there is the Secretary of 

the Treasury, with his vast retinue of subordinates, his commissioners, 

deputy commissioners, supervisors, and collectors, and deputy collectors, his comptrollers, and his auditors, his surT"eyors, and assessors, and so on, from the assistant secretary down to the still-bouse watchman; 

and there is the Secretary of the Interior, with his commissioners, his 

pension agents, his Indian agents, and so on; and there is the AttorneyGeneral, with his district attorneys, his m:.trshals, and his deputy mar- shals; and there is the Postmaster-General, with his thirty-five thousand postmasters, besides his special agents, a.nd his general agents, 

aud hisrout.e-agents, permen.ting the country everywher-e and in eT"ery 

city, town, village, and neighborhood throughout the land; and there 

is the S_ecretary of the Navy, with his hosts of employes in every navyyard upon our coasts. Yes, sir; there they all are, subject to the or- ganization and m·ill of a thoroughly disciplined Army. Does it need 

any argument to prove that a President disposed to use such tremendous appliances for the perpetuation of his own power, and capable 

of doing so with skill, could not if he chose be !'resident for life f 

Do yon tell me there is no danger of such an organization being used 

for political purposes f Why, sir, I would ask if the salary of a solitary one of this vast army of office-holders, even down to .the "sair won penny fee" of the Depart.ment clerk, escaped assessment for polit.ical purposes during the last canvass, or will escape assessment 

for the one to come T 

But, sir, if the shade of Jefferson would be alarmed by this pamde 

of officials, all dependent upon the will and power of the President., how much greater would be his consternation to find the expenditures 

of the Government-! mean the net ordinary expenditures-for tho 

last six years over 2,000 per cent. greater than for the whole eight 

years of his own administration 'f Yet such is the fact. What would 

General Jackson say, think you, if he could come back to earth a.nd 

find, upon looking over the report of the Secr-etary of the Treasury, 

that, while the net ordinary expenditures of the Government dming 

the whole eight years of his administration amounted to only $122,-

543,941, the same character of expenditures during the la.st six yea.rs have reached the incalculable sum of $1,021,344,659; and that., in the 

most economical of all the years of the present Admjnistration, the 

net ordinary expenditures of the Government were $30,617,000 more than d~ITing the entire eight years of his own administration 'f 

Sir, I call attention to these facts not only to ilinstrate the enor- mous power of money as well as of numbers now wielded by a single 

hand of thiR Government, but to furnish another answer to the objection which gentlemen have urged against the report of the majority 

of the committee that four years is t.oo short a time for one man to 

occupy the presidential chair. I do it in order to show the extre~e 

importance of calling every officer, even the President, to as frequent · and as speedy an accountability as possible to their masters, the people; the propriety of having a frequent and a thorough overhauling 

of the books. And besides, sir, it may be possible-I do not say that 

it ever has happened or that it will happen-yet it may be possible 

that at some time or other we may be so un_fortunate as to elect a bad man to the Presidency, of whom we would wish to be rid as soon as consistent with public convenience; consequently the shorter the 

term the better in that regard. 

There is one other obj ectwn urged by the other side aga.inst thereport of the cowmittee whicb I desire to notice very briefly and then 

I wi.ll be done, and that is that, if the resolution shall be adopted as reported, it will renuer ineligible any Vice-President upon whom the 

office of President may devolve, even though it should be but for a single day. That is precisely what the proposed amenurnent is designed to do, aud exactly what will be it-s effect if adopted, and it is 

precisely as I would have it. The arguments of gentlemen on the ot her side seem to proceed ent.irely upon the hypothesis that this 

Government was not made for the benefit of the people at all, but 

merely for the purpose of affording an opportunity for gratifying the · ambition of a few aspiring men. All the answer I desire to make to 

this objection, therefore, is simply to say that the occupancy for four 

years of the next highest office in the gift of the American people, 

with its salary and perquisites, especially when he has reached the 

T"ery summit, and has enjoyed the very highest honor that can be bestowed under our Government, ought to be enough to satisfy any one citizen, and there will be no difficulty in finding an abundance of able 

and patriotic gentlemen who will be glad to accept the Vice-Presidency even on these terms. At any rate I feel persuaded that a large 

majority of the distinguished gentlemen on this floor would be satisfied to have it even under the amendment a-s proposed by the committee. 

Now, :Mr. Speaker, I was about to say that I regret that I have nQt 

at command any of those beautiful and eloquent platitudes with 

which we are so frequently regaled on this floor '"Yith which to round 

off my remarks in a sublime peroration; but, on reconsideration~ I 

believe I do not regret it. I am simply a plain, blunt man, who speaks 

right on tb,e things I do know. Andeven if I bad the marvelous eloquence of some of the gentlemen around me I would hesitate to use . it, especially on this occa-sion. 

This is of all questions the one upon which every gentleman ought 

to bring to bear a cool, calm, deliberate judgment, as I am persuaded 

every one will. Personally I have no interest whatever more than 

any other citizen of the country as to the fate of this measure. I present it as the organ of the committee of which I am a member, and 

I present it as the result of my own deliberate, carefully mature.d 

judgment, leaving every other gentleman to act upon it as he may- think proper. 

I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Kansas, [Mr. 

PHILLIPS.] 

Mr. P1fiLLIPS, of Kansas. 'l'he gentleman from Kentucky, the 

chairman of the committee who made this r-eport, has truly said that 

until the committee of eleven in the Fecleral Convention on September 

4,1787, reported a four-year term, the old convention in framing the 

Constitution had voted some six or seven times for a clause providing 

that t.he occupant of the presidential chair should be ineligible to re- election. The gentleman from Kentucky has not said that in every one of those votes the term voted for and adopted was a longer term 

than four years. 

I believe the question was introduced into that convention on the 

1st of June, 1787, when the term proposed was aseven-yearsterm, on which proposition and ineligibility for re-election the States of New 

Ycrk, Pennsylvania-, Delaware, New Jersey, and Virginia, five States, 

voted for it; Conn!3cticut! North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia 

against it; Mass:ichusetts divided. Upon the next day they again 

voted on the same proposition·, a seven-years term with ineligibility. 

At that time the vote stood: Massachusetts, New York, Delaware, 

Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, So nth Carolina, seven, for it; and 

against it, Connecticut and Georgia; Pennsylvania divided. Again, 

there was a motion made on the 17th of July to give the occupant of 

the presidential chair a term during good behavior. This received 

only two votes. And all through the sittings of the convention, until 

the committee of eleven reported, there was a nu,mber of votes on a seven-years term and ineligibility to re-election. There was one proposition for a term of six years, which was adopted with but two dissentient votes. This proposition also provided ineligi bill ty for re-elMtion. 

