5272 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. AUGUST S, 

property obtained in New Zealand prior to the establishment there 

of British authority, to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

By Mr. MAcDOUGALL: The petition of 200 citizens of Weedsport, 

Cayuga County, New York, for the re-establishment oftbe fast-mail 

service on the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, to the 

Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. 

By Mr. THORNBURGH: The petition o'f Thomas N. McCoffey, of 

Knoxville, Tennessee, for a pension, to the Committee on Invalid 

Pensions. 

By Mr. WHITTHORNE: Memorial of John Harlow, of Tennessee, 

to have his name restored to the Army roll of the Tenth Tennessee 

Infantry Regiment, to the Committee on Military Affairs. 

IN SENATE. 

TuESDAY, August 8, 1876. 

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

On motion of Mr. McCREERY, and by unanimous consent, the reading of the Jonrnal of yesterday's proceedings was dispensed with. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATION. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempo1·e laid before the Senate a communication from the Secretary of War, transmitting a letter from the Cbi~f 

of Engineers in reference to a clause in the river and harbor bill as passed by the Senate which affects the works at the Southwest Pass 

of the Mississippi River. 

Mr. WEST. I move that the communication lie on the table and 

be printed. The matter has been acted upon. 

Mr. DAVIS. Had it not better be referred to the Committee on Appropriations f They have the matter now in charge, I understand. 

Mr. WEST. The bill bas been reported and is before the Senate. 

I have no objection to the reference; but I cannot conceive that there 

should be any action upon it in committee, as the bill bas been re- ported here. The Senate is competent to act upon it. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on the motion of 

the Senator from Louisiana, that the communication lie on the table 

and be printed. 

The motion was agreed to. 

REPORTS OF COMMITI'EES. 

Mr. SPENCER. I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Honse joint resolution No. 100. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Morning business has precedence. 

Mr. THURMAN, from the Committee on Private Land Claims, to 

whom was referred the bill (S. No. 791) for the relief of Ethan Ray 

Clarke and Samuel Ward Clarke, submitted an adverse report thereon; 

which was ordered to be printed, and the bill was postponed indefinitely. 

Mr. MERRIMON, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, 

to whom waa referred the bill (S. No. 1020) to punish embezzlement 

in the District of Columbia, reported it with an amendment. 

Mr. LOGAN, from the Committee on Military Affairs, to whom waa referred the bill (S. No. 998) for the pardon of deserters from the 

United States Army, submitted an adverse report thereon; which was ordered to be printed, and the bill was postponed indefinitely. 

He also, from the same committee, to whom was referred the bill 

(H. R. No. 2524) for the relief of certain soldiers of the Eighth Cavalry, Missouri State llilitia1 submitted an adverse report thereon; 

which was ordered to be pnnted, and the bill was postponed indefinitely. 

WITHDRAWAL OF PAPERS. 

On motion of Mr. INGALLS it was 

(}r€Wred, That Mrs. Mary B. Hook have leave to withdraw her petition and papers from the files Qt the Senate. 

TERRITORY OF PEMBINA. 

Mr. HITCHCOCK. I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the bill for the establishment of the 'rerritory of Pembina, 

subject to morning business. 

Mr. SPENCER. I hope the Senator will not insist upon that, because, as be knows, that bill will cause a good deal of debate. 

Mr. McCREERY. Mr. PresidentThe PRESIDENT pro tempore. Does the Senator from Kentucky 

rise to present morning business f 

Mr. McCREERY. r rose to ask for the present consideration of 

House bill No. 567, which is in the order of business. I have tried 

several days to ~et the floor to call it up. I am snre it will occupy but a small portion of time. 

Mr. HITCHCOCK. There a.re some reasons why I think I ought to 

have the indulgence of the Senate for the consideration of this bill for 

the establishment of Pembina Territory. It has been reported three 

successive sessions favorably by the Committee on Territories. It was reported unanimously at .this session, fonr months ago, and has stood near the head of the Calendar for nearly that period of time. When 

reached on the Calendar the other day its consideration was objected to on the ground that it was too import!ant a. bill to be considered on that 

call. If it is so important, and I believe it is an important bill, it is too 

impommt for me to allow it to sleep without an effort for its consideration. I do ,not believe it will create any extended discussion. I 

believe in three minutes it can be shown to the satisfaction of the Senate that the bill should pass, a.nd I should be very gL'td if the Lill 

could be taken up and considered. The bill was introduced by tlw 

Senator from Minnesota, [Mr. WINDOM,] and a similar bill was before the Senate and discussed at considerable length during the laat Con~ress. If it is in order, I move that the Senate proceed to the 

conSideration of the bill. 

Mr. McCREERY. I ask the Senator from Nebraska to give me five 

minutes to take up my bill after the bill organizing Pembina is taken 

up. 

Mr. HITCHCOCK. I will yield five minutes for that purpose. 

Mr. SPENCER. I also ask the Senator from Nebraska when be gets 

his bill up to yield to me for the consideration of the House joint 

resolution No. 100. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on the motion of 

the Senator from Nebraska to take up the bill (S. No. 606) to establish the Territory of Pembina and to provide a t-emporary government therefor. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. Let the bill be read. The Chief Clerk read the bill: 

Mr. BOUTWELL. I should like to ask the Senator from Nebraska 

whether this bill is likely to give rise to debate. I gave notice the 

other day that I desired the Senate to consider this morning the bill 

tO perfect the revision of the lawR. That is a bill of great public 

concern, and I shall not feel that I have performed my duty if I do 

not press the consideration of it upon the attention of the Senate. 

Mr. HITCHCOCK. I do not think this bill will lead to any ex- tended discussion. If it shall, I will say to the honorable Senator 

that I gave notice several days ago that I should call the bill up at 

the earliest practicable moment, and I said that I believed it was as important a bill as was likely to be considered at the present session. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. We shall differ about that. 

Mr. HITCHCOCK. I believe it affects the rights of citizens of the 

United States who have a right to be beard, and it bas been now on the Calendar for about fonr months or a much longer time. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. I will not object. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on the motion of 

the Senator from Nebraska. 

The motion was agreed to; and the Senate as in Committee of the 

Whole, proceeded to consider the bill (S. No. 606) to establish the 

Territory of Pembina, and to provide a temporary government therefor. 

Mr. McCREERY. Mr. President--

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Does the Senator from Nebraska 

yield to the Senator from Kentucky f 

· Mr. BOUTWELL. It seems to me we had better go on with the 

bill. ' 

Mr. EDMUNDS. That is the doctrine; one thing at a time. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. I object to any yielding. 

Mr. HITCHCOCK. Very well. -

The PRESIDENT pro tent,pore. The bill has been read. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Let it be read iu committee, so that we may see what we have. 

The Secretary proceeded to read the bill. 

Mr. HITCHCOCK. The bill bas just been read. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. I did not hear it. · The Secretary resumed and concluded the reading of the bill. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Is there any written report with this bill f 

Mr. HITCHCOCK. There is a report which was made at the laat 

Congress. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. I should like to hear it read. I suppose it staies 

the general ground upon which this action proceeds. 

Mr. HITCHCOCK. Yes, it states the general ground. 

The Secretary read the following report, submitted by Mr. Boreman, from the Committee on Territories, March 23, 1874: 

The Committee on Territories, to whom was referred the bill (S. No. 44) to estab· 

liah the Territory of Pembina and to provide a temporary govornment therefor, 

have had the same under consideration, and respectfully submit the following re- port: 

The same bill was before this committee at the second session of the Forty-sec- ond Congress, and on February 8, 1872, a favorable report was made thereon, as fol· 

lows: 

"It is proposed by this bill to establish and provide a temporary government for a new Territor[ out of that part of the Territory of Dakotalyingnorth of the forty· sixth degree o north latitude. . "The present Territory of Dakota contains 150,932 square miles, being in extent about four hundred miles from north to south, and something less than that in 

width from east to west. It appears from the report of the late census that in 1870 

it contained a population of 14,181, exclusive of Indians; but it is now believed, 

from the best evidence your committee have been able to obtain, that at this time 

its population numbers more than 25.000. 

"The more populous and growing settlements are in the exi;:reme northern and ex- treme southern portions of the Territory, respectively, the intervening region, ex- cept immediately on the eastern border, being in great part uninhabited and with· out roads or other avenues of communication. There bemg no direct route of travel 

between these distant settlements, those residin~ in the re~ion of Pembina) or in· 

deed in any part of the more northern sections ot the Terri wry, in going to Yank· 

ton, the capital,~,. as many of them must necessarily do in the transaction of busi· ness with the omcers and courts of the Territory, are compelled to travel a distance 

of from one thousand to fifteen hundred miles, and this by the nearest practicable 

route; and the same is the case with the judges and other officers in going from the 

capital to attend to their respective duties in the northern portions of the Tenitory. 
187G. OON'GRESSIONAt RECORD-SENATE. 5273 

"The Territory for which it is proposed by this bill to provide a government is a parallelogram, extending from Minnesota, on the east, for something less than four 

hundred miles, to Montana, on the west, and from the British possessions, on the 

north, two htmdred roUes to the boundary of the remaining Territory of Dakota, on the south, and bas nn area of about 70,000 s.quare miles. It contains a popnla.-

tion now of not less than 10,000, having received considerable &c008Sions by immigration since the taking of the late census; and it may be added, when separated 

from DP,koto., will leave the latter with a population as large as the whole Territory had in 1870. The contemplated Tern tory will have a Iarger population than 

many of the-Territories heretofore established had when theywere organized, as may be seen from !be following: 

Mississippi, organized in 1789, population. . . . • . • . . . • . • . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 850 

Indiana, organized in 1800, popu1ation ...•.•.•.•.•.. ·.••. . . . . . . . . . • . . • . . . . . . . 5, 641 

Michigan, organized in1805, population less than .........•.•..•.••..•......• 4, 000 

Wisconsin, organized in li!JC, population .........•.....•.............•...... 7, 000 

Minnesota, organized in 1849, population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . 6, 077 

Washington, organized in 1853, population....... . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . 1, 201 

Dakota, organized in 1861, population....... . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . • • • . . . • . • . . . . . . . . 4, 837 

Nevada, organized in 1861, population ..••.•..•........•.•..••••••...•.•.•... 6, 857 

Arizona, organized in 1863, population ....................................... 5,000 

"The climate and seasons of the new Territory are about the same as in the adjoining State of Minnesota. The land lies beautifully, being comparatively level 

and nearly every part of it bein~~: susceptible of cultivation. The soil is good, and 

produces all the grains, vep:etables, and fruits common to theN ortbwestern States. 

The Northern Pacific Railroad, located as it is through the entire length of the 

Territory from east to west, and being now in process of constrnction will soon supply t'b.e means of direct and speedy commumcation with all parts of the coun- try. And the present indications are that this Territory will continue to rapidly 

improve and increase in population as it has for two or three years past, thereby 

extending and adding to the substantial prosperity and wealth of the.nation; and 

it is believed that these desirable results will be greatly facilitated and rendered more certain by the establishment of the temporary government contemplated by 

this bill." 

Since making the above reJ>2rt theN orthern Pacific Railroad bas been completed to Bismarck, on the Missoun River, a distance of two hundred miles from the west- ern boundary of Minnesota. 

Bismarck ls a considerable town, and many other small towns and villages have sprun~~: up along the railroad and elsewhere in the Territory; large numbers have 

been added to the population; immigration still continues, and no doubt is enter- tained toot with the opening of t.be present spring the influx of population will ex- ceed that of any preceding season. The following extract from a speech delivered in the Honse of Representatives on the 14th instant, by Hon. M. K. Armstrong, present Delegate from Dakota, your 

committee believe is a fair and reliable statement of the present condition of that 

portion of Dakota for which the bill under consideration proposes a separate organIzation. 

"Two hundred miles of the Northern Pacific Railroad have been pushed west- ward across that Territory from the fertile valley of the Red River to the navigable waters of the U:pper Missouri. Two newspapers are published in the proposed 

TerritoryJ and stirring and enterprising towns have been built up at Fargo, Jamestown, ana Bismarck on the said railro~ while immigration and settlement are rapidly filJing up the accessible river valleys. Steamboats navigate the Red River 

nearly two- hundred miles into the proposed Territory, returning with thousands of tons of freight for the Hudson Bay settlements; while along said stream in Dakota new towns ant\ mills are being established. Nearly four hundred miles of 

telegraph line are in operation, and at Pembina. Grand Forks, Fargo, and Richville 

quite a trade is already carried on in the way of shipping and resliipping freights. 

United States courts are held at Fargo, Bismarck, ana Pembina, and a United 

States land office bas recently been established at the former place, while the set- tlers are urgently petitioning for a land office at Bismarck to accommodate the increasing settlements in the Missouri Valley. Many large steamboats ply for sev- eral hundred miles through the proposed Territory on the waters of the Missouri, 

and pass far abovb the mouth of the Yellowstone Into Montana, carryin~ Govern- ment freight for the forts and agencies, and mercantile goods for the mming districts. .Already several thousand ~ple have gone into this northern territory and are preparing farms, homes, and-villages, in anticipation of the favorable action of 

Congress upon this bill." 

It IS proper, also, to add that the Legislature of Dakota have twice-in 1871, and 

again in 18T3-memorialized Congress in behalf of the establishment of this new Territory, in which they stare with great force the fa{lts which induce them to do so, and urge it as a matter of justice to those inhabiting the proposed Territory, as well as of mterest and advantage to the country generally. . To meet the objection that the establishment of another Territory will entail additional charge on the Treasury, the committee submit the following communication from the Secretary of the Treasury: TREASURY DEPARTMENT, 

Washington, D. a., January 17, 1874. 

Sm: I have the honor to aoknowledge t-he receipt of yonr letter of the 15th in- stant requesting to be informed of "th611Cbarge upon the Treasury for each of the 

resj)ective existing Territories, and the items that make up the same." 

In reply I inclose herewith a statement showing the expenditures under heads of 

appropriations on account of each Territory during the fiscal years 1872 and 1873. 

The iteiDS of expenditure for fuel, furniture, repairs, lights, &c., are so numerous that it is not practicable to give them in detail. 

I am, very respectfully, WM. A.. RICHARDSON, Secretary. 

Hon. A.. L BOREHAN, 

Ohairman Oommittu on Territoriu, United Statu Sena,U, 

Expenses of territoriaZ govem71Umt. 

Fiscal yoa.r 1872. Fiscal year 18'73. 

Territories. 

Ordinary 

expenses . Salaries. 

.ARIZONA. 

L~~~tiv~o;:;::~udges, &c ............................................................... tl3,655 26 ··f4;:325·i2

. 

Co~tlngent expenses::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::. 2, 000 00 

Salary of interpreter and translator.......................................................... 624119 ........... . 

COLORADO. 

=~~~::J:~~~~~~~:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::~ ::~~:::~: ··i·:·~- DAKOTA. 

~=~~=~:=~-:~·:·:·:·::·:·:':':'::::::: :::::::: :·:: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: ~~: ~: ~: ... ~: ~. ~- IDAHO. 

ttl~~r:~=t~:-::::·::::::::::: ::::::: ::·:=·::::::·::::::::·=·:·:·:::·::·:·::::::::::::::~ :~::: ::~~·: ~~ :~: --· 1: ~-~- -----·1--------1 

UTAH. 

~tl~~rs: ~:::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: : :~;: ~~: ~: --29,· ~~~- ~~- WASHINGTON. 

~!~r:~:= ~::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ~= :::::::::::::::::::::: :: ~:: ~~ ~ --': ~.:. WYOMING. 

Ei~~~r~:::~::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::: ~:: :::::::::::::::::::::::::: :·::: :::::::::: : :~ ~~~:~: --is:~~-~~· 

Ordinary 

expenses. Total. Salaries 

.14,906 59 ·····-······ .•••••.••..•. tl,OOO 00 

··•··· ...... 20,758 00 

r.w.~371-------l·------~ 

13, 212 30 ......... -.. 

:::::::::::· ..... 838.78' 

34,300 00 1------1·---·-1 

14,686 87 

22,218 65 

43,206 75 

37, 49~ 84 

36,697 18 

42,564 00 

13,453 30 

24,382 07 

1,000 00 

13,500 00 ············ ··········-· 20,144 71 ............ 1,657 08 

13,500 00 ......... ......... 2,967 59 ................ 1, 000 00 ................ --

13,500 00 ................. ................. 2, 849 23 ....................... l, 000 00 

13,198 90 ................... ............................ .................. 1, 000 00 ...................... --------

15,388 29 ................. ..................... ............... ............... 1, 400 50 

13, 651 65 .•..... --. -. 

··•·••••·••· 2, 700 00 ·••·•·•··••· 942 08 31,075 05 1----·1-·---

Total 

t36,664 59 

14,051 08 

38,835 37 

35,301 79 

17,467 59 

17,349 23 

14,198 90 

16,768 79 

17,293 73 

Aggregare expenditure for the nine Territories for two years, f49(),803. 78. One-~ erage, as may be seen above, is $27,266.87, and i8 a small outlay for the benefits realninth of the above is the avel'al!:e expenditure for one Territory for two years, and ized from such a government. is $54,533. 75l. One-half of the last-named eum shows the average annual expendi- It must be conceded that the development and growth of this Territory will tend ture of one Territory, and is $27,266.87. · to add to the wealth and prosperity of the nation, and it can be no 161!s apparent 

This communication and statement show the separate and a~gregate expendi-~ that the thousands of hardy and enterprising people within its boundaries, who, ture out of the Treasur_y for all the Territories for two consecutiv-e years, thus in- by the sacMces,energy, and industry indispensable to suC008S in border life, ~thus 

eluding the expenses of a session of the Legislature in eaoh, and enabling us to fix contributing to the resources of the country, have a right, even though it necessitates 

the average annual charge on the Treasury for a rerritorial government. This av. a small annual draught on such resources, to demand a recognition of their situatiOn, 
5274 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. AuGustr 8, 

wan~ and inter~ts by the establishment of a loeal govemmentthatwill be acces- sible tor the transaction of their necessary business at only a reasonable expenditnre of their time and means. The committee, therefore, report back said bill with some verbal amendments 

and recommend that the same do pass. ' 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Of course, at some day or other this will be a proper bill in substance ; but it does not appear to me from the statement of the report and with the number of people there now that it 

is wise to set up a distinct temtorial organization, which costs the 

people a good deal of money and costs the United States a good deal. 

Of course the organization has to be just 38 expensive, just 38 many 

offices and places, substantially, as if the people were much more numerous than they are. I do not think that in this late stage of the 

session we ought to hurry a bill of this kind through, and I move therefore to postpone its further consideration until.the first Monday 

in December, which will leave it its place for consideration next winter, when we shall have more recent information about it. 

Mr. ffiTCHCOCK. I trust that motion will not prevail. The bill 

has been pending upon the Calendar n<tw for four months in the 

Senate. If anybody is in fault, perhaps I am. I deferred calling it 

up because it was near the head of the Calendar, and I thought that 

when the Senate proceeded to the consideration of bills upon the 

Calendar it would be reached in its proper order and passed without 

a11:y str~ggle o~ objection. I was mistaken in ~hat view, and having 

faaled, m the hght of those facts, I perhaps failed to do my duty in 

not urging it earlier upon the consideration of the Senate. But aa a !~latter of right to the cit~ens of ~be .United States who have settled 1ll Northern Dakota, I believe th1s bill should be considered at the 

present session. It has been repea~dly petitioned for by the inhabitants of the Territory, and twice at least memoralized for by a unanimous memorial of the Legislature of the Territory of Dakota. The~e are.special and parti~ular reasons why, as a matter of right to 

the inhabitants of the Territory and as a matter of economy to the 

General Government, this Territory should be organized. 

The present Territory of Dakota extends from Nebraska on the 

south to the British possessions on the north, a distance of four hundred miles, and fr~m Minnesota on the ea-st to llontana on the west, 

almost the same distance. It contains an area of 150,000 square 

miles; more than three times greater than the State of New York; 

nearly three times as large as all New England. The present settlements in the Territory of Dakota are comprised in two separate 

and distinct communities, entirely separate and distinct from their 

geographical position. The inhabited portion of Southern Dakota, 

the old-settled portion of Dakota, is along the Missonri River. Its 

commercial. relations are with Nebraska, Sioux City, and through 

Iowa to Ch10ag~. Northern D~kota, ~hat portion which this bill proposes to create mto a new Terr1tory, IS settled for two hundred miles 

along the Northern Pacific Railway and along the Red River of the 

North. Its commercial relations are with Dn Luth, Saint Paul, and 

Milwaukee. 

. The business relati~~ of the two portions of the Territ.ory are en- tuely separate and distmct. The members of the Le!rislature ffom 

the northern part of the Territory of Dakota are ofte{f compelled in ~he winter to travel as far _east as ~hicago in order to reach the.capItal. They have been pa1d for s1xteen hnndred miles mileage for 

that travel. So it is to reach the supreme court; so it is in enforcinO' 

tb.e United St.ates laws; the expenses of the extra mileage for thi~ Wide extent of travel will very nearly make up for the additional 

expense of the creation of the new Territory. I believe that a wise 

policy and a just regard for the rights of the citizens of the United 

States who have gone there to make it their home demand that t'his 

bill should be passed and passed at this session. 

I trust the Senator from Vermont will not press his motion, but 

that we may be allowed to vote on the bilL 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on the motion of 

the Senator from Vermont to postpone the bill until the first Monday 

in December next. 

The question. being put, there were on division-ayes 10, noes 16; no quorum votmg. 

Mr. HITCHCOCK. I hope the Senator will withdraw the motion 

and let the vote be taken on the passage of the bill. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. I made the motion because I thought it was right, 

and if. I witbdr!"w it I should do '!hat I though_t was wrong. I do 

not think the bill ought to be burned through WI1hout more timE\ to 

consider it. 

Mr. PAD DOCK. Let us have the yeas and nays. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. There is a quorum present. The 

yeas and nays are demanded. · The yeas and nays were ordered; and being taken, resulted-yeas 

23, nays 23; as follows: 

YEAS-Messrs. Anthony, Bayard, Boutwell, Cockrell Conkling Davis Dawes Eato~. Edmunds: Frelinghuysen, Hamilton, Howe, Ker~, Key, McDonald. Maxey; Mernmon, Morrill, Sargent, Saulsbury, Stevenson, Thurman and Withers-23. 

NA_YS-Messrs. 9ameron of Wisconsin, Christ,ianov, <..:oopeP, Cragin, Fer~ Hamlin, Harvey, Hitohcook, Ingalls, Kelly, Logan, MocJreery, McMillan Mitche Ogl~by, Paddock, Patterson, Ransom, Spencer, Wallace, West, W~dom an Wnght-23. ' 

ABSENT. -Messrs. AJcorn, Allison, Barnum.. Bogy, Booth, Bruce Burnside, · Cameron of Pennsylv~a, Clayton, Conover, DeDDis, DOrsey, Gi>ldthwafte, Gi>rdon, 

Johnston, Jones of Floqda, J o~es of Nevada, Morton. Norwood, Randolph, Robert- son, Sharon, Sherman, W adle1gh, and Wbyte-25. 

So the motion was 'not agreed to. 

The bill was reported to the Senate. 

Mr. WINDOM. I think this bill ought to pass. There are alrearly 

tw? h:nndre~ miles of railroa_d in that Territory; the northern portion 

of It 18 settlmg up very rapidly; and I think it is a fact that is not ge~erally unde:st?od ~hat one of the best · farming regions in the 

Uruted States lies m this proposed new Territory. There are several 

farms already being opened iu it of from one thousand to three thousand acres. Two thousand or three t~ousand acres haYe been already 

broken upon several farms. There IS one farm opened or partially 

opened by a company of over thirty thousand acres, and from three 

thousand to four thousan~ acres are now under the plow. . The people of that port:Ion oft~e territory (and it is settling so rapIdly tha~ the populatiOn I~ becommg heaVIer there than in any other 

part _of 1t) are compelled m_order to reach the capital of the present 

Terntory to travel some eight to twelve hundred miles to come over the railroad through Minnesota arid by way of Chicago or Du- buq~e westward through Iowa, until they reach the capital of their 

Terntory. I~ se~IDB to m~ that the:e is a Tery good reason for tho 

passage of this bill, and Without taking the time of the Senate I hope 

It may be passed. 

Mr. McMILLAN. What is the capital f . 

Mr. WINDOM. Yankton, the present capital, I will say at the sng- ~estion of my col_league, is situated in the southern part of the Terntory, b~t t~ere 18 no way of reaching it by the modern means of 

communicatiOn except what I have stated, some eight to twelve 

hundred miles. 

The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading and was read the third time. ' 

b:.r· EDMUNDS. t ask for the yeaa and nays on the passage of the 

The yeas and nays were ordered; and the Secretary proceeded to 

call the roll. 

Mr . .McDONALD, (when his ~ame was called.) I am paired with 

my colleague [Mr. MORTON] until be returns on all political questions 

and not regarding this as a political question, I vote yea. ' 

The roll-call having been concluded, the result was announcedyeas 31, nays 1~; as follows: 

YEAS-Mes~rs . .Allison, Bogy, Burnsi~e, Cameron of Wisoonsin, Christiancy Cockrell, Cragm, Ferry, Hamilton, Hamlin Harvey, Hitchcock Howe Jones of 

Nevada., Kelly, McCreery, McDonald, McMiti:m, Maxey, Mitche~ Morrili, Oglesby ~~d~~r,atterson, Ransom, Sherman, Spencer, West, Windom, Withera, and 

NlYS-Messrs. Anthony, Bayard, Boutwell, Conkling Cooper Davis Dawes 

Eaton, Edmunds, Frelinghuysen, Kernan, Key, Merrimon, Sar<Y~nt, Sacl.sbury' 

Steven<M>n, Thurman, Wallace, and Whyte--19 "' ' 

ABSENT-Messrs . .Alcorn, Barnum, Booth,' Bruce Cameron of Pennsylvania, Cla~n1 Conover, Dennis, Dorsey, Goldthwaite, Gord~n, Ingalls, Johnston. Jones 

of, .rlonda, Logan, Morton, Norwood, Randolph, Robertson, Sharon and Wadleigh-21. • 

So the bill was passed. 

J, E. PANKEY. 

Mr. McCREERY. I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of--

Mr. BOGY. I wish to make a motion in connection with the subject just before the Senate before the bill is disposed of. 

Mr . .MoC~EER~. I want the bill taken up, and then the Senator can make his motion. I move to proceed to the consideration of the 

bill (H. R. No. 2894) for the relief of J. E. Pankey, of Fulton County K~~~~ ' 

The motion was agreed to ; and the Senate, as in Committee of the 

Whole, proceeded to consider the bill. It provides for the payment 

to J. E. Pankey of. 1,020.12 for n:r:tused and uncanceled (tobacco) 

revenue-stamps whwh have been returned to the Commissioner of 

Internal Revenue and are now on file in his office. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Let us hear the report read. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. There is no report. 

Mr. McCREERY. There is a report from the House committee with a letter of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. What committee reported the bill f 

The PRESIDENT p1·o t.empore. The Committee on Finance. 

The Chief Clerk read the following report, submitted by Mr. JOHN 

YOUNG BROWN from the Committee of Claims in the House of Representatives on the 20th of May, 1876: . 

~he qommittee of Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H.R.No. 2894) tor the 

relief of J. E. Pankey, of ]!'ulton County, Kentucky report· The bill direct.a the payment to J. E. Pankey the s~ of ei,029.12 for unused and 

U?canceled {tobacco) revenue-stamps which have been returned to the GommisSloner of Internal Revenue, and are now on file in his Office. 

The letter of the Commissioner accompanying the bffi of date April 4, 1876 addressed to the chairman of this committee, shows that the claimant returned' the 

above am<?unt of ~tamps to the Commiss!oner, and your committee are of opinion that the bill for his relief should pass~ With an amendment strikina out the words 

"with interest thereon from the 1st aay of April, 1872," which ooeur in the si.rlh 

and seventh lines of the same. 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment ordered 

to a third reading, read the third timef and passed. ' 

ORDER OF BUSINESS. 

M:t:. EDMUNDS. I 38k to finish the reading of the repo:-t which was suspended yesterday of the Senator from Massachusetta [Mr. 

BOUTWELL] from the special committee. It was laid over on account 

of the minority report not being quite ready, and it is now hung up 

between heaven and earth. Lask that it be read before the Senate so aa to get it into the files in the regular way. 

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1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 5275 . 

Mr. BOGY. I thought I had the· floor. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Vermont asks 

that the report made by the Senator from Massachusetts be laid before the Senate. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. And the minority report. 

Mr. BOGY. I thought I had the floor. I desire to make a motion 

in connection with the Pembina bill. The Senator from Kentucky 

would not allow me at that time to go on. Mr. EDMUNDS. Mr. PresidentMr. BOGY. I desire to propose a change of the name of the Territory, and if I give the reasons I think the Senate will adopt the 

change unanimously. Mr. EDMUNDS. I think this can be disposed of in a moment. 

Mr. BOGY. I yielded to the Senator from Kentucky a. while ago. 

I move to reconsider the bill passed a few moments ago for the crea- tion of the Territory of Pembina. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. The Senator can enter the motion, but another 

matter is now before the Senate. . The PRESIDENT pro tempqre. The motion to reconsider will-be 

entered. 

AFF .AIRS IN MISSISSIPPI. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. I understand now that these reports are laid before the Senate. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. They are. Mr. EDMUNDS. Now I do not ask to have them read clear through 

if anybody does not want to have them read, but let them be 

printed in the RECORD, so that we can read them without reading 

them here, if that is agreeable to everybody. 

The PRESIDENT pro tentpore. Is there objection to both reports 

being printed in the RECORD f 

Mr. BAYARD. Including the minority views f 

Mr. ED~1UNDS. Certainly. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair hears no objection. It 

is so ordered. 

The report of the committee is as follows: 

The special committee appointed under a resolution of the Senate adopted on the 

31st of March last, and instructed to inquire how far the rights of the people of 

Mississippi, guaranteed by the Constitution of tho United States, and secured especially by the fifteenth amendment, were violat~d by force, frau~ or intimidation at the election held in that State on the2d of November, 1875, respectfully submit \o 

the Senate the testimony taken, with the conclusions of the co~mittee thereon. 

The testimony will fully support the allegation that force, fraud, and intimidation were used generally and successfully in the political canvass of 1875. 

But before proceeding to a detailed statement of the facts, and conclusions sus· tained and warrant-ed oy the proof, the committee think it pro"J)CU' to refer to the 

suggestions and excus~s offered in justification of the outrages committed. 

!tnas been alleged that Governor Ames was an unfit person to bold the office to which be was elected in the year 18TJ; but, on the contrary, the committee find 

from the evidence as well as from general report in Mississippi that Gi>vernor Ames was not only not amenable to any just charge affecting his personal int.egrity, his 

character as a public officer, or his ability for the duties of chief magistrate of that 

State, but that his fitness fu all these particulars was snstained by the testimony of 

thoae who were not in accord with him politically. The committee refer especially to the testimony of Hon. J. A.. P. Campbell, appointed by the existing government one of the judges of the supreme court of the State of Mississippi · The evidence submitted tends strongly to show, what cannot be denied, that there were many persons in office in the Staoo of Mississippi, especially in elective offices, 

in the several counties, who were either incapable or dishonest ; and there were a few of the same character connected with the State government. The conduct 

of these persons, however, was not approved by the governor nor by the masses of 

the republican party. 

Complaints and char~es against a. class. of persons.called "carpet-baggers '

1 are frequent in the depositions of witnesses opposed to the republican party in the 

State. It is to be admitted that a small number of the immigrants from other States 

misused the confidence of the black peopleJ secured office, and b~trayed the trusts confided to them. Bnt the number of sucn persons, compared to the whole num- ber of immigrants, was very small; and it is but just to say that the great majori~ 

are intelliuent, upright, and brave men from the North, wlio are t'ntirely incorruptible, and who1 in peril of their lives, are now struggling against senous odds to maintain thell' political opinions and to secure a iust a.dmini.stration of the govern- ment. 

It is alleged that during the last six or eight years the expenses of the State have 

been unnecessarily increased ~d that heavy taxes have been imposed for which no adequate return has been received by the people. Comparisons at·emade betwe~n 

the rate of taxation previous to the war and since the year 1870, and the conclusion 

16 drawn that large sums of money are extorted from the people and wasted, or through negligence and extravagance misapplied. 

It is undoubtedly true that taXes are higher in the State of Miesissippi than they were previous to 1860 ; but the rate of increase is far less than in some of the north- ern States, where no serious complaints are made against the administration of 

publio affairs. 

It is to be observed also that previous to the war taxes were not levied for the 

support of schools in Mississippi; indeed, there wa-s no system of public instruction ; and that sinc.e the war school-houses have been erected in all parts of the 

State for the education of the children of both races, and large sums of money 

have been expended annually for the maintenance of schools," including schools for 

training teachers. 

It is also true that previous to the war the taxes were imposed upon slaves and 

upon busine.<Js, while since the war the taxes have been laid chiefly upon personal 

property and upon land. 

In 1873 the State expenses were $953,000; in 1874, $908,000; and in 1875 the ex- penses were only $618,000. The State debt, not including trust-funds, is only 1500,000. 

A tax of $1.60 upon each person will pay the publio debt and meet the current expenses for a year. (Testimony, page 8.) · Attorney-General Han-is makes the following statement in regard to taxation for 

the period of twenty-six years. He says : "Take, for example, twenty years of democratic rule in Mississippi, and see what amount of money their own records show were expended, and they held uninterrupted sway, aa we can best ascertain from the reports of the auditor and treasurer, 

made to biennial sessions of their Legislature. Take the twenty years from 1850 to 1870 and compare it with six years of republican rule, from 1870 to 1875, inolueive, the following is shown: 

Expenditures : 1850 ......... -...... -. -- . . . $295, 933 48 

1851 ......... ·-------..... ~ 2-26,407 41 185~ ..... -... -......... -. . . 802, 579 76 

1853 .•••.. ....•.••.. -.. . • • . 229, 288 45 

1854 ••••..••••... ; •...•••.• 584,296 84 

1855 ·····-....... ·-- .. . . . .. 311,578 19 

1856 •• - -.••.••.•••.•..•• -• - 784, 896 79 

1857 .• -•. --- -•. --• -••... - • 1, 067, 086 57 

1858 ....................... 614,659 00 

1859 ·-·---·---...•... ·····- '2'07, 015 00 

5, 623, 741 49 

1860 ..................... . 

1861. ........... ·····-... . 1862 .............. -~ ..... . 

1863 .••. ··•··•••·•·•·····• 1864 ..•..•.•••...•.•..•••• 

1865. ····•·•••••••·• ······ 1866 ...••.......•........• 1867 ••••••...•.••••.•..••• 1868 .....•••••••.•••.••.•• 1869 ...•••.••••••••..•••.• 

$663,536 55 

1, 824, 161 75 

6, 819, 894 54 

2, 210, 794 23 

5, 446,"'732 06 

l. 4l0, 250 13 

1, 860, 809 89 

623,817 29 

525,678 80 

463,219 71 

20, 208, 894 95 

5 623,741 49 

Total expenditures for twenty years ...... ,. ......... .-....... 25,832,646 44 

Now, take the republican administration for six years. Expenditures for1870 ....................... $1,061,~49 90 1873 ..................... $953,030 00 

1871 ....................... 1,319,62619 1874...................... 908,330 00 

1872 ....................... 1,098,031 69 1875...................... 618,259 00 

3, 4T8, 906 78 2, 479, 619 00 

3, 478, 906 78 

5, 957, 525 78 

"Total expenditures for six years, $5,957,525. 78. 

" The twenty years of democratic adm.ini:stration show an unnual average of 

$1,291,632.32. The six years of republican administration show an annual average 

of 1000,920.96. 

" This may be claimed to be unfair, as it embraces four years of the war ; but, for 

the sake of fairness, let us strike out the four years of the war, or the amount ex- ~nded during those four years, 1861, 1862, 1e63, and 1864, and add in lieu ther~f 

the amount expended in 1860, $663,536.55, and we have an expenditure of $12,184,-

019.06, or an annual average of $699,200 95, as a.,uainst $992,920.96. From this it 

would appear that the republican administration has been more expensive than the 

democratic administration; but there are several reasons for this : Before the war the taxes were paid ingold and silver, and everything much cheaper than since the war; and in January, 1870, when the republicans came into power, State warrants were worth about sixty or si~-five cents on the dollar; the capitol and mansion were dilapidated; the penitentiary and lunatic asylum were too small, and had to be extended and repaire~ and all the improvements cost nearly two prices, because 

payments were made in warrants at their reduced value. And the judiciary sys- tem was rendered more expensive to the State by dispensing with the probate 

court, the expenses of which bad been formerly paid by the counties ; this jurisdiction was gi>en to the chancery court-, and the nilmber of citizens bad more than 

doubled, and all departments of State government rendered necessarily more ex- pensive. And, again, the school system has been carried on at an erpense very 

large, a. thin~ that'hau never existed before the war. The expenditures for school 

purposes in roe six years have been about $:120,000 per ann,um. Let us add a. few 

items which have been necessary since the war, and for which no expenditures were ever made by the democracy, by way of annual averages, and it will be seen at a glance why it is that the expenditures have been lar~er than formerly: 

For school purposes, (as above) ...•.......•............ . ................. 1320, 000 

Probate-court business by the chancery court, (probates' salaries by the 

counties,) (Code, 1857, p. 423) . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . •• 36, 700 

A. verage annual improvements on public buildings, about ...... . . . . . . . . . . 100, 000 

County record, &c., furnished, (destroyed during tbe war, and exhauste~ 

&c.).... ... . ... . ... ...... ........ .. ....... ...... ........•.. ........ ... 12,500 

Making au average per annum of ... ,.............................. 469,200 

"Taking this from the avera~e, $992,920.96, leaves $523,720.96. These were neces- sary expenses, never incurred oy a democratic administration. The onlv common- school system in the State before the war seemed to be a well-organize([ system to squander the school fund of the State as rapidly as the same was donated to the 

State by, the Government, as the history of the fund will show. Take these items 

from the annual expenditures of the SIX years of republican administration, and 

the avera~e is reduce~ per ye~r. to $.'i~, 720.96; thus showin~ the average annual 

expense or the republican admmiStration to be, on the old baslS of State expenses, 

actually $75,480 less than the a>emge expenses under the democratic rule of twenty 

years, 'vith less than one-half of the citizens to be governed, and at a. time when 

expenditures everywhere were largely in advance of former years. Many other 

items of extraordfuary expenses have been incurred since January, 1870, not in· 

eluded in these statements. "This, I think, shows a fair statement of the expenditures for• the last twenty. 

six years, twenty years of democratic rule and six years of republican rule. 

"The ta:r:es·have been increased and decreased for the various State p~ses, 

for the six years alluded to, as follows: 1870, 5 mills on the dollar; in 1871 1t was 4 mills; in 1872, 8! mills; in 1873 it was 12! milla; in 1874 it was 14 mills; in 1875 

it was 9!. In the last three years there was a school tax as follows: 1873 and 1874 a 

school tax of 4 Diills, and for 1875, 2 mills. This is included in the above estimat~. 

ana the counties were restricted in their levies for county purposes as follows: 

By act of 1872 the counties were prohibit~d from levyillg a tax which, with the 

State _and school tax added, shall not exceed !5 mills on the dollar, and in 1875 they were restricted to 20 milla on the dollar. 

"It seems that the real complaint of the people of the State, as to the burden of 

taxation, grows out of the fact that the taxable property of the State is, in the 

main, unproductive; and to evade the tax the tax-payers, ~ving their property to the a-ssessor, place it far below its actual value, and contfuue year after year to reduce the ta.xable values of the property." 

The statements made by Hon. G. E. Harris, attorney-general, Captain H. T. 

Fisher, and Mr. E. Barksdale are referred to as presenting both sides of the case, and furnishing the best means at the command of the committee for a just judg- ment. 

The testimony taken tends to show that those who participated in the means by 

which the election of 1875 was carried by the democratic party rely, for justifica- tion, upon the facts of maladministration, as set forth in the testimony submitted 

with this report. 

In the opinion of the committee, those errors and wrongs, if admitted to the ex- tent claimed, furnish no justification whatever for the outrages and crimes established by the testimony. It is also alleged in justification of the acts of intimidation, and of the crimes 

committed during the canvass and at the election, that Governor Ames had organized, or attempted to organize, a. force, termed the negro militia. At the time of 

the riot at Clinton, on the 4th of September, 1875, whicli resulted in the death of at least t.birty persons, there was no military orgauizaiion in the State. The snm of 

$60,000 ba<i. been appropriated by the Legislature at its pretJeding session, for the 

organization and support of a military force; and the event at Cllnton, in connec- tion with the fact of disturbances in other portions of the State, led Governor Ames to attempt its organization. At the same time be issued the following proclamation: 
. 5276 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE . AuGUST B, 

PROCLAMATION. 

STA.TE OF MlssiSSIPPJ, ExECUTIVE OFFICE, 

Jaclc8m, &ptember 7, 1875. 

Whereaa persons have formed themselves into military organizations in various 

parts of the State without sanction of law, and such organizations are moved to 

the support of each other from point to point in counties and from one co~ty to another without the approval or consent of the peace officers of such counties, and 

without the knowledge or authority of tb~ state ~overnment; and 

Whereas such organizations have overthrown civil government in Yazoo County, set it at defiance in Hinds County, and created distrust and fear in Warren and 

other counties, causing the loss of many lives and compelling many persons to flee 

from their homes; and · · Whereas such action has already caused great injury to the interests of the people and, if persisted in, will result in incalcUlable evil: 

Now, therefore, I, Adelbert Ames governor of the. State of Mississippi,_ do here~y make proclamation and command all persons belongmg to such organiZations to disband forthwith· and I hereby require all citizens to render obedience to and assist 

the peace office'rs of the various counties in the preservation of peace and order 

and the enforcement of the laws of the State. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the· great seal of 

the State of Mississippi to be affixed, this the 7th day of September, A. D. 1875. 

[L. s.l . ADELBERT AMES. 

By the governor: 

J' AMES liiLL, Secretary of Stti.U. 

Some of the officers selected by him were native-hom white citizens who had 

served in the late war on the side of the confederates, and he solicited and accepted 

recruits from the white as well as .from the black population. (See testimony of 

General Hurst, page 87.) . . . . This effort on the part of the governor, It Is now claimed, was the occasiOn 

seized by the democrats for 0111:anizing and arming themselves, ostensibly to resist 

the black militia; but, in fact, such organization bad been effected previously, as is shown by the testimony concerning the Clinton riot, and in the end it became the means b:y which the colored inhabitants and the white republicans of the State were overawe~ intimidated, and deprived of their rights as citizens. (See testimony of 

Ron. H. ;:;wann1 paBes 307, 308; W. A. Montgomery, page 546; and oth61'8.) 

These or~tions were the instruments also by which numerous murders were committed upon persons who were then active, or who had been active, in the 

republican party. By the terms of the peace conference entered into by General J. Z. Goorge, the 

chamnan of the democratic State committee, and Governor Ames. on the 13th of 

October, 1875, the attempt to organize the militia was abandoned, General George on his part agreeine; to secure a peaceful election and the full and free enjoyment 

of the elective franchise by every citizen. The stipulation on the part of the 

governor was faithfully kept, but the promise made by General Goorge was systematically disregarded by the democrats in the larger portion of the Stat-e. 

The outrages perpetrated by the white people in the canvass and on the day of 

election :find no justification whatever in the acts or the policy of Governor Ames 

concerning the State militia. 

The effort on his part to organize the militia for the preservation of the public 

peace seems to lthe committee to have been not only lawful but proper, and the course of the democrats in organizing andarmingthemselves to resist the governor 

in his efforts to preserve the public peace was unlawful, and the yroceedings should 

have been suppressed by the State authorities if possible, and, m case of failure on their part, by the Government of the United States. The constitution of the State provides that the militia shall consist of the abl&-

bodied male citizens between the age of eighteen years and the age of forty-five 

years, and the Legislature provided for its orgamzation by an act passed at it8 

first session in the year 1870. It was the duty of the governor to use the militia 

for the suppression of such riots as those of Vicks burgh and Clinton, and this with- out regard to the question whether the white or the black race was most responsible therefor. 

In the OJ.>inion of the committee the :riot at Clinton was in harmony with the 

policy preVIously adopted by democrats in that vicinity, and designed to intimidate and paralyze the republican party. The testimony shows thattne riot was inaugurated by a body of eight ortenyoungmenfromRaymond, who acted, a.l'parently, 

under the advice of the Raymond Gazette, a democratic newspaper, edited by G. 

W. Harper, an aged andhighly:respeci;ed man, according to the testimony of Frank 

Johnston, W. A. Montgomery, (page 559,) and others. 

Theriotoccurred September 4, and the Raymond Gazette, as early as June or July, 

gave this advice: 

"There are those who think that the leaders of the radical party have carried 

this system of fraud and falsehood just f~ enough in Hinds County, and that the 

time has come when it should be stopped-peaceably if -possible, forcibly if neces- sary. And to this end it is proposed that whenever a rachcal pow-wow is t.o be held, 

the nearest anti-lladi.cal club a_vpoint a committee of ten discreet, intelligent, and 

reputable citizens, fully identified with the interests of the neighborhood and well 

known as men of veracity, to attend as representatives of the tax-pay61'8 of the neighborhood and county, and true friends of the negroes assembled, and that whenever 

the radical speakers proceed to mislead the negroes, and open with falsehoods, and 

deceptions, and misrepresentations, the committ-ee stop them right then and there, 

and compel them to tell the truth or quit the stand." 

Nor do these outrages find any excuse in the Statement made repeatedly by wit- nesses, that the negroes were organizing or threatened or contemplated organizing themselves into military bands for the destruction of the white race. The evidence 

shows conclusively that there were not only no such organizations, but that the 

negroes were not armed generally; that thof:\e who had arms were furnished with 

inferior and second-hand weapons, and that their leaders, both religious and polit- ical, had discountenanced a resort to force. Many rumors were current among the 

whites that the negroes were arming and massing in large bodies, but in all cases these rumors had no basis. 

In a sentence, it may be asserted that all the statements made that there was any justifiable cause for the recent proceedings in Mississippi are without foundation. 

On the other hand, it is to be said, speaking generally, that a controlling part 

and, as we think, a majority, of the white democratic voters of the State were enga.ged in a systematic effort to carry the election, and this with a purpose to-resort to ill means within their power, including on the part of some of them the murder 

of prominent persons in the republican party, both black and white. 

There was a minority, how larae the committee are unable to say, who were O{)-

poled to the outrages which b~ t'bis report are proved to have taken place. This 

minority, however, is for the trme overawed and as powerless to resist the course of events as are the members of the republican party. Under more favorable cir- cumstances t:key may be able to co-operate with the friends of order and redeem 

the State from the control of the revolutionary element. 

(I.) The committee find that the young men of the State, especially those who 

reached manhood during the war or who nave arrived at that condition since the war, constitute the nucleus and the main force of the dangerous element. 

As far as the testimony taken by the committee throws any light upon the sub- ~ect it tends, however, to establish the fact that the democratic or~anizations, both m the counties and in the State, encouraged the young men in therr course, accepted the political advantages of their conduct, and are in a large uegree responsible 

for the criminal result.!'. 

(2.) There was a general disposition on the part of white employers to compel the 

laborers to vote the democratic ticket. This dis:position was made mamfest by 

newspaper articles, by the resolutions of conventions, and by the declarations of 

land-owners, planters, and farmers to the workmen whom they employed, and by 

the incorporation in contracts of a provision that they should be void in case the 

negroes voted the republican ticket. 

(3.) Democratic clubs were organized in all parts of the State, and the abl&-

bodied members were also organized generally into military companies and furllished with the best arms that could be procured in the country. The fact of their 

e:ristencewaa no secret. although persons not in sympathy with the movement were excluded from mem bershiJ.>. Indeed their object was mm-e fully attained by public declarations of their orgamzation in connection with the intention, everywhere ex- pressed, that it was their purpose to carry the election at all hazards. 

In many places these organizations possessed one or more pieces of artillery. 

These pieces of artillery were carried over the counties and discharged upon the 

roads in the neighborhood of republican meetings and at meetings held by the 

democrats. For many weeks before the election members of this fuilitary organization traversed the various connties1 mena(ling the voters and discharging their 

guns by night as well as by day. This statement is sustained by the testimony of 

Captain W. A. Montgomery, Captain E. 0. Sykes, J.D. Vertner. leading democmts 

in their respective counties, as well as by the testimony of a large number of trust- worthy republicans. (4.) It appears from the testimony that, for some time previous to the election, 

it was impossible, in a larBe number of the counties, to hold republican meetings. 

In the republican counties of Warren, Hinds, Lowndes, Monroe, Copiah, and 

Holmes meetings of the republicans were disturbed or broken up, and all attempts to engago in public discussion were abandoned by the republicans many weeks before the election. 

(5.) The riots at Vicks burgh on the 5th of July and at Clinton on the 4th of September were the results of a special purpose on the part of the democrats to break 

up the meetings of the republicans, to destroy the leaders, and toin~ugurate an era of terror, not only in those counties, but throughout the State, which would deter 

republicans, and particularly the negroes, from organizing or attending meetings1 and especially deter them from the free exercise of the right to vote on the day ot the election. The results sought for were ina large degree attained. 

(6.) Following the riot at Clinton, the country for the next two days was scoured 

by detachments from these democratic military organizations over a circuit of 

many miles, and a large number of unoffending persons were killed. The number 

has never been ascertained correctly, but it may be estimated fairly as between 

thirty and fifty. Aillong the innocent victims of those days of horror and crime-was Mr. William 

P. Raffa, a white man, a teacher by profession, a justice of the peace by the choice 

of his fellow-citizens, and a candidat-e for re-election upon the republican ticket. 

He was a resident of Philadelphia with his family until the year 1870, when he em- igrated to Mississi'{lpi for the purpose of planting. The story of his assassination as related by his wife is here given in full: 

• AS8.A88INATION OF MR. RAFFA. 

Mrs. ALzlNA F. HAPFA sworn and examined. 

WASHINGTON, D. C., July 7, 1876. 

PERSOHAL STATEMENT. 

By the CHA.IRllAN: 

Question. Have you lived in Mississippi; and, if so, how long 7 

Answer. Yesj sir; it will be seven years next February sincel: went there. 

Q. Where din you live before that t 

A. In Philadelphia, my native place. 

Q. What was your husband's name¥ 

A.. William P. Raffa. 

Q. Did you go to Mississippi with him ~ 

.A.. Yes, sir. 

Q. He is not living now 7 

A. No, sir. . Q. Will you state to the committee the time when he died and the circumstances 

of liis death 9 

.A. Do you desire me to state anything llrevious to that 7 

Q. You can state just what took place m Mississippi that yon think important. A. We were there about two months and a half or three monthsQ. When did yon go there 7 

A. In February. 

Q. What year¥ A.-" Eighteen hundred and seventy; seven years next February. Mr. Ha:ffa went there for the purpose of raising cotton and corn.. Q. Where did you live¥ 

A. In Hinds County, third district. 

VISITED TO DEFINE HIS POLITICS. 

Q. Nearwhattown¥ 

.A. I cannot tell you how many miles from Vicksburgh, I don't remember; but we lived within a few miles of Auburn, .Mississippi; I think it was two or three 

miles. After we ha.d been living there about three months we were waited. upon 

by the owners of the land, and they asked Mr. Raffa whether he was a friend to the 

white people or to the nigger, using a profane word. They called him outside and 

I followed him and stood at the door and heard what they said. 

Q. Do you know who these people were 7 

A. Frank and Williani Busli. the owners of the land. Williani Bush waa not an owner, but Frank was. William Bush was the agent for his wife and did all the 

business connected with the estate, which belonged to his wife. Her name was Mollie Bush. 

Mr. Raffa said he was a friend to any one, be he black or white, that was deserving of his friendship. They then said to him, "We understand that Y.OU are a friend of the nigger," using profane language ; and they made some other remarks, 

I don't remember what; but t.hey went away, and a short time after that they came ba{}k and inquired for him. He was not in; he was out in the field. They went out there where he was, and my little bov, who was out there, said that they used some insulting language toward Mr. Raffa, and that they threatened him. He came in very much excited from the field and said' to me, "Mamma, I am afraid there will 

be difficulty here." ELECTED JUSTICE OF TH.B PEACE. 

Then the colored people nominated him for squire-magistrate-and he received 

his appoint.mc-..nt from Clovernor Alcorn, who was then governor of Mississippi. 

That raised the indignation of the white people. They declared no northern man should come doWn. there and rule them. So they sent up a number of petitions to 

have him removed. Governor Alcorn. said there was nothing against him that be 

could find out, and unless there was something else against him than his birth he 

could not do anything, as ~ong as it was the desire of the majority of the people, 

who are colored' people. . So then he fultilled his office for two years, and the first election came on and 

he was renominated for the same po ition, and he was elected by the people at that 

time. Then he had occasion to have some business with these people, the Bushes. 

.MR. RAFFA LASHED. 

Q. Was it private or public business 1 

A. I have forgotten now; I cannot Bay. They came to the house one Sat-
• 

1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENAT~. 5277 

urday afternoon; I don't know what time it was, but anyhow they got the colored people all to leave the premises except one, an old co lured woman; she could not get, away. They came to the house and asked me if Mr. Raffa was in. I said", 

"Yes." They said they wanted to see him. I went tothedoorasusual-Ialways ·went to the door when there was white people come around, for I was very much 

afraid of them myself. So theT got him out by a tree a short distance oft: and they had hitched their 

horses tO that tree. I watched them, and they took a cowhide and commenced to lash him very freely with it. I ran out and grasped him around the wafst. They 

said, ·•we will show yon what southern blood is." Mr. Raffa never said a word. 

I said, "Mr. Bush you have a wife in heaven and a child also, here; remember 

what your fate :;tit be. I am here among stran~ers." He says, "Well, ;vou have 

got no business to be down here among suc_h an Illiterate class of people.' 

MRS. H.A.FFA INJURED. 

And, finally, I kept on, and I presume it lasted over an hour, perhaps two hours; and they kept on until they got up to the house, and then Frank Bush took 

hold of me and threw me violently ~ainst a sill in front of the door, and the effects 

of it I have never got over yet. .L was laid up in consequence of it for about a month. I was taken to Jackson, Mississippi. Senator Caldwell, of Mississippi, a colored man, paid my expenses there, which cost him $50. I was there for a month to be recuperated; I was not ab'e to be home at all; they had no hopes of me. In the mean time Mr. Ha.ffa bad gone to Jackson to make his bond forjhis posi- tion as maJti,strate for the second term. He was there for a few days and then went back and attended to his business, leaving me there. 

HKR HUSBAND INSULTED-HER BOY FIRED AT. 

Then I went home, and there was nothing of any moment occurred for several 

months. Then Robinnett, a brother-in-law of these Bushes, met Mr. Raffa coming 

from the depot with my little boy, who was on a mule, and Mr. Raffa was on a horse. Robinnett came up to Mr. Raffa and took hold of his whiskers, and told 

him be wanted him to come down off his horse and he would have it out with him 

there. Mr. Raffa somehow got away from him and put spurs to his horse, and the 

horse ran, and then Robinn.ett fired at my little boy. 

ATTEMP'l' AT ASSASSINATION. 

Owing to the excitement he could not get out an~ warrant to have the man ar- rested, and there was never anything done with h1m. So, repeatedly after that, 

the Bushes made attempts at Mr. Haifa, and Mr. Raffa had always somebody with 

him wherever he went. He bad to be guarded by the colored people. Even in going to the stable, which was no farther than from .here across the street, he was afraid of his life. One evening after he came home from the depot-he went there 

generally of a. Saturday to get his mail-a son of a member of the board of supervisors-! think he was a supervisor; he was an officer anyhow; his name was Fatheree. I always answered the door if anybody called at night, and, in fact, in 

the day-time as well as night, for I thought I might do better than Mr. Raffa..-he came to the door and says: "Is Mr. Haffain 1" Says!, "Yes, sir." He says, "I wish 

toseehimon business." I said, "Won'tyoualightandwalkin~" He said, "No." 

I went in and told Mr. Raffa, and I went out witll a candle, and he says to me, "Mamma, yon go in; it is toocoldforyou here, yon will take cold." The young man says to him, "Send your wife in; t want to talk about business and it is not prudent for ladies to be present." There was a. colored woman, a school-teacher, 

there, standing by me. Mr. Raffa then spoke in a more emphatic manner than 

usual, for me to go in, and I went to turn around with the candle to go in when this 

colored woman just shook her head that way, [indicating,] and I said, "I will not ~o in;" and I turned, and at that moment saw a. pistol aimed at Mr. Ha.ffa. He had 

It cocked, but Mr. Raffa snatehecl it from his hand, and made him get down oft' his 

horse, and put him in the cotton-house and locked him up until next mornin_g. In 

the morning he knocked at the door and prayed to be let out, and asked Mr. liaffa's 

pardon. and said he did not intend anything. 

Mr. Raffa thought, probably, on account of the feeling, that it would be better to be lenie~t than to use harsh means, though he had him in his power, so he let 

him out; and said he, "Squire, won·t you give me my pistol~" It was a small Derringer pistol. Mr. Haffasaid, "I don't knowthatlwill." He said, "Will you give 

it book to me, please? I will promise you I won't do any such thing as that again, 

and I am very sorry for it, but I was put up to do it." Mr. Raffa said, "Who put 

you up to do It~~~ and he would not say who it was ; and he gave him book his pistol, and be went home. 

Two or three days after that his mother called on me-Mr. Raffa was absent at the time-and made an apology to me for the conduct of her son. Mr. Haifa says, 

"We will t.hink nothing about it·; we will let it slide, as long as he made reparation 

for it. In tha.t way prooably I can overcome them by kindil.ess." 

MRS. RAFFA TEACHES SCHOOL AND ..lDVISES COLORED VOTERS. 

Then he came on North here and remained a year, and left me there as teacher. 

I have been teacher there ever since the public schools have been in vogue. The , school-house wa-s only twenty or thirty yards from my house, and we held all our club meetings there, and in toe absence of Mr. Raffa I attended to the business of 

the colored people ; was their secretary part of the time, and I did various other 

things for them. . · Durin~ the election of McKee the colored people waited on me and asked me if 

I would persuade them to vote for McKee. They left it all to me whether he was t.be right kind of a man for them to have to represent them in Congress. I had 

beard Mr. Raffa speak very happily of Mr. McKee as well as several of his inti- mate friends at Jackson, one of whom, I think, was Captain Fisher; so I said to them, "Vote for McKee; vote the republican ticket straight through; don't allow 

anything to influence you against voting that ticket." They had implicit confidence in me from tile fact of my being there so long; and they always consulted me in every respect during Mr. Baffa's absence. 

I taught'da~-school and night-school up to the da.y of Mr. Haffa.'s murder. He came back, I don't remember exactly what time, but I think it was in May..,..April or May, somewhere. MR. RAFFA TEACHES SCHOOL. 

Q. How long ago was it 1 

A. I think It was three years ago last May, if my memory serves me right. The colored people waited on him and asked lrim if he would t.ake their schoo1 to teach, about seven miles from there. He said he did not know whether he would or not. They asked him if he would take an office at the next election. Said they, "We are determined to have you somewhere, because we are afraid we are going to lose you. We are very much afraid of that, and you have got to remain here with ·us." 

He always consulted me in every question; said he, " Mamma, what would you advise me to do ~~~ Said I, "Do jus~ as you think best. If you think it will be re- munerative, perhaps you had better take the school." He said he would give them an answer. So they came a~ain, and he finally determined to take the school, and 

he taught the school up to tne time he was assassinated. 

WARNED OF IMPENDING DANGER. 

The school closed on Friday, and the public school was opened the following Monday and on Monday, the 6th of September-Ihave forgotten whether it was between two and three or three and four o'clock in the morning-but my affidavit 

that I made out in Jackson has the precise time, but I have forgotten now. There was a number of colored people waited on Mr. Ha~a on the Sunday before. He at- tended their Sunday-school, and always preached there Sunday for the colored people; and he came hack and they said to him, "Squire, don't you feel afraid of your 

life 1 Don't you feel timid 1 " He said, "No, I am not timi<f." They said that the 

white people said they were going to destroy very: many, and that they were not going to escape a limb, and that he was mentioned as one of them. ~ail!, he, "0, no; there is so much braggadocio about them, I don't suppose they will harm me now, after we have been living here so many years, and they have attempted it so often." A FEDERAL OFFICER APOLOGIZES FOR HIS NEGLECT OF DUTY. 

I neglected to say that when we were first struck, how be would take it to court and a gentleman that has a United States position, he came to him and apologized 

for not doing his duty to him. I think he is uow United States marshal. When we first went there be was sberl1l: and the Bushes were wealthy. and he said, "Mr. 

Raffa, it is no use for you to be butting yourself against the bricks while you have no money and the Bushes are wealthy, and you might as well drop the case right 

away, for you can't gain ~thing." 

But Mr. Raffa laid his damao-ea at tlO,OOO. I heard Mr. Raffa say that himself; 

and he got defeated out of it. ~hrough Mr. Lake not sending the papers to the 

proper place at the circuit court our damages were all lost ana we never got any- thing. 

When the election came around again Lake came to Mr. Raffa and apologized to him. He said, "I am very sorry for what has happened; it was my fault that 

those papers did not reach their destination." Says Mr. Raffa, " Ia it so '" Says he, 'Yes.'" 

Q. Do you remember Mr. Lake's first name 9 

A. No, sir. They told me that he had a. position there when I was in Jookson. 

THE ASSASSINATION OF Jom. RAFFA DESCRIBED. 

We were aroused by the barkin~ of our dog furiously on the morning of the 6th 

of September. l..hallooed, "Who IS theref" and no answer. I repeated it, and there was no answer. And t.hen Mr. Raffa r,ot up and said, "Who is there 9" They said, 

"We will let you know who is there;' or, "You will know who is there,'' or some- thing to that effect; and I said, "My God ; they have the yard full of men." I 

presume there were from fift:v to seventy-five men barricading the whole of the 

house. And they had not only: armed themselves with one or two weapons, but 

they had some of them half a dozen, because I could see them. They had them 

buckled around them, besides the musk&t that they carried. 

They tried to unfasten the door to get in, but we had a small crevice where we could insert our foot between the door and the sill, and I inserted my foot between 

the door and the sill and kept the door closed, and they could not get iu. My daugh- ter assisted me also. Finding they could not get in they :fina.lly took one of the 

fence-rails and broke the door down and part of the furniture; and we were hallooing all the time, "Murder! murder!" and no one came to our assistance. They 

could hear me halloo " murder " for about t~o miles, as the neighbors told me afterward. Fina.lly, Mosely, the agent of the Singer sewino--moohine, came up to me and choked me, and held a revolver close to my head. Before he choked me I said, 

"I am not afraill ; if yon will take me and spare my husband that is all I ask.'' 

And Mosely said to me, when I called his name several times, "Sh-! sh-!" I bad a nursino- baby then, and it was lying on the bed, screaming. After I was choked so I coul'a not halloo any longer, my £laughter came, and she I eft me and went over to her father; and they bruke a shutter off the window and fired at Mr. Raffa ; and 

my little boy told me yesterday-! have him at boarding-school, at least at a. house out in Germantown-he said that he would take oath any time that it was Jimmy 

Whitehead who fired one of the shots at Mr. Raffa; and Sid. Whitehead, the owner of the land that we rented our land from, he had threatened Mr. Raffa's life several 

times, which the children know-of. 

They fired twicei' and I went to him, and he asked me to take him to the bed; so my daughter and assisted him to the bed; and-we had no light; it was utter darkness there-and says be to me, ''Mamma, I want water." As soon as I could 

get a light I gave him water and laid him down, and ran out for assistance, and sent my little boy over to some colored people, and they came rushing over. Finally Sid. Whitehead came along and refused to let me have a physician; he 

said it was no use, that he would die anyhow. Mr. Raffa spoke as 11trongly as I am speaking, and he asked for water, and that was all he asked for. He said, 

"Mamma, I am going to die," and he asked God t,o have mercy on his soul, and he 

laid his head on my shoulder and expired. · 

'rRE WIDOW FORCED TO DENY THAT SHE KNEW ONE OF THE ASSASSINS. 

So after the colored people had laid him away I said to Mr. Sid. Whitehouse, 

"Mosely is the one that choked me; and he held a revolver at my bead;" and Sid. 

Whitehouse said, "You know Mr. Mosely was not here." I said, "Yes, sir; he 

was;'' and be spoke out-that is .Timmy Whitehead-to say that I had to recall 

those words for the sake of my life. They made me recall it, and say it was not him. PROFANE LANGUAGE-ABUSE OF NORTHERN PEOPLE-A COFFIN REFCSED. 

They came there together and 'Set np the first night-Whitehead and two or three other gentlemen- and they did nothing but use profane language a.ll the time, 

and abuse the northern people. They said that they would show them that they were fully armed now and ready for war at any time, and that they could not rule 

ovel' them and do as they pleased with them. 

They would not allow me to have a coffin for him at all. Colonel Griffin, formerly United States Senator here--so he told me-he came and said "Mrs. Raffa., I 

regret this very mu1h." Says he, " I cannot get a coffin for you, for tbey won't a.llow 

any travel through." f>o xou want to know anything about the other men that were assasRinated the same day! ASSASSINATION OF A FATREB Ah'D SON. 

Q. If yon know any others you may specify them. You have not yet given the 

date of the night when this took place 9 

A. This was the 6th of September, 1875. Well, after Mr. Raffa. was gone, the 

colored people, who were very friendly toward us, all the colored people, they were there, and they said, " Well, I would like to see any one come to my house and 

kill me in as brutal a manner as they did the squire. We have lost our best 

friend." The names of the poople who said this were Stevens; and his wife said, 

"I must §O home.'' He says to her, "Yes, you better go home, for I will be the next one. Mr. Whitehead said, "Dolph "-his name was Adolph-" you better 

be careful how you talk, or the men will be after;ou." So about 11 o'clock these men came book to see if Mr. Raffa. was gone, an they were looking like hungry 

wolves; the most fiendish-looking men I ever saw. They said, "Any colored peo· 

ple secreted about your premises here'" San. I," No, sir.'' There was nobody m the house then but my children and Mr. Hafia. I said, " There is nobody here, 

but r,ou are privileged to come in and examine the premises, and look up the chimney. ' Two of them alighted, and came in and looked around, and they said that was all they wanted to know. 

They went over to these colored people's houses, and took the Stevenses, father 

and son, out, and stood them on a stump and shot them, and killed them instantly. 

Q. Did yon know these people who came to your house the last time ¥ A. No, sir; I could not know them. 

Q. Were they disguised in any way 9 

A. No, sir ; not tlie last time, they were not ; the first time they were disguised. 

They did not give them any warning, any more than they did Mr. Ha.ffa., when 

they came in tlie :house and took them out. · . They said tbes had a large day's work on hand, and that they had to commence 
5278 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. AUGUST_ 8, t 

early; and during that day they perpetrated a number of murders. They were after Senator Calawell, but I don't know whether they got him at that time or not; I never found out. THE WIDOW ORDERED TO LEAVE. 

Mr. Whitehead then gave me ten days' notice to leave; and so the colored people 

harbored me. I could not get away from there, as no one came in and out of the 

depot, for they were afraid to go there. 

Mr. Raffa was buried in a rude box, and just the colored people and my son went along. He was just wrapped up in a sheet; thoy would not allow it in any 

other way. Mr. Whitehead said that I must leave, that we were looked upon as spies here. 

The colored people harbored me until I got a. conveyance to take me to the depot. 

Finally, there was a man, an intimate friend of .Mr. Raffa's, came out with three 

pistols belted around him, and said he would take us in. 

THE COLORED PEOPLE DISARMED. 

They disarmed all the colored people through the country: there, took their arms from them, and would not allow them to have any ; ·&nd before !left for the depot they made the colored people break up their clubs, and every one of them joined 

the democratic clubs; they compelled them to do so or their lif~, one or the other. 

They were given ribbons, and I could see them marching along to the democratic 

clubs at Auburn and Utica.; they went to and fro. 

