1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 867 · 

The ·PRBSIDENT pro ternpore.. Pending thn.t motion the Chair will 

lay before the Senate a roes age from the President of the United 

States. · 

The Chief Clerk read the message as follows: 

To the Senate of the United States : 

In answer to the re5olution of the Sena.te of the 19th of Janu:1ry instant, r equest- in~ the examination, with a view to u • .,certairun:£ their suitablenes. for the purposes of a mint. of the building ancl t!:rounds situated in Columbus, Ohio, known a~ the 

Capital University, and proposed to be clonu,ted to the United States by F. :hliobel, 

of said city, I have the bono!· to transmit bore-with the report of the Director of the 

l.Ilnt, accompanied by a dia1!1'3m of the building and lot. 

U. S. GRANT. E~CUTIVE MANSION, February 3, 1876. 

Mr. THURMAN. I move that the message be printed and referred 

to the Committee on Finance, with the accompanying papers. 

The motion was a~reed to. 

Mr. SARGENT. The diagram ought not to be printed. 

Mr. THURMAN. No; that need not be printed. 

The PRESIDENT pro ternpo're. 'l'lle motion to print excepts the 

diag1·am. 

~1r. THURMAN. Certainly. 

EXECUTIVE COMM:UNICATIO~S. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore laid before the Senate a letter of the 

Secretary of War, calling attention to the constantly increasincr and 

alarming obstructions to navigation of the Upper Uis issippi River 

at or near the towns of Fort Madison aud Burlington, Iowa , and rec- ommending au appropriation of $65,000 to remove those obstructions; 

which was referred to the Commit~e on Commerce. 

He also laid before the Senate a communication from the AttorneyGeneral, in reply to a resolution of the Senate of the 20th ultimo, in 

regard to the condition of suits brought against Pacific railroa,d com- panies; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 

onlered to be printed. 

DEATll OF SENATOR 0. S. FERRY. 

Mr. EATON. I give notice that I shall present to the Senate on Tuesday next the resolutions regarding my lat.e colleague, Senator 

FERRY. 

FRANCIS W. SYKES. 

Mr. SAULSBURY submitted the following resolutjon; which was refened to the Committee on Privileges and Elections: 

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate be, and be is hereby, authorized and 

dirooted to pay to .Francis W. Sykes, late contestautfrom the Stato of Aln.bama, the 

pay and mileage of a Senator from the 4th day of M:u:ch, 1873, to the 2bth day of 

May, 18'l4. 

EXECUTIVE SESSION. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. I insist on my motion. 

The motion was agreed to; and the Senate proceeded to the con- sideration of executive business. After ten mil!utes spent in execu- tive se ion, the doors were re-opened and (at five o'clock and twenty 

minutes p.m.) the Senate adjom·ned 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

THURSDAY, February 3, 1876. 

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

l. L. TOWNSEND, D. D. 

The Jom·nal of yesterday was read and approved. 

LEAVE TO PRINT. 

l\Ir.l\IAGOON, by unanimous consent, obtained leave to have printed 

in the CONGRESSioNAL RECORD some remarks which he had prepared on the proposed constitutional amendment in regard to the term of the 

presidential office. (See Appendix.) 

COST OF SIGNAL SERVICE. 

Mr. CLYl\IER, by unanimous consent., submitted the following res- olntiou; which was read, considered, an<l agreed to: 

Resolved, That the Secretary of War be requested to report to Chis House the 

entire cost durin~ the last fiscal year of the Signal Service, including a det.ailed state- ment of every disbursement made for materials, salaril'S of ollicers, enlisted or dct.'lil ed men. correspondence, telegraph service, maintenance of st.'ltions and lines 

and the location of ti.Je same, rent, printing. lilhograpbing, and all other it.oms, ch:w:;es, costs, and di bursemeuts, of every kind and nature whatsoever, which ma.y form part of the cost of such Si~al Sen·ice and the publication of the results 

thereof. 

THE LATE RON. HENRY H. STARKWEATHER. 

Mr. ·wHEELER. I a k unanimous consent to oiler the resolution 

wllich I send to the desk. 

The Clerk read. as follows: 

R esolved, That the Committee on Appropriations be directed to insert the following item in the bill making appropriations for ti.Je ~undry civil expenses of the Gov- ernment for tho fiscal yem· ending June :!0, 1877: 

To enable the Clerk of the Hou:;e to pay to the widow of llenry H. Starkweather, late a member of the llou e, a ~urn equal to the salary of a member of Congres 

from the date of the deat h of said St{l.rkweather to thtl end of t.he present session 

of Cou;_!.ress, $2,500. 

1\fr. WHEELER. I desire simply to say, Mr. Speaker, that nuder 

your a,ppointmcnt I n.ccompn.nied ·the remains of the late Hon. Henry H. Starkwen,ther to his home in Con.necticnt. While there I became 

acquainted with his pecuniary cir-cumstances, and while this is not 

tlle place, nor am I at liberty, to speak of details I take the liberty 

of sn.ying that thi provision will be a most timely and welcome allow- ance to tbe widow and children of Mr. Starkweather. I trust there . will be no objection to a<lopting the resolution. 

There was :rio objection, and the resolution was agreed to. 

PUBLIC BUILDIXG AT l\'IRMPIDS, TE:\TXESSEE. 

Mr. YOUNG, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 

1801) to provide for tho building of a eustom-house, post-office, &c., at 

Memphis, Tennessee; which was read a first aml second ti.."lle, referred 

to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and ordered to 

be printed. 

REMOVAL OF A JUDGE IN COLORADO. 

Mr. GLOVER. I ask unanimous consent to ofter for present con- sideration the preamble and resolution which I send to the desk. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

Whereas it is believed that certain political and personal influences have been 

exerted to secure the removal of a F ederal jud~e :1u1l the appointment of another 

in his stead in tho Territory of Colorado, for tho corrupt purpose of procuring 

certain orders, decisions am1 decrees of court aff ctin~ cert..'tin mining interests now in litigation before the courts of that Territory : Therefore, . Be tt resolved, That the A.ttorne.\·-General of the Unitell States be, i'md he is hereby, requested to furnish to this House, at an early day, copies of all letters and 

papers a-sking for tho r emoval of J udgo Belford, a di8trict judge for tho Territo1·y of Colorado, and copies of all letters and papers a kin~ for the appointment of 

Judt!:e Stone to sncceedJmlge lll}lford; also copies of all1ettet·s and papers apper· ta.ining to the arbitrary and corrupt rulings, onle1'8, and d crees of Jud...,o Stone in 

the interest of those who asked his appointment now on file in the office of the 

A.ttorno:v·General; al. o the name~ of all persons who otherwL'>e than in writing demandoo the removal of Judge Belford and the appointment of Judge Stone. 

1\Ir. HALE. I object to the present consideration of this re olution. 

This is the first tim~ I h::we ever known any such interference with 

purely executive appointments. :Mr. GLOVER. I did not hear what was the gentleman's objection. 

If it is one which can be removed, I will be happy to endeavor to 

do so. . l\Ir. HALE. I said that this is the first time I have ever known any 

such interference with a purely executive appointment. I have no objection to this being sent to the proper law committee of the Hou e, 

for them to consider whether Congress shall take upon itself to call 

into question every executive appointment and the reasons for which 

snch an appointment has been made. If the Judiciary Committee of 

the House believe that it is a competent thing for this House to do 

to enter upon that vast field, I have no objection to the resolution 

being sent there, but I do object to its being adopted. 

Mr. GLOVER. I consent to the resolution being referred to .the 

Juuiciary Committee. 

Mr. HALE. I wish also to say that I do not know anything about 

the circumstances of thi ca e. I never heard of them before. 

The preamble aud resolution were referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary. 

PAY OF FOURTEEN DISABLED SOLDIERS. 

:Mr. WILLIAMS, of Indiana, from the Committee of Accounts, re- ported a bill (H. R. No. 1 0~) making au appropriation to pay fourteen crippled and disabled Union soldiers, from the Gth day of December, 1875, to the :30th day of Juue, 1876; which was read a flrst and 

second time. 

Mr. WILLIAMS, of Incliana. I ask that the bill ma.y be con idered now. Those soldier have uot received their pay since the 6th of last 

December, the appropriations having expired. The bill was read. It appropriates the urn of $10,000 to enable the 

Clerk of the House of Representatives to pay the fourteen crippled 

and disabled Union soldiers now in the employment of the Honse of 

Representat.ives from the 6th day of December, 1875, to the :30th day 

of J nne, 1876. 

Mr. HOL~f.A.N. I trust that my collea;;ne [Mr. 'VILLIA..'\181 of Imliana] will have read at the Clerk's desk a letter from the Clerk of t.he 

House touching the cause of t he necessity for this appropriation. I 

flesire to say further that this subject has been informally before the 

Committee on Appropriations. An appropriation has been made for orne years for this particular cla s of employes of the Horu;e ; the e fourteen disabled soldiers were on a special list, and an appropriation was not made for them for the entire fiscal year, as is customary with 

appropriation for that cla of employes. Tlle appropriation for their 

benefit expired on the 6th day of lJecember last; but the current appropriations for the next :fi., cal year commencing on the 1st of July 

will contain a proper appropriation for the period after that time. 

The object of thi bill is simply to proyide for the payment of this 

particular class of employes in coq.sequence of the appropriations 

having expired. 

Mr. HURLBUT. I woul~ like to ask my friend from Indiana 

whether it is notes ential that the names of these persons should be 

incorporated iu the bill¥ 

Mr. HOLMAN. No, sir; I presume not. The bill is in tho form in 

which it ha-s usually pas ·ed the House. 

I ought to add, .Mr. Speaker, that the Committee on Appropriations 

in formally considering this subject deemell it proper that this bill 

should pass, and if my colleague will have the letter of the Clerk of 

the House read it will probably explain the whole matter. 

}.11'. WILLIAM , of Inclia,ua.. I will read the act of ~brch 3, 1875 

n,ppropriating $1:J,549.60 ~pay this class of employ6s from A.pril until 
868 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 3, 

December the 6th. That time having expired the men have been 

without compensation since December. I read tho act: 

To enable the Clerk of the House of Representatives to pay fourteen crippled and 

<lisauled soldiers in the employment of the Doorkeeper of the House from Aprill, 

1873, to December 6, 1875, the sum of $12,549.60; wh1ch is hereby appropriated. 

On an examination of the greater part of these gentlemen yester- day I found that they have received no pay since the 5th of December. I have upon the Clerk'~; roll the na.mes of these gentlemen em- ployed there to the number of fourteen. ~Ir. GARFIELD. Are they the same persons f 

:Mr. WILLIA~1S, of Indiana. Eight of them are the same persons. Mr. FORT. I hope this bill may pass, but I desire to ina-ke a state- ment. I have no objections to its passage, even iu the words in which 

it is couched. It states, however, that it appropriates $10,000 to pay 

fourteen disabled soldiers now upon the roll. Gentlemen here all 

know that there are not fourteen on the roll. A part of these men are not on the roll now, a.nd I have no complaint to make here about 

that. Only eight of them are on the roll. 

:Mr. HOL~IA..~. Does the gentlemen say that there are not fourteen 

crippled Union soldiers on the roll Y 

Mr. FORT. Only eight. . Mr. HOLMAN. My information is, a.s I understand from the chair- man of the Committee on Accounts, that there are fourteen disabled 

Union soldiers on the roll, eight of whom at least were on the roll during the last Congress. · Mr. FORT. That is not the information I have, :md lam qu.itesure 

I am correct about it. ~1r. EDEN. I desire to ask if my colleague objects to this bill' 

Mr. FORT. I have distinctly stated that I do not. 

1tlr. HOSKINS. The bill, as reported from the Clerk's desk and as r eported by the chairman of the Committee on Accounts, received 

the attention of that committee; and as I am informed by the chair- man of the committee- and I believe that the information is correctout of the folll'teen men for whom this money is to be. appropriated 

eight are old employes, holding over from tlw last CongresR, who are now and have been in the service since the commencement of the 

Forty-fourth Congress. One of the fourt.een who held office in the 

last Congress bas died since. Another, as I am informed by the cha.ir- man, has left the Capitol and returned to his home, making ten out 

of the fouTteen. The other four, as I am informed, are new appointments. The eight men who have been employed by this Congress 

froPl the .commencement of the session, of course, have received. no pay, because the appropriation passecl for their benefit expired on the 6th of December. For one, sir, I am entirely in favor of the passage of this bill. It will provide for eight Union soldiers who served 

in the last Congress and for six new appointees; and I r epeat again 

that one of tho e employed last year has died and one has gone home. 

These fourteen men are carried on the Jist independent of the force 

allowed to the Doorkeeper. It was provided in tbe last Congress that 

these fourteen men should be employed in addition to the force allowed 

by law to the Doorkeeper, :tnd it was understood that their services were necessary. 

Mr. HOLl\IAl'l. I understand the gentleman from New York to say 

that eight of the fourteen employes during the last Congre s are still 

upon the roll . .Mr. HOSKINS. They are not on the roll; the gflntleman will ob- serve they were placed upon a separate list and the appropriation for 

their ervices expired on the 6th day of December last ; but eight of' 

the employes of the last Congress, as I q.nderstand it, are still in the service of the House under the Doorkeeper. 

1\fr. HOLMAN. Then eight out of the fourteen are still continued 

in the employment of the House; I wish to ask the gentleman from 

New York [~Ir. HosKIXs] whethetthe other sixarenotalso dis:tbled 

Union soldiers~ 

l\lr. HOSKINS. I am unable to answer that question from my own knowledge, b t I understand, and have been so informed by the 

chairman of the committee who has investigated the matter, that the 

other six are disabled Union soldiers. l\1r. llOLl\lAN. I merely wish to add to that statement--

Mr. HOSKINS. I wish to ask the chairm3Jl if I am correctly inj,qrmeQ. in that respect. 

l\lr. WILLLUiS, of Indiana. That is so. ~-4'· HQL~f4N. I am informed, not only by the statement made by 

the gentleman from New York, [1tlr. Hos~s,] but by the Doorkeeper, 

WUQ bas p~ticq.lar ch~rge of this force, that eight of the old employes ~1·e still ql} tQ.e force. T.lfere have been appointed in the places of the 

Qtho,r si:; other dis~bJed p-J]~on soldiers, so that in fact there are fourteen <li&ableq. Union soldier~ now upon this force, all of whorp. have 

lost an arm or a leg a11-cl soll}e of t~em both hands in the service of 

the country, 

1\Ir. WILLIAl\18, of lndi..'}Jna. I 'fill :q.qw read the names of the 

eight old employes who are still on the fore~. 

.Mr. HOSKINS. I ask the gentleman to give t4e State from which 

they are appointed. 

JI.Ir. WILLIAMS, of Indiana. I have not that information at hand, 

although I have the statement made out. The names of the eight old 

employes st.ill continued a.re: Charles E. Diemar, William T. Fitch, 

Su.muel H. Decker, P. W. Coleman, C, W. Reisinger, Heury Cliff, John 

A. Travis, and George A.. Schreiner. The other six are: John Ryan, 

J. D. Hutton, Thomas G. Hibben from Indiana, (he has one arm,) 

Edward Webster, James J. McConnell, and Patrick Sullivan. 

I had a conversation yesterday with most of these employes; perhaps I did not have it with two of them. I asked if they were em- ployed last year and .called the roll, and eight answered to the rollcall. Some of them I examined and asked where they were wounded 

and when, and if they served in the Union Army. 

lllr. FOSTER. Were the last six whose names t.he gentleman read 

appointed in place of some who had been discharged T 

Mr. \VILLIA1\1S, of Indiana. In place of one who had died and one who went away and four ilischarged. 

Mr. FOSTER. Why were the four discharged f 

Mr. WILLIAMS, of Indiana. I cannot tell. Mr. FOSTER. The gentleman does not know why they were re- moved. 

Mr. WILLI.AliiS, of Indiana. I do not. 

The bill was or<lered to IJe engrossed and rea,d a third time ; and 

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

Ir. WILLIAMS, of lndiana, moved to reconsider the vote by which 

the bill was passed; a.nd also moved that the motion to reconsider IJe 

laicl on the table. 

The latter motion was agreed to. 

ORDER OF BUSINESS. 

1\ir. RANDALL. I call for the regular order. 

The SPEAKER. The regular order Leing called for-- ~Ir. ATKINS. I ask the gentleman from Pennsylvania [lli. RANDALL] to witlldmw his call until I can submit a reportn:om the Committee on Appropriations. 

Mr. RAJ\TDALL. I will withdraw the call for that pm·pose. 

Mr. RUSK. ·I renew the call for the regular order. 

Mr. ATIUNS. I believe the Committee on Appropriations are en- titled to report at any time. 

The SPEAKER. Does the gentleman rise to report a bill from that 

committeef 

1\fr. ATKINS. I am instructed by the committee to report a reso· lutiou to which I think there will be no objection if the House will 

hear it read. 

The SPEAKER. The Clerk will read the resolution, after which 

the Chair will ask for objection. 

SIOUX AGE~CY. 

The Clerk read the p.reamble and resolution, as follows: 

Wherea-s it appears from a, letter of the Secretary of the Interior, Executive Doc· umcnt No. 57, addressed to the Speaker of this House, and from the papers accom- p:mying the same, that t.he appropriation for the subsistence and support of· the 

::)ioux Indians for the current fiscal year is already exhausted, anu a deficiency appropriation of 225,000 is asked for, and it is alleged that a portion of said first- named appropriation was misapplied in t.he subsistenc.:l and support of other t1um Sioux Indians: Therefore, Be i t resolved, Th::tt the President of the United St..1.tes be respectfully requested, m1tler the power given him by law, to r equire a competent experienced military 

officer of the United States to execute the duties of an Imlian agent so far a to re· pair to the Re£1 Cloud agency, and in his discretion to other Sioux agencies, with 

instructions to inquire into the causes of said deficiency, and to report them to the PresiJent with all practicable dispatch, as also his opinion as to any further and 

what amounts should be appropriated for the subsistence and support of said In- di:ms for the r emainder of the current fiscal year. 

No obection being mn.de, the resolution was adopted. 

Mr. ATKINS moved to r econsider the vote by which the resolution was adopted; aml also moved that the motion to reco!Ulider be laid on the table. · The latter motion was agreed to. 

PRACTICE IN UXITED STATES COURTS. 

The SPEAKER. The morning hour now begins at fourteen minutes before one o'clock. The first business in order is the further con- sideration of the bill (H. R. No. 934) regulating the practice of United 

States circuit and district courts as to the time and manner of instructing juries and arguing the cause. The gentleman from Kentucky [.M..r. KNOTT] has called. the previous question upon ordering 

the bill to be engrossed and re'1d a third time. Tho 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 and admiralty cause , shall conform to the practice exi ting 

at the time in like trials and causes in the courts of record of the State 

within which such circuit or district courts are held, both as to tlle 

time and manner of instructing the jury and conducting the argument of the case before the jury, any rule of the court to the con- trary notwithstanding. 

The previous question was secon4ed and the main question ordered; 

and under the operation t hereof the bill waf? ordered to be engrossed 

and read a thir<l time. Being engrossed, it was accordingly read tbe 

third time, and pas ed. 