The committee of eleven reporterl, as I have said, on September 4 

in favor of a term of four years, but the report was silent on the question of re-eligibility. When the proposition was submitted to the sev- eral States, as the gentleman stated, the State of Virginia demurred, as other States did, an amendment providing ineligibility. But tho 

Constitution was submitted to those States as a whole. There was 
844 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 2, 

no opport11nity for those States t{) demand a division of the question i Mr. GARFIELD. Is the previous question operating on the amend· 

and tllis proposition was involved in the proposition whether we should meut only, or on both the amendme~ t and the original joint resolnhave a Fedeml Government. It cannot therefore be inferred, because tion' · the Constitution as a whole was adopted, that this fea,tnre of it met The SPEAKER. On both. 

wit.h the approval of the people or State at that time. . ' Mr. GAHFIELD. The gentleman from Indiana [Mr. HOL"i\IAN] sug- We have, therefore, the judgment rendered in some seven votes of gets t.hat it be under tood that the previous question shall apply 

that conveution for a seven-years term, and one vote for a six-years only upon the pending amendment, so that other amendments may be 

term, the occupant rendered ineligible to re-election in all these. cases offer ed. 

anrl this report finally adopted, which was silent on the question of re- The SPEAKER. Does the gentleman from Kentucky consent to 

eligibility, left t.he question before us as we find it. The report of the thn.t unflerstamling f 

committee of eleven involved many separate propositions which had Mr. HOLMAN. I ask the gentleman from Kentucky that the preexcited<liscussion. Nothing indicates why this report was made by vious q 11estion be confined to the pencling amendment, so that all 

the committee. The proposition for four years bad uever at any time these other various propo itions may be voted on. been adopted by the convention, and first appe:uefl in this report, Ur. REAGAN. I ask the gentleman from Kentncl{y to consent 

which was submittecl as a whole. In all the votes of the convention that my amendment be read for informn,tion. 

they had adopted the fe.ature of rendering the President ineligible to Mr. JONES, of Kentucky. Lmake the point of order that it is imre-election. This had been discussed. The report changed the action possible to hear what is goirig on owing to the confusion prevailing 

of the convention in both, and f.he adoption of that report was doubt- in the HalL · less the result of a, necessity for compromise. As the gentleman from The SPEAKER. The point of order is well taken. Gentlemen 

Kentncky said, it was inexplicable. will be in order. ' 

I sha.U favor, and have risen to favor, the proposition of the minor- The Cba.ir will now inquire again whether the gentleman fmm R:onity of t.be committee, made by the gentleman from Maine, for the tucky [Mr. &~OTT] yields for any modification of tho existing order f 

reasons involved in arguments which have been given, but I differ Mr. KNOTT. I do not. 

from the gentleman who offered it in what he stated as the wishes of 1\Ir. REAGAN. I nnderstanrl that there is a little of the hour of the 

the people on the subject. I think the public sent.iment of the coun- gentleman from Kentucky which has not been exhausted. I will ask 

try wishes to be rid of this disturbing question, and settle it definitely that in what little time remains to him he will a,llow me to have my 

by constitutional amendment. The personal question supposed to be amendment read. 

involved in it is not really involveJl in if:. There is no personal qnes- The SPEAKER. The ~entleman from Texas is mistaken. The time 

tion involved. It is a simple, plain proposition, and refers to no man. of the ~entleman from Kentucky has expired. 

There ha been no 1·eason for the assaults or the praise that any man Mr. REAGAN. Then it ha:s been since thls colloquy commenced. 

elect-ed to the Presidency has received in tbi connection. No man The SPEUER. It ha:s expired. 

bas indicated a <lesire for r e-election to a third term, and the abuse of 1\Ir. RANDALL. I would like to appea,l to the gentleman from 

the press has been a gratuitous as it. was unjnst. But the proposition Kentucky [Mr. KNOTT] to allow an amendment to his report, so that 

before us meets, I am snre, the approval of tl.Je whole people of these we shall have an opportunit.y of adopting hls joint resolution with 

United States, anrl it is to settle di::;tinctly in the Constitution that the single cba~,pe making the term six years instead of four. 

which was omitted by its framers, and provide for a single term. The Mr. REAGA~. That is precisely my amendment, and I can say to 

assertion that it limits the power of the people has no force. All con the gentleman from Kentucky tha.t he will embarrass himself and 

stitutionalpruvisionsandnll regubtionsforelectionsarelimits. Tofol- others if he does not admit it. 

low the course indicated wonld be to allow mass conventions at any The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Kentucky declines to yield 

moment to elect such officers as they pleased. The will of the people for t.hat purpose. 

is law, but the people provide limitations a to the mode of its exer- 1\fr. KASSON. Then, sir, to test the sense of the Honse, I move to 

cise in constitutions; for nothing is law nor ca,n ha>e the sanctity reconsider the vote by which the main question was or<lered. 

thereof, but the will of the people legitimately expressed. The question was taken, and the motion was agreed to. · Tl.Jis question left open was deC-ided in the :Farewell .Address of Mr. REAGAN. I now offer the following amendment as a. substiWashington in these patriotic words in which be declined re-elec- tute both for the original report of the committee and the pending 

tion, and which have gone down not only into the history of your amendment: . 

country but into the bosoms of the Ame1ican people as the great un- That no person who has held or may hereafter hold the office of Presi(lent sha.U 

written law of the land. No ma,n bas ever been elected to a, third ever hereafter be eligible to said office. 

term. We propose in this instance t{) fix it distinctly and to get rid That the term of office of President and Vice-President of the United States 

of what is now a distuTbing element. I differ from the gentlemen shall be six years. 

who think it is a quesUon which we ought not to discuss. I think it 1\Ir. Speaker I desire to say a few words only. I have not paris a question which it is right to discuss. I think it is a question ticipated in this debate, and I shall not now participate in the diswhich is proper to be met, and I think it is best met by the proposi- cnssion of the general question. I a.m not satisfied with th~ amendtion of the minority of the committee reported by the gentleman from ment to the Constitution propo ed by the majority of the Committee 

Maine. on the Judiciary, nor do I feel satisfied with the amendment offered 

1\ir. KNOTT. Have I any time left! by the minority. I therefore offer this amendment, which will take 

The SPEAKER 1n·o tempore, (lli. IIALE.) The gentleman ha.s ten effect. from its adoption, if it shall be adopted. I desire to see the 

minut-es of his time left. presidential term made for six years and for .a single term. 

Mr. KNOTT. I call for a vot-e. The SPEAKER. Ina.smnch as the Chair has not been occupying 

:Mr. REAGAN. I ask the chairman of the Judiciary Committee to the chair during the whole of this discussion he desires to inquire 

allow mo to submit an amendment. I am not satisfied with the amend- whether t.he amendment offe.red by the gentleman from Texas [Mr. 

ment precisely that is proposed, nor am I satisfied with the amend- REAGAN] is offered as a snbstitute to the original bill or as an amendment to the amendment r eported by the minority, and I desire to have ment t{) tho snb titute of the gentleman from l\Iaine, [1\fr. FRYE Y] · an opportunity to report an amendment which covers my views and 1\fr. REAGAN. I o1fererl it as a. substitute for tl.Je original bill and 

which I think covers the views of several other members. the substitute of the gentlema.u from Maine. 