CAPTAIN MONTGOMERY GIVES HELP. 

We went to the depot, and there they sent for Captain Montgomery. I had no money, and I waa obliged to leave everything; I had not even a. change of clothing; and Captain Montgomery raised me a. purse of between thirty and forty dollars, and I went to Jackson. I had to make some purchases there for the children; 

and after I got there I was taken into Mr. Wolf's house, the superintendent of education, and his family received me very kindly. He was an intimate friend of 

Mr. Haifa's, and he said he would do all lie could for me; but he could not have me there at his house at all, because his life would be in jeopardy; but said that 

he would call on the governor, and that he would send his officials around to take 

my affidavit, and he would secrete me at the hotel and pay my board while I was there. This is the document that he drew up, (exhibiting paper.] And he went around among the republican members of the government, and he was chaj:Qined at the republicans not doing more than they did. Governor Ames • donated e5 and gave me a ticket half way to Cincinnati; and after I arrived at Cincinnati with my three children I had to beg my way on to Phila.delphil\. I was only a few hours at Mr. Wolfs house, and then was taken to the hotel there. 

Q. How many children have you 7 

A. I have two; I have lost my baby. 

Q. What is your age 7 

A. Thirty·e1ght. The stor_y of the murder of SQuare Hodge, a colored man, Sunday morning, September 5, lB thus told by his wife: 

ASSAB81NATION Oil' SQUARB HODGE. 

JACKSON, MississiPPI, June 19, 1876. 

ANN HODGE (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the CHA.IlUUN: PERSONAL STATBKENT. 

Question. How old are you 1 

Answer. Eighteen years old. 

Q. Have you been married 7 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What is xour husband's name f 

A. Square Hodge. 

Q. Where do you live now I 

A. Eight miles below :Q.aymond. Q. Do you know anything about. the Clinton xiot last September f 

A.. I was not there. l know my husband came home; he was there. 

Q. What day of the week was that 9 

A. On Saturday. The riot was on Saturday. 

Q. Did your husband come home to your place? 

A. Yes, sir; he came home Saturday night, in the night. 

Q. Was he burtt 

A. He was shot in the arm. Q. Could he use his arm I 

A.. N o

1 sir; he could not use it all. He had it in a. sling. 

Q. Dia he tell you how he got hurt I 

A. Only that he got shot. That is all he told me. Q. J)id he stay at home that night 7 

A. Yes, sir. WHITE PEOPLE CAMB :B'OR HDL 

Q. On Sunday morning what happened 7 • A. The white people came there after him in the morning. 

Q. Who were they 7 • A. Henrv Quick, Willy Locke, Bryan McDonald, John McDonald, George Allen, 

John MeN err, and Allen Grafton came. · Q. Any more ~ · A. No~ sir; I did not know any more. Two or three, I didn't know them. 

Q. Dia they have horses or come on foot 7 A.. All ridfug. 

Q. On horses 7 

A. Yes, sir. · · Q. Did they have any gun.a 9 

A. Yes, sir ; guns and pistols. 

Q. They <;ame to your house 7 

A.. Yes, a1r. · Q. Who was in the house besides yourself I 

A. Me and my brother there and another brother. 

Q. Who is heY 

A. John Jones. 

Q. Who else 7 · • A. My other brother, Lewis, and brother William, and my mother and little 

children. 

Q. How many children! 

A. Five of them. 

Q. Have you any childre11 yolllielf 7 

A. Yea, air; ! have two. Q. Did these men come in the house 7 .A. Allen Gmfton and John McNair came in. The rest staid around the house. 

THEY Fnm HODGE. 

Q. What was done 'I 

A. They made my brother come out from under the bed-my brother John-and 

asked where Square was, and said, "Is he in the room 1" and I did not tell, and 

s3old I did not know~ at first. Then he asked if they had been at the Clinton riot, 

and I said that I dia. not know. T"!len he said, "If you don't tell, I will shoot your God dn.mned brains out." They made him come -out from under the bed, and 

started to shoot under the house-mother put the children under the house ; she was scared and put the children under the house, and they gone around. There is 

two doors in the house. They had pistols pointed under the bous , and I told them that nobody was under but the children. Then they came into thohou e, lmtcould not find Square, and they went out right where he was, and snatched off the weatherboards, only one in the room, and the other went out~ide the door and snatched the 

weather-board and turned back the bed, and made him come out, and called him a damned son of a bitch, and said he must come with them. Mr. Quick sa.ys, " I 

told you this; if you had listened to me you would not han come to tills, " anil they 

told him to put his shoes on and I got them and said I will put them on ; and I 

had to put them on and could not tie them very well; and some one said, "Let the 

God damned shoes be ; he don't need any shoes." I put my brother's coat on him, 

and they carried him before them. 

Q. On the horse 9 

A. No, sir; he walked before them away toward Raymond. 

Q. Now what happened 7 • A. N othlng else. ''THEY KILLED HIM." 

Q. What became of your husband 9 

A. They killed him. I never did find him for a week, until the next Saturday. Q. Where did you find him 9 

A. Near about a mile and a half to the last bridge to Raymond, in the swamp. Q. Who found him? 

A. A colored man who was running off, keeping out of the way of the rebs, too, 

anti he come across the body, and went and got a spade, and dug a hole and put a blaze on the trees all the way out, and then we got the news ; and Mr. Quick he 

took and made a box: for us, and he loaned us a wagon, and we went after liim that 

Saturday. · THE BODY :B'OUND. 

Q. You found his bOdy 9 

A. The buzzards had eat the entrails; but from the body down here (indicating] 

it was as natura.l as ever. IDs shoes were tied just as I bad tied them. The slnill 

bone waa ou the outside of the grave, and this arm was out slightly and the other was off. Some we didn't find. We picked up the rings of the backbone. We got 

the pocket-book, and there was the hat hanging up, and this ring was put on the tree and the black one WB:S o~ the ground; tliis one. . . 

By Mr. BAYARD: 

Q. Did you ever take an oath before! .A. No, air. 

Q. Do you know the meaning of taking an oath 9 

A.. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know what the consequences are of .swearing falsely 7 

A. No, sir. ASB.ASSINATION OF SENATOR CALDWELL. 

An equally horrid crime was the murder of Senator Caldwell and his brother at Clinto~. Christmas night. A history of the events of that evening is given by M-x;. 

Caldwell, which we here quote in her own words. 

Mrs. MA.nGA..RET ANN CALDWELL (colored) sworn and examined. 

By the CHAIRMAN : 

Question. What is your nJI,Dle 9 

Answer. Margaret Ann Caldwell. 

Q. Where do you live 9 

A. In Clinton, Hinds County. 

Q. Was Mr. Caldwell, formerly senator, your husband I 

A.. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was his first name I 

L Charles. 

Q. When did he die 7 

A. Thursday night, in the Christmas. Him and his brother was killed. 

Q. You may state to the committee what you know of his death. 

A.. I know when he left the house on the Thursday evening, in the Christmas, 

between dark and sundown. In the beginning of the day he was out on his foxchase all day. The first commencement was an insult paased on his nephew, and 

he came out home. STORY OF HIS .ASSASSINATION. 

Q. Who was that! 

A.. David Washington; he is in WaahingtonCitynow. He is therein business; 

watchman in the Treasury Department now; has oeen ever since October, I think. 

So they picked a fuss; Wa.d!)k~ce in George Washington's blacksmith shop in 

Clinton. They commenced · g this way : I think David asked. 11 How many 

did he k:i.ll on the day of the Moses Hill riot; who did he shoot 9 " David said that he 

did not know as he 11hot anybody; said he didn't know that he shot anybody. They 

told him, he said, "he came there to kill the white people, and if he did, to do his 

work in the day, and not to be seeking their lives at night." David came immediately 

book to my house. IDs uncle was at the fox-chaae. I said, 11 Don't go out any more. Probably they are trying to get up a fuss here." ' 

IDs uncle sent him down for somet.hing. He staid in the bouse until he came. That was about four o'clock in the avenin$, and some one had told about the 

fuss picked with his nephew, and he walked aown town to see about it, I suppose. 

He was down town a half hour, and came back and eat his dinner, and just be- tween dark and sundown he goes back down town again. He went down town knocking about down there. I do not know what he was doing down there, until 

just nearly dusk, and a man, Madison Bell, a colored man, came and says, "Mrs. 

Caldwell, you had bett-er go down and see about Mr. Caldwell, I think the white 

folks will kill him ; they are getting their guns and pistols, and you had better go 

and get your husband away from town." 

I did not go myself ; I did not want to go myself. but went to Professor Bell and 

said would lie go and get him. Mr. Bell went, and he never came back at o.Jluntil 

he came back under arrest. I was at my·room until just nearly dark. 

The moon was quite ;young, and the chapel bell rang. We live right by it. I knew the minute the bell tolled what it all meant. And the young men that lived right across the street, when the bell t~lled the.y 

rushed right out; they went through the door and some slid down the window and over they sprang; some went over the fence. They all ran to the chapel and got 

their guns. There was one hundred and fifty guns there to my own knowing; had 

been there since the riot, at the Baptist chapel .They all got their guns. I went down town, and then all got ahead everywhere I went; and some of them 

wanted to know who I was, but I llld my face as well as I could. I just said 

"woman," and did not tell who I was. As· I got to town I went to go into Mr. Chilton's store aml every store was closed 

just that quick, for it was early, about six o'clock. All the other stores were closed . Chilton's WMlit up b.v a big chandelier, and as I went over the lumber-yard I saw a. dead man. I stumb1ed over him, and Tlooked at him, but I did not know who it was, and I went into Chilton's, and. as I putmyfoot up on the store steps, standing as close may be a. few feet, (everything was en~ged in it that day;) _there was J ucl~e 

Cabinis, who was a particnla.rfriend of my husoand; a. particular niend to him. He was standing in the center with a. gun with a. bl11e strap, in the center of tll.e jam; and as I went to go in they cussed me and threatened to hurt me and " make it 

damned hot for me," and the judge among the balance; but he said be dilln't know me afterward. And they all stood; nobody would let me go in; they all stood there 

with their guns. · 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SEN.A'fE. 5279 

I know there was two dead men there, but I did not think it was my husband at thetime: · I stood right there, and as I stood they said to me, "If you don't go away they would make it very damned hot for me;" and I did not say anything, and walked 

of( and walked right over the dead man. He wa.s right in my path where I found 

the body. He was lying broadside on the street. I dicl not know who be was. I 

then stooped and tried to see who he was, and they were cursing at me to get out of the town-t{) get out. • Then I wAnt up, and there was Mrs. Bates across the street, my next-door neigh· 

bor. I seed her little ~irl come up by us and she said, "Aunt Ann, did lou see my uncle beret" I sa1d, "I did not. I saw a dead body on the street; I di not see who he wa.s." She said, "What in the world is goini on down town!" Says I, "I 

don't know, only killing veople there." She says, " a.rou Bates's band is shot all 

t{) pieces, and Dr. Bangs 1s killed." !Ie was not killed, but wa.s shot in the leg ; uobocly killed but my liusbaud. and brother. .I went on over to the bonae, and went up-stairs and back t{) my room and laid 

down a widow. · After I had been home I reckon three-quarters of an hour, nearly an hour, Par- son Nelson came up-Preacher Nelson-and be called me. I was away up-stairs. 

He called. several times, and I beard hinl call each time. He called three or four 

times, and says, "Answer; don't be afraid; Iiobodywillburt yon." Resays, "Don't 

be afraid; answer me·" and after I bad made up my mind, I answered him what 

be wanted; and be said, "I ha.ve come to tell you the news~ and it is sad news to you. Nobody told me to come, but I comeuptotell you." I dian'tsayanything. ''Your 

husband is dead," be said: "be is killed, and your brother, too, Sam." 

I never said anything fo:r a good w bile. He told me nobody would hurt me thenj· ood when I did speak, says I, "Mr. ~elson, why did they kill him 1" He says," 

don'tknow an;ything about it." He said just those words: "I don't know anything 

about it." Resays, after that," Haveyouanymenfolksa.bonttheplace!" lsays, •· No." He says, "Yon shan't be hurt; don't be afraid of ns; you shan't be hurt." 

I never said anything whatever. He went off. 

Sam's wife was there at the same time with three little children. Of course it 

raised greatexcitemeut. 

After a. leugtb of time, Professor Hillman, of the institute, the young ladiea' 

school-or college, he brought the OOdies to the house; brought np my husband, him 

and Frank Martin. Professor Hillman and Mr. Nelson bad charge of the dead 

bodies, and,they brought them to the house; and when they brought them, they 

canied them in the bed-room, bot.h of them, and put them there; they seed to havin.,. them laid out, and fixed up and all that. 

'M:';. Nelson said in my presence, I listened at him, he said~ "A braver life never had died than Charley Caldwell. He never saw a man dieu with a manlier spirit 

in his life." . He told me he had bl"mght him out of the cellar. 

You see when they had shot Sam, his brother, it was him who was lying there on the street. They Shot him right through his head, off of his horse, when he was coming in from the country, and he fell on the street. He was the man I stumbled over twice. I did not know who he was. When they shot him, they said that they 

shot him for fear he would go out of town and brini in other people and raise a fuss. He found out, I BU}lpose, that they had his brother in the cellar, so he just 

lay there dead; be that was never known to shoot a. gun or pistol in his life-never 

knew how. 

Mr. Nelson said that Buck Cabell carried him into the cella.r; persuaded him to go out and drink; insisted upon his taking a. drink with him, and him and Buck 

Cabell never knowed anything a,e:a.inst each other in his life; never had no bard 

words. Myhusband told him no, he didn't want any Christmas. He said "You must take a drink with me," and entreated him, and said, "Youmusttakea drink." 

He then took hinl by the arm and told him to drink for a Christmas treat; that he must drink; and carried him into Cllilton's cellar, and they jingled the glasae~~; 

and at the tap of the glasses, and while each one held the glass, while they were taking the glasses, somebody shot right through the back from the outside of the ~te window, and he fell to the ground. · As they struck their ~lasaes, that was the signal to shoot. They had him in 

the cellar a.ud shot him nght there, and he fell on the ground. When he was first shot he called for Judge Cabinis and called for Mr. Chilton; 

I don't know who else. They were all around, and nobody went to his relief; all 

t-hem men standing around with their guns. Nobody went to the cellar, and he 

C.'tllecl.for.Preacber Nelson, called for hinl, and Preacher Nelson said that when he went to the cellar-door he was afraid to go in, and called to him two or three times, 

"Don't shoot me;" and Cbades said "Come in," he wouldn't hurt him, and" take 

him out of the cellar; " that he wanted to die in the open air, and did not want to die like a dog closed up. . . When they taken him out he was in a manner dead, just from that one shot; 

and they bnngs him out then, and he only asked one question, so Parson Nelson 

told me, to take him home and let him see his wife before he died: that he could not live long. 

It was only a few steps to mf house, and they would not do it, and some said this. 

Nelson cai-ried him to the nnddle of the street, and the men all ha.llooed, "We 

will save him while we've p;ot him; dead men tell no tales:" Preacher Nelson told me so. That is what they all cried, ''We'll save him while we got him; dead men tell no tales." 

Whether he stood right there in the street while they riddled him with thirty·or forty of their loads, of course, I do not know, but they shot him all that many times 

when· be was in a. mauner dead. All those balla went in him. 

I understood that a young gentleman told that they shot him as he lay on the . ground until they turned him over. H't) said so. I did not hear hinl. 

Mr. N elsou said when he asked them to let him see me they told him no, and he 

then said, t.aking both sides of his coat and bringing them up this way so, he said, 

"Remember when you kill me you lPll a gentleman and a brave man. Never say 

yon killed a coward. I want yon to remember it when I am gone." 

Nelson told me that, and he said he never begged them, and that he never told 

them, but to see how a brave man could die. · They can find no cause; but some said they killed him becaMe be carried the 

militia to Edwards', and they meant to kill him for that. The time the guns were sent there he was captain under Governor Ames, and they said they killed hinl for 

that; for obeying Governor Ames. 

After the oodies were brought to my house, ProfeiiBor Hillman and Martin all 

staid until one o'clock, and then at one o'clock thetraincamefrom Vicksburgh with 

the "Modocs." They all marched up t{) my house and went into where the two dead 

bodies laid, and they cursed them, those dead bodies, there, and they danced and 

threw open the melOdeon,. and sung all their songs, and challenged the dead body to get up and meet them, and they carried on tllere like a parcel of wild Indians over those dead bodies,· these Vicks burgh Modocs. J nat one or two colored folks were sitting up in the room, and they carried on all that in my presence, danced and sung and done anything they could. Some said they even struck them; but I heard them curse and challenge them to get np and fight. The Vicksborgh Modocs done that 

that night. Then they said they could not stay any longer. 

Then the day after that Judge Cabinis asked me was t~re anythin~ he could do, 

and I told him, I said, "J ndge, you have already done too much for me. ' I told hinl 

he had mnrderecl my huaband and I didn't want any of his friendship. Those were the words I to\d hinl the next day, and he swore he did not know me that time; but 

I saw Judge Cabinis with this crowd that killed my husband. I saw him right in 

the midst, and then he made his excuse. He siJid be did everything he could for 

Charles, a.n8. that be was crazy. Well, they could not tell anything he had done. 

They said Aaron Page was shot during the fuss. 

In the league that waa held here in that town, that day my husband was buried, 

they all said that he did not shoot him. They said that Aaron Page was shot accidentally; that my husband did not kill him. All started up. from picking a fuss 

with his nephew. . As for any other cause I never knew; but only they intended to kill him because 

for carrying the militia to Edwards's; for obeying Governor Ames; and that was all they had again At him. 

~ M:ODOCS AFTER THE CLINTON RIOT. 

At the same time, when they had the Moss Hill riot, the day of the dinner in 

September, when they came over that day, they telegraphed for the Vicksburgh 

"Modocs" to come out, and they came out at dark, and when they did come, about fifty came out to my house that night; and theY. were breaking the locks 

open on doors and trunks; whenever they would find 1t closed they would break 

the locks. And they taken from the house what guns they could find, and plundered and robbed the house. The captain of the Vicks burgh "Modocs," his name is Tinney. 

Q. What day was that I 

A. The day of tbe Moses Hill riot, in September. 

THREATS AGAINST .HR. CALDWELL A.Fl'ER 'fHE CIDTQN RIOT. 

Q. When ; the Clinton riot I 

A. The 4th day of. September. They came out, and Tinney staid there, and at daybreak they commenced to go, and he, among others, told me to tell my husband 

that the Clinton people ·sent for him to killlrlm, and he named them who they were to kill-all the leaders especially, and he says, "Tell him when I saw hinl "- he waa gone that night; he fled to Jackson that evening with all the rest-" we are going to kill hinl if 1t is two years, or one year, or six; no difference; we are going to kill him anyhow. We have orders to kill him, anrl we are going to do it, because 

he belongs to this republican party, and sticks up for these negroes." Says he, 

"We arc going to have the Sout.h back in our own charge, and no man that sticks 

by the republican party, and any man that sticks by the republican party, and is a leader, he has got to die." He toid me that; and that ·• the southern people are going to have tho South back to ourselves, and no damned northern people and no repnblican/artyi .and if your husband don't join us he has got to die. Tell him I said 

so." tofd nim what he said. I did not know Tinney at the time; and when I saw my husband enter I told hinl, and he knew hinl from what I said, and he saw him 

afterward and told him what I said. He just said that be said it for devilment. 

They carried on there until th.e next mornin~?~e crowd after another. I had two wpunded men. I brought them off the Moses .l1iu battle-field, and these men treated me very cruelly, and threatened to kill them, but they did not happen to kill them. 

CLINTON RIOf. 

Next morning, before sun-up, they went to a house where there was an old black man, a feeble old man, named Bob Beasley, and they shot him all to pieces. And 

they went to Mr. Willis's and took out a man, named Gamaliel Brown, and Shot 

him all to pieces. It was early in the morning; and they goes out to Sam. Jack· 

son's, pres1dent of the club, and they shot him all to pieces. He hadn't even time ~put on his clothes. And they went out to Alfred Hastings; .Alfred saw them 

coming. And this was before son-up. 

Q. This morning after the Clinton riot~ 

A. On the mormng of the 5th; and they shot Alfred Hasfulgs all to pieces, an. · other man named Ben. Jackson, and then they goes out and shoots one or two far. 

ther up on the Madison road; I don't .know exootly; the name of one wa.s Lewis 

Russell. He was shot, &Dd Moses Hill. They were around that morning killing 

people before breakfast. I saw a young man from Vicks burgh that I knew, and 

asked him what it all meant. Q. Who was he~ 

A. Dr. Hardesty's son; and I asked him what did it mean, their killing black 

people that dayt He says," You all had a big dinner yesterday and paraded 

around with your drums and flags. That was impudencetothewhitepeople. You 

have no right 1p do it. You have got to leave these damned negroes; leave them 

and come on io our side. You have got to join the democratic party. We are go- ing to kill all the negroes. The negro mell shall not live." And they don't live; 

for every man they foimd they killed that morning and did not allow any one to escape them, so he said. So he told me all they intended t{) do about the colored 

people for having their dinut'r and parading there, and having their banners ; and 

mtended to kill the white republicans the same; didn't intend to leave any one alive they could catch; and they did try to get hold of them, and went down on Monday morning to kill the school-teacher down there, Raffa, but he escaped. Jo 

Stevens and his son, Albert Stev~ns, I believe, was his name-they just murdered 

them right on through. These people staid there at the store and plundered it, and 

talked that they intended to kill them until they got satisfaction for three white 

people th.at waa killed in that battle here. I can show who was the first white man that started the riot; and I can show you I have got his coat and pants, and I can show you how they shot him. They b'lamed all on my husband; and I asked what 

they killed Sam for; asked Dr. Alexander. They said. they killed him because they were afraid he would tell about killing his brother. They killed my husband for 

obeving Gove1cor Ames's orders, and they cannot find anything he did. He didn't 

do anything to be killed for. Then they have got his pistols there and they won't 

give tbem to me. I have asked I don't know how many times. 

The outrages were geueraUy confined to the republican counties where it was necessary to overcome the republican majority by unlawful means; but in two or three counties, as Wilkinson and Issaquena, there was comparative peace at the 

election and during the canvass . · Captain William A. Montgomery, a leading democrat and a commander of five 

military companies, with the designation in rank of major of battalion, testified that 

in some of the counties there wa.s no military organization; that in those counties 

the democrats did not try to carry the election. This appears to have been true of 

the two counties named; but since the election, namely, in December and Ma~, 

1876, great ontra,ges attended with violence and murder, have been perpetrated., 

and evidently with the desi~ of overawing the colored voters and prepanng them to submit to a dem()(}ratie v1ctory in the coming election. 

The attention of the Senate is i:lireeted to the testimony concerning the events in 

Issaqneua County, which took place in the month of December last. A Colonel 

Ball, au officer in the confederate service during the war, who at ~e time of the 

outrage was officiating as a clergyman, took command of a body of armed and 

mounted men Sunday morning, December 5, and traversed the countr:v below Roll· 

ing F~rk during the day : ann that night the men of his command too"k from their 

homes at least seven unoffeudiog negroes and shot them in cold blood. Within the next two days five other leading negroes were 11ummoned to loolling Fork, and there 

compelled to sign a statement by which they became respousible for the good con. uuct of all the negroes in their v{cinity, with the exception of fourteen, who, in fact, 

by that stipulation, were made outlaws, and, as a consequence, fled from their 

homes and their families and abandoned their property. (This statement may be 

found in the testimony of W. D. Brown.) Reference is made to the testimony of 

W. D. Brown and William S. Farrish, both democrats and participators in the O(ltrages, although they did not admit that they had personal knowledge of the killing of either of tlie seven men who were massacred on the night of the 5th of Decem· 

ber. 

(7.) The committee find, especially from the testimony of Captain Montgomery, 

supported by numerous :faets stated by other witnesses, t~at the military organi- zation extended to most of the counties in the State where the republicans were in 
5280 CONGltESSIONAt RECORD-SENATE. AUGUST 8, 

a majority; that it embraced a proportion not much leas than one-half of all the 

white voteFs, and that in the respective counties the men could be summoned by 

signals given by firing cannons or anvils; and that probably in less thap. a week the 

entire force of the State could be brought out nuder arms. (8.) The committee find that in several of the counties the republican leaders were so overawed and intimidated, both white and black, that they were compelled to withdraw from the canvass those who had been nominated, and to substitute 

others who were named bv the democratic leaders, and that finally they were com. petted to vote for the ticket so nominated under threats that their lives would be 

taken if they did not do it. Thiswa.s noticeably the case in Warren County, where 

the democratic nomination of one Flanigan for sheriff was ratified at the republi· can county convention, held in Vicksburgh. the members actin~ under threats that 

if it were not done they should not leave the building alive. Similar proceedings 

occurred in other counties. 

(9.) The committee find that the candidates, in some instances, were compelled, 

by persecution or thl'Ongb fear of bodily harm, tQ withdraw their names from the 

ticket, and even to unite themse!ves ostensibly with the democratic party. J. W. 

Caradine, a colored candidate of Clay County, was compelled to withdraw his name from the republican ticket and to make speeches in behalf of the democratic can- didates and policy. An extract from his testimony is herewith given, as follows: 

They told me that I would have to go round and make some speeches for them; 

that I had risen up a. great element or some kind of feeling in the colored men that 

they never could get out of them for the next ten years to come with the speeches 

I had made, and that I had to go around and make some speeches in belul.If of them 

in some way, or else I might have some trouble. They told me if I would do that 

I could demand some respect among them, and have no further trouble with them. 

Q. What dill they say would be the consequence if you did not go with them and 

make speeches 9 

A. They did not say if I did not do it what would be done, as I remember; but 

they came to my house and fotch ed a buggy for me, and told me I had to go with 

them to make speeches for them. And tliey said, "You know what has been said 

and what has been done; yon have got to go along if/on don't want an_y further 

trouble." I t.hen got in and went along with them, an they did not really appreciate my speeches at length ; but I went along with them and made three speeches; 

and they had some fault to find with my speeehes at last, but I have never had a.ny 

trouble with them since. 

(10.) The committee find that on the day of the election, a.t several voting-places, 

armed men assembled, sometimes not organized and in other cases organized; that 

they controlled the elections, intimidated republican voters, and, in nne, deprived them of the opportunity to vote the republican ticket. 

The most notable instance of this form of outrage occurred at Aberdeen_, the 

shire town of the county of Monroe. At half past nine o'clock on the day or the 

election a cannon in charge of four or five cannoneers, and supported by ten or twelve men, a portion of tne military company of that town, was trained upon the 

voting-place and kept in that position dunng the day, while the street was trav- ersed-by a body of mounted, armed men under the command of Captain E. 0. Sykes, of Aberdeen. Captain Sykes testified that he did not know the men under his com- mand, but admitted finally that they were probably from .Alabama, and that they 

had come there upon the suggestion or the request of a Mr. Johnaop, who Wat a member, a.s was·also Captain Sykes, of the democratic committee of the connty of 

Monroe. 

Captain Sykes had a.lso given orders that the ford-ways across the Tombigbee 

River, over which negroes from the east side having a right to vote at Aberdeen must pass, should be guarded by squads from the military company under his com- mand. 

During the night preceding the election the draw in the brid~e cr088ing the river wa.s turned4 so that there was no fassing from the ea.st to the west of the Tombigbee River auring the early part o the aay of election. 

As a matter of fact, the republican voters who had assembled abandoned the 

polls between ten and eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and Captain J. W. Lee, the 

sheriff of the county and a leading republican, a man who had served during the war in the confederate army, abandoned the polls and took refu.ge in the jMl, of 

which he was the custodian. 

This statement in regard to Monroe County is set forth in detail by Captain Lee, 

and it is corroborated in all essential parts by Captain Sykes, a democrat, and the 

principal actor in the events of the day. Similar outrages were perpetrated in 

Claiborne, Kemper, Amite, Copiah, and Clay Counties. 

(11.) The gravity of these revolutionary proceedings is expressed in the single 

fact that the c:&airman of the republican State comm1ttee, General Warner, owes the preservation of his life on the day of the election to the intervention of General 

George, chairman of the democratic State committee, as appears from a dispatch sent by General George to Messrs. Campbell and Calhoun, and a reply thereto, both 

of which are here given: 

To CAMPBELL and CALHOUN, Oanton, Mi88isrippi: 

If Warner goes to Madison, see by all means that he is not hurt. We are nearly 

through now, and are sure to win. Don't let us have any trouble of that sort on our hands. He will probably be at his store to night. 

J. Z. GEORGE. 

CANTON, 2,1875. 

To General GEORGE: 

Your telegram of last night saved A. Warner at Calhoun. 

GART. A. JOHNSON. 

The circumstances of this affair are given in the testimony of Chaae. 

The testimony of General Warner, to which attention is invited, gives a detailed 

accpunt of his experience, showing that the fears Qf General Warners friends were well founded, and that the intervention of General George was essential to his personal safety. 

(12.) The committee find in several cases, where intimidation and force did not result in securing a democratic victory, that fraud was resorted to in conducting 

the election and in counting the votes. In Amite County, the legally ap\)Ointed 

inspectors of election, to whom in Mississippi the duty is assigned of receiVIDg and 

counting the ballot-s, were compelled by intimidation to resign on the morning of 

election, in order to secure a fraudulent return. The ins,{lector so forced to resign was a democrat, a man of established character for probity at his precinct-Rose 

Hill. 

"When the voting began," said General Hurst, an eye-witness, "the democratic 

club drew up in line and demanded that Stranm shoUld not act as one of the inspectors of election. They said,' We don't want you, not because you are dishon- est. bnt because you will not do what we want lou to.' He said, 'If that is the case, I will go, • and they got a man by the name o Wat Haynes and appointed him 

inspecwr." General Hurst, who was brigadier-general of the State militia in that county, thus explains what reaulted: 

"When it was time to close the polls I asked one of the inspectors if he wanted a guard placed over the ballots, so that they would be unmolested while they were counting the votes. I thought that he WM a vecy honest, high-minded man. He 

said1 'I am afraid to count these votes.' He had been notified by this party of 

Lonl8ianiaus, and told what they were going to do with the box. Wat Haynes, 

whenitQld him! had concluded to place a guard around there that night, said: 

'Don't 7ou do it; I want to manipulate that box to-night. Wewanttocarrythis thing.'' 

The party of Louisianians referred to were a company of outlaws, notorious in 

that diStrict, whom the democrats had invited to come into that precinct, and who 

fired at a crowd of colored citizens when the,Y were in line waiting to deposit their votes. About seventy of them were thus driven into the woods. 

Nor was this the only precinct at which armed invaders from adjoining States 

took conspicuous part in the election. It is testified to both by r epublicans and 

democrats that they came over from Alabama and helped to swell the democra.tio vote in the coonties adjoinin~ that State. 1 

In Amite County the republican she~ the superintendent of education, and 

other officers were driven into exile as soon as the polls were closed. Here the pre- text that the officers were obnoxious to the people, or that the negroes and northern men monopolized the offices, is refuted by the facts that both ParK.er and Redmond, 

who were expelled, were offered the democratic nomination for sheriff; that the 

republican candidates for sheriff, circuit clerk, chancery clerk, treasurer, corone~ 

and three of the :five supervisors were white men, leaving only the assessor ana two suvervisors to be colored, which, M Mr. Parker remarks, " as four-fifths of the 

republican voters were black, was the best that we could do." There were only 

three northern men on the republican ticket, and two of them had married southern women; all the other& were natives of the State. (13.) The evi<lence shows that the civil authorities have been unable to prevent 

the outrages set forth in this report, or to punish the offenders. This is true not only of the courts of the State, but also of the district court of the United otates, as appears from the report of the grand jury made at the term held in June last, when 

the evidence of the offenses committed at the November election and during the canvass was laid before that body. 

In support of this statement reference is made to the testimony of J. W. Tucker, 

and to the letter written by him to Colonel Frazee as well as to the report made by 

the grand jury to Ron. R. A. Hill, jud~e of the district co rut for the northern di.Strict of Mississippi. (See document eVIdence, pp. 150, 151; tea. of H. P. Hurst, p. 98.) 

(14.) The committ~e find tha.t outrages of the nature setforth in this report were perpetrated in the countit~s of Alcorn, Amite, Chickasaw, Claiborne, Clay, Copiah, 

De Soto, Grenada, Hinds, Holmes, Kemper, Lee, Lowndes, Madison, Marshall, Mon- roe, Noxubee, Rankin, Scott, WaxTen, Washington, and Y~oo, and that the democratic victory in the 8tate was due to the outrages so perpetrated. 

(15.) The committee find that, if in the counties named there had been a free 

election, republican candidates would have boon chosen and the character of the 

Legislatnre so changed that there would have been sixty- ix republicans to fifty 

democrats in the house and twenty-six republicans to eleven democrats in the sen- ate; and that consequently the present Legislature of M:is issippi is not a legal 

body, and that its acta are not entitled to recognition bv the political department 

of the Government of the United States, although the President may, in his discretion, recognize it as a government de facto for the preservation of the public peace. · (16.) Your committee find that the resignation of Governor Ames was effected 

by a body of men calling themselves the Legislature of the State of Mississippi, 

by measures unauthorized by law, and that he is of riaht the governor of the State. 

(17.) The evidence shows, further, that the State ofMlssissippi is at present un- der the control of political orga-nizations composed largely of armed men whose common purpose is to deprive the negroes of the free exerciBe of the right of suf. 

fracre and to establish and maintain the supremacy of the white-line democracy, in 

viofation alike of the constitution of their own State and of the Constitution of the 

Unit-ed States. 

The events which the committee were called to investigate by the order of the 

Senate QOnstitnte one of the darkest chapters in American history. Mississippi was a leading State in the war of the rebellion and an early and persistent advo- cate of those fatal PQlitical heresies in which the rebellion had its origin. To her, 

in as large a degree as to any other State, may be charged justly the .direful evils 

of the war; and when the war was ended the white inhabitants resisted those meas- ures of equality which were essential to local and general peace and prosperity. They~ refused to accept the negro as their equal politically, and for ten years they have seized every fresh opportunity for a fresh denial of his rights. At last they 

have regained supremacy in the State by acts of violence fraud, and murder, frau~ht with more than all the horrors of open war, without its honor, dignity, gen- erosity, or justice. · By them the negro is not regarded as a citizen, and whenever he finds a friend 

and ally in his efforts to advance himself in political knowledge or intellectual culture, that friend and allyJ whether a native of the State or an immigrant from the 

North, is treated as a puolic enemy. The evil consequences of this PQlicy touoh 

a.ud paralyze every branch of industry and the movements of busine sin every 

channel. 

Mississippi, with its fertile !!Oil, immense natural resources, and favorable com· mercial pos1tion, is in fact more completely excluded from the influence of the civilization and capital of the more wealthy and advanced States of the Union than are the distant coasts of China and Japan. Men who PQSsess capital are anxious 

to escape from a State in which freedom of opinion is not tolerated, where active 

participation in public affairs is punished often with social ostracism, always with 

business losses, and not infrequently, as the record shows, with exile and the 

abandonment of property through fear of death. 

Cons69.uently,lands depreciate in value, the rewards oflabor become more and more uncertam, taxes more and more burdensome, the evils of general disorder are multiplied and intensi:fied1 and by an inevitable rule of social and public life, the evils 

themselves, reacting, mcrease the spirit of disorder. Unless this tendency can be 

arrested, every successive chapter in the annals of that State will be darker and 

bloodier than the preceding one. · This tendency cannot be arrested by the unaided efforts of the peaceful, patriotic, and law-abiding citizens. There is a small. body of native white persons, who, witll 

heroic courage, are maintaining the principles of justice and equality. There is 

also a small oody of men from theN orth, who, with equal courage, are endeavoring to save the State from anarchy and degradation. If left to themselves, the negroes 

would CQ-Qperate with these two cla.slles. 

But arrayed against them all are a majority of the white people, who possess the 

larger part of tlie property; who uniformly command leisure, whether, individu-' 

ally, tliey possess property or not; who look with contempt upon the black race and witli hatred upon the white men who are their political allies; who are habituated to the use of arms in war and in peace; who in former times. were accustomed to the exclusive enjoyment of political power, and who now consider thems lves 

degraded by the elevation of the nearo to the rank of equality in political affairs. 

They bave secured power by frau8 and force, and, if left to themselves, they will 

by fraud and force retain it. Indeed, the memory of the bloody events of tbe cam- paign of 1875, with the knowledge that their opponents can command, on the in· 

stalit, the presence of organized bodies of armed men at every voting-place, will 

deter the republican party from any general effort to regain the power wrested from 

them. These disorders exist also in the neighboring States, and the spirit and ideas 

which give rise to the disorders are even mor.e general. The power of the National Government will oe invoked, and honor and duty will 

alike require its exercise. The nation cannot witness with indifference the dominion of lawlessness and anarchy in a. State, with their incident evils and a knowledge . of the inevitable consequences. It owes a duty to the citizens of the United States 

residing in Mis&issippi, and this duty it must perform. It has guaranteed to the 

8tate of Mississippi a republican form of government, and this guarantee must be 

made good. 

The measures necessary and possible in an exigency are three : . 1. Laws may be passed by Congreas for the protection of the rights of citizens in 

the respective States. . 

• 
i876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE~~ 5281 

2. Sta.tes in anarchy, or wherein the affairs are contro-lled by bodies of armed men, shonltl l>o denied representation in Congress. 3. Tho constitutional guarantee of a republican form of government to every 

State will require tho United Sta.t.es! if theso cfisordcrs increase or even con.tinl?-e, nml all milder measures shall prove meffectual, to remand the State to a. terr1tomtl 

couditifJn, and through a system of pnbllc e!lncation ::mel kindre!l means of improve- ment chauga tho ideas of the inhabitants and reconstruct the government upon a tepuhlican basis. . 

Tho views of the minority are as follows: 

On December 15, 1875, the Senator from Indiana [Mr. MonTo~] submitted the 

followin:r resolution: 

"Whereas it is alleged tl1at the late election in Mississippi for members of Con- gre~. State officers, and members of the Legislatme was characterized by grMt 

frauds violence, and intimidation, whertlby tho freedom of the ballot was in a great 

rueasui·e uestroyeu, a reign of terror established,_ b~llot-boxes stuffed, 'Spurious 

tickets impose~ upon vot~rs, so ~hat a pop~ ma.Jonty of more t~an. 25,000 was overcome and mits place was given an apparent but fraudulent maJOrity of more than 25.000 · anu whereas the Legislature thus chosen will have the election of a Senator to ~epresent that State in this body; and whereas if. these allegations are trne a groat number of the citizens of the United States have had their rights un- der the Constitution a.ntllaws of the Unitetl States wickedly violated: Therefore, 

"lte$olved That a committeo of five Senators be a:(lpointed by the Chair to invcatiaate the trnth of the saill allegations and the Circumstances attending said electi~n with power to visit said State to m:.1ke their investigations, to send for per- sons am\ papers, and to nse all necessary procefls in the performance of their duties; and to make rcp01-t to the Senate before the end of this session of their investi"ation an!l findings." · 'He supported its adoption by o. series of speeches, the last of which wan dated 

January 19, 1876, the tr?-o history a11d inspiration of w~ch will hereafter _be noted 

in cnnstdei·ing the testimony taken before the committee. The resolution slept 

until the 27tli of March, l !l71i, when an amendment was proposed by the Senatur 

from Michigan fMr. CnmsTIANCY) and aecepted by Mr. MonTox, as follows: 

"Whereas iti:~ alleged that the late election in .hfississippi (in 1875) for members 

of Con!IT<'SS and State officers and members of the Le!!islaturo was characterized 

by !!TNft frauds committed upon and violence exercis~ toward colored citizens of 

tl1at Stnto antl the white citizens disposetl to support their right.'> at tho election, 

a11d e,.pecially that the colored votot:s, on accom1t of their col01·, race, or pre\ious 

condition of servitude, were, by intimidation aud force, deterred from voting or compelled to yote, contrary to tneir wishes, for candidates and in support of parties to whom thry were opposed, and their right to tho free exe~cis~ of the electiv.e 

fr:mchise, as secured by the fifteenth amellftment t.o the ConstitutiOn, thus practi- c:tll~· <lenieu anu violated, and that such intimidation bas been since continued for 

the 'purpose of affecting future elections; and whereas the people of all tho Uuited 

States have an interest in and a. right to iusist npon the enforcement of this con- stitntional ~unemlment, and Congress, having the power to enforce it by appropri- ate le¢slation, cannot properly neglect the duty of pro·Yiding the necessary legislation for tilis purpose: Therefore, •· Rl'solved Tl1at a. committee of five Senators bo apppointed by the Chair t.o investigate the trnth of these allegations, and to inquire how far these constitutiOJU'l.l ri~rhts have, in t.be said election, been violated by force, fraud, or iutill?ldation, and to inquire and r.eport to the Sena.~. l?~f01:e the end of the present se~swn. whet~o.r 

any nnrl, if so, what, further legtslalilon Is necessary to secnre t.o said colored citizens the free enjoyment of their constitutional rights i and that said commit~e be 

empowered to visit saitl State, to send for persons and papers, to take testimony on ootlt, and to use all necessary process for these purposes." 

.Aft.er debate in the Senate, the resolution was adopted. In the course of this 

c1ebato, the Senator from Massachusetts f.Mr . .BOUTWELL] made the following declaration: •· }'or seventy years the spirit of hypocrisy and misrepresentation dominated oyer 

t.l1e !!Lwe-hol<ling section of this confederacy. They continually presented themselves to the countr:v and to the world as the fiienr\s of the Union, a111l it was a lie 

from first to last. They were the enemies of tho Union; and when the Union did not answer the chief purpose which they bad, and the only purpose they bad, the 

preservation of the institution of slavery, tbe.v made war upon the Union. Tbe 

Senator from Delaware was the political supporter and ally and tlle substantial defen tier of t.he men who made war upon the Uruon, who clun~ to t-he Union for sev- entv years under the faleellood that they were its friends. · They were its enemies 

all the while. Slavery, the spitit of slaYery, is and e\er bas been the enemy of the 

Union, and it is so to-day. The troubles in the South are due to the spirit of 

slavery, and the time has come when I am force<l to confess to myself and with re- luctance t~ say here that I do not in my heart believe that any man educated un<ler 

aml obe(liPnt to the influence of slaver.¥ can be the frientl of a Union that is designed to establish and preserve equality. The North will do well to take heed and to trust no man who was brought up nuder the influence of slavery, controlltld by its 

spirit, aml dominated by its power, aml is not yet extinct." 

The committ<le, as finally appointed under the resolution, consists of Messrs. 

:BouTWELL, (chairman,) CAMERON of ·wisconsin, McMILLA.~, :BAYARD, and McDoNA.J,D, thus omitting in the organization of the committee the mover or amender of 

tlle original resolution. The first meeting of the committee was helt.l on the--

in the Capitol; and, at tho second or third mP.eting, the clerk of tho committee, Mr. 

llartlett, was appointed stenoJ.,rrapher, aml Mr. James Redpath, of Ma.'lSacbusetts, was selected in his place as clerk, and has continuetl with intelligence aml efficiency 

to fill that position, having been present at all the sessions of the committee. On 

the-- a resolution was offerell in the committee by Mr. BAYARD that the testimony should be taken wit.h open doors, which was rejected by tho committee, Mr. 

BAY ARU a.n<l Mr. McDONALD voting in the affirmati•e. nut a small portion of the 

testimony llas as yet been printed, nor has any report·of the commitmo been made; 

but Mr. Redpath, the clerk, having hacl the fullest opporLnnity of hearing the tes- timony of the witnesses a~d having llad charge of !loll commnnic~tions to _the com- mitte~ has be~n enabled, m ~vance of th~ comm!ttee, ~ su.b1Dlt a p~b~c re:port over h1s own signature, of which the follov.wg extract will·convey a. distinct 1dea 

of his views. Speaking of the Union men of the South, or the original whigs, and 

the vi,;orous part they took in the contest, he says: "Still they were Union men; but tho Union they once knew was gone forever. 

They tried to begin where they left off, ignorant of the fact that while they foup:llt a moral revolution has been going on in the North; that it was no longer Webster or Clay, but the man whom they had bangall at <llarlestown as a felon who was now tho ideal leader of a regenerated nation." 

These references are made to the ntteranC63 of the chairman, and of the clerk 

selected hy him to accompany the committee, and make public impression of affairs 

in Mississippi, and the remedy t.o be applie!l, because it indicated fully to the un- dersigned that from the first it would be naturally impossihle for them, with their 

idc:J.s of constitutional duty, to subscribe to the deductions of those who, however 

inwlligenL or~nscientious, started out upon tho proposed investigation upon such a. ph'ttform of Ideas. 

While writing this report, the undersigned have read with surprise and regret the messa"e of the President of the United States, <L'l.tedJuly31, 1876, transmitting to Congr~ss ~ertain correspondence relating to the murders lately committed at linm'· ur~h, m South Cai·ohna. 

In this message be bas seen fit to use the following language: 

"But recently a committee of the Senate of the United States visited the State 

of 111lsissippi to take testimony on the subject of frauds and violence in elections. 

IV-331 

Their report bas not yet been ma!le pub~c, but I await its forthcomin~with a.feel- iu~ of confitlcnce that it will fully snst!Wl all that I ha•e stated r elating to fraud 

and violence iu the State of Missis ippi. "U.S. GRANT." 

In his letter of the 26th of July to Governor Chamberla-in he h:~.rl sta,tcd: 

"Mississippi is goyerned to-day by officials chosen throng~ n:a?-t~ and Yiolou'?e, such as woultl scarcely be accredited to savages, much less to a Cl vihzed and ChriStian people." . This last statement come-it from whom it may, we pronounce m the face of the 

testimony taken by thls committee, and not yet printed, to be untrue an~ unwar- ranted by the facts disclosed. . The tone of animosity to tlle white pe~ple of _the Sonth whic~ breathes through- out the Presi!lent's messarre and letter 111 nnm1sW.kable. In his message of July 31 six days subsequent to this letter, the President says: "The report [on Mississippi) has not yet been made public." Why shoul!l he anticipate 1 . Wo hold it, and believe it will be so held by right-t.hi.nking men ~verywhere, ~scrooitable for the Chief Ma!!istrate thus to have exhibited such eVIdence of preJudice agaiD!~t. any portion of his fellow-citizens. 

It arlds, however, but another proof to tbe many gi~~n ~erotofore !Jiat ~b~ heart anu minuof President Grant are closed to allsenseofJustice where hiS polit1Calopponents, eBpecially in the Southern State:s. a~o conc~rned. . . . . . Otilor att.empts t.o forestall public opimon m relatiOn to the affiurs m MISsiSsippi 

have been made, calcnhted to grossly mislead. Two attem~ts to fasten oblo~uy 

upon one of the tmdersi•.rncd, [Mr. BAYARD, l and at the same ttme to convey UllJUSt 

impressions against the people of ])fis:~ist~ippi, may be noted. 

fSpccial dispatch to the Baltimore Sun.] 

"W ASRINGTOY, July 25. 

"THE REPUDUCAN llliPORT Hi MISSISSIPPI. 

* * * * "Another case illustrative of the general conclusions arrive,} n.t by the m~jority 

of the committee is th~t of a native of Philatle~phi..'t.. ~e s_ettled near Vioksburgh 

ancl was with his family. He h.nd been a.ppmutecl a Jnsti~e of tb? peace by the 

governor of the State, and his wife openeu a school for the mstruction of the poor. 

He was subse<J,nently a camlidn.te for oftice. On one night fift.~ armed J?en dashed 

upon his pre1Dlses and shot him down without a wo_rd o_f wa.rnmg and m the pr~senco of bls wife and family. When the st.ory of this _wifewl!-8 told by- ~er ow~ lips to the committee, Senator BAYARJJ, one of the comm1ttee, eJaculated, I don t believe it.' 

"After the murder, according ~ the report, the ass~sins hovered about, the 

house and would not permit the wife to enact ove"? the r1tes of sepu~tnre .. Uey dra~rged tho bleeding corpse from tbe arms of the dlstracte<l woma~. pitched zt~,to 

a pig-wallow, and left. Senator BAYA.UD, affected by the ~arra~w~ •• rep~ated, I 

won't believe it under oath.' The report sa.ys that these banditti, for It stat:es they compare with Itnlians of the same class, live ~1pon the. people. They are dissolute and indolent generally the sons of planters unpovel'Ished by the war, or the remnant of that ol~ss of adventurers who fastened upon the institution of slavery as the camp-fonower lives upon an army." 

Mr. B.u A.RD ne\er even saw the witness referred to, who was examined in his ab- sence an!l be never made any statement even similar in language or character to 

that fall'lely attributed to him. Yet this vicious falsehood has already bad wide 

circulation. 

In the New York Times of the 27th of July we find the following letter and pre. 

ceding comments : "Senator BoUTWELL has also received a letter from a colored witness who testi tied 

in Mississippi, from which it will bo seen how the democracy of that State propose to t.reat those who obeyed the summons ofthe Sena~ Co~mit~ee: . "'DEAn SIR: I having been summo~ before.roul'l~vestiaationg to pye a sworne testimonv in re...,arcl to the late election, which I dHl, and! told nothing but the 

truth. Yester!l;y I was met by an armed mob in the streets of----. ,*and 

compelled me to say that I swore a ----lie. And toltl me I bad e1thor to say that I swore to a ----lie or leave the city or die. The excitement 

grew so intense that I was compell to take back what I said before the committee. 

I was also met by another mob at ----the same day that I was before the com- mittee and compell&l to do the same before I got home. I w'd not be supprised if 

I were not mob before :vou receive this letter. If you read this letter wllere Senu,tor BAYARD can hear it he will write down here and let these democrats know it, 

and 1 will be murdered as soon as I appear on the streets. Therefore it will be best 

fore me fore you to keep this to yourself and other republicans.' ''Of course every one wl10 knows Senator BAY AnD will smile at thi.s suspicion, 

but it shows the state of terrorism still maintained by the banditti of Mississippi." . ]'or what reason and with what intent this letter was so published may be lll· 

ferred from tho letter itself and the editorial use of it. 

It will be observed that the committee were instructed by the resolution to inquire into alleued violations of the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution, 

and tho necessity of new and appropriate le!!;islation for its enforcement; and it 

woulllseem that the scope of the in•estigation was intended to hn.vo been confined to that object. But in tl1e investigation conducted by tbe ma;iority, nearly every 

1igbt and power of the State of Mississippi, ben:toforo SUJ?pose!l t.o bEl.among th~ 

reserved powers belonging to the State~. and not Justly su~_Ject_to e~tenor confir?l, 

has been made the subject of the most w1<le-spread, unrestramed mqmry. Thesocml 

habits, domestic institutions, personal aml in~ividunl dealings and contracts, local polic~ arranaement.'l and whole classes of subJects heretofore supposed to be under 

the solo cou trol of the State an!l county governments, and even family affuira, have 

been ruatle the subjects of inquisition. 

The limitation.~ upon the powers of Congress in its rel?'tion ~the inte~al_affa?-s 

of tho States h.wo been lately the subject o~ careful_delibe!-'Rtion and. ~JUdicah?n 

by the Supremo Court of the Unitell States m cases mvolVlllg the valichty_of legis- lation by Congress in pari materia with that now: proposell by th_e re8olu_tion. . In the recent case of the United St.ates vs. Crmkshank, Mr. Chief Justice Wrute 

delive.red tho opinion of the cou.rt and said: . "We havo in our politicalsys~m a Government of the Umted States ~d .a. ~overnment of each of the several Smtes. Each one of these governments Is ilistinct 

from the other, an<l eaeh has citizens of 'ts own, who owe it allegiance, and whoso 

rights within its jurisdiction it must protect: . The snmel_)erson rna.~ be. at the sa!ll.e 

time a citizen of the United States and a mtizen of a State, but his ngbts of Citi· 

zenship under one of tJ1ese governments will be different from those he has under 

the other. (Sln.u!!;hter-house cases, 16 Wallace, 74) 

"Citizens are tbe members of the political community to which they belong. 

They are the people who compos_e the community, and who, ~n. their associated ca- pacity, have established or submitted themselves to the d?llllDIOn o~ 11: go_v~rnmen t 

for the promo~ion o~ the~r general welfare and_ the protection of the1r mdiVI!lual as. well as their collective rtrrhts. Iu t-he formatwn of a government the people may 

confer upon it such power-s as they choose. Tho government when so formed may~ 

and when called "!!-~on should, exercise a~ ~e .po'Yer~ i~ ~forth~ protection.?l;' the rights of its 01tizens and the people Within Its JuriSdiction, but 1t can exerCl:se 

*The printed te.')timony having been withhelu, th~ bl:mk r_efereli.Ces to the depo., sitio!!s of witnesses are necessarily le~ unfilled, ~hich IS owmg to _tlle sud!len an<l; 

nnexpeotell appOOJ.?nce of the report of the majonty before tho testimony was o•on tleliveretl to tho prmter. 
5282 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. AUGUST 8, 

DO other. Tbe (luty of a government ro afford protection is limited always by the 

JlOWPI' it pos~ess s for that purpose. "The ~ov rnm nt thus established and defined is to some extent a government of 

the States in their political capacity. It is also for certain purposes a ~overnmrnt 

of the people. Its powers are limit.ed in number but not in degree. Within the scope of its powers as enumerated and defined it is supreme amf above the States; 

but beyonu, it bas no existence. It was erected for special pnrposcs and endowed 

with all the powers necessary for its own preserration and the accomplishment of 

tho cuds its people had in view. It can netther grant nor secure to its citi:l:ens any ri~ht or piivilcgo not expre sly or by implication placed under its jurisdiction. • The people of the United· States resiuent within any State are subject to two governments, one State and the other· national; but there need be no conflict be- two n the two. The powers which one possesses the other does not~ They are establisheu for different purposes anu have separate jurisdictions. Together they 

make one whole and furnish the people of the United States with a complete government, ample for the protection of all their rights at home and abroad. It is 

the natural consequence of a citizenship which owes allegiance to two sovereignties and claims protection from both. The citizen cannot complain because he bas 

vohmtarily submitted himself to such a form of p;ovemment. Tie owes allegiance to the two departments, so to speak, and within their respectil'e apher·es must pay 

the penalties which each exacts for disobedience to its laws. In retnrn, he can demand protection from each within its own jurisuiction. •• The Government of the United 8tates is one of delegated powers alone; its 

authority is defined and limited by the Constitution. All powers not granted to it 

by that m::~trumcnt are reserved to the States or the people. No rights can be ac- quired under the Constitution or laws of the United States except such as the Gov- ernment of the United States has thcauthorityto j!J'ant or secure. All that cannot be so granted or secured are left under the protection of the States." 

Then again: 11 The thh·d ancl eleventh counts are even more objectionable. They charge the 

intent to have been to deprive the citiz ns named, they being in Louisiana, 1 of 

their respective several lives and liberty of person without duo process of law.' 

This is nothing else than alleging a conspiracy to falsely imprison or murder citi- zens of tho United States being within the telTitorial ,jurisdiction of the State of 

Loui iana.. The rights of life and personal liberty are natural rights of nian. 1 To secure these rights,' says the Declaration of Independence, 1 go\ernments are instituted among men, llerhing their just powers from tho consent of the governed.' 'l'he very JJi,!!hest duty of the States when they entered into the Union under the 

Constitution was to protect all person~ within their boundaries in th{! enjoyment of these • unalienable rights with which t-hey were endowed by their Creator.' 

Sovereip;nty for this purpose rests alone with the States. It is no more Ute duty or ~thin the power of the United States to punish for a conspiracy to falsely imprilifm or murder within a Stattl than it woulll be to punish for false imprisonment or murder itself. 11 The fourteenth amendment prohibits a State from depriving any person of lif~, 

liberty, or property, without due process of law, but this adds nothing to the rights 

of one oitizen. as a,gainst another. It simply furnishes an additional guarantee against any encroachment b.v the States upon the fundamental rights which be- ion~ to every citi:&cn as a membt<r of society." 'fbese prr•posi',,i.(ms W<'re unanimously laid down by the court, in considering alleged violations of the fourteenth amendment of the Constitution, but are equally applicable to· tile discussion of t.be relative power~ and duties of the Federal and 

State governmon)s under any autl all provisions of the Constitution. 

In the case of The Unitet:L Sta.tes-va. Reese, decide<l at the same time, the court 

sa!.rughta and immunities created by or dependent upon the Constitution of the 

United States ~an he proteated by Congress. The form and the mrumer of the protection may be such as Congress, in the leptimate exercise of its le~islative discretion. shall provide. These may be variea to meet the necessities of the particular 

right to be protected. "Tho fifteenth amendment does not confer the right of suffrage upon any one. It pre>ents the States. or the United Sta.tes; however, from givin:;: pr-eference in 

this particular to one citi:.en of the United States· over another ou account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Before its adoption this could be done. 

It was as much within the power of a State to-exclude-citizens of tile United States 

from voting on account of race, &c., as it was on account of ~e, prol>erty, or eduoatlon. Now it is not. If citizens of one race, having certain quahfications, are permitted by law to vote, those of another, having the same qualifications, must be. Previous to this amendment there was no constitutional guarantee against 

this discriminat-ion. Now, there is. It follow!' that the amendiDent has invested 

citizens of the United States with a new constitutional right, whioh is within the 

protecting power of Con~ess. 

"That right is exemption from discrimination in the exereis~ of the elective franchise on account of moe, color, or previous condition of servitude. This,.unuerthe 

express pro>h!ions of the second section of the amendment, Congress may enforce 

by 1 appropriate legislation.' " The power of Conp;ress to legislate at all upon tbe subject of voting at ~tate 

elPctions rests upon this amendment. The effect of article l, section 4, of the ConHtitntion, in respect to elections for Senators and Representatives, is not now under 

consideration. It ha.'i not been contended, nor can it be.z that the amendment con- feY's authority to impose penalties for every wrongful rerusal toreeeive the vote of a qualified elector at State elections. It is • nly when the wrongful refusal at such an election Is because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude that Congress can interfere and provide for its punishment. 

* * * * 

"The courts enforce the legislative will when ascertained, if within the constitnjiona1 grant of power. Within its legitimate sphere Uonwess is supreme and be. 

yond the control of the courts, but if It steps outside of Its constitutional limitations and at tempts t.hat which iSJ beyond its reach, the courts are authorized to, and 

when called upon in d ne course of legal proceedings, must, annul its encroacl:wlents 

upon the reserved power of the Sta-tes and the people. 

• * * * * 

"We must, t herP.fore, decide that Congress has not, as yet, Jlrovided by 1 appro- priate legislation' for the punishment of the offense charged in the indictment, and 

th:tt 1he circuit court properly sustained the demurrers and gave judgment for the 

tlefendants." 

In subordination to the principles thus laid down by the p,uthority of the tribunal 

of last resort in our country, the undersip;ned wonl<l have been disposed ro confine 

tbeir investigation to subjects plainly within the jurisdiction of Congress, without 

infringing upon any of the reserved rights of the State of .M:ississippj, belie Yin~. it to bo the cardinal feature of our institutions that the equality of the States in we Union must ever be respected, and that anv practice which invades so necessary a. principle must place in jeopardy not only ihe rights of a single State, but, in their 

turn, the rights of all the remaining States; and that a power which is conceded to be applicable to the O\"ertbrow of the autonomy of any one State is liable to be useu for the destruction of any other State, and that there is no safety for any un- lc~s the rights of each are guarded. 

The condition of the State of Mississippi is to be considered at three periods of 

time. 

First. In the spring of 1875, before the commencement of the political canvass, in which the alleged outrages upon the rights of citi~ens under the fifteenth 

jlmendment are said to have occurred; .. rt . ..• .. 

Second. Its condition during the election itself, on the 2d ofNovel)lber, 1875: an!l, Third. Its condition as discovered by the committee at the time of ~eir Yi~\t in 

.Jnue, 1876. 

For a proper understanding of the entire case we propose to recit-e, by the li!!ht 

of the testimony and supported by its facts, what we believe to hav11 been the true condition of Mississippi in tho spring of 1875. At the time of preparing this 

report, however, bot a small part of the testimony has been printed; and although wo trust to be enabled to insert the :\>roper references before it is submitted, yet the absence of the printed testimony mterferes materially with one of our objects, i.e., to make- no assertions, but to let the witnesses speak for themselves, and to substantiate every fact by reference to its basis. 

It has been said by hi_gh authority that it was difficult to draw an indictment 

ll_gainst a whole people. Equally difficult is it to establish any rules of evidence 

that would sustain so vague an indictment. And in the preRent inquisitiop it 

would become plain to all who shall read the depositions and observe the mod.e of 

interrogation employed that every rule which the experience of mankiml has es. tablishetl as essential for the regulation of evidence and the a-scertainment of truth 

has been disregarded in the course of this investigation. So tbat the weat bulk of 

the testimony which has been taken is such as would not be received in any court of justice in this country to oonvict the meanest felon of the pettiest offense. 

Every rule of evidence followed by courts in the administration of justice has 

been entirely disregarded. Every rtile which experience has shown is essential 

for the elucidation of truth has been thrown aside, and opinion, hears.'\y, wild m· mor, anythin~ ancl all things which excitement, prejudice, hate, love, or fear can sn~rrrest, have been poured in without discrimination or cheok. NO individual, no community, can be safe against such an order of things. 

The uAual tests of discrimination between truth and falsehood having been aban· 

doned, the result cannot be satisfaotory to any just-mind. 

The argument that the charge is vague and against a whole community only makes the effect worse. When a. false principle is adopted, the wider i~ application the more dangerous it becomes. 

This is observable in the examination from the first witness to the last. Adelbert Ames, the ex-governor of Mississippi, who was called and examined on the 

27th of April, and at page 29, on the third day of his examination, in which be had 

made the most wholesale and sweeping assertions of facts of violence and intimidation, was asked : Q. You have referred to various acts of violence and intimidation; have you per· sonal knowledge of any of those acts 1 · A. I never saw an a.Ct of violence performed. 

Q. Did you ever see an act of intimidation performed 1 

A. No ; I never saw an act of violence perf(lrmed . Q- Then what you have said is derived from the information of other pe.ople1 A. Yes, sir. · A.nu on page 32-

Q. I ask you, do you know the fact whether there was any resistance to process, when issued, in that State? 

A. That statement I have made ; I would say that I do not know of any facts of 

that kind. 

AndagainQ. Do you know of a case where process of the courts has been returned with 

that stat-ement 1 

A. I do not. In fact, if the testimony touching the subjects within the scope of the resolution 

of the Senate could be reduced to such, as is receivable under the rules of evidenc . 

as recognized by courts of justice and by this Senate while sittintr as a court., tl1e 

testimony taken in Mississippi by this committee would be confined to a. dozen 

pages of manuscript. The rest is rumor, hearsay, and opinion. Not only so, but 

nearly all the witnesses examined for what may be tenned the prosecution of tho 

white people of the State of :Mississippi we1-e defeated candidates in the election 

of 1875 or other interested supporters or persons who had lost office and failed 

of re-appointment. Most of the witneRses, when pinned down by cross-examin::~.­

tion to give names of persons concerned and dates, were directly and flatly contra- uicted as to those facts, and many of tho occurrences either shown to have been not only untrue. but impossible, or e[se accompanied by facts which subjec&d then\ to 

a totally different construction. 

A large body of these witnesses were negroes of the most ignorant and unch':ilized description, who did not hesitate to state anything, and whose declarations were frequently of the wildest and most absurd character. Thus at page--, in 

the deposition of --, Dr. Holland, of Madison County, is represented as giving utterance to profanity in t-he following style: Whereas by the deposition of .Judge Campbell, of the supreme court, pageQ. Did you know Dr. Holland, of the county i 

A.. I do'; he is the man whose name was connected with that arrest. Q. What manner of man is bet 

A. A very highly respectable man; one of the most amiable, mild-mannered, 

good-natured men I ever knew. 

Q. What is his age 1 

A. I suppose him to be about forty years of age. 

Q. Do ;you know whether J?r. Holland is am~ .who is profane in his speech i 

A. He 18. one of the most pious, devoted, Christian men I ever knew; ren'6rkable among meniu that respect. . Q. WoUld you believe it possible that Dr. Holl;md would interlard his conversa- tion with profanity i 

A. It is utterly inco~sistent with his character, and I should regard it as impod- sible unless I could hear it, or it was attested by witnesses whose veracity I could not ques.tioi>. at aU. • 

and Major Powel:J.. page--,. and Captain Key, at page--, Dr. Holland is teotified to be a gentlem1,1.n of singular purity' and piety, a strict and conscientious professor of religiOn, and a "pillar" of the ~aptist ohurch in his community. See also the case of-~ . ..-.--. page--, in Aberdeen, in which Mr. E. 0. Svkes and his brother, 

Mr. T. B. Sykes, the m.avor o~ Aberc.leen .• both of them profe sora of religion and 

gentlemen of the most athnitred purity of language and conduct, are described ns monsters of profanity. · The case of --- , paue -, t;.estifying o~ ~· PTeasley, the judge of election at Calhoun precinct ~ 'M~son County, rudely taking tickets from colored men, tearing them up ana throw4Ig then;\. on• the. gro:and in th.e eight of the witness, is 

denied by .Judge Cunningham, the republicai;t j~dge o~ eleQtion present on the oo- ca.'JiQD. by :Ereasley's own statem~~t and that of several bystanders. (See pa_ge --.) 

Witnesses t4us set free to state anything and everything that malice could suggest, partisan animosity encourage, and ignor~~tnce ass~st, r endered it difficult to 

confute, by reason of the vagueness and unce~ty of their statements. The 

value of the testimony of Ann Hodge, colored, can be readily estimated, page 421 : 

By Mr. BAYARD : 

Q. Did you ever take an oath 1 

A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know the meaning of taking an oath i 

A. No, sir. . Q. Do you know the consequences of swearing falsely t 

A. No, sir. . 

( 

,• 

1 
1876. · CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-· SENATE.~ 

In short, the p:overbial difficulty of pronng a. nel!ative was imposed npon the 

1\:hite people of .Mil!sissippi, who, by the nilin_g of the majority, were not snffered to he present oven by their r epresentatives while the testimony was being taken. 

The recon&truction policy of Congress bad fully and perfectly forced the institntions of tbe State of Mississippi into the most entire S[tbjection and conformity witll its provisions. What M..is issippi was at the time of the last election of Gov- ernor Ames in 1!!73, she was" the work of rcconl!tructiou by Congl'('SS.'' The will 

of her people, their tastes, their prejudices, their virtues, and their fa.nlts, bad 

been meltetl and run into a mold fashioned by tho will of Congress alone. If her 

institutions were defective, if the.v were not conducive to tho ends of ~rood government, if they were arr~nged with an unwi..;;e (HSI'e;rard of the condition anrl 

1\.·:mts of hor people, that people are no more responsible than the population of 

Ji't·::mco. fur they had no vmce. Such as she was in 1873 the Congress of the United 

States llad made her. The State constitution was molded ill accordance with the 

will of Congress. The legislation under it had been enacted. by men placed in 

power bv the Federal Go,·ernment. The rulin~ principle of that legislation seems to have been to lead as much power as possible directly into the hands of the ex. ecutive, in which the reins were placed. The institution of sn.ffrage was of course the proposed basis, and to control this the machiuery of elections wa~ plaeed absolutely in the bands of the g-overnor, who had the sole power to ap~mt those offi- cers who in their turu had the power of a1Jpointment of the registrars of evocy 

county, who in their turn appointed. the election officers throughout the State in 

their respective counties, and supervised the elections :mdreturns, thus gathering 

tho whole control of elections in a single executive hand. 

This was the state of things when Governor Ames took his seat on the 1st day of 

January, 1874, elected in the month of November preyious. There was not an official of the State who wa.s not a member of the republican party. There was not a county official to be appointed by the governor who was not in close affinity with 

him. In all the republh·an counties, and all were republican in which negroes were in a mnjority, ov()ry official was a member of the same party. Thus we see that. tl1e entire control of the State wM in tho hands of Governor Ames and his 

party associates. At page 30 of his deposition the faot is stated by him as follows: 

Q. You have stated the violence and intimidation to have existed in the republi- can counti~s of the State~ 

A.. Y e.'l, sir. 