Mr. KNOTT 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 latt.er motion was agreed to. 

DISTRICT JUDGES SITTING OUT OF THEIR DISTRICTS. 

lllr. CAULFIELD, from the Committee on tbe Judiciary, reported 

back, with a recommendation that it pass, the bill (H. R. No. 1485) to 
• 

1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 869 

provicle for the expenses of district judges when holiling court o11.t of straight bill, and I regarcl this as a good, honest, straight bill. I adtheir own districts. mire exceedingly the persistent efforts of my friends here for econ- ThebHlwasread. Itprovidesthatwheneveraclistrictjudgeholds omy. I join with them in that; but I do not regard this asany a district or circuit court out of his own district, in pursuance of an encroachment at all upon the principles of economy which these genorder of the circuit jurlge or circuit justice, under section 591 or sec- tlemen seem so anxious to maintain at this particular time. 

tion 596 of the Revised St_atutes, the expenses of such district judge, This bill will probably affect some three or fo'ur judicial districts 

not exceeding 10 per day, to be certified by him, sllall be paid by tbe in this conutry; only those districts that are overcrowded with busi- marshal of tho district in which he so holds court as a part of the ex- ness. The district fro.m which I come is one. Probably the same penses of the court, and shall be allowed in the marshal's accounts. thing may be maintained in regard toN ew York and other large cities 

Tbe provisions of this act are to n,pply to all courts held by district where the dockets of our. district courts are crowded. It will not 

judges out of their own district since the 1st day of January, 1876. maintain a.ll over the country, for the reason that the business of the 

The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time; and courts in other portions of the country is not so w-owded as in these 

being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time. few places I have mentioned. Three or four months in the year only 

The question then recnrred on the passage of the bill. are occupied by these outside judges who come to the assistance of 

Mr. REAGAN. I would like to know why it is proposed to add $10 t.he resident judges; and tbe bill does not provide they shall receive a day to the salary of a judge because he is required to perform duty $10 per day each, but that their expenses only shall be paid, not ex- out of his district, when if not performing such duty there he would ceeding $10 per day. If he pays but $3 per day, then he will receive 

be required to perform simibr duty in hi::; own district 1 but $3. And it-is very poor economy, it seems to me, to strike down 

1\lr. CAULFIELD. I'villexplain. Whenjildgesarecalledintodis- a bill of this kind in the House when we may, if this bill does not 

tricts adjoining their own, districts overcrowded with business, for pass, be compelled to provide for addit.ional judges instead of these 

the purpose of rendering assistance to the judges there, the expenses simple expenses. I will yielu now to the gentleman from Iowa, [Mr. of these judges going outside their own district must be paid by McCRARY.] 

somebody. To my knowledge the habit is to pay those expenses ont Mr. McCRARY. Mr. Speaker, the bill now before the House is en- of the pockets of tho judges of the districts into which these j udgcs tirely just, and I think it is very necessary. The gentleman from In- are caJled to render assistance. This is properly regarded as a hard- diana [ fr. HOL::IIA....~] is mistaken in sayin~ that the salaries of the 

ship; and I am anxious that it should be remedied by the passage of district judges were originn,1ly fixed with reference to the law wuich 

this bill as spe6dily as possible. In the district from which I come a authorizes circuit judges to transfer the district ,indges from one disjudge from an adjoining district is now holding court, and his ex- trict to another. The salaries of the district judges were fixed long 

penses are paid out of the pocket of the judge of the district into before. 

which he has come. .Mr. HOLMAN. As the gentleman very well knows, many of them :Mr. REAGAN. Is it assumed that a circuit or district judge per- have been re-adjusted since that time. · forming duty out of his district necessarily incurs more expense than l\lr. McCRARY. There has been a law which allows a district one attending to his duties in his own dist.rict t judge to go from one district to another, but when the circuit system .l\fr. CAULFIELD. Most certainly . . In such a case the judge leaves was adopted there was incorporated into that a provision which alhis f:1m.iJy, is compelled to board at a hotel; and his expenses are lowed the circuit judge or Supreme Court justice to require a dist.rict . necessarily much heavier than when he is at home, to say nothing ot jud~e to go froin one district to another to relieve tlle judge who 

his traveling expenses. . might be overwhelmed with work. 

A 1.\lEMBER. And the additional labor. Now, sir, the salaries of district judges in this country are in my 

Mr. HOLMAN. Will the ~eutleman from Illinois [Mr. CAULFIELD] judgment inadequate. They are certainly not as large as they ought 

allow me a word or two 1 The salaries of the .Feueml judges have to be with reference to the salaries of the circuit jndges. But thoro 

all been fixed with reference to this liability to hold court, occasionally is no proposition here to increase them. There are, however, a few 

in other districts than their own. As a mu,tte:r of convenience nothing districts, n,nd they are districts in large cities, in which the district 

is more common than for the judges to exchange places, one sitting courts are overwhelmed with business. Take a district judge and 

in the district of another. This has heen our policy since the founua- send him one or two hundred miles from his residence; require him 

tion of our judicial system, and especially since its present organiza- to live in the city of Chica.go, city of New York, or city of Boston, as tion. I submit to t.he gentleman from Illinois that thi is no time to economically as he can live, and it is impo ible for any of these disbegin an increase of salaries, for that is all there is in this propo- trict judge , upon the salaries they now receive, to carry out the law 

sition. This is certainly no time for increasing expenditures. There on this subject without a pecuniary sacrifice. Hence the resnlt is as has been no-special complaint .heretofore in regard to the salaries of stated by my colleague on the committee from tbe Chicago district. our l!'ederal judges, either district or circuit; and now when some When a district judge is ordered into the city of Chicago to hold court, 

effort is being made to retrench the expenditures of the Government, the resident judge in order to get him to perform that duty without 

I certainly do object to inaugurating this system of increase. There requiring fTom him a sacrifice pays his expense out of his own pocket. is no use in talking about dimini bing expen es if every possib1e op- The district judges receive from three thonsand to thirty-five bnnportnnity is to be seized upon to make a.n increase. I trust the House dretl dollars a year throughout the country, and they cannot afford 

will not inaugurate this movement. It bas been tried in this House to discharge this duty antl pay their own expenses. I say here if this 

time and again, and unsuccessfully. I trust it will fail now. provision is not made for these jutlges, either this or the next Con1.\ir. REAGAN. Mr. Speaker, those of us who have observed the gress will be compelled to erect a number of new districts and ere- action of the courts of the several States know that there is nothing ate a number of new judges in this country. Therefore, as a measure more common in the various State courts than the n,lternation of of economy, it will be better to pass the bill now before the Hou.se. 

jutlges, they holding court for eabh other in the different districts; l\fr. BURCITARD,oflllinois. Iycollea~neandthegentlemaufrom 

and so far as my knowledge goes no law has ever n,uthorized au in- Iowa [Mr . .McCRAitY] say that if this billts not passed giving au op- crease of pay to any State judge because he might sit in a court ont- portunity to designate a judge to assist judges in certain districts to 

side of his district. This service is a. matter of courtesy, and also in hold court, it will be necessary to create new .districts and tha.t it is some cases. a matter of duty; but it has never been regarued as a a matter of economy to pay these judges $10 a day rather than create reason f01· increase of pay; and until the statement of the gentle- these new districts. Upon that I differ with them. I believe it is 

man from Illinois [ fr. CAULFIELD] I had not before heard tllat when less expense to the people of the United States and of localities to a circuit or· district judge of the United States performs duty for a. have additional districts, because, as in the case of Illinois, if you drag 

time in another district than his own, he received auditional com pen- jurors from the extreme limits of the State to the city" of Chicago, if 

sation coming out. of the salary of the judge in whose district he you drag witnesses there, if you pile up marshals' fees for the dis- might sit. Certainly I have beard nothing of that kind; and I can tances you have to take these witnesses and jnrors, you will find a scarcely think the practice exists to a considerable extent. It is cer- much larger expense to the people than by simply dividing the district 

tainly wrong in principle; and this is a wrong time to increase the and creating districts o£ sufficient size to accommodate the people. . salaries of judges or other officers. I d.o not say t.his in any party · If that is tho object of the bill, and it seems to me one of the ob- sense; but because the condition of the country is such that gentle- jects of the bill as stated here, I do not believe it is in the interest of men receiving already competent salaries ought to be satisfied with economy. I believe it is far better that the district should be made them until the people shall be enabled to make an increase of sala- up of :1 convenient size. And speaking on behalf of the people of Illi- ries, if that should at any time be desirable. nois as expressed by their Legislature twice, and as expressed by their 

Mr. FORT. Ought not this to go to the Committee of the Whole Representatives here upon this floor, I feel warranted in saying that on the state of the Union, as it involves an appropriation of money the people of that State prefer that there should be a new district t o out of the Treasury f I submit the point of order to the Chair, having the provisions of the bill detailing a judge from one point to 

whether this bill does not go necessarily to the Committee of the hold a court at another point, with another court sitting there side 

Whole on the state of the Union Y by side, and paying him $10 a day . .Mr. :McCRARY. The point is made too late. Twice the Legislature of the State of illinois have unanimously 

The SPEAKER. The point of order comes too late. asked, in the interest of economy and the interests of the people, that 

Mr. FORT. Tl.te previous question has not yet been ordered. an addi-r:ional district should be created for that State. And their 

The SPEAKER. The bill, has been ordered to be engrossed and Representatives in this House have sought the passage of a bill carry- read a third time, auu the question now is on the passage of the bill. ing out the wishes of the people. Therefore I must oppose this bill 

l\ir. FORT. I trust that the gefltleman will aUuw it to go there if if its object be to create additional expense in the distance ti.Jat 

he has an honest, straight bill and is not afraid of the committee. witnesses have to travel, in the distance that members of the uar .Mr. CAULFIELD. .M . .r. Speaker, I am in favor of a goou, honest, and counsel have to travel to attend tllese courts, in the clista.uce 
870 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. lfEBRUARY 3, 

that the marshal bas to tra.vel and the jurors have to tmvel. If 

the object is to prevent the creation of a district that may hereafter be dema.ndeu and is now demanded for the convt:'nience of 

the people, by providing that the court a.t Chicago, overburdened as it is sta.ted to bo, shall be relieved by detailing a judge there, I am opposed to t he passage of the bill; and it will be difficult for the gentleman reporting the bill, or any member of the committee, or any 

member of the H ouse, to show that it will be of any absolute accom- modation to the people. It may reduce the amount to be paid out 

in tho first instance from the Treasury, but it will ot lessen the absolute cost and expen e. It is a proposition that I bad not expected 

would be presente~ at this time. And I think that my colleagne, 

while he may represent the desire of the members of a court, the 

judge and the marshal, and perhaps some of the members of the ba,r 

there, and the people in the commercial city of Chicag9, I say he 

does not represent the wishes of the people of illinois in regard to th;, 

passage of that bill. 

Mr. CAULFIELD. My colleague from Illinois [Mr. BURCHARD] 

has mi taken the bill that is before the Hou e. He thinks that the 

bill before the House js the one that he has in his pocket, for the divisiou of the district, I am now pleading for. The gentlem:m bas 

eitherintroduced or is a.bout to introduce a bill for the division of 

this district in order that a new court may be created and a new j ndge 

appointed, involving great expense to the Government. I am not 

here for the pmpose at this time of arguing that question. I am here now simply for the pmpo e of providing for the contingencies that occur previous to the adoption of his bill and the formation of a new district. 

The judge from the adjoining district is now holding comt as an assi tantto Judge Blodgett, of Chicago, in the district in which Judge 

Blodgett is judge. Unless we provide that his expenses shall be paid 

while he is so holding court, his expenses must come out of the pocket 

of tile in cum bent judge. When the gentleman's bill comes up, if that 

bill is passed then the necessity for this particular bill in this particular district will be entirely obviated; and the passage of this bill at 

this time will have nothing to do whatever either with the pas age or the defeat of the bill that the gentleman has in charge for the clivi ion 

of that district. I simply want to provide/if the gentleman's bill is 

passed, for the time that will occur between this and the passage of 

his bill. 

Mr. BURCHARD, of illinois. If my colleague will allow me, I desire to 8ay that I understood his argument to be, and I underst(jod the 

gentleman from Iowa [Mr. McCRARY] to argue, that this bill would 

prevent the necessity of creating any additional district. . .Mr. CAULFillLD. I admit it will necessitate the passage of the 

bill of my colleague unless this is done, but this being done does not 

necessitate the defeat of my colleague's bill. lilT. SPARKS. Will my collmtgue allow me to ask him how long 

this system bas been going on V 

l\fr. CAULFIELD. It is provided for by la.w. 

l\lr. HOLMAN. Nine years ago. 11-'lr. SPARKS. Is not. this a reciprocal or mutual arrangement by 

which eaoh Ilolds comt for the other f 

Mr. CAULFIELD. Of course. Mr. SPARKS. Does my colleague know of any district judge in the 

Unitt>d States that has ever resigned his office on account of the insufficiency of the salary or the overwork of the office f 

Ur. CAULFIELD. My experience, Mr. Speaker, may not be as great as that of my colleague. I have never turned my attention to 

that quesLion. Perhaps the gentleman himself may be able to inform 

tile House on the subject better tbah I can. Mr. SPARKS. I never heard of one who so resigned. 

Mr. LYNDE. There is a law authorizing t.he payment of the ex- penses of district judges who are assigned to the district of New York, 

not to exceed 10 a day. I see no reason why the same law should 

not be extended to other dish·icts where the same necessity of aid to 

the court exi ts. It is a peculiar hardship that tile judge of tbe circnit court can require a district judge to go into another district for 

the purpose of disposing of the busine s of that district where the 

diRtrict judge is not able to dispose of it; and it is a peculiar bardship upon suitors, who are obliged to wait with a docket overloaded 60 that the local judge cannot dispose of it, that another judge cannot 

be sent to that di ·trict to dispose of that business ; and the circuit 

judges at the present time have great hesitation in assigning any 

ot.ber judge to assist the local judge in disposing of his business be- cause there is no Jaw which will authorize that district judge to be 

paid his expenses w bile be is assisting the local judge. I believe that rnstead of creating additional expense it will actually lessen the ex- peuses of these several courts that are now overburdened with busine ·s. Suits will be dispo ed of mnch more expeditiously; parties 

wiU be able to get their ca e to a bearing; witnesses will not be detaiuecl as they uow are detained; jurors will not be kept, as they are now kept, until the case can be disposed of by a local jud&e. Therefore I think it is a matter of economy that. we should enable a circuit 

jndge to ca.U in a district judge to help to clear tbe uockets and to 

dispose of the calendars that are overburdened. Mr. HOL IAN. I believe t be previon question bas not been called on t his bill and I move that it be recommltted to tho Committee on t.he J uiliciary. 

The question was put on Mr. Holman's motion; and on a division 

there were-ayes 99, noes 51. 

So the motion was agreed to. 

Mr. HOLMAN moved to reconoider the motion by which the bill was recommitted to the Committee on the Judiciary, and also moved 

to lay the motion to reconsider on the table. 

The latter ~otion was agreed to. 

HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPART:rtiENTS. 

lli.HUNTON;from thesamecommittee, reported back, with ther commendation that it do not pass, the bill (H. R. No. 2G3) to provide that 

the heads of Executive Departments may occupy seats on the floor of 

the House of Representatives, and moved that the same be laid on the 

table. 

The mojjon was agreed to. . Mr. HUNTON moved to reconsider the motion by which the bill was laid on the table ; and also moved that the motion to recollSider 

be laid on the table. • The latter motion wa agreed to. 

LAND SOLD IY INSURRECTIONARY STATES. 

Mr. HUNTON also, from the same committee, reported back, with a substitute, the bill (H. R. No. 1 ) for the relief of owners and purchasers of lands sold for direct taxes in insurrectionary States. 

Mr. HUNTON. That bill is ·ubject to the point o'f order, and I 

therefore move to refer it to the Committee of the Whole on the state 

of the Union, and that the substitute be printed. 

I will ask further, a it is a bill of orne importance, that it be mado a ~:~pecial order for the 16th day of l!'ebruary, n.nd from day to tlay 

thereafter until disposed of, not however to interfere with the appropriation bills. 

Mr. HURLBUT. Does not that bill require its first consideration 

in Committee of the ·whole f 

The SPEAKER. The chair accepts the statement of the gentleman 

from Virginia [Mr. HUNTO~] on that point. 

Mr. HOLMAN. Itr makes an appropliation, and of course it is subject to the point of order. 

lllr. HlmTON. I have moved that the bill and substitute be printed 

and referred to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union 

and made a special order for the lGth day of Febrnary. 

Mr. HOLMAN. I presume the gentleman except r eports from the 

Committee on Appropriations and the Commhtee on Ways and Means f 

The SPEAKER. The gentleman has proposed to except no report save that from the Committee on Appropriations. 

Mr. HOL~fAN. Reports from the Committee on Ways and Means 

ought to be excepted also. 

Mr. HUNTON. I have no objection to that. 

Mr. HURLBUT. I object to its being made a special order. 

Ur. HOSKINS. I suggest to the gentleman fi·om Virginia that ho 

withdraw the latter part of his motion, making this a special order 

from uay to day until disposed of, and confine it to on day. 

Mr. HUNTON. If that will obviate the objection made, I will withdraw that part of my motion. 

The SPEAKER. Then the motion now is that the bill be made a special order for the 16th clay of February, and that alone. 

Mr. H RLBUT. I object to giving this bill a.ny preference over others that may be referred to the committee. 

The question waa then taken on the motion to refer the bill and 

sub titute (H. R. No.l804) to the Committee of the Whole on the State 

of the Union, and order them to be print.ed, and it was agreed to. 

CO:\DfiSSIOXERS OF Ul\'ITED STATES COURTS. 

Mr. LORD, from the same committee, reported back the bill (H. R. 

No. 721) to provide for the appointment of commissioners for taking 

affidavits, &c., for tho courts of the United States, with a substitute. 

The substitute was read, as follows: 

Be it enacted, d:c., That the circuit courts of the United tates may appoint com· mis ion e~. to be called" affidavit commissioners," who are her by authorized to t.'tke affidavits, depositions, and verifications of pleadings to be rt>au in the courts of the United St.'ttes, but shall not possess the other powers conferred by statute upon commissioners of the circuit courts. 

The substitute (H. R. No. 1803) wa-s agreed to. 

The bill wa-s ordered to be engrossed and read a third time; and 

being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time. :Mr. HOAR. I should like to have this bill explained a little. I uo 

not see why the existing commissioners cannot perform this business 

with propriety. 

Mr. LORD. Tbe necessity of the bill is in this: At the last session 

of Congress notaries public were strieken out from the statute, so that 

notaries public cannot now take affidavits. Aucl there was a good reason for striking them out. Notaries public are not under the control of the United States court , and the power to take affida.vits by 

tbem was sometime abused. In the State of New York-anti [under- sta.nd the same to have been the case throughout the United State~:~­

persous had to travel forty or fifty miles for the purpose simply of 

making an affidavit. This bill provides simply that the circuit courts, 

composed of tho circuit judge and district judges, may appoint com- missioners a-t proper places for the pmpose simply of taki[J'\,J' affidavits. 