Mr. KNOTT. The previous question has been sustained, and I have The SPEAKER. That is in order. no further control over the joint resolution in regard to admitting Mr. HU.NTO.N. I desire to ask the gentleman from Texas a single 

amendments. question. Suppose his amendment prevails, whn.t effect would it have 

Mr. REAGAN. Am I not in order to offer an amendment now f on the term commencing the 4th of March, 1877f 

The SPEAKER pro tempore, (Mr. HAr.E.) No further amendment Mr. REAGAN. If it should be adopted before that time it wonld 

is iu order, the previous question having been sustained. exclude any one from being e)ecteu to the Presidency who has occu- .Mr. REAGAN. May I have my a,mendment read, and then ask pied the presidential chair heretofore. 

unanimous consent to have a, vote taken upon it. 1\fr. HUNTON. But suppose the amendment be adopted after the 

Mr. HOLMAN. I trust t he gentleman from Kentucky will confine presidential election and before the inauguration of the President 

the operation of the previous question to the pending amendment, so elected, wl!at eft"ect will it then have on the term of the President 

that the various amendments may be submitted and voted on one elected but not yet inaugurated f 

after another. }.lr. REAGAN. I have not considered that question, but I do not 

Mr. GARFIELD. I think the gentleman from Kentucky bad bet- conceive that it could affect the term of the President elected under 

ter agree to that, that the operation of the previous question shall the previous provision of the Constitution. 

be considered as applying to the pending amendment alone. ~Ir. HUNTON. I suggest to the gentleman that he perfect his 

The SPEAKER, (having resumed the chair.) The Chair under- amendment, by saying that it shall not go into operation until the 

stands the present situation to be this: That the gentleman from 4th of March, 1881, so a not to affect the President to be elected for 

Kentucky demanded the previous question on the original joint reso- the next term~ . lution a.nd the amendmenfi of the gentleman from Maine [Mr. FR1."E] I Mr. REA GAL~. I prefer submitting the amendment in the form in 

representing the minority of the Committee on the Judiciary. which it now stands, but I ha,ve no objection to the gentleman offerMr. HOLMAN. Was the previous question called on the whole of ing an amendment to"th:1t effect. · . the pending measuref Mr. KASSON. I call for the reading of the substitute of the genThe SPEAKER. The Chair docs not understand that anything is I tleman from Maine [Mr. FRYE] a,nd then of the a,mendment offered 

pending befcre the House except the original joint resolution and the by the gentleman from Texas. · · 

amendment offered by the gentleman from Maine. The Clerk again read the amendments. 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 845. 

Mr. KASSON. Now, Mr. Speaker, I desire to move the previous 

question, but before doing so I yield for a. moment to the gentleman 

from Maine, [Mr. FRYE.] 

Mr. FRYE. I desire to say simply a word rela.t.i veto the proposition 

of the gentleu,an from Texas. There are fatal objections to it, and 

this would be fatal; the question asked by the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. HUNTON] was, doe.s this affect the next presidential term, 

does it extend the term of four years to six Y Now, the moment you 

go to the people of this country with a question of that ma-gnitude 

undecided, unsettled, it is utterly fatal, and the adoption of that 

amendment by the people will be u~terly {l.nd entirely hopeless. 

Then again, if it is decided that it does affect the next presidential 

term, extending it from four to six years, as I said yesterday, you go 

then to the people, a.nd the majority who elect the next President 

would every single man of them vote for the proposition and every man of the minority would vote against it, because it would be an extension of the term of the President already elected representing 

the majority. 

Now, the opposition of any minority so large as that represented by 

either political party in this country would be utterly fatal to the 

adoption of an amendment of this character. Why, sir, if any amendment making a six-years term is to go to the people with the slightest 

hope or expectation of its adoption by the people, you must inevitably remove it beyond the influence of the next eight years or the next 

two terms. 

Mr. REAGAN. I will modify my amendment in accordance with 

the suggestion of the gentleman from Virginia, [Mr. Hu~"TON,] and 

that will obviate the objection of the gentleman from Maine, [Mr. 

FRYE,] so as to provide for its taking effect, if adopted, from and after 

March 4, 1881. 

Mr. FRYE. Then does not "the gentleman put t.he matter in precisely this position: that the next man elected President of the United 

States of all the men elected or to be elected will be the one man limited to a term of foru· years f And will not all the friends of that 

President so elected say that "this is an invidious distinction against our President, and therefore we will vote against this amendment;" 

and will not that prevent its adoption by three-fourths of the States T 

Mr. REAGAN. I do not think that a just argument against my 

amendment as modified. If the one who shall be elected President 

under the Constitution shall bold his office for the constitutional term 

of four years, neither.he nor his friends can complain. \Ve are not 

proposing an amendment to suit the views or aspirations of any single person or party, but to conserve the public liberties of this country. 

1\lr. KASSON. I propos() to move the previous question, but I will 

avail myself of this opportunity to say a single word. For the first 

time in the history of this country it is proposed to amend the Constitution so as to limit the rights of the people and to take away 

fi·om them the reserved right they now have in their choice of President. For that reason I have entertained serious doubts as to the 

propriety of adopting any_ of these propositions. I agree. with the 

gentleman from Maine [Mr. FRYE] that fue proposition Last submitted by the gentleman from Texas [Mr. REAG.L"'i] can hardly receive 

the sanction of the House. Aooordiugly I call for the previous question in order that we come to a vote upon the several propositions now pending. 

Mr. NEW. Would it be in order to move to recommit this whole 

subject to the Committee on the JudiciaryT 

Mr. KASSON. I think that. motion would not be in order pending 

my call for the previous question. 

Mr. NEW. I desire to make that motion. 

Mr. KASSON. I will withdraw the call for the previous question in order t.hat the motion to recommit may he in order. 

Mr. NEW. I move to recommit the joint resolution and pending 

amendments to the Committee on the Judiciary without instructions. 

Mr. KA.S~ON. I now repew my call for the previous question. 

Mr. FRYE. Being opposed to any amendment to the Constitution 

of this character, I wish to say that, as one of the minority of the 

Committee on tile Judiciary, so far as I am personally concerned I am in favor of the motion to recommit. 

The previous question was then seconded. 

The main question was ordered upon a division-ayes 127, noes 42. 

The question wa.s then taken upon the motion to recommit; and 

upon a division there were-ayes 93, noes 79. 

Before the result· of the vote was announced, 

Mr. KNOTT called for the yeas and nays. . Mr. HOSKINS. I desire to make a parliamentary inquiry. I would 

like to have the Speaker state to the House,so that wecannll understand, whether, if the motion to recommit shall be voted down, the 

previous question having been of'4ered, the House will theft. be brought 

-to a direct vote first upon the amendments and then upon the joint 

resolution itself f 

The SPEAKER. If the motion to recommit shall fail, the Chair 

understands that the joint resolution will remain before the House. 

Mr. HOSKINS. To be vo~d upon directly, first the amendments 

and then the ,joint rellolution' . :Mr. GARFIELD. The :previous question will operate until the final 

action of the Honse upon the joint resolution. 

The SPEAKEH. The Chair is of opinion that if the motion torecommit shall fail the previous quest.ion will have exhausted itself, 

au<l the joint resolution will remain before the House. 