Q. You llave not refelTed to violence ill any but republican counties W 

A. :ro, sir. 

Q. Snch is the foot., is it not w; 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were not then all these justices of the peace, chancellors, the judiciary, and 

the machinery for choosing juries, in the hands of the dominant party in those 

couuties1 

A. Ye-s, sir. 

Q. I need not ask you if all the United States officers in that Statewerenotmembcrs of the rf'publican party; that was so, was it noU 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then tl1e grand juries and the petit juries, and the judges, and the sheriffs, 

and tho llnpervisors, by whom the jw'Ors were selected, we1·e all controlled by the 

domin:mt part.y in those counties. 

A. They were all belonging to the !lominant party. 

Of course e\ery official of the Federal Government, district judges, district at- torneys, marRhals, deputy marshals, supervisors, postmasters, revenue officers. were all of tho same party and necessarily active adh'erents. It may be truly said that 

there was no trace whatever of l'fficial power in the State of Mississippi in the 

ba.ud.s of the democratic party until the 1st day of January, 1876. 

Now. let. us consider into what a condition, sociaL moral, and financial, Missis· 

sippi was brought, in the spring of lfl75, under the administration which has just 

been described. The population of MiRsissippi, by the census of 18i0, had a total 

of 8~7,92~ souls. Of these 382,E96 were white people, 444,20L colored people, and 

the r~mainder Indians and persons not classed. The State was divided into seven- t,r-tbt·ee counties. The negro majority was thus about sixty thousand, but was distrihnted chiefly in the Iich river counties and on the richer cott~n-producing lamls 

of tho tate, in which they greatly outnumbered the white population, and in these 

counties their lar~e numerical majority was consolidated. 

The dome!ltic institutions of the State ha-d been completely revolutionized, and 

the relations of the white and black races bad not been permitted to adjust themsdvrs into that harmony and good feeling which the interests of both made so es- sential to happiness and good order. The whites, as the result of the war, were im- pove!'i.~heu to a most painful extent, which must impress itaelf upon any person 

who visits the State, which presents even to a casual eye unmist.(lkable evidences 

of wide-spread and lamentable prostration. This brings with it increased privation to tb<' colored people, who never bad property, and who depended, necessarily, upon 

property-owners for their support. When tlieir employers were ruined the blow 

fell severely upon the employed. Theirs was a common lot, aud that which strnck 

down and crippled the one fell also heavily upon the other. • Unfortuna.tell the new and arbitrary political conditions imposed npor.. both races by the will of Congress were (listm bed by the presence of a class of unscrupulous, 

nf'edy, and rapacious adventurers, who came down to fill the political offices to which pr~judice against the southern whites on the part of those who held power 

in the Federal Government and the absolute ignorance and incompetence of the 

negroes prevented those whites from being appomted. The result was, as the tes- timony everywhere discloses, that the State and Federal offices to which any con- siderable emolument was attached fell into the hancls of white wen newly U.lTived 

within t.ho borders of t.be State, ignorant and unsympathetic of the wishes and 

feelings of the white population, arid bent wholly upon using the political material 

which they found ready at their bands in the shape of rna ses of ignorant, superstitious. and suspicious negroes to sustain themselves in office and power. Instead 

of encouraging the colored population to rela.tions of amity and. confidence with \he 

whites who gave them employment and furmshed them with the meanB of subsist- ence, it 'bas oren plainly the object and intent of these political adventurers to increase the distrust between the races and. to encourage on the part of the blacks 

and intenl'if,v the instinct and feeling of race opposition. In this by means of low arts tl1ey have been unhappily too successful, and the negroes of the State of Mississippi have been banded together in an unthinking mass, under the lead and blind 

control of a hanflful of northern st.ran~ers, with here and there a. native white man. Throughout the testimony it is evident the white people of Mississippi, in the in- terests of the entire community, made every attempt to penetrate this alliance 

atrainst them, and resorted to every means of combination and alliance wit-h their 

J>Olitical opponents to procure even a tolerable and decent administration of public 

affairs. Since 1868 they had given up their party name and candidates, had voted 

for Den~. a republican, bad voted for Alcorn, a republican, and essayed in every 

way to appease and mollify the I?arty led by Governor Ames ; but 9ll in vain. They witnessed the selection of men Olther incompetent or criminaL or both, for important offices in the State. They saw their best men, most virtuous, experienced, and able 

citizens pas~ed l>y in contempt. The1 saw men notoriously vicious, and justly proscribed, taken into the confidence and friendship of Ames and placed in authoTity. 

(See the case of Wi'liam Gray, ne~o brigadier-general, page-, and his character ~~ril>eu by a republican ~tness, rutnam, p. -. Also. s~JndgeShackleford, p. , W. A. Ferj!llson, p. - , J mlp;e John A.. C. Watson, p. . ) 

Cardozo. the forging clerk of the circuit court and defrauding State superintend. ent of public instruction ; Davmporli, the negro forger and county clerk; 0. P. 

Lee. white, aide-de-camJl, defaulter and red-handed murderer of two blook com· mittec-men; Morgan, the sheriff of Yazoo County. with the indictmt~nt for the 

murder of Hillinrrl, his republican predecessor and contestant. hanging over him; 

Dans, colored lieutenant-govemor, the vendor of pardons of any crime for money; 

these are spedmens of tho men whom he took to his confidence and made his political associates. and to complaints against whom ho accorcled such treatment as in 

the case of the application to him by tho mayor of the little town of Grecm-ille, 

in Wa-shington County, soliciting protection against repeated acts of iucendiari. m in which Bl'ip.adier-General Gray was implicated and snbse!]_ueutly indicted for arson. Governor ..A.mes ~< ntUng no replv to this supplication for protection, placed 

the letter in tho hands of Gray himself, who flaunted it in triumph in the fa{}e of 

the citizens. (See deposition of William A. Ferguson. p. -.) 

Invested with the power r,f selecting t.ho entire jmliciary of the 8tate, the chara{lter of his appointments may be learned hom the deposition of Judge John A. 

C. Watson, of Holl:v Springs, who at page- testifies as follows: 

Question. What class of men did General Ames call around him in his administration1 

Answer. He called around him, as a general thing, the very worst class of what we call" ca.~·pet-baggers." Most of them were newcomers into the State, without 

property, who relied upon politics as a. trade and means of livelihood. 

Q. Had they any knowledge of yonr people, of their habits and wants~ 

A. None whatever; they came among us as strangers at the close of the war. Q. With whom did that cla.as of men affiliate~ 

A. A great many of them affiliated mostly with the negroes. 

Q. What was the feeling and coarse of action toward citizens of the Northern 

States who came here as men of fair character and as good citizens to settle in your midst~ 

A. upon the part of most of the citizens, especially of the better class, there was no indisposition t.Q receive them, and a great many desir-ed them to como. And 

when they came among ns, as citizens enga~in!! in some business, I believe any 

such man was receivoo kindly and treateu .Kindly. A. great many of them, how- ever, came among us, as I remarked before, and engaged in no business, but just went among negroes, the whole aim and purpose being t~ gain the confidence of 

the ne:rroes and alienate them from the whites ancl their old masters. They car- ried this to such an extent that some of them would visit the negroes' houses and 

cabins, and meet them on terms of social equality. Some would not go so far, but 

would mix np with them in politics And the general aim of that cla.~s was to destroy the confidence of the negroes in tho whites and in their olu masters. I have 

heard men of this class on the stump, in addressing crowds of negroes, say ever~­

thing they could to exasperate the then recently emancipated neg:t'Oes a_gainst theu 

old mas tors. I have heard them lay down this rule, " You must never follow JVUr maBt~rs in politics; just watch them, and when they take one direction you take 

the other, and you will certainly be right." 

Q. Was this the current course of advice to this class of men~ 

A. So far as it fell under my observation, the gene!'al object wast{) conVince them 

that th~ir old masters were unalterably opposed to them, and that they must look 

alone to northern men for their protection 

Q. Was it from this class that General Ames drew his political associates and 

advisers1 

A. Yes, sir; he very soon threw off what he regarded as the better classo£ republic-ans. 

Q. Threw them ofn 

A. Yos. 

Q. Was it thought that tbat led to the split of the Alcorn wing against the Ames~ 

A. Yes; perhaps I might state a fact or two there Alcorn came back and ran 

for governor against Ames. 

Q. What year1 

A. In 187'3. During that canvass Alcorn on the stump denounced as thieves 1\D.d 

swincUers the main supporters of General Ames. The speeches made by Governor 

Alcorn in that canva.ss were the most denunciatory I ever heard agai.J.J.l!t the leading men of the .Ames party. 

Q. Were there other leading mem hers of the republican party-who took the same tone as tli(l Alcorn, in regard to the Ames administration~ 

A. In 1873, not a great many. Ames had the confidence of the negroes, and AI· corn was not sustained by his own party, to any great extent, in 1873. 

Q. How was it later, in 18751 

A. Alcorn's strength continued to gain after that, and before 1875 the split was a very marked. one. A. great many had become followers of Alcorn and opposed to .Ames. 

Q. \Vas the feelin~ between the two wings, the Alcorn wing and the Ames wing, as great or greater than between the republicans and democrats~ 

A. The feeling between these two wings of the republicans was just as bitter as coulfl have existed. In my district the opposing candidates for Congress were Wells and Howe and when the Wells party had a meeting they denounced Howe as a thief and faisifier, and applied. to him every epithet they could invent. and 

when the Howe party came along they would apply the same epithets to the Wells 

party. 

Q. Who is Howe 1 · A.. He hall been a member of Congress from that district. 

Q. Who was he 1 

A.. A northern man, Q. Was be on the .Ames side or the other 1 

A. On tho Ames side; Wells was for Alcorn. He is our present member of Congress. The collision between the two wings of the party had. a great deal to do 

toward carrying that district against the republicans. 

Q. It was charged in tho public papers that the character of the officers under 

Anies's administr:J,tion was known to him, after which knowledge he continued to keep these men in office a.nd consort with them politically. A. Well, sir, I cannot sav what was the knowledge of Ames upon that subject, 

but these delinquencies ana this misconduct were 'Known to tho public gcnernlly, and Ames still retained them in office and in his confidence, and the more they wet·e abnsed and exposed the closer he seemed to adhere to them. It seemed to be rather a recommendation to him. 

Q. Many of them were placed under indictment~ 

A. A good many. 

Q. By the grand juries of their counties 1 

A. Yes. 

Q. The grand jury, as a. rnh1, was under the control of the republican party W 

A. Yes. 

Q. After these indictments took place were tbe confidence and association of 

Governor Ames withdrawn from these people~ 

..A. As a, general rule it was not. In Northeastern Mississippi Governor Ames 

appointed a man as chancellor by the name of Barton, with no intelligence as a lawyf}r and no standing at the bar. Moreover, he was charged with a flagrant act of. 

fo~!':Y· l.l· Had he been indicted 1 

.A. He had not: but Governor .Ames was informed by gentlemen of high respect. 

ability, among others hy our present governor, who came from hi~ ~ciaity, 'lf !bn 

character of this man. (}{)vernor Ames r efused to believe it, but baa it beon u.u-· true and his moral character ever so goocl, be was not fit for the office; but Arues1 was. blind to the truth, and did appoint Barton chancellor. Wben, howe~ f.'J', his, a,ppointment wa.~ he-fore the senat-e for confirmation, the jucliciary committee. to' 

which it wa~ referred, sent out for wit-nesses, and tho proof was conclusive. 1 bad, 

'Ueeu knawiug to it. 1'he ~entlem:ln upon '"I ~om tho for~et y w~'3 com~ni~t !l.'l.: ~ 
5284 CONGRESSIO~AL RECORD-SENATE .. AUGUST 8, 

• 

sideit in my town a.nd ·was my intimate personal friend; but Governor Ames did nnt withdraw his name until he was oold by his friends that they could not possi· bly get Lim through the senate. That was tho only thing that chocked him. 

Q. Did this man ever exercise the functions of chancellor 1 

A. 0, yes, sir; be held several courts. In all ihe~e republican strongholds in which turbulence and misgovernment are alle,c:ed to have existed, it is to be also noted that the entire local power was in re- publican bands. Thus the supervisors of the counties, being in fact the county legislature, assessing taxes, contracting for supplies, controlling all public improvements, the 11cbools, public buildings, roads, and having, in short, all local control~ 

were almost without exception composed of negroes, few of whom were able to re&a. or wTite, and scarcely one of whom was able to compute au ordinary sum in arithmetic. In some cases the hi~hest mark of erudition was the capa{}ity of the chair- man mechanically to sig_n his name to a record which he was unable oo reau. (See 

deposition of -- a.na deposition of--.) 

The justices of the peace, generally unable to write and frequently unable· to read the contents of the process against person or propCity which t-hey issued in 

the name of tho law, delivered it to constables equally unfitted to understand the 

JJ;Ltnre of the precept or to attest their action under it. (See deposition of--) 

Negro chancery clerks and clerks of the circuit court and courta of record were utterly unable personally to perform their duties, and intrusted everything to some whit~ deputy. (See deposition of--) 

The consequence of this local misgovernment is an increase of taxation amount- ing to confiscation, and is well expressed in t.helangua~e of a petition to tbe Leg. 

islature by tho tax-payers of the State, in January, 187a, from which we make the 

following extract: "But probably the most flagrant evil of which the tax-payers complain and the 

greatest outrages perpetrated on their rights arise from the action of the boards 

of supervisors. 

"This oonrt is really the most important of any in the State, and should be com- posed of the very best men in the several counties. As a general rule, we are sorr:v to say, the members of this boar!l are wholly unfit to discharge their duties, ann are without respectability or accountability. This, however, is not the fault of the 

Legislature of the State, except in so far as it encoura~cs such men to seek for that 

position. The county levies, in a large majority of the counties, aNI extravagant and oppressive beyond all endurance. The contracts for public work are made 

without economy or care, and with a reckless indifference to the interest of the 

public. These boards, in some instances, employ their own mem hers to do the work not authorized by law, merely for the 1mrpose of making thein extravagant allow- ances. In many inst.'lnces tbeso members are wholly ignorant, and are completely 

under the control of the clerks and sheriff~ of these counties, to whom they make 

extravagant allowances. This is a great evil, aucl we suggest that remedy which 

alone seems adequate. Legil!lation should be immediately enadecl fixing the max- imum rate of taxation at 50 per cent. on the State, beyond :which they shall not go 

in any instance. · "'1.1

hese boards should also be prohibited from making any contracts, or allow- ances, or appropriations, except when there is money in the treasm·y to pay them. 

Aml every such order or wan'ant so made and ordered, when thflt:e is not money in 

the treasury sufficient to J.lay it, shoultl he declared utterly null and void, and all 

persons ooncurrin::r in makmg or issuing them be declared guilty of a misdemeanor 

in office, and punishahle for snob, as provided by law." 

To this urgent and rcspectfnl appeal no response whatever was made. (See deposition of E. Barksdale, pa~e 453.) . The ruinous effects of such a system of mis~overnment upon the real el'ltate and 

property which are subject to it is to be fonnclm the testimony of Shackleford, are- publican ex-judge, at p. -- So that not only is all immigration prevented, but the possibility of obtaining 

loans of money npon real estate for the purpose of improvement is destroyed. The system of puhlic schools seems to have been liberally maintained chiefly for 

the advancement of the blacks, but necessarily at the pecuniary cost of the whites, 

whose property mainly contrihuted from its burdens to sustain them. This, howeYer, would not have been a subject of complaint if there had been anythin~ like 

equality of opportunities for the establishment of white schools, which wore neces- sarily at the colit of white people. . An insta.nceof the gross inequality and injustice of the action of these negro boards 

of supervisors and the insolence and overbearing conduct of the mem bors is to be 

found in the c~e in L'lsa-quena County. (See deposition of William A. Farrish, at p.-) 

And the deposition of--. 

The choice of registrars a.nd judges of election was such as made fair elections 

hopeless, as will be illustrated by the case of Warren County, which we shall con- ~>icler hereafter in this report. . The Legislature of the State, under Governor Ames, contained a large majority of 

negroes, and was confessedly a venal body of men, in which the defeat of any meas. ure of reform or the passage of any measure of iniquity could be cheaply procured 

by the use of money among the members. (See deposition of --.) 

As to the relation of Governor Ames to the white people of the State of Mississippi, it is best described by his owu language at pages 16 and 17 of the testimony, 

in which be says: · Question. When did you first go to Mississippi i · Answer. I went there in 1867. · 

Q. In the Army, I believo 1 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When were you elected Senator t . .A. In 1870. 

Q. Had you any intention to settle in Mississippi P.Jior to your election 1 

A. I wil1 say not long previous to that; and permit me-to say that I found when 

I was military governor there that there was a black code existing, and that the 

nngroes had no rights whatever· that t-hey were not permitted to exercise any of 

the rights of citizenship. I had given them the protection they were entitled to under the Government of the Unit-ed States, a.nd I believed that I could render 

them great service. I felt that I had a mission to perform. 'in th<'ir interest, and I 

besita.t:ingly consented to represent them a.nd unite my fortune with theirs. 

lt will· seem, therefore, by his own voluntary statement that the white people of 

Mississippi were not those whom he proposed t<1 represent or with whom he desired "to unite his fortunes." 

The next question and the reply of Governor Ames may perhaps be explanatory of his supposed "m1ssion." 

Q. Yon speak now in reference to the colored people of the State1 

A. Yes, sir; in reference to the colored people of that State; ihey were in the 

DUljority. On page 19 he says: · .. "The question ol how I can get money to live is the one question with me." • Porhaps this was always the case with Governor Ames while he remained in 

Mississippi. 

The natural consequences of a government so organized had become apparent prior to the adjournment of the Ames legi.s1'lture, which met in January, 1875, a.nd ~uljourncd about the end of .March following. Incompetence, venality, and misrule 

)1au borne their usual fruits. A government that inspired neither affection nor rc· tJpect could necessarily rely only upon coercion and intimidation as a last and vain r:osort. The dissatisfaction and discontent of tlle people was not confined to the ~fllll,ocratip party, but ext-ended everywhere and among men of all parties. ~4e dfss~ns~ons \Vlth~ t4e republican ranks were even more marked than among 

their silent adversaries who had been totally deprived of official position and con- trol in public affairs. Between one division of the republican party, led and repre- aent~d by Governor Amos, and another, represented b;y Senator ALCORN, tho breach 

became deep and widened daily. On either side individuals of that party atTayed 

themselves with their respective followers, and open and bitter denunciations, un- sparing in their terms, were showered by each side upon the other. The split was open, positive, and would seem to have been irreconcilable. In his examination 

before the committee Governor Ames classes Senator ALCORN, Governor Powers, 

McKee, ex-member of Congress, ex:·Senator Pease, Mortis, the attorney·general, 

State Senator Musgrove, WELLS, M. C., and Chancellor Storrs, as among tlie oppo- nents to him and hiS administration. At page 22 he accuses Morris of having used 

his office for corrupt purposes, Musgrove of insincerity and dishonesty, Storrs of 

being thoroughly corrupt; at page 25 Pease of willful falsehood and of being with- out ordinary intelligence. At P.!$e 26 murders are imputed to Senator ALCORN. 

On the other hand, George E . .tlatTis, the ex.attorney·general of the State, in his 

letter to the President of the United States, dated the 24th of November, 1875, 

giving the reason for the democratic success in MississippiJ!~~:ares that it was- "Due to the imbecility and base corruption of the State a · 'stra.tion and a few 

adherents." 

(See letter, page-.) · lie charges .Ames- · . " With cold indifference and of contracting his views and narrowing his circle 

of fiiends to a few confidential advisers, who were a. close corporation of mercenary men who k:Dew but little of the want.s of the people of the State and cared less- men who have no identity of interest or sympathy in common with the people of 

the State." 

He charges him-

" With t.he desire to control the judiciary as well aa the execut.ive department of 

the State; of resorting to the expeiliency of maJ..ing appointments after vacation 

and then holding the appointments over them in terrorem until the next session of 

the Legislature, and if they did not J)lease him in decrees, &c. he could withholtl 

their names, (as he did in one case,) tlius making the judiciary of the State subservi- ent to the executive, in violation of the constitution; and he actually removed 

Chancellor Dreman, as I believe, because in a case of habeas corpus ho refused bail to the governor's friend, Morgan, (sheriff of Yazoo County,) on a charge of the mur- der of one Hilliard." 

He charged him-

" With appointing men to ,judicial position who h:ul never h~Ml a case in court, 

and were totally ignorant of the law and practice, and who do not know a. plea in 

bar from a demurrer." . Ex·Senator Revels, in his deposition, at page-, states: I. H. Estell, a republican, states, at ;page 3:l5: 

Governor Ames's prostitution of his office and bargaining wi'th appointees ia 

shown by Judge Watson, at paue -,as follows: 

Senator ALCORN flatly contradicts Governor Ames's account of the Friar's Point 

riot, in which Mr. ALCORN was one of the chief parties, (see deposition at page 67,) 

and expresses his want of confidence in Ames's administration. 

See also letter of H. C. Carter, page-, also speech of G. WILEY WELLS, (see his 

speech, reported by Senator Revels, at page -,) in which he q_uotes Ames's re- marks that" the blOod of twenty-five negroes would be a good thin~ for the repnb· 

lican party." With such a division of feeling in regard to men and measures In the republican 

partv in Mississippi, with universal (liscontent among all classes of the people in 

regard to" the comlition of the Sta.te and its administration, they approached the cun>ass of 1875. Governor Ames was charged by Harris !see same letter before 

quote1l) wit.h:using his power as executive of the ~tat~ for the purposf\ of securing his election to the United States Senate, and there seems to be no doubt that sucli was the fact. As he, himself, bas stated, he bad "united his fortune with the col- ored people of the State, whom he believed to be in a. majority." He was unlearned 

in law or the spirit of civil rule. Military methods and rigor were his only conception of government. He seemed greedy of political power without comprehending ita responsibilities. He did not lessen his deficiences by associating with men more learned in civil rule than himself, but, avoiding men of intelligence and character 

in the State, surrounded himself with obsequious and inf01iorassociates. The char. 

acteristics and tastes of the people among whom he had ,c:one as a stranger, and yet to be their ruler, he never studied nor cared to comprehend, nor to have um1crstood the gentle wisdom of Fletcher of SaJtonn: "That if a man were permitted . to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of a people." He never gained their respect; but, by his self.seeking, his self.promot.ion to power 

and placo and hiR use of public power for his personilendst he entirely lost what- ever he might have had of their respect. Thus, losing pnblio respect, he lost pub- lic confidence, and instead of seeking by conciliaton and methods of justice tore- gain it, ho resolved to defy those wbo withheld it. The end of all his methods was simply force--the bayonet; that la.st and moAt cruel ,test of military fidelity, when 

the American soldier is called upon oo use his arms against the American citizon. • When be found the political knot was complicated, he set aside methods of reason and used the sword to cut it, because he was devoid of the skill or patience to un- tie it. Violence was the necessary end of such a. rule as be conceived and sought 

t() put in practice. 'l'he just end of government 1a the happiness of the people to be 

governed, and measures to promote popula.r happiness and content are the first anti 

chief duties of a ruler. It WOUld be a farce to term SUCh a government as he COD· 

ducted in the spring of 18i5 a free government, either for the white or for the black 

people. The colored population were as thoroughly enslaved to his will and to the 

handful of politicians whom be set over them as they ever could have been at the 

hands of their former pri>at~ owners. In his testimony at pa~e 15, citing his last 

message oo the Legislature, he says he regards the wbole.atfru.r as a ra.ce issue, in 

which he avowedly intended to ta"ke sides with the black race against the white, 

and to use all his power, ;pPrsonal, political, and official, in their behalf. Thus, in 

the first vear of bis admmistration, in the fall of 1874, in the case of a contest for 

the office~ of sheriff at Vicks burgh, in Warren County, he forced Flanagan, the 

white occnpa.nt, out of his seat by a company of Unite.d States troopR, which he ha.tl 

demanued to be sent to him for that purpose from New Orleans. In 1875, when it 

became apparent that the democratic party was disposed to comhine itself with all 

the elements of opposition to his administration a.nd mako a strenuous effort to.gain 

control of the State, Governor Ames made his first preparation in the Legislature 

for. its defeat by the passage of a law known as the "Gatling-gun bilL" This is 

described in the testimony of E. Barksdale, page -: Q. You spoke of the "Gatling-~ bill," what was that1 A. I havo, I tbink, a synopsis of the bill. 

"Section 3 of the bill empowered the commander-in·chief to organize, from the 

enrolled militia, two regiments of ten companies each, and to purchase four or mol'e ~~~i~&~~~ !:i1 o~~!}ze a. corps of select officers and men from the infantry to 

That was passed ~y the Legislature which assembled on thelst of January, 1875. 

The uate is not given. Q. It was passed the spring before the election ~ 

A. Yes, sir; it was called the" Gatlin~-gun bill," because the purchase of four 

Gatling guns was authoiized, and they were regarded ali! weapons of very terrible 

destructive qualities. The appropriation for carryin~r out the purpose of the Gatling-gnn hill was $60,00a. Of this, $5,000 were authorized to be expended for mill· tar~ supplies and munitions of war. The next was his application to the Secretary of War at Washington for the 

State's quotnm of arms. (See testimony, page-, and the accompanying 11:1pers 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 5285 

and applications of A. G. Packer, ad,intant-general, organizing the State militia for 

active duty.) A. While mattera were in o. condition of profound peace here, though these causes of disoontent existed to which I have rf'ferred and which are stated in the 

tax-payers' memorial and in the resolutions of the republican club here in tlie city 

of Jackson, Governor Ames, after the passage of the law which was known as the 

" Gatlin-gun bill," us if preparing for war here, addressed o. letter to the Secretary 

of War inquiring about Mississippi's quota of IU'1118. A copy of that letter I have 

hore: 

May 25, 1875. 

Sm: By direction of his excellency A . .Ames, governor of Mississippi, I have the 

honor to apply to you for the statement of arms and other military property issued to this State since 1860, under act of Congress April23, 1808, and the acts amendatory thereto . . A communication from t.he Ordnance Office, Wn.~hin~ton, D. C., has been re- ceived, in which the State of Mississippi is charged, under the provisions of an act approved March 3, 1875, with thesum$170,167.31, and a balance due the United 

States is claim ell of $1,967.60. 

The recor,ls of this office do not show the amounts of the apportionment for the 

difl'erent years, and having no data to furnish I respectfully apply to you to furnish it. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

A. G. PACKER, .Adjutant-General. 

The Hon. SECRETARY OF WAR, 

Washington, D. 0. 

That was a letter written on the 25th of May, 1875. 

On the 2rl. of June, before the political canvass, Governor Ames addressed a let- ter to General Ben6t, chief of the Ordnance Department, aa follows: 

JUNE 2,.1875. 

Sm: I have the honor to respectfully apply for a price-list of ordnance and ord- nance stores as issued from your Office; alsO a book of forms used in the Department, if any change has been made since the publication of the regulations, 1863. 

Very respectfullv, your obedient servant, · A. G. PACKER, .Adjutant-General. 

Bri~ta.dier-General S. V. BENET, 

Ohief of Ordnance, Washington, D. 0. 

Q. What do you know of any military preparl\tion made by Gove-rnor Ames 

ear1y in the canvass, and prior to the occurrence of any of these disturbances1 

A. As I have stated, and cited the letters showing he was making military prep. nrations. Then I have an order-book, issued from the headquarters Stab'l of Miasi-.sippi, adjutant-general's office, Jackson, May 1, 1875, announcing otlicers of the 

M.issU!sippi State IDili~ during the months of February, March, and .April, 1875. 

"STAFF OF THE COMMANDEB·IN·CBIEF. 

"Brigadier-General Albert G. Packer, of Holmes County, adjutant-general. 

February 25, 1tl75. "Lieutenant~Colonel Omar S. Lee, of Holmes County, aid-de-camp. Febrn~ry 

25 1fli5"- A gentleman who has since proved a. defaulter to a very large amount in the 

county of Holmes, and has fled the State, and his whereabouts are not known. ~< Lieutenant-ColonolJames J. Spellman, of Madison County, aid-de-camp. February 2.3, 18~5. 

'.' Fourth divi$ion. 

"Bri~adier-Genera.l William Gray, of Washington County. February 25, 1875. 

"General Brown colonel First Regiment Infantry. February 25, 1875. 

"Major-general State militia, Alexander Warner, of Madison County. Febrna.ry 26, Hl75." • 

These gentlemen were all members of the republican party. That General WM- ner was the chairman Qf the republican State executive committee. 

Of these, Spellman, Gray, and Brown were colored men; no democrats among 

them. 

After the CUnton riot Governor Ames proceeded to perfect t.he military organization which had been ordered by law; and in the county of Hinds, under authority known as the "Gatling-gun bill," on the 23d of Septem bcr, he ordered one thouE:and Sprin~field breech-loading muskets to be purchased, and directed to the adjutant-general of this post. After the receipt of those arms they were issued to com- panies in thi~ county of Hinds, as follows: 

On the 2d of October, eighty guns, with accouterments, were issued to Captain Charles Caldwell. (colored.) 

On the 5th of October, to the same J;lerson, seventeen were issued. 

On the 6th of October, forty-seven 1ssued to Captain John \Y. Cleagan, (white.) 

On the 7th, ei~hty stand of arms to Green Tapley, (colored,) with ammunition. 

On the 9th ot October, eighty issued to Ed. L. Gillin, (colored,) with. ammunition. 

On the 9th Oct-ober, 186:>, stand of arxns issued to Geo. D. Nixon, (white,) with 

ammunition. 

On the lOth, eighty issued to W. C Mosely. with ammunition. 

On the 11th, l'IXty issued to Oliver Cromwell, (colored,) with ammmiition. 

That was in this county; issued with accouterments, ammunition, &c., to five 

negro companies in the county of Hinds, and two white companies. Almost without exception the appointments were from the republican party. I 

do not think of an exception in the military appointments, and two-thirds o£ the 

companies, that were commissioned in the military service, were taken from that 

party. Probably half were commanded by colored officers. 

Tho following is a. full list of the appointments: 

FIRST DIVISION.-Brigadier-General William F. Simonton, of Lee County, March 

4, 1875. 

SECOND DIVI8ION.-Briga.dier-General Marion Campbell, of DeSoto County, March 

4, J875. . . 

'l'unm. DIVI8Iox.-Bri!mdier General N. B. Bridges, of Oktibbeha County, March 

4, 1875 ; Hinds County, gJmuel F. Steele, colonel First Regiment Infantry, March 

10, 1875; Jasper County, Newton Knight, colonel First Regiment Infantry, March 

17, 1875; Lowndes County, W. A. Monroe, captain Columbia Light Artiller:v, March 

17, 18i5 ; Grenada County, C. P. Lincoln, colonel First Regiment Infantry, April 12, 1875; Monroe County, James W. Lee, colonel First Regiment Infantry, April 

12.1875. 

By order of the commander-in-chief. 

A. G. P .ACKER, Adjutant-Gentrcll. 

HEADQUARTERS STATE OF M:ISSlSSIPPI, 

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, 

[General Orders No.3.] 

Jackson, June 1, 1875. 

The following-named officer bas been appointed in the Mississippi State militia 

during the month of Mar,. 1875: 

Wilkinson Oounty.-William H. Noble, colonel First Regiment Infantry. By order of the c.ommander-in-chief. 

A. G. PACKER, Adjutant-Gt;neral. 

HEADQUARTERS STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, 

.ADJUTAl.'IT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, 

[General Orders No. 5.] 

J acl.:son, June, 1865. 

The following-named officers have been appointed in the Mississippi State militia 

during the month of June, 1875: 

Lowndes Oounty.-M. A. Brownlee, captain Company A, First RegimentTnfantry; 

T. H. Smith, first lieutenant Company A, First Regiment Infantry; D. 1•. Moody, 

second lieutenant Company A, First Re~ent Inftmtry. 

The follow in~ resignation in the Mississippi State militia has been accept-ed during the same period: 

Grenada Oounty.~une 17, 1875, Firat Regiment Infantry, C. P. Lincoln, colonel. 

By order of the commander-m-chief. 

A. G. PACKER, Adjutant-General. 

HEADQUARTERS STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, AnJUT~·GENERAL'S 0F111CE, 

Jackson, October 1, 1875. 

[General Orders No. 7.] 

The following-named officers have been appointed in the Mississippi State mill· 

tia. during the months of August and September, 1875: 

War·ren Oounty.-William French, colonel Fourth Regiment Infantry, Au~t 

12, 187i. 

FIFTH DIVlSION.-Brigadier-General William F. Fitzgerald, of Hinds County, 

September 15, 1875. · FIFTH DIVISION.-Staff of brigadier-general.~ ohn D. Beaird, assistant adjutant- general, with rank of major, Warren County, September 2'~, 1875; WirtJ rihnson, as- sistant surgeon-general, with rank of major, Hinds County, September 24, 1875; 

William R. Davol, assistant quartermaster-general, with rank of captai{l, Warren 

Uounty, September 27, 1875; John J. Rohrbacher, aid-de-camp, with rank of captain, ii.inds County, Septem~r 27, 1875; Marion Smith, aid-de-camp, with rank of 

captain, Hinds County, September 27, 1875. 

Warren Oounty.-R. J. Temple, r.aptrun Company A, Second Regiment Infantry, September 27, 1875. ' 

Staff of major-general.-M. B. Sullivan, assistant adjutant-general, with rank of 

colonel, Bolivar County, September 24, 18i5; Wil.lia.m H. Uompton, assistant sur- geon-general, with rank of lieutenant-colonel, Hinds County, September 24, 1875. 

Hinds Oounty.-J ohn W. Clingan, Cft.ptain Company .A., First P..egiment Infantry, September 25, 1875 ; John U. Rietti, first lieutenant Company A, First RegiJllent 

Infantr:v, September 25, 1875; Matt F. Ash, second lieut.enaJrt Company .A., First 

Regiment Infantry, September 25, 1875; Charles Caldwell, captain Uompany A, 

Second Regiment 'tiuantry, September 25, 1875; Eugene B. Welborn, first lieuten- ant Company .A., Second Regiment Infantry, September 25, 1875; Porter Kelly, sec- ond lieutenant Company A, Second P..egiment Infantry, September 25, 187!t; Green 

Tapley, captain Company B. Second Regimentin,fantry, September25, 1875; Uharles 

Morgan, first lieutenant<..:ompany B, Second Reg~ mont Infantrv, September 25, 1875; 

Johri F. Duncan, second lieutenant Company B, Second Reghnent Infantry, Sep· 

tembcr25, 1875; Nath.mielD. Sneed, colonel Second Regiment Infantry, Septem· 

ber 27, 1875. 

Lafayette Oounty.-Victor W. Thompson, colonel First Regiment Infaniry, September 28, 1875. 

FIRST DIVISION.-Staff of brigadier-general.~ohn C. Heidelbert;, assistant adju· 

taut-general, with rn.nli o£ major, Lee County, September 30, 1875; Clinton C. Jones, 

assistant quartermMter-~eneral, with rank of captain, Lee County, September 30, 

1875; Joseph M. Bynum, assistant surgeon-general, with rank of major. Alporn 

County, September 30, 1875; Henry M.G. Spencer, aid-de-camp, with rank of cap· 

tain, Lee County, September 30, 1875; Green M. Maddox, aid-de-camp, with rank 

of captain, Tippah County. September 30, 1875. 

:By order of the commander-in-chief. 

A. G. PACKER, Adjutant-General. 

HEADQUARTERS, STATE OF MISSISSIPl';", 

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OJ<'l'"ICE, 

Jackson, November 1, 1875-. 

[General Orders No.8.] · 

The following-named officers have been appointed in the State militia during the 

month of Octooor, 1875: 

SIXTH DmsiON.-Brigailier-General Harris P. Hurst, of Pike County, October 

2, 1875. 

SIXTH DrnsiON.-Stadf of brigadier.genera.Z.~ames C. Lamkin, assiatant adju· 

taut-general, with ra.nK of major, Pike County, October 2, 1875; Frank Strong, assistant surgeon-general, with rank of major, Amite County J. October 2, 1875-; Charles P. Hosmer, aid-de-camp, with rank of captain, Pike IJonnty, October 2, 

1875; Moses Jackson, Msistant qnarteFmaster-general, with rank of captain, Amite 

County. October 17, Ul75. · · · Warren Oounty.-Adam Bowie, captain Company .A, Second Regiment Infantry, 

October 5, 1875. 

Hinds Oounty.-William C. Mosely, captain Company D, Second Regiment Infantry, October 7, 1875 · John W; Chase, first lieutenant Company D, Second Re¢- ment Infantry, October 7, 1815; William Williams, second lieutenant Company D, 

Second Regiment Infantry, October 7, 1875; E. L. Gilliam, capta~ Company E, 

Second Regiment Infantry, October 7, 1875; Thomas Stevens, first lieutenant Company E, Second Regiment Infantry, October 7, 1875; Robert Williams, second lieu- tenant Company E. Second Re~ent Infantry, October, 7, 1875; George D. Nixon, 

captain Company B, First Re~~ment Infantry, October 9,1875; E. W. Partin, first 

lien tenant Com pan~ B, First .ltt'gin;lent Infantry, October 9, 1875; C. E. Marshall, 

second lieutenant Company B, Fii'Ilt Regiment Infantry, Octo her 9, 1875; William 

Iverson, captain Company C, Second Regiment Infantry, October 11, 1875 r Edgar · Gordon, first lieutenant Uompany C, Second R~giment IDfantry, October 11, 1875; · Oliver Cromwell, captain t:ompany F, Second Regiment Infantry, OcWber 11, 1875; 

Virgil Clark, first lieutenant Company F, Second Regimenl: Infantry, October 11, 

18i:i; Cornelius D. S. Parker, second lieutenant Company F, Second Regiment In· 

fantry, October 11, 1875. De So'o Oounty.-Albert D. Thompson, colonel First Regiment Infantry, October 

11, 1875; Jefferson J. Evans, lieutenant-eolonel First Regiment Infantry, October 

11, 1875; Thomas A. Leon, major First Regiment Infantry, October 11, 1875 ; James 

F. Pratt, adjutant, with rank of first lieutenant, First. Regiment Infantry, Octo bel' 

11, 1875; Horace H. Hillman, captain Company A, First Reaiment Infantry, October 11, 1875; Calvin S. N esl:lit, first lieutenant Company A, 'First Regin:lent Infantry, October 11, 1875; Henry Odpm, second lieutenant Company A, Fll'8t Regiment Infantry, October 11, 1875; John W. Farmer, captain Company B, First Regiment Infantry, Octo her 11, 1875; Thomas McCain, first lieutenant Company B, First 

Regiment Infantry, October 11~ 1875; James McLaughlin, s~cond lieutenant Uompany B, First Regiment Infantry, October 11, 1875; Henry Rogers, ca.'t>ta.in Company C, ]'irst Regiment Infantry, October 11, 1!375; Jerry Powell, first lieutenant 

Company C, Fii'St Regiment Infantry, October 11, 1875; Charles H. Knowlton, sec- ond lieutenant Company C, First Regiment Infantry, October 11, 1875. 

Yazoo Oounty.-Albert T. Mor~a.n. colonel First Re~ment Infantry, October 11, 

1875; First Regiment Mississippi CaviiJry, Uolonel Eugene H. McMich!l.el, of Wil-
5286 CONGRESSION1\L 1\ECORD-SENATE. ~UGUST 8, 

kinson County, October 11, 1875; Lieutenant-Colonel John G. Mills. of Holmes 

County, October 17, 1875. 

Amite Oounty.-Charles P. Nelson, caJ?tain Company A, First Regiment Infant<ry, 

October 11, 1875; Henry J. Lilly, first heutenant Company .A. First Re,!riment Infruitry, October 17, 1:,75; T. N. Lafayette Anderson, second lieutenant Company 

A, First Regiment Infantry, Oot'>ber 17, 1875. 

The followin,e; appointments ha.vo been revoked during the same J>eriod: 

Warren Oounty.-R. J . Temple, captain Company A, Second Regrment Infantry, 

October 5, 1875. 

Hinds Oounty.-charles Caldwell, captain Company A, Second Re,!riment Infan. 

try, Ootober 21, 1875; Eugene B. Welborn, first lieutenant Company A.. Second 

Regiment Infantry, October 21, 1875; Porter Kelley, second lieutenant Company 

A, Second Regiment Infantry. October 2l, 1t175. 

By order of the commander-in-chief. 

A. G. PACKER, Adjutant-Gtmeral. 

The State militia ha.vin"' been t.hus or~anized preparatory for the campaign, an<l 

the officials being among the most notonous and unscrupulous partisans, black and 

white, of the State adminiatration. ~reat alarm was created among the white population. The negro companies, oilicered by negroes, largely predominated, and 

threats were freely made by their orators that the slaughter of tho whites would 

be completed from the crndle up, if necessary for their success. (Speech of Brig1\tlier-General Gmy, reporkd in testimony of W. A. Ferguson at page-; also tes- timony of Mr. Putnam, pago -.) 

AR a consequence, rumors fiew thick and fast. The prepl\mtion of t.he governor 

and his arming of the negro militia. were on every tongue, and caused the deepest 

distress an<l apprehension among all cbsses who sought to preserve the peace in 

the State and friendly r elations between the two races. 'l'hat such rumors were exaggerated there can be no doubt, for it was the interest of the Ames party and of 

the negroes to make proclamation of an organization and power which they knew 

they did not possess. The effect was to increase the insolence and insubordination of 

the blacks and intensify the discontent and the apprehensions of the whites. The arms to be furnished by Governor Ames were a.t the expense of the State, and the 

whites were loft t{) their private resom·ces to obtain arms neceRsary, as they believed for their self-defense. A feeling of excitement was engendered that grew 

each (lay in force. Intimidation Wa8 thus openly propoi!ed, and proposeu to men not likely to bo intimidated and totallymisunderstoou in their course by the men who were assundng to rule them. Thus It seems that violence, bloodshed, and force, as the only arbiter of the election, wero first suj!gested in a time of profound peace in 

the St.'\te of Mississippi, by Governor Ames and his political associates. (See page 

334, deposition of Frank Johnston: pa!!e 472, deposition of E. Barksdale.) The 

practice of carrying arn1s in Mis~<issippi amon.,. all classes is almost universal, and 

there were but few witnesses who appeared Y>efore the committee who were not so equipped-one, 1\ Mr. Chisholm, a leading republican of Kemper County, 

promptly producing his weapon for the inspection of the committee, and the justices of the peace and constables declaring that it was a part of their official costume. It was testified by----, at page- and-- --.at page-, that after 

the wa.r the desire to obtain arms among the negroes was almost universa.l, and 

that the sales of weapons to them, especially of shot-guns, was very much in excess of what it was to the whites. 

Not only were the white people of Mississippi threatened with the or..,.anization 

and use of the armed ne)!1'o militia in the coming election, but the armed' forces of 

the Government of the United States were held in terror over them for a like purpose. Mr. Warner, chairman of the republican State execu.tive committee, at page -, states that, inrme£liately upon the holding of t.he re-publican State convention at Jackson, in--, 1875, a resolution was adopted vesting him with an authority to appoint. a com.l;llittee, with himself as chairman, to visit Washington and call upon 

the President fo r armed aid to the republican party in the ensuing canvass, which 

resolution, and the action of the committee under it, shows the character of the 

campaign which they intended should he waged in that State. It may be here 

mentioned that the prevalent idea among the negroes and the handful of whites 

who led them in Missis ippi seems to be that the Federal Administration will at all times exert. its armed n.uthority for the purpose of retaining them in office: and 

it was in the hopes of such intervention that the application referred to was made, 

and which, as we believe, has largely promoted anc.l induced the complaint-s which 

led to the constitution of this committee. The experience of prior elections had 

been favorable to this belief. (See pa..,.e- of testimony.) 

Question. Wa-s it a fact, then, that tile military arm of the Government was used 

in his election in favor of one party ~ 

Answer. Yes, sir; the troops were sent to various parts of the State at that time, 

and persons were an-C:~ted and thrown into prison ; and the effect oft he use of troops 

against men who were opposed to that. party had very great influence in con troll· 

inl!' and determining the election. 

Q. I would like to ask that fact, whether the Army of the United States has been 

used as a party agent in the afthlrs of Mississippi, and if it has been so felt by the 

party to which yon belong 1 

A. Yes, sir; it has been so felt, for it was felt in that election, and tbe military 

<'ommander was seen to go into a political organization and pledge his support to its eandidates; and the troops wero placed in \"arious portions of the State without 

any ostensible caase other than their pres6llce would have tha.t efi'fiCt. 

The democratie conservative party of Mh;sissippi, in the platform adopted at their State convention ou the 3d of August, 1875, contained the following propositions: 

"First. The recognition of civil and political eqBality of all men as est.'\blished 

by the Constitution of the United t:itates and tile amendment~ thereto. 

"Second. Fa\'Oiing the education of all the children of tlie State in public school, 

susta.ine<l by adequate taxation ; but opposition to extravagance or partisan administration of said schools." 

Tile thirteenth cordially invites the voters of all the people. of both races to unite . vigorously 1\';th them in the approaching canvass. (See page- of testimony.) It was by this convention tllat the democratic executive committee was organized, 

and J. Z. George appointed as chairman. • Thus opened the campaign of 1875. It is in. proof, by almost every witness who was examined on the subject, that the negrdes were organized in clnus, Ilaving a quasi military organization in every county in the State. Clubs, also, of white people were formed, and the parading and marching, with the use of fiags, drums, 

music, cannon for salutes or the explosion of anvil~ rude substitute for cannon- became general throughout the State. 

Much of tile alleged intimidation of the colored people by the white population was claimed to be from causes like these, which could only have operated upon mintls of 

the most childish character, and would bo ridiculed if propo~ed with the same in- tent in any part of the Northe1n St.att's. This cons_titutional timidity of the colored 

population was frequently and ~rrav ly ur~ed as entering into alle~ed violations of 

the fifteenth amendment b,v white men, who fired off pistols in the air and ex- ploded anvils at night on their return from meetinj!S throu~h the country. At 

page 112, A. Parker, republican sheriff in Amite Comity, testtties as follows: 

Que.'ltion. You may stato whether or not th6Se outrages bad the effect of intimi- datin~ tbe colol'ed voters. .Answer. Tboy certainly <11<1 , sir. I am satisfied that for a month before the election tb ro was not a wcek-uay or a Sunday that colored people did not come t{) my residence or to tho comt-bouse, and t oll rue of these nsits to their lJ,ouses, and ask 

my aclvico as to what thoy f:honl(l do. ancl rlid It hiuk they would be'killeil, and all -SI!ch inqtlirit :; as that'. Of course I encouraged them all I could. I will state~s 

J my candid opinion that there were no less tl1an fixe hunclred "Den who lay in b~ woorls the greater part of the night before the election. Thoy would stanfi in line at the polls, and drop asleep standing up. on account of not having hall sleep the 

pre\' ious night. These democratic clubs were organizrd into sqnafls, n.nfl each of 

thcl:!e squads had ~wo anYils. They would go to a little rising place in t-he road, 

and put these anvils down, and shoot them off ten or twelve times, and sh ot their 

sh?t-guns1 yell, and go on , anc;l s_top a mile. per~aps fartl1cr on, and ropcat the same t~mg a.p: lT~. We could hear It m every rllrection from t own, ann it sound<'d ju~;t 

like war times. The colored people, when thrse squa<1s would be approachin~ 

tlH'm, shooting and :telling, would of course imagine tha t they were gom"' to kill 

them, and they would slip out and get into the woods, and lav hid until morn in~!. 

In the morning they came in one at a time, and found out no ono had boen killed. 

This was done on tile night before the election, and findinp:out that nothing 1'ions 

bad been done, and tllat this was only a trick to frighten til em, they came up tQ tho 

po]lg and \"oted, anti we polled a larger vote than we had polled before since the war; both democratic and republican. 

Perhaps the best proof that can be offered of the real intent and spirit with which 

the democratic and conservative canvMs was organized and conducted will be fouml i~ the telegraphic corr_espondence b~tween Mr. Geor~e. the chairman of the execu- bve committee, and his party assoCiates throughout the State, who communicated 

with him during the canvass. This corre.<>pondence, although not referred to by 

an.y witness nor in any ~ay supposed to be co~ected with _the subjects to be inqmred of by the committee, was, by tho order of the comm1ttee and against the 

formal and recorded protest of the undersigned, made public for the lJUrpose of 

sustaining the charges of lawlessness and outrage against the democratic party of 

MiHsissi ppi. Mr. George had not been made a witness j none of the parties who were his correspondents bad been made witnesses; but the whole correspondence was seized and produCfl<} in bulk before the committu, and is to be found on pa"es 380 to 420 of the testimony. "' ~t it he borne in ~ind that thrs~ communications were aU SU]lposed by the 

Wl'lters to be eonfidential, and that. thetr contents would never be made public. 

It will be difficult for any mind, however pr~judiced, to construe any portion of t~s telegraphic correRpondence so as to favor the suspicion that lawlessness of any 

kwd was looked to as an element for the success of the democratic party in that canvass. From first to last there is nothing but what is creditable to Mr. Geor"'e and his democ~tic c'?rres,Pomlents !_b.'~ honorable, peaceful, and la~·abicling citiz n~<~­ We do not beUtwe It will be po~s1ble to torture any of these dtspatche intQ any ?~her meaning. Tho dem~nstra~on of General Ame_s ~ organizing the negro milItia, the openly expressed mtention and threat of brmgmg Federal troops into the srate to COD~rol the election, DO doubt Op~rated to Create a COrresponding ant.aj!'O· 

ml:!m and bitterness, and suggested that It should be met by force. The "race issues," which Governor Ames nas reoo~ized, and upon ono side of which he so promptly and vigorously ran~ed himself with all his official powers, were un<loubtedly a_ggravatedand intensifieu. CollisionswereconstantlythrOiltened, and yet few, 

remarkably fow, under all the circumstances, occurred. 

In endeavoring now to give a reliable account of the acts of violence and blood· 

she<l which were proven before the committee as having occurred in Mississippi 

during the summer and autumn of l875, we deem it hardly necessary to make ex- pression of the intt>nse and hearty reprobation which we, in common with all mon who respect and >alue Jaw and order and humanity, necessarily felt, and now feel, 

upon every occasion where Yiolcnce and crime were committed. Stern repression 

and prompt punishment are the just measures to be dealt out to all such otf,·nders, 

without respect to race or color or station in life, and for all such criminals and 

transg:essoJ s we invoke duo punishment at the ha~ds. of ~hose who are the repre· 

sentativcs of the Government whose laws need vmrlication. But while we propose in every pro\"en case to condemn the guilty, we do not propose to allow reason- able proof to be replaced by reckless and malicious assertion or rumor· nor do we p1:opose to condemn a w:hole community upon the tc~timony of men, ~onfe scdly 

Without character, who live upon slamlers and trade upon abuse, instigated, ns manr of such characters werowho appeared before the committee, by a miserable facti?~· whose h!!pe of .prolonged plunde! and se1f-e~c~ont lies in 'keeJlin,cr nr a condmon of public exmtement and fannmg the pr~U(hces and hat• eda of i:Jy-informed citizens of the North against the wliite people of the South. We confidently 

believe that when knowledge of the truth as it is, and sad though it may be in many 

respects, of the state of affairs in Mississippi, !!hall possess the minds of the people of the Northern States, the occnpation of the miserable cla.ss of slanderers to whom we have referred will be JlOneforever. 

It is for this reason that we sinCt'rely deprecat,e such utterances as are contained 

!n the speech of the honorable Senator fi·om Indiana, [.Mr. llOUTON,) and delivered m the_ Senate by him: when ur,!ring tile adoption of the resolution by which this 

committee was anthonzed. No fact stated by that honorable Senator wa.'l upon his 

personal lmowledge, and the source from which he obt-ained llis as~umed faots was disclosed by the deposition of Captain Fil:!ber, to be found at page 533. 

~y Mr. BAYARD: 

Question. Is no~ thQ..t a. copy of Mr. MORTON's speech that you have there 7 

Answer. Yes, su·. Q. Didn't you furnish these extracta to him 1 

A. I furnished some of them. 

SENATOU !lORTOY'S SPEECH, AND WHO HELPEIY TO COMPILE THE EXTRACTS IN I~. 

Q. I observe, in reply to a question put to you, first in respect to the Clinton riot, 

and next in re_gard to certain qnestions in i·oference to the taxation of tho State, 

that you consulted a '(lamphlet; ha.va you it 1 .A. Yes, sir. [Witnl'ss bands pamphlet to Senator BAYAUD.) 

Q. This purports to be a speech delivered by Mr. MOitTOY in the United States 

Senate in January, 1876. 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. I suppose when you read the extract from the Raymond Gazette you obtained 

if from that speech I 

A. Yes, sir. · Q. And you looked for information in regard t{) the taxation of tho State to the statements in that speech~ 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. \ ou read your testimony from what you found there¥ 

A. I refreshed my recollection on a few points from what I found there. 

Q. Did you or did you not read from that speech when you gave your answer1 

A. I did, sir. 

Q. Did you or <lid you not read from that speech when you were questioned in 

regard to the proceedings of the Clinton riot, and the number of persons killed at that time¥ 

A. No, sir; I did not. I endeavored to find a pa~uraph taken from the Forest Register, in which it stated the number killed at Clinton-the For~::st Register k a democratic paper-but I do not find the para,"'taph. Q. Did you, as a. matter of fact, make that political compilation in there from 

thll democratic presl:! of Mississippi 1 

A. I assisted m th~t compilation.' 

Q. Who assisted you~ 

.A. Well, sir, there were extracts furnished by different gentlemen . Q. Name those parties. 

A. Judge Alcorn assisted in a portion of the compilation. Q. Tilat is Mr. r..obert J. Alcorn 1 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did yo a prepare them 1 Where were you at that time i 
i876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 5287 

A. I was l.n this city. 

Q. Were th~y prepared in this city~ 

A. 0, yes, sir. 

Q. To whom did you furnish them 7 

A. Well sir, they were furnished to Senator MORTON. 

Q. At his request~ 

A. I was requested to furnish to Senator MoRTON all t.he evidence that I could 

ohtnin showinl! the character of the election and of the canvass in Mississippi last 

fall. I told h1m that I should be very glad to do that, and that I mi~bt be able to furnish some extracts showing the temper of the press, which be said be would be 

very gla1l to r ecei,e. .Ancl r proceeded to do so; and a portion of what you see h ero is tbe result of that labor. 

Q. Did yon seo him personally and furnish these to him at his request 9 

A. Y<>s, sir: I did. 

Thus it '''ill be seen that, while bein~ examined as a witn('SS, Captain Fish!3r 

based his replies upon tho speech made by the honorable Senator; and y~t be admits that he himself had furnished to the honorable Senator the statements con- tained in that speech; that he had not personal knowledge himself, but that the 

spcel'l1 was prepared in the city of Washington from the newspaper-clippings which 

b A, Fi her, as the editor of a patiisan paper, had made from time to time in the State 

of Mississippi Thus, if Mr. MORTON quotes Fisher and Fisher quotes MORTON, the com bincd authority of the two can be no greater than that of eitber, and either and 

both rest entirely upon mere hearsay ana information for the assertions which are di1!Uified by the utterance of a Senator in Conwess. 

During tbe canvass that preceded tb0 election of November 2, 1875, there were four political disturbances ending in the loss of human life and bloodshed, in regard to which mncb testimony ha.s been taken uy the committee, and which have mamly sen·ed as the hasis for tlie wholesale accusations against the white people of Mississippi with which. the public press and the ears of the northern people have been 

industriously filled. 

I. A riot at Vicksbnrgb on the occasion of the celebration of the 5th of July, 

(the 4th of July bappenint; on Sunday) II. The riot of Yawo City on the 1st of September. HI. The riot at Clinton on the 4th of September; and 

IV. Friar's Point on the 9th of Oa<'.ober. 

In regard to the Friar's Point riot, tbertJ is no testimony whatever except what 

is contained in t.be statement of Governor Ames, at page 26, and of Senator Alcorn, 

at page li7. Governor Ames charges Senator ALCORN with being personally responsible for those occurrences. This he does upon the information of others, not having been personally present; but Mr. Alcorn, who was peraonally present. gives 

in full the history of his participation as a leader in that whole affair, and divests 

it entirely of such political significance a~ is referred to in the resolution appoint;. 

ing this committee. 

Hetestifit s that the difficulty originated in the party schism between his adher- ents and those of ~vernor Am~'s, in which the democratic party, or, what is the same thing. the white people of Mississippi, hatl no share. He statest....a.t page 69, 

the cause of the riot, which was, bis personal difference with John ilrown, the 

11egro sheriff, antl the organization by Brown of a large body of armed nea;roes, several hundred in nom tier, well armed and approaching the town of Friar's Point, 

threatening to sack and burn it. 

Mr . .Alcom organized a. force, and with his "double-barreled shot-gun" beaded 

the<lefenso. Tllo negroes wero tlisperRed at first by the forces of Alcorn withont 

lo!<s of lifcor wounds on either sido; but tho murder by the negroes of a respact· 

a.ule young white man. by the name of Scot.t. who was mnocentry attending to his 

huffiness and taking no part in tho trooblo, letl to a. retaliation by the Alcorn party, 

aml be s11ms up, at. 11ago 71, the result of the conflict: 

Two white men ru:sasRinated by the negroes, one other shot himself accidentally, 

aml nine colored men killell by the Alcorn party. 

Deplorable and dreallful as the occwTence seems to have been, and public as it ~aR, and well kllown to Go,·ernor .Ames, who bas furnished the committee with 

Drown's communications to him on the subject, (and which are to be found at page 

20 of tbe documentary evidence attached lot.' the testimony,) yet no action seems eve!' to have been taken by any of the civil aullh.orities of Mississippi to vindicate 

the law, and, so far as tho testimony of Senator ALCORX discloses, no member of the 

democratic party was concerned in the transadion. Whatever may be the lawle;;s 

aml dreadful character of this collision, it is J>roved beyonrl doubt to ht~.ve been <lisconnected with al!y trouble growing out of the clemocratic-conservative organization of Mississippi. It. sboulil not be forgotten that Senator ALCORN is aatrennous republican ancl ally of General Grant's administration, and that the democratic 

party of Mii:IBissippi have no more <letermined opponent. 

The Jiot at Vicksbnr(l'h on the 5th of July is tltated by every witness who has 

been examined to have \)OOn entirely unpremeditated. 'I' he colored people met at the court-bouse on the morning of that day for the performance of patriotic exer- cises. Among the audience was Carrlozo, tho negro superintendent of education, 

and wbo was also to have been one of the spealiers on that occasion. He wa.s the 

E>ditor and proprietor of a newspaper published in Jackson, in which, it seems, be 

had as8ailed Judge Cowan, a citizen of the county. Judge Cowan and Cardozo met at the railway station at Vicksburgh on the morning or the 5th. .An al.terca.- tiou took place between them by reason of the scurrilous article by Cardozo and a collision ensued. Cardozo was assisted by a white man named --, and with 

his aid, the attack of Cowan was foiled aml Cardow got off in safety and 1'6\'-Ched 

the court-bouse and took his place in the meeting. A few young men, supposed to have been friends of Cowan.,. followed him to renew the conflict, and finding there ---. who had interfcreu between them at the depot, an encounter too. k place 

in which--- was shot by some one unknown to any mtness who testified. 

The testimony discloses (see dt~position of--, pa~e -, and the deposition of --, at pa~re-) tbat but a single shot was firocl in tue buildinj!, whioh resulted 

in the wounding of--, who lias since absconded from the State. After the 

shooting of --the meeting, composed chiefly of colored people, scattered in ~reat confusion. Shots were fired over their heads, one of which struck an old colorcll man who was on the sidewalk, not concerned in the meetin~. and caused his 

death. The indignation of the men who bad sought Cardozo cQntinued; search was made for him, but he was se(;reted in an upper portion of the building and 

filially managed to. escape unhurt. The mayor of tho town, Dr. Leary, appeared 

promptly on tho scene and soon brought everything to order. The riot bad 1ts origin in the personal encounter between Judge Cowan and Cardozo, bad no feature 

of political intRnt, antl the loss of life was confined to the old CC>lored man, who was shot accidentally ~y some unknown person. The person who was wounded in the 

court-bouse was prown to be avery disreputable man, and was either a bar-keeper or the partner of a negro who kept a low drinking-bouse. He having absconded, m• proceedings have oeen taken against the person who shot him, nor i8 it known 

whether his wound is dangerous or not. The disturbance of tbiR innocent and 

peaceable assembly was undoubtedly outrageous. and deserves the greatest repro- bation; but it is impossible to believe that It was in any way or <leg;ree connected 

with party politics. It was a ~ross breac.h of the peace, which should have been 

promptly arrested, as it was, and severely punished by the civil authorities, as it wa;~not. 

The n.ffray at Yazoo City took place at a club meetin~r of the republican party held at Bedwell's hall on tne tstof September, 1875, to which members of all parties W<'re inYiW. The speaker wa.s A. T. Morgan, the sheriff, and a oanilidate for .re- election, who says: 

'' Thf're were present .. perhaps, half a dozen white republicans aml fifty colored, 

and perhaps half a dozen or more democrats." 

An altercation took placf'l, growing on t of some remark of the speaker which was rudely contraaicted by some one in the audience; pistols were drawn and fired, and 

the ball was soon emptied; the result of the melee being the killing of Mr. B. R. 

Mitchell, a white man, and the wounding of Foote, a colored man. (See testimony 

of Foote, at page-; also of A. T. Morgon. at ~age-.) 

This was the beginning and the end of the not in the hall; but the condition of 

feeling which probably gave rise to the riot did not end with that affray. Ya.zoo County contained an overwhelming majority of colored people. Its go,ernment) 

judges, clerks, sheriff, SU)lenisors, justices of tho peace, constables, jnries-grancl 

and petit-prosecuting officers-all were in the bands of the republican pa1 ty. Mr. 

Morgan. who was one of the chief actors on this occasion, was the antQcrat of his 

party in that county. He belli the office of sheriff at one time. and was a camlidato 

for re-election. He appeared in Washington before the committee to assail his political opponents in Mississippi. Mr. Morgan has been in Washington employed, as he says, as a claim agent for several months. He was in communication with 

the majority of the committee for weeks prior to their departure for Uississippi. 

His testimony could readily have heen then taken, and some opporttmity thus afforded for calling witnesses in reply, but be was withheld until the return of the 

committee to W ashin~on, and examined at the very close of their sessions. He 

stated, at page-, that he went to Mississippi at the close of the war, rented land~, and commenced plantinJr, but from various causes failed and was sold out, 

and became insol•ent; that he was receive1l with the greatest possible kindness on every hand upon lJis first comin"', but soon lost hiR popularity with the whito 

people. to whom he became exceedingly obnoxious. He-omitted to inform the com- mittee that be had marriP..d a colored woman, which fact was stated by Dixon ancl 

Foote, colored witnesses, and his political associat.es, at pa~e -. Upon his fail- ure in business he immediately embarked in politics, anu bas thoroughly con- trolled the county ever since. Attorney-General Harris, in the letter hereinbefore 

cited, classes him among the disreputable associates of Governor Ames, and says 

that when a State senator, be offered to sell hi'l vote for $2,000; that Raymond, 

the State printer, refused to pay it, saying that be bad already paid him $900, and 

that was enough for that vote. Morgan was also chairman of the late republican 

State convention. 

The marriage, to which wo have allnfled, and his evil repute encouraged a political associate named Hilliard, and a. former sheriff, to run against bini for the 

nomination of sheriff. The convention nominated Morgan · but Hilliard bolted 

and ran for the offic0, calling to his aid whatever opposition he coultl muster. At 

the end of the election in 1874, Hilliard, bein~ in office, refnsed to give it up to Morgan, except upon terms to which Morgan refused to accede, and claimed that 

Morgan bad not qualified according to law. Morgan proposed to take possession 

of the office by force of arms, and did so, and killed Hilliard, who resisted him, an1l 

with his party friends shot other adherents of Hilliard. This riot, occurring at the conrt~house, invol•ed none but members of the republican party. (See deposition of Foote, page-.) Those who were killetl and those who killed them were alike repoblicanR. No democrat was conccrnotl in it; but the friends of the mur- dered man caused the arrest of Morgan, who was committed without bail, waiving 

any bearing before tho committing magi.Rtrate. He immediately, bowe•er, sued out a writ of habeas corpus before Chancellor Dreman. who, after a. bearing of five 

flays, refuse1l to discharge him on bail, antl re<'A>mmitted him tQ prison. Morgan was then, at l1is own request., removed to the penitentiary at Jackson. He was, as his correspondence with Governor Ames shows, (see pages 102 and 103 of the documentary evillence,) on terms of close personal and political intimacy with Ames, 

ancl, accordin,g to the letter of Harris, the attornc:v-goncral, .Ames rem'oved Dreman 

because l1e refused to bail his friend Morgan, an<i. appointed Walton chancellor in 

plaoo of Dreman, who thereupon proceeded to hoar the application of Morgan for a dischar~e, aml dischar)!ed him on a reco:rnizance of $5,000. Morgan re-appeared 

in Yazoo City, obtained possession of rJs office, and having political control of the countv no indictment was found against him or any of his friends for the murder 

of Hiiliard or the shooting of Hllliard's friends until the county passed into the 

democratic banos by the result of the election of 1875, when an indictment for mur- der wa~ found a~ainst him by a grand jury, from which intlictment he is to.day a fugitive in the mty of Washington, and appears as a. witness before tbe committee 

of the Senate tQ assail the community whose Jaws be has outraged. That Morgan 

killed Hilliard mnst have been found by Chancellor Dreman when he refused, 

after a. hearing of five days, to dischar,ge him on bail, and the testimony of Foot.e 

(see page-) testifies to the same fact. How far the condition of feelin~ which 

led to the riot in Yazoo City on the 1st of September, 1875, had been brought about 

by the lawless action and defiance of all order by Mor~~n himself and his political 

associates is not easy to determine; but that he was nimself a gross transgressor 

there can be no manner of doubt, and that such a man would never be permitted to obtain or retain office in the Northern States, we believe to be equally true. The wei~ht of the testimony of such a witness we submit to jnst public consideration. 

Tne Clinton riot was productive of more public excitement than the three other 

riots which we have described. It has been t be subject of more exaggerated state- ment than all the other three combined, and the facts attending it can now b6tjltated with a reasonable degree of certainty. A political meeting at which a. barbecue wa~ to be had was called at Clinton, a village on the Vicksburgh Railroad about 

twelve miles west of Jackson, the capital of the State. To give celebrity to the 

OCcallion, ~vernor Ames and other leading memhers of his party were announced to be speakers, and by an arrangement democratic speakers were also invited and a portion of the time for discussion allotted to each. It wa.s intended to be a granrl 

demonstration on the part of the republicans, who attended in large numbers, estimated at from eighteen hundred to twenty-five hundred, of whom upward of twelve 

hundred were men. The whites were a mere handful, by the best informed wit- nesses supposed to be from shty to seventy-five, republicans and democrats. 

The number of white men who participated in the fight that ensued wa.s probably from ten to fifteen. The parade of the republicans, composed wholly of colored men, was unnBllally large and carefully arranged. Eight btmdred and ninety moun ted colored men were counted by Captain Montgomery in the procession. (See 

his testimony, page 543.) 

NUMBER OF WHITES AT CLISTON liEETING. 

Q. How many white people do you suppose were present at the Clinton meeting, at the original meeting ~ 

A.. At the barbecue 1 

Q. At the barbecue. 

A. I think not over twenty-five or thirty; thirty at the outside. 

NU.MBER OF COT.ORED PEOPLE AT CLINTON MEETING. 

Q. How many colored people 1 

A. I counted eight hundred men in line, cavalry. 

Q. Besides that, bow many ~ 

.A. Besides that there were, I reckon, four hundred or five hondred on foot, besides women and children. I don't know, but I reckon there was a crowd ef two or tluee 

thousand altogether. 