Mr. HOAR. My question is why tho commissioners no{\/' 'J·PJ:Winted 

by the jndges-I think the judges of the Supreme Court srill a.ppoiut 

commissioners--

; 

• 
• I 

It376. CONGRESSIONAL RECOR . 871 

Ur. LORD. The commtsswners now appointeu havo power to 

make arrests, issue criminal process, and all that; and it might be 

very unfortunate to increase the number of officers wit h that power; we have already enough of them. The object of this is to locate at 

proper points where there are no commissioners us at present appointed commissioners to take affiuavits simply. In the St.ate where 

I live, in the city of Utica, there is a Uniteu States commissioner, and 

the people in tllat. district have to travel fort y or fifty miles in order 

to make affidavjts before tbe commissioner. When the notaries public were recognized affidavits could be taken conveniently before 

them. But those officers are now abolished, a,nd a man who wishes 

to make an affidavit simply must tmvel until he can find a United 

States commissioner before whom to mnke it. Thi1:1 bill is to provide 

commissioners to take affidavits merely ; it will be a very great public convenience, and these officers will ue directly under the control 

of the courts, while notaries public were not. 

1\lr. HOAR. I understand these commissioners are to take depositions, and are therefore to have the power of compelling the atte-::!d- ance of witnesses and to commit for contempt. It seems to me that 

it is of very questionable propriety to multiply these little United 

States officers with special authority. If a commis ioner is needed for 

this purpo e, the true way is to have an additional commissioner appointed by the United States court, who will be a person of character, 

known to the judge, and his discretion in the taking of the depositiou will be likelv to insure integrity. 1\Ir. LORD. It is not in ten <led to give these commissioners any such 

power as the gentleman suggests. The intention is merely to give them power to take affidavits ex 11a1·te. If tbe word "depositions" in 

the uill will confer the authority upon these officers which the gentleman sugge ts, then I will consent to have that word stricken out, 

for the object is simply to give these officers power to take affiuavits ex pm·te. 

1\Ir. HOAR. The bill certainly is not what the gentleman explains 

the intention of the committee to be, because it gives these officers au thority to take depositions, and that of course implies all the other 

authority I have suggested. 

l\11'. LORD. I will aRk that the bill be again reported as :tmended. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

That t)ie circuit courts of the United States may appoint commissioners, to be 

c..'l.IJcd " affidavit commissioners, " who are h er eby authorized to take aflhlavits, deposit.ions, aud verifications of pleadings to be read in the courts of the United St-'ttes, 

but shall not possess the other powers conferred by statute npon commissioners of t.he circuit courts. 

1\fr. LORD. I am willing that the word "depositions" shall be 

stricken out. 

Mr. HOAR. If the gentleman will permit me a moment, I think 

there is a very serious objection to the policy which this bill proposes 

to inaugurate. There is no way in which imposition is more hkely to 

b practiced upon the Government or upon the courts than in that · clas of cases where the testimony is taken and t ho proof is made by ex pm·tc affitlavits, by evidence taken for the purpose of prosecuting 

claims before the Departments of the Government. The only protection we have again ·t the getting up of these bogus claims and ver- ifying them by ex pa1·1v affidavits, in a great many cases, is in the char- acter and integrity of the magistrate hefore whom they ~re taken. If a scamp and knave, who is getting up a bogus case, goes before 

him aud the magistrate is a man of intelligence, character, and accus- tomed to administer justice and transact business, he will see through 

the thing at once. This bill proposes to appoint a person, without. giving bond or having an;y considerable or respectable jurisdi<!tion, 

whose sole power is simply to take a man's oath, and tho result of that 

will ue that the papers veriil.ed before this class of magistrates will 

derive no adilitional value whatever from the ·oath. It will be qnite as well to undertake to say that in all that class of ca es no oath shall 

bo necessary, that the inscription verifyin&' the papers shall be all tba.t 

is ro<]uired.. I am opposed altogether to mUltiplying these petty United 

State officers. ~h. LORD. I will give avery brief history of the necessity of such a mea nre as this. This bill was sugge ted by a state of things wllich 

exists in our State, and I have no doubt in other States of the Union. The circuit court now has the power to appoint at its will United 

States commissioners. Notaries public having been stricken out of 

the old law, a great pres ure is made upon the circuit courts to ap- point commissioners, those commissioners having full power to make 

arrests, issue criminal process, &c. The ouject of this bill is to au- thorize the appointment of commissioners by the circuit courts wher- ever it may be deemed necessary, wit.h power simply t.o take affidavits e:c pm·te. We have just as much assurance in respect to the appointment of affidavit commis ioners of character and respectability as we have in regard to the other commissioners. I call for the previous 

que tion. 

The previous question was seconded and the main question was or- dered, which was upon ordering the bill, as amended, to be engro sed 

and read a third time. ' · 

Mr. LORD. To meet an objection of the gentleman ftom Massacho ett , LMr. HoAR,] I have consented to amend the substitute by 

striking out the word" depositions." 

Tllo ::;PEAKER. Tlli being a report f-rom a committee, the gentle- ma u has not himself the power to modify it; it will require unani- mous consent. 

Mr. POPPLETON. I object. 

Mr. HOAR. I understood that the gentleman reporting the uill 

modified it in that way at the time he reported it, upon the suggestion then made. That was the understanding, I thought, of the House. 'l'he SPEAKER. The Chair did not so understand. The gentle- man could not on his own motion modify the bill, which is the work 

of the committee. The bill was passed. l\1r. LORD 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. 

ACTIO~S L~ CASES OF DEATH FROM WRONGFUL ACTS7 ETC. 

1\fr. L.A. WRENCE, from the Committee on the J udlciary, reported 

back, with amendments, the bill (H. R. No. 1210) authorjzing actions 

in cases of deat h resulting from wrongful act, neglect, or default. 

Tbe bill was read. It provides, as amended, that whenever the 

death of a person shall be caused, in the District of Columbia, by the 

wrongful act, .neglect, or default of any person or corporation, and 

the act, neglect, or default is such as would (if death bad not ensued) 

have entitled the party injured, or if she- be a manied woman, her husband, either separately or together with her, to maintain an action and recover damages in respect thereof, then, and in every such ca e, 

the person who, or corporation which, would have been liable if death 

bad not ensued shall be liable to an action for damage , notwi thstand- ing the death of the person injured, and although the death shall have 

been caused under such circumstances as amount in law to a felony. But in no case is the recovery to exceed the sum of $5,000. The second section provides that every such action shall ue brought 

by and in t he name of the personal representi ve of such decea ·ed per- son, and withiu twelve calendar months after his or her death. The 

jury in any snch action may award sueh damages as to it may seem fair and just, and may direct in what proportion they shall be distributed to the wife, husband, parent, or child of the deceased. 'l'he third section enacts that the amount recovered in any such ac- tion shall, after the payment of costs and reasonable attorneys' fees, be paid to the wife, husband, parent, or child of the deceased in such 

proportion as the jury may have uirected, or, if they have not directed, 

according to the statute of rlistributions, and shall be free from all 

debts and liabilities of the deceased; but if there be no wife, hus- band, pa!·ent, or child, the amount so received shall be assels in the 

bands of the personalrepresen tati ves, to be disposed of according to law. The fourth section provjdes that the rights of action unuer the act 

shall not determine, nor shall such actions, when brought, abate by 

the dea,th of the defendant. Mr. L.A. WRENCE. This bill is copied from a statute enacted by 

the Legislature of Virginia at the session of 1 70-'71, (chapter 2~, 

sectiou1, page 27,) and incorporateu into the Code of Virginia, (edition 

of 1873, page 995, chapter 145, sections 7, 8, ~' 10.) The language is 

substantL:tlly that of Lord. Campbell's act of 1846, which may ue found 

copied iuto Shearman and Redfield on Nep)igence, page 3:>3, section 292. There is no such law in this District.. Tllere is a law ubstantially 

similar in most of the States. I snppo e there will be no objection 

to the passage of the bill. 

Mr. REAGAN. I would like to make a single suggestion. I observe 

that in the first part of the second section it is req uircd that all actions 

under this bill ''shall be brought by and in the name of tho personal representative of such deceased person." Would it not be well to add 

after the words "person:.tl representative" the words "or heirs~" 

Mr. L.A. WRENCE. It would be impossible to bring the a-ction in 

the name of the heirs. Mr. REAGAN. I am not familiar with the laws of this District ; 

but I know that in a number of the States tllose words would be nec- es. ary. 

Mr. LAWRENCE. The bill provides for a distribution of the money 

among the heirs; so that those words are D8t necessary. 1\fr. HOAR. I desire to call tbe attention of the gentleman reporting this bill to a single point. The bill, as I under tancl, is intended 

to provide that for damages which may have been inflicted upon a person there shall be a right of action notwithstanding his subse- quent death. It is not designed to give a right of action in the na- ture of a penalty to the personal representatives of a person who llas 

been killed; but it simply provides that if the act is such as would (i£ 

death had not ensued) have entitled the party injured to maintain 

the a-ction, then the corporation or person sba,ll be liable to an action for damages. 

But suppose the person, aft.er having been injured, lives twe1\e months or two _years in pain and agony, and snstains by the injury an amount of damage for which ;- ,000 would be a wholly inadequate 

compensation. Take, for instance, the Shaw case, in l\fa sachusetts, 

where by a mil way accident a woman hau both her arms taken off, 

besides being seriously injured in other respects, and recovered 22,500. 

Now this bill limits the right of action in all ca es, if death ensues, t.o 

$5,000. I suppose what is int ended is that the penalty for the death 

shall not ex0eed 5,000. It certainly cannot mean toimplythat if a per- son sustains damages to the amount of $20,000, and then dies, the fact 

of ueat.h will diminish t.he right of compensation for tllo agony, or loss 

of limb, or anything else of that kind su:stained during the person's life-time. · 
872 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 3, 

Jt.Ir. LA \VRENCE. At common law, in the case put by the gentle- man from Massachusetts, [:Mr. lloAR,] the right of action would die 

with the person; but in such a case the action might be brought during the life-time of the party; then the limitation imposed by this 

bill would not apply. 

I was in favor of :fixing the amount named in the bill at 10,000, 

but the committee thought 5,000 sufficient; and that is the amount 

:fixed in many of the States. There must be some limitation. This 

is precisely in accor<lance with the Briti h statute. 

Mr. HOAR. No, sir; it does not conform to the British statute. 

This bill jumbles together two things wholly distinct v.nd separate. It is true that for injuries which a person might sustain by the wrongdoing of another, in body, in mind, or in estate, the right-of action at common law would expire with the death of the person injnred; but 

there is no American jurisdiction in which that principle of the com- mon law has not been long ago repealed; and for injuries which a person dying t:~uffered in his life-time his executor or administrator 

may sustain an action without regard to the death of the party. But 

tho fact of death is not taken into account as a1i'ecting or increasing 

the damages. A man may live in agony for twenty-four hours, and for those 

twenty-four hours of agony his personal representatives after his 

death may maintain an action, as he might have done in his life-time. 

The compensation to be awarded to the widow or next of kin, to the 

executor or a.dministrator, for the fact of his death is an altogether 

ilifl'erent and separate thing. For that no State in this country and no tribunal in England gave a right, of action until Lord Campbell's 

act, which gave a right of action not exceeding a certain limit; and some of the statutes of this country have given also a right of action, 

usually not exceeding 5,000. 

Now, the gentleman from Ohio [:Mr. LAWRENCE] bas taken those 

two things and mixed· them together, providing that where a man sustains an injury there may be a right of action for that injury notwithstanding his death, and that for the injury his next of kin or his 

legal repro entatives hall in no case recover more than $5,000. Thus 

this bill, instead of enlarging, diminishes and cuts off the right of ac- tion. Now, I wish the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. LAWRENCE] would 

allow th~ bill to be recommitted .and reported again to-morrow morn- in~ . . . Mr. LAWRENCE. The gentleman is entirely mistaken. The SPEAKER. The morning hour has expired, and the bill goes over until to-morrow morning. 

VESSELS OW 'fED BY CITIZE~S. 

Mr. KASSON, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R . No. 1805) to encourage the conduct of commerce in-ves ·els owned by citi- zens of the United States; which was read a first and second time, 

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

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT. 

A message, in writing, was received from the President of the 

United States, by Mr. LUCKEY his Private Secretary; and likewise 

the announcement that the President had on February 1, 1876, approved and signed bills of the following titles: 

An act (H. R. No. 626) to amend the Revised Statutes relating to nat- uralization · and 

An act (H. R. No. 1208) to amend the Revised Statutes touching 

vice-cou~ul genemls. 

DIPLOMATIC APPROPRIATION BILL 

1\Ir. SINGLETON. I move that the rules be suspended and the 

House resolve itself into the Committee of the Whole on the state of 

the Union for the purpose of takin~ up and considering the diplomatic and consular appropriation bilL 

The motion was azreed to. The House accordingly resolved itself into the Committee of the 

Whole on the state of the Union, (Mr. HOSKINS in the chair,) and 

proceeded to the consideration of the special order, a bill (H. R. No. 

1594) making appropriations for the consular and diplomatic service 

of the Government for the year ending June 30, 1877, and for other 

purposes. 

The CHAIRMAN. The bill will be reported infnllforinformation. The bill was read in e:rtenso. MT. SINGLETON. Mr. Chairman, as a member of the Committee on Appropriations charged with reporting this bill to the House it 

may be proper that I should make a few remarks in explanation of 

what the committee has done. There is accompanying it, however, so full and exhaustive a report as to make it unnecessary that I should 

protract my remarks to any considerable length. 

At the first meeting of the Committee on Appropriations the question came up informally whether we would embark upon a line of 

retrenchment and reform or whether we should be guided by the landmarks which had governed and controlled this House in its appropriations for the last few years. So soon a the question was sprung we had an expression of opinion, r believe, from every member of that 

committee, and, without a single dissenting voice, we came to the con- clusion that it wn.s our missiou, as far as the limit of our powerwou]d 

allow, to retrench and reduce the expenditures of the Government in 

every department which came properly under our consideration. There is, therefore, no difference of opinion on the general question 

oi the reduction of the expenilitures of the Government, although we 

did not all agree, as it could not be suppo ed we wouhl, upon tlte 

miuutiro of this or any other bill reported to tho IIouse. The dill'erences, however, between us are small, and I apprehend before we get 

through we will be enabled to come together and pass this bill witllout a single dissenting voice. 

It may be proper, Mr. Chairman, to state the rea ons why we con- sidered it necessary to embark in the work of retrenchment. vVe 

cannot ca t our eyes to auy portion of this country and view the pecunin.ry circumstances and surroundings of our,people without being 

fully convinced and under tanding that it is necessary we hould do 

something for the relief of an overbunlened people. I do not kuow 

how it may be in other sections of the country except as I eo by the 

reports in the newspapers, bnt for my own section I know the people 

there are so overtaxed and so overburdened with debt that it i almost impossible for them in many instances to obtain even the com- mon nece aries of life. Why, sir, the war which took place (and I 

allude to it now not for the purpose of getting up any di en ion in 

reference to its merits or demerits upon the one side or the other) has 

left the people of the South, as is well known, in a most embarm ed 

condition in a pecuniary way. In all other wars which have taken 

place that which was property at the beginning of the war remained 

property at the close, and it belonged either to the victors or the van- quished; so that a man, although he hatl lost his e tate, still had an opportunity to re-acquire it. When the war closed, however, onr slaves had all been set at liberty, and we had lost ab olutely, just as fully and entirely, $400,000,000, as if it had been consumed by fire. We 

do not regret the result of the war so far as that matter is concerned. I state here on my veracity that if by my fiat to-day I could restore 

that institution I would not do it. But I simply speak of it as a fact 

that, by the loss of that property, we were impoveri bed to an ex- tent that no man who has not thought on the subject can appreciate. 

In the South the number of slaves a man owned con titnted his 

wealth. You never heard the question asked when you came to inquire about a man's fortune as to the number of acres of land he 

owned, for that was a mere adjunct, as it were; but the question wa , How many hands does he work' The wealth of the South was in the 

colored population of that section. Now, sir, that has been stricken 

down, and again I wish to repeat that there is no man in the South 

who would desire to restore that institution if he had it in his power to~~ . This is not all. There are other causes for our poverty and our distress. One of them is the fact that we have not had home rnJers; 

that we have been governed a,nd controlled.by a set of men who, like 

the worthless drift-wood that lies rotting upon the banks of a str am, 

at the flood-tide of reconstruction was gathered up and precipitatetl 

upon us. These men came among us for no other )nupo e than for 

spoils; and they were not scrupulous a~ to the mean by which they 

obtained them. We have been controlled by them. 'l'hey have ma- nipulated the Legislatmes of our States, because they have been in 

the ascendency'in several of them; and the conseqnence has been 

that we were overburdened with taxes, our money extorted from us 1mjustly, and 'we are left in such condition that to-day we are scarcely 

able to meet the taxes levied upon our real estate. Those of you who represent constituencies in a better condition, 

you men in ea y circum tauces yourselves, could you stand, as I' have 

stood, at the door of the conrt-house on the day when a home teacl wa advertised for sale, and could you look into the pallid and anx- ious countenance of the man who e home was about to be bid off by 

the tax-gatherer, you would have seen that the hammer, as it feU, 

smote the very heart of that man, crushing out hi hopes and hi 

energy. You would then begin to underStand why the people of the 

South come here to ask for retre:achment in the expenses of the Government. 

Why, sir, if this state of things progresses as it bas been doing for some time, the real estate of my country will soon be all in the hands 

of a few men who have gone there with money to be nsed in this way, or it will have gone t-o the Government for taxes. Now, sir, thi is 

another of the causes why I, in common with all who represent the 

Southern States, feel that it i& necessary that we do something to re- lieve our people. We made pledges to them when on the stump. We 

then declared that we were in favor of reform. And, sir, are we to 

make these promises to the ear to be broken to the heart T Is it not 

tampering ·with the hopes of those who have generously confided in us " Ea e will recant vows made in pain as violent and void," 

wrote a ilistingui heel author, but we can plead no such justificatiop. a Represent.atives upon this floor. 

I know, s~ that when we get into the atmosphere of Washington we are too prone t.o forget those we left behind. We come here and 

walk or ride upon the e magnificent streets; we go to the e splendid 

entertainments and see the gorgeous dressing there indulged in; we 

dra.w our salaries and spend t.hem at will, and seem to forget that 

there is poverty at home, and that we made pledges of reform which we are not now prepared to redeem. Again, it is well known to all 

gentlemen familiar with the South that our system of labor bas b en broken up. There are no means now of controlling our laborers; for 

they are, to all intents and purposes, in several of the States and have 

been our masters in the matter of lahor as well as in politics. Many 

of the lan<ls that were once beautiful plantations ar now neglected 

and growing up in sedge-grass because of the fact that we cannot 

control the labor that is necessary to the cultivation of those lands. 
.· 

1876. CONGRESSIONAI.J RECOR,D. H73 

The consequence is that where wealth and refinement onco ma.O:e 

their home, poverty and depression now hold undisputed sway. 