. Mr. HOSKINS. That is the very point upon which I wish to have 

the ruling of the Chair. With the permission of the Chair I will say 

that, in my opinion, the previous question having been called and or- dered upon the motion to-recommit, if that motion shall fail, then t.he 

previous question will attach to the joint resolution and the House 

will be at once brought to a vote first upon the amendments and then 

upon the joint resolution itself; all further opportunity for amendment will be cut off. · . . The SPEAKER. The Chair does not understand the previous question to relate to the joint resolution and pending amendments, but 

only to the motion to recommit. 

Mr. KASSON. The Chair is correct, for I confined the call for the 

previous question particularly to the motion to recommit. 

The SPEAKER. That is the understanding of the Chair; Tho 

question now is upon the call of the gentleman from Kentucky [1\Ir. 

KNOTT] for the yeas and nays upon the motion to recommit. 

Mr. RANDALL. I would suggest to the gentleman from Kentucky 

that it might be a saving of time to take the vote by tellers insteacl 

of calling the yeas and nays. 

l\lr. KNOTT. I prefer to have the yeas and nays at once. Mr. HOSKINS. With all due deference to the C~air, I hold that, 

the previous question having been ordered, it cannot exhaust itself 

upon the motion to recommit unless that motion shall bo carried_. It 

necessarily applies to the motion to recommit; but should that mo- tion fail, then it will also att:l.ch to the joint resolntion, and not be 

exhausted until the final.vote upon that joint resolution. Even if 

the gentleman fi·om Iowa [Mr. KAsso~] ma-de the call for the pre· 

vions question to apply directly to the motion to recommit, the pre· 

vious qqestion cannot be exhausted there, and is not exhausted thero 

should the motion to recommit be voted down. 

Mr. RANDALL. It is not necessary to decide that point at this 

time. 

l\lr. HOSKINS. But its decision might influence somewhat the 

votes of members upon tho pending motion. 

The SPEAKER. The first question is, Will the House order the 

yeas and nays upon the motion to recommit f 

The yeas and nays were ordered. 

The question was -ken; and there were-yeas 127, nays 127, not 

voting 36; as follows: 

YEAS-Messrs. Adams, Atkins, George A. Bagley, John H. Baker, William H. 

Baker, Ballou., Banklil, Barnum, Blair, Bradley, William R. Brown, Horatio C. Burchard, Burleigh, William P. Caldwell, Campbell, Cannon, Chittenden, Con~er, 

Crapo, Culberson, Darrall, Davy, Denison, Durand, Durham, Eames, E)rbert, Ellis, 

Ely, Farwell, Forney, Foster, Franklin, Freeman, Frost, Frye, Garfielu, Gibson, 

Goodin, Robert Hamilton. Hamlson, Benjamin W. Harris, Hathorn, Hend&', IIenderson, Ilenkle, Hooker, Hoskin.'!, Hou.se, Hubbell, Hunwr, Hurlbut, Joyce, Kasson, 

K etchum, Kimball, Ki~, George M. Landers, Lapham, Leavenworth, Lewis, Lutt.rell, Lynch, Edmund w. M. :Ma-cker, Len A. Mackey, .Magoon, MacDougall, McDill, Me Farlanll, Miller, Monro~, Nash, N e.al, New, Norton, O'.Brien, O'Neill, Pa-cker, 

Page, Pierce-, 'Plaisted, Platt~ Potter, Powell, Pratt, Rainey, John Reilly, Roberts, 

Robinson, Sobieski Ross, Rusk, Sampson, Seelye, Singleton, Sinnickson, Smalls, 

A. Herr Smith, William E. Smith, Southard, Strait, Stowell, Teese, Thomas, Thornburgh, Troclnnorton, Martin I. Townsenll, Washington Townsend, Tufts Van . Vorhes, Waldron, .A..}(IxanderS. Wallace, Walls, Warren, Wheeler, Wb.ite,Wbiting, Willard, Charles G. Williams, James D. Williams, Jeremiah N. Williams, William 

ll. Williams, James Wilson, Fernando Wood, Woouburn, Woodworth, Yeates, and 

Younj!-127. 

NAYS-Messrs . .Ainsworth, Anderson, Ashe, Bagby, John H. ~ley,jr., Banning, Beebe, Bell, Blaokburn, Bland, Boone, Bradford Brij!ht, John Young Brown. 

Samuel D. Burchard, Cabell, John H. Caldwell, Candler, Uate, Caulfield, ,John n: 

Clarke of Kentucky, John B. Clark, jr., of Missowi, Clvmer, Cochrane, Collins, 

Cook, Cowan, Crounse, Cutler, Davis, De Bolt., Dibrell, Douglas, Dunnell, Etlen, 

Faulkner, Felton, Fort, Fuller, Gause, Glover, .Andrew H. Hamilton, Hancock, 

Hardenbergh, Henry R.Han-is, John T. Harris, Harrison, Hartzell, Hatcher, ITay- monu, Hereford, Abram S.llewitt, Goldsmith W. Hewitt, Hill, Holman, Hophl.Iis, 

Hunton, IIurd, HJman, Thomas L. Jones, ICehr, Knott, Franklin Lan•lers, Lane, 

Lawrence, Levy, Lord, Lynue, Maish, :McCrary, McMahon, Meade, Metcalfe, MilJiken, Mills, Morey, Moren. Morrison, Mutchler, Odell, Oliver, Parsons, Payne, Phelps, John F. Philips, william A. Phillips, Piper, Poppleton, Randall, Rea"'an, 

Rice, Ridclle, John Robbins, William M. Robbins, Miles Ross, Savage, Sayler, S@les, 

Schu.maker, Slemons, Sparks, Springer, Stenge•·, Stevenson, Stone, Swann, Tarbox, 

Terry, Thompson, Tucker, Turney, John L. Vance,-Robert B. Vance, Waddell, 

Charles C. B. Walker, Gilbert C. Walker, Wallin~, Walsh, Wa.rd, Era.stu.s Wells, 

G.WileyWells, Whitehouse, Wigginton, Wike, Alpheu.sS. Williams, James Will· 

iams, Willis, Wilshire, and Benjamin Wilson-127.· NOT VOTING-Messrs. Ba~s. Blaine, Bliss, lllount. Buckner, Cason, fla.'lwell, 

Chapin, Cox, Danford, Dobbins, Evans, Goode, Gunter, Hale, Hartridge, Hays, Hoar, Ho~e, Jenks, Frank Jones, Kelley, Lamar, Money, Pmman, Rea, James B. Reilly, 

Schleicher, Sheakley, John W. Wallace, Whitthorne, Andrew Williams, and AL'ln 

Wood, jr.--36. 

During the roll-call the following announcements wore made: 

Mr. VAN VORHES. My colleague, Mr. DANFORD, requested me to 

state upon any call of the yeas and nays that. he is absent by order of 

thA House upon a committee. 