Q. You went np to be one of the speakers, bot did not speak¥ 

A. Yes, sir; I did not speak. 

Q. Yon were entirely unarmed' A.. Entirely so- while companies on foot to the number of many hundred were counted· by the same witness. Many, perhaps the majority, of these men on foot and horseback were armed, and thlB processipn so formed moved out. of its necessary line of marc)l; to the place of barbecue, and paraded thrQngh the ~'':ll. ~f·Clinton. The place of 
[\ 

5288 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. AUGUST 8, 

speaking was on a hill just outside of the town and near the railway station. The 

s_peaking was commenced by Juuge Johnston, a democrat, in a very tempcr-at.e and 

conciliawrv speech, as described b v every witness who was examined. He was 

followed by Captain Fisher, u. republican; and during the remarks of Fisher a collision took place Lletwecn a young white man and a colored man, about ono hundred yards from the speaker's stand. 

Comments bad been made upon Fisher's remarks, and rude contradictions of their 

truth by one young white man named Neal, from the town of RD.ymond, standing in a group of two or three of his companions not many feet from the speaker's 

stand; but Captain Fish or in h1s testimony, (see page :>36)- Q. Was your speech interrupted by the shooting or disturbance that occurred or were you interrupted by remarks made 1 

A. I do not know that any remarks were made t() me; if there were I did not ·bearthom. 

Q. We have had a great deal of testin10ny about the Clinton :t.ffa.ir, and the witJlesses wero not certain, when you were speakin~hwhcther you beard tht>se interruptions noticed by men standing by, and I thoug t I would ask you whether you 

beard them or not .. A. I hoard, subsequently to the riot, when I got home, that such expressions had 

been made in regarcl to portions of my speech, or as having r eference to myself; but I llid not hear them, and if 1 had heard them I should not likely have paid any 

attoention to themdistinorJy says that he did not hear these remarks, nor was his speech interrupted by an:vthing· t.hat was said in the crowd, but that the inteiTuptiOn to his speech arose from the affray between the white and the colored inen to which we have re· ferred; that the wh1 te man in question had a bottle of whisky from which he bad 

been drinking-, and wbicbno doubt was tho proximate cause of theaffi:a.v that then 

took/.lace. Immediately upon the collision between these two a pistol-shot was hear , and there is conlhct of testimoay as to the person who fired it. It was immediately ii(>llowed b:y a general di~charge of fire.arms, and in the m8lee, which 

caused inten-se confns1on. two colored men were killed on the spot anrl four or five were wounded. The ne~oes were rallied and commenced ptll'suit of the whites, 

who, in a g-roup numbenng about eleven men, retreated from the field. 

Martin Sivley antl Thompson. white men, were overtaken, killed, and their bodies 

mutilated. Thompson wa..'l found in the 1mblic road, nearly a mile from the scene of action, shot through the head. Charles Chilton was killed in his own yard, and, as it appears by the testuuony of Captain Montgomery, (page 54J)-

A.BOUT THE WffiTE ME.Y KILLED. 

Q. Did you know any of them~ 

A. No, sir; I did not know any of them. 

Q. Black men or wblte men 1 

A. They were black men that I saw there, just l.ving there, :md we afterward 

found the body of Mr. Sivley and Mr. Thompson and Mr. Chilt()n. Mr. Chilton was shot right near his house-the very man I had t'loken dinner with, and there was not a more quiet, inoffensive man in our county. It was Charles Chilton, the 

brother of John Chi! ton, w bo had before that been an active republican, :md a leading republican of the na.t.ive Mississippians of our county; and at that riot he 

threw up the sponge; he said be ha!l given $100 in money and in beef, and the 

heart's best blood of his brother that day, and he was done. 

Q. By whom was his brother killetl1 .A. By the negroes. Q. How far from the original scene of the riot 1 .A. Right at his own gate he was shot; that was one hundred yards, I suppose. 

Q. Was be in the affray 7 

A. No, 11ir. The.re wa~~ such a stampedE~ and rush that the negro men were rid- ing and ruunlng over their women and children; and there was such confusion and 

ballooing toot he ran out to his ~ate. He carrieu his gun with him, though, whlch was very natural ; ancl he banded his gun ton negro boy standing by him, and said, 

"Take this." Now, that is the w~.v tho t.rilllg was told me. He was standing 

there helping the women aml the children u~to his yard to t tl1eD1 out of the way 

of the stampede and of the horses, and as he turned his back somo of the men in 

the road fired and shot him. .After finding that there was no armed body on tho 

t()p of the hill and several men from the town be~au to a.<>sembl~but before that 

time the negroes ball gone off in companies, and they seemed to be assembling, and 

I thought we had better make for the depot, and .e;et possession of that, aud send 

for asslStance t() some other point to holp ns-for I thought it was very llkely that 

there were not wblte men enough there to hold the town against the negroes, should 

they be disposed to attack it-which we didwas endeavoring t.o let the black women and children into his yard to escape the press 

of the crowll behind them when he was shot. Captain White was shot, stabbed, 

and left. for dead. Rice, Wells, Wharton, an(l Rollinson, white men, were all 

wounded, with others whose names are not obtainable. 

The excitement of the scene ana consequent c.onfusion created the wildest and most. vriant rumors. • The negroes wore reported as massing at a short di:;tanco 

from tlie town, proposin a to attack and destroy it. Their declamtions nnd cries 

dllring the conflict had 6'een of an alarmin~ diameter, and spread great dismay 

among the citizens. Instantly tho telegrapn was put in requisition, and boilies of men at Vicksburgh, Jackson, and Edwards's Station basttly met together, armed 

with every variety of ~eapon, and taking the train reached Clinton on the evening 

of Saturday after the not bad occurred and the negroes had left the town. A ha.'lty attempt at organization was made by the election of Captain William 

A. Montgomery to tho command of this unorganized and hastily collected force to the number of several hundred. Captain .Mout{?:omer.v testifies (see page -) 

that he immediately caused a mounted patrol, lea by him in _person, to ma.ke a circuit of the town and ascertain whether any immetliate attack from the negroes was to be apprehended. He discovered no one, and no shot was given or returned 

between his party nnd the col?red men, nor wns thero any collision or disturbance 

wbatlever. He returned t() Chnton where the white men had collected under arms, and 1inding a want. of subordination among them be resizn~d his position as com- mander, because be would not take the rfl ponsibility of prMerving tbe'peace with- out ha\-ing the power to do so. 'l'hisi11much to be regretted, forbythetestimonyof 

all witnesses who have made any reference to Capt:un .Montgomery, as \vell as by 

his own testimony before the committee, he is evidently a. man of high and cool 

courage, of generosity and integrity of character. 

Thus left without a leader and det>ply excited by the events of the day, infuri· 

ate<l by the murder and muti:atiou of their white 'friends, mob. law soon became 

triumphant ·among the whites collected at Clinton. The white men killed are shown to have been estimable and popular citizens. Chilton met his death while 

tndeavorlng to protectt the colored women and childr('n, and had handed his gun to a colored man in his employ at the time he received hisdeath·wouncl. Atpage543, 

Chilton is pro,en to ba\e sent J.rovisions down to aid the colored people in their 

barbecue. .Martin Sively had no connection with the commencement of the affray. The numbe1· of woundecl whites was unknown, and was doubtless enormously ex- aggerated. As a consequence, the more ' 'iolent and lawless of the men who bad 

collected undrr arms obtained the ascrndencv. They visited the homes of the ne- groes in the vicinity of Clinton who, they ha·d been informed, had been connected 

with the affray :mel the ldlliug of their flitmds, and outrageously took the lives of seven or Pigbt of 1 hefle men. It was the rei_gn of terror and lynch law in that nt>i~hborbood from late on Satnruay night until Sunday morning. .Aft<lr that time no oisti.nctly authenticated case of murder growing out of the Clinton riot was 'es1alllished bofure the committee. 

Tho circum_::tauces of t.ll.J riot were carefully and diligently examined by Mr. 

Frank Johnston, of the town of ,Jackson, together with 1-t:r. Chilton and Jnrl;,1;e 

Cabinis, within a. few days after the occurrence. Diligent inquiry was instituted 

by these gentlemen, and a number of affidavits from white ana colored men, dem- ocrats and r epublicans. were taken at the time and at the towu of Clinton. Mr. 

J olmston was examined before the committee at great lon~th, aml appended these 

affidavits to hia testimony. His cross·examination dovoleped nothin,(!in contr:.wen- tiou of the conclusions at wl1ich he bad arri>ed in September, lf!75. His deposition will be found at pages 329-378 of the tes<;llnony, and the reliabillty of his statements is att~sted in the strongest terms by all tho republicans who ha\e beon examined 

in relation to tl1is affair. Judge .Alderson says of Mr. Johnston, at page 30ll 

l>y Mr. CAlffiRON: 

Q. If Mr. Frank Johnston made a. statement that he had made a thorou~h exam- ination, would you condudo that that was absolutely true or merely tha.t ue really believed that be ball made a thorough examination¥ 

A. I woulcl not conclude anything; but whatever Mr. Johnston would investigate and state upon his word of honor, that I would give credit to. I do not know s. man for whose moral worth I have a higher respecL than I do for Frank J obnston 's. 

And his high character is equally atteste<l by Judge Swann, Mr. Estelle, aml 

every republican witness who was examined in regard to the Clinton transaction. 

His profession is that of a. lawyer, and his residence within twel\e milr.s of the scene of disaster. So that we feel justified in accepting tho statement of facts and 

the conclusions of Mr. Johnston ns perfectly true and reliable. Hoissustained in 

substance by nearl,v every witness who was examined. Captain II. G. Fu;her, who was the compiler of Mr. MORTOX's speech, and was ono of tile speakers at the barbecue. stated his difficulty, even after the most care- ful investigation, in ascertaining reliably the names of more than four or five colored_men who lost their li\es on the occasion. There seems to be no just reason t() 

doubt that the collision was entirely unpremeditated, certainly so on the part of 

the whites who were present, as it wouM have been little less than madness for twent.v·fivo or thirty white men, not more than half of whom were armed, to have 

precipitated a confi10t against such overwhelming odds. (See Fisher's testimony, pal!:eS 521 t() 52.1.) . As an illustration of the absence of any anticipation of difficulty on the paTi of 

the whites, we refer to the wstimonyof Captain Mont.gomery; (page 541,) by which 

it appears t.hat, having been asked to fill the appointment of another democ'rat who 

l1ad intended to speak a.t Clinton, be attended tho meeting without even a pocketknife upou his person, and that., taking tile train from Eel wards's Station to Clinton 

in company with Harney, the colore<lsheriffof tho county, he remarkod in replv to au observation of Harney that ho was totally unarmed, but that he believed tba't of 

tho posse of twenty-fi\e colored men whom lhrne:v bad on ooard, t.wenty-four would 

be found to have weapons upon their persons ana upon an examination by Harney 

it was found to be true in tbe caso of moro t.han two· thirds. (See page -·.) 

It will bel>ornoinminll that thisa.ffra.yoccuiTingbetween a.merebamlfulof whites 

and a large and organized body of colored men wno were to meet in the prt>.sence of 

the governor of the State, their peculiar and especial champion. who had to usuhis own words, "united his fortune with theirs;" who held the entlre exccuti\O power of the State; was also in a p01iticalstronghold of tho republican party whieh con- trolled every peace officer; tba .. , every means of repressing or punishing disorder was in the hands of officialR of that party ; thtlt within twelve miles was a force 

of United States troops encamped for tho alleged puryoso of snppreRsina riot.. It seems impossible to believe that snch a collision could be brought on by tho minority under such circumstances with a view to produce political effect. Such a. view is irreconcilallle with any suggestion of human motives of which tho undersigned havo any knowledge. It may here bEl noted that Major Allyn. in command of the United Stat-es troops 

stationed at Jackson. was at Clinton on tho night of the riot, (see pa.:re 331,) and was in J hokson during tile sessions of tl1e committee, in intercourse with the maJority 

of the committee, but not examined as a witness. This, wo bclio\e, comprises a. list of tho pul>lic disorders prior to the election 

in relation to which testimony Las been taken l>y t.he committee. There are othPr casr·s of homicide anti violence, to which we shall hereafter refer. The munlcr of 

William P. Raffa,, a whito man, as uet..'liled l>y his wife at pa.p:e 483, and by t.ho tos· timony of Capt.ain Montgomery at page 547, occurred on t-he 6th of September. This murder of Raffa. seems to ha\e bcon an atrocious crime, and two important 

facts appeax in the t-estimonv of h1s widow a.nd tlaughter, (see pages 483-490.) ouo of which is thefailuro in public duty: which cost Raffa his <lamages in a. civil snit 

against two partit's nametl llush, who bad nssnultod him-was that of I .. ake, are- puWican United St.ates official at J aukson, (see pago 487 ;) and, secondly1 that tho names of t,he persons who murdcrecl her husbancl are ·well known and g1ven, and 

tilnt she went to Governor Ames with her sad story. 

1Vhy. may it be a~ked, did not Go\"ernor Ames order the arrest and trial of oue or all of these murderers1 The only notice he seems ro have takon of Mrs. llatra was a very moderate subscription, to the more lil>eral one already maue by Captain Montgomery, a. democrat. · Mr. Raffa would not appear to have been altogether the blameiess citizen floscribed (naturally) by his widow. 

Capt..'lin W. N. Montgomery testifies, nt pRges 547, 548, as follows: 

A.BOUT MR. BAFFA. 

It 'las about that time that Raffa's death was reported. 

Q. 3t.a.te what you know about tha.t. 

A. I don't know anything auout it of my own knowle(lge. I knew .Mr. Raffa. 

Q. Who was he 1 

A. He was a. man that was from Chicago, bronght there by Dr. R.obinnett, fort he 

purpose of working on his farm, some seven or eight years ago. I got twenty at 

the same time myself. 

Q. Twenty what 1 

A. Twenty laborers from Chicago at the same time, white men; and, by the way, 

the last one of t.bem ran off .a.nd stole a.ll my mules, and I lost every cent that I 

made. 'l'his man Raffa. was one of them that Dr Robinnett got. He worked about 

three clays witb Dr Robinnett, and then went to William Bush's and hired himself to a negro man who wa-11 renting from William Bush. After living there two or three weeks and doing a good deal of mii!Chief, Mr. Bush and some others went over there and took him out and ga.ve him a flo~gin~. and .Bush was up l>eforo the 

United States court,, but the suit was dismissed. This flogging placed Raffa. in a. 

position to get office fmm tho negroes, and at the next election he was elected to the Legislature. H~ was then a magistrate, and bad been for several years teaching school there. I know notbing a.tiout him except what the neighbors there said. 

He was a >ery bad man, I judge, ~"QI!l everythin~ that wa.s said about him. 

Q. Do yon how what his reputation among tne blacks was~ 

.A. I recei\eda dispatch inquiring for some one who could testify in regard to the 

Raffa caso from here, and the firstman tha.ti inquired about was a. negro man living on my place, who brought the dispatch from the telegraph office to me-[ live fh·eor 

six miles out iu tho country. I asked him if he knew anything about tho killing of 

Mr.Haffa ; amlhesa.ys, ".N'o, sir, I don't; butheoughttoba.vel>een killed long before 

hewa ." I said, '·Why,Ithonj:!bthe wasagoodfrirndofyours'l" Hosa.ys "~o 

sir; he done too much steallng in this conntry, and be ought to havo been killed 

long a15~· " If t.llis will be allow u as testimony, I will say what tbis negro told me al>out .uaffa. lie says, '·Well, sir, when be was elected magistrate be sc.nt for all 

Qf us t() come up and get our mules that the Government was going to give to ns, ~d he said that it took ~5 apiece to get t11e mules and pt~.Y the frei,!!ht on the 

mules." And he said that they gavehiDl $5, about two hundred of them, but that 

~ I 

( 

{ 

( 
l 

~ ,.. 

1876. CONGR~SSIONA1 RECORD-SENATE. 5289 

he did not give $5, as he did not have it· and at the time appointed to get the mules 

they cnme there, nnd Mr. Raffa said that they had so many m~es for ~he blacks 

down there, and. they had such a ~eat long train of them, tba.t m passmg underneath a tunnel the whole thing caved in and killed every mule, and they lost 

their $5. . I smd, "You are surely mistakf'n J you are joking about that." He says, "Joking! 

I am notjokin~; I can get you a ao:ren men in five minutes that gave him f5." 

Well, on inqmry I found that his reputation wa.s very bad among the negroes, 

although be nad been elected to office by them. 

Q. Do you know anything of the circumstances of his death I 

A. Nothing in the world. 

Q. Did you hear of it at the time I 

A. Yes, sir; I beard of it; and why it should be done for politica~E~ses-1 

bave no idea. that there were any political purposes or object in the · · g of Mr. 

Haifa, because he had many £allings.out with his neighbors; he was a terrible man to fall out with his neighbors, and they had all sorts of difficulties with him. 

I have no idea tlmt there was any politics in the killing of Raffa in the world. 

1t was not on account of any politjcal differences of o:pinion that Raffa. was killed. 

Q. Had lou any application from Mrs. Raffa for assiStance 9 

A. I ba ; and paid her $50 at Edwards's Depot. She came there and applied to me for MSistanoo, 

NEGROES ORG.lli"IZED AND MADE :trrfi"Y DEMONSTRATIONS AND THREATS AFTER CLINTON. 

After this difficulty was over in Clinton the negroes organized in companies 

throughout Hinds County, and made many demonstrations and threats to make an attnck upon the town ana kill all the peop1e; s~nt ?n. wo~d that they were going to commence from the cradle and go uv.~ Well, srr, livmg m such a country as I do, 

it is well calculated to arouse a mans fears, if he has got any. I live on a public 

road, myself and one other white man, and there are seventy-six negro men on the 

road and only us two white men; and it is very reasonable that if they wanted to hurt us they could do so. 

THE WHITES ORGANlZE TO PROTECT THEMSELVES AGAINST THE ENCltOACHME~iTS OF THE 

BLACKS. 

We organized ourselves into oompanies for protection then against these negroes, 

into military companies. I was captain; was elected to take command of five or eix of them, in different parta of the county. It was simply and purely for protection; not for any political purpose in the world, hut to protect ourselves against 

the encroachments of the blacks. 

HELP TO MRS. HAFF A. 

Q. Why was this application made to you by Mrs. Hn.ffu 7 

A. As being in command of this military company. I suppose she was sent tome by some one. She was inquiring about where she could get assistance, and she was sent to me. She told me that Raffa's father waa a man of considerable wealth 

and influence, and that when she could get home she would be cared for, and she 

wanted to ~et her family out of the country; and I banded her $50. Where she went I don t know, and I have never seen her from that time to this, and I never saw her before. 

Q. Was that a gratuity of your ewn to her, or did you owe that money to her 

husband? 

A. No, sir; I never owed the money to anybody. After I handed her the money some of the men there in the neighborhood went around and got up a subscription. 

This does not in the least lessen the crime, but may have weight in assigning some other cause th:Jn political pr~udiceas the ori~ of his murder. 

The result of the Clinton not and the affray at Yazoo City had the effect of aggravating the excitement and feeling between the two races. Instead of causing 

tbela.w to be respected by a prompt and vigorous use of its powers, it would not appear that Go.vernor Ames and his State administration took any of those steps 

which un«ier a government of laws a ruler should have taken to punish the offend- ers and prevent the recurrence of wrong. We have not been able to ascertain that a prosecution was ever set on foot agamst any one connected with these riots, or any attempt whatever made to apprehend and punish any of the wrong-cloers. On 

the contrary, it would appear from the .order-book of Governor Ames, which was produced before the committee, (see testimony of E. Barksdale, p. 468,) that his 

favorite and only remedy-the bayonet-was looked to by Governor Ames. On the 

24th of September a circular letter waa addressed by Ames to the republican sheriffs of cert.ain counties in the following words: .. SEPl'EMBRR 24. 

" Sm: I am directed by his excellency the governor to inquire if any militia or- ganizations are needed in your county to assist the civil officers i 

"Are there any threats from the opposition, that, iu your ,judgment, will be car- ried into effect; and if so, will it be possible to hold a quiet and peaooable election ¥" 

It will be observed that this lett~r was not in response to any applicat.ion for aid, 

and had evidently not beenlreceded by reports from any quarters of violence, 

either actual or apllrehende . Governor Ames was plainly seeking for information that would 4uetify, or rather give him the pretext for the use of armed militia. 

He inquires "if ' there were threats from the opposition, and whether, in the opin· 

ion of his a,:rents, such threats would be carried mto effect; aud "if so," whether a peaoea.bleelection would beheld. Nothing could more stron_gly show tho tP.mper 

and intent of Governor Ames than this spontaneous, unsu!!~ested solicitation of 

opinion from his parti&an sheriffs, for no such inquiry was dfrected to any but his 

political confidants. 

The answers to these circulars do not appear, but the su_ggestion no doubt was acoopted and produced the desired results. Tl.te negroes were thus informed ·that 

they were to receive armed protection, and that they were to be armed theDISelves 

for political purposes. 

In a speech niade by the colored bri~adier-general, Gray, when he returned to WashingtoJl Countv alter an interview with GOvernor Ames, to which allusion has 

been maile, the ann"ouncement was publici~ made by him that Governor Ames was to give the colored militia arms to secure the election; and such no doubt was the 

information given in other parts of the State. 

In pursuance of this policy of intimidation and violenoo we find on the 6th and 

'7th of October special orders published by the adjutant-general, which clearly ex- plain themselves: · [Special Orders No.lO.] OCTOBER 6, 5. 

Brigadier-General William F. Fitzgerald, fifth division Mississipl'i State militia, 

will order Captain W. C. Mosely's Company D, Second R~giment Infantry, Hinds 

County State militia, stationed at Edwar1ls's Depot. as soon :LS arms and ammunition are distributed to them, to report at Jackson, Mississippi. 

By order of the commander-in-chief. 

A. G. PACKER, Adjutant.Gener~. 

[Special Orders No.7.] 

OCTOBER 7, 5. 

Lieutenant-Colonel 0. L. Lee, aid.de-camp on the staff of the commander-iii-chief, 

is hereby ordered to proceed to New Orlenns, Louisiana, to make nny and all ar- rangements with the N. 0. Lt. L. & C. R. R. Co. for transportation of troops and 

supplies of the Mississippi State militia. .., By order of the commander-in-chief. . "' 

A. G. PACKER, Adjutant-General. 

And also the following correspondence: OCTOBER 4. 

DEAR Sm: I ain directed by his excellency the JrOVernor to inquire if it is possi· ble for us to obtain~ for transportAtion of (300) three hundred men and equipage 

for two hundred more. The equipage will require a box-car. The time for using 

the train to be fixed at a day Wlthin the next t:wo weeks. Train to rnn from Jack· son, Mississippi, to Vaughn's Station, and to relll&in under orders until the men are returned to ,Jackson. 

Very respectfully, 

A. G. PACKE~, Adjutant-General. E. D. FROST~, 

General N..oMgttr N. 0. A. L. ~ 0. R. R., _New Orleu,m, LouiriaM. 

0cTo:J:JER 4. 

Sm: Yours of tho 3d ultimo received. General orders are issued for the militia 

of the State to enter active servioo; your offer -will receive due consideration. 

Very respectfully, 

W. R. STEWART, Esq., lrirkwoo~JC~~~pt 

A. G. PACKER, .Adjutant-General. 

OcTOBER 1. 

SIR: Can yon furnish iive thousand (5,000) rations of pork or bacon and bread 

under the autl:wity granted by the Secretary of War for the militia of this State 1 

If possible, amp immediately to William Noonan, superintendent State peniten- tiary. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

The COMMISSARY OF SuBsiSTENCE, 

A. G. PACKER, Adjutant-General. 

Department of the GUIJ, New Orleam, Louisina. 

SEPI'EMBER 2. 

Sm: I am directed by his excellency the governor to transmit the inclosed du- plica~ ~eq~sitions for ordnance and ordna.nce stores on the quota of the State of 

MiSSlSSlppl. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient serTant, 

A. G. PACKER, Adjutant-General. Brigadier-Gtmeral S. V. BIDffiT, 

Ohiq of Ordoonce, Wa&hington. D. 0. 

D. APPLETON & co., 

Broadway, New York, N. Y. :-

SEPTE.MBER 27, '5. 

At wba.t price will yon furnish one hundred copies Upton's Infantry Tactics and ten sets of copies of the three different arms i Answer. 

A. G. PACKER, · Adjutrr,nt-General M~Bisaippi. 

SEPTEMBER 27,'5. Brigadier-GeneralS. V. BENET, 

Ohiej of Ordnance, Washington, D. 0.: 

Can you furnish fifteen hundred haversa.cks on our quota.t At wh3t price1 Please answer. A. G. PACKER,. Adjtuant-General Mississippi. 

Can there be any doubt of the object and intent of this corres~ondence 1 

These warlike preparations so made by the governor of the State were not onlv 

1.-nown to the citizens, but created in the minds of the colored population the belief 

that all the powers of the Stat.e were to be arrayed in behalf of their political part.y, and brouaht upon the whites the conviction that they were to be placed not only 

in &reat 8anger of losing their political liberties, but also their lives and those of 

tbeu families. The condition of feeling created by such a belief cannot be jnstl.y 

estimated and considered in the calm security of a committee-room as iu the seclusion of a country home where a. planter resides, far distant from any white neighbor, too far for the cry for help to reach any friendly ear, and J..-nows that he is sur- rounded and fearfully outnumbered by men of a different and antagonized race, n. race which, while possessing many amtableand placid virtues. is yet highly animal 

in its organization, and, once becoming infuriated, will, as history has shown .. be 

capable of brutal excesses which their reasoning powers are entirely unequal tQ 

controL 

As a result of Ames's threatened organization and arming of the black militia, 

the threats of the blacks multiplied. Their habit of meeting wa>!l always at nigbli, 

surrounded by the mystery of darkness and the refusal to hllow white people to take part in their assemblies, page 547: 

THE STATE MILITIA. 

Question. Was there apprehension in the minds of the white people in Mississippi, growing out of the organization of the negro militia by Governor Ames 1 

Answer. Yes, sir; a very grave apprehension. This militia was oraanized some time after the Clinton riot. These companies that were at Clinton that ran off from 

the scene of action, the most conspicuous members of the Clinton dot, were taken to Jackson and were organized into military companies by Governor Ames, and guns 

placed in their bands and sent back to their homes. They said t.hey were afraid to go 

back; but those who were afraid to go back had taken a \·ery active part in the 

riot, and in staying away they induced others to stay, because they knew that if they 

should go in that capacity the governor would be pr·etty apt to put them in military 

compaDiea. and they would go back home with their guns, draw tho pay of $16 a month, which was just as· good as they could llo at work at home; and of course quite 

anumberofthemostruffianly fellows wereorganizedintothismilitia, and they came down to our place. 

Q. Now, as a fact, in your county were the white companies that you speak of, ~;ncb as you commanded, organized subsequent to the negro organizations you have Q~OOof! . 

A. Y cs, sir; we never thought of organizing until we found the negroes organized 

and drilling at night for some purpose whiCh we could not tell, as no wh1te men could get in among them. They were drilling and were organized all over the county before any movement took plaoo on the part of the w bites. 

Their political consolidation is shown by every witness to have been complete 

and that so organized they were wholly and helr)Jessly in the hands of the few 

white adventurers who were their absolute political owners. On this point see the 

testimony of Mr. Walton, the present United States attorney in Mississippi, at pages 49-50: ORGANIZATION OF THE BLACKS. 

Question. What is the nature of the organization, so far as yon know, among the 

colored people1 Answer. Well, sir, it is one of those cases which, in my judgment, arises always out of the exist~nce of a class of people who are ignorant and who are comparatively helpless in the presence of a much more powerful body of people who, although they may not be stronger in point of numbers, are stronger m point of force 

and intelligence. The negroes consequently herd together. They do so publicly, 
.5290 ·CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. A"GGUST 8, 

and they do so more espeoially in secret. That is to say, there is a. silent organization, exi tin~ not professedly as an organization, but existing still, in point of fact, 

everywhere that I have ever been, which prevents the intercourse between the two races from being candid and free. 

NO MUTUAL CONFIDE~CE BETWE£N THE . RACES POSSIDr,E. 

I am, myRelf, very well acquainted with ne!!I'oes; I have always been in the 

habit of dealing with them o.greatdeal; IhaveaTwaysworked agoodmanyoft.hem; 

and I must say that my intercourse with them has been of o. character to make me believe it impossible for anything like mutual confidence on political questions to ari e between the white people ann the nc~es. I don't see bow it ever can arise, 

and I do not believe, m:ysclf, that it over will I think this is due to the enormous gulf between the races mall social relations-that con1hlcnce which springs from 

personal friendships and an unrestrained social intercourse being, in my juagment, an essential cement to a political party, and being absolutely out of the question, between the white and black mces. · Q. You speak of an organization among the negroes; what do yon mean by that ; that they are organized in bands, under the commancl of any uarticular per- sons, or that they are associated together from tho fact that they are of the .15ame race and community of interests, or both 1 . A. They are not organized in bands. 

Q. Or in <'.llmpalies, under officers, and having a general hea<l 7 

A. Well, it. ~he tlrst· place, they have their clubs,justas any ot.berpolitical organization has its ctabs. I have never been inside of one of their clubs, but then they nover have asked me, though the clubs were republican in their wme, and republican, I suppose, in their character. They have generally acted !D such a way as to leave me to believe that they did not want my presence there. Although they are quite near my house, I have entirely abstained from going there. And when 

the county conventions would meet, I have observed that the negroes in these con· ventions very strongly resisted white infl.uonoo, and consequently it became disap:reeble, inasmuch as there was such disposition, to the white people to have any· 

thing to do with tbcse conventions. It became unpleasant personally, and it prodncea an impression which it was hard t-o avoid. I have always found it practically 

impossible for me to avoitl it: the impression that these meetings meant nothing but the organizat.ion of one 1''\Ce against another. 'l'ho truth is that a white man, especially a southern whito man, bPlonginl! to the republican party, does not seem to be any more acceptable as one of their counselors or advisers tbnn one who belongs to the opposition. Although my connection with the republican party has 

been undeviating, and I believe I have escaped from any personal reproach in that 

connection, I am quite certain that my personal intluenr.e with the negroes is not a bit greater than that of any democrat in my countyj not a particle. I am quite 

certain that I was never able to influence a vote or innuence a. colored man on any 

single question of politics; which I confe~s with some mortification. Governor Ames seemed disposed to fan the flames of excitement and antagonism to thefr ut~ost height. .As an illustration of thiR it waR desired to transport some arms and munitionR of war from Jackwn to Edwards's Station, between which 

points a railroad was in operation; but Governor Amrs sent these arms, convoyed by a negro militia company, fully armed, in command of Caldwell, a colored State 

senator, to march through the cotmtry with drums and flags aml all the pomp of war. having no other result t.han to intensify the alarm already existing. (Soo 

Barksdale's te8timony, pa:.re 472.) 

Mr. Johnston, in his testimony at page 334, says, in regard to this and other a{}ts 

of Governor .Ames: 

"On all bands aTJd from all cbsses of white citizenR I heard but one expression in reference to 1his militia. wllich was that it was intended by GQvernor Ames to u e that militia to bring about a colliAion of the races, and tho expression was used 

that it was his ultimate purpose t.o afford a good pretext for getting United States 

troops here to carry the election." 

The result of Anch a course of act. ion was made manifest all over the State wherevl.'r the negroes existed in superior or approximate numbers to the whites. The 

citizens of Canton! in Madison County, turned out and picketed their t-own for 

weeks at night berore the election. (See testimony of --, mayor of the city, page-.) 

White men were afraid to let their families remain in their houses in the country, 

(see testimon.v of Captain William A. Montgomery, page 553 :) 

Question. You do not live un<ler any apprehension of their injuring you. do yon 1 

Answer. Well, for myself I will tell you; when I have seeu my neighbors run- ning off, a.ncl have sent my family away, I ha\e o;taid right in my own house on my 

place; but I mnRt say that I hall apprehensions. If lAft alone I would never havo 

been afraid of them: but I knew that there was something brought to bear upon 

them from the outside, :wd they might not be able to resist the temptation. 

Q. How many years have you been living at yo•rr present place' A. Always-since I was nine years old. 

Q. Some of those negroes were on the place before the war an<l remain there 

now1 • A. Nearly all. 

WlTNESS A~"D OTHER WHITES LIVED Vl FEA.R OF ASSASSINATION. 

Q You mentioned that you had lived in fear of assassination from the negroes1 

A. Yes, sir. I never stated thnt exactlv-that [ lh•ed in fear of assassination; I 

saitl my foors were aroused sometimes. Senator BAYAUD a.<;~ ked me if I w.a.a afraid, 

and I 8:\id that sometimes my fears were so strongly aroused. that I sent my family off. but I stuid there myself. 

Q. You may have stated that the people were living in fear of assassinationyour neighbors perhaps; was that what you me.'\ntl A. Yes, sir. 

and .evidence of this state of feep.ng will be ~ound multiplied throughout the testi 

mony. 

The apprehensions of both rnces thus excited grew to fever heat, and a condition of atfuirs absolutely ruarming to the stoutest. hearts prevailed all over the State 

of Mississippi, and at last penetratecl the mind of Governor Arne::~ himself. His 

:plans bad worked but too well. He had conjured up a spirit of despair and anx· tet.y upon tbe part of the unhappy people over whom he bad been placed in rule 

which threatened to wmp that State in flame and blood. It was no thanks to him or his atlvisers tha.t this result was not reached n.t the time or preceding the election in No•ember, 1875. From every quarter evidences reached him of this state of affairs. He bad never conciliated the people. He ball never sought to learn 

how far concession, an<l justice, and kindness, and sympathy, and a recogni tiou of 

their tasres, prejudi068, and habits would go toward procnnng good government 

nmong a people. He threatened to restore Morgan, the sheriff of Yazoo County. to hi8 place by force of armed militia; and the troubles in tl1at county, which led to tho killing of several colored republic..'l.Il leaders, the demoralization of therepublic:m forces, and their practical abandonment of the canvass, are directlv trace- able to the threat of an armed military expedition organized by Arne~ to replace Morgan by fot·ce in the sheriff's office, then held by another white republican. Tlio arming of the citizens of Yazoo County, their organization into companies, 

under the lead of their nwst. conservative anu respected-oitizeuR, in some of which 

white republicans were enrolled, was for tho a•owed purpose of resisting the ap- proach of the colored militia of .Ames, intending by force to replace Morgan, the t~layor of llilliard, in the ofiice of slleriff. When once a condition of desperation 

and excitemrnt has bC<.'n crcatefl in anv community; it is in nin to look for the rule 

of pe'lce and law. Tho porturhing force tbn.t breaks down one law or the law drstined for the protection of one man or one cl::u~s of men in a communit·y necessarily 

"· 

levels all law. It is like a fire which consumes all in its path. wben, therefore, 

responsibility is to be affixed, shall we seek the cause or content ourselves wit bilescribing conseq ue,rces only 1 Governor Ames had either ignorantl.v or willfully, 

built up a condition of animosity and antagonism between t.be white and coloretl 

people of the State of Mississippi dangerous to the safety and peace of bothJ until 

exCitement bad usurped the place of reason, and force, with its rt'.medies, nad in some few localities taken the place of law. 

There is no evidence that Governor Ames sought to exercise any of the civil 

powers intrnsted to him for the pacification of these aisordercd localities. .As 

usual, his recourse was barl to the armed power of the Federal Govormnent, and 

his correspondence with the Att-orney-General and Secretary of War aro well 

known to the Senate and the country. Failing in establishing, and being unwilling to alle~e. that condition of affairs within the Stat-e of Missis ippi wh10h alone 

under the Constitution of the United States authorizes the armed intervention of 

tho Federal Government, the scruples of the President and his legal advis r. Mr. 

Pierrepont, withheld troops from the aid of tho republican party in Mi sissippi At page 2 of r:ri)vernor .Ames's testimony he testifies as follows: . "In view of that st.'lte of affairs I applied to the President of the United Stal.es 

for the protection of the United States, which was not granted. Subseqnentlv, the 

.Attorney.General, I presume at tho suggestion of the President, sent au agen't and two detectives at my request." We may pause here to condider this new feature in .American «overnmcnt. There is no such power known to the Constitution or laws of the United States as the employment by the Attorney General of the United Statetl of clotective!! to inquire into and report the police condition of an entire State. Tho governor of the 

State confessed by his application that there was no one capable and sufficiently reliable to judge of and report upon tho true comlition of affairs in his own tate; 

and three men, entire strangers to the people of Mississippi, were sent among them to examine and report whether a. st,'\te of affairs existed which would authonzo the 

interposition of the Federal Go•ornment by force of arms in the local disorders of 

that St·ate. What J?OSsi.ble authority can be urged for this attempted delegation of 

the highest discretionary power veste<l in tho executive of a State 1 

About tbe Pth or l Oth of October, Mr. Chase aniserl in Mi~t-~is ippi, and took up his abode in the gubernator1al manRion with Mr. Ames. Ho has been examin()(l as a witness before tho coDllDittee, and his t estimony will be found at page-. What· ever may be t.bo oyiruons of the irregularity of his mission and its W!\nt of con- stitutional or ]ega warrant, all well ·meaning men will concur in a SPntiment of sat- isfaction that he was sent. Ho states that lie found the Stat-e of MiA issippi in l\ 

state of J,lrofound and dangerous oxcit.ement., the two races armed, readv and liable to collis10n at any moment, the State administration totally without lnfluence or power to restrain the pa sions of either side. He discovered that t.be governor of 

the State had not even a.. pe1·sonal acquaintance with the ll\.'lding and most infl.ucn· 

tial white citizens who were leaders of the democratic and conservat.ive organiza.· tion, and his first effort was t-o bring them into amicable council and personal ac- quaintance with each other. (See pa_!!e -.) 

Tho result of his offices was to produce an a[I'eement anomalous in .American 

hiRtory and highly suggestive of the stat-e of an.:t.irs into which Governor· Ames's 

maladministration baa brought tho State of Mississippi. There waR a committ .... e of tbelea1lin~ white citizens of Hinds and some of t.be ad.ioining counties held on the 16th of October, 18i5, t-o whom Mr. J. Z. George and others, who had ju11t had an interview on tl1e subject of political aff.'tirs with GQvornor .Ames, statell tho re- sult of such int('r\i.ew, that he had receiYcd information that it would bo 1.g:reeable to his excellency Governor Ames to have a. conference with some of the citizens of 

tho Stat{\ iu i·elati.on to the :present condition of :tffa.irs, and in accordance therewith l1e bad arranged for au mterview, which bacl just taken place. The citizoas attending were Joshua Groen, D. Shelton, E. Richardson, J. W. Robinson, H. Hilz· 

helm. T J. Wharton, Frank Johnston, J. C. Rictti, Robert L. Saunders, G<.'neml 

Robert. T.owr·y, W. L. Nugent, anll J. Z. Geor~ . · The inr.e1·vlew hacl been full and frank on the part of the citizens ancl the gov- ernor, ancl the govemor announced to the committee that in cou. equenco of Colonel 

A. T. Morgan·R refusal to go back to Yazoo County, he hadabaudoued the purpose of sending hi'll there with two companies of militia, ono white and one coloretl, 

which had been his original purpose. and that he had also countermaniled an order 

for guns t-o be shipped to De So to County. After thls a conference ensued bet.ween the ci1 izens and the governor in relation to the disbandin~ of the militia. Tho citizens, in response to fears expressed b.v 

the governor that peace and good order would not be preser•ed~ and that colored men would not be permittell to Yote as they pleased, assured tno governor that 

there was no other desire among the whites than tbat peaco should be preserved, 

the laws enforced, and a fair election ha. l; that the leading whit.es bad all along 

inculcated this; and they also assured the governor tl1at tliey would pursue this course until the election, and would, both by precept and example, do 11ll in their 

power to preserve peace aml good order ana secure a fair election. 

The governor sai.d his whole object in calling out the militia. was to preserve order and suppress disturbances; that he was originally opposed to arming the 

militia, QDd under all the circumstances aR he dcemel it waR forced to do so ; that 

in view of tbe statement of cttizens ho was willing to meet thllir Yiews as far a.'! 

he could, and to this end he promised that he woulcl order all the militia companies which had been organized to disperse and go to t.beir hom··s with their arms. ll•tt on further oommltation it was a~reed that the arm~<lf the several compauie.q organized should be deposited in dE~pots in the nei~hborhou in which the companies w<'re 

raised, and sbonlU there be guarded by United St-ates troops to be detailed for that 

put-pose, and to be under t.ho control of t.he governor, and to be removed only by his 

orders; or, if United States troops coulcl not be _gotten, then the arm were to be 

guarded by men solected and agreed on by the governor ami. Mt·. George: that the arms shonld not a~ain be delivered t-o the militia except in case of riot or insurrection which could not be suppressed by the civil authorities. Tho citizens above 

named expressed themselves satisfied with the arrangement. After this report 

and some discu8sion, the following resolution was adopted: •• .Re.~olved, That the foregoing citizens and also the following aclditional gentle- men, to wit, Messrs. William A. Mont:romer.v, E. W. Cabinis, 'r. C. U<~tchin6s, 

Goorge G. Manlove, A.M. Harlow, Colonel Gilhrath, Dr. Moore, and Jud~o. Ches- ter be requested to go w Governor Arne~ aml tender the thanks of tho meetm!! for wh~t he has doue, and represent to him that it would bo better and more satisfactory if he would agree that all the arms should be W!ardetl in Jackson." 

'i'he committee waited on Governor Ames, and he declined making any change 

of the arrangement which had been agreetl upon between him and the citizens. He was asked if arrangements with the citizens included the idea that no more militia 

woulfl be organized. He answered, "that nothing was said on that subject ex:- preRsly, but it was his purpose and intention to organize no more." 

The' committee returned to the meeting aml marle report of the second interview, 

and what was done was deemed satishctory, ancl the meeting then a.cliourned after 

requesting the report of the interviewers with the governor to be retfucell to writin!! and marlo public. The effect oft.hiR a~reementllr,as it bas beenconstantlyt<>rmerl by tbe witoesRoR, 

"treaty of peace," was hitrhly favor-able to a. better confljtion of thiu!!f!, aud clid 

much io alhy the excitement nnll J.>Olitica~ ~ntagonisms which Wl'J'e Ao rifo at t.b;~t 

period.. Some of the result'! of this conmliatory course wt~re shown b.v the nornt· nation of joint committees by tho two parties in seveF.tl of the countic upou the 

fair basis of compromise and good j!Overnment. .Men of character, repnblirau and .,Pemocrat~J, were thus placed upon the same ticket in Madison County ancl in other ~ounti , and, as a. con8eqnenco, no further collisions of a ser ion naturo t<lok place during the remaintler of the ca.mp11ign nml inclu.iug the da~· of election. The eleo-

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1876. !JONGRESSIONA-L RECORD

- SENATE. 

tion day itself wM marked by an absence of even the usual personal collisions ~bich take plac~ in almost every community in the United States when p..'U'ty ex- Citement runs h1gh. 

An answer to the general allegation that voters were intimidated from casting 

their >otes is to be fotmd in the pregnant fact that the republican vot.e in the State 

of Mississippi in 1875 was within ,~91 of the vote polled at the last preceding general election in 1873. (See election tables in the testimony of Governor Ames at pages 37 and 38, and documentary evidence of the committee, pa~e \144.) The com- bined vote of Ames and ALCORN for governor, in 1873 (see page 138 of documentary evidence) was 126,378, and the total vote of both partif'.s in 1875 was 155,886, showinJZ an increased total vote throng-bout the State of 29,508. 

It is abnndantly e~tablished that for the first time since 1868 the democratic-conservative party was perfectly united and thoroughly and well organized, and con- ducted their campaign with an nnprecedented interest and vi~or. The republi- cans, on the other hand, were, as we have shown, disorganized and discoura~ed by 

schisms in their party, many of them, black and white, thoro-o.ghly disgnstea with 

the conduct of their 'rulers, and, to use the language of Judge Ranis, heretofore 

cited, were convinced of the "imbecility and base corruption of the St.'\te administration and a few adherents." 

There can he no don bt also that a considerable and encouraging inroad was made 

in the heretofore impenetrable phalanx of the colored vote, a. considerable portion of which wa.s cast for the democratic ticket in Hinds County, the offici.1.l residence 

of Govemor Ames himself, as well as in many other connties, which reasonably and fully accounts for the increase in the democratic vote and the changes. In- crease and changes in vote even more remarkable can be fonnd in the election returns 'of the States of Massachusetts, New York, and Indiana, not to mention 

other States, in the election of 1874. 

The whole number of witnesses examined by the committee was ----. Their testimony relates to twenty-two counties, leaving fifty-one connties in the 

State in regard t~ whose affairs no fact of any charader was alle~red before the 

C'.ommittee. Of these twenty-two counties the chief portion of the testimony related to Warren, Hinds, Monroe, Chickasaw, Madison, Lowndes, Claiborne, Amite, 

Ya1oo, and Washington. · . W(trren County-Warren Connty, which contains the city of Vicks burgh, is one of the most popu1ons and wealthy m the State, having a white population of --- and a negro population of--. There were-- witnesses exanlined in relation to the aftairs of this county, which may be summarized as follows: 

That which gave rise to most turbulence and disorder in the spring of 1875 in the coont.v was the contest between Bedford, the white deputy of Crosoy, the negro sherift' and Flanagan, a democrat, both seeking to obtain the nomination of therepublicans and the indorsement of tlle republican convention. (It wm be remem- bered that Flanagan was the person whom Ames displaced by force of nrms from 

the office of sheriff in 1874, and by the s:une process re-established Crosby, whom t.be citizens had rejected. This gave rise to the "Vicksburp:b riots," wh1cb were fully investigated and reported upon by a committee of the Honse of Representatives.) In tlie course of the contest to obtain this nomination there were several 

homicides committed by the respective partisans of Flanagan and Bedford, and 

there would seem little doubt that Flanagan's nomination by the republican con- vention was in a large degree influenced by terrorism. 

The cases of homicide wore --and one of wonnding. 

In all of these ca-Mes indictments have been fonnd and prosecutions commenced. 

The perpetrators of tbest- crimes were known and have been arrested and held to bail to be tried iil. due course of law, and it is t~ be hoped will be duly punished. 

These crimes did not differ in their nature or their facts from such as are incident to any illy govemed community, and their parallel can be found too frequently in 

the lower strata of politics in many of t.he northern cities. '.fhere is, however, no trace of testimony which can be jnstl:y relied upon to connect t-he commission of 

these crimes with the democratic orgamzation or its objects 'l'he respect.'\ble men viewed these crimes in MiHsissippi with the sa.me abhorrence they are viewed elsewhere. 

'.fhe election in Warren Connty in November, 1875, was characterized by the 

grossest frauds, and it seems impossible that such should not 'ha.ve been the ca-se. when the character of t.he men deliberately selected to control the en1ire machinery of election is made known. The thl'eeregistrars of election into whose bands the 

abRolute control of the entire election wns committed were appointed by the circuit judp;e, the chancPllor, (both republicans,) and sheriff •f the county, respect. 

ively. The chief registmr was a man named Knaedler, republican. He was se- lected by Cit·cuit Judge Brown. Barber, republican, the second registrar, was selected by Chancellor--. P~~ram. democra'\ the third registrar, was selected 

by ~edford, Crosby's deputy sbetin'. The characters of these three men were sim· 

ply mfamous, and not{)rlOusly so. The judge who selected Knaedler had presided at his trial and sentenced him to imprisonment for life for willful murder in the spring of 1875. A writ of error bad 

been allowed by the supreme court, pending which .Knaedler was admitted to bail, was appointed chief regi~trar of the county of 'Varren, and received a free pardon 

for his services at the elecl'i.on at the hands of Lieutenant-Governor Davis (colored) a few days after the election. (See page- of tel!timony.) He admits that a thousand dollars was promised, of which $500 wa.~ paid, to compensate him for the loss 

Of his II busineSS'' in pelforming the dutieS Of registrar, the ray Of $:J pel' da,y be· 

ing insufficient. Barber was under indictment at the time o his appointment by 

Cliancellor ---for high way robbery; and Pegram was a notorious professional gambler of a very low grade, a)!ainst whom indictments were also pendin;;. 

The testimony of a aozen witnesses discloses the strong probability, if not the 

absolute fact, that these cnstodians of popular rights, by the1r manipulation of the tally-list.~ and returns and stuffing of the ballot-boxes of the enti1·e cmmt.y, pro. 

cured a return as if elected of a pre-arranged ticket, composed partly of republicans and partly of democrats. (See page -of testimony, deposition of --,) 

This ticket contains some names on the regularly nominated tickets of the democratic and republican parties, but other names which were not in nomination by either party, among whom is H. e. Carter, a colored man, who is now a republican member of theLepslatnre. The ticket so returned as elected was style1l by the 

witness the ''bogus ticket," and was proven to have been printed on paper of apeculiar hue, but precisely the same as the paper of the regular republican ticket, 

the typography and ink of both tickets being also preci8ely similar. It was P.roven 

(see deposition of --Richardson, page-, a republican,) that the com.1mttee t~ 

procure tickets consisted of W. W. Edwards, colored, and --, colored, who went to New Orleans to have the tickets printed, and brought them back. 

'.fhe identity in outward apppearance between the 11 bogus ticket" and the regu- lar republic'ln ticket leaves little room to doubt that they were printed at the same time, on the same press on the same paper, under order of this republican com- mittee. Of the time and place of stuffing the ballot-boxes and altering the tallylists by the election officers there is no conclusive proof; but there canoe no doubt 

that a wholesale fraud was committed, and that a ticket not voted for in t.he connty was returned as if elected. There was testimony by Barber that some money was found in the ballot-boxes when opened, wbi.ch Pe,2:ram put in his pocket. It may be mentioned t.ba.t the circnit,jmlge, Browu, was a cand1date for nomination by the repnblicau convention for Congress at the time he appointed Knaedler 

chief repstrar. He and the chancellor wore both appointees of Governor Ames, 

who beul in his band power to remove either of them. He could have done so, and could have canceled iliea.ppointment.q of these three infamous registrars; but 

the political rights of the people of Warren cot.mt.y wero thus put up for sale 

through the &{rency Qf the republican State administration, and being for sale, w6 

presume, tlley fell, as usual, to the lot of the highest bidder. Tho laws of that State 

5291 

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5292 CONGRESSIONAL REQORD-SENATE. AU:GUST 8, 

I 

sinate me. I tlwu~bt it would be too great a political blunder, so I really had no feelil!g of that kina; but since then I have been informed that the thing was smiously considered. People were seen firinl!: into my mansion, and the trees were cut. There is a bullet-hole or two in various parts of the mansion." 

Q. This testimony, spme of it. at least, referre<l to the democratic conservative 

meeting which was held here, in the city of Ja.ckson, on the 27th of October, just before the election. 

A. Well, I will state th:tt prenolis to that meeting, when it was known there 

would be a great crowd of persons, inspired by the enthusiasm of the canvass, when there would be banners, music, and all that sort of paraphernalia which 

gives interest to a political canva.ss, and it was determined by the democratic au- thorities that no device, no flag, uo banner, and no thing should appear in that 

procession, or in the proceedings, in any way to cast ridicule or wound the sensibilities of Governor Ames. 

A treaty of ~eace had been established, as it was called, between him and the 

democratic au.tborities, and it was felt that it was due to him that there should be no exhibition of that sort. 

DEMOCRATS W ATCRFUL THAT NO INDIGNITY SHOULD BE OFFERED TO THE GOVERNOR, 

The consequence was, that we were especially watchful that no indignity should 

be offered to Governor Ames during tha.t meeting or by the procession on the 

march. . Upon that principle on the occasion to which reference is made I myself was aDXlons to see to it that no inilignity should be offered to the governor, no hostile demonstrations of any kind, whether firing of guns or pistols, or m:~Jring 

even jesting remarks, and I took a position, before the head of the column reached 

the mansion, directly in front of the ofiice; that I might see what might occur. I 

remained there until the procession had passed. 

I do solemnly aver that if any pistol was fired, or remark made reflecting upon the governor, or offering in!lignity to him, I did not see it, and I wa.s in a position to hear and see whatever occnrreii, certainly. 

As to the :verloration of trees there by bullets, I suppose it could be verified by nn examination, but I certainly heard no pistols. I took that position directly opposite the governor's mansion in oruer to see that the pledge of peace which had 

been made should be fuli:Uled 11.nd that no indignity should be offered to the gov· ornor, because we desired the agreement should be catried out. Q. How far is tho office where you were to tho gubernatorial mansion f 

A. About two hundred and fifty yards. 

Q. You were near enough to hear any firing or any disturbancef 

A. Yes, sir. · Q. Were yon constantly at your office during the next night and for a couple of 

weeks preceding the election 1 

A. I was occasionally, not constantly-frequently. Of course it is not my habit to remain, except on such occa!!ions. 

Q. Wore you aware that for twenty days prior to the election, and two daysafterward-I be1ieve it embraced tha~tha.t Governor Ames had colored men st:1tioned 

around his house as guards, inside of his fence? · A . . I will say, personally I was not aware of it, but I heard it so state~l. 

NEVER HEARD A..'I'Y FIRING. 

Q. Did you ever hear evidence, or have any h.'llowledge or inform:Jtion, that there was constant firing at. night toward the mansion during thoso twenty davs 1 

.A. No, sir; I never ilid. I am quite sure I should have heard it. I Will rAmark 

that there is a police constantly on duty at all hours of the night on the streets to arrest any distnrbance of that sort or anything of that kind. 

Olaibor11e Ootmty.-Claiborno County was impeached by the testimony of one witness, E. H. Stiles, (page-,) which was controverted by the testimony of J.D. 

Vertner, at page 191. From special and moral causes thetehad boenaJ7eat degree 

of excitement m this county preceding IUld entirely disconnected with the question 

of the election. Tbe most conspicuous cause of excitement ancl feeling was tho 

marriage of Haskins Smith, a colored man, with the daugbtor of his employer, Mr. 

William Smit.h, a hotel keeper in the town of Port Gibson. This colored man :tnd 

white girleloperl. (See testimony of Mr. J.D. Vertner, page 191.) 

Our campaign opened, I think, in the month of September, about two months before the election. Just prior to the opening of the campaiWI, however. an incident 

in no way connected with politics occurred, which produced a very bad state of 

feeling between the whites and blacks. It was not tho marriage of a negro with a white woman so much as the incidents connected with it. There was such a mar- riage in the county, and while the white people took no part in it whatever, the 

parties being of humble origin and not in the society of the place, yet the father of 

the gi..rl felt himself very much aggrieved, the bo1 having been reared in his family 

and brought up with the girl. The father was a ·desperate man, and he threatened to kill h.illi. I myself overheard no such remarks on the part of the negroes, but a gentleman of respectability informed me that they had threatened to burn the town and wr~ak vengeance on the people if a hair of that negro's bead was harmed by Mr. Silllth. · Q. Smith was t-he father 7 

A. Smith was the father. 

Q. State the names of the persons married. 

A. 'l'h~ ~y was .a negro by the name of ~askins Smith. The girl was t-he daugh- ter of William Sm1th, who ti:ept the public hotel of the place. The boy, while !ll. 

member of the Leuislature, was a boot-black in the hotel and a waite r, and contili: 

ned there during the time that he was in tho Legislature, waiting on the table during the recess; 11o11d finally he ran off with this girl. lt created some impression 

npon us, butof coursewiUI beneath ournotice; butthesorema.rks, which wore said to have been made very publicly-- · Q. You say the father of the girl was very much excited 7 

A. The father of the girl was very mncli excited and the mother ha.s never re- covered from the shock tbat she received at the time. The father iu that exasper· ated state of feelin.IZ' proposed to kill the ne~ whenever he returned. He wns a very Jlnod negro and held in very good esteem by tho white people. The noo-roes here, Haskins's friends, seeing him with a shot-gun, gathered around ills bo~l m masse. I saw myself the excited crowds that gathered there from day to day. They wer-e absent during all this time-the man and woman who were married. 

The negroes made a great many threats, according to hear11ay, but we paid no at- tention to them. One Sunday, about one week after the occurrence, the negro was bron~rht back to the place by prominent negro leaders, among them the black coro- ner of our town, who is now in this jail, the loader of a band which has been sent to the penitentiary for burglary. They went down with carriaaes to brin.,. the 

negro b!Wk. The neJ!TO protested against it, saying he bad outraged the f~ings 

of the family and prefrrred to remain where he was; but they took him bv force 

and brought him into tho village on a quiet Sunday, with four or five youiw men armed, anll they paraded our streets up and down With this negro who bad offemled 

the feelings of this family in their midst; and then, not content with this they followed our young ladios and went to our grave-yard where our parents are b~ried, 

and trod all around there and marched back. 

THE WITh"ESS THREATENS THE COLORED ·PEOPLE. 

I told the sheriff-a. colored man-by the eternal gods, if ever ao-ain such a thing were repeat{}d, blood was thicker than water, and we would kilfthe la-st son of a l1itcb; that if e\er such in nits wore heaped upon us again we woulll not stand it. 

lie told me that tbe.v started ft·om the j:r.il with side weapons, and that he expostulated with thorn to go back, and -said that he had lost control of his people. 

THE WHITES ARlit. 

We. fleeing that aggressive spirit, and being insulted on the streets frequently instantly called a meeting j it was totally disconnected with politics j and we armed 

ourselves thoroughly and completely; that is, the citizens generally. There were eighty of us with, perhaps, eighty guns. 

PROPORTIOX OF THE RACES. 

Q. State the proportion of the black population compared to the white in your 

county . .A.. Our population is 20,000, I think, by the recent census. There are folly 3 to 1, if not a little more. I think there are about one thousand white voters- eight or nine hundred white voters-and about four hundred who have not been in 

the ha.bit of voting until the last election. 

That was the first event, disconnected with politics, but which brought about a very excited stat(l of feelings in our midst. That was the occasion of our arming and nothing else; it wa-s tofil.lly disconnected with any politics. There are two radicals who have always afliliated with that party in the town, who joined wit.h us in this organization of men armed. . The excitement and disgust in the county became very intense, aml tho sym. 

pathy for the father of the girl was stron{!lY manifested, afi of which was greatly mcreased by the triumphal entry of this ill-matched couple into the town and th'e 

procession by them and their colored associates throngbout the streets of the place mcluding a visit to the cemetery, all of which seems to have aroused the indigua.~ tion of the white people to the highest pitch. It being understood that the father 

of this girl bad armed himself and intended to kill his daughter's husband on si.,.ht 

plans for his destruction were arranged by the negroes, which plans becontin.; 

known to the whites, they armed themselves in opposition and for the protection 

of this injured parent. This event created an intense excitement, which. continued 

up to the time of tho political canvass. There were but two witnesses, Stiles and Vertner, e1:am.ined before tho committee, and their statements are utterly variant. 

There was npon the day of the election a race collision, in which an old colored man, disconnected with the quarrel, stwding on the outside of the crowd, was shot 

aml killed by parties unknown, and, as is testified, greatly to the sorrow of the 

white people, who buried him with avery mark of respect and regret. 

This unfortunate death, and the wounding-not senously-of a few others were the only acts of violence which marked the election, and the excitement oonf!equent upon it hanng quieted down~ the election went on regularly and without 

further disturbance. It was alleged oy the witness, Mr. Stiles, (seep. -,) that in 

consequence of the disturbance in which this olrl man was killed, many colored men were intimiflated, left the g:rountl, and refused to >ote; and altbou..;b this is 

denied by Mr. Vertner at pages 201-203, anll204, yet the fact remains that the 2.g. 

gregate vote of the county as compared with the former elections was bot slightly reduced. 

Amite Oounty.-Amite County was the scene of a great <leal of disor<ler and 

alleged intimidation of voters. Tho colored popnlation in 1870 was 6.777 and the 

white 4,196. According to the testimony of Mr. A. S. Pa1·ker, the defeatorl c:mdida.te for sheriff, there was a republican majority of about 300 votes. Tho rlisorders 

in this county were attcsterl by W. B. Redmond, whose deposition is on page 73 ; H. P. Hurst, at page 86; A. S. Parker, at pa"'e 107. 

Parker's testimony, at page 113, and H~Va at page 99, concur in attributing the 

chief disorders in the county and oreacheR of tho peace to tho infinenco of one Col· 

onolFrank Powers, whose residence is in tho State of Louisiana, over the line. 

Hurst says: "If Powers had staid n.way from Mississippi, I don't think there 

would have been a.s much troablo as there bas been," and proceeds to describe the 

reckless nnd dangerous character of Powers, whom ho also considers "the worst man and the chief cause of the troubles in Amite County." At page 101 be savs: (By .Mr. ~A YARD.) How many men in the Stah:~ of Mississippi are the chiefs :ind 

ruling spints of this condition of affairs down in tho lower end of .A mite County 1 

A. Woll, it is not easy to say. I could not possibly tell you how many. I suppose if you pioked out ten or fi.ftoon of thoso desperate charncters, the wnolo thing 

would atop. Yes, and I would go fprtber than that, and say tba.t, if Jackson and 

Powers were arrested:'this whofe thing would stop. 

And in the next reply he c~ses Powers as the worst man and Moses J aokson as the next. 

At page 113 Parker, in reply to a question by Mr. BAYARD" who this m:tn Powers is, and what effect he bas had in producing this conilition of things in the 

county of Amite," describes him as follows: 

"Colonel Powers cluring the war had coJDDlanded a regiment of cavalry that was called 'Buttermilk Cavalry' in onr neighborhood. They wero scouting and raiding 

around the country, and he had alway a bad reputation for running cotton through the confederate lines. His reputation was, I think, Terv bad. He is a leader of 

what is called The Regulators, in the parishes of E'l.st Feliciana and Saint Helena. 

There have been a JUeat many negroes killed through these counties; and they 

have killed some of the county officers at Clinton, in the pmish of East Fcliciana, 

and have run the rest away. Included in his organization were some men from 

Amite County, and they were in sympathy with liim in getting rid of republic:.tn 

officers. 

"The understanding waa that, should they want Powers on onr side of the line 

they would ca.U on him, and he would como prepared to assist them in dolng any: thin~! they might require to be done. On this election day they sent for hlin. Goneral1Iurst asked Powers why he had come there, and he saicl that they had sent for him." 

Further on he speaks of Powers as "the chief over .the line in Mississippi," and 

in reply to the question whether he believed "that if J~Wkson anll Powers wore arrested a.nd punished these things would ce:tse," he says, "Yes, sir; I have no doubt of it." 

These two and a colored man named Strother were the only witnesses examined 

in regard to the affairs. of Amite County, and tho only disturbance testified to on the day of election was at this precinct where Powers came; but the fact was es- tabli3hed subsequently by two witnesses.by the namo of Weber, who were snm- moned from the parish of East Feliciana., w'l10se depositions will be found at pages 

·-of the testimony, one a State senator ancl the other a tax-collector of the State 

of Loui iana, both republicans, and from them we have the iuformation that Colonel Frank Powers is a republican office-bolder by the appointment of Governor Kello~g. and has been acting with the republican party in Louisiana since 1870. It 

would seem difficult, therefore, to bold the white people :md democrats of Amite 

County, in Mississippi, answerable for a disturbed and disordered condition of af· 

fairs which is proven by every witness examined in relation to Amite County to have been chiefly caused by a non-resident repu blic.'Ul otlice-holder in Louisiana, under the aclministration of Governor Kellogg. · 

Despite the operations of Colonel Powers and his friends it would appear by the 

testimony of A. 8. Parker, to be found on page 112, that a larger vote, l>Oth democratic and republican, was polled in Amite County at the election of 187;i than had 

been polled since the war. These distnrbances were alleged at but a single pre cinct, and is the one visited by Colonel Frank Powers from Louisiana. The vifl· 

lence threatened to Raymond and Parker occurred since the election, bnt was instigated by the same condition of feeling which Powers represented, and which n motlerately vigorous exercise of imprisonment and fine woulc.l speedily stop. Wllllhington Oounty.-To impeach the character of the election in Washington County a witness by tho name of Putnam was called. His testimony is to be foUll!l at page-. He does not allege any case of intimidation or violence of his own knowledge, but that 'OJ.e election was unfairly conducted by the inspectors at one 
• 

1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENl~_TE. 5293 

of the precincts by nnnecessaril.v delaying the reception of the votes. His allegations are specifically met nnd flatly contradicted by General William A. Fnrguson, one of the judges of election, whose conduct bad been impeached by Putnam. 

The deposition of General Ftuguson will be fouml at page-, in which ·the char- acter of the election is fully anu, as we believe, tnuy stated. The examination of 

Putnam will disclose him to be a. tboroughlydiscreilitable person. His confessions 

of a fraudulent and. immoral life are alone sufflcient to ueprive him of credit; bnt 

the testimony of General Furguson, who is a gentleman of high character, supple- ments the statements of Putnam in regard to his own career. (See deposition of 

Putnam1 page-, and deposition of General Furguson, page-.) 

Washmgton County, by the deposition of -- and --and --1 appears to have been the scene of more than unusual misgovernment. The relative population of the blacks to the whites was --to --, and as a result nearly every ofticial was a. negro. The present sheriff of the county, Scott, a colored man, who 

wllS called before the committee, did not in any degree impeach the peace and good oruer of the election. Greenville, in Washington County, was the home of Gray, 

the infamous ne~ro who was appointed by Ames brigadier-general of militia. At 

page -, by the aeposition of --, tho conduct of Gray and his immunity from 

an restraint of law is set forth as follows: 

His character islikew:ise spoken of by Putnam. In short. we may here say that 

the picture of affairs presented by tho negro rule in the county of Washington, as well as the adjoining countf of Issa.quena., fairly beg~ars description. Ninety-five 

per cent. of the property 18 owned by t.he whites, who constitute but a small 

portion of the entire population. All powers of local government are in the 

hands of the negroes, who select the people of their own race almost wholly to fill 

every office; boards of supervisors, utterly· ignorant., incapable of readin~ or writina1 unable to add or subtract or perform the simplest arathmetical problem, have enure sway over the taxes a.nd propert.y of the county. Their rule is arbitrary, 

and oftt>ntrmes insolent to .an intolerable dep;ree. At page -, deposition of :Mr. 

Miller, will be found an account of the refusal of a boaru of negro supervisors to entertain or receive the humble petition of the white citizens of the county presented by a venern.ble and respectable whit-e citizen for the privilege of having a white school established in the county where sixteen colored schools were already 

e11tablished, the expense, of COUI'Se, to be homo by the property of the county, anil even the poor privilege of having a portion of the taxes taken from their own lands 

applied to the benefit of their own chlluren was insolently denied. 

By Mr. BAYARD: 

Question. Doyon remembertheoccasion ofthisrefusalofthe board of supervisors to permit a petition for a wltite school to be presented to the board 1· Answer. Yes, air; I had been attorney for the board for quite a len/!th of time. 

They bad appointed me unanimously, these negroes bad, and I remained in that position for some time, when I resigned my position something like o>er a year ago, on ac- count of their reckless management and on account of the refusal to hear the whit-es 

in regard to schools, and so on. Right there at Ma.yerville there wa.s a strong demand for a. white schooL There were some, I suppose, thirty or forty pupils, and 

they had uo school-house. They had to employ a tea-cher, and they got a room wherever they could to teach in; and the people brought it to the attention of the 

board several times, and earnestlv requested them to build a school-bouse thero. 

The boa.ru went through the pretense of posting a notice for bidders. The law provhlcs that t.he contract shall be let out t{) the lowest bidder. Tboy posted two or three notices, an<l the bids were offered there by good mechanics to build a schoolho•Jse at a good deal less than they had been paying for uegro schools in various 

parts of the county. And they rejected the bids on the grounu of extravagance, 

and old .Major 15mlth came up there about two or three weeks before the meetm~ 

in which Gross was to be requested to resign, and made a request, politely requestin!! them to have the notice renewed. He was very anxious about this school-house, 

and that Wa8 the wish of the whole community. lt was opposed by this man Gross. 