Well, sir, this is a brief s~etcb of the condition of the people of portions of the outh. Now, let me turn to the North, and ask if you 

have not troubles not altogether unlike our own, and in which you 

sympathize with us Y \Vhat mean these raids that are taking place 

in State that regard themselves as so much better off than the South- ern States Y Why was it in the grand old State of Pennsylvania last summer that you aw men congregated together and marching through 

the land demanding bread or work 1 

It is very we1l known we were never a manufacturing people, that we bought very nearly everything we consnmed, everything that we wore, and even much that we ate from other sections of the coun1ry. We were a cotton-raising people. We confined ourselves to that. staple which commanded money in any market, being one of the ne- ce ·ities the world cannot do without. We bought. from the North 

and Westtbe.ir manufactured articles, their iron, coal, mules, horses, 

pork, and grain. Therefore, when yon see that we are suffering gen- eral depression in the whole South, you see also that it extends beyonu the mere geographical limits of the Southern States. Why, sir, a gentleman :t;rom Ohio told me yesterday on this floor that in a town 

in hi di trict a crowu of several hundred per ons ba.d gathered and 

demanded bread or work. What means this if not general depression 

all through the. lancl f If your people do not sympathize with ours in the e sufferings, what mean these gatherings North and these demands for bread Y Wh!Jr, sir, we arc members of the same body 

politic; we are so united by ties of interest that it is utterly impossible to touch one port~on of the country and do it an injury without 

that injury vibrating to the very circumference of tho Union. We a.re so wrapt up in common interests, there is such an interchange of 

commoditie between ns, that you cannot injure one section without 

in.iuring the other. Why is it, sir, that the iron founderies of Pennsylvania are languishing to-day 'I Why is it that your railro3.d iron 

finds no market f Go to New York and you will find the goods we once purchased ab olutely enveloped in dust and wearing out upon 

their shelves, and why T It is simply becau e the people of the South are not able to buy the goods we used to buy. We used to spend our money with liberal bands in the purcha e of the e goods, and now your railroacl iron is unsold, your dry goods remain on the shelves of • the merchant , and a thousand other interests are affected by the fact 

that we are straitened in pecuniary matters in the Southern States. The e potent reasons, with many others, induce the Committee on Appropriations to look to retrenchment and reform, that we might alleviate a distressed and suffering people in every section of the Union so far as we can do so. I want to say here, while it occurs to me, that 

1 am no c~ioual man when it comes to legislation in this Hall. In 

voting on political questions I have my own political views, but, sir, 

when I took my seat here and took the oath to support the Constitution of my country, my purpose and object were to do justice to every 

section. I have no bitterness in my heart, nor do I believe that these 

Representatives for the South have any in theirs toward the people 

of the North. Let me say that, if there is any gentleman be.re who 

ent.ertams such feelings, yotll' people do not sympathize with yon, nor do my people. 

During my canvass last summer, when in my feeble way I undertook to describe the visit ma.de by southern troops to Boston to cele- brate the centennial of Bunker Hill, when I stated that while those 

troops were marching through the streets of Boston they paused and 

reversetl arms and a committee appointed for that purpose quietly ma.rched out with an immense bouquet and laid it upon the monument 

erected to the Union dead, and when I described to them how the 

handkerchiefs of the ladies were waved in the air, how cheers broke 

forth from the men, I saw the tears trickle down the furrowetl cheek8 

of my people. I saw old ladies bury their faces in their handkerchiefs 

n.nd weep for very joy that union was restored. And now I say again we have a great and holy work to accomplish, and if we do not accom- plish that work woe be to the man who shall throw himself in the 

way of it. 

Sir, when we came here at the commencement of this Congress we found an exhansted Treasury, our currency depreciated; we found 

everywhere a want of confidence; and the mission, the great dut.y, of 

this House is to restore confidence in the currency, to bring us back 

to the halcyon days when no more money was gathered from the people 

than was necessary for the economical administration of the Govern- ment, when there was no wa tef-ul extravagance, and when there were no offices created for the benefit of office-holders, and when all were willing to receive what was necessary to give them a decent sup- port, no matter what position 1mder the Government they might 

occupy. The committee found upon investigation that we have an unnecessary number of offi~ers, both domestic and foreign. This 

wrong had grown up in the flush times of the war, when plenty of 

paper money was issued and every one had it in abundance, when 

overwhelming fortunes were made, when extra>agance prevailed 

e>erywbere. This system of mah.'ing offices fo ·the benefit of officeholders sprang up at this -point of our hi tory. 

Sir, under our system of government offices are not created for the 

benefit of the office-holders, but for the pnblic good; and whenever 

t.bey fail. to answer that end or are not necessary t,o the accomplishment of that purpose, then it becomes necessary that we as faithful 

guardians of the public interest shall abolish those offices and turn 

out aU sinecure office-holders. I have no doubt. that we shall hear 

wails from many of these. ' There will be indivir1uaJs who "'\'irtU talk to 

every Congressman who will give them oar of their sorrows and 

troubles. To these complaint we can give no heet1, a it is not the 

bu iues of Congre to pro \"ide for chronic office-holders. Their feP-ulo 

cries are swallowed up in the general wail that comes from the hearts 

of a suffering people. It is not the business of Congress Tho Government was not in titntecl to take care of the few at the expen e of the many. Has it come to this, that we are bonncl to make large appropriations in onler 

to keep men in position and surround them "itlt easy circumsbnces .at the expense of the hard-working people of the country1 \Vhon I 

say this, I do not say it with a view of appealing to that class of people; for they demand nothing but to be let alone; to have the hands 

of Government officials kept out of their pockets, except for uece sary 

expenditures; to uepermitted tocultivatotbesoiland toreaptbefruits 

of their lauor. But when yon make a ho t of officers and gi>e them 

high salaries in order that they may be clot.hed in purple and nne linen and fare sumptuously every day, you are doing injustice to your · constituencies. 

The salaries are too large ; they have grown out of all proportion 

to what they were in the better days of the Republic, if I may so speak ; and I hope no gentleman will take offense at the remark, for 

I think we have seen better clays than tho.se now upon us. In days . gone by I find that we used to have as foreign ministers such men in 

1841 as Ed wUirl Everett, minister to England; General Cass to France; 

Mr. \\Tbeatoo, the eminent author on international law, to Prussia; 

:Mr. J enifer, of Maryland, to Austria. They were emirely satisfied 

with the alaries they then received: $V,OOO a year. It is true that 

for the first year they received an outfit of $U,OOO. 

l\IT. HOAR. The gentleman will permit me to say that I have heard 

Edvmrd Everett make the most bitter complaints of the manner iu 

which he had to appear at the court to which he had been sent to 

repre ent the United States. Mr. SINGLETON. Very well; the gentleman was better acquainted 

with l\lr. Everett than myself. I have no private sources of information upon that subject ; I have neve-r seen anything of that kind in 

print. 

Mr. HOAR. It was in a public address that he made the complaint. ~IT. SINGLETON. It has escaped my attention altogether. At any 

rate our ministers then did not make any formal demand upon Congress for more pay; no effort was made that I am aware of to raise 

their salaries. Some geutlemen may say that they received an outfit 

of $9,000; that is true. But make your calcnlat.ion: $9,000 salary and 

$9,000 outfit make $18,000 for the first year. Suppose the minister 

rema,ins at his post for two years, he will have recei...-ed $27,000, or at 

tho mte of l3,WO a. year. We propo e hy this bill to give them. 14,000 a year. Suppose the minister shall remain there throughout an. a-dministration, four years, he will have received 45,000, or $11,250 a year, even counting in t.he outfit. 

Om· ministers then, as far as we know, always managed to appear 

respectauly and were honored representatives of thetr count.ry. I ne>er beard of any of them writing treatises upon the game of draw 

poker; I never heard that they engaged in dealing in stocks of the 

Emma Mine Company or anything of t.bat sort. They were gentle- men of the highest order of respectability; they were sans peur ct sans 1·ep1·oclte as miniRters representing our Republic. 

l\Ir. KASSON. \Vill the gentleman state what the pay of those 

ministers were fixed at in 1855 by a. democratic Congress 'f 

Mr. SINGLETON. I am coming to that.. l\1r. GARFIELD. And before the gentleman leaves the point he 

has just been making, I hope be will also state that they not only 

received n.n outfit when going out but an infit of half the ammmt 

when coming home. 

Mr. SU(GLETON. There was no law for it 

l\lr. GARFIELD. That was the law at the time. 

l\Ir. RANDALL. That is not the law. 

1\lr. GARFIELD. It is not now. Mr. RANDALL. It was not the practice, if you please. Mr. GARFIELD. It was the practice, and not contrary to law 

Mr. SINGLETON. I am not old enough to know all about " !tat 

the practices were t hen. 

Mr. GARFIELD. I Mk the gentleman to make that statemen·• in hi~ remarks. 

Mr. SINGLETON. There is no law forit, so far as I have been able . to find out. There is another thing worthy of mention; at that time, so far as my recollection now serves me, there was no money allo-.ed 

to tlle appointed minist.er for one month, which be now spends at 

home to receive his instructions and get ready for the mission. N-Jw 

the salary as minister is permitted to run for one mo:::1th before he 

leaves the United States, during which time he remains in the city of 

Washington to receive his instructions. And when his term of serv- ice exp"ires, when he either chooses to resign or is recalled from his 

po itiou, be is entitletl to one month's salary, on an averaO'e, in order 

to get home again. I do not t..bink that was the law at t.bc time above 

referred to. If gentlemen can find it I shall be very glad to see· it. 

Leave of absence is now granted for two months and durincr that 

t.ime the officer next in position, the ecretnry of legation, receiv~'!Olle­ balf of the amount of t.he salary of the minister "'\'i"hile the minister for 

sixt.y days is drawing the fuJl amount of the $17,500 a year. 
874 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 3, 

Mr. KASSON. The custom and the right were for the minister to 

draw his salary from the issuance of the commission, and the practice 

the gentleman refers to is a restriction upon the old practice. 

Mr. SINGLETON. Yes; and they used to go to their work at once. Mr. KASSON. I know of one or two instances where a man remained 

for months in the United States after his commission was issued to 

Lim, drawing his full alary all of the time. · 

Mr. RANDALL. Yes; but those abu e this bill will correct. 

Mr. KASSON. That abuse was under the a<.lministration of the 

gentleman's own part.y. 

M.r. RANDALL. I do not care; we will correct those abuses where- ever we find them. 

1\Ir. IUS ON. In some instances men drew the outfit and never actually entered upon the service. 

Mr. SINGLETON. That may be so for ~11 I know; but it was to 

correct just such abuses that the law was changed, so that no outfit was allowed. 

O, sir, I expect the gentlemen on that side of the House to make 

opposition to this bill; we look for it as a matter of course. I know 

that the contra t which we intend to pre ent to the country before 

this Congres is over, if the Senate will concur with us, will be painful for gentlemen on the other side to look upon. When they see that 

we have made a reduction of from thirty t.o fifty million dollars annually in the expen e of this Government without impairing the 

efficiency of the service, it will be a painful pectacle for p;ent.lemen 

to cont.emplate, now that the presidential election is appro: whin~. 

We except nothin9 el e but opposition; but we intend to "tight 1t 

ont upon that lille.' 

Mr. BAKER, of Indiana. Will the gentleman permit me to ask 

him a question T 

Mr. SINGLETON. I will. 

Ir. BAKER, of Indiana. I am sincerely de irons to vote for any 

legitimate mea nre of r etrenchment and reform; nnd I presuwe the ma.tter to which I now a ·k the p;entlema.n's atten t.ion is provided for 

in the bill, but I fa,il to discover it. I ob crve the bill, as reported, 

propose , commencing at line 85, to appropriate for the sa.Iaries of 

consuls, vice-consuls, commercial agents, and th.iTteen commlarclerks, 

the gross sum of 2~W,400. This sum is to be paidont among one bnndred ~nd twenty- ix consuls, vice-consuls, and commercial agents; 

but ·I fail to discover anywhere in the bill any provision for determining how much is to be paid to a.uy one of these officers at any one 

of these places. . Mr. RANDALL. That is regnl:tted by classes. 

Mr. SINGLETON. The gentleman will find on examination that 

there is a classification of these officers, and the nmonut to be paid to 

those in each class is given at the head of each cla. sificat,ion. 

l\IT. BAlCER, of lud1ana. Is it to be found in the present bill or in 

the Revised Statutes f 

l\lr. RANDALL. A provision of t.he Revised St,atutes fixes the pay 

by classes. The s&cond class of officers in tlJis bill r eceive , for inst.ance, "3,500 eaclJ; and tbey run down by gra.dations of $GOO till tlJey 

1·each the seventh cla.s , for which the pay is $1,000. 

:Mr. SINGLETON. If t.he gentleman will torn to the act passed 

two or three years ago lJe will find the classifica.t.ion giving tile 

amounts whic.h those of each class are to rfleeive. Wben we proceed 

to consider this bill by paragraphs, we sha11 give explanations which 

I hope will be satisfactory to every man in t.he House. 

Before concluding these desnl t.ory remarks it may be proper for 

me to state the manner in which we propose to make this reform. 

l\Ir. BAKER, of Indiana,. I would he glad if the gentleman would 

refer me to the provision of law regulatiug tho point I b:tvo suggested. I fail to find it in the Revised Statutes, which I hold in my 

hand. 

Mr. RANDALL. I can point it out to the gentleman. • 

l\lr. SINGLETON. I hope the gentleman will take the bill and examine it to his heart's content. If he cannot understand it, I cannot 

help it; it is not my business t o hnnt np the law for him. 

I will state Gur manner of proceNling. We have found that there 

were many representative~:> of our Govemment at points of very little 

commercial importance and :rea1ly .rendering no service to the coun- try. We have called to our airl all the a.'>sistallce we conlcl get. \Ve 

have had before ns gentlemon who have visited all these consulates, 

and we have put inquiries to them in order to obtain all the information that they po essed upon the subject. We have talked with the 

Secretary of State. In fact from every source we ]Jave sought all the 

information that was to be had. Where we have found it unneces- sary to continue a consulate we have proposed to abolish the office, 

and have declined to report an appropria.tion to pay the consul. 

Again, we found that we were paying more than we should pay to 

some of these officers; we have reduced salaries; we have put officers 

into a lower classification with smaller salaries. Where we have 

found the "contingent expenses" too great, as they have as~uredly 

been in many instances, as we shall be a,ble to demonstrate as we proceed with the consideration of the hill, we have cut down these con- tingent expen e . By these means we have been enabled to reduce 

the appropriations lln<ler this biU, if the Honse shall adopt it as re- ported, a,bout $4fi0,000 be low the appropriations of Jast year. 

Last year the appropriation was ahout $l,:WO,OOO in ronnel n nm hers, 

and we have reduced that about $450,000, making about 33t pe1· cont. 

of reduction on the estimate. 

l\lr. BAKER, of. lndiano.. I will be glad to be again permitted to 

say that I acknowledge my ignorance in reference to this subject. I 

probably am obnoxion to the charge made, but still I am unable to fiud 

auy provision in the statutes of 18i4 making the cla itication speci- fied. I should be glad to be referred to where I can find it. 

Mr. SINGLETON. Jn volume 18 of the Statutes at Large .. 

l\lr. HOLMAN. My colJea~ue will find it in the Statutes at Large. 

.Mr. BAKER, of Indiana. 1 wllih to know where it is before I am 

called upon to vote on thi question. I am here to learn, and am not 

ashamed to ask for information until I get it. 

Mr. SINGLETON. Now, sir, in the cour we have taken, as Iremarked a few minutes since., we do not expect to e cape censure. 

The wounded pigeon will flutter, and we expect to ee fluttering 

among the men who e heads have been taken off and among their 

friends as well as among those who have favorite abroad and who 

clislike very much to ee their salaries reduced or their offices aboli~:>ht- d. But as I said in the beginning, we have got a higber duty to 

perform than all this. We owe it to the country, whicl1 we profess to 

love and wbich we are sent here to represent, to brincr it out of it.s 

pre ent condition of bankmpt.cy if it be possible for u to do this. 

Now, 1\Ir. Chairman, what are the facts of the casof \Ve are paying about $9tl,OUO,OOO interest on the public d bt. It is said that tbe 

orrlinary (so called, but t<, my mind ext.raonlinary) expenses of this 

Govurnment for the la t year have been 175,000,000. What nece ·it.y 

wa there for this¥ ln 1 60, I believe, the expenditures of the Government were about G3,000 000. Bow does it happen t.hat what are termed ordinary expenditures of the Government llave run up to 

$17G,OOO,OOO 'f It i all on account of the extmvagance " ·hich is in-

<lnlged in giving high salaries to representatives abroad, as well as like extravagance/'! in every other department of the Government. It 

i this wasteful extravagance in the expenditure of the people' money 

that we must stop. 

In reply to a question put to me by the gentleman from Iowa I will 

say I do not care under what administration tllesc ·alarie wero tixed 

a/• 17,GOO. I belie,·e itwa underademocmtic adwini~:>tration. But, 

granting that to he o, we ought not to forget that the country is now 

embarras ed and we are in a condition where wemu t retrench. Such 

bein•r the condition of the country, is it any good rea on with the 

gentleman, as it certainly is not with me, because the ·e ~alaries were 

tixed at $17,500 under a democratic administration that we should 

continue them at the ame rate'f 

l\lr. KASSON. If I do uot interrupt the gentleman from 1\fisRissippi, 

I wish to call his attention to the real point involved here as I see it. 

He will find, so far as I am concerned, and many ot.hers on this side 

of the House, that we desire to reduce the expenc.litnre wherever the 

.circnmst.ances authorize it, con istently with the interest. and honor 

of the country. Ancl I may be permitted to ay, I regret that any 

political aspect shall be given to the diplomatic appropriation bill. 

What I wished to call hi at~ut.ion to was that tbi~ thing was done 

by a democratic ad mini tration, aud it was found neces a,ry at a time 

when expenses were necessnrily not much over 0 or 75 per cent. of 

wuat t.hey now are. At some of the capitals and places where it wa 

found necessary, twenty years ago exactly, by a Congress that wa~ 

supposed to be under no trong inclina:tion to woll alaries beyond 

t.be amount needed, it wa found necessary to fix them at tlJo e figures. 

The point is that we all know, those who have inquired into tlle snbject, that t.be cxpeu es at these capitals uow are much great.er than 

they wen~ then. What I wi~h is ask whether the Committee oo 

Appropriations had found such reduction in living at these foreign 

capitals as woulcljn tify them in reducing the salarie which were 

fixed twenty years ago, or whether this is a mode adopted by the 

committee of impo ing a tax npon the men who happen to be abroad 

representing the Government, in the nature of an income tax upon their sa lari e~:> f That is the way it strikes me in the ab once of any proof 

where th~ cost of living is less now than it was twenty years ago. I 

hope I have made my elf understood. 

Mr. SINGLE'l'O:N. Certainl.v, and I have only this re ponse to make 

to the gentleman, that we were then rich and out. of debt .. 

Mr. KA 'SON. The gentleman will allow me to say after that time we put a twenty million loan upon the market, and olcl it at a heavy 

discount to supply the want of the Trea ury. 