Mr. ATKINS. My colleague, Mr. WHITTHO&.."'iE, is absent with a committee that has gone to Norfolk. · 

.Mr.HUNTON. Mycollcague,Mr.GoonE,isdetainedfromthoHouso 

by sickness. . 

Mr. HUNTER. :My colleague, Mr. CASON, is quite ill; that is tho reason of his absence. · 

The roll-call being concluded, 

The SPEAKER said: Upon this question the yeas are 127 and the 

nays 127. The Chair votes ''nay." So the pendinO' bill and the sqb. 

stitute therefor are not recommitted. The Chair holds, upon reflection, that t.his is not a case in which the gentleman moving the previous question could limit the effect thereof. · Therefore the question !!OW is first upon the substitute offered by the gentleman from Texas, 

[Mr. REAGA..."{.] 
846 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 2, 

The substitute was read, as follows: 

That no person who bas beld or may hereafter bold the office of President sba.U eYer he• eafter be eligible to snid office. That the term of office of President and Vice-President of the United States shall be six years from and af-ter the 4th of March, le81. 

Mr. REAGAN. I ca.U for the yeas a.nd nays on this amendment. 

The yeas and nays were ordered. 

Mr. :kASSON. It occurs to me that there is a verbal error in the 

amendment just read. It declares that no person who may" hereafter" be elected President shall " hereafter " be eligible. There is 

evidently a mistake. 

1\fr. REAGAN. If there be no object-ion, I will modify my amendment by substituting the word'' thereafter" for "hereafter" where 

it occurs the second time. 

There being no objection, the amendment was modified accordingly. 

Mr. LAWRENCE. I would like to make an inquiry as to the efiect 

of tills proposition. Would t-his exclude from the right to be elected 

to the office of President a person who, having been elected VicePresident, had succeeded to the office of President and had served, it 

may be, only a month f 

Mr. HURLBU',f. I object to debate. . The SPEAKER. The yea,s and nays have been ordered, and the 

roll-call will proceed. · The question was taken; and there were-yeas 71, nays 184, not 

voting 35 ; as follows: 

YEAS-Messrs. Ashe, Atkins, John H. Bagley, jr., John H . Baker, Banks, Brad· l ey, Bright, William P. Caldwell, Candler, Cannon, Chapin, Clymer, Cochrane, Cook· 

Cowan, Douglas, Ellis, Ely, Faulkner, Felton, Forney, Robert Hamilton, Harden· ber~, H enr_v R. Harris, Harrison, Hatcher, Abram S. Hewitt, Goldsmith W. Hew· itt, .u.ill, HoJ?kins, House, Lane, Lewis, Edmund W. M. Mackey, Levi A. Mackey, 

Maish, Milliken, Mills, Morgan, :Payne, Phelps, William A. Phillips. Piper, Potter, Powell, Randall, Reagan, Jolin Reilly, James B. Reilly, Riddle, John Robbins, Will- iam M. Robbins, Roberts, Scales, Schleicher, Sheakley, Sin!£eton, Sparks, Teese, Throckmorton, Turne_y-, Robert B. Vance, Waddell, 'Valling, ward, Warren, White- house, Alpheus S. Williams, .Tames D. Williams, Willis, and Young-71. NAYS-Messrs. Adams, Ainsworth, Anderson, Ba"'lly, Geor~'e A. Bagley, Will- iam H. Baker, Ballou, Banning, Barnum, Bass, Beebe, Bell, Blackburn, Bbine, 

Blair, Bland, Boone, Bradford, John Young Brown, William R. Brown, Buckner, Horatio C. Burchard, Samuel D. Burchard, Cabell, John H. Caldwell, Camfbell, Cate, 

Caulfield, Chittenden, -John B. Clarke of Kentucky, John B. Clark,jr., o Missouri, 

Collins, Conger, Crapo, Crounse, Culberson, Cutler, Davill!, Davy, DeBolt, Denison, Dibrell, Dunnell, Durand, Durham, Eames, Eden, Egbert, Farwell, Fort, Foster, 

Franklin, Freeman, Frost, Frye, Fuller, Garfield, Gause, Glover, Andrew H. Ham- ilton, Hancock, Haralson, Benjamin W. Harris, John T. Harris, Hartzell, Hathorn, Haymond, Hendee. Henderson, H enkle, H ereford, Holman, Hooker, Hoskins, Hub- bell, Hnnter, Hunton. Hurd, Hurlbut, HywiLl, Thomas L . .Tones, Joyce, Kasson, 

Kehr, Ketchum, Kimball, King, Knott, Franklin Landers, George M . Landers, Lapham, Lawrence, Leavenwort~. Levy, Lord, Lutt.rell, Lynch, Lynrle, Magoon, Mac- Dougall, McCrary, McDill, McMahon, Meade, Miller, Monroe, MoiTison, Mutch- ler, Nash, Neal, New, Norton, O'Brien, O'D ell, Oliver, O'Neill, Packer, Page, Par- sons. John F . Philips, Pierce, Plaisted, Platt. Poppleton, Pratt, Rainey, Rea, Rice, 

Robinson, Milt'S R.oss, Sobieski Ross, Rusk. Sampson, Savage, Sa_vler, Schumaker, 

Seelye, Sinnickson, Slemons, Smalls, A. HeiT Smith, William E. Smith, Southard, 

Springer, Strait~ Stevenson, Stone, StowelL Swaun, Tarbox, Terry, Thompson, 

Thomas, Thornburcrb, Martin I. Townsend, 'Vashington Townsenrl, Tucker, Tufts, Van Vorhes, John L. Vance, Waldron, Charles C. B. Walker; Gilbert C. Walker, Alexander- S. Wallace, Walls, Walsh, Erastus Wells, G . Wiley Wells, Wheeler, White, Whiting, Wigjtinton, Wike, Willard, Charles G. Williams, J eremiah N. Williams, William B. Williams, Wilshire, Benjamin Wilson, James Wilson, Fer- nando Woorl, Woodburn, Woodworth, and Yeates-184. NOT VOTING-Messrs. Bliss, Blount, Burleigh, Cason, Caswell, Cox, Danford, 

DarraH, Dobbins, Evans, Gibson, Goode, Goodin, Gunter, Hale, Rartridge, Hays, 

lloar, Hoge, Jenks, Frank Jones, Kelley, Lamar, McFarland, Metcalfe. Money, Morey, Purman, St.enl!er, John W. Wallace, Whitthorne, Andrew Williams, .Tames Williams, and Alan Wood, jr.-34. 

So :Mr. REAGAN's substitute was rejected. 

The question recurred on the following amendment of :Mr. FRYE: 

Strike out "no person who has held or may hereafter hold the office of President, shall ever a)!ain be eligible to said office," and insert in lieu thereof the following: Fr-om and after the 4th day of March, in the year 1885, the term of office of Presi- dent and Vice-President of the United States shall be six years; and any person having been elected to and h eld the office of ,President, or who, for two years, has held such office, shall be ineligible to a re-election. 

Mr. BANKS demanded the yeas and_nays. 

The yeas and nays were ordered. 