One or two members were anxious to build it. This man Gross was ver:v offensive to Jr[r. Smith, and told him to sit down, bo diUn't want to bear him, and finally dl'Ove him aw:rv In his ilisgustanddespair. Thatwasoneofthemaincanses which induced the 

:peo11le to request Gross to r~ign, in order to get a board, if possible, who would do 

JUStlce. I suggested that the resolution should read this way: that since we bad 

decitled to ask him to resign, to request him to resign in favor of Robert Murkin- son or Green Collins, or any other of several good negroes in the neighborhood who were also republicans. I will say that the suggestion met with a degree of favor, 

lm t we thought we would have no success. But~ thought that if Gross could be got out and we could get a good republican upon the board it would be very well. 

Q. You did not propose to replace him by a white man or a democrat, but to put some respectable colored man in his pla-ce 7 

A. That was the purpose of a aood many, and that resolution met with favor1 but 

it was not carried in that way. Some persons favored it, and if it had been inSlsted 

upon it would ha\"e been carried through that way. There was 110 race feeling. 

Q. Were you present at the time when Gross insulted Major Smith 1 

A. I was, and left the board in disgust. . Q. What was Major Smith's demeanor in coming to him i 

.A.. Exceedingly polite. 

Q. He assumed nothing more than to urge the action of the board ~ 

A. He asked that in a very earnest· manner, but not at all offensive. Finally, 

when told to shut up and sit rlown, he said, "By God, I am a. citizen and tax-payer, 

and hM·e a right to be beard here," and went away dis _gusted, and I left also in utter disgust. l bad business to attend to there, but I woufu not stay on account of it. 

Q. By whom was tho bulk of the school-tax paid t 

A.. By the land-owners; white people. The negroes do not pay over one-tenth. 

Q. How many colored schools are there in the cotmty 1 

A. A great many. They never refused any petition to build a colored schoolhouse anywhere. They built them all over the county, an<l they 1uW standing no- tices to build them. 

Q. How many white schools were in the county at that t.ime 1 A.. Only one that! know of, on Rolling Fork. Ill fact, that was nota school-house, 

either. They used the basement of the church. They rented it. It suited very 

well for that purpose ; no objection to it on that account. Q. How far was it from that school-bouse to the other school-bonae that they proposed to build i 

A. About ten or twelve miles. That was the main canse of the request to Gross to resign. 

.A condition of affairs which would be incre<lible and utterly intolerable in any 

of the Northern States exists in many of the black counties of Mississippi, where 

tho property, intelli~ence. and character of the community is trodden to the earth, 

insulted, and ignorea by the most ignorant and sometimes vicious members of the 

community. Things are of daily occurrence, and were proven almost daily before 

tho committee, which, if attempted in the State of Massachusetts, Wisconsin, or Iowa., or imleed any of the Northern States, would be met by a popular uprising o,nu speedy overthrow. In such a condition of affairs, the forbearance and selfsubordination exhibited by the white population demauds and should receive the 

strong sympathy and high respect of every just and well-regulated mind. Page -, testimony of S. H. Gross, colored: 

By Mr. BAYARD: 

Question. How many members compose the board of supervisors i 

A nswcr. Five members, sir. 

Q. How many of them were colored ~eople 9 • A. During my time of being in office 1t was all colored members until 1876. 

Q. You mean up until the present year 1 

A. Yes, sir; they were aU coloreu members from the time I have been a mem- ber up until tho present year. 

Q. All members of the republican party W 

A. Well, I could not sa.y they all were. Q. You have been one of the board of supervisors of Issaquena County for the 

last three years-1874, 1875, and the present yea.r9 

A.. Yes, sir. 

Q. Until when were these five men composed entirely of colored men; un4;il what 

time1 

A. Until1876. 

Q. The 1st of Januaryf 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Before that time they had nothing but colored men on the board 1 

A. They were all colored, right from the time of my being installed. 

Q. How far from Mayerville uo you live 7 

A.. The nearest route is about fivo miles. 

Q. That is the county seat 9 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did you first meet General Hampton 1 

A. In the town of Mayerville. 

Q. Had you. known him before7 

A. 0, yes, str. Q. Does he own property there f 

A. He owns one plautation in that county. 

Q. How far fl'om Mayerville 9 

A.. I coul<l not give you the exact distance, but. somewhere between four and fil"e 

miles from Mayerville. 

Q. On the rived 

A. Yes, sir; on t.be river. 

Q. When he met yon <lid he speak to you 9 

A. Yes, sir: he spoke t{) me; that is, be sent for me. Q. Sent a man for you 9 

A. Yes, sir; down the road for me. Q. Be kind enough to state just what he said to yon. A. He said to me like this: says he, "Gross, I have heard a good deal of talk of 

you, and I have heartl that/ou wa.s a perfect gentleman, and was prompt to attend to your own business, anu heard of this trouble that has taken place, and I have come down here to-day on that occasion; and I want you now to ca.ll your board togetbel' and proceed to business. The river is rising"-thisi didn't give in my-for- mer statement, but I omit that then-" tho river is rising now very swift, and we want men on that levee board to go to work on the levee; therefore, we are very 

anxious for you to proceed to-day at once and make the appointments; ancl," he 

says, "I hope you will appoint goocl men." I think l1e said, ·• I have beard that 

they have asked yon to resign; and" be said, "the good citizens of the countr, don't 

know anything about that, and we ain't iu favor of any such doings as that.' 

Q. He said that t.he goou citizeruJ of the county were not in favor of interfering 

with you1 A. ·Yes, sir. 

Q. And were not in favor of your resigning 1 

A. Yes, sir; he said if there was anything wrong about that be proposed for the 

law to justify that. 

Q. Did he say anything jn regard to protecting you in case of anything of the kinfl 

being attempted¥ 

A. He said that he had been a general in the confederate army. and that he was not afraid to tight if he was callecl upon to do it. He dirl not Ray he would protect ns, but the impression was tl1at he meant to protect us that day. 

Q. To protect you in your rights and in your office 1 · 

A. Yes, sir; that is the way I took the meaning of his worcls. 

Q. He spoke to you kindly, civilly, and told you just what you have said to nsf 

.A.. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did yon say anything to him after that Y 

A. No, sir; he did not appear after that. 

Q. You hau no molestation at all after that time 1 A... No, sir. · Q. He told you that if there was anything wrong they would look to the law to remedy itt . A. Yes. sir. 

Q. That he disapproved of this attempt to remove you from the board t 

A. Yes, sir. . Q. And that the good people were o;rposed to that 7 A. Yes. sir; that they were oppose to a.uy such doing!> as tbat. 

Q. Is not the maintenance of the levee along the banks of the river essential to the safety of the property of that county '! 

A. It is, siT. 

Q. Is it a difficult and expensive thing to keep that levee in good and safe condi 

tion1 · .A. Of course, sir, it is. 

Monroe Oounty.-Monroe County lies upon the border of Alabama, toward the 

northeast corner of the State. The population consists of --black and -- *White. It is not allep;ed that anv loss of life took place in this county in the can- ·vlLSS or election of 1875; but the t1efcated candidate for sheriff, J. W Lee, appeared 

before the committee and charged (see his testimony, p. --) that the canvass had 

been marked with attempt-s at intimidation on the part of demoerat.s, and that on the day of the election the colored Yoters, who had massed to the number of fifteen 

hundred in the town of Aberdeen under his orders, were, by a show of violence on the part of the democrats, intimidateu and -prevented from votina, and in that way the 

election was controlled against the republican party. Captain 'Lee's testimony wa.a given circumstantiallyanda.t~eat length. (Seep.-.) In reply to him the com- mittee examined Mr. T. B. Sykes, (seep.--·,) the mayor of the town of Aberdeen, 

and Mr. E. 0. Sykes, (Ree p. -,)who by the testimony of Captain Lee, was principally implicated in the alleged disorder; also Gener2.l Reuben Davis (seep.--) 

and others. The weight of the whole of this testimonJ is entirely against the truth 

of C!apt.ain Lee's statement. It was proven that many of the occurrences which he 

alleged that he saw could not have been witnessed from the residence of the jailor, 

in which he had taken up his quarters. He is directly met and flatly contradicted 

by the most unimpeMhable witnesses, and it is impossible, after rea.din.,. his t-estimony and that o! the gentlemen who were called to answer it. to O.oub~ that the 

bitterness of Captain Lee's feelings toward his former political associates (for he 

had been a rabid secessionist and a violent democrat until the time of his commercial failure and his immediate acceptance of office in the republican rank.~ in 1870) must have perverted his judgment and blinded his understanding. It is impossi- ble to escape the conclus10n that Captain Leo anticipated defeat a.t the poll<J, and, as a last resort, to escape the results of the election, endeavored to throw <liscredit 

upon it by ad vising the ne"'roes not to vote. The testimony of seYeraT uegroes who were examined at 'Aberdeen, among them --, has been already referred to as proofs of the recklessness with whlch 

charges are made by that cla-ss of )Jersons. The alleged gross profanity of the two Messrs. $ykes and the statements of General Reuben Davb, was not only emphatically <lenied by those gentlemen, but wtts so l!rossly inconsistent with tneir char- acters as pious and upright men as to bo cntirclv unworthy of belief by any un- pr~jndiced man. The citizens of the town of A berdeon, in common with manv others in Mississippi, haU boon kept ip a state of constant alarm by the rumoreil 
5294 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. AUGUST 8, 

arming and banding of the ne~es of the county. The county of Monroe is inter- s~ ted north. and south by the Tombigbee River, ~e ric.bor la?-dslying on the e~u~t 

side of thl} nver and the poorer ~nds on the west side of the nver, the eastern side 

bring chiefi[ occupied by negroes, with a small relative white population. The testimony o C2ptam Sykes discloses the fact that great apprehensions were felt 

from time to time p.t·ece~in~ the election of a rising of tho blacks for the purpose of 

marching on the t.own of Aberueen and destroying it; tllat incendiarism bad been 

frequent and sufficient, in the excited condition of pulllic fooling to alarm them to an intense de8'ree; that under these circumstances, to which mn~t be added the 

or::ranization ann armin_g of t~e militia company in t.be community by oruer of Go>- ernor Ames, and the posses~uon of those arms by Lee, the repul!lican sheriff the uneasiness and discomfort of t.be community ha.d reached an extreme point. ' 

The white citizens had on more than one occasion tmned out and picketed the 

roads leading to their town, nig~t aft.er night, fearing the approach of a body of ne~roes armed for the destruct10n of the place. On the morning of the election at oreak of day, these fears were confirmed by the presence in the town, at th~ C')urt-house. of a large body of negroes from the eastern side of the county, all 

armed witk heary- bludgeons an<l many or them with pistols. This was a violation of the election laws, which required voters to cast their ballots in the precincts where they resided, and only permitted a voter who was constrained t-o be 

absent from his homo to cast his vote in another precinct by attaching t.o his ballot an affiuavit stating the fact. But the presence of this large body of blacks 

with sullen fa-ces and armed with clubs, at a voting-precinct which W'lS not ~ proper one for them to attend naturally alarmed the citizens of the town who 

took the best steps they could for self-protection. A point much dwelt u~n by 

Captain Lee was the presence of what he termed " a body of cavalrv" from .Aliibam a in the town. 1.'his body. of cavalry was proven to consist of from ei ... ht to twelve men on horseback, who, if armed at all, were armed with pistols, ~hicb were not exhibited, ancl who were stationed between the county jail, wherein 

CaJ>tain Lee had a number of State arms and fixe<l ammunition, and which the 

white citizens feared he was about to place in tho hands of the negroes whom he 

had brought from the east side of the county to take possessien of the poll~ and 

prevent Lbe whites from voting in the town of Aberdeen. 

The whole action of theile ten or dozen men on horse-back was confiDed to re- maining quietly, disturbing no man, at such a. point as would prevent Lee from 

e:etting the arms out of the jail and delivering them to the negro mob~t the court- house. The testimony will disclose the fact that not a blow ""wns stiuck on that 

day, and that no man was injured and no one prevented in his lawful right to vote. No case was brought before us of any one who did not vote or could not vote if he 

bad desired to do so. Umler Lee's advice, many of the negro s who had unlawfully 

assembled at the court-house went back to then own precincts, and it is presumed 

that they there Yoted undisturbed. These facts, we believe, are fully established 

by the weight of testimony taken in reaard to this election. That no material 

number of the vote was prevented from teing cast by intimiclation would appear 

from the fact that tho a::rgregate vote polled in 1875 was two hundred and fifteen 

greate1· in the county than in the general election of 1873. 

Lowndes Cottnty.-The only point in Lowndes County in relation to which testimony was taken wa.s in the city of Columbus. The witnesses examined were the 

mayor of the city, Mr. --, and Robert Gleed, a negro, ex·sheriff of the countv. am1 a defeated candidate for re-election. 1.'he testimony of t.he mayor, which will 

be found at. page -,is to the effect that there bad been no evidence of intimidation or distmbance; i ·.at the republican party had been split, l\D.d that two republican 

tickets were in the fielll, therefore lessening tho necessity for the resortin(J' to intimidation, even if it had been sought. " 

A few ni!!hts before the election. juet after nightfall, a fire was discovered in a rcmote.portion of. the town, and th~ iire apparatus gotten ready t-o extinguish it.; 

but while the engrnes were proceeding to this fire, another fire was discovered in an opposite quarter of the town; and according to t.be testimony of Mr.-- and Mr. --.-,the t~wn appeared to oe. fired in seven or eight different places at once. The 

exCitement mstantly booame mtense. The rumors and apprehensions of incen· 

diarisms of the negroes, founded upon remarks made by several of them of a threatening character, induced the belief that the community was on the verge of a great disa~ter, and a successful co!lspiracy to destroy the town by fire wa.S about to be 

caiTled out. To protect the mty and keep the peace the mayor appointed Mr.--

a.special marshal for the occasion with authority to summon peace officers to his 

a1d. The repmt of the marshal, a.<J made to the mayor on the followina day in 

writing, wa~ presented to the committee, and is to be found on page -. " 

The subRI~ce of that report is that the ma~hal took semi-military possession of 

the town an <I prevented the free circulation of the people; that his orders were to halt. any man .who.was not known, and if he clid not obey, to shoot him. 'Vitnesses 

testified that JD tbis way they were halted, although werl known in the community ~d obeyed ~he summons. ~here was, h.owever, excitement and feeling which w~ duectell agamst the race wbtcb the:, believed had been the authors of this intended 

confiagration, whlch resulted in the sbootin~ and killing of four colorecl men by 

the patrols established by the marshal. TblS was the case alleged by the mayor 

and the white citizens of the place, but, to some extent, denied oy Robert Gleed 

who alleged, or, rather, we infer from his testimony, that the object of the tire~ was to create a disturbance in which colored men could be intimidated or slain. It 

i~ certain that G~eed 's family ~ere kindly and hospitably entertained by the mayor himee~ on ~h.e mght of the distw-bance •. an~ th~t Gleed was b~lievecl. by many of 

the white Citizens to have been the chief mstigator of these mcenumrisms and 

attempted c.l.estruction of the town. The ~tion. of the city autboriti~s ca.m;wt be considered unnatural or improper, under tLe ciTcumstances. They IIDIDe<hately sou~bt to increase the police force 

and .prevent any lawlessness on the p~ of the \vhite people, growing out of Lheir 

exc1tement and apprehended destruction of thmr homes and lives. 

It would seem impossible from so cursory and incomplete an examination as was hurri~dly made by t.his committee to come at a perfectly clear and satisfactory 

judj!lllent ~f the events on the night~ question, in the town of Columbus, and the causes which led to them. On the one hand there is the terror of incendiarism 

which appeals to every householder, ancl which strikes ~ear into the bolc.l.est heart. 

MoRt of the d w,ellings of Columbus a.ud other southern towns are composed of wood 

l_lnd t_heir wat~r ~aeilities and apparatus for extinguishing fires are generally of ~ mfer10r descnption. They knew that the negroes had been banded touether in 

political hostility t{) the whites, and they had hrard threat'J of incendiarism that 

placed them in great anxiety and distress. At 567, see statement of the lieutenant 

of Owen, the commander of the negro company captured at Vicks burgh: ·• W ~got orders we shouhl not go there; if we had not received these orders beforo mgbt, I would have been there with my gun in one hand, a coaJ.oil can in the 

other. and a box of matches in my pocket." 

Row far these fears honestly actuated the ma-ss of the people in the unusual 

steps taken for self.protet:tion, there iM not sufficient testimony before the commit- tee thoroughly to detem1ma or bow far such alle"'ed fears were made by wicked 

and cruel men the pretext for :m a-ss..'tolt upon o~noxious colored individuals or nJ?OD the C?lored :peopl~ as a cl~ss, there is not enough testimony before the cOmmittee satisfactorily to rletermme. That the result of that 14ight's proceedinrrs ought to havo been made, or ought still to be made, the subject of thorough ari'd 

riJ!Ic.l. examination no one can doubt; nor is it yet known what steps were taken to diRcover the true condition of facts and the causes of these fires which, !!'om their nun1~r. and scattered location .. would seem clearly to evince a settled plan of in- ce~d~a.nsm for some purpose, e1ther to destroy tJJe town or to give a pretext for a cnmmal assault. One thing may here be said, that if the atrocious clesign did ex- ist of making that incendiarism the pretext for an onslaught upon the colored peo. 

p~e ~t night, ~d ~here they "Yere in largo numbers, it would seem strange that the 

victims were linuted to four m number, when their slaughter could have been so easily multiplied. . Wo have not classed this occmTence at Columbus with the four principal collis· wn.s between the races, becanso no political sign:iJicancel!eemed to have been civen to It, and tho m.atter was mentioned late in the couri!e of the investigation, only by 

three or four Wltnesses, and even they gave totally different theories for the occur- rences of the night, and for tho reason also that it did 'not. partake of the nature of a riot gro:w~ng out of any izn:media~e quarrel or controversy between the two races. In the opimon of tbe underSlgned, 1t was the result of sudden fury and excitement can.sed by terror of incendiarism, which, for the time being, depdvell men of their 

self-control. Although no proof of the inlmlldiate facts attondincr the killinrrof anv one of these four men was bmught before the committee the report of the ~arsrui.l ~sl!lo~ ci_rcu!Dstanti~l than anything brou~ht to our ~owlec:J.ge. No consequent mtimidatiou 1s to be inferred from the condition of tho vote · for the augreaat.e vote of 1875 is a very large increase over the vote of the election'preceding~ "' 

ROLLING :FORK COLLISION. 

In December, 1875i in what is now ~barkey County-then a part of Issaquena- occurred a most dep orable and shocking tragedy. The affair was first brought to the attention of the committee by the testimony of Derry Brown and Bowie Fore- m~n . (ne~roes,) whose turbulent conduct bl'ICl caused them to be expelled from the nei~hbornood, and whose testimony was shown to bo unreliable. (See testimony of 

Junge Shackleford as to the character of Foreman and of --Miller parre -- impeaching Brown.) ' " ' 

It seemed difficult to obtained a clear and connected narrative of the transaction b.ut.th~ testimony of E. B. Balf, 3: republican, who emigrated to the State of Mia~ SISSlppl from the St-ate of lllin01s at the close of t.he war, and who-resides in the nei~bbo~bood where. the tra~e<ly o~curr d, will fairly represent the state of affairs ana feelmg at the bme, ana the Circumstances which led to it. (See pa(J'es from 

--to--, Ball's testimony; also the deposition of W. W. Moore at p'l\.ae -- a.nd of ----, page --, corroborati>e of testimony of said Ball.) " ' 

It appears that on Saturday, the In tof November, 1875,· a number of negroes, not belon~mg to that part. of the countr.v, ~ut who ~ad been· picking cotton, were paid 

off, and were engaged 10 a, drunken frolic at Rolling Fork, a small town in what was then Issa.quen~ County, now seat of Sharkey County. 

A young whit8 man, or boy, for he was not yet of age, who was drinkina with 

the?J1 got mto a qua:rel wit~ one of.th~ n.egroes, whicll ended by the white man strikmg the negro with a knife and inflicting a wound of no dangerous character. 

The .bo:y- fie£1 and was pursued by the whole band of negroes, who finally discovered him m the hack room of a store where he had secreted himself, and after stab· 

bing and otherwise wounding him, left him for dead. . Qn Sunday.moming warrants wer~ issued ?Y a colored justice of the peace, re- Sidii!-g at Rolling Fork, for the offend1ng pa.rhes, and in the course of the day five or SlX were arrested and placed ·under guard in a building then vacant which 

had been occupied as a drug store. During the nirrht the g•m of one of the !!Uards was disch~rged by accident., .anu the prisoners. be'Came alarm eel and attorn ptecl to make the1r escape by brcakin::r throug-h the wmdows. They were fired upon by 

the guards, and one of them W:J.S ki J ed and two or three were wounded. The 

wounded parties with one or two others were captured. 

The next <lay all of the parties implicated in the assault on thf} young white man were reco!!llized and gave bonds for their appearance at court anu the difficulty 

seemed to be ended, but the news of the affair extended down into the neighbor- hood where Mr. Ball resided, and spread through the country with ma.ny exarrgerations. The white people at Rollinf! Fork and vicinity were greatly outnumbered 

by the negroes in that locality, and the disproportion in the neighborhood of Mr. 

Ball and below there, on what was' known as the Deer Creek settlement was at least I 0 to 1 of the colored people to the whites. ' 

Bands of colored men were at once orgamzed, and armed with such weapons as they cou.ld procur~, threatening to attack a.nd destroy the town of Rolling Fork, 

anll to kill the white people, and, to use th€1 hnguage of some of their most. excited 

leaders, "from the cradle up, " and to burn cot.ton.gins, and to destroy propet·ty 

generally. Two of these bands-one under the leadership of a ne!!TO preacher by 

the name of Moaes .Johnson-started in the direction of Rollin"' 'Fork but were turned back at Elgin's store by the firmness of El!!i.n and one Or two ~hite men ;who were there at the time. They returne<l from "'the neighborhood where they 

ad ~tarted 60me few mil~s below Elgin ~ st-ore, somewhat excited by liquor, and, aa will be seen by the testimony of the srod Ball, by no means inclined to give up 

their purpo ed destruction of the whites and their property. 

The terror .which. he~ conduct. ins"'{lirecl in th.at county amonf! the few white set- tl.ers and therr fampies 1s very ~rap_ht~y depiC~d by the witness Ball, as well as h1s own apprebena10ns because of hiS bemg a white man, notwithstanding the fact 

that he was n. republican, and in political accord, and on terms of personal friendship with the negroes. (Insert Ball's testimony, p. -.) ~e'!s of this uprising and demonstration was carried b'lCk to Rolling Fork . .A.pphcahon was made by the wbite people there to their biends in Washington 

County a.n(l above for aid. A band of armed white men, from the upper counties 

under the leadership of Rev. --Ball, a. Baptist minister collected toaether ami 

marched do~ to Rolling Fork, where, leaz:ning such fact' as they coufll in refer- ence to the disturbances below and the parties most deeply implicated, mounted an a~ed force of some fifty or sevent.y.five men on Sunc.J.ay, and went clown in the 

ne1ghborhoo.rl wbe_re these turbulent negroes were .assembled under arms, and captured and killed SIX of the most dangerous and v1olent of those concerned in the ~~~W.nization for the destruction of the property and lives of the white inT.his violent ;remedy promptly ended the conspiracy of the negro population 

against the whites and caused them~ abandon any further prosecution of their 

hostile purposes. 

A ~ew da~s after the hilling .of these negroes a mee~ing took place between the 

leading white peo:ple at Rolling Fork and the leading and peaceably inclined ne~roes of the ;neighborhood .• and a trea.ty of peace was signed by the parties, 

which has been mcorporated mto the testimony taken by the committee and will 

be found on page- of -. ' 

Derry Brown, who before t.he tra~redy occurred had been inclined to peace anrl 

quiet, became furious, and was unwilling robe reconciled except bv the killing of 

six white men in retaliation for the six: negroes, and was excluded from the terms 

of the amnesty provided in this treaty. 

This ended the affair, and however reprehensible the entire transaction is, the 

undersigned could discover in it no trace of any political character. On the con· trary, it was a war of races, having its origin ill a drmlken brawl between one : white person and a number of dissolute anrl drunken negroes. Tbore::rion in which 

it orcurred lie11 remote from railway or otherpu1Jlicmorles of communication. The 

civil autbo~ties of the neil!hborboo<i were who~l:y inadeifuateto cepe with the emer- gency, and It was too sudden for the aut.honties of the State to be called into 

action.. INTERFERE...~CE WITH VOTERS. 

Some of the testimony tended to prove that in some cases colored men were deceived or cajoled into voting the democratic ticket. 

There is nothing in any part of the testimony to prove any obstruction to the 

voter" on account of his race, color, or previous condition of servitude," but in 

every case the objection was to the party ticket he fropo ed t{) vote j to the oolor 

of hiS political prejudices, and not to the'' color" o his skin referreu to in the tift.eentb :1mendment. 

( 

'· 

I 

• 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 5295 

'l'he white people earnestly songbt to induce t.he colored peopl~ to vote, and to votl} the same way they d1d. To this end they held .P~bJic ~eetmgs, mad~ num- bol"!ess speeches. appealed to their color_ed tellow-mt1zens m eve~ y conce1vable manner that they shoulJ vote, and vote w1th them for tho common mterest of all. 

To justify any legislation by Congress to eufo!"Ce 1he fiftetJnth amendment, ~he 

obstructi<'n of the "ri rrht to vote" must be for the sole reason of r:we, or cot or, or pre>ious condition,"' &c., and there is no power~ Cl?ngress to interfere tor any other causl:' whatever. There is not from the begmmng to the end of tlns testimony a. s·ngle case of the obstruction o! a. voter beca~se he wa~ a col?red man .. In every caM of alleged unlawful mterference With the nght of suft!age, 1t was because tho •oter was in opposition to the political sympathies and WlShes of 

the person !nterferinu. . Intimidation and violence are almost as frequently alleged toward white men as colored men, and perhaps ·the bitterest opposition was proven toward the former 

c~!t it cannot be said tllat the race or ·color of these whites induced other whites 

to." cleny and abridge" their right of suffrage. · . . . The testrmony of many witpesses, white and black, proved the groBB mtimida.-

tion of colored people by other colored people. Now, this was not on account of race or color but for the same reason which caused all other intinrldati~n and 

interference in the State-i. e., opposition to the voter's poll?~ views~~ actions- not because be was a colored man, but because he was voting m oppos1tion.. · The Rupreme Court of the United States distinctly say, in the opinion, we have 

already Cl ted : " 

"The fi teenth amendment did not confer the ri_ght of suffrage upon any one • It gave to the Congress the power to guarantee ft.s e~ercise ~ '?lise it should be 

denied or abridrred on account of race oc color or previous cond1t10n. 

If the nght t{) vote be denied or abridged for some other cause, the .s~te. and not the lJnited States, must exercise its protectmg power over the Citizen and 

remedy his wrong. . . If a co~ored man be driven from the polls because l1e comes up With a rep~blic:m 

ticket and when he returns with a democratic ticket is welcomed and asslSte<l to vote 't.here tan be no doubt but his "right to vote" (which means, of course, to v~te according to his freo will I has been a'?l'id~~d.; but .not having been ab1idged 

because of his race or color, but because of his po_litical Vlews, .t~e power and lluty to remedy tho wrong ho bas sustained are, accoriling to the decision of the Supreme 

Court, in the laws of the St.'tte where he resides, an-d ~ot in the United ~tates. 

Holdina this proposition to be true, then the testimony overwhe~mgly establishes the fact. that negro voters were welcomed into the democratic ranks and 

every effort mafle to procure t.hem. 

If negroes were intimidated, it was not because they were negroes, but because 

of their obnoxious political views. 

As a necessary consequence it follows that Congress hM no power under the 

flfteenth nm,en.dmenL to the Uonstitution to punish any invasion, however gross 

aml reprehensiiJle of persoua.l 1 ights of suffrage which 11! not based upon the par- ticular cause of the race, or color, or p1·evious condition, &c., of the p~rty injured. 

Having thus stated the limitations upon t4e power o~ pongr~s. ~h1eh a _resp~ct 

for the Uonstitution of onr Government aud to the demswns of 1b1 htghest JU<hmal 

tribunal has dictated, w~ cannot refrain from an expression of our. abhorrence 

and heart.v reprobation of every act of lawless and so often brutal mterference 

with. the rlgbts of citi~enship, which wer~ re!ated by wit~eBBes in our presence. 

Pro!lperity and happmess can never thnve m a commnruty where such scenes of 

violence can be enacted without conilign punishment. lly a law bigbo~ t~all: m~'s 

tho '·wages of sin is death," and it will be >ain for the people of Mi8stss1pp1 to kok for ·rhe advancement of their Stat-e to that position in tho ranks of wealth, 

in!luence, and reputation which those who love her wou~d desho to see ~er occupy, 

until tho spirit of law shall be strengthened and assert 1taelf over the dangerous 

clasRes," who have brou!!ht disrepute upon her goo~ name. . . We are glad, in this connection, to exl!ress onr 3mcere an!l prof~~d .co~vlCtion 

t.hat under the present State administratlon aml government of Missli:!Slppl all the 

elements for the needed reforms exist and will be de"\"elopo<l so that a romedy for 

every wrong will be surely found iR laws ordained in a spilit of benevolence and 

juRtice to all classes within the borders of the State. ~~ 

A vast majority of the people of Misflissippi ha.ve every element_ that CO?Stitut(}s a goml American citizen. They are law-abiding, peaceful, an!l m!lustrwus, and 

they have every impulse in favor of justice, pea{)S, and order, and all they now need is the kinOly sympathy of their fellow-citizens in other States in the great 

distress which war and a totally revolutionized condition of their social and labor 

systems, con pled with gross maJadministration of their State affairs, have brought 

upon them. . . . They have been the victims of a misrule which they sought m vam to avmd or 

remedy. f · · · · b h ld In simple justice we ask shnuld the white masses o MtBBlBSlppl e e responsible for the results of bad government, aaa.inst which they bavo petitione!l and proteste!l in vain for years 1 Is it jnst to. hofd those responsible from whom 9;ll power 

bas been withheld 1 'l'he requisite means are always necessary for the destredend. 

In all the ceuturies the demand that the children of Israel should make bricks 

without strow has been cited as an illustration of tyrannical injustice ; bnt is it not equally and even more unjust to demand of the white people of Mississippi theresults of good governmeut, when bad government has been fastened on them against 

their best efforta to prevent it, their entreaties, an!l their prayers~ 

Let them full~ anil fairly te t their present opportunity to produce peace and or· dor and prospent:v by exercising their facult1es for self-government. 

The evils that have been enacted they were not justly responsible for, and their 

sufferings should call for sympathy, ancl not denunciation. Why sh~uld not this 

portion of our fellow.countrymeu be made to feel that they. have the ngh_ts as well as the respQnsibilities of that local self-government which 1s so freely eUJoyed and 

je..'l.lously guarded by their fellow-citizens of theN ortbern States1 . . Is it consistent with justice, wisdom, or expediency to put t!Je stigma of ~nfe~­

ority upon any State of the Union., by asserting a. power and nght t? make mqm- sition·in her management of those domestic and internal affairs which, by the ex- press terms of the Constitution and by common consent and pra{)tice, ate reserved to other States, which are never quest10ned in their control over them 1 

No attempt seems to have been omitted to bring the white people of Mississippi 

into ill-repute with their fellow-citizens of the North. 

What, 1t may be asked, have the flags used at a. political celebration to do with 

infractions of the fifteenth amendment7 Yet the following testimony will exl.Jibit 

the int-ent to create sectional prejudice against them, (see testinlony of .John T. 

Harrington, at page 233 :) 

NO AMERICAN FLAG, BUT TWO lllThl>RED OTHERS. 

By Mr. BOUTWELL: 

Question. Were you at the West Point mooting of the democrats two or three 

days before the election W 

A.nswor. Yes, sir. 

Q. Di<l you see the flags exhibited there I 

A. I think I saw two liundred flagi!, but no t:"nited Stat.es flag. Q. What were theyi A. There were some very ne'trly-I cannot say if just exactly-like the confed- m·ate fla~. and all sorts, shaking and waving. .But I saw DO United States flag. 

At the West Point meeting, up and down the streets on both sides for nearly a. quarter of a mile, over both aides of the street, thirty or forty feet high, on the tops of the buildings. 

ByMr.BA.YABD: 

Q ~id y~m walk along the whole of that street? 

A.. No, s1r. · Q. Where were you~ · A. I was at my office, and went from my office to the hotel where the district 

attorney was. 

Q. Dirl you pass by and along tlli.~ row of flags 1 

A. \Veil, I coulll see up the street. Q· How far could you see~ I think you said you had ophthalmia, or something, wh1ch prevented you seeing very fur 1 A~ 0, I could see. I cannot discriminate features half across the street. I 

could see these bars and colors. 

Q. Did you see confederate fiai!R a.t that meeting? 

A. No, sir; I said flags rl:'sembling. They mi~bt have been like them. I do not know how many of theso stripes they bad on them. I do not know that thoy were full confederate flags. I know about the various colors and from the appearance of confederate flags ~which I have seen. Q. Wasthereno United States flag, then 7 

A. I did not see any. I seen the particular ones. I think those on the court- bouse, if any, United States flags. 

Q. Did yon walk along the entire line of the street where thoso flags were t 

A. I did not walk along the entil·e.}ine; I think near the lower comer, and 

looked up. 

Q. That was the meeting at West Point.1 

A. Yes. sir. 

Q. When 1 

A. The Thmsclay before tha election, I think. The election was the Tuesd:l.y 

fo~h~J~wer..to this misemble slander is to be found on page 253, in the testimony 

of Mr. R. H. Hhotwell: 

Question. Harrington stated hero that there were no Unit~d States flags exhib· 

ite<1 on the day of the celebration. What h"VQ you to say about thati 

The CHAinMAN. He did not state that. 

Q. In order that we may know the facts, you may state what yon discovered 

there. I thought that he stated that there was no United States flag, and he did 

say that there were flags that. were very like confederate flags; and be left the impression,-as I understand, and meant to leave the impression, that thero were DO 

United States flags. · A. The flags he suppgsed to be confederate flags were just flags of red calico and 

white bleached dom~tic, which were hung by a Frenchman in our town after the 

style, as be saj<l, of ornamenting the Atreets in Paris on public days; :mel he made a beautiful display of white calico and red calico. bnt the stores and all the public 

buildings were ornament-ed with United States flags-flvo hundred of them, I 

reckon-and a long procession of horsemt'-D, and very many of them had Unit6ll 

States flags attached to their horses' heads, and the children all over town hacllittle 

flags and were at the winclows and doors salutinl! the procession as it passed by. 

It won.ld look rather bad to let that go witl10ut a refutation. Mr. HalTington also 

stated something in regard to a speevh by Mr. Barry. I hoard that speech, and no such language was used by him as wa.<J attributed. .All the addresses made to the 

negroes were of the most conciliatory character. Tho negroes wore treated with 

the greatest degree of kindness by overy man, so far as my knowle<lge goes. I 

believe hundreds of these men who came here would testify that they wore not intimidated. 

The character of the witness Harrington is thus given by Mr. Shotwell at page 249: 

"He is now under bond. This brother of his (.J. T. Harrington) who t-estified 

here, I can show by any qoantit.y of witnesses that he is a mao of notoriously bad 

character; that he ha.~ been indicted for horse-stealin~ and for kidnaping negroes- not indicted for kidnaping negroes, but he bas been charged with it., and a. white man and a nerrro caught him at it. That was during the war. After tho war he 

brought a sui't for damages against one .Anderson Beam for $"20,000 damages, for makin~ those charges agamst him, and the auit was finally dismissed by .J. T. Harrington. at his own expense. .As to that Hartington, I can bring fifty or a hundred 

mtJn, if neceBSary, here." 

By the CHAIRMAN: 

Q. State what yon know of yonrown knowled~e. 

A. I am statio~ as to his ch•uacter of my own knowletlge. I am just speaking of the chamcter of the man. 

By Mr. BAYARD: 

Q. Of his repntatinn in the community 1 

A. Yes, sir; the general bad character of the man: that he_isre~ardedasa horse· 

thief. I have no doubt I can produce witnesses who would testify, any number of 

them, that they would not believe him on oath-eighty or a hundred men. I can name the party that caught him trying to kidnap a negro-William Nixon. 

The report of the United St.ates grand jnry 1s a.lso appended to the evidence, 

(part6.) 

In criticising this highly sensational document~ it would seem rea.<;onable to ask 

if such a denunciation of the State could be m..·v.le by the nineteen republicans and one democrat who composed tho grand jm·y. Why did they not find indictments 

for the punishment of some of the alleged crimes1 

If they had a majority to denounce, why not to bring to justice I 

Its publication would seem to reflect upon the distnct attorney, whom it affects to pra1se; for if he had done his duty, the guilty would have been presented for 

indictment. 

It seems plain that this report was a partisan assault, a. mere blast of defamation 

against thetr political opponents, for DO one can doubt the indictments would have 

been found bad theevidencewarrante!l it. ThePresl,.dentof the United States has 

caused to be annexed to his messa~e on South Caroli!'ta troubles the following let- ter of District-Attorney Walton, which shows how little responsibility the" shameful failure of justice" belongs to the white people of Mississippi: 

Oxrono, MissiSSIPPI, July 15, 1866. 

Srn: I have the honor to submit herewith the report of the grand jury lately in 

session here, together with the evidence on which it is based. This evidence, you 

will see, plainly required the jmy to indict a great many persons for violations of 

the election laws; but, out of eighteen jui"Ors, seven were found who refused to concur in any such indictment. I learn; however, that all but one of the .iurors 

voted for this report. All but this one professed to belong to the republican party; 

and some of those who finally voted a~ainst the eleven who were for the millet- menta were throughout the whole session apparently the most reliable men we had to sustain the indictments and the most zealous in investigating the cases. This was particularly true of the man who wrot-e this report, yet he finally went against all prosecutions, though we had conceived him to be the most earnest, as he hacl cer- tainly been the most active, man among us in bringing to justice, or at least in investigating the election cases. · I can onfy lament! the shameful failure of justice which has taken place, and I 

have little doubt that it must and will ~ive a most unbridled license to lawlessness at the next State, 'it not at tho next Foo.eral, election. 

I am, sir, yonr obedient servant, 

Hon. ALPHOXSO TAFr, .AttO'rney-Ge-neral. 

THOMAS WALTON, 

United States DW!trict Attomey. 
5296 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. AUGUST t51 

In this connection it is proper to note that section 8'.20 of the Revised Statutes of 

the United States provides as cause of disqualification and challenge of gran!l and 

petit jnriel' in the courts of the United States, "having served in the rebellion, or gi\·en it aiel or comfort, or to have given, directly or indirectly, any assistance in 

money, arms, horses, clothes, &c., anything whatever, for the use or benefit of any ono whom tho giver knew ;.o have been engaged in arms against tho United 

States" &c. 'l hi~ law wa-s enacted in 1862 and, although provisions for its ropcal have more than once pn.s::.ed ~e House of Representatives, yet by the refusal of the Senate to concur still remains upon the statute, most unfortunately, as we believe. 

n works an absolute exclusion of nearly every white citizen in the Southern 

States from the United States juries. · In the selection by tho United States marshal in Mississippi the juries were nlruost e~clusively oomposed of republi03lls, colored and white, (20 to 1, see Wal· 

ton's letter.) .At.tent.ion is drawn to this, becaus3 the better classes of the white citizens. have 

been bitterly assailed and condemned because they have npt actively assisted in 

convicting offenders ; at the same time they have not only been excluded from office, 

but not even allowed to sit upon the juries. We submit thue facts to the comciences of o"r countrym~. 

A letter from W. F. Tucker is also published at the request of tho chairman, 

directed to Mr. Frazee, the foreman of this grand jury, to be found at page 151 of 

the documentary evidence. 

If Mr. Frazee believed this letter was intended to deter him from doing his duty 

his course and duty were plain. The letter should have betJn handed to J ndge Hill, 

wl10, by a bench. warrant, could have brought Mr. Tucker to answer. But tho publication of the letter by :Mr. Frazee proves that he did not so construe U, and certainly that he derided it. · Whatever impropriety ma:y be adjud~ed Mr. Tucker, it is his individual sin, and 

should not be v1sited upon h1s innocent fellow-citizens. 

Throughout the testimony much of the alleged intimidation was by violent language, profanity, and vague and mysterious threats, which, howover liD proper and 

ro1Jrehensible, ue, we regret to say, much too common in every heated political canvass in almost overv county in the United States, and are not peculiar to the 

State of Mississippi. · '.i.'he object of such testimony could only be to create prejudice, as it certainly could not have been intended as a basis for legislation. There 

il!l scarcely a State" in the Union which is not assailable on similar grounds. 

During the canvass, and in the midst of this j!TOwing feeling between the races, Davenport, the colored county clerk at Vicksburgh, who has been indicted for 

forgery of warrants, made a public speech, saying ''He would have a whit~ wife 

from among the best families," which W. F. Fitzgerald, republican, ono of .Ames's 

brigadiers, testified, at pa~e -, "had more to do with creating excitement than 

anything else." In a conununity where the white people are largely outnumbered 

by the blacks it is not surprising that deep resentment and excitement should follow such declarations. 

Wtlhnson Oounty.-Tbis county was carried overwhelmingly for tho republican 

ticket in 1815, and therefore no evidence impeaching the election was taken; butas 

it is situated in tho southwest corner of the Stat.e, on tho Louisiana State-line, --on--, the honorable Senator from Indiana introduced the following reso- lution, which was adopted: The witnesses summoned were from the parish of East Felicia.nn. in Louisiana, 

and from Wilkinson County, Mississif.pi. The1·egion embraced by t.his county and 

parish is remote from ron tes of trave , and in Louisiana the presence of Governor 

Kellogg's tax-collector, Colonel Frank Powers, heretofore mentioned in connection 

with Amite County. baR caused law anll order to be little regarded. 

W. H. Noble, the !'('publican sheriff of Wilkinson, testified (seep. -) that negroes 

there in his custody admitted to llim that .Aaronson, a. white store. keeper over the 

Louisiana line, who had just moved into the neighborhood, was murdered by a. body of negroes who were passing his s~re in search of one--, another white man. who bad brutally nssanlted a negro man the day before. 

When Aaronson's murder by the negroes become known. the whit~ people, to the nnm ber of one hundred or more, visited the locality and arrested and hung-- ne!IToes who confessed their murder of Aaronson. ~he affah· created gre..'llt excitemen~ and the two races commenced organizing and 

arming themselves. . Reporti of the armed organization of the negroes were rife :md their intended 

destruction of the whit.o people. · Sheriff Noble summoned an armed posse, at the head of which he placed himself, 

and his command in three columns moved toward the western side of the county, 

where the negroes were reported to be massed and armed. 

One of these companies, at the plantation ef --, came in conflict with some armed blacks, in which encounter-- negroes were shot and--- whites. 

At page- ShcriffNoble says: 

At page - is the deposition of --. These occurrences took place in the month of 1!:\y last, when tl1ere wl\2 no election at h~nd, and no occasion whatever for political excitement. The county of 

Wilkinson had, as we have stated, entirely a. negro government, and the republlc'Ul 

party held all the offices. 

The charader of such government is but a repetition of the sam~ sad story as we have related of other counties similarly governl'd. (See page-, deposition of --.) 

What these disorders, trarrcal and shap1eful as they are, have to do 'vith tho fif. 

teenth amendment and the' right to vote" does not appear to tho minds of theun· 

dersigned. That they exhibit a condition of thin~s impossible under a decent gov- ernment of laws, no one will deny; and upon t~mtory under the control of William 

P. Kellogg, governor (so called) of Louisiana, t·hey were certainly committed. 

The majority of the citizens of Louisiana, in 1872, voted to elect John McEnery 

their governor, and tho ballots still in existence, as well known to the Senate, ex- hibit a majority of o;er nine thousand ;otoo in his favor. But tho President of the 

Uuit,ed States, by the armed iotet-position of the Federal power, overthrew the will 

of the people of Louisiana, and installed Kellogg and a kindred legislature in office 

and power. His government never had, n'or deserved to receive, the respect of the people, 

whose will, if allowed to be exerted, would have driven Kellogg and his adherents 

like ch..'\ff out of their places. That discontent and disorder should prevail is not at all surprising, and that 

Kellogg shonldappointColonel Frank Powers, a ruffian and a brigand, to office will 

astonish no one. But we doubt whether any mind will be so utterly unjust as to hold the white 

people of Louisiana or Mi.ssissi}lpi responsible for the outrages caused or encour- a~~d by Kellogg:s appo~tees, or. the disregard of law, decency, and order, in all of 

wrnch Kollogg hlmself 1s pre-emrnent. Throughout tho investigation the inquiry was frequently made by the majority whether there bad not been intimidation practiced by threatening to discharge men b-om employment if they did not vote in compliance with their employer's wi~>hes, 

and in many cases such facts were proven. 

However impot"tant it may appear to the undersigned that the moral and intellectual independence of the individual voter should be respected, and that no methods of coercion should be used to influence the free exercise of suffrage, yet in 

the fctce of the &dmit.ted and almost general violation of these sound aml just propo- sitions by public anu private employers in all sections of the Union, it would seem scarcely credible that it should be proposed to select :Mississippi as the one State 

for the application and E.\nforcement of a rule which is disre~arded everywhere else. 

Thus lntely the republicans in the State of New Hampshire, by a formal address 

of the Legislature, approved by the governor, ma.de a clean sweep of their democratic 

opponents, on the sole account of political opinion. 

In House Miscellaneous Document No. 65, present RCS8ion, the t<lstimonyta.ken in tho cont~ted election of Platt vs. Goode, at page 254, will be found the deposition of Jesse Mahoney, a ship-carpenter in the Government employ in the Portsmouth (Vit·ginia) navy-yard: 

Deposition. of Jesse Mahoney. · 

JESSE MARONEY, a witness of lawful age, being duly sworn, deposes and says as follows: 

By Mr. JollY GOODE. Jr.: 

Question 1. State age, residence, and occupation. 

Answer . .Age, forty-four years; residence, second ward, Portsmouth, at present; 

occupation, ship.carpenter, first class. 

Q. 2 . .Arc you employed in the navy-yard i 

A. I am not, at present. 

Q. 3. Wl1en were you last employed there, and when were yon discharged 7 

A. On the 4th of .August, 1874, and discharged on t.he 11th of November, 1874. 

Q. 4. State how you procured your emplovment on the 4th day of .August, 1874; 

what steps were t"aken by you to procure ft; whether you hau any conversation 

with Hon. James H. Plat£, jr., on the subject: and if so, all that was said. 

A. In May last, 1874, I went to sec Mr. William Smith, foreman of shipwrights in the navy·yard, to give me work. He told mo ho would do what he could, and 

then I went over to Norfolk about the middle of May, 1874, and seen Mr. James 

Platt, and naked him would be give me Pmployment in the yard. He then told me to p;et a letter from the executive committee, and indorsed by the chairman, send it to him to Washington, and he would put met{) work. 

Q. 5. Did you get the letter n-om the republican executive committee or any mem- ber thereof l 

A. I did not. Q· 6. Did you make appliC'ation for it 7 

A. I did; to the chairman of the committee, James H. Clement.s. 

Q. 7. When did you make application to Mr. Clementsi 

.A. On several occasions. 

Q. 8. What did he say 1 

A. He told me he wonlcl do all be couhl to get me in. 

Q. 9. Has anything else occurred, besides what you have stated, to make the im· 

pression upon you that in order to procure employment in the navy-yard, it would 

be neces&'~ry to get the indorsement of leading men or officials belonging to the ro· publican party 1 

A. It was, in March, 1873. I was at work in Norfolk; knowing that I could not work in the yard without. affiliating with tho republican party, I came over here. I see Mr. James H. Clements to giYO me work in the yard, that I would support their 

party, which I did up toN ovember election, 1874; t,hen I supported Mr. GOODE. 

Q. 10. State whether or not you voted with the republican pa.Ity in the spring 

election of 1873, anti if so, what induceu you to do it. 

.A. I diu vote with them-for my breac.l and meat, and not from principle. 

Q. 11. Could you have procurec't. employment in the navy-yard in 1873 or 1874 

without a promise, either expressed or implied, that you would support the can- didates of the republican party t 

A. I could not. Q. 12. How were the men generally employed in the navy-yard-upon whose rec. . om men dation 1 · .A. By the republican committee, so far as I know. 

Q. 13. Did the officials in the navy-yard, as a general thing, employ any workmen 

without the indorsement of the republican executive committee 1 

A. They had to be indorsed by the republican executive committee. 

Q. 14. You have stated that you voted forme in the Novembereleotion: state, ac- cording to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief. whether that vote bad any-thing to do with your discharge from the navy·yard on tho 1 L th of N ovem- ber, 1874¥ · A. I believe it did. 

Q. 15. Have you heard anything on that subject from any official in the navyyard¥ If so, state it. 

A. Not officially. I was challenged by one of the bosses by the name of Patrick 

McDonouuh; he came under the ship's bottom whore I was at work; says to me, "Jess, I run told you voted the conservative ticket." ''Pat, I did vote the conserv· ative ticket, fortheHon.Mr.Joa...-vGOODE." He says, "I undl'rst.amltbatyou got 

whipped by fhe conservatives." I told him no, thAt I did not. It was some prejudice that eristed a long time that got me hit. 

Q. 16. Was any pecuniary assessment made upon you as an l'mplol6 in the navy• 

yard, or clid yon pay any money without assessment for Mr. Platts election purposes during the last congressional campaign¥ If so, state fully all you know 

aboutit · .A. I had a writt~n circular passed to me with the request for a clay's pay. In 

that circular I saw where the bosses had to pay $20, the quartermen 10, the eighth· men ~5, first-class mechanics $3.20, second-class $3; and about tho 19th of October, 

1874, I went to Mr. Smith about this pay. I tolu him that I was in here only a sl10rt 

time ; that I was only able to pay $2. He t{)ld me that would not do; be wanted 

the whole ; that he was tired of it. 

Q. 17. How much money did you pay 7 

A. I give him t2. 

Q. 18. Who is the Mr. Smith to whom you have referred 1 

A. William F. Smith, foreman, or the boss of the shipwrights, under whom I 

worked. 

Q. 19. Did you pay that money willingly or not 1 

A. I did not pay it willingly. 

Q. 20. What, the-n, induced you w pay it 1 

A. Thinking it would give me a longer job. Q. 21. Was it or not generall~ unders~ so far as you know, among the men employed in the navy-yard, that if they fruled to meet the assessment made upon them {t would result in their discharge or cleprive them of a job ¥ 

A. As a general thing they thought it best to pay it·, in my opinion .• Q. 22. Was it, ornot1 generally understood, among the men employed m the navy- yard during tho late congressional campaign, that they woul~ be expected 1o vote for Mr. Plat~ and thM if they failed to do so they would incur the hostility of 

those who controlled the patronage in the navy-yard 7 

.A. It was, in my opinion. Q. 23. How many mPn were employeil in the navy>yard during the time you were there, from the 4th of .August to the 11th November, 1874, according to your knowledge, information and be1ieff 

.A. To my belief, in the construction department there was two hundred men on the ship.carpenter's roll. Some were put there as mechanics who were not. There was about four hunclred laborers during the month of October in that department, two hundred more than was needed, to the best of my judgment. There was some imported from Isle of Wight and wo!·ked on the ship-carp~n!a's roll who were no ship-carpenters-one from Isle of W1ght and one from Williamsburgh; one from 

Isle of Wiaht named Juba Gordon, (co1orod.) There must have been in t.he whole 

yard in the neighborhood of seventeen hundred men, in my opinion; to the best of 

my judgxnent. 9· 24. You have stat~d that men were bro!Jght there and p~t on the ~hip-carpen· 

ter s roll who were not carpenters. What d1d tho~ men do; m what kmd of work were they engaged, anti how did they spend their time 7 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 5297 

A. They spent their time "down-east "-down in the privy. Down oo.st, we call it. 

Q. 25. Did you ever see those men carrying old lumber or iron about the yard as if to keep up o. show of employment ~ 

A. I have seen a gang of men taking deck-plank and pile it from one place to another to keep themselves employed. Q. 26. Was that large number of men employed there durin~ those months nec- essary or not, for the legitimate purposes of the Government~ m the navy-yard 7 

A. I think not. Q. 21. Did you attend a republican meeting held at Temperance Hall, in Portsmouth, a night or two previous to the election? 

A. I did; the ni~ht before the election. 

Q. 28. Who presided over that meeting I a. James H. Clements. . Q. 29. Does Mr. James H. Clements hold any Federal appointment in Portsmouth? 

A. He does. He is postmaster, and has been for some :years past. 

Q. 30. Did you bear any instructions given at that meeting bJ: M.ir. c~~ents, the 

chairman, or by any one else, as to how the voters should receive therr tickets on election day ; how they should hold them, and bow they should deposit them in 

the ballot-box¥ If so, state what they were fully. A. Mr. Clements told them he diu not want" no backing out, 11 and "no lagging 11 the vigilance committee. One must hold the tickets, and only give the 

ticket to the man that was goin~ to vote. The voter must hold it in his hand so it can be seen when he deposited It, so the vigilance committee-man can see hinl deposit it; when he deposited it right, he was to be tallied. 

Q. 31. Was any proclamation made or notice given of the names of the commit- tee-men from whom the voters should receive their tickets~ 

A. Not that I know of. It was late when I got in, and thevotingwasall through 

with. 

Q. 32. Where did you vote on the day of election I 

A. I voted in the second ward. . To tho same effect are the depositions of William W. Bain, page 234; of George 

W. Glover, page 266; of Joseph Broughton, page 283 ; of Francis Russ, page 30!1; 

but it is unnecessary to multiply illustrations of what every man in the country 

knows is the invariable practice in all the Executive Departments of the Govern- ment-never to such an extent as under the present Administration. 

In the investigation of the New York custom-house in 1872, it was proved that 

official positions were frequently the price of partisan services. (Volume 3, page 

608.) 

By Mr. HoWE: 

Question. Now, what, efforts have General Arthur, or Mr. Cornell, or Mr. Laflin, or Mr. Darling made to control tho political action of their subordinates~ 

Answer. The only special knowled~;e I have on that subject is that every single one of their subordinates ha.<> to act m a certain politicru way. There are a few men there who I know are forced, in order to keep their places, to do just exactly 

contr::t.ry to what they believe to be right. 

Q. Now whonrethose~ 

.A. I do not propose to tell them if I can help it, because every one of them would 

be turned out of office. (Examination of General George W. Palmer.) 

At pa_ge 702, same volume, deposition of James L. Hastie: 

Q. What was the offer made by Mr. Murphy's a$ent to you 9 Just repeat the 

offer made by him in case you would leave your pmce upon the ticket and allow 

Mr. E. D. Morgan to go to the convention in your stead. 

A. That I could tak.e a. sheet of white paper and write my own terms for myself 

and friends in the district. Any positions that I would choose to select would be 

given. 

Q. Positions in the United States service in the custom-house 1 

A. In the United States service, for myself and my friends. Take a sheet of pa· 

per. and write out my own selections. 

The individuals who were thns:·interrogated were1 however, only Mississippians, into whose private and personal dealings with then· employ~s an inquisition was made, which we do not believe would have been attempted or tolerated in the 

State of Massachusetl a or any other Sta.te, where the right of local self-government is acknowledged and is suffered to exist. 

However open to reprobation such attempts at coercion of opinion may be, no one can suppose it is within the power of Congress to interfere. 

SOCIAL OSTRACISM. 

Testimony wa.<> taken to prove the unwillingness of the southern white people to a.<>sociate intimately with many of the witnesses. J ndginE from the account given 

of themselves by those who made this complaint, the undersigned are disposed to coincide with the parties complained of, and do not believe tliat in the Northern 

States the social standing of these witnesses could be very high, or intimacy with 

them generall7 desired. But it does seem to us absurd to suggest the regulation of private intimacies and associations by act of Cong'!'ess. History ha.<> been read 

in vain if the folly and futility of all such attempts be not admitted. Tinle, the 

great healer of grief, may steep in oblivion the memory of the great losses with 

which the people of the South have in the providence of God been visited. But 

the wounds are too recent not to be touched gently. The members of many a household in Mississippi are clad in the garb of woe, and mothers, sisters, and 

wives are pale with sorrows that will not cease until the union with their loved 

and lost shall come with the end of their earthly troubles. 

Into these associations a stranger may not intrude ; a man of feeling would not if he could and an unfeeling man shoulu be repelled. 

The firesido of a citizen, however bumble, is a domain which neither congressional committees nor any one else has a right to enter unbidden by its owner. Nothing in the letter or spirit, the theory or practice of .American government even suggests such a jurisdiction, and we thus dismiss the subject. 

INTERFERENCE BY FEDERAL AUTHORITY 

in the State elections and internal affairs of the State bas, since the close of the war, frequently taken place, and never without deplorable and disastrous results; 

and, on the other hand, the applications of minorities, defeated by the popular vote, to bo nevertheless installed in office, has never been denied by the Federal 

authorities without such denial being followed by beneficent results. . Such interference has always been followed (and vEJry naturally) by local dis- content and diso-rder, as in the case of Louisiana and Alabama, while 'Tennessee, 

Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, and .Arkansas are living proofs in their 

increased prosperity and tranquillity of the wisdom of non-interlerence. 

TD.E PROBLEM OF RACE 

will continue to be of the deepest interest to the people of this nation·; and it is not tile duty or purpose of the undersigned to do more at present than recognize 

its existence and .refer to its solution as a matter of great difficulty. Suffice it to say that the relations of the African to the white races in the United Sta.tes do not stanu alone for consideration; but on our Pacific coa.<>t the uark shadow of an Asiatic borde hangs lowering over the white population, and has aroused their 

gravest apprehensions. 

The African race is now admitted fully to the rights of American citizenship. Under the fifteenth amendment all power to discnminate as to the right to vote "on account of race" is inhibited to the Sta.tes and to the United States. 

IV-332 

Thus, between the admission of the Mongolians to the privilege of suffrage, there now stands but the frail barrier of a. single word of the naturalization laws to be 

added or subtractt:d at the will of a bare majority in Congress, which can close or open to the teeming oriental. populations unobstructed opportunity, by their mere numbers, to control our elections and our governments, State and Federal. 

The vastness and gravity of the subject will not admit of further discussion in 

this report. 

A few remarks upon the condition of Mississippi in June, 1876, will conclude this 

report. . A rapid journey by railway brought the committee to the town of Jackson, the 

capital of the State. The examination of witnesses, who were all readv and in at- tendance, having been summoned in advance by telegraph from Washllgton, com- menced on the day of our arrival and continued all day and every day from June 9 to June 27, when, by traveling all ni~ht, we reached the little village of Aberdeen, 

in Monroe County, and, after three oaysof close labor there, returned to Washing- ton. No act of a turbulent or disorderly nature was witnessed by the committee, 

and no signs of enmity or incivility were exhibited i but, on the contrary, courtesy and respect were on au hands extenfled to the committee. 

The poverty of the people was apparent in their garb, the appearance of their 

houses, and the marked alJsence of good and comfortal>le vehicles. 

The want of horses or equipages for ordinary plea.<>ure was frankly stated to the 

undersigned by sundry gentlemen who regretted their inability to iillow us to see the surrounding ~untry, sim:\)lY because they an<l their fanillies were too poor to 

indulge in the plea..<Jure of a dnve. 

Large numbers of ladies in Mississippi delicately nurtured and carefully educated are compelled to perform the drudgery of their households unaided by domestic servants. This great change in their mode of life and fortunes induces them to conceal their wants from a. stran~er s eye and frequently forbids that open-handed hospitality once so charact~ristic of southern households. 

The only exhibition of plea.<>ure-sooking witnessed wa.<> by the colored people, 

whose processions pa.<>sed the committee-room and whose holiday excursions by railway started from the depot opposite. 

The only C<'l.nnon sound wn.<> from their republican ratification meeting, and theirs was the only music heard by us in Mississippi. 

The poverty of the coloreii people also was often painfully apparent in the groups 

of witnesses who clustered upon the long galleries, wretched in appearance and 

miserably clad, giving to the hotel the appearance of a county alma-house. 

The reformation in the legislation and administration of Mississippi by the party 

in control since January, 1876, has thus been important and marked with great benefits to the entire community. 

The judiciar.v has been purified and elevated by the appointment of men learned 

in the law and irreproachable in chamcter to the bench. The far-reaching and beneficent influences of this single reform can scarcely be overstated, and the blessing to :B.ow to all classes of society and all races of men in the pure and equal administration of public justice may be now hopefully looked for. 

The Hon. John A. C. Watson, a citizen of the highest reputation, both a.<> a lawyer aml a man, testified on this subject il8 follows, at page- : Question. Speaking irrespective of party in th(} State, what was the effect upon 

public opinion of the course of administration which you have here detailed as to the growth of confidence or dissatisfaction therein~ 

Answer. It created great discontent and dissatisfaction. Many of the republi- can party became as violent opponent-s of G<Nernor Ames as the democrats were or ever bad been. 

Q. I would ask yon what, in your judgment as a citizen of the State and a close 

observer of the affairs of the State, was the effect of the discord in the dominant 

party in the election of 1875 ~ 

A. I think the split in the party contributed more to the overthrow of .Ames than 

any other single callSe. And in this way : The negroes, hea1·ing their own men abusing each other, seemed to be bewildered. I traveled over the ~tate a good deal 

during the last canvass. I addressed the people at this place, (Jackson,) and I addressed them at Canton, at Winona, at Oxford, Taylo!''s Depot, Hernando. Senatobi.'l>, and some other places, besides in Marshall County, and had a good deal oi in· terconrse with the people. 

Q. With both parties~ · A. Yes, and I noticed a very great change in the negroes. Before, they had 

been unwilling to hear any but their own speakers, and seemed to have no confidence in anybody else. Last fall, long before the election, th(}y were coming out to hear the democratic speakers. They were conversing with democrats, and 

before the day of election a good many had openly avowed themselves democrats. 

In my county and in others, of which I heard, a /!l'eat many had joined clubs, and 

I noticed, frequently, one or two who would first go and hear; then they would converse with me, and their change was as gradual and slow as it well could have 

been. Finally they would avow themselves democrats and betJOme more enthusiastic than anybody else. Such changes were usual tlrrou~~out the State before tho 

day of the election, and I heard many of them say, "Weu, we have macle nothing 

yet by the republican party; they have done us no good, and I reckon it is possibly 

best to have a change. We will try it." I don't pretend to give their ex.a.ct language, 

but the substance of what many said. 

Q. Since the election have you observed the sentiments and feelings of the colored population in regard to this change of administration~ 

A. I think there has been more of confA?ntment and 9.uiet and satisfaction among the negroes since the last election than ha.g before eXISted in the State since re· construction. • Q. Excluding yourself, of course, what is your estimate of the present state of 

jnillciary, both as ~o the chancery, circuit court, and the supreme court W 

A. I regard the Improvement as very great-very great. 

Q. Have the offices of chancellor been refilled' 

.A. Yes. 

Q. And the circuit judges also refilled 7 A. Yes. 

Q. From what class of men, a.<> to legal attainment and character, have theso appointments been drawn~ 

A. They have been made from a class of lawyers who had the confidence of the 

people and who were competent to fill the places. The supreme-court bench, with 

Simrall, appointed by ALcoRN, and Campbell and Chalmers, appointed by our pres- ent ~vernor, Governor Stone, in point of capacity, integrity, and character, is 

equal to any court in the Union, and there are not more than one or two chancel· 

lora or cironit jude;es that I, myself, as governor, would not have appointed. Q. Are yon aware that the charge had been made that the late election in 187t 

was carried by a. general system of intimidation and violence on the -r.art of the 

democratic party toward their political opponents in this State~ I will ask you now what is your knowledge and your judgment as to the truth or falsity of that st.atement ~ 

A. Well, so far a.g my personal knowledge goes, I never witnessed anything approaching intimidation by the whites Cases of intimidation of colored voters by colored voters did come under my observation. There has always been something of that., but much less of it in the last election than previously. A better class of men, as a general thing, were anti-radical candidates la.<>t faU, and a. more orderly or fairer election was never held, so far a.<> it came under my observation. 

Judge Campbell, of the supreme court, at page -,says: Question. Hn.<> there been, as far as you know, since the election an acquiescence in the change of affairs in the State f 
• 

5298 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. AUGUST 8, 

Answer. Entirely so.; the most perfect quiet has reigned throughout Mississippi. 

Q. Any collision between the races since that, that you are aware of, "in your own section of the country¥ 

A. I have heard none anywhere I remember, except on the borders of Mississippi, in Louisiana, this ma~t&r down here, thr.t is known through the instru- mentality of papers; I have heard of no disturbance; perfect quiet has reigned 

tlu:oughout the ~tate except that. 

Q. State what baa been since 1875 the effect of this change of administration; if 

there bas been any effect u~on tho happiness and prosperity of the people. 

A. It ha been mo t insptring, decideclly inspiring, to the people. 

Q. Is that feeling confined to one 1'ace exclusively 1 

A. I am not able to speak about the colored people. My a ociations with them are so very limited thatl cannotsay. sir. My profes ional duties before my appoint- ment to the bench, and my judicial duties since, have so engro sed mv time that 

really I cannot express an opinion, even about the sentimtlnts of colored men in 

the Sta.te. 

Q. Has there been, to your knowledge, a visible imJ)rovement in the prosperity and cont]jtion in the State since tho change of admin:i.~Tation ~ 

A. There is no question abonttl1at, I think, sir. The prospect forindnstrialsuc- cess is decidedly better than it bas been. There are much higher hopes in the 

bosoms of the white people, and, so far aa I can ascertain or judge from every appearance, perfect contentment, quietude, and satisfaction among the colored peopl~he truth is that the colored people were being incited by :pestiferous v~abonds who wanted to stir them up for purposes of thei'rown agamst the whites. And 

they would have moved along in their sphere contentedly and quietly, depending on the white people, trusting in them, and treated with kindness by them, but they were stirred up and hopes were created in their bosoms which could not be realized. 

And there are ambitious men among them, who, catching their inspiration from 

their leaders, undertook to permeate the whole race with it, and spreading it abroad 

inciting them and inducing a feeling, when there would have been no such feeling; 

all would have been satisfactory between the whites and blacks had it not been for 

the interference of these persons who undertook to use the negroe8 for their own purposes. And I will state further that the negroes would have fared just as well and bet- ter without any interference at the hands of the mass of the white people, who 

have far more consideration and kindness for them than these men who make loud 

pretense of their devotion to them for mere political purpos~. 

I know the negro race well ; I was born and reared among them, and have nothinl? in the world but the kindest feelinp;s for them, and in my private life and in 

puolic life, a~ they will all testify who have been brought; within my influence, I 

have treated them with great conside:ration. When on the bench, where they had a~c;ainst them the natural pr ~udice unhappily existing to a great erlent in the 

mmda of their late masters against the newly enfranchised race, I was anxious to secure them from injustice from white jurors, even more so than if they had boon 

white peop:e. I have always had only feelings of the utmost k~ndness toward them, 

and have now. I am p1·epared to assert that they ha>e done wonderfully well under the circumstances, and would have done far better but for tho interference of politicians, who 

stir them up and use them for their own benefit. They have been badly taught and 

misled and been used as mere puppets to a large extent. Tho reduction of expenses by the last Legislature was positive and highly satisfactory to all tax-payers. (See pa~e -, deposition of --.) 

The condition of public !!Chools is in the main satisfactory, and the provision for 

their maintenance has been increa ed by the appropriation of certain license fees 

and fines to their support. (See page-, deposition of E. Barksdale.) 

On this subjoot the following extract is pertinent and interesting' 

"THE PEADODY SCHOOL FUND. 

" On Friday last the trustees of the Peabodv fond for aiding the public 

schools at the South held a meeting at the Greenbrler White Sulphur Springs, at which the report ma.de by Dr. Sears of his last year's work was discussed. From 

this report we learn that Dr. Sears disbursed ft·om the fond 1wder his charg but a. small amount to South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana, because those States do not foster :public education. In South Carolina and Louisiana the republicans have 

bad posst's ion of the govemment for years past. In Florida the democrats have 

only recently had any chance of carrying the State. Yet in these three States, 

where the white friende of the colored people have everything their own way, the 

school funds have been squandered and dissipated and the school-houses closed. 