1\fr. SINGLETON. We are now poor and overburdened with debt, 

and the very same principle which is good in relation to any mans private aff:1irs will apply to the expenditures of the Government of 

the United States. You as the head of a family, or I as the head of a familJ, when we are outliving our income, finding our estate is 

being encumbered or already encumbered, and laboring to pay the interest on the debt, would we not say to .the members of our household, 

if we were men of ordinary di cretion, "You must curtail your expenditures, for I must pay this debt; I must get clear of this enormous amount of interest I am paying on my obligation." Each member of that hou ehold, therefore, would be under the nece ity of curtailing his respective expen es. So it is with the Government. We owe an immense debt. How are we to pay that debt, if we go on spending aJl the money we can raise in paying the ioterest, and the 

extrava,gant expense of this Government f \Vben uo you propo ·e to 

get out of d ebt Y You seem to be _anxious now to keep up the public 

credit. Yon clamor for it day nfter day npon thiR floor. nd how are 

yon to doH1 Yon are making no provision forth liquicln.tionof yom· 

bonds when they fall due. We are bound to do this as wi e men, as 
1876. CONGRESSIONA;L RECORD. 875 

faithful Representatives. I do not care under what administration 

the sa.laries ma.y have been raised. There is no sanctity about the 

action of any cla.ss of politicians in this country, if we find they have 

taken a course inimical to the interests of the w bole mass of the people. 

The other day a gentleman on this floor, my distinguished friend 

from illinois, [.Mr. HuRLBUT,] indulged in a tirade against this com- mittee which I think diu not do much credit to the gentleman. He 

charged that we were cowardly, that we were ignorant. Well, sir, 

that may be so; but I venture the assertion that there is not a man upon that committee who is not the peer of that gentleman in point 

of intelligence and moral courage. Such charges as these ought not 

to be made against the functionaries of this House. We have been 

selected, whether wi ely or not, by the Speaker for the purpose of discharging certain duties, and I sa.y that the gentleman only shoots an arrow that will recoil upon his own head when he undertakes to 

attack th..'tt committee wholesale as be did. 

And there is my handsome friend from Maine-0, you need not 

[addressing Mr. HALE] look beyond yourself for the man [laughter]-

who the other day, because my friend from New York [Mr. Cox] was gaffing him unmercifully, got out of temper and pitched into the 

South with a 11i1n, declaring we were here with immense amounts of 

claims demanding payment from the Government. 

Did you intend w ben you established your Court of Claims that we should come and present just and legitimate claims for settlement f 

Have yon not thew bole control of that court f Is not every man appointed upon it of your own party! Why then do you complain 

when you invite us to present these claims, becanse we do your bidding and ask that they may be examined into and allowed if just. 

"0," but you say," they are presented to the House." What is your 

business but to watch these claims, and when you find one about to · be passed that is improper, what is your duty but to see that that 

claim does not pass; that you expose it, and secure a vote against it 

in Congress'f Now, sir, I am tired of this thing of your daily raids 

upon the !:;outb. I am from the South, and am a southern man every 

inch of me, from the crown of my bead to the sole of my foot. But 

I have not come here for the purpose of exciting discord in this body. 

I have come for the purposes of peace. I want peace, and I wish myself and my constituents to be treated as other gentlemen and other 

constituencies are treated upon this floor. I do not want you when 

you get yourselves a little ruffled in temper to turn your batteries 

upon the South. It is a cheap sort of courage, let me say to gentle- men. We are here, as it were, bound; we are under a bond to keep 

the peace. Everybody knows it, and we feel it. When you indulge 

in such remarks you are not showing your manhood in a way that is 

at all creditable to you. 

Mr. HOAR. Will the gentleman allow me to ask him a question 'f 

Mr. SINGLETON. Certainly. 

Mr. HOAR. I wish to ask him whether he heard a gentleman from 

tlJe South say on this floor, with the applause of the men who sat all 

around him, that we had broken every oath we ever took 'f 

Mr. SINGLETON. You had better hold that gentleman responsible 

for it. I am not responsible. 

Mr. HOAR. Did you hear that statement made 'f 

Mr. SINGLETON. I believe I heard something of that sort. 

11fT. JONES, of Kentucky. Will the gentleman ~·ield to me for a moment? 

Yr. SINGLETON. Yes, sir. 

!tiT. JONES, of Kentucky. I wish to say that the gentleman from 

Georgia., in making that remark, alluded to the fana.tics and "higherlaw" men of the North, and not to the re_-publican party. 

Mr. SINGLETON. I think the gentleman from Georgia disclaimed 

any purpose to reflect on the masses of the people of the North. They 

aJ."e not with you. Their hearts are not .:.U the war of attack upon the 

South in which you have been engaged since the meeting of this Congress. They do not show it in their meetings, yo~ do not hear of it at 

any of their public gatherings. There is no evidence that their sympathies are with you. I hope from this time forward we will meet as brethren and as equals. I feel as long as I am a member of this body 

that I am the equal of the representative of any other constituency, 

if not in intellect at least in rights and privileges. I claim nothing 

for myself that I do not accord to others, and I hope that I will .at least be regarded as representing a people !>rave, honorable, and 

true. 

We did have a war of sections; but wn were just as honest in the 

opinions we entertained as your people were, and I believe they give us credit for it. But I am not going ba-ck to that matter. We submitted the que tion to the arbitrameut of arms. Your numbers and 

prowess overcame us, though we were brave as yourselves; and when we surrendered we did it in good faith; we did it like men who intended to stand to the pledges tlJey made. You will find that while 

I hold a seat in this Congress I shall never unneces arily or intentionally wound the sensibilities of any man who sits on the opposite side 

of the House. My associations with gentlemen on that side of the 

House are pleaaant. I know many people in the North; I admire 

them because I know that many of them are true and honorable. 

They do not go with you when you undertake to bring sectional issues 

into this House for the purpo e of stirring up di cord and to make 

capit:tl for the approaching presidenth1l campaign. They see through this thin disguise; and when you are attempting to stir up strife be-. 

tween dtiferent sections of the country they understand the whole 

movement. I do not know how many presidential aspirants you 

have on that side of the House; but they are budding out pretty rapidly and pursue the course most likely to make capital for themselves, 

regardless of the public interests. 

Now, sir, let us be done with this . . I came here as your brother; 

I came here as your friend; I came here with the purpose of promoting the interests of my own people and yours. I shall strive in all 

my acts to build up the ruined South. I want you before this Congress 

adjourns to assist me in two or three schemes directed to that end, 

which I believe you will do, because your own interests imperati·vely 

demand such a course. I want to build up the :Mississippi levees and 

reclaim its alluvial soil, which will prove a more fruitful source of 

wealth to the United States than the Black Hills of the Territories or the mines of California, because it is from this inexhaustible soil 

of the delta of the Mississippi River that we can raise 7,000,000 bales 

of cotton a year if properly protected from overflow. We expect to 

ask a small sum for this work that will develop this alluvial basin 

and. enable us to purchase from you the goods we formerly purchased 

and contribute largely to the expenses of the Government. 

Mr. HALE. Will the gentleman state what the other schemes are that peopl~ desire t 

Mr. SINGLETON. I will. I am not afraid to tell it anywherere. 

Another one is a Pacific railroad. · Mr. HALE. The Southern Pacific Railroad f 

Mr. SINGLETON. Yes; and then again I want the jetty system 

carried out at New Orleans which promises to admit ve sels of the 

largest tonnage up to the wharves in that city. And if we can get 

these things accomplished you will find the South blo oming ]ike 

the rose. You will find sources of wealth to you and the whole coun- try that you never dreamed of. 

Mr. HALE. Is not the refunding of the cotton tax another object 

which the gentleman desires 'f 

Mr. SINGLETON. Well, I do not propose to discuss that now. When the proposition comes before the House I will give my views 

upon it. 

Mr. \VILLIS. I would like to suggest to the gentleman from Maine 

that the democratic party do not propose to help the South by build- · ing a Pacific raihoad. The republican party may do so if they feel 

disposed; but, so far as we are concerned, we do not intend to indulg& ill any subsidies, the republican example to the contrary notwithstanding. 

Mr. HALE. I wanted the gentleman to state as a representative 

of the southern democracy what the democratic party, of which it 

constitutes a large portion, expect to carry before Congress adjourns 'f 

I thank him for the candor with which he has answered my question 

and the monition he bas given the country. 

Mr. SINGLETON. I stated that I had three schemes in view. 

Mr. DOUGLAS. I would inquire of the gentleman from 1\laine 

by what authority be says that the gentleman from.lvlississippi is the 

representative of the southern democra-cy beret · Mr. HALE. I did it because, although it was not an as umption on the part of the gentleman from Mississippi, for he is not an as- suming man, but he claims to state for the southern people as their 

representative, speaking distinctly for them, complaining of therepul;llican party, tbat they required certain schemes, and I used his 

words, that the South wished to accomplish before Congress adjourns. 

I wished to know what they were, and I thank the gentleman again 

for the monHion he has given to the country, and especially does the 

gentleman from Mississippi represent the southern people, because lJe 

lJas been selected as one of their representatives on the Money Committee of the House. 

Mr. DOUGLAS. That may be all so; but I deny the right of the 

gentleman from Maine to designate him as the representative of the 

southern democracy. 

Mr. HOLMAN: The democratic party is neither for the Southern 

Pacific Railroad nor for refunding the cotton tax. 

The CHAIRl\f.AN. Does the gentleman from Mississippi yield for 

these interruptions T 

Mr. SINGLETON. Mr. Chairman, I am one of the best-natured men you ever knew in your life, and I yield, of course. 11fT. DOUGLAS. I deny the right of the gentleman from Maine or any other gentleman on that side of the floor to designate the gentleman from Mississippi or any other gentleman as the representative man of the· southern democracy on this floor. · Mr. JONES, of Kentucky. He is one of them. 

Mr. DOUGLAS. I am not a member of the southern democracy; I am a member of the national democracy. 

Mr. SINGLETON. Exa<ltly. 

Mr. DOUGLAS. ·And we have come here to reform the abuses of 

the Government .. Mr. HALE. The gentleman from Virginia [Mr. DOUGLAS J is a little less frank than the gentleman from Mississippi, [Mr. SINGLETO~ ] 

for he says that he is not prepared to state what be may desire to bring 

before Congress before this se ion is closed. ~be gentleman from 

Mississippi is more frank, and has given us a monition of what we may 

expect from that section. 

l\lr. SINGLETON. 0, no. l\lr. HALE. I did not expeot that a imple question from me would 

have stirred up such a hornet's nest a.s this. l\ly friend from Indiana., 

l 
876 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 3·, 

[.Mr. HoLMA~,] who opposes the project of the Southern Pacific Railro:.:.d, wants this discussion stopped; I do not wonder at it. But he m nst not call me to account for announcing that one of these schemes 

is the Southern Pacific Railroad; he must settle that matter with the 

gentleman from l\iissi ippi. 

i\lr. HOLMAN. The honorable gentleman from Mississippi, a dis- tingni~:~bed repre entative from the South, expressed himself in favor 

of the Southern Pacific Railroad and in favor of the Government re- pairine; and constructing the southern levees. Is not that 3J1 'f 

lr. 1-IALE. That was not all. 

Mr. HOLMAN. And also in favor of the proposition tha.t the Government shall expend money for the improvement or construction or repair of the l\iissi ippi levees and jetties. Does not the gentleman 

from Maine [Mr. HALE] know that the gentleman from Mississippi is 

expressing simply his own individual views upon that subject, and 

that tinw and again the democratic party in this House ha opposed 

all those measure and will continue to do sot .Mr. HALE. Does the gentleman ask me what I know about thaU 

Mr. SINGLETON. Gentlemen, I hope you will get through after a w bile. [Laughter. J 

.Mr. HALE. Does the gentleman from I.ndiana want me to answer his question 'f -

Mr. HOLMAN. It is not necessary for the gentleman to state what we all kuow so we11. 

Mr. HALE. I expect that the gentleman will be outvoted by his own party. 

f\·· BLOUNT. I a k the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Sr..."'GLE- TO~] to allow me a moment. 

Mr. SINGLETON. - Surely. 

Mr. BLO NT. I desire to say this in reply to what the gentlem:m 

from Maine [1\lr. HALE] has saiu in reference to the de8ire of the peo1'111 of the South for a Southern Pacific railroad. The gentleman seems not to be able to appreciate the com e of my friend from Virginia [.Mr. DOUGLAS] in not announcing positively bow he sta.nds 

upon measures that may hereafter come up for con ideratiou in thiR Hom~e. I say to him that my purpose is not to discuss questions here 

before I have had an opportunity of examining them. When we have 

had an opportunity to consider and examine the ·e questions, then it 

will be decorous for me to take a position upon them. ,We are not here now as commissioners to take testimony, as the gentleman from Maine seems to be doing for his own particular party purpo ·es. We occupy a much higher rank than that. I think when the time comes the gentleman will find that the South will do whatever is right anu proper, 

and that the country will deem·our course right in not announcing 

what we will do on mea urea not yet up for consideration. Mr. RANDALL. Will 'the gentleman yield to me for a momentf 

The CHAIRMAN. The Chair deems it his duty to inform the gentleman from l\1is8issippi that· he has but five minutes of his time re- maining. . · 

Mr. SINGLETON. I yield to the gentleman fi·om Pennsylvania. ~b . RANDALL. I think the democracy of tbil:! Honse ought to be 

held responsible for their acts. When they shall recommend legislation anti carry it into effect it will be time enough for the other 8ide 

to boltl us responsible, and not till then. l'r1r. SINGLETON. I suppose, as I am a very small man, gentlemen 

may not consider me a representative of my party. 

Mr. HALE. I know that the party has no better representative. ~1r. SINGLETON. I said that I expected to ask you to vote for 

ne1tain measures. I did not speak for anybody on this side of the 

House; I simply gave utterance t.o my own views. It is not for the 

gentleman from Maine [Mr. HALE] to bold anybody else responsible 

for what I say. I am but an irisignificant member of this body, and 

do not desire to be a leader in my party, or to represent auy but the 

constituents who sent me here. I hope the gentleman is satisfied. 

I did not suppose I was to stir up such a trouble on the republican 

side of the Hou e when I took the floor, and I have got so completely 

off the line of my argument by all these interruptions that I do not 

believe I shall be able to get fairly started again. [Laughter.] I am not so sure but that wvs the purpose and intention of some of my 

worthy friends over there when they broke in upon my remarks. 

Mr. HALE. 0, no; that is unkind. 

.Mr. SINGLETON. I think I have said enough at present touching 

this bill. I have a few remarks prepared to which I will not attempt 

to give expre sion. 

Mr. HOAR. "\Ve will extend your time if you want. Mr. HALE. I hope the gentleman will be given all th e time he 

requires, for be has been interrupted so much. Mr. SINGLETON. 0, no! No, I do not ask it. Mr. HARRIS, of Virginia. It is a selfish courtesy in you to propose 

to extend his time. You wish to ask him a few more questions in the 

hope that by the frankness of his answers you may get something 

that you can take advanta~e of and carry back to your district. Mr. SINGLETON. Mr. (Jhairman, a word more and I am done. For twenty year pa t, more than half a generation, the brotherhood 

of States inaugurated by onr fathers, built up and oemented by their 

blood, has been disturbed by the agitation of the question of African 

slavery and its adjuncts. In the conflict of opinion and clash of arms 

tha.t inBtitution has perished forever. The Constitution b::u;; b en uwcndeu, fully ~Lla.rdi.ng against it re-establishment. Every-where 

the fi·eedom of tlle slave has been acknow ledgoo, and in no portion of 

this country more fully than in the South. Like other great questions 

it has had its day, and it is now time that the agitation growing out 

of it should cea e, and that there should superven a better state of 

feelings between the sections of this country. I grant yon, sir, that, 

reared under a form of government like ours, where independence 

of thought. and individual opinion have ever been ncouraB:ed, it may 

not be de~med strange that there should have a.ri n ditterences of 

opinion upon grave questions of domestic policy, but the strange part 

of it is that, with all t.he cohesive powers of American citizenship, with 

all the memories of a common revolutionary struggle, with all the 

incentives to unity which now press upon us, .there should be found one single man, claiming this as his native soil, who is willing to lend 

his power antl influence to keep up sectional strife. 

I know that the civil war in which we were engaged makes a rec- ord of many bloody pages, and examined with a critical eye awakens 

many unpleasant remini cences, starts many a gho. t from its lonely 

haunt; but I submitthatit isneitherwisenow profitable to be courting the e dead scenes of the past and disentombing inciuents and 

events giving nothi-ng bnt anguish and pain. 

Would we draw ale ·on of wi dom from the laws that ~overn the 

physical world, we would ee that wherever an injury is inflicted upon 

any of the works of natnre which is not irreparn.ble, a.8 soon a tLe cause of injury is removed, like a good matron .and killfnl architect 

she begins the proce s of restoring things to their original beauty and 

healthfulness. The woodman thoughtlessly sticks his ax int.o the 

beautiful forest-tree, it weeps for a time, but soon the work of r eno- vation begins; or, if the stroke be fatal, from it root will pring the 

young tree to take it place. Disturb the limpid stream by stirring 

up the sediment at its bottom, or by any extraneou nbstance, and 

bow oon does it purge it elf of the ·e foreign elem nts anrl a88nme 

a11ew its sparkling beauty. The plowman rudely plunge hi· bare 

into the surface of ear b and de troys the beautiful swaru which cov- ers its even surface, but be bas carcely passed along, b fore, by the 

laws of gravit.ation, and the action of the winds and rains, the work 

of leveling and redecoratin<r is begun. So would it be in the social, 

moral, a.n<l int~llectual worlu were it not for the perversity of human 

nature, and the determination of some men to rou~h-hew every side 

of life, in defiance of that divinity which it is sa1d will ultimately 

"shape all our ends." 

Yes, ~1r. Chairman, there is now and ever has been in the world a cla of men who, like the redoubtable knight of La Mancha, frequent the highways of life with couched lance, offering battle to 

every comer. I rejoice to know the day has pa. ed for these mock 

heroics, and they have fallon into contempt with sen ible men every- where. True statesmanship rise to a plane far above a mer talent for dramatic representations of nnr ery tales to frighten children or skillful 

waving of some bloody shirt borrowed fi·om the mn eum of Fox's 

Book of Martyrs. What is new looked for and demanded of mem- bers of Congress, in this and the other House, is not inflammatory appeals to the worst passions of our nature; not crimination and re- crimination, not the arraying of section against section and race against race, but broad, national, practical views of the great question now pressing upon us for consideration and olution. In conclusion I wish to a sure geutlemen upon this floor, and to pro- claim to the outside world, that we of the South have come here in the interest of peace, in the int~rest of every mea ure tending to 

make us a prosperon , happy, united people- in the interest of every 

citizen of our broad land, white and colored, determined to know no difference on account of section, color, class, or previous condition. If our fi·iends from other sections of the country will meet us upon 

this platform we shall soon see that country waking up, like a strong man from sleep, grappling with the mighty•problerus now pressing 

for solution, anll taking the lead among the nations of the earth in 

all that is ~reat and good in human affairs. As an important step in this direction let us retrench our expenses, that there may be no charges of extravagance by one party against the other and cause for family quarrels. This bill has been well considered by the commit- tee, and should commend itse_lf to every Repre entative upon this 

floor. Mr. MO~OE. In what I have to say upon tb:is bill, Mr. Chair- man, I shall speak t.Q the que tions involved in it. I have no w ish to 

introduce auy political topic. I shall a-sk leave to call the attention 

of the Committee of the Whole back to the considerations which the 

bill and the changes proposed in it naturally suggest. The bill con- ta.ins some noticeable innovations upon the pa.st practice of the Government. Those change~ may be grouped in two classes : the first 

includes a considerable reduction in the number of the diplomatic 

and consular representatives of the Government abroad and the sec- ond contains a general reduction of salaries. Perhaps there are other 

point , but these are the two main changes from former legislation. 