The question was taken; and it was decided in the negative-yeas 

107, nays 143, not voting 39; as follows: 

YEAS-Messrs. Adams, Ashe, George A. Bagley, John H. Bagley, jr., John H. Baker, Banks, Blaine, Bradley, William R. Brown, Horatio C. Burchard, Burleigh, Cate, Chittenden, Clymer, Cochrane, Conger, Crapo, Crounse, Farwell, Faulkn ,r, Foster, Freeman, Frost, Frye, Garfield, Robert Hamilton. Hancock, ·Haralson, Hardenbergh, Benjamin W. Harris, Harrison, Hatcher, Hathorn, Hendee, Hender- son, AbramS. Hewitt, Hopkins, Hoskins, House, Hubbell, Hurlbut, Joyce, Kasson, 

Kehr, K etchum, Kimball, Kin~, Franklin Landers, Lane, Lapham, Lawrence, 

LeavenwQrth, Luttrell, Edmund W. M. Mackey, Levi A . Mackey, MacDougall, 

McCrary, Miller, Monroe, . Morgan, Norton, Oliver, O'Neill, Packer, Phelps, Will- iam A . Phillips, Pierce, Piper, Plaisted, Pbtt, Potter, Rainey, Randall, Reagan, John Reilly, Riddle, John Robbins, Roberts, Robinson, Sobieski Ross, Sampson, 

Sbeakley, Singleton, Sinnickson, A. Herr Smith, Strait, Stowell, Teese, Thorn- burgh, Throckmorton, Washington Townsend, Turney, Van Vorhes, Robert B. Vance, Wallll}<~! Warren, Erastus Wells, Wheeler, White, Whiting, Willard, 

Alphens S. Williams, James D. Williams, Willis, .Tames Wilson, Woodworth, and Ycates-107. 

NAYS-Messrs. Ainsworth, Anderson, Atkins, Bagby, William H. Baker, Bal- lou, Banning, Bar-num, Beebe, Bell, Blackburn, Blair, Bland, Boone, Bradford, 

Bright. John Young Brown, Buckner, Samuel D. Burchard, Cabell, John H. Caldwelf, Campbell, Candler. Cannon, Caulfteld, Chapin, John B. Clarke of Kentucky, John B. Clark, jr., -of Missouri, Collins, Cook, Cowan, Culberson, Cutler, Davis, 

Davy, De Bolt, Denison, Dibrell, Dou__glas, Dunnell, Dux-and, Durham, EaiiJ.es, Eden, Egbert, Felton, Forney, For-t, .l!rankllo, Fuller, Gause, Glover, Goodin, 

Andrew H. Hamilton, Henry R. Harris, John T. Harris, Hartzell, Haymond, Hereford, Goldsmith W. Hewitt, Hill, Holman, Hooker, Hunter, Hunton. Hurd, 

Hyman, Thomas L. Jones, Knott, George M. Landers, Levy, Luwis, Lo~d, Lynch, 

Lynde, Ma"'oon, Maish, McDill, McMahon;Meade, Metcalfe, Milliken. Mills, Mor- rison, Mutchler, Nash, NenJ, New, Otlell, Page, Parsons, Payne, John F. Philips, 

Poppleton, Powell, Pratt, Rea, Rice, William M. Rollbius, Miles Ro s, Rusk, 

Savage, Sayler, Scales, Seelye, Slemons, Smalls, William E Smith, Southal'd, Sparks, 

Springer, Stenger, Stevenson, Stone, Swann, Tarbox, Terry, Thompson, Thomas, Martin L Townsend, Tucker, Tufts, John L. Vance. 'Vad,jell, Waldron, Charles C. B. Walker, Gilbert C. Walker, Alexander S. Wallace, Walls. Walsh, Ward, G. Wiley Wells, Whitehouse, 'Vigginton, Wike, Charles G. Williams, James WillialllB, Jeremiah N. Williams, 'Villiam B. Williams, Wilshire, Benjamin Wilson, 

Woodburn, and Young-143. NOT VOTrNG- Messrs. Bass, Bliss, Bl01mt, William P. Caldwell, Cason, Cas- well, Cox, Danford, Darrall, Dobbins, Ellis,- Ely, Evans, Giuson, Goode, Gunter, 

Hale, Hartridge, Hays, H enkle, Hoar, Hoge, J enks. Frank .Tones, Kelle_v, Lamar, McFarland, Money, Morey, O'Brien, Purma,n, .Tames B. Reilly, Schleicher, Schumaker, John W. \Vallace, Whitthorne, Anllrew Williams, Alan Wood, jr., and Fernando Wood-39. 

So Mr. FRYE's amendment was rejected. 

The question recurred on the engrossment and third reading of the 

joint resolution, a.s follows: 

Resolved by the Senate an.d House of Representati·ves of the United States ef AnMr 

ica in Oongress assembled, (f'!Jlo-thirdJJ of each House concurring therein,) That tho following be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States as an amendment to 

the Constitution of the United Sk\tes, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be valid as a part of said Constitution: 

ARTICLE XVI. 

_No person who has h eld, or may hereafter hold, the office of President shall ever again ue eligible to said office. 

Mr. HARRIS, of Virginia. I ask whether it would not be better to 

strike out the word "ever," as it adds nothing to the sense, while it detrac~s very much from the elegance of the text. 

l\Ir. HURLBUT. I object. 

The joint_ resolution was ordered to be eu~ossed and read a third 

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

Mr. PAGE demanded the yeas and n.ays on the passage of the joint 

resolution. 

Mr. WHITE. I move the House. do now adjourn. 

The-motion was disagreed to. 

The yeas and nays were ordered on the passage of tho joint resolution. 

The queAt.ion wa.s taken; tmd it was decided in the negative-yeaa 

145, nays 108, not voting 36 ; as follows : 

YEA.S-Messrs . .Ainsworth, Ashe, Atkins, Baaby, John H. Bagley, jr., Banks, 

Banning, Barnum, Beebe, Bell, Blackburn, BlanCl, Boone, Bradford, Bright, John Young Brown, Buckner, Samuel D. Bm·chard, Cabell, John H. Caldwell, Cancller, 

Cate, Caulfield, Chapin, John B. Clarke of K entucky, John B. Clark, jr., of Mis- souri, Clymer, Cochrane, Collins, Cook, Cowan, Crounse; Culberson, Cutler, Davis, De Bolt, Dibrell, Douglas. Dunnell, Durand, Durham, Eden, E:rbert. Faulkner, 

Felton, Forney, Franklin, Frost, Fuller, Ga.nse, Gibson, Glover, Goodin, Andre'v 

II. Hamilton, Hancock, H enry R. Harris, John •r. Harris, Harrison, Hartzell, H atch er, Hereford, Abram S. Hewitt, Goldsmith W. IIewitt, Hill, Holman, Hop· 

kins, llouse, Hunton, Hurd, Thomas _L . .Tones, Knott, Franklin Landers, George 1\f. Landers, Lane, Levy, Lewis, Lord. Luttrell, Lynde, L evi A. Mackey, Maish, Mc- Farland, McMahon, Meade, Metcalfe, Milliken, Mills, Morgan, Morrison, Mutchler, Odell. Parsons, Payne, Phelps, John F. Philips, William A. Phillips, Piper, Poppleton, Powell. Reagan, John Reilly, Rice, Ri1ldle, John Robbins, William M . Robbins, 

Roberts, Miles Ross, Savage, Sayler, Scales, Schleicher, Sheakley, Singleton, 

Slemons, William E. Smith, South:ud, Sparks, Springer, Stenger, Stevenson, Stone, Tarbox, T erry, Thompson, Throckmorton, Tucker, Turney, John L. "Vance, Robert B. Vance, Waddell, Charles C. B. Walker, Gilbert C. Walker, Walling, 

Ward, Warren, Erastus Wells, Whitehouse, Wig~inton , .AJpheus S.Williams, James D. Williams, Jeremiah N. Williams, Willis, Wilshire, Benjamin Wilson, and Yeat,es-14.'1. 