Wb.'lt wonder,· then, is it that Mr. George Peabody Russel, who joined in the discussion of the Sears report, gave it as his opinion, from personal and recent observation, 'that nothing could be expected from those States in the way of advancing 

their educational interests until there was a change in theil· Stategovermnents.'" 

By amendatory criminal le!rislation the live stock of the farmers has been protected and the lawless and iniliscriminate slaughter of breeding-animals bas been 

made highly penal, so that this year much of the pork and beef heretofore purchased abroad will be raised within the State. 

With the increased acreage of corn and the fine crops of their great staple of 

cotton, the prospects for the material prosperity of Mississippi in the present year are favorable. CONSTITlr.tl0Jo1AL P.OWiillS OF CONGUESS. 

If it be designed that our form of government should be con tinned, we hold it to be the sworn duty of every Senator and Member of Congress, as well as every 

officer of the Government, to re&pect and obey the limitations upon power imposed by our written charter. 

Whatever may be our individual opinions as to the ri;;ht or the wrong of a given 

condition of affai113, the power, and with it the duty to mterfere must be fonnd ex- pressly or by necessary implication in the Federal Constitution, otherwise such interference is law-breaking and not law-making. 

The SupremeCoru·tof tbe United States, in the case of Tbe Collector vs. Day, 11 

Wallace, R-ep., p. -, throm!.h tho lips of that venerable and lamented jurist, Mr. 

Justice Nelson, described the relative powers of the Federal and State govermnents 

in the following words, which we commend to the respect and for the instruction 

of the Senate: 

"It is a familiar rule of construction of the Constitution of the Union that the 

sovereign powers vested in the State govermnents by their respective constitutions 

remained unaltered and unimpaired, except so far a-s thoy were granted to the Gov- ermnent of the United States. That the mtention of the framers of the Constitution in this respect might not be misunderstood this rule of intcrpreta.tion is ex- pressly declared in the tenth article of the amen<lments, namely: 'The powers not delel!ated t.o the United States are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the 

people.' The Government of the United States, therefore, can claim no powers which are not j!ranted to it by the Constitution, and the powers actually granted muRt be such as are expressly given, or given by necessary implication. 

"The General Government and the States, although both exist within the same territorial limits, are separate and distinct sovereignties, acting separately and independently of each other within their respective spheres. The former in its ap- propriate sphere is supreme; but the States within tho limits of their powers not granted, or, in the language of the tenth amendment, 'reserved,' are a-s indep~ndent of the General Govermnent as that Government within i! a sphere is independent 

of the Stat.es. * * "' . "Such being the separate and independent condition of the States in our complex 

system, as recognized by the Constitution, and the existence of which is so indiapensable that without them the General Governn:ient it.<Jelf would disappear from 

the frunily of nations." 

The House of Representatives of the United States is by the Constitution the sole 

judge of the elections, qualifications, and returns of its members. Con teats for mem- bership and admission to that body must be settled by that body alone. This Sen- ate has no power. 

The constitution of the State of Miseissippi secures to the respective houses of 

its Legis1'tture the same exclusive ~war in the same frame of words, and it cannot be lawfully overthrown by the Umted States. 

The deposition of Mr. Walton, the pre ent United States district attorney of 

Mississippi, at page 63, exhibits his and GoTernor Ames's views of the late election: 

Que tion. lias any department of the j!Overmnent in Mis issippi, or any authority, State or Federal, questioned the legality of the present Legislature ~ 

Answer. I believe not, sir. That is to say, no authority, State or Federal, nor department of the government in Mi sissippi has questioned the legality of the 

present Legislature. There bas been a poput:tr ch"rge that it was a legislature 

elected hy intimidation; but then, while they have questioned it unofficially, 

they have recognized the legality of the Legislature by their official intercourse 

with it. 

Q. Have not both the judicial and executive authority of the St.'t.te repeatedly 

recognized the le.aality of the Legislature elected in 1875 W 

A. The judiciaf authority, the supreme court, may be considered as having recognized the legality of tho Legislature in this way: two of the judges of the supreme · court by turns-the court consists of three judges-presided over the impeachment 

of Governor Ames. The chief justice of the State first presided, and then in con- sequence of ill-health he resigned his position, and became only an associate justice, and the person who was elected chief justice in his place took his position as p ··osident. of the court of impeachment. The officers of the State generally reported to the Le¢aJature, and the ~overnor of the State sent his message to the Legislature 

and approved or >etood its nills. I remember that I had a conversation with Gov- emor Ames on that subject, in which something was said about the legality of the 

Legislature. I recollect he made the remark, which impressed me as authorizing 

his ac: ion in the matter, that theLeg_islature was a le~al body, because the number 

of republicans in the Legislature ana the number of aemocrata in the Legislature, 

who were peacefully elected, constitute a majority of each house, and thereby were entitled to decide the question of tho right "of the other members to their seats. He contended, however, thatagoodmanyofthemembershad been illegally elected. 

Q. But that that was a question which there was a legal body tliere to detorminei . A. That there was a legal body there composed of republicans who had been 

elected without any improper influence, and democrats who were elected peace· 

fully in sufficient numbers to constitute a majority of each house. I remember his 

making that remark to me in .January, shortly after the Legislature met. He 

did not give that as his reason for recognizing the Legislature in his official ca- pacity; but the two things cou~led hem~elves together in my mind. 

The statement of the result of the election by Governor Ames, and that the late 

Legislature was a legal body, ie more than sustained by tho testimony. Striking out the counties where fraud or violence my be supposed to have millified the elections in those special and few localities, still enough lawfully and 

peaceably elected members of both houses remain unimpeached, in any quarter and 

by any witness, to form more than a quorum duly qualified to organize the two bodies according to the constitution of the State o! Mississippi. T. F. BAYARD. 

J. E. McDONALD. 

NORMAN H. RYAN. 

Mr. LOGAN. I move to take np Senate bill No. 840. 

The motion was agreed to; and the bill (S. No. 840) for the relief 

of Norman H. Ryan was considered as in Committee of the Whole. 

It provides for the payment to Norman H. Ryan of $736, in full for 

services as storekeeper of the bonded warehouse of E. W. Dutcher, at 

Amboy, illinois, from the 18th of April, 1868, to the 15th of October, 

1868. 

Mr. LOGAN. There is a report from the Committee on Claims in 

connection with this bill. It has been examined by the Committee on Claims and reported favorably. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Now I should like to hear the report read. 

Mr. \VRIGHT. I think I can state to the Senator from Vermont 

the facts of this case. This man was watchman of this bonded ware- house. The party failed. The officer in charge, the collector, instructed this person to continue to watch the property that was tbere 

in which the Government had an interest. It was the duty of course of the person owning the property to pay this expense, but he having 

failed and this collector instructing the man to continue on watch 

he did it for the number of days he is paid for as watchman. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Is there not a. lien on the property for fees of 

that kind f 

Mr. LOGAN. The Government got the property. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. If the Government got the property, of course we ought to pay the man. The bill was reported to the Senate, ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, read the third time, and passed. 

ROBERT N. EDDY. 

Mr. ALLISON. I wish to call up the conference report on the river 

and harbor bill. 

Mr. KERNAN. I ask the Senator to yield to allow me to call up a 

bill. I think there will be no objection as the man is sufferiug. It is 

Senate bill No. 788, which containa but eleven lines and the report is 

still shorter. 

Mr. ALLISON. I yield to that. 

There being no objection, t.he bill (S. No. 788) for the relief of Robert N. Eddy was read the second time and considered as in Committee of the Whole. It is a direction to the Paymaster-General of the 

United States Army to pay to Robert N. Eddy, late second lieutenant 

Company K, One hundred and fourteenth Regiment New York State 

Volunteer Infantry, the full pay and emoluments of a second lieutenant, from the 31st of December, 1862, to the 28th of August, 1863, deducting therefrom all pay he may have received from the Government as first sergeant for that period. 

Mr. KERNAN. Let the report of the Committee on Military Affairs be read. 
• 

1876. -CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 5299 

The Chief Clerk read the report submitted by Mr. RANDOLPH from 

the Committee on :Military Affairs on the 1st of :May, a,g follows: 

The Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the bill for the relief 

of R.N. Eddy, late second lieutenant Company K, One hundred and fourteenth 

Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry, submit the followina report: The applicant desires difference in pay from the 31st Decem~r, 1862, to the 28th 

August, 186:l, between the pay ef a sergeant and that of a second lieutenant. 

Prior to the first date. Eddy was a sergeant in the regiment and company named ; was appointed a second lieutenant at that time; a second lieutenant's vacancy then 

existed in the company. Eddy performed the duty assigned him; failed to get his 

commission because of the loss of the vessel on which it was, and was prevented f y·om being sworn in as ~econd lieutenant until the last day named, i. e., August 2t', 1863. 

'.rhe committee recommend the passage of the bill. 

The bill was reported to the SenateJ ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, read the third time, an<l passed. 

CHANGE OF A STEAMBOAT'S NAME. 

:Mr. :McMILLAN. I ask the Senator from Iowa to yield to me to move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the bill for the 

relief of the heirs of Asbury Dickins. 

Mr. CONKLING. That will lead to long debate. 

Mr. McMILLAN. If that be so, I ask the Senator to yield to me for 

the passage of the bill (H. R. No. 2252) to authorize the Secretary of 

the Treasury to change the name of the steamboat Hiram Wood. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Tho morning hour has expired. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Let us pass one bill that is not a money bill. . By unanimous consent the bill (H. R. No. 2252) to authorize the 

Secretary of the Treasury to change the name of the steamboat Hiram 

Wood was considered as in Committee of the Whole. 

Mr. CONKLING. Mr . .President, on this bill I wish to make a re- mark, and I would be glad to believe that it would reach the ears and the regards of Senators. There are a great many bills on the 

Calendar to which nobody would object and whi.ch are of deep con- cern to those who are interested in them. If we could in place of 

taking up bills in this way-! do not mean to object to this bill at 

all-have consent to go through the Calendar in the morning hour 

for a day or two under the Anthony rule and let the Calendar be 

called for unobjected bills, it would be a great relief to many people,- some of whom are sitting in the galleries now and some of whom are in much distress about matters which would not occupy the Senate one moment each. As I say, I do not interpose against this bill; but 

to-morrow morning and on subsequent mornings I will see whether 

I cannot get the approbation of the Senate to take up the Calendar 

under the Anthony rule, and as a friend very properly observes, it is more important in the ca,ge of Honse bills because our act-ion on those 

concludes legislation. Let ns take up unobjected ~ases and run on and dispose of a great many of these questions which are so distressing to the people concerned in the_m. .Mr. THURMAN. A day or two ago a bill in regard to counting the 

votes for President and Vice-President was taken up on my motion 

and then was laid aside informally subject to be called up at any 

time; but since that I suppose it has been supplanted by business 

that was pending at the close of the day. I want to give notice now that as soon a.s the Senator from Indiana ancl the Senator from New 

Jersey shall be in their seats I shall ask that that matter shall be disposed of. I have no speech to make on it; I only want it voted on and disposed of. If the Senator from Indiana were in his seat I 

should move to take it up. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. There is a. bill before the Senate as in Committee of the Whole. 

The bill was reported to the Senate, ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, read the third time, and passed. 

.BILL RECOMA-fi'ITED. 

Mr. PADDOCK. I ask the indulgence of the Senate for a moment 

to move a reconsideration of the vote by which the bill (S. No. 133) 

to sell certain public lands to the Beatrice and Denver City Railroad 

Company, and for other purposes, was indetinitely postponed. I do 

this by instruction of the Committee on Public Lands, for the purpose of moving its recommitment to that committee. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection to the reconsideration of the indefinite postponement of the bill f The Chair hears none. It is moved that the bill be recommitted to the Committee on Public Landa. 

The motion was agreed to. 

THE CALENDAR. 

Mr. GORDON. I move to take up Senate bill No. 951. 

Mr. CONKLING. I did not object to the bill which was last moved, 

and I dislike to object to any bill in which the Senator from Georgia 

is interested; but I must insist that if we are going on, the morning 

hour having expired, to (lisp lace the regular order, it ought to be with a fair opportunity to all these people alike. I have no doubt the 

Senator's bill is right, but we shall reach it in a moment, nobody will 

object to it, and it will be passed. • :Mr. GORDON. I am perfectly willing to accede to the motion of 

the Senator from New York. 

Mr. CONKLING. Suppose the Senator makes the motion, and let us try. We shall run down to his bill in a moment. 

Mr. GORDON. I move, then, that we take up the Calendar, and 

only bring before the Senat.e bills that are not objected to. 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempore. Under what is known as the Anthony rule. Is there objection to that proposition f The Chair hears none. 

Mr. SHERMAN. I ask what is the regular order f 

The PRESIDENT pro t.empore. The resolution of the Senator from 

Indiana [Mr. MORTON] for printing extra copies of tpe President's 

message relative to the massacre at Hamburgh. · Mr. CONKLING. And this is subject to a call for the regular or- der at any time. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Calendarwill be resumed where 

its consideration was laat left off. 

STEAMBOAT ROBERT ROSS. 

The bill (H. R. No. 1915) to change the name of the steamboat 

Robert Ross was considered as in Committee of the Whole. 

The Committee on Commerce reported the bill with an amendment, 

which was in line 5, after the word ":Mollie," to strike out " K.retor" . and insert " Keator; " so as to make " :Mollie Keator" the name of tpe vessel. 

The amendment waa agreed to. 

The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendment was concurred in. 

The amendment was ordered to be engrossed, and the bill to be 

read a third time. 

The bill was read the third time, and pa.ssed. 

PLEASURE· YACHT ELLA • 

The next bill on the Calendar waa the bill (H. R. No.1823) to change 

the name of the pleasure-yacht Ella to that of Myra; which was con- sidered as in Committee of the Whole. 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered 

to a third reading, read the third time, and passed. 

PRINTING AGRICULTURAL REPORTS. 

The next business on the Calendar was the concurrent resolution to 

print 25,000 copies of the report of the Commissioner of Agriculture 

for 1875, to be distributed by the Commissioner. 

The Chief Clerk proceeded to read the resolution. 

:Mr. CONKLING. If that resolution is not legible, I think I shall 

object. 

Mr. FRELINGHU:YSEN. It is very necessary that it should pass. 

1'11r. CONKLING. It cannot be passed unless it can be read. 

The Chief Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved by the Senate, (Ute HottJJe of !UpresenW.tives concurring.) That there be 

printed and bound 25,000 copies of the report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1875 for distribution by the Commissioner of Agriculture. 

Mr. WITHERS. I ask whether it is contemplated that any num- ber of copies shall be printed for distribution by members of Congress. . Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. There are two resolutions which have 

passed the House. One provides for the printing of 100,000 copies, I 

think, for the House and the Senate of the report for 187 4, and then 

there is another resolution which baa passed the House for 1875. The 

books are stereotyped for 1874, and it is very little expense, comparatively, to have that year's Teport printed. This resolution is for the 

benefit of the Commissioner himself, and I think the three resolutions 

ought to pass. 

Mr. SAULSBURY. I want to call the attention of the Senator from 

New Jersey to the fact that I believe the number of 25,000 has been 

heretofore printed for the Commissioner, but I want to inquire of 

him if that is not too larse an amount for the Commissioner! I un- derstand he is unable to distribute them and sends them here, aml they are put in the folding-room to the credit of members of Congress. I 

think I found the other day thirty copies that were asslgned to me out of the surplus remnant in the hands of the Commissioner. 

:Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I understand from the Commissioner that 

he cannot spare any of these. 

Mr. SAULSBURY. That was my information. I may be incorrect. I found them to my credit after I thought I had exhausted all 

my own. 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. The reu,gon of that probably is that last 

year the Senate printed some number, I forget bow many, but a thousand or two thousand for its own. use while none were printed 

by the House, and I suppose the Senator from Delaware received his 

quota of that ten or twelve hundred copies. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempo-re. The pemling amendment will be 

reported. . The CHIEF CLERK. The pending amendment is to insert at the 

end of the resolution: 

And 250,000 copies of the same for general distribution by Senators and members 

of the House of R-epresentatives. 

Mr. SARGENT. Is an objection still good to this resolution f 

The PRESIDEN'l' pro tempore. No; it is before the Senate. 

.Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. This had better be passed without amendment.· 

:Mr. SARGENT. I object, provided this amendment is tacked on. Mr. PADDOCK. I do not see why we maynotdisposeofthe whole 

question now as well as dala.y pa.rt of it to another time. 

Mr. SARGENT. It is sought to pile up the committee-rooms and 

folding-room wit;h documents when there is no method of distributing them. I do not know how other Senators may feel, but I say for 
5300 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. AUGUST 8, 

myself that I ca,nnot afford (out of the little pay I receive and such resources as I can command) to pay the postage on tho~sands and 

thouaa,nds of public documents. 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. That is very true for everything except 

this report. This report and the RECORD do go free. 

Mr. SARGENT. I have another objection. That objection is that we have made very stingy appropriations for the Government Printing Office for the ensuing year, and it is doubtful if they can get 

through with the ordinary necessary work. I am informed by those 

who are cognizant with the matter that it is impossible to do it. We 

have very stringent laws against exceeding appropriations. I would 

not like to find that the blanks of the Post-Office Department or those 

of the Treasury are suspcudcd in the vacation for want of funds to do 

necessary work. I would not like to see the man who is Public 

Printer in the State pri~:~on or hauled over by a committee of Congress 

for violating the law by expending money not appropriated by Congress. I am opposed to piling up these orders for printing for that reason. With reference to the original proposition for 25,000 copies, 

it might perhaps be squeezed through ; but when you come to add 

250,000 more I do not think we ought to do it unleas ample appropriation is made. 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I think we had better pnss this resolution without the amendment, inasmuch as there are two other reso- lutions which have passed the House mnking provision for copies for 

the use of members of Congress; and as to the deficiency in the appropriation, while what the Senator from California.says is very true, 

still I mther guess the appropriation is enough to run the establishment until December, and that is about all that is contemplated, I 

presume, by these appropriations. 

Mr. WRIGHT. The resolution is DOW before the Senate. I understand the amendment is to print 200,000 copies additional for the use of the Senate and House. I shall vote for tho amendment, a.nd I 

think it a very appropriate and proper place to put it on now. These other two resolutions may have p:tssed the House, but it is a matter of very great doubt whether we shall pltSS them at this ses- sion. I do not know any report published by Congress that, so fa.r n.s 

the people of my country are concerned, they take so much interest 

in as in this very report. There is no one report that is called for one- tenth or one-hundredth part of the time that this is called for, so far as I am concerned, and I think there is no one thing to which we can devote the money that would be more acceptable and that would be more approved genernlly by the people than this. This is only the 

number, aa I understand, that haa been published heretofore in prior 

years, and I see no reason why we cannot do it now. I think if the 

resolution as originally reported is to pllss for printing 25,000 copies, 

then the additional 200,000 ought to be added. I shall vote for the 

amendment, and I shall vote for the resolution when it is thus 

amended. 

Mr. SARGENT. I have objected. 

Mr. PADDOCK. At the time this m:ttter wae considered before I 

offered the amendment wbich hl\8 been read without thinking of the 

necessity of making provision for the distribution of the report of 

1874. I think the propositions sent over from the House more nearly cover the necessities of the case than my amendment. Therefore, I 

propose that they be added as an amendment to this resolution. I 

offer them as a substitute for the amendment, or rather I withdraw 

the other amendment and substitute this. 

The PRESIDENT pro temp01·e. The amendment of the ·senn.tor 

from Nebraska will be read as amended. 

The CHIEF CLERK. The amendment is to strike out all of the reso- lution after " Resolved/' and insert : 

That there be printed 100,000 copies of the report of the Commissioner of Agri- culture £or the year 1874; '20,000 copies for the use of the Seoo.te, and 80,000 copies for the use of the House of Representatives; and that there be printed 200,000 cop- ies of the report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the year 1875, 43,750 copies of which shall be for the use of the Senate, 131,250 copied for the use of the Honse 

of Representatives, and 25,000 copies for distribution by the Commissioner of Agriculture. 

Mr. HITCHCOCK. I wish to Inquire of the Senator from New 

Jersey where the House resolutions are on the Calen~ar that he spoke 

off 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I think the resolutions are on the Calendar. I hope now that this matter is up that this amendment will 

be adopted, and that we shall dispose of the whole subject. 

Mr. SARGENT. I h11.ve objected to the whole matter. 

The PRESIDENT pro i(f11tpote. Not when the resolution was taken 

up. An objection does not prevail unless it is made at the time a resolution or bill is taken up. When the Senate has once proceeded 

to consider it, it cannot be laid over by one objection. 

Mr. SARGENT. I should like to know the cost of printing this enormous quantity of matter f 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I do not know. I understand that the 

report of 1875 is stereotyped. What the cost is I do not know. The 

report of 1875 is already te be printed. That is all the information I 

have on the subject. This is the same number which has been printed 

every year. It is about all that the agricultural part of the com- munity get out of the Government and they are very much pleased 

with this work. I think it does good. I hope the Senate will pass 

the resolution. · Mr. SARGENT. I should like to enter my protest; it seems to be 

all that I can do. I thought I objected in time to this extravagant 

expenditure of public money, this immense draft upon a fund entirely 

inadequate to do the current business of the Government. 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempo1·e. That there may be no misunderstanding, the Chair 'vill state his ruling. It is that whenever a bill 

is read in full, if requested, an objection then will send it over; but 

after a bill is in Committee of the Whole and under consideration, no objection can then prevail. So of a resolution. 

Mr. SARGENT. I did not object to the original resolution, but 

when amendments were offered entirely dift'erent in character, increasing the amount to an enormous extent, then I interposed the objection the very moment these amendments were offered. 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempore. A bill or resolution is liable to be 

amended in a.uy form. Objection cannot pertain on account of the 

different stages. The question is on the amendment of the Senator 

from Nebraska. 

Mr. SARGENT. I ask for the yeas and nays. 

The yeas and nays were ordered; and being taken, resulted-yeas 

34, nays 10; as follows : · 

YEAS-Messrs. Bayard, Bo~, Boutwell, Burnside, Cameron of Wisconsin, Chris. 

tiancy, Cockrell. Cmgin, DoV18, Dennis, Ferry, Frelinghuysen, Gordon, Hamilton, 

Ifarvey, llitcbcock, Howe, ~galls, Jones of Florida, Kelly, Key, McCreery, McDonald, McMilL1.n, Maxey, Mitchell, Paddock, Patterson, Ransom, Saulsbury, Spen- cer, West, Withers, ~W.d Wrigbt-34. 

NAYS-Messrn. Booth, Conkling, Cooper, Eaton, Hamlin, Kernan, Morrill, Sargent, Wallace, :md Whyte--10. 

ABSENT-Messrs. Alcorn, Allison, Anthony, Barnum, Bruce, Cameron of Pennsylvania, Clayton, Conover, Dawes, Dorsey, Edmunds, Goldthwaite, Johnston, 

Jones of Nevada, Logan, Merrimon, Morton, 'Norwood, Oglesby, Randolph, Robert- son, Sharon, Sherman, Stevenson, Thurman, Wadleigh, and Windom-27. 

So the amendment wns agreed to. 

Mr. SARGENT. By the vote just taken a resolution which was intended to involve a cost to the Government of $10,000 has been 

changed to one costing $120,000. It looks like very brisk work in 

about ten minutes, and it exhausts about one-fourth of the whole appropriation for public printing. It is very rapid legislation. 

I suppose after the vote that baa been given in favor of this enor- mous printing it will be useless to protest any further. I simply ·call attention to the fact that it does not look very economical to ex- pend $120,000 in addition to the cost of stereotyping and setting the 

type for these books by an amendment put on in this way; and it seems to me, although I do not question the ruling of the Chair, that 

it is going very far to say that where a propositwn is brought for7 ward to spend '10,000 an objection is not good when a proposition is 

made to change it to cost twelve times that amount. 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Although my friend thinks the legislation 

is rapid it is really ·stereotyped legislation. It is what is done every 

year; and it would be a great deal better to h~tve it fixed by a permanent statute than even by passing these resolutions. It does cost 

something, it is true, but it is the people's money and the people want 

this information, and they like this expenditure, as the vot.e in the 

House and the vote here always show . . Mr. SAULSBURY. I desire to say that, while I consider this a very 

valuable document, I am in favor of limiting the printing of reports, 

particularly upon mining and other interests which are purely local 

iri character, as I have been careful to explain to the Senator from 

California, [Mr. SARGENT.] 

Mr. SARGENT. Will the Senator from Delaware allow me a mo- mentf 

Mr. SAULSBURY. Certainly. 

Mr. SARGENT. The report on mining was abolished last year on mymotion. · Mr. SATJLSBURY. I am glad to hear it. 

Mr. SARGENT. I believe the Senator at that time had something 

to say about the report on mining, and I made a similar remark, calling his attention to the met that it waa omitted from the sundry civil 

bill on my motion. I trust the Senator will remember it now, and 

next year will not say that I am in favor of the report on mining. .Mr. SAULSBURY. I will join the Senator in economy on a great 

many other works which are prep!tred and which can only go out at 

the personal e~ense of members of Congress. I httve insisted here 

that we ought .to limit the publication of works unless there was some provision to send them out whhout personal charge to members 

of Congress ; but this work, the Agri-cultural Report, is one that the 

agricultural community desires, which it appreciates. In my opinion they appreciate it more than any other work which is published 

by authority of Congress. 

The resolution, aa amended, was agreed to. 

VANCOUVER WATER COMPANY. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The next bill on the Calendar will 

be reported. 

The next bill on the Calendar was the bill (S. No. 453) to authorize 

the Vancouver Water Company to lay water-pipes throu~h the Fort 

Vancouver military reservation; which was considered us m Committee of the Whole. It authorizes the Vancouver Water Company, a corporation organized under t.he laws of Waahington Territory, to 

lay down and keep in repair wa.ter-pipes for the conveyance of water 

through the military reservation of Fort Vancouver. 

The bill WM reported from the Committee on Military Affairs with an amendment, to add at the end of the bill the words : 

To be subject at all times to orders and regulations of the War Department. 
\ 

1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 5301 

Mr. BOUTWELL. I do not object to the amendment, but it seems to me it ought to be amended so as to authorize the company tore- move the water-pipes, if they choose. 

:Mr. SPENCER. I think it does do t·hat. 

Mr. INGALLS. Is there :my report from the Secretary of War on the subject f 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. No papers accompany the bill. 

Mr. KELLY. I will state1 if it be desired, the reason why this bill was introduced and why I desire it to pass. The Vancouver Water 

Company was authorized some years ago to construct and lay down 

phes through the military reservation by the permission of the Secretary of War. Subsequently the Secretary learned that he had no authority to do that, but that it should be done by Congress. ~hile 

the water-company is now passing water over the reservation, it bas 

really no authority to do it, and therefore this bill wa.s introduced. 

The amendment of the committee that it shall be under such regulations as may be established by the War Department I think is fair. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. I move in the amendment after "to," in the 

seventh line, to insert "removal and to;" so as to read: 

To be subject at all times to removal and to orders and regulations of the War 

Department. 

The amendment to the amendment was agreed to. 

The amendment, a.s amended, was agreed to. 

The bill was reported to the Senate aa amended, and the amendment was concurred in. 

The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third rending, read the 

third time, and passed. 

PRINTING AGRICULTURAL REPORTS. 

;Mr. ANTHONY. While I was absent for a few moments in the 

service of the Senate, a concurrent resolution has passed, I understand, authorizing the publication of 300,000 copies of the Agricultural Report. Although I am opposed to what seems to me such an extravagant waste of public money, I do not propose to attempt to 

object to the will of the Senate, but I ask that the vote on the passage of the resolution may be reconsidered so that I may add an amendmen~ without which I do not think the resolution can be car- ried into ettect. There is no money to pay for the printing. The 

sundry civil appropriation bill has cut down the appropriation for 

the public printing one-third, I think. The Senator from California 

[Mr. SARGENT] will recollect how that is. 

Mr. SARGENT. Yes, sir. 

Mr. ANTHONY. And now having cut down the appropriation 

about one-third, we pass a resolution here to expend $150,000 more than we did last year, which cannot be carried into effect unless there 

is money for it, because if the Public Printer expends the money without an appropriation he is subjected to a severe penalty. I therefore move a reconsideration of the vote by which the resolution was passed, 

and I will then move that it be put in the form of a bill, making an appropriation to pay the expense of the printing. 

Mr. PAD DOCK. I should like to inquire of the Senator if there 

will not be an opportunity in some other bill devoted exclusively to 

appropriations to provide for this appropriation f 

Mr. ANTHONY. No; every appropriation bill that has not already 

become a law has passed both Houses and is in the conference com- mittee. 

Mr. PAD DOCK. It seems tO me unnecessary to reconsider the reso- lution for the purpose of putting this amendment upon it. It seelllS 

to me some other provision could be more readily made. 

Mr. ANTHONY. If the Senator can suggest it, very well. I make 

this motion in good faith to t.he Senate. I am opposed to the printing of this enormous number of books for gratuitous distribution, but; 

if it is the pleasure of the Senate to order it, I think we ought not to 

compel thePublicPrinterto incur the expense and then put him in the 

State's prison for spending the money. I am quite sure that unless 

the amendment I sug~est is put upon the resolution the order of the 

Senate cannot l1e earned into effect. 

Mr. CONKLINU. Is this a Senate resolution Y 

Mr. ANTHONY. It is a Senate resolution, but should be changed 

to a bill. Not wishing the publication to be made, I am quite con- tent to leave it as it is, in which case I am quite sure it will not be 

effective; but if it is the desire of the Senate to incur this great ex- pense, then it must appropriate the money and take the responsibil- 1~. . 

Mr. PAD DOCK. I object to a reconsideration. 

Mr. SAULSBURY. I have no doubt that if Congress would stop 

publishing political documents for distribution and other unnecessary 

works, we could save enough to publish this work, in which the great 

agricultural interest of this country is interested. 

Mr. ANTHONY. Will my colleague on the committee tell me where 

we are going to save f We order so many copies of this report and 

then we appropriate a certain amount of money. We appropriate for the public printinf a million of dollars and then we order a million and n, half dollars worth of printing to be done. 

Mr. PAD DOCK. I should like to inquire of the Senator if he knows 

any other direction in which money can be applied for public print- ing where it will carry with it greater beneficial results to the peo- ple Y I object most thoroughly and most emphatically to the term 

"waste" employed by the Senator in connection with this appropriation. So far as I am concerned, I am satisfied in my own mind that 

there is no printing done by the Government so acceptable to the 

people and so useful to the whole country as is this. 

Mr. ilTHONY. If we should print Webster's Dictionary or the 

Holy Bible, I think it would be quite as useful to the country and 

there would be as great a demand for it. There is always an immense 

demand for books which we give away. I did not rise to argue the 

question, however. I have long known that it was the intention of 

the Senate and House to order this printing. I rise in good faith to 

the Senate to say that if' they want t.his printing done they must 

reconsider the resolution and make an appropriation for it. 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Can we have un:1nimous consent to take 

the resolution np at once and pass it, if it is reconsidered Y 

Mr. SARGENT. I will not objer.t. I objected before on the ground 

that the Senator from Rhode Island now so ably states. I will not 

object provided the appropriation is made. 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. What does the Senator from Rhode Island suggest t 

Mr. ANTHONY. My amendment is to appropriate the money to 

print the 300,000 copies. Mi. SARGENT. Which will take $120,000. I understand the type 

is set and it will cost forty cents a volume after it is stereotyped. 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. The type is set ofthe report for one year. 

Mr. ANTHONY. It should be " 130,000, or so much thereof as may 

be necessary." 

Mr. HOWE. Let me suggest that the resolution had better go to the 

House and they will concur without an amendment or with an amendment. If we require the printin.g to be done, the Printer will not do 

it unless he has funds to do it with, and if we come back here next 

winter and do not find the reports he will probably be able to tell us what the reason is, and then we co,n appropriate the money or not a.s we choose. I guess we had better not attempt to go into the question of making an appropriation at this time. 

Mr. ANTHONY. I move to reconsider the vote and shall then move to pnt the resolution in the form of a bill with a proper appropriation; and then, although I shall not waste the time of the Senate 

in opposing it, I shall merely vote against it. If the Senator from 

Wisconsin does not want the books printed and is willing to defeat 

the resolution by indirection, I certainly have no objection; oncy I 

do not think it would be proper for me with the information which I 

happen to have upon the subject, having some charge of th.e public 

printing, to allow the Senate to make an order which cannot be exe- cuted. 

Mr. HOWE. I may be allowed to say that I do not want to defeat 

this measure by indirection, and I do not mean to defeat it at all. 

I want t.he resolution to pass, and I undE'-rtake to say it will be exe- cuted if yon pass it. It may be you will find yourself short next winter and will either have to make an additional appropriation for the 

Printing Office or have to stop printing them, but "sufficient unto 

the day is the evil thereof." This printing will have to be done, for 

I do not think we shall order printing enough this session to exhaust 

the appropriation made for that purpose. 

The PRESIDENT pro temp01·e. The question is on the motion of 

the Senator from Rhode Island [Mr. ANTHONY] to reconsider the vote 

by which the resolution was agreed to. 

Mr. PADDOCK. I hope the motion will not prevail. It seems to me it is unnecessary to reconsider the resolution. 

Mr. LOGAN. Why not put it in the form of a special appropriation bill, and let. the resolution stand as it is' 

Mr. ANTHONY. The two provisions or;ght to go together. If we pass the resolution and should not pass the appropriation bill, thin, 

in spite of what my friend from Wisconsin says, the order cannot be 

executed. All these appropriations are under a particular head. The 

Government Printer cannot take the appropriation made for the 

Treasury Department or the Interior Department and divert it to the publica~on of these reports. 

Mr. WEST. I voted for the resolution, and am in favor of the appropriation for the reasonable cost that the Government will incur 

in carrying it into effect. An examination of the lately-passed sundry 

civil service bill will convince the Senate at once that it is idle to let 

the resolution stand as it is. The total amount appropriated for the 

printing of the Interior Department is .135,000 and for the Agricultural Department $9,000, making the amount $144,000 for all the printing of those two Departments. Consequently if this is to cost so mnOh money it would exhaust all that you have appropriated for the 

Interior Department and the Agricultural Bureau, and your resolution as it stands is a nullity. 

Mr. PADDOCK. Of course it will not take precedence of the other 

printing. 

Mr. WEST. I know it will not take precedence. Yon will by no. possibility get any Agricultural Reports printed under your resolution without such an amendment as appropriates the money neces- sary therefor. . Mr. INGALLS. These are for bound copies 7 

Mr. ANTHONY. Yes. 

Mr. INGALLS. In looking over the cosJJ I find that for 1,2GO copies 

for 1874 the cost to bind them was 200, or about sixteen cents apiece. You would be without books and without binding, most a uredly, as the resolution now stands, and the only way to make it effective is to 

reconsider it a,nd add the amendment making the appropriation. 

1\'.lr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I suggest that the resolution stand as it 
5302 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-· SENATE. AUGUST 8, 

iB. A bill can be introduced making the appropriation. The House ca.n amend the resolution by adding an :,tppropriation or an appropriation can be added in conference. I do not see any necessity for our undoing what 'we have done. It seemed a little difficult to get 

the measure up, and it iB, at any rate, an expression of the opinion ot 

Congress on tho subject. 

Mr. CONKLING. l\Ir. President, I cannot doubt that the Senator 

from Rhode Island is quite right about this matter. Surely no con- ference committee can import into this resolution an appropriation. 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Probably not. 

Mr. CONKLING. Or even change it to a bill. 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. No, sir. 

1\fr. CONKLING. Very well, then what are we in the act of doing T This subject is now before us; the Senate is considering it; it 

is here, and what do Senators ad vocate T Here is the Public Printer, 

who has been the object of much reproach, first because he allowed 

Senators to order speeches, and printed them and sent them here and 

received pay from Senators, the law technically as it was said, re- quiring that the money should be put in his hands in advance. It was alleged to be a crime for him to do the printing and trust to the 

faith of Senators who had subscribed, and a serious inquiry was had 

to ascertain the length and breadth of the guilt of the Public Printer 

for doing that. Then came out charges of irregularity, of disregard 

of the formalities and technicalities of the law. Thus our attention 

has been ca1led to this subject, and now what is proposed Y One hundred :md forty thousand dollars, and that only, by the action of both 

Itouses, fortified by repeated conferences of conference committees, 

has been appropriated as the entire sum for printing for the Interior Department and the Agricultural Bureau, $9,000 of that money 

being appropriated for the Agricultural Bureau. 

l\Ir. PAD DOCK. I should like to inquire of the Senator--

Mr. CONKLING. I wish my friend would let me conclude my 

statement, and then I will hear him with great pleasure. Now we propose, making no appropriation whatever, warned by the Senator 

from Rhode Island of the facts, when we direct the printing of a work which is to cost $140,000 itself, or nearly that. Then where is 

the Public Printer to · stand f One aJternative is t.hat there is to be 

committed to his discretion the question whether be will apply par- 'cel of this "'140,000, devoted to printing for that Department, to this 

book, or wbetber.he will wholly refuse to devote anything to this 

book; whether he will undertake to rate and apportion this $140,000 as he pleases, or whether he will have to pick and choose and say, "I will 

print no Agricultural Reports; I will devote all this money to the 

residue," or "I will print some Agricultural Reports and devote only some of this money to the residue;" and by and by when we come back to ascertain the accountability of the Public Printer where does 

he stand and wberedowestand 7 We htve, when our attention was called to it, adopted a resolution grossly irregular, grossly tempting 

to this man, and uncert-ain as to what be should do. 

Mr . .ANTHONY. Compelling him to be uncertain. 

1\fr. CONKLING. As the Senn.tor says, in a sense compelling him 

to be uncertain, to make bricks without straw, to ·do th:1.t which, as the law stands, he has no right to do. In his discretion he passes 

upon it. He asks some individual Senator to advise him what he had 

bett-er do, or he asks somebody else, or he evolves out of his own con- sciommess what perhaps he bad better do, and when we come t.o hold 

him to his owri responsibility we see that wo have done n.n act destructive of all discipline, of all regularity of administration, disregarding all symmetry in legislation, opening the door for exactly that 

complaint which we may be called to consider. 

I humbly submit that it is unjust to this officer, and that it is 

hardly worthy of the Senate to sit here with a resolution before it, 

when the chairmn.n of the committee says'' if you mean to print these 

books, appropriate the money; enable this man by law to justify himself in executing it, and do not pa-ss a resolution directing .it to be 

done when the Constitution says that no money shall be appropriated except by law," when every member of this body knows that 

this is not a law, but another mode of stimulating or directing this man to do a thing which he is to have no legal business to do after 

the Senate has made the direction. I voted against this resolution, as the Senator from California says he did, after hearing him, because 

when we cut down the appropriation of money for public printing 

one-third, to go and pile on an enormous item which would overtop 

it, if we had not cut it down, seemed to me to be utterly inconsistent 

with what we had done. Therefore! could not vote for it; but now, 

when more distinctly and sharply the figures are given to us, how 

can we justify ourselves in saying that this man, a subordinate officer, is to do a thing which, if he does do it, involves ~wrong and 

which, if he refuses to do it, he is utterly to ignore the action of 

the Senate t Then it is sai(l we can commit it to the House to 

do it when it is before us now, when here it is, and everybody 

says be ·does not object to its being considered, no technical objection standing in the way, just comrider it and make it right; and we know all about it, for the facts are before us. I heard some Senator say "sufficient unto the day- is the evil thereof." I adopt that; 

and tbis is the very day, this is the very hour when this evil is pointed 

out to us, and I say we ought to make it right or we ought not to 

pass the resolution at all. 

Mr. PADDOCK. I inquire of the Senator from New York if be 

does not think it is a little unfair to assume that the House will not 

make this appropriation in view of the fact that when they did :.tppropriate for the expenses of the Government Printing Office theydi(l 

not do it in the light of the fact that these publications would be 

authorized Y 

Mr. CONKLING. I should not think I was disrespectful to the 

House if I were to assume t~at the House would do just what it is 

proposed the Senate shall do, when it is proposed that it shall be done 

in this body, where there is no previous question, where there is none of that trip and twitch by which legislation. is jerked through so quickly that you cannot see it go. When we have the abundant opportunity and do this thing, I do not think it will be disrespectful to 

the House to assume that they might do it ; and as my friend [Mr. HAMIJ,..~] sn.ys, whether they would do it or would not do it, we should not do it in violation of law. If it is so obligatory t.hat my 

friend from Nebraska can trust the House to do it it does seem to me that he ought to trust himself and his fellow-Senators to do it. 

:Mr. PAD DOCK. I am willing to trust myself and the Senate and 

the House to do this tbing in another way at another time and in perhaps a more proper form upon some appropriation bill. I will state 

to the Senator that I understand the Senator from Dlinois [.Mr. LoGAN] has already prepared or is preparing a bill in reference to appropriations; in fact, as I believe, sir, with the view of covering these 

publications specially. 

Mr. CONKLING. That is, a separate appropriation bill f 

1\Ir. PAD DOCK. I think it should be separate from this resolution. 

I think the appropriation its:•lf should be placed upon an appropriation bill and not connected with this resolution in any manner, shape, or form. 

Mr. CONKLING. That is a very frank statement and I am disposed to leave this subject on that assertion. If I under tand t-he 

statement, as I construe it, it is this: it is a little easier .to get this 

through by way of a resolution, which was voted for by many Senators in innocence of the fact-that a fulcrum is needed to complete 

it, and then take the chances of curing it by another bill. That is 

the idea. · . Mr. PAD DOCK. I think that it is more proper and for every rea- son safer to treat this proposition as an independent one, and the 

question of the appropriation afterward by itself. 

Mr. CONKLING. ·For my part I am so primitive in my notions 

and so old-fashioned that I think the best way to do it is the way the _Constitution says it shall be done, that is in round numbers to this 

effect : that you shall not directly or indirectly appropriate money 

out of the Treasury without making an appropriation according to 

law and by law, which means by the action of the two Houses and 

the act.ion of the President, they being the law-making power. If 

any Senator can find out that it is wise to put the fingers of one House between the belt and the wheel by one kind of legislation so as to draw it in and necessitate afterward the passage of a separate 

bill for fear that if we did not put in too finger and the arm, and 

have the whole body pulled in by this process, they might refuse to 

appropriate the money, and if be can ma.ke that argument show that 

it ought to be done I think the same argument will show that it 

ought not to be done. 

Mr. PAD DOCK. I should like to inquire of the Senator if he as- sumes that because the authority to print is given, therefore the 

Printer is required absolutely, whether he may have the money or not, 

to print these documents! 

1\Ir, CONKLING. Does tho Senator assn me the contrary f 

Mr. PADDOCK. I do assume the contrary, most cert-ainly. The 

authority may be given, and if the money is not afterward supplied, 

he, of course, cannot and will not be required to print. 

l\Ir. CONKLING. Tha~ is what I supposed the Senator would as- sume, and that is all I a sume. Mr. PAD DOCK. If you do so authorize the Public Printer I think 

it is competent for him to stop if the appropriations are exhaused before he reaches this branch of the work, but, the publication being 

authorized, if a further appropriation is :required it can be readily 

passed I am Rure. 

1\fr. CONKLING. That is exactly what I supposed the Senator 

would assume and that is another way of presenting better than I 

dicl the objection to this whole proceeding. The Senator's argnment 

is now that when we have passed this resolution it does not impose 

any obligation on the Printer; that it is a mere hurrah to do this 

thing; he is not to do it. Why 1 Because it would not give him any 

direction for the reason that this furnishes no money whatever to do 

it n.t all. 

Mr: P.A.DDOCK. There is no legal requirement that he shall do it 

unless he has the money. 

Mr. CONKLING. To be ipgenuous, as I have no doubt the Sen 

ator means to be, h~ ought to add the further opinion that, in addition to all that, it commits to the Printer, whoever he may be, the 

prerogative and the discretion to determine whether be will take this 

money and devote it, or deal it around to these different objects, so much to this, and more to that, aud less to something else, or whether 

he will go on and devote his $140,000 to that to which it stands now devoted by law, and where undoubtedly it will go unless by this res- olution or some other contrivan~e we say sometbin~ which shall de· 

stroy that certainty ancl embark him on the sea of his own discreiion as to what disposition he will make of it. I am surprised that Senators want to do this thing. !say nothing a.Lout the merits o.f it one 

I 

J 

. 

."' 
\ 

( 

1876. CONGRESSIONAL R~CORD-SENATE. 5303 

way or another, but I am surprised that Senators should want to print a document which will cost $140,000, or whatever the sum is, for any 

information, and yet will not say on the face of the resolution what 

they mean. If they want it printed, appropriate the money to do it, 

but if they think it worth while to have it done, the resolution should 

not be passed to do the printing _and then take the chance of getting 

in some other way some appropriation to carry it on. · Mr. LOGAN. I think there is no difficulty whatever in solving this 

problem. I cannot understand the difference between passing -a separate appropriation bill for the amount of money to pay for tho printing and adding that to the resolution itself. If the House of Representatives should concur in a resolution which we have passed for the 

printing of 300,QOO Agricult'aral Reports, and the two Houses should 

have failed to makA an appropriation for that printing, there thAn 

rests upon them a duty, and that is to ma.ke the appropriation; that 

is all there is to it. A mere reconsideration of this vote does not help 

it a particle. You can upon a separate bill just as eUBily as you can upon this resolution make such an appropriation. There iB no au- thority extended over one that is not necessary to be extended over the other. We have the facts; they are brought to us. The chair- man of the Coll).mittee on Printing says it will cost so much; and ina.<:!much as I am rather inclined to be a practical man more than otherwise, while my friends were discussing this proposition I drafted a bill and will o:fferit now, and ask the Clerk to read it. 

Mr. SARGE:t\Ttf. I have no objection to its being read for information. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It will be read for information as a part of the speech of the Senator from Illinois. 

The Chief Clerk read as follows: 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the UnitedStatl's in Oonlfress assembled, '.rhat $130,000 is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treaanry not otherwise appropriated to be appli6d to the printing of 300.000 Agricnltn- ni Reports ordered by a concurrent resolution of the House of Representatives 

and of the Senate of the United States. . 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Here is another bill which has been drawn 

which I will have read for information also. The only thing about 

this matter that some Senators do not like is that they wish the appropriation to go with the resolut.ion. I always like to accommodate , my friends, and if they feel better pleased with having the appropropriation go with the order to print, I shall make no objection. 

The PRESIDENT pro tentpore. The Secretary will read the bill 

suggested by the Senator from New Jersey. 

The Chief Clerk read a..s follows: / 

That the Public Printer be, and be is hereby, directed to cause to be printed 

100.000 copies of the report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the year 1874, 

20,000 cop1es of which shall bo for the use of the Senate and 80,000 copies shall be 

for the use of the House of Representatives; and that he also cause to be printed 

200,'000 COJ?ies of the report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the year Hl75, 

43,750 cop1es of which shall be for the uso of tho Senate, 131,250 copies of which 

shall bo for the use of the House of Representatives, and 25,000 copies shall be for 

the UBe of the Commissioner of Agriculture; and that the sum-of $130.000, or so muoh thereof as may be necessary, 1s hereby appropriated for the execution of the 

work, to be paid out of =wy money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 

Mr. FRELIN'GHUYSEN. If, by common consent, the bill I have 

proposed can pass, I think we had better pass it. Of course one objection would carry it over. Mr. LOGAN. As I have the floor, I have but a word more to say. 

I do not see why there should bo any opposition to the printing of 

this report. Senators who represent agricultural communities know 

the great value of this report to that portion of the constituency of 

this country. The leading agriculturists of this country prefer this 

report to anything else. They obtain therefrom great information. 

Mr. ANTHONY. They prefer it because they do not have to pay ~~ - . Mr. LOGAN. They prefer it because they do not have to pay for 

it1 the Senator says. No; sir; that is not the reason they prefer it. 

The reason why they prefer it is because it is a report made upon 

subjects in which they are intetested and out of which they gain 

information which aids them in advancinO' that interest. That is the 

reason, and none other. I suppose the Senator might say for the same reason that the people would desire a report on any other subject becauso it cost them nothing. I suppose his constituents Me more glad to have his speeches because they do not have to pa.y for 

them on the same principle, and yet my judgment is that they get ~s much information out of an Agricultural Report as they would out 

of one of his speeches; that is on the subject of agriculture, not on the subject of printing. 

Mr. ANTHONY. I have no doubt of that; but I have never asked 

to have my speeches printed at public cost. · Mr. LOGAN. But they do not cost the man who gets them anything; that is what lam talking about, not what it costs the Senator 

or any of my honorable friends here. I had reference to the cost to' 

the individuals who receive the report. I say it d es not cost them 

anything, nor does any other document cost them anything. If the 

reasoning is good in one instance it certainly is good in the other. 

Wilen I referred to the Senator's speeches, I did not mean that his 

speeches were not as good aa, and great deal better on some subjects than, those of any other Senator, especially so fM aa I am concerned, 

but certainly not on the subject of agriculture. I presume a speech 

of his on a:gricnlture would be a good deal like a speech of mine on metaphysics Ol' something of that kind. It certainly would not be a 

· veryteadable document. I know that the great agricultm.a.l interest of 

this country are much interested in this report and alwayR have been, 

and we ne-.er have published agricultural reports suffiCient to satisfy 

not the whole community but those who really take an interest in 

examining these reports. I know so far as I a.m concerned-! only 

speak for myself-I have more calls from men, and intelligent men, 

for this ~:eport t.han I have for any other report that· is printed by 

Congress, I care not on what subject it may be. 

For these re~sons I am in favor of appropriating the money neces- s:uy to print this report and opp6sed to the reconsideration of the 

resolution, and I agree with the Senator from New- York. He says 

that somehow or other there is a desire to get the finger between the 

belt and the wheel in order to retain this. I do not care how yon fix 

it, I want it retained. I agree that he is correct. I do not want it 

reconsidered, for the reason, that the Senate might vote it down. That 

is my reason, and lam frank enough to state it. I do not want it 

reconsidered. It was the sense of the Senate at the time it was passed, 

and I hope it is the sense of the Senate now. But inasmuch as it haa 

been passed by both Houses, at this late hour of the session I do not 

want to see it reconsidered by one House or the other. 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Two concurrent resolutions were passed 

by the House. There was a resolution pending _here to print 2!>,000 

copies. The Senator from illinois was not in when those two resolutions were added a..s amendments to the resolution which wa-s pending in the Senat.e. Now it has got to go to the House to be concurred 

in, and it seems to me that a..s it will satisfy everybody better, the 

best thing we can do is to take up by unanio;wus consent the bill 

which I introduced in which I make the appropriation and direct the 

printing. We can take it up by unanimous consent, and of course every Senator will vote as he pleases. I have no doubt that it will- pass. . Mr. LOGAN. I have no objection to that. 

The PRESIDE!\'7 pro tempore. The question is on the motion to re- consider the V<?te on the passage of the resolution. 

The motion was agreed to. 

The PRESIDENT pro tmnpate. The resolution is before tho Senate. 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Now I ask for the consideration of the 

bill which I offered. 

The bill (S. No. 1036) to provide for the printing and distribution 

of the reports of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the years 1874 

and 1875 was read, as follows: 

Be it enacted, cl:c., That the Public Printer be, and is hereby, directed to cause to 

be printed 100,000 copies of the report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the 

year 1874, 20,000 copies of which shall be for the use of the Senate and 80,000 copies 

shall be for the use of the Honse of Representatives; and that he also cause to be 

printed 200,000 copies of the report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the 

year 1875, 43,750 copies of which shall be for the use ~f the Senl!--t.e and 131,250 en pies 

shall be for the use of the Honse of Representatives, and25 0~pies for the use of 

tho Commissioner of Agriculture; and the sum of $130,000, or SQ much thereof as may be necessary, is llereby appropriated for tho execution of the work, to be paid out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 

Mr. SARGENT. Mr. PresidentMr. PAD DOCK. I thought the understanding of th_e Senate was that .the substitute in the shape of this bill was to be adopted without question. 

Mr. SARGENT. That it should be brought up. I have not objected 

to its being brought up, but I made no arrangement upon the floor 

of the Senate or elsewhere by which my right to vote against the 

proposition can be given up. I am not making any delay; I simply 

want, in compliance with the request of the Senator from Rhode 

Island, to state one or t-wo :(acts showing the necessity of the action 

which isnowproposed by the Senate, notforthepassage of themeasure, but that it should be in this form rather than any other. · Congrees, by the sundry civil bill, appropriated for the public printing and binding $1,133,737.50, which they divided among the Departments. A few of these I will notice as illustrating the manner in 

which we appropriate for public printing. 

The estimates were considerably over a third higher than this, 

and the appropriation of last year wa-s a third higher than the amount 

thus appropriated. Following the precedent heretofore a division was made of this gross amount among the Departments, and for 

this year we appropriate for the printing and binding of the State 

Department, $15,000; for the Treasury Department, $180,000; for the 

War Deparlme_nt, $72,000; for the Navy Department, $~9,000; for 

the Interior Department, $135,000 ; for the Agricultural Department, 

$9,{)00; for the Department of Justice, $6,000 ; for the Post-Office 

Department, $105,000; for the Congressional Library, $15,000; for the 

Supreme Court of the United States, $20,000; for th~ supreme court 

of the District of Columbia, $3,000; for the Court of Claims, $10,000; 

and for the debates and proceedings of Congress, $100,000. I have 

added up these different amotmts at my seat and I may not be exactly correct, but they amount to about $70!>,000, distributed among 

the different Departments. The balance which is left; -which is 

$324,000, is for printing ordered by Congress or ordered by law outside of the separate Departments. The amount ordered by law, 

which is irrevocable from year to year, and we have not modified it 

at all, by such information as I can hastily get, is at least $110,000, 

as, for instance, the printing of the message of the President and ac- companying documents, the printing of the opinions of the Attorneys-General of the United States, the Congressional Directory, and 

things of that kind which are fixed by permauent statute from year 
5304 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. AUGUST 8, 

to year and have not been changed this year. The amount is much more than 110,000, but I have been able to gather items enough to 

amount to $110,000 already. This reduces the amount ef $324,000, 

apparently left available for the action of Congress, to $214,000. 

Then ·130,000 will probably be the cost of the printing of these 

300,000 -volumes ; I mean to say after they are stereotyped the cost 

yet to be paid upon these, perhaps including binding-though I think 

that wou1d be a little more-would be 130,000, which would leave but 

4,000 for all the other printin~ which Congress orders. Not a day 

passes here while we are in sesswn that we do not order extra copies 

of some document. . Some of these are very essential indeed; some of them givo information to the country upon very important matters; some are political. The Senator from Delaware [Mr. SAULSBURY] objected to printing political documents; and yet they are necessary, and all parties concede the necessity where a political document favors its shade of opinion; but where those documents re- late to great facts occurring in the cmmtry, are testimony taken un- dor oath, which is necessary for public information, they ought to 

be printed ; the facts should go out to the country; and there ought 

to be no party question upon the mere matter of printing them and 

letting men of all parties weigh them for what they are worth. But 

aside from this kind of printing there is much more that is necessary 

to facilitate our own business. All our bills are printed, all our re- ports are printed, and the cost of all this must come out of this appropri a.tion, a.nd we should have left but $84,000 for all the current work 

of Congress. 

Mr. LOGAN. Running the next session. 

Mr. SARGENT. Of course this is inadequate. The principal objection which I urged to the printing of this document was that it 

absorbed nearly the whole available fund for the prjntingordered by 

Congress for t.he fiscal year, and it was not right to put the Public 

Printer in the dilemma of refusing to obey· a joint resolution of Congress or of making a deficiency by expending money which had not 

been appropriatecl for that purpose. 

I have another objection which simply influences my vote, but perhaps -would hardly have induced me to take any time on this proposition at all ; and that is I think we should curtail as much as possible the printing of ordinary public documents. It is a very expensive system, amounts to a great deal of money, aa a million and a half app~opriation for printing shows; but that simply influences my 

vote, and I do not desire to delay proceedings for that reason. Mr. LOGAN. If we printed more agricultural reports and dug 

out fewer rivers, we should be better off. 

Mr. SARGENT. Perhaps that is true. One other remark and I shall 

yield the floor. Senators have said something about printing the 

mining report. Perhaps I did not pay sufficient attention to the re- mark that was ~ade on that point. I stated at the time hastily that 

I had procured that to be stricken out last year from the sunclry civil 

A pa:t of the . 1~0,000 ordered by permanent statutes is iu my opinion 

and m the opm10n of the Senate a very unnece sary expenditure of 

public money. Twice on the report of the Committee on Printing we have repealed, so far aa the Senate could repeal, the statutes that 

required a considerable part of this printing; but that action bas not 

met with the favor of the other House. I think we might save half 

of it without any loss to the public service. 

The PRESIDENT p-ro tempore. Is there objection to the motion to 

reconsider lying over until action is taken on the bill presented by 

the Senator from New Jersey T There is no objection. The bill will 

be considered as read twice and it is now before the Senate as in 

Committee of the Whole. 

The bill was reported t~ the Senate without. amendment, ordered 

to be engrossed for a third reading, and was read the third time. 

.Mr. ANTHONY. I ask for the yeas and nays on the passage of the 

fua . The yeas and nays were ordered; and being taken, resulted-yeas 

34, nays13, as foUows : 

YEA8-Me8srs. Allison, Bogy, Cameron of Wisconsin, Chri.stiancy, Cockrell, 

Conkling, Davis, Dennis, Ferry, Frelin,!!hnysen, Gordon, Hamilton, Hamlin, Har. 

veY., Hitchcock, Howe, Ingalls, Kelly, Key, Logan, .McMillan, Maxey, Merrimon, 

M1tchell, .Morrill, OJ£esby, Paddock, Patterson, Saulsbury, Wadleigh, West, Win· 

dom, Withers, and wrighir-34. NAY~:hiessrs. Anthony, Booth, Cooper, Dawes, Eaton, Kernan, McCreery, 

McDonald/ Sargent, Sherman, Stevenson, Wallace. and Whyte-13 . .ABSEN:r-Messrs . .Alcorn, Barnum, Bayard, Boutwell, Brnco, Burnside, Cam- eron of Pennsylvania. Clayton, Conover, Cragin, Dorsey, Edmunds, Goldthwaite, 

Johnston, Jones of Florida, Jones of Nevada, .Morton, Norwood, Randolph, Ran- som, Robertson, Sharon, Spencer, and Thurman-24. 

So the bill was passed. 

Mr. ANTHONY. Now the resolution had better be disposed of. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The resolution will go on the table, 

if there be no objection. 

Mr. ANTHONY. I think we had better reject that resolution so aa to take it off the Calendar. I move that it be indefinitely postponed. 

The motion waa agreed to. 

EDUCATIONAL APPROPRIATION. 

Mr. PATTERSON submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations: 

Resolved, That the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate be requested to 

insert an appropriation of 5,000 in the legislative, executive, ancl judicial appro· 

priation bill for the purpose of carrying out the recommendations of the Commis- sioner of Educ.ation contained in his letter of .A ugnst 7, 1876, herewith annexed. 

COMMISSION AS TO STANDARD OF VALUE. 

Mr. SHERMAN, from the Committee on Finance, to whom was re- ferred the resolution of the Honse of Representatives to appoint a commission to inquire into the change which bas taken place in the 

relative value of gold and silver and the causes thereof, tbA policy of 

restoring the double standard, and of con tinning greenbacks concur- rently with the metallic standards, reported a bill (S. No. 1037) to :tppoint a commission to inquire into the change in the relative value 

of gold and silver and the causes thereof, the policy of restoring the 

double standard, and of continuing greenbacks concnrrentls with 

the metallic standards; which was read and passed to the second 

reading. 

. bill. On taxing my recollection since, I opposed it last year on the 

sundry civil bill and it went out. But aside from that circumstance, 

instead of my having from the occupations of my people any hostility to the agricultural interest, I desire to say that my State is one of the greatest agricultural States of this Union. The amount of 

wheat which we export to foreign countries compares with perhaps 

any other State in the Union; I doubt if it is excelled by any other 

State. My State is peculiarly an agricultural State. When it was NEW YORK POST-OFFICE BUILDING. 

originally acquired from Mexico, the question was raised in the Sen- Mr. HAMLIN. I call for the regular order . . at.e of the United States whether it was worthy of acquisition, and The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The regular order is the resolution 

Daniel Webster used the remark that it waa a country of rocks with of the Senator from Indiana [Mr. MORTON] for the printing of extra rattle&nakes enough to fence it. Since that time, however, we have copies of the President's message and accompanying documents. The 

changed the opinion of allintelligentmen,aswellaaofourownpeople. Senator from Connecticut is entitled to the floor. 

We have developed there by our industry and skill varied agricultural Mr. EATON. Mr. Pl'esident.----

industries of moment, and I have no don bt that the people of my State Mr. WINDOM. I ask the Senator from Connecticut whether be 

who are engaged in that business receive as thankfully a-s the people will not yiel<l until I call up a bill from the Committee on Appropriof any section the Agricultural Reports. I am willing to any reason- ations to pay a deficiency for the New York post-office and en tomable extent to satisfy that demand. house which I think ought to be passed f I think there will be no Mr. HARVEY. I hope this bill will pass and pass at once. A large objection to it. . majority of the members of the House by their votes have shown that Mr. EATON. Certainly; I will yield for that purpose. 

they approve this publication, and it is made in the int-erest of the Mr. WINDOM:. I ask the Senate to proceed to the consideration of 

greatest productive industry of the country. The Senator from Cali- the bill I have indicated. · fornia has stated that he has no doubt his constituents desire to be By unanimous consent, the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, 

furnished with the information contained in these reports. I have proceeded to consider the bill (H. R. No. 4060) to proviue for the pay- no doubt that much the largest number of the constituents of every ment of certain indebtedness incruTed in the construction of the New 

Senator here feel a great anxiety for the information contained in York court-house and post-office building. 

these reports. I hope the bill will pass. To enable the Secretary of the Treasury to pay the indebtedness 

Mr. ANTHONY. I wish to say one word. The Senator from Cali- incurred in the construction of the building for court-houso and postforma has shown that the money for the public printing now avail- office in New York City, in excess of the amount appropriated for that 

able under the existing appropriation for the current year is 234,000. purpose for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876, the urn of 227,5G6.78 

If this publication had been ordered without any specific appropria.- is appropriated by the bill, in accordance with the recommendation of 

tion, it would have reduced the appropriation to about $84,000, de~ the Committee on Expenditures on the Public Buildings in their redncting from it the 110,000 ordered to be printed by permanent port to the House of Representatives of J nly 17, 1876. 

statutes. In my opinion the $84,000 has a]readybeenordered by this Mr. STEVENSe>N. I should like to ask the Senator from MinoaCongress. 1 do not believe that the reports of the investigating com- sota how it was that, in violation of law, this amount waa expended 

mittees and the other printing which we have ordered can be done by any agent of the Government on any building f I thought t.he 

within the amount that has been appropriated. Perhaps the country Committee on Appropriations were in the habit of holding officers to 

might not suffer a great deal if some of the printing should fail; bnt the appropriations. I do not mean to oppose the bil1, but I wa.nt to 

if some printing that bas been ordered fails, the fault is in Congress know how it happened, because it seems to me if the architects or in ordering work to be done and then failing to make the neces ·ary employes of public buildings can, at their discretion, overrun the apappropriation to perform it, and while the officer charged with per- · propriatious made by law and then come to Congress t·o supply the 

forming it is under legal penalties if he obeys the orders of Congress. deficiency, it is a very bad way of managing our tis~a.l affairs. 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 5305 

Mr. WINDOM. Mr. President, the Committee on Appropriations 

do not attempt to justiiy the fact that this appropriation is required 

because of a.n excess of expenditure over appropriations. On the 

other hand they condemn that act, and I was instructed so to state to 

the Senate. However, I wish to say w bile condemning the act under 

any circumstances, for I think the law should not be violated at all 

and that no sufficiently good reason can be given for it, that there were some vocy strongly palliating circumstances in t.his case. I will 

read a short statement from the superintendent giving his reasons. In answer to a question from the committee of investigation hesaid: 

I came into this office in .Tanua.ry. That building was not even plastered then. 

Tho building had been promised to the Post-Office Department and the Law Depart- ment two years before, and I felt, if it waa possible, it wa..q my duty to get the 

building completed in time to get the courts in there in May, that that effort should 

be made; so I made a very stronO' eflort to get the building completed, and we did an enormous amount of work. 'There was a tremendous pressure upon us by the 

Post-Office Department to get their offices out of where they were, and if we could not get the courts in there by the 15th of May, we would have been obliged to rent the ouilding in which the courts were then held for another year. We endeavored 

to advance the prosecution of the Government buildings, and carried on the work 

with great vigor, and it was out of that pressure and the enormous amount of work 

that was done that these expenses were created in excess of the money in the Treas-=- ury. No injury came to the Government by it. 

I think these circumstances certainly do palliate the offense very 

much. 

Mr. STEVENSON. Whose letter is that and of what date t 

Mr. WINDOM. It is an extract from the testimony of Mr. Potter, 

' the Architect, taken before the committee who investigated this matter. I will say that the committee of the House have so thoroughly 

investigated it as to produce a document of this size, [exhibiting the 

report,] which sets out all the items that a.re to be paid out of this 

deficiency bill; and they say : 

Your committee find that a full and valuable consideration has been received by the Government from the persons claiming compensation; that the articles fur· 

Dished are of good quality, and, as far as your committee were able to learn, fur. 

Dished at reaaonable prices, and the articles of furniture place<l in said building ~p"e all necessary for the use of the persons occupying said building engaged in the 

public service. 

They also say : 

Your committee are satisfied from all the evidance that all the persons holding claims a~inst the Government embraced in t.he foregoing schedule are innocent 

parties, tnat they acted in goo(l faith in the premises, and that in equity they are entitled to have their claims pa.id. / 

The Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. DAWES] inquires who they are. The list is given in this document. 

Mr. DAWES. What I desire to know is whether the parties con- cerned were the original contractors or whether a.fter the building was completed as a building this expenditure was a.mong the mer- chants of the city in procuring furniture. 

Mr. WINDOM. Here we have iron-work, $:36,725, and the names of 

the parties given; for fire-proof shutters, $16,152.05; mail-elevators; 

iron -lathing; cut granite, &c.; iron-work, service of superintendent--

Mr. DAWES. How much cut gra-nite was it necessary to get in 

there before the courts could use the building f 

Mr. WINDOM. I suppose some of the debts for the building itself 

remained unpaid. 

Mr. DAWES. I w:tnted to find out whether this money was to go 

to the original contra.ctor, who must have known just what money was appropriated. If it was to go to merchants outside with whom 

the officers dealt for the purpose of procuring furniture and the like, 

that would put a different aspect upon it. They were entirely innocent men, probably. 

Mr. WINDOM. Mainly this money is due to persons who furnished 

articles of furniture and for finishing up the building, as stated in 

this evidence. 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered 

to a third rea.ding, read the third time, an~ passed. 

SAN FRANCISCO MARINE HOSPITAL. 

Mr. SARGENT. The CoDliDittree on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. No. 2692) to relinquish the title of t.he United 

States to certain property in the city and county of San Francisco, 

California, have instructed me to report it back without amendment, 

and I ask that it be considerecl now. It will take but a moment. 

The being no objection, the Senate as in the Committee of the 

Whole proceeded to consider the bill It relinquishes to the city 

and county of San Francisco all the right and title of the United 

States to th6 folJowing-described property, being the two fifty-vara 

lots on which the old marine-hospital building now stands, fronting 

two hundred an<l seventy-five feet on the north side of Harrison 

street, between Spear and Main streets, with a uniform depth of one hundred and thirty-seven feet six inches, as laid down on the official 

.map of said city, to be used by the city and county of San Francisco 

solely for the purpose of a sailors' home. If the same shall at any 

time be used for any other than the purpose stated, or if the 1iome 

shall not be opened within one year from the passage of the act, all 

right and title hereby relinquished shall revert back to, and again 

vest in, the United States. 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, and 

ordered to a third reading. 