If time will permit, I may Ray a word upon both these point , al- though my principal inter st is in the first, the diminution of the number of our representatives abroad, the withdrawal of the ministers and consuls from so many foreign nationalities and ports. 

The object of this bill of course, as the gentleman !rom Mis issippi 

[Mr. SrnGLETON] has so fully explained, is retrenchment. Now, I 

wish to say that I am mQRt sincerely in sympathy with that obj ~:; ct. I 

expect. often to vot~ this winter with the Couunittee on Appropriations 

to secure that end. Bot, sir, I cannot help thinking, from some kuowl-
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 877 

edgo of the foreign service and of the busine s of the Depnrtment of. man to attribute all the wisdom to-that no free govemment. with a State, that they offer perhaps about as unpromising a field for doing freo constitution, in which there i a partition of powers between the 

much in t.he way of ret.renchment as that committee could well find. di.ff, rer.t Departments, can go on prosperously for a great while with- Congress has not been generally much disposed to give extravagant out each of the Departments exhibit.ing a good deal of careful considsalaries to the representatives of the Government abro:ul; and it o eratioo whenever it is in danger of encroaching upon the constitu- happens that for a long time past the Department of State has been tional prerogative of :.my other. It is not quite enough that we should 

administered not only with singular uprightness and honesty, but also not plainly violate the Constitution, but we should keep a little in- with great care and great bn ines abilit.y and di cretion. side of the exact boundary line between our own constitutional au- We must not forget-the gentleman from Missi ippi I am sure is thority and that of the Pre ident and the Senat.e. It is not wise that 

not disposed to forget-what the true definition of economy is. I un- those who are officers of the Government in each Department stand 

derstand a true economy in legislation to be this: That we will not with drawn sword, in au aggres ive manner, upon t.he outer boundary 

spend the money of the people for anything which will not at least be of their constitutional sphere and there t.hreaten others. That is not 

worth as much as or more than the money which it costs; aml it cer- the way to keep the peace between the different Departments of the 

tainly would not be economy to cut off any branch of the service which Government; that is not the wa:v to preserve the Government in its 

should be found to be worth more than the money expended upon it. integrity. The thing which each of the Departments of Government 

With the true definition of economy in view, I hope often to be able hould be careful to do is, first. of all, not to encroach in any unconstito vote with the Committee on Appropriations. tutional way upon the prerogative of the other and, secondly, to be 

:Mr. Chairman, in noticing in the first, instance the large reduction careful to exhibit a certain delicacy and consideration in regard to the 

in the diplomatic and consular force of the country abroad, I beg leave matt-er. · to call the attention of the Committee on Appropriation and of the In loo1..'i.ncr back I notice it was the habit of Congress in the earlier 

House, especially the lawyeiS of the House, (as I am not a bwyer,) to part of our 0hist.ory to vote a sum in the aggregate for consular and one aspect of thi!i whole question which seems to me t.o be of some diplomatic expenses. It wa so in Washington's time; it was so st,ill 

importance. I wish to a k t.be committee whether this mther abrupt later, and the reason given in Congres for it wa.s that it is not for 

and quite large diminution in our repre entation abroad is showing the Hou!'e of Representatives to determine to what places the Presi- quite proper consideration for the other branches of the Government, dent shall send ministers and consuls; that he is made by the Constito whom the duty of making appointments abroad is e pecin.lly as- tution the proper judge of what poirits it would be wise for us to send 

signed by the Constitution. I do not say that this large reduction, such representatives to. Hence t.hey preferred to vote a round sum, 

without the advice or consent of the President or the approval of commit "it to the care of the President, and then leave him, with the 

ot.her departments of the Government, is a violation of the preroga- u.d.vice and a sistance of the Senate, to exercise a sound dis Tetion in 

tive of the President in re pect to the appointing power. I soppo e applying it in such manner a he shonld think the interest and honor 

lawyers would sny that it is not an un~on titutional act to remove of the country demanded. I cannot help thinking it was a better 

entirely these ministers :tnd con uls. But, sir, when we remember method than dictating to the President what the salary shall be, no that the Constitution make the Pre ident of the United States aud matter how remote or obscure the place, and no matter what informathe Senate the judges of what diplomatic and con ular repre enta- tion the President may have in regard to the importance of the mistives are required abroad; when we remember that the Constitution sion or the relations of the Government to the different nations. We 

vests in the President the appointing power; when we recollect that have taken this whole .matter into our own hands, but I cannot help 

the President ha for a long time sent abroad, according to his best hinking we have been going a little too far. 

judgment, these ministers and consuls whom you propose so abruptly Now, Ir. Chairman, leaving this point, I wish to discuss a little 

to withdraw; and that this very year the Executive Department. has the changes which have been made in this bill upon their merits. 

sent in estimates to pay the salaries and expen es of these very offi- There are quite a number of these changes. I see that a minister cers who, as yon propo e, shall no longer have official existence; has been withdrawn from Greece. Well, this is not in the present 

when we remember all this, while I do not say that the bill violl1tes state of our commerce a mat.ter in it.self of very great consequence, 

the Constitution, I do beg leave to submit to the lawyers and states- yet I cannot forget that in the year 1 24, I believe, :f;ifty-two years ago men of the House tbe que tion whether it exhibits that delicate con- la t month, a man somewhat known iu the Unite(l States in his timo 

sideration for the other branches of the Government. which it is so and still remembered by some people, Daniel Webster, of Massachu- import.ant to maintain under a free constitut.ion like ours. etts, ro e in his place in the Hoose of Representatives, and before 

Undoubtedly the Constitution gives this House great power as to Greece had given a promise even to the world of her ability-yes, she 

salaries; a.nd I freely admit that a couple of thousand dollars more had givenpt·omise in the blow she had struck- but before Greece had or le sin the salary of a minister is in no sense an infringement of the giv!3n any proper evidence of her ability to maintain her independence 

President's prerogative; but I wish to a k the committee whether it Daniel Webster offered a resolution to the effect that the President of 

is exhibitin~ the proper consideration for the other branches of the the United States should be requested to send a diplomatic represent- Government for ns utterly to withdraw alar~ number of salaries of ative to Greece to express our sympathy to her, inquire after her 

officers whom they have been in the habit of appointing and confirm- welfare,. and what could be done for her, and to appropriate from the 

ing, and whom it bas become a settled cu tom of the Government to Treasury of the United State such sum of money as should be neces- send abroad. Have we even given them notice f Is it not ra.ther an sary for this purpose. That was when the United States ha~ an income 

abrupt proceeding f We have their estimates here; we have vir- of $20 000,~00, about one-fifteenth part of what it is to-day. And 

tnally the recommendation of other branches. of the Government that another n:1me which has been heard in this country, Henry Clay, of 

these gentlemen shaH be paid and sent abroad, but we thus abruptly Kentucky, followed Mr. Webster and made one of the grandest 

decide that we will have nothing of this kintl done. speeches of his life in support of that resolution . Why, sir, hardly 

I happened, l\Ir. Chairman, to reread with great interest within a anybody at that time, outside of .a certain circle of liberty-loving • week past the debate upon the Panama mission. It is a most remark- men, believed Greece could maintain her freedom. It was only sub- able debate, and no one can go back and read it without profit. There sequent events, and very honorable events they were to the powers was &'reat diversity of opinion expressed in Congress as to the wisdom which took part in them, which demonstrated this fact. And yet 

of holding the Pana.ma convention; but when Congress came to vote these great statesmen were in favor of incnrring the expense of send- upon the question of providing a certain amount of money for salary ing to her a diplomatic representative. I am aware our commerce in and outfit for representatives to that convention, it was voted with Greece is. now small, and yet, l\!r. Chairman, I have an impres~ion 

cheerfulness. I find that members of Congress at that time gave as a that even now there might happen any day in Athens or other ports reason for voting for it that, whatever might be thought of the wis- of Greece peril enough to life and property of American citizens to 

dom of the missiOn, they did not wish to infringe upon the constitu- quite justify:>. salary of seven, eight, or ten thousand dollars a year tiona! power of the President; that, as he had recommended the send- for a minister to remain in the country. ing of representatives to the Panama convention, the money ought to But a word further·; I am not in favor of arranging our service 

be appropriated to pay their salaries and expenses. I cannot help abroad with reference to the present state of our trade and of com- thinking, from the character of member of that Congress who dis- merce. cussed the subject, that this view of theca e is entitled to great weight. I look for a revival of commerce. It ought to come. It must come. Why, .Mr. Chairman, we are jealous in this House of our constitu- And I believe, with there ources and energy of the American people, 

tional SQhere. Let any gentleman get up here and attempt to quote with their immense coas-tline and their immense facilities, they will a pr.vate conversation with the President to inftuence legislation, and certainly have a great commerce. And I a.m not in favor of adapting we should all shout "Order!" from every part of the House; we should our representation abroad to the state of things which now exists, as say Yon have no right to use an opinion of the President, expres eel if it were the only one which could exist. I would have a ministet' 

in this way, to inftuence legislation; this is. outside of his constitu- in Greece if I were permitted to decide the matter, and I would keep 

tional jurisdiction. We would not allow a man to get up here and in view the fact that the time might come when we wonlu have a quote the opinion of a judge of the Supreme Court to in:tluence us; considerable commerce with Greece, and when instead of importing 

and we are right. This House has always been sensitive and j,eaTous the large· amount of her products which we now con nme from t.he 

in regard to any encroachment upon its constitutional powers. I ap- · ports of Liverpool and Havre, we would import them directly in 

prove of that spirit. Let us exhihit the same sensitivene s and the American bottoms from the ports of Greece herself. same delicacy in regard to our encroachment upon any other depart- Th:i bill takes away the minister from Hayti. I do not quite nn- ment of the Government. derstand why the minister is removed from Hayti, while one is left 

It is a common maxim you will find in almost an;~7 book on govern- for Liberia. Hayti i much nearer to us; its re onrces are much 

ment-1 believe it was attributed, in th" first inst.ance,. to Alexander greater; our commerce with it is much larger. We have really very 

Hamilton, perhaps only because we are in the habit of electing some little to do with Liberia. The United States has about 40 per cent. 

• 
878 CONGRESSIONAL R,ECORD. FEBRUARY 3, 

of the commerce of Hayti, and as that commerce is pretty large, our illinois, [General HURLBUT,] if I may be allowed to use his name in 

iut rests will become even more important as business revives. Wl1y debate, has been minist er of the United St.ates at Bogota, the capital 

should a minister be left to Liberia and one be withdrawn from of one of these countric , and may like to give the committee some ac- Hayti Y . count of the difficulties a minister of the United States has to en- But I must notice another topic in connection with this bill which counter in rea-ching even one capital in safety and in getting home 

to me is of more interest than any I have thus far named. I wish to again. 

speak of the large reduction in the number of our diplomatic and con- But gentlemen propose that one minister shall take charge of Ecuasular officers in the republics of South America. An important change dor, Peru, and Colombia. Bogota is hundreds of miles in the interior. 

is made in this respect by the bill. 'Ve have now eight represent a.- Quito is a long way in the interior. It is a great journey from the coast 

ti ves to nine republics. This bill proposes to give us four representa- to Bogota, an immense journey from Bogota to Quito, and a gTeat 

tivcs to nine republics. In two instances it calls upon a single minis- journey from Lima to either. I state what I believe to be much be- ter to take charge of three nations of considerable magnitude and low the truth when I say that a minister who should be accreuited to 

look after all our interests in them. In another inst.ance it ma,kes it those three states, and try to divide himself faithfully among them, 

tho duty of the minister to take cba,rge of two republics; a,nd in a,n- would have to devote at least one-quarter of all his time to travel. 

other instance, by some matter of grace, one of the South American He would be on the back of a mule about one-fourth of each year. 

republics is allowed a whole minister to itself. This is the division of He could hardly be called a minister resident while in that situatiou, 

the force there. Well, !t1r. Chairman, neither my friend the chair- but he would be on the way to some point where he might have duties ma,n of the Committee on Appropriations nor any gentleman in the to perform. He could not give to the republic of each of those states 

House will for a moment deny that this bill contemplates on the more than one-fourth of the time of each year; :Qe could not be more face of it-a very large diminution in the intimacy of our relations than three months at any one capital, and my real opinion is that he 

with those republics. If yon are prepared to take the ground that could not be more than two months in the year at any one place. 

the whole civilized world has been in error in supposing consular and Well now, sir, what chance would a minister who remained only 

diplomatic representatives bad important functions to perform, that two m(}nths in a year ha,ve in comparison with ministers from Europe 

the whole thing ha-s been a cheat, that these men are a mere orna- who should remain all the time What opportunity would a minisment, that the greatest commercial power at the present timo on the ter from the United States have to gain influence and to strengthen 

face of the earth is wholly wrong in having filled the world with her the influence of his country Y · diplomatic and consula,r representatives, believing them to be sup- So that, Mr. Chairman, the practical question which is involved in 

ports of her great commercial interests and her immense trade-if that this bill so f:tr as it relates to the South American repn blics is simnation is mistaken, if all the nations are mista,ken, all the civilized ply this: is it a. wise thing for us to reduce to so large an extent our 0 nations that have thought diploma,tic and consular representatives intimacy with these republics f Is it a wise, is it a good thing for u eful in the protection of commerce, in acquiring knowledge, in pr.o- the United States to make this intimacy with these people not only 

ddcing more intimat-e relations, il1 extending commercial and politi- so much less thrm it has been, but so much less than t,hat of the great 

cal innnence over the world-if the nations have all been wrong in powers of Europe! Is it advi able to allow foreign powers to be so this, why then not only is this bill right, but we might a.s well abol- much more intimate with these republics than we propose to be our- ish our whole diplomatic and consular force. Eelves f 

But if the whole world have not been mistaken, then we a,re pre- This must depend somewha,t upon whatthese countries are and what 

pared to believe that, when gentlemen propose to ta,ke from there- their resources are. I hear men talk of the South American repub-

}mblics of South America one-half of a,ll the diploma,tic representa,tion lies as if they did not amonn t to much; but we shall find on ex amithat is. now ent to them, this implies the sundering of the bonds that nation that they have resources for the foundation of future greatness 

have united us to them to a very large degree; that it implies a dim- and power absolutely limitle s so far as we can discover. 

inntion of our intimacy with them; tha,t it implies a, diminution of I have taken the liberty to prepare a table embodying some facts 

the amount of our knowledge of those countries, of theii· 1·esources in regard to the wealth and resources of theRe eleven South American 

and of the field for our commerce which are open there. I know our republics. I do not iutend to read the details, and will give only the 

friends will tell you that one minister can do the work of three na- aggregates, but I shall submit the table to the reporters to be printed 

tiona. Now, I will not dwell long upon this, because my friend from I with my remarks. 

The 1·epublics of South America . 

Countries. 

.AreainEuglish square Population. 

miles. 

Imports. Exports. Receipts. Expenditures. Foreib'll 

debt. 

to'ff~~~-~~~~~~~~~~~: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ~~g: ggg Cllili . 0 _______ . __ . ___ ------ _ ............. __ .. 0------ .............. __ 131; coo <.:olom bia ...... ______ .. __ •••••••• __ •••• --.-- ...... -- ••.•• ---- .... -- 432, 000 E cuador 0 __ •••• _ ••• __ • __ • _ •••• __ • __ •••• -- ... -- ....... --........... . 21!:1, 000 

ramgu;ty .. ----.------ . --.------ ---.-- ------ . ---- ---- -- .• -.. ---- -- 0 57, 000 P eru 0 ____ ••• __ ....... __ • ______ • _ .......... __ •••• ------•• ••••••••• 0 503, 000 

1, 737, oco $55,000, 000 $32,500, 000 18,607,000 $20, 098, 000 $50, 85~ . 000 1, 742, 000 6, 445, 000 6, 620,000 2, 930,000 4, 506,000 8, 500, 000 1, 939.000 37, !J28, 000 38,810, 9 14, 2GO, 000 16,009,000 36, 1. 000 2, 901, 000 (a) 15, 375, 000 (b) 5, 386, 000 3, 993, 000 3, 150,000 53,086,000 