NAYS-Messrs. Adam.'!, Anderson, Geor'!e A. Baaley, John H. Baker, William H. Baker, Ballou, Blaine, Blair, Bradley, William R. 'Brown, Horatio C. Burchard, 

Bnrleig_h, Campbell, Cannon, Chittenden, Conger, Crapo, Davy, D enison, Eames, 

Farwell, Fort, Foster, Freeman. Frye, Garfield, Hale, Robert Hamilton, Haralson, 

Hardenbergh, Benjamin W. Harris, Hathorn, Haymond, Hendee, Henderson, 

Hooker, Hoskins, Hubbell, Hunter, Hurlbut, Hyman, Joyce, Kasson, Kehr, 

Ketchum, Kimball, King, Lapham, Lawrf'nce, Leavenworth, Lynch, Eclmund W. M. Ma~key, Magoon, MacDougall, McCrary, McDill, "Miller, Monroe, Nash, Neal, 

New, Norton, Oliver, O'Neill, Packer, Pnge, Pierce, Plaisted, Platt, Potter, Pratt, 

Purman, Rainey, Randall, Robin on, Sobie ki Ross, Rusk, Sa.urpson, Seel_ve, Sinnick- son, Smalls, A. Herr Smith, Strait, Stowell, Swann, Teese, Thomas. Thornburgh, Martin I. Townsend, Washin~n Townsend, Tufts, Van Vorhes, Waldron, Alex- ander S. Wallace, Walls, Walsn, G. Wiley Wells, Wheeler, White, Whiting, Wike, 

Willard, Charles G. Williams, William B. Wi~ws, James Wilson, Fernando Wood, Woodburn, and Woodworth-lOB. NOT VOTL."fG-Messrs. Bass, Bliss, Blount, William P. Caldwell. Cason, Cas. well, Cox, Danford, Darrall, Dobbins, Ellis, Ely, EYans, GOode, Gunter, Hart- ridge, Ha_vs, Henkle, Hoar, Ho2;e, Jenks, Frank .Tones, Kelley, Lamar, Money, Morey, O'Brien, Rea, .Tames B. Reilly, Schumaker, John W. Wallace, Wbitthorne, 

Andrew Williams, .Tames Williams, Alan Wood, jr., and Young-36. 

So (two-thirds not having voted in fav-or thereof) the joint resolution was rejected. 

Mr. RANDALL. I enter the motion to reconsider the vote ordering 

the engrossment and third reading of the joint resolution, and also to 

reconsider the vote by which the joint resolution was rejected. 

The SPEAKER. The motions to reconsider will be entered. 

E}\"RQI..LED BILLS. 

Mr. HARniS, of Georgia, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, re- ported that they ha-d examined and found truly enrolled bills of the 

following titles; when the Speaker signed the same: An act (S. No. 204) to remov-e the political disabilities of George 

S. Hawkins, of Florida; and 

An act (H. R. No. 785) to extend t he t1m.e for stamping unstamped 

instruments. SHIPPING ACT OF 1872. 

The SPEAKER. The Chair has received this afternoon a commu- nication from the Philadelphia Maritime Exchange, transmitting preamble and resolutions of that body relative _to the proposed modi:tic~-
- ,. 

1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 847 

tion of the shipping act of 1872, title 53, Revised Statutes. He a ks 

leave to refer it without printing to the Committee on Commerce, in 

accordance with the request of the exchange. 

There was no objection, and it was so ordered. 

JOSEPH S. WILSON. 

On motion of Mr. LUTTRELL, by ummimous collBent, lea-ve was given to withdraw from t.be tiles of the House tbe papers in the case 

of JosephS. Wilson. 

And then, on motion of Mr. SPRINGER, (at five o'clock and fifteen 

minutes p. m.) the ;Honse adjourned. 

PETITIONS, ETC. 

The following memorials, petitions, and otherpapers were presented 

at the Clerk's desk under the rule, and referred as stated: 

By Mr. G. A. BAGLEY: The petition o_f lake captains, for the con- struction of a harbor of refuge at the mouth of Big Sandy Creek, on Lake Ontario, New York, to t.be Committee on Commerce. 

By Mr. BALLOU: The petition of P. A. Holden, for pay for property 

destroyed by fire while occopied by United States soldiers, to the Committee on War Claims. 

By Mr. BARNUM: The petWons of citizens of Bridgeport, of South 

Norwalk, of Hawleyville, of New Miltord, of Newtown, and of Winchester, Connecticut, for the repeal of the stamp-tn.xon safety m:J.tches, 

to the Committee of Ways and Means. By Mr. CHAPIN : The petition of the Springfield and New London 

Railroad Company, for a.utl.tority to ma.intaiu a. bridge n.c'ross Mill 

River, at Springfield, Massa-chusetts, to the Committee on Military 

Affairs. 

By 1\Ir. DAVY: The petition of sundry citizens of t.he thirtieth 

congressional district of New York, for the repeal of the stamp-tax on safety matches, t-o the Committee of Ways a.nd Means. 

Also, the petition of citizens of Rochester and -Monroe County, New 

York, for the erection of a public building in Rochester, New York, 

to the Committee on Public Builclings and Grounds. 

By Mr. DURAND: The petitions of citizens of Mason and of Flint, 

Michigan, for the repeal of the stamp-tax on safety matches, to the 

Committee of Wa.ys and Means. 

Also, two petitions of citizen of Detroit, Michigan, for the erection 

of a bridge acros Detroit River at Detroit, Michigan, to the Committee on Commerce. By Mr. GOODIN: The petition of citizens of Kansa~, for post-routes 

from Burlington to Garnett and from Neosho Falls to \Villiamsburgh, 

to the Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. 

By M..r. HALE: Papers rela.ting to the petition of Pett>r Campbell, 

for a pension, to the Committee on In valiu Pensions. 

By 1\Ir. HOLMAN: The petition of Andrew Steffen, for a pellBion, 

to the same cotnmittee. 

By 1\lr. HOPKINS : Papers r elating to the claim of Rhodes & Bagaley, a signees of McCloskey, Co grove & Co., to the Committee on War Claims. 