Mr. MORRILL. Rat~ any report at this session been made by the 

Department as to what could be obtained from the sale of this property¥ 

Mr. SARGENT. I have the Honse report in my hand showing that 

the whole amount the Government was offered was abont $700. This 

is a building which wa~ built away back in 1853. It was badly shattered by an earthquake, and it would cost probably fifteen or twenty 

thousand dollars to repair it. The ladies who wish to use it as a sailors' hom~ have sufficient money to put the building in repair and are disposed to do it. It is a very worthy object. The building is a r~ay off on one side of the city, and the Government has not used 

it for twenty years. The building could not he put to better use and 

would not bring any money if sold. There is a unanimous report of the 

Naval Committee, and the bill has passed the House of Representatives. 

I trust the Senator will not object, as it is a very benevolent object 

and the property is now really of no value to the Government. 

The bill was read the third time, and passed. 

MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE. 

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

ADAMS, its Clerk, announced that the House had disagreed to the re- port of ,the committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the 

two Houses on the amendments of the House to the bill (S. No. 779) 

to provide for the sale of the reservation of the confederated Otoe 

and Missouria Indians in the States of Kansas and Nebraska. 

The message also announced that the House had passed a bill (H. 

R. No. 408..'1) to repeal part of section 5 of an act entitled "An act au- thorizing the repavement of Pennsylvania avenue/' approved July 

l9, 1876; in which it requested the concurrence of the Senate. 

ENROLLED BILLS SIGNED. 

The message further announced that the Speaker pro tempm·e of the 

House had signed the enrolled bill (H. R. No. 3625) providing for the 

sale of the Osage ceded lands bt Kansas to actual settlers; and it was thereupon signed by the President pro tmnpm·e. 

DISTRICT GOVERNMENT. 

The PRESIDENT pro ternpwe. The Senator from Connecticut [Mr. 

EATON] is entitled to the floor on the unfinished business. 

Mr. SPENCER. Will the Senator from Connecticut yield to me a moment f I think there will not be·any objection to the consideration of the joint resolution (H. R. No.lOO) providing a commission to 

frame a permanent form of government for the District of Columbia, 

and for other purposes. 

Mr. WHYTE. I object. 

:Mr. PAD DOCK. I think we had better have the regular order. 

Mr. SPENCER. I think if this was understood there would be no objection. It is a House resolution. Certainly there is some government needed here, and some steps ought to be taken during the re- cess. During the session of Congress it is impossible to prepare any 

bill. This resolution, as amended, provides for a committee of three 

Senators, to be designated by the President of the Senate, and three 

members of the House, to be designated by tb.e Speaker of the House, 

to sit during the recess and frame a permanent form of government 

for the District of Columbia, to be reported n.t the next session of 

Congress. 

l\Ir. WHYTE. I object, because it must give rise to discussion. 

Mr. SPENCER. I hardly think it will give rise to discussion. 

Mr. PADDOCK. I ca.ll for the regular order. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The regular order is ca.lled for. 

Mr. PADDOCK. I only object because I am satisfied this measure will give rise to infinite discussion. 

H.UffiURGH RIOTS. 

The Senate resumed the consideration of the following resolution, 

submitted by Mr. MORTON on the 2d instant: 

Resolved, That 10,000 copies of the President's message and accompanying docu- ments in regard to the late m'l.Bsacre at Ha.mburgh, South Carolina, be printed for 

the use of the Sen.'l.te. 

Mr. EATON. Mr. President, when I had the floor yesterday afternoon, just before yielding I was speaking of the manner in which 

honorable Senators on this floor saw fit to speak of the distinguished 

gentleman who had been nominated as the candidate of the democratic party for the high office of President of the United States. 

There is one thing in that rej "ices me, and I hope it may be so nntij: the end of this discussion. T tat is that no democratic Senator has 

yet found the occasion of attackin!L..the character of either of the 

nominees of the republican party. we recognize, or at least I do, the 

two gentlemen who have been placed in nomination by the republican party as highly respectable gentlemen in point of character a.nd, so far as I know, in point of ability. I have not the honor of knowing personally the republican nominee for the Presidency, but I pre- sume him to be a gentleman of fair ability. 

And now I ought to say a word, for I care to say no more, regarding the position and character of the candidate of the democratic 

party for the office of President. He stands up high, no words of 

mine could elevate him in the opinion of his countrymen, but I have a word or two to say with regard to the candidat-e for the Vice-Presidency, because he ha-s been the subject of abuse on this fioor,unnecessary abuse. The distinguished Senator from Vermont, not now in 

his seat, [Mr. EDMUNDS,] in an argument of some length, has en- deavored to convince the Senate, and through the Senate the country, 

not that there has been a terrible and horrible outrage at Ram burgh, 

but that Mr. Hendricks, the candidate of the democratjc party for 
5306 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. AUGUST 8, 

Vice-President, is unworthy of the position because he is not honest, 

because in his political opinions he is not honest and will not cn,rry 

out the laws under the Constitution of the Uniten States. Sir, that 

iB a severe charge to make against a man nominated as a candidate 

for hjgh position, and the Senator has gone back and with an air of 

triumph, pointing to his books, said, "No man will deny it, for here 

is the record." The record of what f The record of the votes of an honest man in this Chamber with regard to a cert.ain amendment, if it 

may be called such, proposed to the Constitution of the United States. 

Sir, has it come to this that Senators from Indiana and Dela~are 

and Connecticut and New York are to go to Vermont to ascertain 

what is true constitutional doctrine in this country.f Has the distinguished chairman of the Judiciary Committee fed on any meat that 

makes him our Cresar_f He says Mr. Hendricks voted against the 

thirteenth amendment to the Constitution. I hope he did if he believed it an improper amendment. If so, he ought to have voted 

agninst it. I have some good reading here. I wish the Senator from 

Inrliana [Mr. MORTON] wa.s in his seat; I desire the Secretary to read 

what prn·ports to be an extract from a speech delivered by the Senator from Indiana in Indiana on the 29th. day of September, 1865. I 

will thank the Secretarv to read it. 

The Chief Clerk read· as follows : 

Very well, say some; that is all very well if we can get the negroes to go· there. 

But let me say that the colored States would bo a balance of power in this country. 

I ask, is it desirable to have a colored State government 1 I say it is not; it is not for many reasons. One rea.son is that such States would pellletually consti- tute a balance of power. 'l'hey would be held bound by that stnngent tie that ever held men together: the tie of color and racG, the tie of a down-trodden and 

despised race. As 300,000 slaveholders by a common tie were able to govern this 

nation for a long time, so 4,000,000 people bounn together by a much st.ronger tie, 

despisea by the whole world as they have been, would constantly vote and act to- gether; and their united vote would constitute a balance of power that might con- trol the government of this nation. . I subm1t~ then, however clearly and strongly we may admit the natural right of 

the negro, I submit it to the int-elligence of the people that colored State govern- ments are not desirable; that they will bring about results that are not to be hoped for; that finally they would threaten to bring about wd, I believe, would result in a war of races. THE SOLUTION OF T~ DIFFICULTY• 

Now the que.c;tion turns up, how can this be avoided 7 If I had the power I 

would arFange it in this way: I would give these men a period of probation and 

preparation; I would give them time to acquire a little property and get a little 

education ; time to learn something about the simplest forms of fiusiness and prepare themselves for the exercise of political power. At the end of tes, fifteen, or twenty years. let them come into the enjoyment of their political rights. By that 

time these States will have been so completely filled up by emigration from the 

North and from Europe that the negroes will be in a permanent minority. Why 1 

Because the negroes have no emigration, nothing but the natural increase, while we have emigration from all the world and natural increase besides. 'l'hus, by 

postponing the thing only to such times as the negroes are qualified t{) enjoy politIcal rights, the dangers I have been considering would have fully passed away, their ixifiuence woulcl no longer be dangerous in the manner I have indicated, and a conflict of races would not lie more likely to happen than it now is in Massa{lhu- setts. In Massachusetts the negroes have exercised political rights for twenty-five 

years, and yt>t there has been no disturbance there, no conflict of races. Why¥ 

Because the ne~es have been in the minority. 

Mr. EATON. So it seeiD81 Mr. President, that in 1865 the honorable Senator from Indiana hrmself, the Jupiter Tonans of this whole 

business, occupied a position such as I occupied at that time. Has 

he changed his opinion 7 These were the honest convictions of the 

Senator from Indiana in 1865. What has occurred in the history of 

the country in the last eleven years that should have caused a change :in the opinions of the honorable Senator f He has changed. Does 

anybody blame him for the position he ·occupied ten or eleven years 

ago f Nobody. Does anybody blame Hendricks for the position 

which he occupied tel} or eleven years agof No honomble man, no hen est man. Sir, Mr. Hendricks did not believe that the amendment 

which was proposed was a proper one, and so he voted against it. 

Mr. Hendricks did not believe that the African race had the capability of self-goven~.ment; neither did the honorable Senator from Indiana. But, sir, what is the opinion of Mr. Hendl'icks to-dayf He 

says in his letter, as Mr. Tilden says in his letter, "We accept the 

amendments of the Constitution;" and I should like to see that Senator rise in his place here-1 wjll give him my time-and say when 

it was that Samuel J. Tilden or Thomas A. Hendricks, or any other-

! do not now speak of my southern friends, because gentlemen say 

they have been in rebellion-Tilden, or Hendricks, or any oth-er leading democrat north of the Potomac River but what was always true 

to the Constitution. I ask any Senator to rise in his place and dispute it. There never waa that man ; not one. We stand by the Constitution. We stood by it from 1789 down to 1861-tbe old Constitution. We stand by it now with its amendments. We did not like 

them all; I did not for one; nor did the honorable Sena,tor from Indiana, in my judgment, looking at his speech; bnt they have become a part of the organic law of the land. The democratic party has always been t1:ue to the organic law of the land; and if every republican Senator can put his hand upon his heart and say that the republican party from 1856 to 1861 was true to the Constitution, let him 

say so. · But, sir, I do not apologize for any act of Tilden or Hendricks. 

They are clad in an armor of steel, and I might well say, "Gnaw vipers! 

you gnaw steel." What next! We are told by the distinguished 

Senator from Vermont, traveling from one end of the Union to the 

other, that the rebel State of Texas has done a certain thing; and 

that word "I'ebel" seems to him a sweet morsel, and he rolls it nuder 

his tongue as a swee.t morsel. When will Senators forget words of that 

characted When will Senators remember that this is a Union of 

equal States, and that Georgia, and Vil'ginia, and Tennessee, and 

Carolina are represented here by the peers of the Senators from 

Vermont, and Massachusetts, ::tnd Connecticut, and New York f We are here as equals; and the term and word "rebel" ought not to be 

howled on this floor by anybody. It is done, and it can be done for 

only one purpose, and that is to taunt the representatives of the 

Southern States, t.o goad them, if possible, into some action that may 

not be pleasant to their friends at the North. It has no other object. 

But the distinguished Senator from· Vermont has arrived in Texas, 

and he says-I will try to give his own words-" Democracy in Texas 

is but another name for re-organized rebellion." Sir, is that proper 

language to .come from the chairman of the Judiciary Committee of 

this body, that the democratic party in Texas "is but another name for re-organized rebellion f" And w by f He says t.he first thing they 

did was to break ail irrevocable bond. This is the first time I ever heard that a,n irrevocable compa.ct could be broken. It is a contra~ 

diction in terms. It is not good sense. An irrevocable thing cannot 

be broken. In the first place the philosophy of the distinguished 

Senator from Vermont is at fault; his knowledge of human government is at fault; his knowledge of what men can a.nd cannot do is at 

fault. Sir, human intelligence and human power can form nothinw 

that is irrevocable. It is not in the power of the Senate of the United 

States, it is not in the power of the State of New York, it is not in 

the power of the United States of America to form an irrevocable 

compact with anybody or anything. The term "irrevocable" is only 

to apply to Him who governs the universe. Our fathers during the 

revolutionary war f9rmed an irrevocable and perpetual union. How 

long did it last t Ten years. Then they formed an il'revocable. perpetual Constitution of the United Stat-es, and it has been amended 

fift.een times. The whole frame-work of this Government of com- pacts has been changed, and what five and twenty years ago was the 

very life-blood of the Constitution has no existence within it to-day. 

Talk about an irrevocable act-a constitutional lawyer, an able one J. 

agree, t.he chairman of the Judiciary Committee of this Senate to 

talk about an irrevocable compact between two political bodies! 

Irrevocable compact! Ah, sil', be has had the ha.rdihood to say upon 

this floor that the people of Texas revolutionized their government. 

What does he mean by it f He means just what we do at the North 

whenever we please to change our constitution. He says it was done in a revolutionary ma-nner, not done under and by the terms of 

the instrument itself. Sir, time wi11 not allow me t.o go into a discussion of this character. We had the same sort of an irrevocable 

constitution in my own State; but the best minds of my State, the 

best minds of New York, the best minds of the whole North are of 

the opinion that the people through their Legislature have the right 

to call conventions to form new constitutions. Such is my opinion, 

and such is the opinion of every distinguished lawyer that I know in 

my State, no ma.tter what his political views may be. Thert'\ is but one opinion, and it seems that the people who are represented in part 

by my distinguished friend upon the floor of this Senate [Mr. 

MAXEY] had the hardihood, the people of the great State of Texas 

had the hardihood through their Legislature to call a convention to 

change their constitution without consult~g the distinguished Senator from Vermont! 

Mr. MAXEY. Will the Senator yield T 

Mr. EATON. Certainly. 

Mr. MAXEY. I will say that the resolution submitted to the people of Texas by the Legislature for the purpose of calling a conven- tion was voted upon by the people and a convention was ordered -by 

the people by a vote of more than 50,000 majority. 

Mr. EATON. Sir, when the people whom I have the honor in part 

to represent upon this floor desire to change their constit,ution they 

will consult with their own leadincr men; and Hubbard and Ingersoll, Hawley and Harrison; and a t~ousand ot.her distinguished men will determine with regard to the chang-e iu their form of government 

without consulting the Senator from Vermont or any other Senator or any other body on the face of the earth. And when nhe great 

State of New York, an empire of itself, with its five millions of people, desires to change its organic law, her Tilden, her Seymour, her 

CoNKLING, her KERNAN, her 1\forgau will determine that matter, not 

the distinguished Senator from the State of Vermont. 

Sir, Texas saw fit to exercise her right as a sovereign State of this 

Union. I say " sovereign State," for sovereign she is, for sovereign 

in many respects every State in this Union is. 'I'hat is one of them, 

too. I thank God for it. There is wheTe the sovereignty comes in; 

and that is sovereignty, if I understand the use of language and the use of words. When a State within the limits of this Union can form 

its own organic law in spite of the power of every other State in the 

Union, it is exercising the very highest branch of sovereignty. Sir, 

Texas saw fit to change her constitution, ~nd as my distinguished 

friend says she did it by calling a convention of the people through 

her Legislature. Delegates were elected to that conventiou--

Mr. MAXEY. It wa.s submitted to the people and ratified by the 

people. 

Mr. EATON. That resolution was submitted to the people, which was entirely unnecessary in my judgment, but no matter, it makes it 

democra+.ic ; that resolution was snbmitted to the people, and by them 

obtained over 50,000 majority, and the Senator from Vermont says it 

was revolutionary. The people's delegates met in convention, formed 

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1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 5307 

a. constitution and submitted it to the. people, and by the people it wa-s ra.tified by more than 50,000 majority, as I am informedz and that con- stitution is now the organic law of that State, not to be changed by 

the action of this or any other portion of the Union. Why talk about 

itT Why was it brought up here by the distinguished Senator from 

Vermont 7 Simply because the Senator says Texas made a compact 

by which if she wa-s let back into the Union, suffered to come back 

into the Union, she was to give one-fourth of all her general revenues for school purposes. Why, sir, was Texas ever out of the Union T 

Five hundred thousand men laid down their lives and $4,000,000,000 

of the earnings of the people were expended for the very purpose of 

keeping that and other States in the Union. I had supposed that 

Texas never went out. I .know she tried to get out; but we would 

not let her; we kept her in. Now, says my distinguished friend, she 

made a compact and agreed to do certain things if we would take her 

back, let her become again a part of this great confederation of States; 

and, by the way, that was not his language; that is mine. Sir, what 

business had the Congress of the United States to make terms of that 

character with any State 7 It is for the people of New York, of Kentucky, of Georgia, of Vermont, and of Texas to determine what part 

of their revenues shall be applied for school or any other purposes. 

The Congress of the United. States have nothing to do with a matter 

of that character, and whenever they undertake to do anything of 

that sort they travel out of their line of duty and law and right. 

Mr. MAXEY. Will the Senj,tor from Connecticut allow me to state 

the exact facti:! in regard to that matter T 

Mr. EATON. Certainly. 

Mr. MAXEY. On Saturday the Senator from Vermont [Mr. EDMUNDS] arraigned the people of Texas in this language. He quoted 

from the constitution of 1869, adopted by the republican party, this 

clause: 

The public land.s heretofore given to counties shall be under the control of the 

Legislalture and may be sold under such regulations as the Legislature may- pre- scribe, and in such case tlie proceeds of the sale shall be added to the school fund. 

He then added : 

What does ihe revolutionary democratic constitution provide I It providesWhat the constitution does provide is that the county school fund 

belongs to tb~ county of right, and that the constitution of 1869 had no authority whatever to interfere with the vested rights of the 

counties in their school funds. The convention which framed the 

revolutionary constitution, as he calls it, was called, as sta,ted by the 

Senator from Connecticut, on a resolution submitted to the people, 

and by them adopted by an overwhelming majority of 50,000. The 

const.it.ntion was made and ratified in like manner. On that point, I 

wonder if the decision of the supreme court of the State of Texas when 

eTery member of that bench was a republican would be authority. 

If the Senator will give me the time, I will rea{! a clause from a decision directly on this point, and show bow the republican supreme 

court of the State of Texas thought in regard to this very question 

in contradistinction to how it bas been represented here on this floor, 

and which I attempted on Saturday to have corrected but was not 

allowed to do so. In the case of Galveston County vs. Tankersley, reported in the 

thirty-ninth volume of the Texas Supreme Court Reports, a decision 

in 1873 in which the direct question came up between the county of 

Galveston and Tankersley and others who bad located land certificates upon the land helonging to that county, the county of. Galveston being a corporation capable of suing and being sued under the 

laws of Texa-8 instituted a snit in the nature of what is there known as an action of trespass to try title, to recover the land, and did so.' 

Here is what the supreme court of the State of Texas, every member 

of which was at the time a republican, in the year 1873, say about 

the republican constitution of 1869 and about this identical clause 

which the Senator from Vermont quoted on Saturday: · 

This suit was brought by Galveston County in 1867-

Mark you, 186i, not 1873, two years before the constitution of 1875 was adopted and while the constitution of 1869, the republican con- stitution, was in full forceThis suit waB brQ.ught by Galveston County in 1867, an<l1 on the adoption of our present constitutionThe constitution of 1869-

the defendants interposed a. plea in abatement, allegin.~ that since the institution 

of this suit, and since the filing of their answer, the title to the land sued for and 

claimed by plaintiff bad paased out of Gv.lveston County and bccomo vested in 

the St.'lte of Texas by the new constitution. 

That is the position of the Senator from Vermont. The court say: 

We do not consider that it WM the purpose and intent of the framers of the con- stitution to cancel :ill the solemn contract.":~ made with tho several counties in re- gnrd to the school land. 

But we do not hesitat.e to say that if such was the purpose and intention of the 

convention, still they ha<l no power or authority to do so. These' grants were solemn acts of a contract made with the several counties. anfl this contract with Galveston 

County was duly executed years before the adoption of thecoUBtitution. The State 

had parted with the tith to a. body.corporato, cap:.tble of receiving and holilin~ title 

to land, and she ho.s not the power or authority. under the ConMitution of the United 

States, to recall her grants or -.iolato her executed conlira.cts at pleasure. (Fletcher vs. Peck, 6 Crancb, 87; Trustees of Dartmouth Colleg-o vs. Wood ward, 4 Wheaton, 

570.) In the latter caso the court. say: ".A. contract 1s a compact between two or more persons. * * * A grant, m Its own nature, amounts w an extin!ruishment 

of the right of the grantor, ancl implies a contract not to re-assert it." _rg the same case the court say: "It may !1~ be admitt,e_d. that C<?rpora.tions for mero pnblic 

government, such as towns, Cities, and coontiea, may m many respects be sulJject 

to legislative control. But it will hardly be contend6d that, in respect to such COl'• 

porations, the legislative power is so transcendental that it may, at its will, take away the private property of the corporation, or change the use of its private funds." 

So much for the authority. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. I wish to ask the Senator if he considers that decision of the supreme court of J'exas to be good law? 

Mr. llAXEY. Well, Mr. President, I am taking up the time of tho 

Sena.tor from Connecticut and I shall be short. I stated that it was the decision of the supreme court of Texas when every member of 

that court wa,s a republican, and the decision of the supreme court of 

the State, delivered by Mr. Justice Ogden, a republican, upon are- publican constitution adopted in 1869, in which he declares that the 

effort of that constitution to do precisely what the Senator from Vermont commended on Saturday, was revolutionary, wa-s unconstitutional, null and void, and in violation of the Constitution of the 

United States. I·say that the exposition of the law by the highest 

judicial tribunal known to the law is to me the law of the land so far as Texas is concerned, and that was the exposition given. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. 0, but my friend ba-s missed the point. 

Mr. MAXEY. No, sir; I am taking up the time of the Senator 

from Connecticut. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. I certainly hope the Senator will indulge me. ~fi. MAXEY. I wish to add one word. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Mr. PresidentMr. EATON. The Senator from Vermont. is asking the Senator 

from Texas a question whether be regards that as good law. I can- not permit my tim~ to be taken up by a discussion between my distinguished friend from Vermont and my distinguished friend from 

Texas with regard to the ability and the character of the late supreme 

court of Texas. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. What can the Senator permit, then T 

Mr. EATON. It is republican law, and it ought to satisfythehon· 

orable Senator from Vermont. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. MERRIMON in the chair.) The 

Senator from Connecticut declines to yield longer. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. O, no. The Senator from Connecticut is too cour· teous a gentleman for that, notwithstanding the Chair. 

Mr. MAXEY. Now, Mr. President--

Mr. ED.l\IUNDS. Will my friend from Texas allow me to correct 

him before he goes on T 

Mr. MAXEY. I have not control of the floor, tbonghi am perfectly 

willing to yield. 

Mr. EATON. Go on, sir. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator from Texas yield 

to the Senator from Vermont T 

Mr. EATON. I ought to say here that my friend from Vermont 

shall have all the time that he will say is parliamentary and proper. 

The Senator from Texa-s desired to read a clauS& from a decision of 

the supreme court of his own State with regard to the very constitu· 

tion that was in question here the other day. He bas read it. 

.Mr. MAXEY. That supreme court was a republican court, every 

member of it. 

Mr. EATON. That report goes for what it is worth. If it is good 

law, then it should satisfy the honorable Senator from Vermont; if 

it is not good law, he will have ample time and opportunity to attack 

it; and really if he desires to attack that law and wants a little of 

my time, he shall have it now. I do not want, however, along debate between my friends while I ~m on the floor. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Now I want to a-sk my friend from Texa.s--

:Mr. MAXEY. I will go one step furtherThe PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair understands that the 

Senator from Connecticut yielded the floor to the Senator from Texas. 

Does the Senator from Texas yield to the Senator from Vermont f 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Before the Senator from Texas goes on I wish to 

ask him the courtesy of allowing me to call his attent.ion to the precise point that was in di~cussion the other day. If he is not willing, 

I have nothing to say. ', .. ~Ir. MAXEY. I am perfectly willing to discuss any question of 

constitutional law with the Senator from Vermont, though I am not so wise or so distinguished as he may be, whenever the occasion will 

give us both time to do ourselves justice. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. The Senator is not willing now to have me ~orrect the misapprehension into which he has fallen. 

Mr. MAXEY. I would yield if I had the floor. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. The Senator from Connecticut says you do have 

the floor. 

Mr. MAXEY. I will bear the Senator. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. I want to ask my honorable friend from Texas if 

what I said the other day was not that t.his new constitution of the 

State of Texas as it is call<.:d~I do not know whether in point of law 

it is new or not ; that depends on its validity-did not substantially 

change. the old c1onstitution in respect of the appropriation of public 

money for the use of schools t Now the Senator comes to me with a decision of the supreme court of Texas which holds that the old con- stitution in certain respects 3llout county lands, as I understand, 

lands granted to counties, wrus inoperative. 

Mr. M.AX.F.Y. That yon yourself quoted. _ Mr. ED~fUNDS. Suppose it was inoperative and unconstitutional, 

what hru:; t.hat to do with the question t Does that make tho new conl:ltitntion any more constitutional than the old one was 1 
5308 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. AUGUST 8, 

Mr. MAXEY. It seems to me that if there were vested rights in 

the various counties of Texas to their lands, if the State of Texas or the republic of Texa-s-for part of it was during tbA days of the repu blic-parted with its title to lands by patent, the State or republic 

became divested of all right, title, or interest it bad therein, and it 

became vested in the counties to which it had been granted, then any 

attempt on the part of this constitution to divest vested rights was in itself unconstitutional, null, and void. This land bad been parted 

with to the various counties of the State, patented to those counties; 

the expense of the location, survey, and issue of patents was all paid 

for by the various counties; the right became vested in those coun- ties by the issuance of those patents; and the constit-ltion of 1869 

attempted to divest vested rights; and the supreme court appointed 

by a republican governor and confirmed by a, republican senate declared that clause of the constitution unconstitutional, null, and void. 

So far, then, as that question is concerned I leave it as settled by the 

highest judicial tribunal known to the St::tte of Texas which had the 

right to pronounce on that constitution. 

Now, Mr. President, one other point. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. The Senator has missed the point again entirely 

that I was putting to him. 

Mr. MAXEY. No, sir; one other point. It was charged that the 

democratic party had thrown its whole weight against the dissemination of education by public schools, and the action of the fourteenth 

Legislature was quoted, which expired before the last democratic 

convention was helu in this present year in January; and ~be ~cond 

clause of the democratic platform adopted by that convention IS: 

The democratic party now and in fi!le past, adheJ;ing to its policy of main~g 

an efficient system of general education, declares 1t to be the duty of the LegiSla- ture of the State to speedily establish and make provision for the support J nd main- tenance of public free-schools; and to this end to exercise the whole powe.r with 

which it is invested. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Did the Legislature do itT 

Mr. MAXEY. · Since that time another Legislature, not the fourteenth t.o which the Senator referred but the fifteenth Legislature, 

is to-day in session. My own business here has occupied my whole 

time so that I have not had the means of keeping up with the senate 

and house journals; the general laws have not been published; and 

therefore I cannot say what has been done; but I do say that here was a solemn command given by the democratic party in a State conven- tion, and the largest ever held in the State, to do all in their power 

to advance education and all that the constitution gives them the 

right to do. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. I aakMr. MAXEY. I will state now that I have occupied this much of 

the time of the Senator from Connecticut by his consent because the 

subject of my own State was up. · Mr. EDMUNDS. Will my friend from Connecticut allow me to ask 

the Senator from Texas one question f 

Mr. EATON. I had rather my friend should state some one point, 

because this will be intermina.ble if it goes on in this way. My friend 

and I may wish to get into a discussion. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. I wish only to ask one question. 

Mr. EATON. One; but I fear it will lead to another. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Then my friend declines to allow me to ask one question of the Senator from Texas on this very point. 

Mr. EATON. No, I will not. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Then I will n.sk my friend from Te:xa:s, taking 

these two constitutions, the one of 1869 that was adopted and mtified by the Congress of the United States under this solemn and ex- press stipulation that as to public schools it should stay as it was in 

substance, and the new one when the democratic party came into 

power in that State, the new one of 1874, whether in respect of the 

appropriation of the general revenues of the State that by the old 

constitution were to be employed to the extent of one quarter for 

public schools and the new one that they need not be employed at 

all unless the Legislature chooses to do it-my question is w bother 

that is going forward or going back! 

Mr. EATON. Mr. President, one moment. I beg in all kindness to 

say that the question is not a fair one. Mr. EDMUNDS. Then decline to let it be answered and go ahead. 

Mr. EATON. I will decline to let it be answered and I will go 

ahead. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. That is right. 

Mr. EATON. I decline because the gentleman put the same question the other day, precisely the same question to the Senator from 

Texas that he puts now again. If he has any question he desires to 

puttomeMr. EDMUNDS.. May I a.sk tho Senator from Connecticut, then f 

Mr. EATON. Certainly. . 

Mr. EDl\illNDS. Is the Senator from Connecticut the keeper of my 

friend from Texas, or ought my friend from Texas not be allowed to 

determine whether my question to him is a fair one or not f 

Mr. EATON. Sir; I am no man's keeper. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Then you ought to let the Senator from Texas answer. 

Mr. EATON. Nor are you the Senator to determine what I ought 

to do or not. 

Mr. MAXEY. I should like the Senator to permit me--

Mr. EATON. It is not proper that the Senator from Vermont should 

tell me what is courteous or proper on this floor. 

Mr. MAXEY. I will say that I do not rerrard the remark of the 

Senator from Vermont as at all courteous. 1t is not such a remark as I would mak~ to him. No man is my keeper. I had the floor by 

courtesy, and ha~ng had the floor by courtesy--

:Mr. EATON. I propose now to go on. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Will not the Senator from Connecticut allow me to say one word when I am accused of discourtesy Y I wish to say to 

my good friend from Texa-s that I was not speaking to him or of him. 

The Senator from Connecticut had declined to allow the Senator from 

Texas to answer a plain, straight question that I put to him on the 

very point under discussion. Then I asked the Senator from Connecticut whether he was the keeper of the Senator from Texas ancl 

whether the Senator from Texas had not the right to determine 

whether the question ·was a fair one or not. He said that he would 

take care of that himself, substantially. So I hope my friend from 

Texas will not consider that I implied anything as to him, but I did 

imply to my friend from Connecticut that he assumed to be the keeper 

of the Sena.tor from Texas. 

Mr. EATON. The time was mine; and when the Senator from 

Vermont asked from me as a courtesy to pnt a question to the Senator 

from Texas, and then reiterated the same question which he put himself in his own time the other day, I did not regard it as proper and 

do not now. The RECORD has that question and the RECORD bas its answer. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. And it has it now. 

Mr. EATON. Itmayhaveitnow. Mypositionon this whole busi- ness is that the distin~uished Senator from Vermont is no more the 

keeper of the State of Texas than be is of his brother-Senators on this 

floor; and when Texas determines to change her constitution it does 

not become him to stand up on the floor of this Senate and talk about 

the democratic majority being rebellion re-organized. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. Not even if the compact says so! , Mr. EATON. Compact! Irrevocable compact! I do not wtsh to ~o through with that term " irrevocable." If the Senator had been m his seat he would have learned my opinion with regard to the term 

" irrevocable" when applied to human government, humatl compacts 

and agreements between States. 

Mr. President, a great deal ha-s been said during this discussion, 

both by the honorable Senator from Vermont and by the honorable 

Senator from Indiana, not now in his seat, that the clcsign of the 

democratic party was to carry the presidential election in certain 

States in this Union by defending outrages. Sir, by what authority 

do either of these Senators make a charge of that character against 

the democratic party of the United States' The distinguishe.d Senator from Indiana says it is so because he says that there is 30,000 

majority in this State, 25,000 majority in that State, 40,000 majority 

in the other State, and by a system of terrorism, by a system of outrages, t.be democratic party intend to carry those States. 0, Mr. President, how a little fact, how a little truth wipes away all trash and nonsense of this character. I hold in my ha.nd a republican paper, 

not a democratic paper, but a republican paper published in this 

goodly city of Washington, called the National Republican. This 

paper was issued this morning, and-will yon believe it, Mr. President-it says tha.t the democratic pa.rty have carried Alabama by 

30,000 majority. Will you believe anotherthingit says-let the honorable Senator from Indiana weep-not au outrage, not a trouble, 

not the slightest difficulty in the world, a fair election, a good election, an honest election-3J,OOO majority, all the members of CongresS 

but one, and a large majority in Loth branches of the Legislature I 

Mr. SPENCER. If the Senator will allow me to interrupt him f 

Mr. EATON. When I make a statement myself and authorize it 

to be made from my own knowledge, I have no objection to Leing 

questioned about it. I said that a republican paper published in the 

city of Washington stated such facts; it does. 

Mr. SPENCER. I was only going to state to the Senate that those are Associated Press dispatches; the paper does not hold itself re- sponsible for them. It is true that yesterday the election went very 

largely democratic in the State of Alabama, and it is equally true 

that in many counties in Alabama the colored people are so intimidated that they did not dare to vote. 

Mr. EATON. Well, I do not know that. 

Mr. SPENCER. I do. 

Mr. EATON. You believe itT 

Mr. SPENCER. I believe it. 

Mr. EATON. You do not know it, for you were not there. 

Mr. SPENCER. I waa not there yesterday, but was there on a previous occasion. 

Mr. EATON. Then you do not know: it. If a gentleman says he 

knows a thing, that is one tlting; belief is one thing and knowledge 

another. The Associated Press is not under the control of the democratic party " by a long deal," as my good friend from Vermont is 

fond of saying. 

Mr. PATTERSON. Will the Se~ator from Connecticut yield to me a momentT 

Mr. EATON. Certainly. 

Mr. PATTERSON. I understand the Senator from Connecticut to 

say that the Associated Press is not under the control of the democratic party in the South. That may be true; but every agent of the 

Associated Press in the South is a democrat. That is true. 

Mr. EATON. I suppose they could not get anybody else tberewho 

couldreadand write. [Laughter.] It is necessary that they shoulu be 

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1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 

democrats. I understand that the associated telegraphic dispatch 

company-if that be the term; I do not know what the term is; it is a matter of no consequence-is under the charge of a gentleman by 

the name of Orton, whom I have met and who I believe to be a vfjry 

strong republican, I am sorry to say. 

Mr. SPENCER. If the Senator will permit me to interrupt him 

again, I will state that the Associated Press is under the control, I 

believe, of kfr. Simonton, and that the Western Union Telegraph 

Company, of which Mr. Orton is the president, really has nothin~ to 

do with it. I ask the Senator from California [Mr. SARGENT] if I am not correct Y 

Mr. SAROONT. I did not hear the remark. 

Mr. SPENCER. I say that the Associated Press is under the con- trol of Mr. Simonton. 

Mr. SARGENT. Yes, sir. 

Mr. EATON. Very likely my friend is right. Is not that gentle- man a good, fair, square republican too Y 

Mr. SPENCER. I should like to have the Senator from California 

state the fact. 

Mr. SARGENT. My impression is that Mr. Simonton is a republi- can. I think he has that credit. 

Mr. EATON. Very well. I do not say it is to his discredit, by any manner of means; and when you can point to one to whom it is a credit I shall be very willing to admit it, I a-ssure you. 

Mr. SARGENT. I am very glad the Senator will admit so much in 

favor of any repn blican. 

Mr. EA'l'ON. I do. Ihaveverymanywarmfriendswhoarerepublicans. Some five hundred republicans voted for me the la-st time I was a candidate in my town. As I was saying, the Senator from 

Alabama believes, or he would not say so, that there was intimidation in his State yesterday at the election or previous to the election. 

?tfr. SPENCER. I will state, if the Senator will allow me, what I 

do believe. I believe that in a large number of counties in the State 

of Alabama the colored people were so intimidated that they did not 

dare to go to the polls and vote yesterday. 

Mr. EATON. I give the Senator full credit for his belief, and now let me say to him that I do not believe any such thing. From what 

I hear from colored men from his dwn State and from colored men from other States, I do not believe any such thing. The time has 

about gone by when those men were to be cooped up, lashed, tied together, and forced to vote. Let rue tell you what one of them told me in t.be State of Virginia on the eve of an election four years ngo. 

I speak now whereof I know. I knew one of the candidates; he was a personal friend of mine; and I said to a black man who was brought 

in connection with me in :[Jerforming some service about my person, 

"Are ~ou going to vote for Colonel B.!" Said be, "No, I dare not; 

they would kill me if I did." There are two sides to this story. 

Gentlemen who have more knowledge than I have may correct me hereafter, but I know this much, that the bla.ck man has been con- trolled by his own fellows at the instigation of white men who band 

together and assume it to be a crime to vote the democratic ticket. 

That time is passing by. The election in Alabama yesterday shows 

it. The elections in all these States, I trust, will show it hereafter. 

Who finds any fault with the manner in which the elections are carried on in the Old Dominion close by us, across the river here 1 No one. Every maJ;t enjoys his right under the Constitution, no matter what 

his color, no matter what his previous condition, may be. So it is in 

Georgia; so it is everywhere where the ~emocracy rules. We intend 

it to be so all over this country. · 

I dislike getting into this discussion. It is not to my taste to make a speech of this character, a speech that belongs more to the stump, 

if I may be allowed to use the expression, th:m it does to the Senate; 

bot I could not sit here and hear the peer of any man living on God's ~ootstool accused of dishonesty, accused of being opposed to the best 

interests of this common land of ours. I submit to no such imputn.-

t :on, and I rebuke it wherever I find it, whether in the Senate or in 

the church. I for one will not submit to have language of this character applied to my party, to its leaders and its purest men. 'l'he honorable Senator from Vermont closed a somewhat lengthy 

speech with poetry. I find no fault with his poetry. It would not 

do him and some other Senators that I know any harm if they would 

read of peace every night before t.hey go to bed and every morning 

before they read their prayers. It is well that there should be a feeling of brotherhood and love going out from our breasts toward all 

tb.e people of this broad Union. We are one people and are destined 

to be one people, so far as human knowledge can see, forever; mem- bers of a common Union, always having the same thing at heart, the 

good of the country, the welfare of its citizens, and the purity of its 

Government. Every Senator, I hope and trust, entertains the same 

opinions that I know govern me. I hope this Union will exist forever. I might as well close upon this point also with a few lines. I 

would that this Union might exist forever: 

A giant oak uplifts 1ts lofty form, 

Greens in the sun and strengthens in the storm; 

Long in ita shad£\ shall children's children come .And earth's poor traveler find a welcome home;' 

Long shall it stand, and every blast defy, Till time's last whirlwind rends the sky. 

Sir, I have nothing more to say upon this part of the subject. The 

fashion has been set me of talking about various things upon one bill, 

and as I said I would and this is as good a time to redeem my word as any other, I Rhould like to say a word or two with regard to the figures 

which have been put before the people of this country by the honor~ 

able Senators from West Virginia, [Mr. DAVIS,] from Ohio, [Mr. SHERMAN,] and from Massachusetts, [Mr. BouTWELL.] Neither ofthemdo 

I see in his seat. I do not well see how I can go on without the Senator from Masaachusetts. I should be glad, if he is in the Senate, if 

he would take his seat, f05 I have certain questions to put to him before I get through with the discussion of this matter. My friend, the 

Senator from West Virginia, has put before the Senate M.d before the 

country a condition of affairs in the Treasury Department that has 

been, in my judgment, entirely unanswerable. No results ha.ve been 

obtained by the resolution which he bad the honor to introduce. The 

Senate sent the resolution to a committee overloaded with work, the 

Committee on Finance. The C .... mmittee on Finance, as I know from 

what members of that committee have said on the floor of the Senate, 

gave no attention to that matter. They simply addressed a commu- nication to the Treasury Department. The answer to that communication was a set of figures which have been made a part of the speech 

of the Senator from Ohio and have gone out to the world as a pMt of 

his speech. 

Mr. BOUTWELL entered the Chamber. 

Mr. EATON. I say that, in my judgment, it was the duty of the 

Senate to have sent that resolution to a special committee. It is admitted here, if I am not mistaken, and if I am I will thank my 

friend from Massachusetts to correct me, that there has been a change 

in the statements amounting to over $200,000,000. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. No, Mr. President, if the Senator will allow me--

Mr. EATON. Certainly; this is a matter of figures. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. What I bad to say in reply to the Senator from 

West Virginia related to his method of computation. As I understand, that difference of $200,000,000 is reached by this process: He 

takes ten years, between 1860 and 1870 and finds in ea.cb of those years a statement of the public debt by warrai;tts, as it was made up previous to 1870, and the statement by receipts and expenditures which 

differs each year to a certain amount, some years more and some years 

less, n.nd he adds together those differences for eight or ten years and 

realizes aa the result the sum of something like ~~00,000,000. I do 

not understand the Senator from Connecticut to cln.im that there is 

any such difference in the sum for any one year. 

Mr. EATON. I ascertained that matter before the Senator from 

West Virginia. did. The greatest difference that I ascertained was about $90,000,000; a little less than 90,000,000, if I recollect aright. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. I will say that that, I think, was in McCulloch's time, and I think the year that the statement was published he 

appended a note showing that there was this difference for that particular year, or something like that difference, between the statement 

of the public debt made up under warrants and as put in made up un- der receipts and expenditures; but I do think the honorable Senator 

from West Virginia and the honorable Senator from Connecticut will 

agree that those differences (they were not errors) through many years 

should not be aggregated and the statement made that the differences 

amounted to so much. I think that would be as incorrect as it would 

be for a man who bas kep't an account of his indebtedness and who 

should find at the end of each year that he was in debt a thousand 

dollars, when be had reached ten years would to aggregate his indebtedness and say it amounted to 10,000. 

Mr. EATON. The honorable Senator· has the advantage of his 

statement. What I say is this, and I desire it to go to the country, 

that the accountant does not live who can take the reports of the 

Treasury Department and the reports of the Register of the Treasury and make them agree. It cannot be done. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. In answer to thatMr. EATON. I do not know that I care to be answered just now on that point. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. I thought the proposition on which the Senator 

introduced me into the Senate was that if he was in error I should 

correct him. That is the invitation upon which I came. Mr. EATON. I did not mean to introduce the honorable Senator 

from Massachusetts. I Raid that I did not care to go on in his ab- sence. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. In regard to the Senator's remark that there was not on the face of the ea1·th an accountant who could reconcile 

the statements of the Treasury Department, I would simply answer that there have been four different sets of accountants who have 

done that particular thing. In 1869 and 1870 a set of accountants in 

the office of the Secretary of the Treasury did that thing, and the 

record remains to this day.. In the year--

Mr. EATON. Wait one moment. I do not choose to be interrupted 

and unintentionally misrepresented. I did not say that no accountant in the United States could go into the Treasury Department 

and take its books and make them agree.· What I say is this, and 

the gentleman may have time to answer, that no accountant or number of accountants in the United States can take the reports of the 

Treasury Department and the reports of the Register of the Treasury and balance th~ accounts. It cannot be done. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. I agree exactly with what the honorable Senator from Connecticut says; but he will allow me to correct the error of his statement, which was, I believe, if the reporter were to eopy 
5!110 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. AUGUST 8, 

the words of the honorable Senator froni Connecticut and read them 

to the Senate, t.hat there was no accountant on the face of the earth 

who could reconcile the accounts of the Treasury Department--

Mr. EATON. The reporter may read what I did say, but I did not 

say any such thing. What I meant to say was this, and I will repeat 

what I intended to say, so that if I did not say it I will correct it now : that there was no accountant on the face of the earth who 

could take the reports of the Treasury Department and the reports of 

the Register of the Treasury and balance the accounts. That is what 

I meant to say. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. If the Senator confines himself to the published 

reports, of course those reports do not fumiah the materials IJy which 

any expert can ascertain whether the balance was ·correct or not ; hut th~t is true of the reports of every organization and of every institution in the country. It is true of the Senator's own bank account. 

If there were to be a public statement to-day of the balance of his 

account, either in black or red, upon the books of the bank, that 

statement would not furnish the means of ascertaining whether t.he 

balance wa~ correct or not; but you must go to the institution itself, or to the records of the institution. What I say is that by the books 

of the Treasury Department the statements made to the public from 

1870 forward have been reconciled and with the exception of a few errors found to agree with the statements made previous to 1970 by 

four sets of account:ants; first, by accountants in the office of the 

Secretary of the Trea.aury in the year 1869-'70 ; secondly, by accountants in the Office of the Register of the Treasury in 1871; and thirdly 

and fourthly by separate sets of accountants working in the office of 

the Secretary of the Treasury and in the Office of the Register of the 

Trell.Sury during the present session of Congress and since the reso- lution was introduced by the honorable Senator from West Virginia. 

These four examinations have corresponded not only to a dollar but 

to a cent; and if there can be any hard test of the truth of results, 

it can be no better ascertained than by four such independent inves- ti~ations as have been made on this subject. 

Mr. EATON. That may he so. That is something I have no knowledge of except the information which is tendered me by the Senator 

from Massachusetts ; but I long ago learned one thing in the course of a not very short life, that if I had any doubt with regard to the 

accuracy of a public servant, I should not take the reports of that 

public servant in order to solve the question of accuracy. Take a great commercial house in New York which sells its fifty or seventyfive million uollars a year, for there are one or two such houses there. 

If a rumor is started that there is some difficulty in the accounts of 

tbe cashier, they would not set that cashier to examine his own ac- counts. They would look to men outside. Therefore it was proper 

that a resolo tion should be introduced; tha.t resolution ought to have 

gone to a special committee, and that committee ought to have had 

the power to employ experts. There should have been ~ thorough 

e:x::unination of this whole business, for I beg to sa.y that there is a feeling abroad that this matter is wrong. 

The Senator from Ma.ssachusetts said in his place on the floor of 

the Senate the other day that there had not bein a change in any of 

the figures of the books of the Department. There ca.n be no figures 

when we speak of a Department. I do not mean loose paper, I mean Department accounts which are kept in books. That is what I un- derstood the Senator from Massachusetts to say, and I understood 

the Senator from Ohio to echo the remark of the Senator from Massachusetts. Has the Senator from Mass:1.0husetts given the matter a personal examination T I beg to say here in putting this question to 

the Senator that under no circumstances-and he knows me well 

enough to know that not for one moment do I question the entire integrity of the Senator from Massachusetts when an active officer of 

the Treasury Department. He knows me well enough, too, to know that 

if I believed he was gu:ilty of wrong there I shoo 1d state the fact to 

him and to the country also. Do I under8tand the Senator to mean the Senate to infer that he knows, not that he believes, not that he has 

been told, but does he know of his own knowledge that there have 

been no forced balances upon some of the books of the Treasury Department Y Is he prepared to say to the Senate, with a full understanding of the import of the question, that he knows of his own knowledge that there have been no forced balances on any of the 

books of the Trea.sru:y Department proper or o! the Register of the 

Treasury? 

Mr. BOUTWELL. Of course I have not gone over all the books of 

the Treasury Depart.ment; but I no more believe that there have ever been alterations in the books of the Treasury than I believe that the 

records of the Senate have been altered. I never heard a.ny such 

thing suggested inside of the Department, never heard it in my life 

until it was possibly inferred from the remarks made by the Senator 

frorri West Virginia. I have been told over and over again by the 

officers, and Mr. Bristow1 t.he recent Secretary of the Treasury, who was in no way concerned in these transactions, in his letters to the 

Senate says that the books of the Department have never been 

changed. The simple truth was this, and nothing that can be suggested or stated or proved as having any foundation in faot will 

change the statement I make, which is that the books of the Treasury Department remain as they were previous to anytime, so far as I 

have any knowledge or be~ef. I never ~eard the thing suggested by 

any one except the suggestwns that have been made here on the floor 

of the Senate. The only thing that was done wa.a that in 1869 and 

1870,_ finding that there had been errors in previous statements, an investigation was undertaken and certain errors were found. The 

statements that had been made to the country previously remain, 

and after the discoverv of those errors the statements that were subsequently made were made to correspond with what we believed to 

be the truth. After ascertaining the truth, it would, it seems to me, 

have been a greater offense to the country to have continued to l'estate the errors than by the statement of the truth to su~gest that errors had been made in previous times. There was nothing for the 

Secretary to do except to do that. I wish to say again that nothing 

cast any imputation npon the integrity of those who had kept the 

accounts ; that the country never lost a cent by the errors; and that 

the statements affected no financial fact, nor did they in any way 

affect the fortunes of the country. 

Mr. EATON. I supposed I should get the answer which I have bad 

from the honorable Senater from Massachusetts. From an examination 

which I under his lead conducted in that Department, I well knew it was not in his power or in tbe power of any living man to give a personal examination to those accounts. Secretary Bristow says the ac- counts are all right. What he means by it is that he believes they are all right, not that he has examined all the .accounts in the Treasurer's Department and in the Office of the Register of the Treasury. Of course he has done no snob thing. He believes in the integrity of 

the officials, and so does my friend from Massachusetts. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. I wish to say to the Senator, and I think his 

experience in the Treasury Department will justify the remark I 

I!J.ake, as I am sur') that my experience justifies me in making the 

remark, that there could be no change in the books of the Treasury 

Department affecting a balance which could be made without the 

knowledge of a.t least twenty-five.di:fferent persons who have charge 

of various books, the results of which have to be marshaled into various 

ledgers which are tested by comparison with books kept by other 

independent persons. It would be one of the most difficult things to 

change the books of tlie Depart~ent so as to affect a balance without 

the knowledge of the change being known to twenty-five or thirty 

persons; which is, in itself, pretty good security that the thing could 

not be done. 

Mr. EATON. There is some force in the remark just made by the 

Senator from Massachusetts, and yet I learned enough while there to 

believe that two men could combine, three C@rta.inly to take a hundred million dollars from the Treasury. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. 0, no. If three persons, each of whom hn,s an independent key to a separate lock in which the reserve is kept, which is 

the large body of the money, were to combine they might force it out of 

the Trerumry; but when you come to change the books so as to force a balance you have not only got to deal with three persons, bot with 

eight or ten times three, who must be in collusion, in conspiracy; and 

when the thing was done, there would be nothing in the world to 

reward them for it, because they have not the control of a cent of 

money and never can get it except by going into the office of the 

Treasurer and robbing prec~ly as some other persons might do. 

Therefore they would have no motive to change the books; they would 

get nothing for it. 

Mr. EATON. I have no desire to go into the question with regard 

to what might be done or what might not be done as to the false issue 

of securities or the taking away of se(}urities or anything else. It is 

not worth my while, nor do I care to alarm the feelings of the com- munity upon a subject of that chamcter; but I commend to my friend 

from Massn.chusetts the testimony given the other day by General 

Spinner before a House committee. I have not seen it, but I have 

heard statements of that testimony which place some of the actions 

of the Treasury officials in not a proper or a pleasant light. I do not 

know it to be true, but I have heard it said by competent accountants-and I should have gone into the inquiry myself if this resolution had gone to a special committee-that the interest account of 

the Treasury Department was from 1,500,000 to 2,500,000 wrong. 

That I have heard from a man who has long been an official in that 

Department, a man of great shrewdness and great worth. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. Do I understand the Senator to ~ay that the ac- count is wrong from $1,500,000 to 2,500,000 T 

Mr. EATON. I do say just that. · Mr. BOUTWELL. I should like to have the Senator give some ground for the statement. 

Mr. EATON. I do not know that I care for it now. It will be 

known if it is so ; tho country will demand to know it. The country 

will know certainly the whole history of the Treasury operations 

with regard to the interest, with regard to the syndicate, so called, 

and with regard to all the transactions of the Department. If there 

had been a proper committee instituted, it would have been known 

before now. In my judgment there will be found errors, to use a mild 

term, in the interest account of the United States. I am informed by men in whose character I have great confidence and place full reliance, in whose knowledge I have great confidence also, tha,t there will 

be found gross errors in the interest account of the United States. But that is not the subject to which· I mainly intended to direct 

the attention of the Senator from Massachusetts. The Senator from 

Massachusetts presented certain tables here the other day with re- gard to the relative expenditures in 1860 and 1875. Two years were brought in juxtaposition to each other, and now I beg, if my friend 

will not consider it impertinent--

1 

( 

! 

I 
- 1876. CONGRESSIONAL REOORD-SEN~t\.TE. 53IJ 

Mr. BOUTvVELL. Before the Senator leaves the subject of the interest account, inasmuch aa he has made a sta.tement and it is uyon 

the record, I should like to make a statement as to the mode of doing 

business in reference to the payment and the issue of bonds, which I 

think will satisfy most persong-l hope it will satisfy the honorable 

Senator from Connecticut-that such a condition of things is very 

impossible. I think it will be hardly necessary to say here that the 

Secretary of the Treasury never has a dollar of public money in his · hands, and could not get a dollar by any other process than the Senator from Connecticut, or any other man could. He has no control over the money. N othingcomes int.o his hands, nothing passes through 

his hands, and he is only responsible for the mode of conducting the 

De-partment. The bonds which are issued to bear interest are issued 

under circumstances, I submit, affordinl?. the best possible security. 

If the mode of doing business in the rrea.sury Department in that 

particulaJ;, can be placed against the mode of doing business in the 

Ba.nk of England or in the Bank of France, it will be seen that the 

securities taken here are much greater than the securities taken elsewhere. Iu the first place, the paper made is of a peculiar sort. It is 

made under the direction of the Government and under the control 

of Government officers. Every sheet of paper- is counted. It is cut 

at the mill of a particular size, destined for the issue of particular 

securities. The books of the TreaBury Department show the number 

of sheets ~"'f paper manufactured of every size, the use for which it is 

to be put, and its destination. When it arrives at the Treasury Department, it is counted and put into the hands of the paper division, 

and it is turned over l?Y installments as it is wanted for the Bureau 

of Engraving and Printing. It is subject to three separate impressions in three different places: one in New York, one under one super- ~tendence in the Tren.sury, and a third ander a third superintendence 

in the Treasury. The plates used by each of these divisions are en- graved under separate authority and kept in the hands of separate 

custodians; and no security of the Government can be perfected ex- cept by the use of these three separate plates in the control of three 

sepa-rate and independent sets of men. When a bond is perfected in 

that way, it goes to the Office of the Regieter of the Treasury, a.nd is 

there ree1orded, and the public debt of the country is charged with the 

nominal value of the bond. It is then sent to the Treasurer of the 

United States, and is there issued, and he is made accountable for the sum of money which he receives upon its issue by the books of the 

Register of the Treasury, and therefore he must account for every is- sue. In the Office of the Register of the Treasmy is a ledger opened, 

in which the bonds are entered with reference to the payment of the 

interest. If you open one of these ledgers, you will see the number 

of the bond, the date of its issue, the a<lt under which it was issued, 

and a square corresponding to bach coupon on thn.t bond. Whenever a coupon is returned by the Treasurer, it goes to the Register, a.nd 

before the Treasurer is allowed in his account for the payment made on account of that coupon, the coupon itself is entered upon this 

ledger in the pla<le a-ssigned t.o it. 

Therefore there never can be a second payment of interest upon 

any bond, nor can there be a payment of interest upon any bond not 

issued by the United States; because the coupon, its number, its date, 

and its reference must conform to the bond on which it was issued. 

Therefore the probability is so slight that there can be any interest 

paid by the Government of the United States which is not justly due 

that I think it cannot be taken into the account by any reasonable man. 

:Mr. EATON. There is one thing my friend can say, that he has 

had plenty of time to make his statement, although he has hardly 

touched the point. · Mr. DAVIS. Before my friend from Connecticut leaves the debt 

statement, there is one point which I have never been able to understandt and I have never asked the direct question of the ex-Secretary. I would be glad now, as the Senator from Massachusetts has 

made an explanation, to read the figures from two reports, that of 

1869, which wa.s during the ienator's administration, and that of 1871, 

which was also during his administration. I find that in 1871 the 

Secretary of the Treasury, 1\fr. BouTWELL, in his statement as made 

up in his office and as since that time it has continued in the reports, 

stated that the public debt June 30, 1869, was 2,588,4!>2,213.94. The 

Register reports for that same year the public indebtedness to have 

been $2,489,00'2,480.58, a difference of $99,000,000 betyveen the statement as reported by the Register n.nd as reported by the Secretary 

two years afterward. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. That arises from . two circumstances. In the 

first place, the Register's statement as made up did not include the 

interest accumulated; that is, the interest earned. . Mr. DAVIS. My friend will understand that the interest had been 

paid two years previous, and it is charged and reported to Congress. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. It is true, the interest had been paid; but at 

the time the Register made up his statement for the year he did not 

include the interest which was earned upon the public debt, but 

which had not been paid. There is always a considerable amount. 

Mr. DAVIS. Let me say to• my friend that that could not have 

been, because the inte1·est runs along regularly. The next year we find a difference in t.be public debt as reported of about $75,000,000; 

that is, an increase of tbat amount when the Secretary's new table is 

made up for the next year instead of $99,000,000which it would have 

continued as a.bout the amount of interest. It is $75,000,000 the next 

year, and the nerl year after that there is hardly any difference. 

Therefore it could not have been the interest account. The ex-Secretary will at once see that. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. What year is thatf 

Mr. D! VIS. I gave two years. The first was 1869. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. Was the debt due that yearT 

Mr. 1M. VIS. The debt was due the 30th of June, 1869. By the 

table made U,P. in the Secretary's office a.nd reported to the country 

it was about 599,000,000 more than it was in the Register's report for 

the same year. That is, the ta.ble made up in 1871 by the Secretary 

for 1869 increased it $99,000,000. Let me say, aa the Senator knows, 

that since 1869.the amount hM been increased $99,000,000. It may 

throw some suggestion upon the answer if the Senator will look at the 

year 1862, when Mr. ChaBe reported the amount of the debt in round 

numbers at $514,000,000. It remained that sum in the reports from 

that time up to 1871, when this statement was remodeled, and then 

it was put down at $524,000,000. Fessenden, Chase. and McCulloch 

all reported $514,000,000, a.nd it is now reported in the debt statement 

at $524,000,000, which is $10,000,000 above that sum. · Mr. BOUTWELL. Of course there could have been no particular 

motive for increasing the public debt or any statement concerning it. 

If I had any object about it, it would be to reduce the public debt; 

but I will explain that difference, although I have not before me the 

figures. 

Mr. DAVIS. I will hand the books to the Senator. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. I do not care about the books, because I understand the facts. It is due to one or both of two circumstances. One 

circumstance inevitably is to be considered in connection with those 

facts. The interest account, as I state, wa8 included after the report 

of 1869; that is, beginning with 1870, I included the interest earned 

and not paid as a part of the public debt, which had not been included in the time previous. When I revised the statements for the 

previous years upon the basis of receipts and expenditures, that item was also included. · Mr. RANDOLPH. Am I to understand thatitwasthehabit of the 

Register to include the interest account and the habit of the Secretary of the Trea.snry not to include the interest account T 

Mr. BOUTWELL. It was the habit of the Secretary of the Treasury after I took charge of the Department to take into view the interest account; but the Register never did; he merely took the principal as it appeared in his books. 

Mr.RAND OLPH. The habit of the Secretaries of the Treasury 

preceding your administration was not to consider itT 

Mr. BOUT'\VELL. The whole of it is that previous to my time 

there was no check on the Register. He kept a set of books, and 

there were no means elsewhere in the Treasury Department for ascer- taining whether his accounts were correct or not. Now, although I 

believe that I have had to defend myself more in reference to it than 

all things else, I i,hought it was in the public interest that theTe should 

be a check upon the Register, and I did therefore open in the office 

of the Secretary of the Treasury a new set of books, entirely independent of anything that had existed before, and opened those books 

upon the principle of ascertaining and keeping an account of the 

public inde~tedness upon the basis of receipts and expenditures; and 

that led to•t.his inquiry which resulted in showing that there had 

been some inaccuracies. 

The account of the Register was kept upon warrants; and the effect 

of that will be seen from the statement which I will make. For ex- ample, if a bond were prepared for issue, it would go to the office of 

the Register, and it would be entered; and as soon as it was entered 

it was an item in the account of the debt of the United Sta.tes. The 

debt of the United States was swollen just to the extent of the nom- inal value of that bond; but as a matter of fact the bond had not 

been issued from the Trea-sury Department, nothing bad been received 

in exchange for it, and it was not until the"bond went into 'the hands 

of the TreaBurer and was sold and he received the money that it 

really became a debt of the United States. 

The change which was made in the books kept in the office of the 

Secretary as distinguished from those kept in the Register's Office was that we entered that as a public debt when the bond was actually 

issued, not when it was registered in the Office of t.he Register. Then, on the other hand, in the redemption of bonds. the Treasurer would 

pay for bonds due and redeemed or for bonds purchased, and be would 

claim an allowance on account of the redemption or the purchase of 

such bonds ; but those bonds or his account of the purchase together 

with the bonds would go through the Office of the First A~ditor and 

the First Comptroller and to the Register before the Register would 

charge off those bonds as)>aid. The consequence was that his account 

would be too large on both sides when there was business; when tbe 

Government was issuing new bonds, when it was redeeming old ones 

his account woulcl .be too large as repre~euting the issue greater than 

it had been, and the books of his office would show that the redemptions were less than they actually had been at the Treasurer's Office. 

The books which were opened in the office of the Secretary of the 

Treasury were based upon receipts and expenditures. Tha.t is, we charged a bond when we got the money for it, we credited the loan 

account when we had paid for a bond and it was redeemed. The 

consequence was that these two accounts necessarily differed just to 

the extent of the amount of the bonds and notes of the United States 

that had been in the Register's Office and not issued or that had been 
5312 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. AUGUST 8, ~ 

redeemed by the Tremmrer and · not entered upon the books of the 

Register of the Treasury. Therefore there would always be a difference; but at any day you could follow these bonds and these notes 

and ascertain the value of all those in transittt, and by deducting from one amount or adding to the other if everything was right the two 

accounts would agree. And that explains the difference or a large 

part of the difference to which the Senator from West Virginia has now called my attention. 

Mr. D.A. VIS. I have listened with some degree of satisfaction to 

the Senator from Massachusetts, but the bond question according to my 

judgment cannot enter into an account that has been closed, fixed, 

determined, reported to Congress in some cases for thirty years and 

in some cases ten years and in some cases nine years. I can see that 

in the current accounts running along on the 30th of J nne there might 

be differences, as the Senator has explained ; b~t bear in mind that 

there are six weeks allowed by law, and practice four months allowed 

to close up those accounts before they report to Congress. From June 

to November is n.lways allowed for the purpose of correcting such errors as the Senator speaks of. The accounts are kept open, as the 

Senator knows better than I do, for four or five months. 

Mr. BOU',I.'WELL. But the accounts are kept open, not in refer- ence to tho loans and indebtedness of the country, but kept open so as to get the receipts of money actually paid on or before the 30th of 

June. The accounts of receipts are kept open for the purpose of 

showing in the following December the amount actually received 

during the last fiscal year; but it does not show the loan account. 

The loan account closes right down on the 30th of J nne. Mr. D.A. VIS. The Senator will know that in 1870 or 1871 when 

these tables were remodeled and restated, according to what Secretary Bristow says, there were no bonds being issued, there were no bonds coming into the Treasury at that timeT 

Mr. BOUTWELL. We were always changing them. 

Mr. D.A. VIS. You must issue new bonds in exchange for old bonds; 

but I cannot see-and I have given it all the thought possible-how 

it is that when you go back, as was done in 1870 and 1871, when the 

debt statement. was remodeled, from 1836 down to 1870; and therestatement made a difference in some years of a million and in other 

years of nearly $100,000,000, and in the aggregate the total was decreased $247,000,009 from the previous statements. I can see very 

well on the bond question if one year it was too much and in others 

too little the result in the end would come out about balance; but 

bow it is that the public indebtedness has increased in the aggregate over ·200,000,000, I have not been able to see. Look at the other statements; take the expenditures, or take the revenue after it had gone 

into the Treasury, bow was it got out and bow it was reported afterward at different amounts. I know there will be a difference in the 

accounts between the Register and the Treasurer, but there should be no difterence, if the books are kept properly, between the Register 

and the Secretary's office. How this great difference has come in different times I am unable to account for, and I have given it all the 

consideration I have been able to give it. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. It would be difficult for me to explain it any 

further. If you take one year, the honorable Senator from West 

Virginia does not observe that when we went bn,ck and jtualyzed the 

statements of previous years, those statements having been made up 

and reported on the basis of warrants, the account was .restated upon 

the basis of receipts and expenditures; and, therefore, there would 

be just the same difference if that account were restated ten years 

after the transaction had taken pL'tce as there would have been if the 

account had been stated· at the time on that basis. That did not 

make any difference; it produced the same result. 

Mr. D.A. VIS. The books bad been regularly balanced every year 

and reports made to Congress, and there had been no difference in 

them. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. Because they were st~ted on a different theory; 

that is on the theory of receipts and expenditures, and the original 

entries were made on the theory of warrants. Therefore, in each year 

there woulcl be a difference depending upon the amount of business 

going on at the time. Now what is the point on which I should make 

complaint in regard to the theory of the Senator from West Virginia Y 

He finds, as in 1 65 perhaps, a difference of $10,000,000; that is, in 

1865 he finds that the statement of the accounts on the basis of war- rants and the statement of the accounts on receipts and expenditures 

differs 10,000,000, which could be explained, as the Senator from 

West Virginia can very well see, by the business in transitt6 between 

the Register's Office and the Office of Treasurer. Suppose in 1866 there 

are $10,000,000 difference also, the result of the same facts. I do not 

think that it is reasonable to add those two $10,000,000 together and 

say "there is a difference of . 20,000,000." In that way, as I understand, the $20,000,000 of difference are arrived at. 

1\fr. DAVIS. If the Senator from Connecticut desires to go on, I 

will not interfere with him; but this is a point on which I desire 

information. I only want a moment longer, as I see the Senator from 

Massachusetts is willing to explain as far as he can these discrepancies, for there are great discrepancies in the reports to Congress. As 

to the books, I am not able to state. I understand, and the Senator 

knows better than I do whether it is a fact or not, that when this 

re-examination took place, though the Register is the officin.l bookkeeper of the Government and his Office the final resting-place of all 

warrants on which money has been paid, there was no re-examination in that Office whatever of warra.nts or books, but a statement was made up in the Secretary's Office, sent from the Secretary's Office 

to the Register, and he directed to make his annual statement to Congress correspond with the sheet sent from the Secretary's Office, without regard to the facts or ngures or warrants in his own Office. I 

understand that to be so. I do not state it for a fact; but it comes so straight to me that, unless the Senator says it is not so, I state it as a fact; I believe it to be a fact. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. I have no doubt this is true, after the investigation was made in the Office of the Secretary of the Treasury, that 

with reference to future statements of the balances in previous years, 

the Register, either of his own motion or by some direction or understanding, made up his statement to correspond with the statement 

made in the Office of the Secretary of the Treasury. I have no doubt 

of that; but I read the other day in the presence of the Senate a letter from the Register of the Treasury directed to the SecreJ;ary of the 

Treasury, dated I think in 1871, in which he said that he had been over these accounts independently of the examination made in the 

Office of the Secretary of the Treasury and found that his results cor- responded exactly with those attained in the Office of the Secretary, 

and he gave the tables showing tho processes by which the result was reached. 

Mr. D.A. VIS. I listened with some attention to the letter read and 

afterward read it, and I think the Senator from Massachusetts is 

probably mistaken as to what the Register says. I understand from 

that letter that there was no examination whatever in his Office. He 

is the official book-keeper of the Government and his Office is the final 

resting-place of all warrants and the only office from which a re- statement of the accounts could be made. I understand that in that 

Office there was no re-examination; it was made in the Secretary's Office. I understand that if there had been such a re-examination, going back to 1836, forty years of time, it would have taken perhaps 

five years to have done it. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. 0, no. Mr. D.A. VIS. Every warrant in that Office would have had to be re- examined so as to restate the account and I understand there were millions upon millions of them. 

Mr. B()lfTWELL. The exact fact, as I understand it, was that for 

the yea1 L8i0 the statements of the Register were based upon the ex- aminativn made in the office of the Secretary of the Treasury. I 

have no doubt about that. His raport for 1870 was based on the ex- aminations made in the office of the Secretary ; but that he then proceeded independently to an examination from 1836, when there was no public. debt of any magnitude, and reached a result for himself, 

and that result corresponded exactly with the result previously 

reached in tho office of the Secretary. 