1, :.100, 000 996, 000 2, 025, uoo 1, 814, 000 1, 875,000 9, 120,000 

1, 1!00, Ol-0 (c) 2, 600, 000 550,000 456, 000 (d) 10, 000, 000 3, 199,000 25,000,000 30,000, 000 58,983,000 57,914,000 191, 100,000 

~~~ ~:lt;.: :::::::::::::::::::::-.::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: --3~~: ggg -------1·----- 221, OOJ 15, 000, 000 1~. 000,000 5, 947,000 8, fi9l, 000 35, 000, 000 2, 200, 000 5, 000,000 6, 000, 000 3, 450,000 4, 500,000 33,472,000 -~-- -------------- 2, 773,000 16,439,000 160, 744, 000 135,941,000 110,534,000 117, 19H, 000 428,114,000 

(a.) From Great Britain only. (b.) To Great Brit:lin only. (c.) Not ascerta,ined. (d-.) Excluding sums said to be gua.rauteed by recent treaties. 

I will set before the committee some of the principal facts bearing 

upon the resources of this great region, and you shall decide whether 

it is worth while for the United States to keep up au acquaintance 

with these people. 

In the first place, the a,rea of these republics is 2,773,000 miles. 

That is three-fourths of our tota,1 area, inclu"ding Alaska, and it is 

well-nigh as large as our area excluding Alaska. It is almost as large a.s all Europe. 

Mr. Chairman, a good dea,l of study of these countries and their re- sources has convinced me that as regards the wealth of the ocean, the 

we31 th of the fields, the wealth of the forest, and especially the wealth of 

the mine, there are not three millions of square miles anywhere on the 

whole surface of the earth tha,t are superior to this great body of lands. 

The population of these republics is sixteen and a half millions- more than one-third of our own population. The imports of these 

countries for the year 1873, a.s nea.r as I can arrive at them, were $1GO,OOO,OOO. Now, I want the committee just to hear these words: 

The aggregate imports of these republics in 1873 were $160,000,000. 

Thn.t is <Iuit.e an item. We have got so accustomed to deal with tremendous figures here that perhaps gentlemen may not think much of 

t]Jis, but it is really quite an item. The total exports of these republics during the same year- amounted to about one hundred and thirtyfive millions of dollars. Now, sir, the:J,"e is enough carrying trade in 

this immense commerce of one hundred and sixty million of dollars 

Qf imports and one hundred and thirty-five millions of exports to contribute largely to the wealth of our country if we only had control 

of it. But what is the factf We do not get it at all. Who has got 

itf Why, Great Britain has got it. Well, sir, has Great Britain got 

it by calling home her ministers and consuls and refusing liberal provision for representation in all these la,nds and for acquiring the most 

thorough know ledge in regard to the trade and resources of these re- publics f Far from it. Great Britain makes the most liberal provision for diplomatic a,nd consular representa,tion in all these countrie of any nation on the bee of the earth ; and she reaps the advantage 

of it. Great Britain reaps the advantage of all this trade. It is really as much her trade, so fa,r as profit is concerned, as if it were carried on within the limits of the British Isles. 

What does Great Britain do Y She sends her vessels out to all these 

countries and they return loaded down with the products of tho 't1 

States in the form of raw material. If yon go to Montevideo and 

Buenos .Ayres you will find British vesseL~ loading with hides, skins, 

a,nd tallow and yerba mate. .At Valparaiso and other ports they are loading with copper and other ores. They carry guano from 

Peru, as well as calisaya bark, niter, sheep, wool, and alpaca wool. 

From Ecuador, Colombia · and Venezuela they car.ry cotton, coffee, 

cocoa, and a great varietj of dyes and drugs, and valuable wootls. I 

will not detain tlle committee by enurnemting all the articles tllese 

countries produce. I have given but a short list of those prod net ions, 

of the articles of raw material which are carried to Great Britain by 

her ships. 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORDo 879 

And what does she -ao in return¥ H er ships carry back to thm~e 

conntrie her manufactures of cotton, wool, linen, her manufactures 

of iron, her machinery, and all sorts of cutlery and implements, everything t.hat the miner, the planter, the ho!llie-keepermay want; a vast 

multitude of that class of goods which in this country we include 

under the head of "Yankee notions." 

Now, although Great Britain carries away the larger part, say t-wo- thirds or three-fourths, of the $135,000,000 of exports from these coun- tries, yet she takes care to. carry back manufactured articles enough 

to keep a good healthy balance of trade in her favor. 

The receipts of these countries into their respective treasuries 

amounted in the aggregate in 1873 to $110,000,000-more than a third 

of our own revenue; and their aggregate expenditures amounted to 

$ll7,000,000. That does not show a ve.ry large ag~regate deficit in 

those countries. And I must also inform you that these countries all 

aspire to t.he possession of :u national debt. They desire to take their 

places among the great nations of the earth in this respect. Those 

debts amount to $428,000,000; only about one-fifth of the amount of our dept. They are not so nearly up with u.s in the matter of na- tioual debts as they are in other matters; but when you come to think 

of it they have a good; respectable national debt. I obt ain these 

facts mainly from the Statesman'sYeM Book for 1875, the latest copy 

in my possession. All this money is borrowed in England. 

These countries are bnildiug railroads and carrying on all sorts of 

internal improvements for the purpose of developing trade and re- sources. Great Britain sees it is a good thing for her an(L for them to 

develop and bring out their resources, and British subjects lend their 

money for that purpose. Perhaps you will say that British subjects 

will have a hard time in recovering their money. Do not give yourselves any concern about t.his. Great Britain, through the closeness 

of the intimacy which she has cultivated with these countries, bas a first mortgage on the whole of them-on the .choicest and the best 

of all t.hey have-in .order to secure the payment of the interest and 

principal of the money loaned to them. 

Great Britcin bas a mortgage on the customs revenues of Ecuador 

and Colombia, on the guano islands of Peru, and on the mines of the 

other States, and the profits of their railroads. While lending them 

her money,· she has taken good care to secure in various ways the 

payment of the interest and principal. At the present time Great 

Britain, commercially speaking, has really taken possession of these 

eleven republics, and is making their mighty resources and the great 

profits of those resources a tributary to the tremendous tide of her 

pro perity and power. 

I do not say this in the way of criticism; I me::tn merely to compliment Great Britain as a :first-class business country; that is all. There 

has been no djshonesty and there is no dishonor on her part in the 

tra.nsactiou. In fact, the relations of Great Britain with these coun- tries has been greatly to their advantage. I only have the natural 

feeling of an American when I think how much more properly all this 

most profitable trade might come to ns, and how in various ways we have failed to take the proper steps to secure it. 

'Vhat are the facts that lie on t.he face of these statistics to which 

I have referred Y Here they Me: First, here is a.n immense region, a continent, one of the noblest on the face of the whole earth, with 

re ources of wealth absolutely without limit; secondly~ this immense 

busines , t,hese vast profits, which ought to have come to the United 

States, have fallen into the h::tnds of England. These are facts for us to consider. But there is another and practical question for us, 

and that is whether there is any reason in the nature of things why 

this should be so, why it has been so, or why it ~hould continue to be 

so. My friend before me [Mr. O'BRIEN] is a Baltimorean, and he knows 

the interest of that port in the South American states. I have 

friends here from the port of New York who feel a similar interest. 

Now the practical question for them and myself and all of us here in 

this House is whether there is any necessity for this state of things. 

I say, Mr. Chairman, there is no good reason whatever. On the other 

hand we have such important advantages in our relations to these 

republics that if we would only take the proper steps we should cer- tainly control almost the whole of this trade. 

What are these advantages¥ Why~sir, in the first place the political sympathy of these states is with us much more strongly than it 

is with Great Britain. Their constitutions were almost all modeled 

after ours. The people there name their childnm George 'Vas hington and Benjamin Franklin and Thoma.s Jefferson. I never met a man from Chili or Peru who did not grasp my hand eagerly and speak 

of my being an American a-s a thing which made me his first cousin, 

because I was a citizen of the great Republic. They naturally like 

us; they naturally sympathize with us; they would prefer to have 

intimate commercial, diplomatic, and social relations with us to any 

other people on the face of the earth. Then we have a great advantage as regards proximity. From our Atlantic cities we can easily reach Venezuela and 'the river Platte. 

We c::tn reach the Pacific republics across the Isthmus or from our 

Par.itic cities very readily. We ought, then, on every account to have 

hatl this immense and very valuable trade. ' 

llut, sir, the war, the desolating war, the war that absorbed all our money and all onr strengt.h, undoubtedly the war broke down our commerce. Cruisers were sweeping the seas. Our commerce, from being one of the greatest in the whole world, shrank at once to something 

comparatively insignificant. 'Ve lost our commerce. We could not 

help that while tho wa.r last.ed. But, thank God, the war is past. 

Peace bas returned. 'Ve are now at liberty to go to work and use our nnitetl •nergies to re-establish commercial r el:ttions, to make busine s revive, to pass su.ch legisla.tion as shall be most f:tvomble for putting us in advantageous relations with these southern republics, so as to 

bring back to us wliat we have lost. That is what we should do. 

:My honest opinion is that we ha.ve only to cultivate intimate relations with these people, to acqnire a thorough knowledge of all their resources, and to wait. a little until the tide of business iu our com1try 

sliall rise, as I believe it mnst before long, and then we shall fi.mt 

ourselves recovering that lost field of commercial profit. It belongs 

to us, and we ought to have it. 

Let me sa.y further that the commerce of these South American 

states has the great advantage of being a fresh field. It is comparatively a virgin field; anil it belongs to us. Why, sir, the avenues antl 

opportunities for trade in the Old Worltl are very much preoccupied; 

but it is not so with South America. Those states have not yet taketl · t.hat fixed and rigid character which belongs to the countries of the 

East. There is nothing to prevent om· going there and asserting our claim. I believe tha.t one of the noblest fields for commerce which 

the future will tlevelop will be these states of South America; and as Americans we ought to possess it. 

Our friends who have charge of this bill will no doubt tell us tba.t 

the existing commerce with those States is what they base the bill 

upon; that our very small commerce there at the present time is a good reason for cutting off our close relations with them; But, .Mr. Chairman, do we mean to accept the. present low and poor condition of 

commercial prosperity in this country as a thing unchangeable J Do we mean to ad~pt our consular and diplomatic representation abroad ~ 

and all our legislation here to the present amount of onr commerce, as if that must be, by some sad providence of God, an everlasting permanency; as if we are never to have anything better! I am not in 

favor of that. Do we mean to proclaim to t he whole civilized world 

that we do not intend to be a great commercial power; that we mean to have our names erased from the list of the commercia,! nations f 

Is that the feeling of this House f I cannot believe it is. I have hope 

enough in the future commercial prosperity of my country to be willing now and then to risk the salary of a minister at $7,500 n. year or a consul at $1,500 or $2,000 a year on the chance of getting it. I have 

hope enough of the fut.ure of the country to be willing to make a little 

provision for it. No, sir; we must not sha.pe all our legislation as if we bad no future. 

If there were time, and if it were worth while, I might inquire 

whether it is in accordance with the traditions of our country and 

with the political views which have been most favored among us, to 

give to foreign powers so much more iafluenc.e with these republics 

than we are asserting for ourselves Y 

I have no wish to introduce any political discussion here; I will 

simply say as an American that I do not like to see Great Britain, 

France, Germany, or any other country-and I arlmire them all and 

wish none of them ill-I do not like to see any of them get ahead of us in any of the capitals of South America. 'Ve are naturally first in 

these capitals and should stand first there arid have the greatest influence. 

But, Mr. Chairman, I hurry on to notice another point, which our friends perhaps have overlooked, and that is, that there is a great 

inclination on the part of American citizens to invest their money and 

engage in business in the South American states. I discovered that 

years ago when residing in Brazil. I think there is no foreign coun- try where an American loves to go and risk some part of his money 

better than in one of these states. It is so to a considerable extent 

already; it would be so to a greater extent if our business was prosperous; and the reason of it I take to be that there is an immense 

amount of pioneer work to do in all these South Amelican states. 

They have to build railroads and to do an immense number of things 

which we began a great many years ago. They have not the capital 

to do it; they have not the engineers; they have not the enterprise; 

they have not cultivated, though they a.re intelligent people, the sort 

of capacity that takes in charge large enterprises, organizes them 

well, and carries them on successfully. And there is no doubt, Mr. 

Chairman, that Americans a.re the best adapted of any people on the 

face of the whole earth to do this work for them. And hence, a.lthough bu iuess ha-s been so dull and our country has been so depres ed, it has been hard work to keep Yankees out of these Sonth 

American states and from engaging in business enterprises there. 

They would perhaps have a little capital of their own, and they would 

fiml residents of tho e countries who ha-d some themselves. The capital would be put together and new enterprises commenced. Ameri- cans in those conn tries have establi~hed ferry lines; they have built 

street railmacls; they have constructed roads from the coa-st to the 

interior; and they have furnished locomotives for roads which have 

been built by these states. 'Vhy, I happen to know that the great 

locomotive establishment in Philadelphia, of Baldwin & Co., has furnished the locomotives for the principal railroad in Brazil, the Dom 

Pedro Segundo Railroad; and, though an honest English gentleman 

did a-ssure me with t.he utmost sobriety that he was satisfied the deathrate of the city of Rio had been greatly increased by the tlCreaming of 

these Yankee locomotives, yet I never learne:l that the dh·ectors of 

the road became so alarmed that they discontinued importmg thew.. 
880 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 3, 

and I believe American locomotives in great number are screaming 

up and down the grades of that railroad to-day. 

Americans go out there a_nd form mining companies and engage as engineers. I notice that Mr. Henry 1\leiggs, who perhaps may be 

known to some of you, has had the whole charge of constructing the seven government railways in the republic of Peru. It has bE-en all 

done by one American. My friend from New York [Mr. HEwrrr] 

says all his engineers are also Americans. These are. some of the 

facts which exist even in the present low condition of business enterpri e in this country And I ask yon whether there is not ground for 

the belief, if business revive and this country shall be as prosperous • as it once was, t.hat our citizens will naturally take possession of all 

thie great pioneer work and all these internal improvements f 

Well, sir, what is the bearing of tllis upon our diplomatic representation there f Our American citizens take contracts. They get 

charters from these governments. In some of these states revolutions come. I suppose you have heard of revolutions in South America. Bolh·ia especially has been liable to them; most other states, I am glad to ay, are more quiet and orderly. When revolutions come no one knows who is responsible for anything. The American loses 

his charter, hi contract is broken, and valuable interests are put in 

peril. And what does he want then f He wants a minister; he wants a cultivated American gentleman, with strong will, with tact, good 

presence, and good feeling, who will be a: personal representative of 

the United States of America upon the spot. And I tell my friends 

who have introduced thls bill, there have been case -1 have a list 

made out in writing, but I will not detain the House by reading it, 

because I see my hour is passing away-! tell my friends there ha.ve been cases in which a minister abroad,· of good sense and good credit 

jn tlle capital where he resides, ha{; saved enough in a single morning's 

walk to pay hls salary ten times over. Now, is it good economy, 

when American interests are naturally flowing in a~ the atmosphere flows into a vacuum, to say that Americn.ns shall not have a diplomatic repre entation in most of these states, or only the one- fourth of one, to look after these important interests f 

I am reminded just at this point of an anecuote told me by a gentleman who now occupies a distinguished judicial position in this District, who was once minister resident at Bolivia, which is the most 

revolutionary of all these conn tries. I think that what he said to me was that there were three revolutions in Bolivia while he was there, 

and that each of these revolutions overran the whole of the country 

except hi office, in the door of which he stood with a revolver and 

stopped the revolution when it came. Now, American interests demaud that there shall be some spot in every one of these countries 

that a revolution cannot conveniently overrun, some island in the 

watery waste, some fortified spot which shall be the impregnable citadel of American rights, and-of American life, liberty, and property, 

at moments of such peril. It seems to me we are utterly mistaken 

when we think it is a real saving to the American people to deny a minister to countries like these where interests so important arecon- ~;~tantly accumulating in the hands of our citizens. 

Let me advert to one more point in thls connection, and that is 

that the United States is naturally the umpire and the friend of all 

these republics in their troubles, their troubles with each other and 

their troubles with the powers of Europe. They have troubles about 

boundaries, they have questions with England, and France, and Germany, and Spain, and perhaps other countries, and they naturally 

torn to the United States to act as umpire, or as negotiator, or as friend in such circumstances. Now we . ought to do this work for 

them. We ought to be prepared to do it. We ought to have a minister at hand who can commence it, and can aid in it in every one of 

these capitals; for this is not only a neighborly work for us to do for 

them, bot it is a most useful work for us, because it establishes us in 

their good opinion, it plants us firmly in the country. No better thing can happen to the United States than to have all this kind of work to 

do. At this very moment one of these republics of Sooth America has 

asked our Government to arbitrate and help to get it out of troublef.ome trouble it bas with one of the powers of Europe. 

Now, Mr. Chairman, these have been my views in regard to the importance of maintaining intimate diplomatic and consnlar relations 

with the e countries. But it was very' gratifying to me in rereading some interesting portions of the history of the country to see how 

thls view of the importance of the rela.tions to South America has 

been advocated by well-known statesmen of an earlier time. l\Iy 

hour has perhaps nearly expired, but the committee I am sme would 

not feel wearied at heo.ring a few wor<ls from Henry Clay in regard 

to the importance of intimate relations between the United States 

and these republics. I happen to hold in my hand one of the volumes 

of the History of Congre s giving an account of its debates, and under 

the head of "South American Independence" I find that the following 

resolution, whlch bad been introduced into the Honse of Representatives by 1\:lr. Clay in the year 1820, was discussed and passed by the 

House. As I am somewhat tired, I will ask the Clerk to be good enough to read the resolution. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

Resolved, Tllat it is expedient to provide by law a. suitable outfit and salary for 

such minister or ministers as the President., by and with the advice and consent of 

the Senate, may send to any of tho governmf'nts of South America which have es- tablished and are maintaining their independence of Spain. 

Mr. MONROE. The Clerk will now read a few sentences from Mr. 

Cla.y's speech in support of that resolution. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Here Mr. Clay quoted a few J?assa.,.es from the work of the Abbe de Pradt, re- cently transl:tted by one of our mtizens. which, he said, though tho author was not very popular among crowned heads, no man could read wit.hout being enlightened and instructed. These pa.asa~es <hvelt on the importance of tho commerce of South 

America when freeu from its present restraints, &c. What would I give, exclaimed 

Mr. CL'l.y, could we appreciate the advantages which may be realized by our pur- . suin~ the cour e which I propo e! It is in our power to create a system of which we shall be the center, and in which all South America will act with us. In respect to commerce we should be most benefited; this country would become the place of 

deposit of the commerce of the world. Our citizens eugarred in foreign trado were at present disheartene<l by the condition of that tra-de; t1ley must seek new chan. 

nels for it, and none so advanta~eous could be fotmd a..s those which the trade with 

South America. would afford. Mr. Clay took a prospective view of the growth of 

wealth and increase of the population of this country and of South America. 

[Here the hammer fell.] 

Mr. FORT. I hope the committee will grant the gentleman from 

Obin the favor of an extension of his time for a few minutes longer. 

There was no objection, and Mr. MONROE'S time was extended 

indefinitely. 

Mr. RANDALL. I may remark that the general debate on this 

bill is not limited nor is it designed to limit it. Mr. M01\TROE. I have already felt obliged to the chairman of the 

Committee on Appropriations for his courtesy, and am very willing to 

be oblio-ed to him n.gain. 

Now I take the liberty to invite Henry Clay to take part in this 

debate. He has taken part in it on this floor in your hearing. At a time when the prospect for commerce with South America was cer- tainly much less than it is now, when any such figures I suppose in our own commerce had not been heard of, as one hundred and sixty 

millions of imports and one hundred and thirty-five miliions of ex- ports in a single year, at a time when so little was positively known 