By Mr. HOUSE: The petition of J. W. Lawless, late captain and 

commissiouetl colonel of the Fifth Kentucky Cavalry, for additional 

pay, to the Committee on Military Alfairs. 

· By 1\Ir. HUNTON: Tho petition of John T. Armstrong and others, 

for payment of money allowed them by the souther!!- claims commission, to the Committee on War Claims. By 1-Ir. HYMAN: Papers relating to the petition of Richard Dillon, 

for pay for exb·a services as a sist.a.nt superintendent of the Hu.reau 

of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, to the Committee of 

Claims. 

By Mr. KERR : ThA petition of Keener, Zott & Ziseman, for relief 

from an alleged illegal a essment again t them by the Internal Rev- enue Department, to the Committee of Ways and Means. 

By Mr. KIDDER: The petition of 111 citizens of Dakota, for a postroute from Vermillion to Sioux Falls, in Dakota Ten-itory, to the 

Committee on the Po t-Office and Post-Road . AI o, the petition of C. Cavileer, and 00 other legal voters of Da.-

kota Ten-itory, residing in that portion of the Ten-itory north of tho 

forty-sixth parallel of latitude, for the organiza.tion of a Territory to 

be called Pembina, to the Committee on the Territories. 

By 1\lr. LAPHAM: Papers relating to the claim of Alonzo Snyder, 

to the Coml)littee of Claims. 

By 1\fr. MILLER: The petition of Caroline E. Thomas, for a pension, to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

Hy Mr. MOREY: A paper relating to a post-route from Delhi to 

Reedsville..t to the Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. By Mr. o'BRIEN: The petition of the Baltimore Brid o-e Company, 

for additional compensation under a contract with the United States 

for building a bridge across the Mississippi River at Davenport, Iowa, 

to tho Committee of Claims. 

By Mr. O'NEILL: The petition of George W. Leruny, for a pension, 

to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

Also, the petition of Geors-e W. Lea.my, to be pla-ced upon the pension-roll, to the same comm1ttee. 

By .Mr. PHELPS: The petitions of citizens of New Haven, of Waterbury, of Wallington, of Moodus, of -Middletown, of Mystic Bridge, of 

Willimantic, Connecticut., for the repeal of the stamp-tax on sa.fety 

p1a.tche , to the Committee of Ways and Means. . By Mr. POPPLETON: The petition of citizens of Ohio, for a postroute from Ashley to West Liberty, to the Committee on the PostOffice and Post-Roads. By Mr. POWELL: The petitiollB of citizens of Nicholson, of Now 

:Milford, of Honesdale, of Tunkhannock, of Le Raysville, and of Montr ro'3e, Pennsylvania, for the repeal of the sta.mp-tax on safety ma.t<;hea, 

to the Committee of Ways and Means. 

By Mr. THROCKMORTON.: The petition of citizens of Texas, for a po t-route from Denison to Weatherford, Parker. County, Tex.'\61 

to the Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. By 1\ir. TOWNSEND, of PenllBylvania: The petition of the State 

Temperance Union of Pennsylvania, James Black president, D. C. 

Babcollk secreta.ry, for a commission of inquiry concerning the alcoholic Jiqnor traffic, to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

Also, the petition of the quarterly meeting of the religiouR society 

of Friends of Chester County and vicinity, of sim' ar import, to tho 

same committee. By 1\Ir. TURNEY: The petition of citizens of Broad Ford and Tyrone, Pennsylvania, for aid in 'the construction of the Texas Pacific 

Railroad, to the Comm.ittee on the Pacific Railroa-d. 

By Mr. WELLS, of Missouri: Tho petition of Kendrick & A vis, for 

relief from an assessment by t.he Internal Revenue Department, to 

the Committee of Wavs and Means. 

By Mr. WHEELER: The petitions of citizens of :Malone, of Saint 

Lawrence, of Gouverneur, and of Colton, New York, for the repeal of 

the sta.mp-ta.x on safety matches, to the Committee of Ways and 

.Means. 

By Mr. WIGGINTON: The petition of C. W. Thacker and 144other 

citizens, of Santa Ba,rbara and Ventura Counties, California, for a. resurvey of the ranr.ho Rio de Santa Clara, and that certain lands in 

California be declared pLlblic lands, to the Committee on Public 

Lands. · 

By l\Ir. WILLARD: The petitions of bankers and business men in 

Baltimore, Maryland, in New York City, in Brattleborough, Vermont, 

and in New Hampshire, reb.ting to Dana.. Bickford's plan of interna.-

tional coinage, to the Committee on Coinage, Weights, n.nd Measures. By Mr. A. S. WILLIAMS : Two petitions of citizens of Detroit, for 

the erection of a bridge across the Detroit River, to the Committ-ee on Commerce. 

By Mr. WOOD, of New York: The petition of James Trainor, for a. pension, to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

IN SENATE. 

THuRSDAY, February 3, 1876·. 

Pr~yer by tho Chaplain, Rev. BYRO~ SuNDERLAND, D. D. 

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

HOUSE BILL REFERRED. 

T~1e bill (H. R . No. 1796) to grant an American register to the Hawaiian bark Arctic was read twice by its title and referred to the Committee on Commerce. · 

EXECUTIVE CO:\:IMUNICATION. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore laid before the Senate a communication 

from the Secretar.v of the Int.erior, transmitting, in answer to a s~m

ate resolution of Ja.nuary 31, 1876, information in relation to the tax- ation of lands granted to States and corporatiollB; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Public Lands, and ordered to be printed. 

PETITIONS .AND MEMORIALS. 

The PRESIDE:NT pro temporeprcsented the petition and resolutions 

of a meeting of vwrkingmen of the city of' Detroit, Michigan, held 

J auuary 15, 1i:IT6, praying for the repeal of the resumption act; 

which was referreu to the Committee on l<'inance. Mr. PATTERSON pre en ted the petition of A. 1\f. Blake, praying 

compensation for losses sustained by him during the late wa.r; which was referred to the Committee on Claims. 

Mr. SHERMAN presented a petition of citizens of Kentucky. praying for the repeal of the two-cent stamp tax on bank-checks; 'which was referred to the' Committee on Finance. 

Mr. SPENCER presented the memorial of Jones M. Withers, attorney for the Mobile Marine Dock Company, a king payment for the 

occupation and use of property and material of that company by military authorities of the United States; which was refen-ed to the Committee on Claims. Mr. CHRISTIANCY. I present the petition and resolutions passed 

at a meeting of workingmen of the city of Detroit, Michigan, in fav- or of the repeal- of the specie resumption act, so called. In presenting these resolutions I wish to say that for myself I do not agree 

either in the premises or in the conclusion of the resolutions. I move their reference to the Committee on Finance, hoping that they will 

take the resolutions into serious consideration. · . The motion was agreed to. 

Mr. CRAGIN presented the petition of Secor & Co., and Perine, Se- cor & Co., praying compensation for losses sustained through the 

action of the Government in building certain ve~5sels of war and in 

relation to sundry payments received by them ns extras on these 

vessels; which was referred to the Committee on Naval Atf'airs.