:Mr. D.A. VIS. I understand exactly different. I think the Senator 

is mistaken, and I might say that I had a conversation with the Register, though not for two or three months past, and I asked the question, as I thought I bad a right to do, whether or not the warrants in 

his Office since he bad been there had ever been re-examined so as to 

make out the fact whether or not the statements as remodeled in the 

Secretary's office were true, and I understood that there had been no re-examination of warrants in that Office, and his statements were suppo ed to correspond with the reports to Congress at the time they were made. That is my understanding. I understand-the Senator can correct me if it is not so-that in that Office there has never been a re-examination of the accounts up to the present day. 

Mr. BOUT,VELL. I understand differently, that there has been a thorough examination and re-examination. There have been two 

examinations in the Register's Office. 

Mr. D.A. VIS. Then it is unfortunate that the Committee on Financo, 

who had four or five months to examine and make the report as to 

whether or not the figures I had presented were correct, did not learn 

that fact. I understand that committee, though they attempt to ex- plain them away, do not impeach a single iigure. Every figure that 

I presented was taken from the official statements to Congress and 

is correct. I understand that that committee, as a committee, or perhaps as individuals, never asked a question in the Department as to whether or not there was a restatement ma-de or how it was ma-de or how it came to be made. The Senator himself was a mem- ber of that committee, and he knows whether or not the committee as a committee visited the Department and made any examination. 

I understand they did not. 

l\fr. BOUTWELL. I did not act with the committeA at all. I 

nevel' met with the committee or conven~ed with any member on the 

subject. 

Mr. EATON. Mr. President, the Senator from Massa-chusetts dicl 

not say, as I was very certain he could not say, that there had been no forced balances, so called, in the Treasury Department. My friend . 

from Georgia [Mr. GORDO~] has placed in my hand testimony before 

the Committee on Expenditures in the Treasury Department, which 

is the testimony of General Spinner. I have not had the time nor bas he to read it through, but I find this : 

By Mr. WILSON: 

Question. Was any part of that fund used to balance the public-debt statements, 

to your knowledge 1 .Answer. I cannot tell. The puhlic-debtsta.tementwas a curious thing. I do not know how the law has been latterly, but when I first came into the Tl:·easury the 

Treasurer was directed by law to publish weekly statements in ena or two papers 

in the city of Washington. I found that they prepared a statement upstairs and 

I 

I 

I 

( 
\ 

\ 

; 

1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 5313 

publisl1e£1 it, to wbicJt my name was attached." and I objected to that. They did not want me to publish my st.a.tement. Q. 'Vbo did not want you to publish your statement! .A. The Secretary of the Treasury or his assistant. That was Mr. Harrington, I 

tbiuk under Mr. Chase, and was early in the wa.r. They would publish a state· ment that did not accord with my statement, an£1 I would not permit my name to be sirned to it, anll so the:v usecl to pu8lish a statement as t.he statement of the T~urer of tho United States, and they attached my name to it, but it did not emanate from my office. 

Q. Did it differ materially from your statement t 

A. I do not recollect. I remember that they forced balances in some way or other so that iii did not accord with my statement. They pretended that they had 

done tbin~rs up-st:D.irs that I did not know any thing about, and I did not like it at the time. I afterward got the law changed in some way so that it became the duty of the Secrl"t.ary to make the statements. Q. A.ml then you were not re ponsible in any way t 

A. Then I was not responsible aml knew nothing about the debt sta.tementa and 

rarely resrnrued them. I differe!l with all the Secretarie.~ in that. They have a rule 

that nothinl! mUAt be divulgetl that takes place in the Treaaurv. My idea was that a. J.?Ublic officer should have no secrets; that the public had a i:~ght to know every- tbm~, and when I was asked questions, unless I was prevented from doing it, I 

oJ.ways answered them. 

That is not very full testimony; it is not explicit testimony; but it 

goes to substantiate what ·I have been informed and what-I stated 

to the Senate. My information was that there had been forced bal- ances in some of the departments of the Treasury, and here is a man who swears to it. 

Mr. RANDOLPH. What officer t 

:Mr. EATON. The lute Treasurer of the United States, General 

Spinner. He swears it was so. I have just hAd this put in my hands. 

I heard somethin~ about it yesterday. - Now, I say agam that the resolution introduced by the Senator 

from West Virginia ought to hav.e been the subject of inquiry by a special corn.m1ttee which should have had the power to summon ex- perts and expend aa much mouey as was necessary in order that they 

might make a thorough examination of the condition of the Treasury. 

I fear there is something wrong there. ~Iy friend from Massachusetts smiles. I will not quote from Shakspeare on that point. [Laughter.] I say I fear. I hope not; I pray not. If a committee had been 

instituted and that committee had ascertained t.hat everything was entirely right and correct, I should have rejoiced. It is not for me to undertake to injure the good name of my country, not for me to 

undertake to injure the good name of the Govf\rnment; but the testimony of this late officer of the Treasury Department seems to me to 

show, in the absence of absolute knowledge on· the part of the Senator from Massachusetts, that there must have been a change in the 

figures, for there cannot be, my friend knows it a-s well as I do, a forced balance unless there be a change in the figures upon some of 

the books of some portion of the Department. Tha~ is the very mean- ing of the term "forced balance"-false balance, knowingly wrong. 

That is what this man testifies to. His testimony is before the Senate. I read precisely what it waa a.nd it may go for what it is worth 

before the country. I do not thiuk the testimony of a public officer 

who for many years-! do not know how many--

:Mr. BOUTWELL rose. . Mr. EATON. My friend has the right toroply; bnt I hardly think 

tho explanation ought to be made in my speech. There is tho testimony of the late Treasurer of the United States. If it can be ex- plained, very well. 

:Mr. BOUTWELL. I do not propose to explain it away, because I 

do not know anything about it. I have only this to say, that his t-estimony as read relates to transactions that took place when ~1r. Harrington was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, in the administration 

of Governor Chase, and therefore I have really no mea_ns of knowing 

about it more than other persons unless it had come to me by tradition in the Treaaury Department. I do not consider myself any more responsible for itMr. EATON. 0, yon are not on trial. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. Than for the administration of Albert Gallatin. I ha.ve only to say that I never heard of such a case. After I 

became the Secretary of the Treasury, by law a.fid by usage, the 

statements of the public debt were issued by the Secretary of the 

Treasury, and I never had any interference with General Spinnei in 

regard to that, except in so far as from his office the facts were furnished on which the statements were made. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. What was the fund to w1iich he referred, the 

naval pension money f 

Mr. BOUTWELL. I do not know. I have not rea(l it. 

Mr. EATON. My friend from Massachusetts almost seems to take 

the ground that I have got him on trial. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. Not at all; bnt there is this to be said: I have 

been made responsible, and from that responsibility I do not shrink, 

for having issued the statements of 1870 and 1871, and I mean to say 

that the utmost investigation in my judgment will show that those 

statements are correct and that the statements made in previous 

times were erroneous, but upon that point we cannot settle ithere--

Mr. EATON. There may have been a great deal of stealing before 

you came in. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. This was introduced in connection with the 

other matter, and I thought it proper to say that so far as the testimony showed they: were transactions that occurred six or eight years before I hacl anything to do with the Treaaury. 

Mr. EATON. During the war. Mr. EDMUNDS. I wish to call the ·attention of my friend from 

IV-333 

Connecticut, who does not intend to put this thing in a false light I am sure, to the fact that if he looks a little further back in this testimony of General Spinner, he will see, so fa.r as I can now judge 

from a hasty per1113al, that he was being inquired of about the naval 

pension fr\nd, as there appears on the preceding page this question 

by Mr. Wilson : 

Q. Was any part of this fund over transferred to the naval pension funcl1 A.. I do not know. The naval pension fund was a. very large fund, upon whirh 

the Treasury paid a low rate of inter·cst--4 per cen.t., I think, though I do not rec- ollect certamly. Tlll\t fund was in the Treasury a long while, and I do not know 

but it is there yet. 

Then the inquiries go on to know whether any part of this ft1nd was transferred to Jay Cooke & Co., and he says he does not know, 

and then comes what my friend reacl. Now, it may t.ucn out, and I 

suspect it probably will, that this supposed forcin~ of balances was a mere question whether the naval pension fund, whiCh has sometimes 

been regarded as a separate trust, and at other times aa belouging 

to the United States, was carried into the statement-s of the pnl>lic 

debt. 

Mr. EATON. I do not suppose this toucheo it at all. It was a balance, it was the public-debt statement about which he was speaking. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. As affected by the naval-pension fund. ~1r. EATON. No matter what affected it; it was the public-debt 

statement he was speaking about, and that they forced balances in 

that public-debt statement. I do not think my friend from Vermont 

has bettered this thing a.ny. I certainly do not want anything 

added. I had not read it; I <.lid not know to what it referred. It was put into my hands while I was conversing witb. my friend from 

M8B8achusetts, but I want it distinctly understood that I will make an examination into this testimony and ascertain hereafter. I only 

read it because it showed what I had been informed by another offi- cer in the Department heretofore was true, that"there had been forced 

balances in that Department. Now, Mr. President, I leaYe that. 

Mr. DAVIS. Allow me to say that I believe the pension fund has never come up to $20,000,000. It has been about 14,000,000. The 

amount involved in a single year here is nearly 100,0001

000 in some cases, so that it coulu not be the pension fund that caused the differ- ence. 

Mr. EDMUNDS~ I am merely taking the testimony of the wit. nesses referred to. 

Mr. EATON. Mr. President, I find certain tables published in the 

RECORD of the 24th of July, introduced by the honorable Senator 

from Massachusetts, and if he will permit me-if the question is an improper one he may decline to anRwer it, and he will pardon me for 

putting it-I should like to know if the Senator is responsible for 

the corrf>ctness of this statement f 

Mr. BOUTWELL. No, sir; I am not. I am only responsible for 

this: that Mr. Conant, the present Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, 

under whose direction the tables were made, is an honest man; that 

he bas honestly done his duty; thattheyhave been honestly reported 

to him by his subordinates, and that he has reported honestly to the 

Senate. I presented tho statement, taking that much responsibility. 

Mr. EATON. Those tables are not trne, and I did not suppose that 

the honorable Senator from Massachusetts was or would be responsible for statements that right on their face are manifestly false and 

incorrect; and if the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Conant., 

puts his name to statements of this character to go broadcast throughout this laud he ought to be removed from his office, for be is not a fit man to occupy it. The statements are not true. I am not now talking about au opinion which Mr. Conant !Day have; I am not now talking about his judgment with regard to a matter; that is another 

thing; but he puts before the country what he as an accountant 

knows is not true; and I shall be soon done with this gentleman, for 

I would not dishonor this body nor disgrace myself by goin~ through 

with this whole t.able before the Senate when I can cover 1t up with 

francl in one minute. 

Just see how this man makes out his statements. He is trying to 

show-this is pretty poor business he has got into-that it cost but a trifle more to support the Government of the United States in 1875 

than it did in 1860, and ho has produced a statement here-the honorable Senator from Massachusetts has put it before the Senate and 

it ha-s gone to the people-and in order to reduce the expendHures in 

the year 18i5 what has he done-not my friend, but Mr. Conant f 

He finds, after making de(luctions amounting to I believe $189,0v0,000 

owing to the war, that the expenses of all the different Departments 

of the Government of the United States not increased by war expenditures were in 1875 $84,773,762.49. Now, what does he do to reduce it 

still further! He deducts l~liif!rr per cent., t-he average premium on gold during the year, the expenditures here given being in currency, 

while those of 1860 were in gold--$10,745,074.40. He takes that from 

th& $84,773,762.49, and that leaves as the expenses of the Government, 

taking out the war expenses, $7 4,0'28,688.09. 

When I stamp a thing with fraud upon its very face in one respect, 

I do not t~ke up the time of the Senate with the miserable conclusions of a miserable accountant. Just think of it one moment. In 

order to reduce the e~enditnres in the opinion of the people of the 

Unitec:l States so as to bring them down to very nearly what they were fifteen years ago, be has taken out for the difference between gold 

and currency 10,745,074.40, being 12-frMr per cent. upon the gross 

amount of $84,000,000 and over. Now look at it, mark it; see t4e 
5314 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. AuGusT s, 

fraud of this 'Assistant Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. 

I know what he meant perfectly well. It would be a matter of argument if it were true. It was as there was a difterence of over 12t 

per cent. between the purchasi.ug power of coin and paper, therefore 

it was proper to deduct that. My friend from Massachusetts bows 

his head as though that were correct. Now let us look at it for one moment. I will settle this question in one moment so that there will 

be no more attempts by anybody to sustain a set of tables of this 

character. What was the civil list f Fourteen million eight hundred and ninety-one thousand four hundred and forty dollars and one cent. What was the foreign list f One million two hundred 

and fourteen thousand eight hundred dol1ars and eighteen cents. 

What was thepayofthe Army f Ten million eight hnndredand seven- ty thousand seven hundred and sixty dollars and thirty-nine cents. 

What was the pay of the Navy and Marine Corps' Seven million seven hundred and eighteen thousand eight hundred and forty-seven 

dollars and four cents, making in all $34,695,853.62, which was paid 

in currency. The purchasing power of the currency had nothing to 

do with this amount. Suppose it had all been paid into my h'tnds as for the civil list or the pay of the Army and the Navy, it is not for 

matters purchased for the Army or the Navy; it is t.he m('.re bills 

that were paid for the pay of the soldiers in the Army and the ma- rines and sailors of the Navy. The amount with which he has gone 

to the people, which is entirely a fraud, was $4,400,000 in round num- bers. There is $4,400,000 shown to be an absolute fraud in the very 

inception of this thing. Am I right f Who will dispute it f I do 

not say that the whole ten millions is a fraud. That is another matter. I ·say this, the expenses of the civil list were paid in currency. 

If any Senator will deny it I will give him the floor. The expenses 

of the Army, $10,870,760, were paid in currency. It is the pay-bill of 

the Army, not the beef and pork that are bought or the powder and 

shot; The pay of the Navy and Marine Corps was $7,718,847 aml it was all paid in currency. And yet this Assistant Secretary of the 

TreaKury of the Unit-ed States has dared to say that there should be a deduction of $4,400,000 in favor of the expenses of the Government 

in 1875 on these items b cause of the difference between gold and 

currency. Sir, it is a fraud upon the people of the United S~ates. I 

rejoice that my distinguished friend from Massachusetts did not back 

this fraud. That he had not examined it I know, for if he had he 

would not have presented it and had it go before the people of the 

United States. 

I said I would not go through this, and I will not, because it would 

take me two hours; but I desire it to go upon the record and go before the country that this fraud is unmasked to the tune of over $4,000,000 in one item; and hereafter when we do go beforo the people we shall show that there are more than forty other millions in the same way. Sir, this Assistant Secretary of the Treasury of the United 

States undertakes to make figures to go forth to the people to be used as a campaign speech, and they are false. I pronounce them to be 

false. Any Senator who will look at them will know that they are false. I am not now talking-that is matter of argument-whether 

it would be a proper deduction because of the difference between the 

purchasing power of paper and gold. That is another question. But 

1t·was when paper was used that this Assistant Secretary of. the Treasury has fraudulently said to the people of the United States that 

there should be a difference of over $4,000,000 made in these three 

items. I sa;y here that when this whole matter is examined it will 

not be merely $4,000,000, but ·it will be $40,000,000. I do not like to 

find any fault with what my brethren do, but I must say that before 

tables of this character are spread upon the records and sent forth to 

the people of the United States great care ought to be taken to see that they are reasonably, correct. Of the opinion of this man I have 

nothing to say. I would not give a rush for his opinion. He says 

there should be"$28,000,000 taken from the expenses of the Govemment for miscellaneous matter because of the war. That is his opinion. I am not going into that at all. It is not worthy of my position, nor of the Senate. When I have unmasked· the fraud of the 

man, I leave him to be dissected hereafter by others. · So I say, Mr. President, in regard to these tables that were presented 

here a. few days ago, and have gone forth to the people probably to 

be used as a campaign speech, let this go forth also to show that there 

is fraud here, to show that one of the high officers of the Government 

has been guilty of this fraud, aud he one of the men who are brought 

here to swear to the Committee on Finance that the accounts of the 

Government are correct. Sir, point me to a man who will put a table 

of this sort forth, that I know, and you know, and every man knows 

:who will look at it, is a fraud, do not bring that man before this grave 

body in order t.o make tho people believe that the accounts are right 

in the Treasury or any other Department. 

Sir, what I say with' regard to this paper, which was made by the 

Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, I ought to have said days and 

days ago, because I know that it has done harm. I know the news- papers have seized it, I know that speakers upon the stump have 

seized it in order to show that there was but little more cost in 1875 

to the people of the United States in the maintenance of their Government than there was in 1860, and I should have made this explanation long, long ago. · · Mr. President, I desire to say but one other thing, and then I trust it 

will be the last time I shall have occa~ion to engage in a discussion 

of this character on the fioor of th~ Renate. I have not desired it. 

I regret that the houorable Senator from Massachusetts had not ex- amined this table before he suffered it to be published in the RECORD, 

because whatever his opinion may be in regard to the propriety of 

making the difference between gold and paper, it is only when gold 

is used, not when paper is used. When paper is used to buy articles 

of commerce necessary to the Army and to the Navy, that is one thing; then it becomes a subject of argument; bnt when paper is . used to pay the debts of the United States, to the soldier in the tield, 

to the sailor on the ship, then it does not become a matter of argument. The honorable Senator from Massachusetts, not guilty of any 

improper act himself, will regret, in my judgment, as much as I do that 

this paper has been presented by him without a thorough examination. 

Mr. BOUTWELL. I only desire to say in regard to the paper com- mented on, and especially in regard to Mr. Conant, that I venture to 

assert that I think the honorable Senat.or from Conneticut would not 

have used the word "fraud" once, much less frequently, in regard to 

Mr. Conant if he had considered that in this paper there was no con- cealment whatever. It is a stat.ement of the expenditures for the 

year and a specific stawmeut of the deductions made. There is nothing concealed. Mr. Con~nt deducwd 12-fh'ifo- per cent. as the average 

premium on gold for the year 1875 upon the- idea that as the expenditures for the year 1860 were in a gold currency and the expenditures 

of 1875 were in a paper currency, and that paper currency was depreciated to thA extent of over 12t per cent. on the dollar, it was a rea- sonable thing in coming at the comparative statement of the expenses 

for the two years to eqnalize the ·currency and put the expenditures 

of both years in gold. That may be an error; it may not be wrong; 

but certainly even in the popular sense, to say nothing of legal sense, 

there was no fraud in it. There was a perfectly clear statement of 

the manner in which he had proceeded in the statement, and I should 

differ with the honorable Senator from Connecticut in regard to the 

propriety of that statement. For example, consider one item amount- in~ to $10,000,000 and more, which he stated, the pay of the Army. 

It is very well known that we advanced the pay of the Army from 

thirteen to sixteen dollars a month, more than 20 per cent., on account 

of the depreciated value of the currency in which they were to be 

paid, and when Mr. Conant made his deduction of 12-t per cent. he 

reduced the sum less than it had been increased by the legislation of 

Congress in reo-ard to the pay of the Army. So as to the pay of the 

Navy, my recollection; not distinct, is .that during the war and when our money was depreciated the pay of the Navy was in creased. I think no person c.an come to any other conclusion than this, that when you 

undertake to ascertain the comparative expenses of the Government 

in two years the expenses should be stated in the same currency, 

whether it be coin or whether it be paper. But the facts are all upon 

the document. Every person, the Senator from Connecticut and 

everybody else, can form a judgment for himself whether the pro- cesses are right. There was no concealment as to what the processes were. I have only risen to say that I see no element of fraud in the 

statement so far as Mr. Conant is concerned, but only .an opportnnity for an honest difference of opinion as to whether he should have 

made a deduction on account of the payments being in paper in 1875 

as against gold in 1860. 

Mr. EATON. One moment. 

Mr. PADDOCK. Mr. President, if the Senator from Connecticut 

will allow me, I desire to express my surprise that a Senator who or- dinarily observes so carefully the amenities of official as well as social life should allow himself to employ such t.erms of opprobrium as thJse which he has directed against the Assistant Secretary of 

the Treasury in connection with the report to which he has referred. 

Passing by the merits of the question under discussion, I exceedingly 

regret that my friend should use such language toward an officer 

whose only offense is that he entertains aud bas expressed certain 

views and conclusions concerning which the Senator entertains a different opinion. 

Mr. EATON. Iaccepttberebnkeof thedistinguished Senator from 

Nebraska in good temper, but I have no words to take back. I am onl~ sorry that the Senator from Massachusetts proceeds to defend 

this man; that is all. That I regret. . He proceeds to defend the 

Assistant Secretary in a transaction full of deceit, as is perfectly 

plain. He takes the entire expenditures aft.erhe has executed judgment upon one lmndred millions more or less, and he proceeds then 

to deduct 12~ per cent. from the whole amount, and my friend from 

Massachusetts tries to excnse him on the ground that the Army pay was increased some time. Was the civil pay increased Y Was everything increased enough to make up the forty-nine millions which I 

read¥ No, Mr. President, not so. It was an error. It was designed 

to deceive the people. ' 

Mr. WALLACE obtained the :floor. 

Mr. PAITERSON. Mr. PresidentMr. ·wALLACE. I will yield for the pr&~ent to the Senat.or "from 

South Carolina. 

Mr. P .A.TTERSON. I am very much obliged to the Senator from 

Pennsylvania for yielding to me. I have been trying to get the floor 

all day. 

Mr. President, the resolution of the Senator from Indiana proposes to print 10,000 copies of the President's message. Objection is 

made to that on the ground that the papers are ex parte, Let us in<tnire into the natnre of these papers. The first paper is a letter of 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 5315 

Governor Chamberlain, of South Carolina, to the President. Gov- ernor Chamberlain is a man of ability, cool, clear-headed, n.nd moderate in all his views and not likely to make any h'tsty statements. 

As au evidence that be bas not made any rash statement, let us com- pare the date of his letter with the date of the transactions at Hamburgh. His letter is dated the 22d of July; the riot occurred at Hamburgh on the 8th of July. There were thus two full weeks. Ham burgh 

is only eighty miles from Columbia, the State capital of South Carolina, 

with which it has railroad and telegraph communication. Now, will 

any person believe that Governor Chamberlain wrote this letter without a full knowledge of all the facts, without every effort on his part to 

get all the information be could in regard to the transaction T Governor 

Chamberlain before he sends his letter to the President waits until 

he gets a report from his attorney-general; and let me say right here 

in regard to this letter of Governor Chamberlain that it has been published in the 'South Carolina papers, in democratic and in republican 

papers, and as far as I have noticed a majority of the d~mocratic papers of the State have indorsed and joined in the statement of the 

facts as made by the governor in this letter. There are some news- papers representing a certain portion of the democratic party in Soutll 

Carolina that do not approve of this letter. They charge Governor 

Chamberlain with going out of his war in writing; but I have not seen in any one of the papers an attempt to deny the bets as set 

forth by him. 

Governor Chamberlain occupies this pcsition in South Carolina: His 

administration has been so acceptable to the people of the whole State, 

to the people of all parties, that to-day the democratic party in South 

Carolina is divided upon the question whether they shall nominate n. democratic candidate for governor on the 15th of Angust or whether 

they shall wait until the republicans make a nomination in September, 

and if they nominate Mr. Chamberlain, whether they (the democrats) 

will not accept him as their candidate for governor. This Jetter comes from a gentleman holding that position to both parties in South Carolina; and it is fair to presume, as he seems to have pleased both 

parties in his administration a.s governor, that he told as near the truth as he could get at the truth in writing his letter to the President. 

The following is the entire text of the letter, of which only or- tiona have been heretofore published here: 

STATE OF SoUTH CAROLINA, EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, 

Columbia, Jtdy 22, 1876. 

Sm: The recent massacre at' Ham burgh, in this State, is a. matter so closely con- nected with the public peace of this State that I desirE.' to call your attention to it 

for the purpose of laying before you my views of its effect, and the measures which 

it may become necessary to adopt to prevent the recurrence of similar events. It 1s, in the first place, manifestly impossible to determine with absolute cer- tainty the motives of those who were engaged in perpetrating the massacre at Hamburgh. '.fhedomand which was made by the mob upon the militiacompanyforthe 

surrender of their arms, taken in connection with the fact that the militia are not shown to have committed or tru·eatened any injury to any persons in that commu- nity, would seem to indica to a p~se to deprive the militia of their rights, on ac- count of their ractl or political opmions It seems impoSBible to find a ra; ional or adequate cause for such a. demand, except in the fact that the militia company was composed of negroes, orin tho additional factthattheywere, besides being negroes, 

members of the re11ublican pa1ty. Those who made the demand were, on the other 

han<l, white men, and members of the democratic part.f. The lines of race and 

political party were the lines which marked t-he ret>pective parties to the afl'air at Hamburgh. I mentio~ this as a fact, and as apparently the most trustworthy index of the motives and aims which inspired those who brought on this conflict. 

As affecting tho public peace, however, the ejj'ect of this massoore is more important t.han the motives which prompted it. 1Jpon this point I c·m speak with more confidence. It is not to be doubted that the effect of this massacre has been to cause wide-spread terror and apprehension among the colored race and the re- publicans of this State. There is as little doubt, on the oth('r hand, that a feelmg of triumph and political elation has been caused by this masRacre in the minds 

of many of the white people and democrats. The fears of the one side correspond with the hopes of the other side. 

I do not intend to overstate any matters connected with this affair, nor to omit 

any statement whi~h S6fflDS to me essential to a full understanding of its signifi- cance. It is_ certainly tme that most, though not all, of those who have spoken 

through the newspapers or otherwise here, on the white or democratic side, upon 

this matter, have condemned the massacre. Their opposition t.o such conduct bas 

not, however, sufficed. to prevent this massacre, nor do I see any greater reason for 

believing that it .will ~o so in the future. That c~ass which now ~ngage in this 

cruel work certmnly d1sregard the expressed sentiments of those who assume to speak, for the most pa.rt, fot· their communities, and go forward without fear of pub- lic opinion or punishment. 

It is sometimes asked,_ Why do not the colored race return this violence with violence W Why do they suffer themselves to be thus terrorized, when their numbers 

greatly exceed those of their enemies in the localities whure many of these out. rages occur' The answer is not difficult. The long habit of command and selfassertion on the part of the whites of these southern States; their soperiorint.elli· 

gence as compared with the colored race; the fact that at least four. fifths of the 

property of these St~'\tes a.I'tl in their hands, ara C'\uses which contribute to give 

them an easy v.hysical superiority thus far over the recently emancipated race, which still exhtbit the effoots of tlieir long slavery in their haiJit o.f yielding to the n.ore impeiious and resolute will and the superior intelligence and material re- souroes of the white mEm. 

Add to this that in almost every southern community there may be found a con- siderable number of daring, lawless, reckless white men, accustomed to arms and 

deeds of violence, over whom the restraints of the sentiments of the better and more <_JOnserTative classes of society have little, if any, power, who are inspired 

by an"mtense and brutal hat1'6d of the negro as a free man, and more particularly as a voter and a republican, and you have t-he elements which would naturally give rise to, lllld in point of fact do give rise to, nearly all the scenes of bloody violence 

which occur in the Southern States. Besides all this, another fact must be noted 

here, o. fact which, in my judgment, marks and explains the worltl.wide difl'erence 

between the effects of such occurrences as t.bi8 at Ham burgh upon the mass of the 

white people here and the effects of deeds of blood and violence upon the people of other sections of the country; na.mely, that such occurrences as this at Hamburgh have generally resulted in what is thought to be political advantage to the 

democratic party here. From this fact it results that the white people here are in· 

duced, to a CODBiderable extent, to overlook the naked brutality of the occmTence 

and seek to fiucl some excuse or explanation of conduct which ought to receive only 

unqualitied abhorrence and condemnation. followed bv speedy and adequate punillhment.. In this way it often happens that a few reckless men are permitted or encour~J' -'d to terrorize a. whole community and destroy all freedom of action on the 

part of those who differ from t.hem in political opinions. The more respect-able 

portions of the white people here content themseh·es with verbal perfunctory denuncin.tions and never adOJlt such measures ot· arouse such o. public sentiment aa would here, as well as elsewhere, put a stop to such occurrences. In respect to tho Hamhurgh ma.s.'!aCre, as I have saiil,. the fact is nnquP~~tionahle 

that it baa resulred in great immediate alarm among tho colored :people ami all re- publicans in that section of the State. Judging from past expenence, they see in 

this occurrence a new evidence of a purpose ~to subject the mt\jority of the voters in that vicinity to such a. degree of fear as to keep them from the polls on election 

day, and thus reverse or stifle the true political voice of the majority of the people. 

But the Hambur..,h massacre has produced another efi'oot. It has, as a matter of 

fact, caused a finn ~lief on the part of most republicans here tllat this affair at Ham burgh is only the beginning of a series of similar race and party collisions in our State, the deliberate aim of which is believed by them to be the political subjugation and control of this State: They see, therefor~, in t~s event what foreshadows a campaign of blood and viOlence, such a ca.mpa1gn asts popuhrly known as a campaign conaucted on the" Mi'l~issippi plan." 

From what I have now said it will not be difficult to understand the feeling of a. majority of tho citizens in a considerable part of this State. It is one ot intense 

solicitude for their lives and liberties. It is one of fear that, in the passion and 

excitement of the current political campai__gn, physical violen~ is to be used to overcome the political will of the people. .1 confine myself here to a statement of 

what I believe to be the facts of the present situation in this State as connected 

with the public peace and order, without any expression of my indi viuual feelings 

and opimons. My first duty is t~ seek to restore and preser\' e puiJlic peace allll 

order, to the oml that every man in South Carolina may freely and safely enjoy all 

his civil rights and privilegP.s, including the right to vote. tt is to t.his en<l that I now call your att~ntion t.o these matters. I shall go forward to do all in my power 1\8 governor to ar.complish the ends above indica teo, but I deem it important to advise you of the fact.~ now stated, and to solicit from yon some indication of your 

views upon the question'i presented. To be more specific, will the General Gov- ernment exert itseJi vi"oronsly t.o repress violence in this Stato dru·ing the present 

political campaign on t);e part of persons belonging to either political party, whenfiver that violenct} "hall be beyond the control of the State authorities 1 Will the 

General Government take such precautions as may be suitable, in view of the feeling of alarm already referred to, to restore confidence to the poor people of both 

ra(les and political parties in this State, by such a distribution of the military forces now here as will render the intervention of the General Government prompt a.ml 

effective, if it shall become necessary, in re:4toring peace and orded 

It seems proper to add tlmt I am moved to make this communication to you by no motive or feelin~ save such as should animate me as the chief executive of this 

State, bound to d() JUstice to all and to oppress none. I venture to say that I have 

given sufficient evidencf\ by my whole conduct in this office that, as governor, I am guided by my oath of ofhce and my duty t.o all the people. I challenge any proof or indication, from anf word or act of m1ne as governor, that I am capable of doing 

in.iustice, or denying JUStice, to any citizen of this State. But I do deem it my 

solemn duty to do my utmost to secure a. fair and free election in this State; to protect every man in the free e~joyment of his political rights, and to see to it that no man or combination of men, of any political party, shall overawe or put in fear or danger any citizen of South Carolina in the exercise of his civil rights. Iu ac- complishing these results, I now recognize, with deep re..,ret, that there are many 

indlcations that it 'vill be necessary for me to invoke the aid which, under the 

Constitution and laws, the authorities of the General Government may extend 

under certain circumstance. 

And I trust you will permit me to q.dd that I know no official duty more binding, 

in my judgment, on the Chief Executive of the Unit~d States than that of exercis· 

ing the powers with which he is invested for the protection of the States a.~ainst 

domestic viulonce and for the protection of t.he individual citizen in the exercise 

of his political rights, whenever a proper call is made upon him. I understaml 

that an American citizen has a. right to vote as he pleases; to vote one ticket as freely and safely aa another; to vote wrong as freely and sa.fel:y as to vote ri2:ht; 

and I know that whenever, upon whatsoever pretext, large bodtes of citizens can be coerced by force or fear into absenting themselves frOm the polls, or voting in a way contrary to their judJ5!Uent. or inclination, the foundation of every man's 

civil freedom is deeJ?ly, if not htally, shaken. 

I inclose for your mfonnation resJ.leCting the Ham burgh massacre t~e following 

documents: The report of Ron. Wllliaru Stone, attorney-general of thiR State; the 

report of General H. W. Purvis, adjutant and inspector gene1·al; a copy of all the 

evidence taken before the coroner's jury; a copy of t.he printed statement of General M. C. Butler; a copy of a lett~r adllressed by me to Ron. T. J. RoBERTSON; 

an address to the Amencan people by the colored people of Charleston, and a simil'\r address b:v a committee appointed at a convention-of leading representatives of the colored people of this State, at Columbia, on the 20th instant. 

I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, 

D. H. CHAMBERLAIN, · f:Jovernor of South Oarolina. 

The PRKSIDE.\'T. 

I now ask ~ttention to the letter of the President ln reply to the 

letter of Governor Chamberlain. I have been amazed, and I am sure the country will be no less so, to bear the criticisms of Senators on this 

letter. How the President could have said less I am at a loss to con- ceive, and in their cooler moments, when this subject is contemplated 

in the light of history, those Senat.orM who have condemned the President wiU regret that their partisan feelings should have led them so far astray. EXECUTIVE MANSION, 

Washington, D. 0., July 26, 1876. 

DEAR SJR: I am in receipt of your letter of the 22d of July, and all the inclosures 

enumerated therein, giving an account of the late barbarous massacre of innocent men at the town of Ham burgh, South Caroliria.. The views which you express as to the dnt.y you owe to your oath of office, and to the citizen, to secure to all their 

civil rights, including the right to vote according to the dictates of their own con- sciences, and t.be further duty of the Executive of the nation to give all needful 

aid, when properly called on to do so, to enable you to insure this inalienable right, 

I fully concur in. The scene at Ham burgh, as cruel, bloodt-hirsty, wanton, unpro- voked, and as uncalled for as it was, is only a repetition of the course that has been 

pursued in other southern States within the last few years, 11otably in Mississippi 

and J,ouisiana. Mississippi is governed to·day by officials chosen through fraud 

and violence such as would scarcely be accredited to savazes, much less to a civilized and Christian people. How long these things are to continue or what is to be 

the final remedy, the great Ruler of the universe only knows. Bnt I have an abiding faith that the remedy will come, and come speedily, and earnestly hope that it will come peacefully. There has never been a desire on the part of the 

North to humiliate the South. Notbin~ is claimed for one State that is not freely 

accorded to all the others, unless it may oe the right to kill negroes and republicans 
5316 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. AUGUST 8, 

without fear of J;Junisbment and without loss of cnste or reputation. This bas 

lleemed to be a prrvileae claimed by a few States. 

I repeat a<Tain that f fully agree with you as to the measure of your duties in the 

present eme~gency and as to my duties. Go on, and let every governor, where the same dangers thre~ten the pence of his State, ~o on in the C?~scientiou~ Pyrfor.m· nuce of his duties to the buml>lest as well as tne proudest mtizen, and I will giTe 

every aid for which I can find law or constitl:!tional power. Go':e~n~ent t~t ca~· 

not give protection to the life, property, and all g~a:ante~l CIVIl ngb~ (m this 

country the !!l'eatest i& .m.untrameled ballot) to the cttizen ism so far a failure, and every en~rgy of the oppresse~ should ~~ exE-rted (alway~ within the law a~d by constitutional means) to rcrram lost pnvileges or protection. Too long demal of guarantP.e 1 rights is sure to lead to revolution, bloody ruusl~tion, where suffering must fall upon tho I!Uilty as ~ell as the ~ocent. Expressmg the h~pe that the 

better judgment ana CO-Operation Of the CitizCD8 of tbe St~te OVe:i." WhiCh you have 

presided so ably may enable you to secure a fair trial and punishment of all offenders, 

without disti.nction of raoo; color, or previous condition of. servitude, and without 

aid from the Federal Government, but with th? yromise of such aid on the co?ili· 

tions named in the foregoing, I subscribe myself, very respectfully, your obedient 

servant, 

U.S. GRANT. 

Ron. D. H. CHAMBERLAl"!f. 

Governor of South Carolina. 

But the rrovernor waited until he could get further information. He 

sent Mr. Stone, his attorney-general, to Ham burgh to attend the in~es­ tigation and inquire into the transaction and make a report to lnm. 

Now who is Mr. Stone T He is a young gentleman, well known as an upright lawyer of Cfiarleston. Ho is a republican, but I have never known him to take any active part in })Olitics. I can safely B!l>Y 

he is respected by people of all classes. He goes to Hambnrgh and 

makes tills report to the governor of the State. The report of the attorney-~eneral is inclosed by Governor Chamberlain to the President. It lS as follows: 

OFFICE OF ATTOR~"EY-GENltR.U., 

Oolwrribia, South Carolina, J vly 12, 1876. 

Srn: Accordin..,. to :YOur request of Monday last~ I have visit-ed Ham burgh for tho 

purpose of ascertainmg the facts connected with the killing of several mea there on the night of the 8th of July. 

My information has been derived chiefly from Trial Justico ~v~rs and fr~m the 

testimony of persons who ha.v~ been exammed before the coroner s Jury, now m ses. 11ion, and from those who recCived wounds from the armed body of wb1te men who 

bad taken them prisoners. From this information the following fa-cta seem to be 

cleal'ly established : During the administration of Go;ernor Scott a company of State militia w~ or· ,:ranized at Hamburgh, of which Prince Rivers was captain. This company was known as Company A, Nin~h Regi~eot Na~om~l Guard of the S~~te of South Ca.ro. 

lina. Arms were at that time furmshe<l to It, and some ammumt10n. 

This company, previous to May, 1876, had for some time but fow names on ita 

rolls drilled rarely, and scarcely kept alive its organization. But in May of this 

year' tho number of members inorea.soo to about mghty, and one Doc Adams was chosen captain. On the 4th of July the company drilled on one of the public streets in the town of Hamburrrh. The street on which t-hey drilled was between one hundred and one buuc"lrOd and fifty feet wide; but it was little used, and was overj:VOWD with 

grass except in that portion wbioh wa.11 used as a carriage-road. While the com· pany was thus drilling Thomas Butler antl Henry Getzen, his brother-in-law, came along in a ca.rriarre, and demanded that the company should make way for them. 

Adams halted th'6 company, remonstratocl with Butler and G~tzen for thus seeking to interfere with the company, and called their attention to tho fact-that there was plenty of room on each side of the company to pass. 

l'imling them unwilling to ~urn out of their courec, Adams finally opened ranks 

antl allowecl them to drive through. 

This incitlent seems to have angered Butler and Gi:ltzen, who made complaint 

before Trial Just-ice Rh-ers ag~nst the militia comrany for obstructing the high· 

way. The trial justice on the following rlay issu6( a warrant against Adams, as be was the captain of the cort~pany, and had him brought bef_oro. hin~ :ior trial. 

During tho pro!!Tess of the tr1al.Adams wa.'l arrestell by the tnal JUStice for con· tempt of cowt, "and subsequently the case was continueu until four o'clock Saturday afternoon, July~-

At that time Butler and Getzen, with General M. C. Butler, who had been om- ployetl by :Robert J. Butler, father of the former, as their attorney, repaired~ the 

office of the trial justice, but Adams rlill not appear. 

General Butler inquired as tothenaturoof the charges againstAdams, and asked 

if the trialjnstice was to hear the case a.'! trial justice or in his official capacity of 

major-general of militia.. To this the trial justico replied that ho was to hear the case as a trial justice, but if the facts showell that a military offense had been com- mitted Adams woulu have to be trieJ by a court-martial. General Butler then 

stat()d 'that he thonJZbt the case might be arran.!!erl, and at his suggestion, time was ' given him to see the parties. A.fttlr this the trial justice did not see General Butler at his office, but learned that he had gone over to Auguata.. In the mean time 

the trial justice had been informed that some two or three liundred armed white men were in Ham burgh, and that a demand had been made by them that the militia 

should surrender their arms. Aftet a consultation with Messrs. J etrerson and Spen· cer RiYers sent fur General Butler. Ho rode up to the back gate of Rivers's house; 

the' two bad a conversation, in which General Butler said that ho had given orders to have tho ~ns given up in half an hour, and the time was nearly up. Rivers 

asked if some other arrangement could not be made, to which General Butler re· plied in the negative. 

Biver& then a.skell if be would not consent to h.we him receive tbe arms, box 

them up and send them to the governor, t.o which General Butler replied that he 

would b~x them up and send them to the governor, and if he (the governor) should -return them to the company it would be at his own risk. Rivers then asked if 

they would ~ive a. bond for the arms, to which Genor:ll.Bntler said that he wonld 

stand the bond, and, turning to another person-I think R. J. Butler-asked if he 

wouldn't go on a. bond also, to which ho replied that he would. llivers then asked 

for time before fire should be openocl on the militia, so that he might have a. confer· once with the militia officers. This was acct'<led to, and Rh-ers then went to the · building known as the Sibley builcling, in the second story of which the company 

l1ad its annoty and drill·room, and where it was then assemble~1 and told Captain 

.Adams what might bo expected if ho should refuse LO give up tue arms. To this 

Adams replied that General Bnt.ler had no right to the ~uns; that tho corup:my l1eld them, and be proposod to hnl!l them unless General llut.Jer showed some liD· 

thority to take tlHlm. After this intel'view Rivers returned to General Butle1·, wuh 

whom 'las llobcrt J. Butler. He told them the decision to which the company had come. 'fhcn Robert J. Butler said that General Butler was his attorney; that be 

l1ad como to settle tho matter. If tho company would apologize for tho insult to his son and son.in-law he would do nothing more, but the whole matter was in Gen. 

eral Butler's bauds. General Butler sni.d that as the men would not meet him he 

would have no mo1·e to do with them. General Butler was asked by Rivers ii he 

would guarantee tho safety of tho town sbonld the militia sutrender their airms. 

He saiu that would depend on how the men beh:wed themselves afterward. Thi.s statement is confirmed by S. P. Pixley. 

Whilo these negotiations were ~oing on, tho Brnled body of whit~ men in the town were concentrated on the bank of the river near the Sibley building .. Soon after 

they were broken off firing began. Men who were in the building say that it was conimenced by the whites firing upon the building. Ad~~ gave his ?~llers not to shoot until he directed them to. The company hid very bttle ammurunon, nn<l all 

they had was n. portion of that issued to the company when it was first organized. After the firing was begun it was returned by tho militia, and one of tho attack· 

ing party, McKee Merriwether, was shot through tho head and instantly killed. 

.After this a piece of artillery, said to belong to the Washington Artillery, of Au. 

gusta., was brought over from Augusta, and fonr charges of canister were fired from 

It upon the armery, but without injuring any one. 'fhe perl!Ons in the armox:.y es- caped from the rear by means of lauders, and hid under .floors of adjacent buildings or where>er else they could find shelter. 

The first man killed by the wbite.i was James Cook, town marshal. He had been 

in tl: .:~ armory, but was not a member of the company. He had gone into the street from the rear of the Sibley building,' and wa.s at once ftretl on and fell dood in· 

stantly, pierced by five or six bullets. Afterward the whites began their search 

for the members of the company. They succeeded in getting o.tiout twenty. five 

colored men as prisoners, some of whom were never m .aiuers of the company. As 

fast as they were captured they were taken to a place near tho South Carolina Railroad, where a. large party of armed men stood guard over them. None of those 

thus captured had arms In their hands. 

Su bseq'uently, and at about two o'clock a.. m., six men took A. T. Attaway out of 

tho" ring." He and his mother beg.(!e<l for his life. but in vain. He was told to turn round, and was then shot to death by lhe c:rowd. David Phillips was next taken out, and was similarly killed. Pompey Curry wa.'l next called out. Ho rec- ognized among the by-standers Henry Getzen and Dr. Pierce Butler, and called on them to keep the other men from 'killing him. He ran, and was shot at as ho ron, one bullet strikmg him in tho right leg below the lrnoo. 

Afterward, Albert Myniart, Mo~es Parks, aml Ilampton Stephens were killed. 

Stephens ·did not belong to the company. Noltler John Parker, who has been com- monly refen·ed to in the newspa1>er reports as John Thomas, was corporal in tho 

company. When he was arrested and taken to tho spot where the other prisoners were, be recogt:~ized amona the party two ~entlomen of Augusta, named Twiggs 

and Chaffee. He appealed' to them' for protection. They said lie should not be 

hurt. He states that General M. C. Butler asked if be was one of the u-d :r:wcals. 

The reply was in the affirmative. ITo was then shot in the back. Messrs. Twig~s 

and Chaffee then said if he was shot again t.hey would shoot the on s who dill1t. 

They took him off, and had him taken to August~ He was shot before Attaway waa'killed. He may recovt'lr from his wounds. 

One Butler Edwtuds waa taken as a prisoner. He says he was taken before Gen. 

eral Butler, who at the time was in the street near the Sibley building. This was about twelve o'clock. 

Threats were made to shoot him. General Butler directed tha.t he be taken t.o the others. He recognized among the crowd one Cn.ptain Carnile and--Dunbar, 

of A.ugUBta; said he had a long talk with the former. He was among the prisoners 

who were let loose and told to run ; aa they ran they were fired at, and he was shot 

in the head. He was not a member of the company. 

Willis Davis, one of the membel'8 of the company, wa.s taken to tho place where were the other prisoners. The men stated that Jobu Swaringen, of Ed::refield. 

County, bad charge of the prisoners. He states that he saw General Butler before 

the men were killed, who asked him what be was doing, and told him he would have 

enough of it before he ~ot tlrrou~h. He was shot in the arm near the elbow when 

about twenty paceslHstant from the crowtl 'fhe ball i~ still in hisa.nn, null besuf. 

fers much J?ain. He also states that some of the young men from Georgia remon- strated agamst shootin~ the prisoners, but in vain. 

Besi<les tho killing and wounding of tho men herein nam6(l, the party broke open 

se>eralstores and houses, and, in somo instances, robbed tho inmates. They took 

from Mr. Charles Roll, the postmaster, and a very resp(lcta.ble white citizen, a gun 

which be had in hill store, and his private propert~. From an old colorotl man named Jacob Samuels, in his employ, they took a watch and Ret Jiro to his bouse. 

Th(\y broke open the house of TnalJ'ustice Rivet-s and did much dmu:tge, as W(.lll as robbed bim of clothing. They obtainetl korostme oil and attempted t.o set fire to a house, but were prevent~d by. Colonel A.. P. Butler froru doing so. The ropes of the 

pfl'blic wells were cut., anrt some fences wore torn do\Yn. . So far as I c1Ullearn, the prim3Jjobject of the whitea was to t'lke away from the 

militia their arms. Tho man Parker, who was wouniled. states that on Friuay, tho 7th instant, he 

had a Ion~ talk with ono Harrison Butler (white) on Broad street. Augusta. Butler told him that if Rivers did not give orders for tho militia to give up their arms they would take them any wa.y on the next day. 

On Saturday rumors were abroad in Ham burgh that there were armed parties com ina in to t.<tke tho ~ns, but little credit was attached to them. 

One"'of the white citizens of Hmnburgh heard a. couvers3tion bet,veen David 

Phillips 1Uld General Butler in the afternoon. Phillips talked very" big," as the 

guntleman saicl, and General :autlor told him that they wanted those guns and were bouml to have them. 

In tho afternoon Colonel A. P. Butler went to the various stores in town and told 

the proprietors that they must not sell ·any liquor to his men. In spite of this, 

however, some of the men compelled one of the storekeepers to furnish them 

liquor. From the same person they obtained kerosene oil to use in setting fire to a bonae. 

The whites were armed with guns a.nd small·arms of various kinds, and many of 

them had axes and hatchets. 

It is proper to state that the intenclant of Ham burgh, Mr. Gartlner, was informed 

by Gi:lneral Butler, in an interview with him, that the arms of the company mUBt 

be ~iven up. Trial Justice Rivers is now holding an inquest and taking the te.'!timony of wit;. 

nesses. Until their >ertlict ~s. r~ndered it will be imt;:~fii~le to tell wh~ were en- gaged in the attack on the militia and the subsequent - g and wounding of the 

colored men. It may be possible that a careful, judicial investigation may sbow some slight errors in some of the minor details stated in this report. But making due allow- ance for such errors, the factA show the demand on the militia. to give up their arms was made by persons without lawful authority to enforce s.uch demand or to receive the arms had they been surrendered; that the attack on the militia to compel a. compliance with this demand wa~ without lawful excuse or justification; 

and that aft~r there had. been some twenty or twenty-five prisoners ca.ptured and 

completely in the power of their captors, and without means of making further 

resistance, five of them wt're deliberately shot to death and three more severely wounded. ·It further appears that, not content with thus satisfJ;ng their ven· geance mii.Dy of tho crowd added to their guilt; the crime of robbery of dcfens6- ress po~ple, and were only prevented from arson by the effort.s of their o'\VII lead- ers. Yours, very respectfully, 

Hon. D. H. CILUIDERLAIY, 

Governor. 

WILLIAM STO~~. 

Attorneu-Ge-ncral South OaroUna. 

Now, I should sn,y tbn,t that was officin,l. It may be ex parte, but it 

certainly is official. Tho letter of the governor of South Carolina is 

certainly official. I will ~ant that it may ~e ex pm:te_; but it is an official document, and I will ask Senators th1s quest10n: Under the 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 5317 

Constitution of the United Stat~ the governor has a right to call on the President of the United States for troops to suppress domestic 

violence. Does t.he Constitution require the sovernor before he makes 

that call to wait until tho courts have exammed the question f Does 

the Constitution of the United States require the governor to wait 

uut.il he can get the whole testimony, 1m til he can hear both sides t 

By no means. If a riot occurs in :ll State and there is domestic violence that! he has not the power to suppress, he act~ ou the testimony 

tha.t is before him, the best informa.tion he can get, and he makes his 

call on the President of tho United States in conformity with the 

Constitution of the United States. Governor Chamberlain did not 

call on the President in this letter for troops exactly, but he makes 

suggestions as to what he deems necessary to be done in thfi' way of 

sending troops already in the State to certain localities. It is an official document upon which the President had a right to act. Tht" 

letter of the attorney-general to the ~overnor is an official document, 

and upon that the governor had the nght to act. 

Now, we will go a little further. 'Ve also find the letter of the 

adjutant-general of the State. He is a State officer, and was Bent to 

Hamburgh by order of the governor to investigate the transactions 

and he makes his report to the governor ; the governor incloses that 

to the President. Is not that an official ,report f Is not that a report 

which the President of the United Hta.tes is bound to take notice of, 

and on which he ha<l ·a right to form his judgment and take action f 

The following brie~ report of that officer tells its own story: · 

EXECUTIVE DEP AR'l'ME."'\T, 

OFFICE OF .ADJUTAII""T AND L'SPECTOR GENERAL, 

Columbia, South Oarolina, July 12, 1876. 

Sm : In compliance with Y.Our letter of instructions of the loth instant, I at once proceeded to Ham burgh. Aiken·County, South Carolina, where I arrived yesterday 

morning, the lltb instant, when I at once proceeded to examine into the cause of 

the recent disturbances at tlmt place. The town of Hamburgh preeented just such an appearance as one would that was, after bein,g raided upon by a. hostile army, with but this <lifference, that the l:l.trer 

would not descend to ·robbery and plunder. as well as murder. Nearly every colored man's house in the town (ancl Louis Schiller's, white) was broken into, and 

plundered, furniture broken, bedding and elothing stolen, and a geneml scene of 

devastation frevailinLt everywhere. From all could ascertain, as well a<~ from the testimony taken before the coro- ner's jury, (copy herewith transmitted.) General M . C. Butler is charged with 

being the sole cause of the trouble, and from eonversa.tion heltl with many citizens 

in Ham burgh, all a~eed that had be, Butler, been so disposed, one 'vord from him 

would have stoppeu the scene of carp age that ensued. 

I respectfully invite the attention of your excellency to the testimony of P. R. 

Rivers, e.~q., trial justice at Hamburgh, marked "A," of John Gardener, esq., intendant of the town, marked "B;" and also tha.t of Alexander Grinage, page 10 9f 

t&timony taken before the coroner's jury. H. W. PlJRVIS, 

A.ajut4nt and Ir&8pcctor Gemra.l, South Oa~olina. 

B.is Excellency D. H. CHAMBERLAIN; 

Governor and 0om.m4nder-in-OhiRJ. 

Now we come to another paper; that is, the evidence taken before 

the eoroner's jury investigating the facts relating to the massacre. It is among the documents inclosed .by the Pxesident in his message 

to the Senate. It contains a list of the jurors (duly sworn) and the 

whole testimony taken before the jury. I wish I had time to read it. 

I know Senators are tired, but I should like every Senator in this body 

to hear that testimQny read. I was surprised on Saturday when this 

matter was brought up to hear a Senator, one of the most distinguished on that side of the Chamber, [Mr. THURMAN] say that he had 

read and knew very little about the Hamburgh transaction. I wish 

that Senator was here and I had the time to have the Clerkread this 

testimony. I think that he would join with me, be would join with 

every man in South Carolina who dept ores such outrages, in denouncing 1IDe men who commit them. It is a sad and ·sickening tale of 

'' man's inhumanity to man." 

The next is a "Statement of U. C. But.ler, of South Carolina." 

General Butler, the gentleman referred to here, has been charged and 

returned by the coroner's inquest as one of the parties accessory to 

these murders before the fact. · I think the Senator from Connecticut said, what has the President 

to do wHh thatT I g-ive the President credit for sending in the letter of General M. C. Butler. General Butler sends a statement to 

the Register, a newspaper in the city of Columbia, in his own defense. Governor Chamberlain, I have no doubt, t.hough I do not 

know the fa{}t, inclosed that to the Pr$ident. The President, to 

show his sense of right and his desire for fair play, his desire to see every man heard in his own defense, to give every man un opportunity to exonerate himself from these charges, inclosestbat letter to 

the Senate, so that it may be spread all over the country ; and yet 

fault is found ith the President for doing that which I cnJl simple 

justice; and if General Butler was here to-da.y be would thank the 

President for giving llim an opportunity to be heard in this high 

fomm in his own flefense. 

But the President goes further than that. General Butler wa-s not 

satisfied with his first statement in his own defense to the Columbia 

Ticgister, but he wrote a Jetter to the editor of the Journal of Com- merce in Charleston. I will tell you why he wrote the letter to that 

journal. It is because we have a curious state of affairs in South 

Carolina which the people at the North do not ~nderstand, but very well understood throughout the South. The President incloses that 

to ·the Senate, SC? that that will come before the publie, and yet on tbe other side fault is fpund with t.he President because he has done 

that. I say the President should be entitled 'to credit for that, too. 

The next is a letter from Governor Chamberlain to Hon. T. J. RoBERTSON. 

Mr. ROBERTSO~ is a member of this body. He writes to the gov- ernor of the State for a statement of the facts in relation to the Hamburgh massacre. Governor Chamberlain sends a statement of the 

facts to my colleague and it is publisbecl in the New York Herald. 

The President incloses that for the information of the Senate. That 

is objected to. 

Then we have an address to the American people by the colored 

citizens of Charleston. 

The Senator from Connecticut wants to know what the President 

of the United States has to do with that. 0, yes! Mr. President, the 

colored people of Charleston have dared to issue an address to the 

people of the United States asking their sympathy and protection, 

against whatt Against murderers; murderers in the democratic 

party ; every man of them a member of that party; every man of 

them if he is not hung before the election will vote tho democratic 

ticket; and because the colored people of Charleston meet to present an address to the people of the United States asking for their prot.ection against a band of democratic murderers the Senate of the United 

States and the people of the United States are asked by a Senator in - this body, "What has the President of the United States t.o do :with th~t f" I say to you that if the President of the United States had 

not sent that to the Senate and given it to the public and given it 

the force and the power of his sanction, he would have fallen short 

of his duty. 

Among the documents is an address by·a committee appointed at a conv·ention of leading representatives of Columbia, the capital of the 

State. 

The first address of colored citizens at Charleston was at a public 

meeting in the ci t.y of Charleston. This address is from the leading 

representatives of the colored 1)eople of the whole State assembled 

at Columbia, upon invitation of the chairman of the republican State 

committee. Senators may say in regard to these two documents that 

they are not official ; I will grant that,; that they are ro; parte; I will 

grant that; but thoy come froill the representatives of a race who are in danger, they come from the representatives of a race who are en- titled to the protection of the President of the United States, and of 

this Senate, and of the people of the United States against murderers, no matter who they are or where they are, and they h:1Ve a right 

to be heard here in this place and all over this broad coul!ltry. 

That is all that relate to the Hamburgh massacre. No. 11, No. 12, and No. 13 relate to matters in Mississippi. I have no more to do with that than any other Senator, but feel a deep interest in the sad condition of affairs in all the southern States. I n.m not like the Senator from Connecticut. I do not know whether 

he bas even reatl these papers, but he says he does not believe them. 

Let us briefly inquire into them. The district attorney of Mississippi 

writes to the AttQrney-General of the United States. I should liko 

to know what right the Senator from Connecticut has to dispute what 

the district attorney of Mississippi says to the Attorney-Generd of 

the United StatesT By what authority can bo say that what this man flays to his superior officer is not true f I do not know that it is 

true, bnt I presume it is true. But there is one thing that I do know, 

that I have no riglit to say it is false and I am just as confident that 

he has no ri(l'ht to say it is false. · So with t'he "copy of report of a grand jury lately in session in 

Oxford, Mi t~issippi." That is a report of a grandjnry, men who are sworn to do -::heir duty, and I take it for granted that it is true; and, 

knowing the condition oi affairs in that · State, somewhd familiar 

with the election in Mississippi in 1875, I knuw the "ways that are dark" that a,re resorted t-o to carry elections in the South by our democratic friends; and I have no doubt about the truth of these documents. 

I have referred to all the pa.pers accompanying this message and 

all the papers that are proposed to be print.ed. The Senator from Del- aware [Mr. SAULSBURY] on Saturday objected to the printing of those 

documents bec1.use they wore ex parte. In my plain way, I have re~ · plied to that. But the Senator gave another reason for his objection 

to the printing of these documents. His other objection was the ex- pense. Mr. President, the other branch of Congress this whole session 

has been engaged in investigating the doings and transactions of 

Federal officers. They have been on a grand and a wild hunt for re- publican thieves and they have caught some, and I am glad of it. If 

there is a thief in the republican party, I hope the democrats will find 

him and arrest him and punish him. I shall be the last man to attempt to protect republican thieves. There is not a republican Senator on this floor who 4as ever by implication or his vote attempted 

to protect republican thieves. But while they have been on this 

grand kunt for republican thieves, they have been so unfortunate as to catch a lot of democratic thiens. All the reports of those 

investigat.ions are to he published to the world. It will cost thou- ~ands and thousands .of dollars. Has any republican Senator risen 

in his place and objected to an appropriation to pay the expenses 

of the publication of the reports of those investigating committees t Never, that I have heard. I know I have not. I know I am prepared to vote to publish te the American people the evidenoo 

to convict the republican thieves whenever it is asked, I do not oare what the -amount is; the people a;re entitled to the information, no matter what it costs. But this r~solution of the Senator from Indiana 
53.18 CONGR.ESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. AUGUST ·s, 

calls upon the Senate to do what t To publish 10,000 extra. copies of 

this message and the accompanying documents. It will cost probably $300. The Senator from Delaware objects. Now, I ask the Senator from Delaware why he objects to an appropriation of $:~00 to 

publish the evidence npon which we can convict democratic murdererst We have helped to expose the republican thieves, and you must 

not object when we ask you to publish evidence that will convict 

democratic murderers in South Carolina or elsewhere. No, Mr. President, let the truth be told. If the republican part.y is guilty of anything, let them be exposed; if the democratic party has been guilty 

of anything, let them be exposed. If there are members of the re- publican party who are thieves let us expose them; if there are mem- bers of the democratic party who murder men for their opinion's sake 

and that alone-because the murders at Hamburgh were for nothing 

else; they were murders for opinion's sake-! say let them be exp()sed. 

Let the people of tLis country know who are guilty in both parties and 

who a·re responsible for these crimes. 

Mr. President, I have referred to the papers accompanying the 

message sent to the President by Governor Chamberlain; they con- tain h1s view from his stand-point. I hold in ·my hand an account 

of the bloody work at Hamburgh, in the News and Courier of July 

10,1876. The News and Courier is a democratic newspaper, pub- lished in Cha-rleston. It represents what is known in our politics 

in South Carolina as the fusion wing of the democrat-ic party. As 

I remarked a few minutes ago, the democratic party in South Carolina is divided upon the question of acceptin(J' Mr. Chamberlain as their candidate or nominating a straight-out democratic candidate. 

This report does not vary from but confirms all the statements made 

by Governor Chamberlain. 

I have here also an article from the Charleston Journal of Commerce, the other democratic paper published there representing what 

is knowu as the straight-out faction, and which considers itself democratic par excellence. The News and Courier calls it ''tile bloody 

work at Hamburgh," while the Journal of Commerce heads its article "A hullabaloo," with the hope of turning this dreadful massacre into ridicule. These two papers represent the two factions into which 

the democratic party in the State is divided; and neither of them 

pretend to dispute the facts in the ca,se, but assign different causes for the oecurrence and give different reasons for their disapproval. 

The Jonrna.l of Commerce is edited by R. Barnwell Rhett, jr., a na- 1ional name well known in the history of the country, and represents 

what is understood to be the true chivalry of the State; the men of 

real worth and respectability in the democratic party, the men who 

believe in principle and will fight for it. 

THE PARTIES IN THE RAMBURGH RIOT. 

Mr. President, I come to a part of my remarks which I regret my 

duty compels me to make. Who is implicated in this Hamburgh massacre f The other day, in answer to the Senator from Texas, I 

had t.be names of the parties that are returned by the coroner's jury as implicated in these murders read ; and I say here publicly before 

the Senate, as I will say in South Ca.rolina. when I go home from 

every stump where I expect to speak, that I am sorry to see in this 

list the names of certain gentlemen. I find here the names of over eighty persons, citizens of South Carolina and Georgia. ·I know some _ of these parties. The Georgians I do not know. The other day, in answer to the Senator from Texas, I said that these gentlemen represented the best families in South Carolina. I say so to-day; and I 

say for them, I say for their friends, that I regret to find them in this 

position. General M. C. Butler, who is charged in the coroner's re- turn as being implicated in these murders before the fact, is the 

nephew of Senator Butler, who formerly represented South Carolina 

upon this floor. I have no hesitation at all in saying here that Gen- eral l\1. C. Butler in South Carolina is considered a high-toned, honorable gentleman. He bears that reputation wherever be is known. 

He was a gallant soldier. No braver, no truer man ever drew a sword 

in the confederate army. His blade shone the brightest upon every battle-field, and he proved his devotion to the cause that he believed was right by leaving a leg upon the field. He always bas been hon- ored and respected by that portion of the people of South Carolina 

who desired to be considered the ruling class. In 1870 be was the 

reform candidate for lieutenant-governor. There has never been a convention of the democmtic party in South Carolina since the war that he has not been a delegate. I see that he is a delegate to the 

democratic convention that meets in Columbia on the 15th of this 

month; yet he is included in the report of this coroner's inquest as 

one of the parties implicated. I have known General Butler ever since I have been in South Carolina. I have known him personally 

and favorably. I have received acts of kindness from him, and 

would be the last man to do him injustice. I respect him as a gen- tleman, and I pray God that he may be able to exonerate himself 

before the court and before a jury of his countrymen. If General 

Dutler is guilty of the charge that is laid against him, let him be 

punished; but I shall rejoice as much as the wife of his bosom would 

rejoice if it shall be proven that he is innocent. 

But somebody is guilty, Mr. President, of these murders at Hamburgh. The fa-ct that the -people were murdered, the fact that ten 

Americal). citizens without cause or provocation were murdered in 

cold blood canno~ be d_enied, and s?mebody is responsible; it is not 

for me to say who. Here is the list that has been returucd by the 

coroner's inquest upon the testimony sworn to. I am not like the 

the Senator from Connecticut, and I will not say e\7 erytbing is "false." 

I know it is ex pa1·t~ testimony,))Ut it is the usual course. We have 

the same laws in South Carolina that yon have in New York, Pennsylvania, or Connecticut., and other well-regulated States. We have our coroner's inquests, and we call before them such witnesses as the coroner thinks necessary and proper to give evidence, and that is 

the evidence npon which this return has been made. _ Mr. LOGAN. Will the Senator allow me to interrupt him right 

there? 

Mr. PATTERSON. Certainly. 

Mr. LOGAN. I do so because I do not exactly understand a statement he has made. He speaks of General Butler as a high-minded 

honorable gentleman. That I have no right to controvert, and I 

do not desire to do so. He says he hopes be will be proved innocent. 

I hope everybody is innocent, but I want to ask the Senator if he believes the statements that are sworn to in reference to his conduct 

and the conduct of these others in regard to the murder of these ne- groes f 

Mr. PATTERSON. Of course I believe them. I have no right to 

euppose that the persons that went before that coroner's inquest swore falsely. Of conrse I beli~ve them; I have no right to disbelieve them ; but I am sorry for the parties implicated, and when the 

trial comes off in the Aiken Court House I shall rejoice if Genl3ral Butler and the other gentlemen named here, whom I know and for whom 

I have always had respect, and whose families I respect, can exoner- ate themselves. If the testimony should establish their guilt, then I 

say, while I regret it, yet like a good citizen I of course hope that 

they will be punished. That is what I say. 

Mr. WEST. As it suits the convenience of the Senator from South 

Carolina and there are some matters of executive busine s that re- quire attention, I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration 

of executive business. 

Mr. DAVIS. Does the Senator from South Carolina desire an adjournmentf 

Mr. WEST. The Senator from South Carolina yielded the floor 

temporarily. Mr. PATTERSON. I will go on to-morrow morning. 

The PRESIDENT pro tentpore. The question is on the motion of 

the Senator from Louisiana. 

The motion was agreed to; and the Senat-e proceeded to the con- sideration of executive business. After twelve minutes spent iu 

executive session the doors were re-opened, and (at five o'clock and seven minutes p.m.) the Senate adjourned. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. .. -

TuESDAY, August 8, 1876. 

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

I. L. TOWNSEND. 

The Journal of yesterday was read and approved. 

RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS. 

Mr. HAMILTON, of Indiana. I rise to a question of privilege. 

I am reported in this morning's RECORD in reference to the vote on the passage of the bill to repeal the resumption-day clause oi the act 

of January 14, 1875, as saying: "I desire to state that, if permitted, 

I should vote 'no.'" On the contrary, I stated most distinctly that if 

permitted I would vote "ay." 

The SPEAKER pro t~mpore. The correction will be made accordingly. 

DEATH OF GElo.'ERAL CUSTER. 

Mr. MILLS. I aak unanimous consent to spread upon the records 

of the House of Representatives a joint resolntion passed by the Legislature of Texas in reference to the death of General Custer. 

There was no objection, and the resolution was read, as follows: 

.Joint resolution H. R. No. 395. 

Whereas General G. A. Custer has endeared himself to the peoJ?le of the frontier 

of Texas and elsewhere by his bold and dashing operations aga.mst the Indians; 

and whereas the news of his late sudden death wbile in discharge of his dangeroua duties is received: Therefore, 

SECTION 1. Be it resolved by the LP.gislature of the State of Texgj, That we tender our sincere condolence to the family of the deceased and to thd"pe(lple of our suf. 

fering front-ier, and that the governor be req nested to forward a. copy of this joint resolution to our Senat()rs and Members of Congress, with the request that the same be spread upon the .JournaL~ of Congress, and a copy of the same be for· 

warded to the family of the deceased. 

Approved .T uly 28, 1876. 

The joint resolution was laid on the table, and ordered to be 

printed. AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

Mr. LAWRENCE, by unanimous consent, introduced a joint reso- lution (H. R. No. 163) proposing an amendment to the Constitution 

of the United States; which was read a first and second time, referred 

to the f!0mmittee on the Judiciary, and ordered to be printed.