abont South America, l\lr. Clay introduced that re olution into the 

Hou e and secured its passage. I ask the attention of my friends to 

this fact, that Henry Clay in the House of Representativ s gn.vc it as a fundamental reason for intimate and liberal diplomatic relations 

with the South American republics that it would help us to get con- trol of that noble commerce whlch the future should develop there. 

That is pretty important authority on this occasion, and I hope our friends will study it. · · · Now, sir, I do not want to wa~te money. I like to save money as well as anybody here, but I think i.t is a poor kind of economy to save the salaries of three or four ministers and half a dozen consuls at the 

expense of losing the direct and natural hold we have upon this gr&at 

and prosperous trade. 

You may tell me that some of these ministers have not been stroug 

men, and have not been very useful; well, then, let.us have stronger 

and better men there. I verily believe that it would pay the United 

States well to senrl men of first-class ability, men who are thinkers, 

statisticians, and observers, who shall go there :md exhaust the knowledge that is to be obtained in regard to these states, ancl then come back to us laden with the noble freight of their indust1·y. I could name men-but it lll.ight be invidious-! could name men whom I 

think it would do us honor to send to the South American republics 

to engage in thls great work and go to the bottom of the whole subject. 

Well, sir, at a later period an act of Congress was passed, l\hy 4, 

1822, making an appropriation of 100,000 "for such missions to the 

indepemlentnations on the American continent as the President might 

deem proper." This was done when our revenue was only $20,000,000. 

'fhe sum of $100,000, under the influence of men like Henry Clay, was t,hen voted for this purpose; a sum which I believe is almost equal 

to all that has been expended on the missions to South America for 

years, although the number of states in South America has in the 

meantime so largely increased. 

I will add that I feel the same objection to reducing the number of 

consul that I have expre ed to reducing the number of ministers. 

I believe that it would be a better plan to increase the number of our consuls and send out abler men, :first-rate business men. It would 

be well to send strong business men to all the principal ports in the 

world with which we hn.ve commercial relations. I believe, sir, that 

the time is coming when as a nation we shall feel the importance of 

doing this. The responsibilities of a oonsulln a large port are very 

great; he is one of the principal protectors of our Treasury. The invoice of goods which he certifies to is held as prima jOAJie evidence a~ 

to the correctness ofi. the return made at New York, and nothing is more important to protect our revenue and to prevent frauds and 

swell the amount of on.r receipts than that we should have men of 

high character and ability at.every consular port abroad. Instead 

of weakening the service I think it is a good time to strengthen it by 

appointing strong, pra-ctical, business men. That would be the best 

thing for the commerce of the country and for the protection of the 

Trensury that couJd be done. I am in favor of arranging our consular 

and diplomatic system on a scale somewhat fitted to the commerce that is to come, and not only to the commerce which now exists. 

Mr. Chairman, when I commenced, I had thought I might say something on the question of the reduction of salaries, but. I have 

spoken on that portion of the subject in which I felt the deepest 

interest, and to which my attention had been principally called, and 

therefore I cheerfully defer any discussion of salaries until we shall 

take up the different clauses of the bill under the five-minute rule. 

In closing, I desire to thank the committee most sincerely for their 

courtesy. 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 881 

Mr. HOLMAN obtained the floor. 

M.r. RANDALL. Will the gentleman yield for a motion that the 

committee rise t 

Mr. HOLMAN. I yield for that purpose. 

Mr. RANDALL. I make the motion. 

The motion was agreed to. 

The committee a-ccordingly .rose; and the Speaker having resumed 

the chair, Mr. HosKINs reported that the Committee of the Whole on t.he state of the Union h·a.d, according to order, had under causideration the bill (H. R. No. 1594) making appropriations for the consular 

and diplomatic service of the Government for the year ending June 

30, 1877, and for other purposes, and had come to no resolution thereon. 

PAY AND ALLOWANCE OF AR:\IY OFFICERS. . 

Mr. BANNING, by unanimous consent, from the Committee on Military .Affairs, reported back .the bill (H. R. No. 1453) to regulate the pay 

and allowance of Army officers with a substitute, (H. R. No. 1806,) and 

moved that the substitute and a report accompanying the same be 

printed, and the bill recommitted to the committee. 

The motion was agreed. to. 

PERSONAL EXPLANATIONS. 

Mr. LUTTRELL. I :find by reference to the RECORD that I am re- corded as voting in the negative upon the amendment offered by my 

friend from Texa.s [Mr. REAGAN] to tne proposed constitutional 

amendment which was under consideration yesterday. I voted in 

the affirmative, and ask that the correction be made in the Journal. 

The SPEAKER. The correction will be made. 

Mr. STENGER. In the RECORD of yesterday's proceedings I :find 

my name recorded as not voting on the constitutional amendment 

offered by the gentleman from Texas, [Mr. REAGAN.] I was present 

and voted "no," and ask that the correction be made. 

The SPEAKER. T,he correction will be made. 

ORDER OF BUSL."mSS. 

Mr. GARFIELD. I move that the House now adjourn. 

The SPEAKER. Before that motion is put the Chair will lay before the House certain executive documents now upon his desk. 

IMPROVEMENT OF THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI. 

The SPEAKER, by unanimous consent, laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting a report of the Chief of 

Engineers on surveys, &c., on the Upper Mississippi River, and rec- ommending an appropriation of $65,000 to improve the same; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce. 

COM?.:IU11.'1CATION BETWEEN THE MISSISSIPPI AND THE LAKES. 

The SPEAKER also laid before the House a joint resolution of the 

Legislature of the State of Iowa on the subject of a water highway 

between the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan by way of the Fox 

and Wisconsin Rivers; which was referred t_o the Committee on Com- merce. REV. JOHN R. HAl\llLTON. 

The SPEAKER also laid be<fore the House a letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting, for the information of the Committee on Military .Affairs, a report of the Adjutant-General upon the bill (H. R. 

No. 64) for the relief of Rev. John R. Hamilton; which was referred 

to the Committee on Military .Affairs. . 

PRESIDIO 1\fiLITARY RESERVATION, CALIFORNIA. 

The SPEAKER also laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of War, transmittin,g, for the information of the Committee on Military Affairs, a copy of Senate Executive Document No. 55 and 

Senate Report No: 104, Forty-third Congress, :first session, being are- port on the Presidio military reservation, San Francisco, California ; 

which was referred to the Committee on 1\lilitary Affairs. 

TRANSFER OF INDIAN FUNDS TO THE TREASURER. 

The SPEAKER also laid before the House th~ following message 

from the President of the United States: 

To the Hou!e of .Representatives: I have the honor to return herewith wU.hout my approval House bill No. 1561, 

entitled " An act transfening the custody of certain Indian trust funds from the Secretary of the Interior to the Treasurer of the United States." for the r easons set forth in the accompanying communication from the Secretary of the Interior. U.S. GRANT. EXECUTIVE MANSION, Feb'l'uary 3, 1876. 

The SPEAKER. The Clerk will read the communication from the 

Secretary of the Interior. 

The Clerk read as follows : DEPARTMlt:ST OF THE INTERIOR, 

Washington, February 2, 1876. 

Sm: I acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 29th ultimo, trans. mittin~ H . R. bill No. 1561 and requesting this Department to report whether any objections to its becoming a law are known to exist. In reply I have the honor to 

state that I am fearful the act is not sufficiently definite in terms to accomplish the end desired, namely, the mere transfer of the custody of said trust fund, enablina 

this Department to receive the interest from the custodian and apply it as hereto': 

fore without the intervention of Con!?Tess. 

The nature of the guardianship and' control over the Indians exercised by me as Secretary and trustee is such as to r equire this Department to k eep an account of 

the funds to their credit or held in trust for them, and to receive this interest on tlH ir trust funds promptly when due. I am fearful that this bill may not allow me to do so; and to guard against any danger of embarraasment in the transaction 

IV-56 

of this business I inclose a draught of a bill which, if substituted for the one already 

passed, will, it is believed, obviate the difficulties which may arise if the present 

bill should become a law. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Z. CHAlo."DLER, S~"retary. 

Mr. RANDALL. I move that the message and accompanying documents be printed and referred to the Committee on Appropriations. 

I desire to say that the bill which has been returned by the President was reported from the Committee on Appropriations at the suggestion of the Department of the Interior. A subcommittee of that 

committee, as I understand, waited upon the Secretary of the Interior, who snggested an amendment thereto, which was incorporated in 

the 'WI:! as passed. · Mr. GARFIELD. Let it be referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and they can examine and report upon it. 

1\Ir. RANDALL. I only meant to place the committee right. 

Mr. GARFIELD. If it ha.s been ascertained that there is some inaccuracy of expression in the bill--

Mr. RANDALL. It is a very strange thing that we should pass a bill at the instance of the Department, and that very Department 

should cause it to be vetoed. · · Mr. HOLMAN. A bill prepared at the instance of the Depart:nent 

itself T • Mr. RANDALL. Yes. 

1\Ir. GARFIELD. Let it go to the committee. 

Mr. RANDALL. That is my motion. 

The motion of Mr. RANDALL was then agreed to. 

LEAVE OF ABSENCE. 

Mr. DAVIS :was granted leave of absence for :five days, on account 

of important business. · Mr. WELLS, of Mississippi, was granted leave of absence from the 

4th to the 16th instant. 

Mr. IIOLMAN. I move that the House now adjourn. 

The motion was agreed to; and accordingly (at four o'clock and 

thirty minutes p. m.) the House adjourned. 

PETITIONS, ETC. 

The following memorials, petitions, and other papers were presented at the Clerk's desk under the rule, and referred as stated: 

By the SPEAKER: The petition of the Grand Lodge of Good Templars of Indiana, signed by.the officers thereof, representing 13,000 

members, for a commission of inquiry concerning the alcoholic liq nor traffic, to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

By Mr. B.AR..Wl\1: The petition of citizens of Wilmington, Dela--

ware, for the repeal of the check-stamp tax, to the Committee of 

Ways and Means. 

By Mr. BELL: The remonstrance of Merrimack River Grange No. 

4, .Patrons of Husbandry, of Canterbury, New Hampshire, against 

granting subsidies to railroads, to the Committee on Appropriations. 

By Mr. CASON: The petition of citizens of Lafayette and of Jamestown, Indiana, for the repeal of the stamp-tax on sn,fety matches, to 

the Committee of Ways and Means. _ By Mr. GUNTER: Papers relating to the petit.ion of James Lindsay, for pay for a battery of three guns furnished the United States, 

to the Committee on War Claims. 

By Mr. HATHORN: The petition of citizens of New York, for the 

repeal of the check-stamp tax, to the Committee of Ways and :Means. 

By Mr. H.A YMOND: The petition of citizens of White County, Indiana, for the repeal of the resumption act, to the Committee on Banking and Currency. 

By Mr. HOLMAN: Papers relating to the petition of Emmett Longstou, for a pension, to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. HOUSE : Papers relating to the claim of Mrs. Martha~. 

Stevens, for pay for stores and supplies taken by the United State~ 

Army, to the Committee on War Claims. 

By Mr. JONES, of New Hampshire: The petition of the Woman's 

Temperance League of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for a commi.Mion 

of inquiry concerning the alcoholic liquor traffic, to the Committee 

of Ways and Means. 

By Mr. KING: Papers relating to the petition of Henry D. O'Brien, 

late postmaater at Saint Anthony Falls, Minnesota, for relief, to the 

Committee on. the Post-Office and Post-Rt•ads. . By Mr. LANDERS, of Connecticut: The petition of A. B. Cra.nell 

and others, for a signal station to be established at Block Island, Connecticut, to the Committee on Appropriations. 

Also, the petition of William Montgomery and 18 others, of Rockville, Connecticut, for the abolition of the office of President of the 

United States, to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

.Also, the petition of William Montgomery and 18 others, of Rockville, Connecticut, " concerning the revocability of the people's legislative representatives and the ratification by the people's vote of all 

important legislative enactments," to the same committee. · 

By Mr. LANDERS, of Indiana: The petition of John Thomas, to 

have a patent renewed for an improvement in piling railroad bars 

for rerolling, to the Committee on Pat ents. 

By Mr. LANE: The petition of Ladd & Tilton and 100 other citizens 

of Oregon, for the repeal of the check-stamp tax, to the Committee of 

Ways and Means. 
882 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 4, 

By Mr. LUTTRELL: Resolutions of Mexican-war veterans of Corelo, California, asking that pensions be granted them, to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. SEELYE: The petition of Lawrence Street Congregational 

church, Lawrence, Massachusetts, signed by the pastor and officers, 

for a commission of inquiry concerning the alcoholic liquor traffic, to 

the Committee on the Judiciary. 

Also, the petition of Anna D. Freeland, for arrears of pension, to the 

Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. THROCKMORTON : The petition of citizens of Cooke 

County, Texas, for a post-route from Gainesville to Dexter, to the Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. 

By Mr. WARD: Remonstrance of Jed Fry & Co., J. H. Winchester 

& Co., and others, against the passa(J'e of bill No. 523, authorting 

vessels built abroad, but belonging wholly to citizens of the United 

States, to be registered as vessels of the United States, to the Committee on Commerce. 

By Mr. A. S. WILLIAMS : Three petitions of citizens of Detroit, 

.Michigan, for authority for the construction of a bridge across the 

river at that pla~e, to the same committee. 

By Mr. WILLIAMS, of New York: ThepetitionofcitizensofKeeseville, New York, for the repeal of the stamp-tax on safety matches, to 

the Committee of Ways and Means. 

By Mr. WILLIAMS, of Wisconsin : The petitions of citizens of Waukesha, and of Kenosha, of similar import, to the same committee. 

By Mr. WILLIAMS, of Indiana : The petition of citizens of Washington, Indiana, of similar import, to the same committee. . By. Mr. WILLIS: The petition of the Madison A venue Baptist 

church, of Ne'N York City, signed by the pastor and clerk, for a com- mission of int 1uiry concerning the alcoholic liquor traffic, to the Committee for the District of Columbia. 

By Mr. WILSON, of Iowa: The petition of Geor~e Crilly, relating 

to the Des Moines Canal, to the Committee on Public Lands. 

Also, papers relating to the petition of Jonathan Roberts, for a pension, to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. . 

IN SENATE. 

FRIDAY, February 4, 1876. 

Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. BYR<?N StJNDERLAND, D. D. 

The Journal of yesterday's proceeilings was rea-d and approved. 

HOUSE BILL REFERRED. 

The bill (H. R. No. 1797) providrng for the sale of the Kansa-s Indian 

lands in Kansas to actual settlers, and for the disposition of the proceeds of the sale, was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. 

ADJOURNMENT TO MONDAY • . 

On motion of Mr. SARGENT, it was 

Orderea, That when the Senate adjourns to-day, it be to meet on Monday next. 

PETITIONS l!!ND MEMORIALS. 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I present a petition of citizens of New 

Jersey, praying for the repeal of the specie resumption act of 1R75, 

and to repeal the same at once; and further, to so legislate t.hat the 

industrious people of the country may be supplied with a currency 

issued directly by the Government, without the intervention of any 

corporations, banking or otherwise. I simply wish to say that I do not 

sympathize with the prayer of t.his petition. I move its reference to 

the Committee on Finance. 

The motion was agreetl to. · Mr. WINDOM presented the petition of John 0. Finch and 269 others, citizens of Browu County, Wisconsin, praying for an appropria-· 

tion to complete the Fox River improvement, and for the construction of a canal along the banks of the Wisconsin River from Portage 

City to Prairie Do Chien, Wisconsin; which was referred to the Committe on Commerce . .Mr. WALLACE presented nine petitions, signed by 1,500 workmen 

in iron of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, praying for aid to the Texas 

Pacific Rail \-..ray; which were referred to the Committe~ on Railroads. 

Mr. WITHERS presented the petition of W. F. Carrington, :M. D., 

formerly of the United States Navy, praying for the removal of his 

political disabilitie-s; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary. 

Mr. CAMERON, of Pennsylvania, presented two petitions of citizens 

of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, praying for aid to the Texas Pacific Railway Company; which were referred to the Committee on Railroads. 

He also presented the petition of citizens of Philadelphia engaged 

in the iron and coaf business, praying Congress to extend the national 

credit to the completion of a great southern line to the Pacific; which waa referred to the Committee on Railroads. 

He also presented a petition of soldiers and sailors of Pennsylvania, 

praying for the passage of an act granting to the soldiers, sailors, and 

marines of the late war and their heirs (except commissioned officers) a bounty of eight and a third dollars per month for the time served, 

deducting all United States bounty heretofore paid; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Pensions. · He also presented six petitions of laborers in I<~ayette County, Pennsylvania, praying Congress to aid the construction of the Texas Pacific 

Railway Company; which were referred to the Committee on Railroads. 

Mr. WRIGHT presented the petition of Charles E. Hovey, praying 

compensation for co1lecting certain derelict claims and dues belonging to the United States ; which was referred to the Committee on Finance. . 1\fr. BOUTWELL presented the memorial of the Ma-ssachusetts 

Stat.e Temperance Alliance, signed by Rev. A.. A .. Miner, D. D., president, and Rev. William M. Thayer, secretary, asking that no appropriation of money be made in aid of the centennial exhibition if the cen- tennial buildings and grounds are to be used for the sale of intoxicating liquors; which was referred to the Collllllittee on the Judi cia.ry. 

He also presented the memorial of John D. Runkle, William B. 

Rogers, and Edmund H. Hewins, a committee of the Society of Arts of 

the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, asking for the appointment of a commission to consider the subject of a uniform metric system of weights and measures; which was referred to the Committee on Finance. 

Mr. ALLISON presented a joint resolution of the Le~islature of the 

State of Iowa, in favor of securing a commercial hi~hway by water 

between the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan, V1a the valleys of 

the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce. · 

Mr. INGALLS presented the petition of Maria Anna Knauber, widow 

of Adam Knauber, deceased, formerly a private in Company F, First 

Kansas Infantry, praying to be allowed a pension; which was re- felTed to the Committee on Pensions. 

Mr. STEVENSON presented the petition of Leslie Combs, a captain 

in the war of 1812, praying for arrears of pension and an increase of 

same; which was referred to the Committee on Pensions. 

REPORTS OF COl\L'll.TTEES. 

Mr. KERNAN, from the Committee on Patents, to whom was re- ferred the petition of Luther Hall, of Boston, praying an extension 

of his patent for a machine for shaping heels of boots and shoe-s, submitted a report thereon, accompanied by a bill (S. No. 391::!) for the 

relief of Luther Hall. 

The bill was read and passed to a second readmg, and the report was ordered to be printed. 

Mr. WRIGHT. I am instructed by t.he Committee on Claims, to 

whom was referred the petition of Abraham Sellers, administrator of 

Frederick Vincent, who was administrator of James La Caze, late of 

the firm of La Caze & Mallet, praying payment of a balance due for 

advances made by that firm during the revolutionary war; to report 

it back, and recomm~nd that the claim be rejected and the committee 

discharged from its further consideration. I ask a vote of the Senate 

concurring in this report. · The report was agreed to, and ordered to be printed. 

BILLS INTRODUCED. 

1\Ir. SHERMAN a-sked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave 

to introduce a bill (S. No. :399) to limit the value of household effects 

entitled to free entry; which was read twice by its title, and, together 

with a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury relating to that subject, referred to the Committee on Finance, and ordered to he printed. 

1\Ir. HAMILTON asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave 

to introduce a bill (S. No. 400) amendatory of the fifth section of the 

act of the 18th of May, 1872, making appropriations t.o supply deficiencies in the appropriations for the service of the Government for 

the fiscal year ending J one 30, 1872, and fQr former years, and for (,)ther 

purposes ; which was read twice by its title. 

Mr. HAMILTON. I introduce that bill by reque-st. I donot know 

anything about the merits of it. I move that it be referred to the 

Committeee on the Judiciary and printed. 

The motion was agreed to. 

PAPERS WITHDRAWN AND REFERRED. 

On motion of Mr. SHERMAN, it was 

Ordered, That the petition and papers in the case of James L. Sherman, first 

lieutenant United States Army, be taken from the :files and referred to the Com· 

mittee on Military Affairs. 

PERSONAJ. EXPLANATIONS. 

Mr. SARGENT. 1\Ir. President, I desire to call the attention of the 

Senate for a moment to two propositions. The first makes it neces- sary that a brief portion of the proceedings of day before yesterday 

be read at the Secretary's de-sk. I ask that the part which I have 

marked be read. 

The Secretary read as follows: 

Mr. SARGE:yor, * * * But, says the Senatorfrom Delaware, it was entirelyimproper (or in effect he says so, because I have not his remarks) for Mr. Shepherd to get lawyers to go in and browbeat the committee and the witnesses for the com· mittee brought there to prove that he 'was guilty of fraud. 

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." 

Occasionally you can find by a mere gesture the flow of a mau's thoughts. It was pedootly nght tor the Government to hire counsel to go in there and browbeat :Mr. Shepherd's witnesses or those of the board of public works, to hunt them 

down, to insinuate fraud, to use all the arts of lawyers, if they did so. That meets with no condemnation; but when the board of public works were on trial and de-