1796 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 26, 

By Mr. CLAYTON: Resolutions of the Legislature of the State of ment, and maintenance of their railways; which was referred to the 

California., for the adoption of a treaty of reciprocity between the· Committee on Railroads. 

United States and Mexico, to the Committee OIL Foreign .Affairs. He also presented a memorial of the San Francisco Medical Society, 

Also, resolutions of the Legislature of the State of California, asking asking for an increa e of the efficiency of the Medical Department of 

congressional relief for A. B. Gilbert, to the Committee on the Public the United States Army; which was referred to the Committee on Lands. Military .Affairs. 

By Mr. HOLMAN: The petition of Antoinette J. Rus ell, for the He also presented a concurrent resolution of the Legislature of CalLpayment of the French spoliation claims, to the Committee on For- fornia, in -favor of the adoption of a treaty of reciprocity to promote eign .Affairs. . commercial intercourse between the people of the United States and 

By Mr. KASSON: The memorial of E. L. Kingsley and others, ask- Mexico; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. ing further legislation to bring into practical use in public Depart- He also pre ented a resolution of the Legislature of the State of 

ments the metric decimal system of weights and mea-sures, to the California, in favor of the reimbursement to A. B. Gilbert, or th 

Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures. restoration of the title therefor, of the value of eighty acres of la.nu 

By Mr. KELLOGG: The petition of Mary A. S. Loomis, widow of in what is known as the New Helvetia grant, or Sutter grant, claimetl 

the late Colonel Gustavus Loomis, for a, pension, to the Committee to have been pre- mpted by him, and of which he was dispo esseu on Invalid Pensions. by the Pacific Railroad Company; which was referred to the ComBy l\1r. LOWNDES: The petition of John Souder , for a ·pension, to mittee on Claims; 

the Committee ou Revolutionary Pensions and War of 1812. l\1r. CONKLING presented the petition of the members and congreBy Mr. LUTTRELL: Resolutions of the Legislature of the State gation of the Market street Presbyterian church, of the city of New 

of California, for the adoption of a treaty of reciprocity between the York1 signed by Rev. Edward Hopper, pa-stor, and other officer , United States and Mexico, to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. praymg for the appointment of a commission of inquiry concerning 

Also, resolutions of the Legislature of the State of California, ask- the alcoholic liquor traffic, its relations to pauperism, crime, the pnbing congressional relief for A. B. Gilbert, to the Committee on the lie health, and general welfare; which was ordered to lie on the table. -Public Lands. Mr. SUMNER presented the petition of the Father Mathew TernBy Mr. NESMITH: Several petitions of citizens of the State of perance Society No.2, of the city of Brooklyn, New York, signed by 

Oregon and of the Territories of Washington, Idaho, and Montana, the officers, John Gilson, president, and Patrick Bennett, secretary, 

for the construction of suitable canals around the Cascades and the praying for the appointment of a commission of inquiry concerning 

Dalles of the Columbia River, to facilitate commerce, to _the Commit- the aleoholic liquor traffic, its relations to pauperism, crime, the pubtee on Commerce. lie health, and general welfare; which was ordered to lie on the table. 

Also, the petition of the heirs of the late Colonel John Cradle- l\Ir. FENTON pre ented the petition of the Crystal Fount Division 

baugh, for relief, to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. No. 20, of the Sons of Temperance, of. the city of Brooklyn, New York, . By Mr. O'BRIEN : The petition of Mary Ann Roche, widow of numbering 136 members, and 275 lady visitors, signed by the officers, 

James Roche, a soldier of the war of 1812, for a pension, to the Com- . praying for the appointment of a commission of inquiry concerning 

mittee on Revolutionary Pensions and War of 1812. the al coholic liquor traffic, its relations to pauperism, crime, the pubBy l\1r. SCOFIELD : An additional paper, relatin~ to the applica.- lie health , and general welfare; which was ordered to lie on the table. 

tion of Mary W. Shirk for a pension, to the Committee on Invalid Mr. PRATT presented the memorial of 0 ceola C. Green, adminisPensions. trator de boniit non and one of the heirs of Uriah Forre t, decea ed, 

By l\1r. SMITH, of Ohio: The petition of certain citizens of the who was a major in theMarylandLine, praying Congress to ~ant, for 

third congres ional district of Ohio, for the establishment of a court the benefit of his heirs, the half-pay due him under the resolution of 

of international arbitration, to the Committee on Foreign .Affairs. Congre s of October 21, 1780, and the five years' full-pay provided for 

By Mr. WHITE: A paper to establish a post-route in Shelby and by the law of March 2Q, 1783, for services rendered in the revolutionSaint Clair Counties, Alabru:na, to the Committee on the Post-Office ary war a major and lieutenant-colonel; which was referred to . the 

and Po t-Roa-ds. · Committee on Revolutionary Claims. 

By Mr. YOUNG, of Georgia: The petition of James Atkins, late col- lli. CLAYTON presented additional papers in the case of William 

lector of internal revenue for the fourth district of Georgia, for relief, Bowlin, praying compensation for services rendered as captain of 

to the Committee on Claims. Company L, Second Arkansaa Cavalry, from October 10, 1863, to March 

8, 1864; which were referred to the Committee on Military .Affairs. 

IN SENATE. 

TlluRSDAY, February 26,1874. 

Prayer by Rev. E. D. OWEN, of Washington, D. C. 

The Journal of yesterday's proceedings wn.s read and approved. 

PETITIO~S AND MEMORIALS. 

Mr. CAMERON presented a petition of citizens of Pennsylvania, 

praying for the repeal of the second section of the oot of June 6, 1872, 

reducing the duties on manufactured cottons, woolens, ·iron, steel, -leather, glass, &c.; which wa referred to the Committee on Finance. 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN presen~d the petition of J. K. Etheridge 

and other citizens of North Carolina, praying for the appointment of a commission of inquiJ:y coucerning the alcoholic liquor traffic, its 

relations to pauperism, crime, the public health, and general welfare; 

which was ordered to lie on the table. 

Mr. SARGENT presented the petition of the members and conQTegation of the North Reformed church, of Clermont A venue, Brooklyn, New York, signed by the pastor, Rev. A. K. Thompson, and other 

officers, praying for the appointment of a commission of inquiry con- cerning the alcoholic liquor traffic, its relations to pauperism, crime, 

the public health, and general welfare; which was ordered to lie on the table. 

l\1r. SCHURZ presented a petition of tobacco manufacturers and 

dealers of Missouri, prayi.Iig for the abolition of the import duty on mass or stick licorice; which wa referred totheCommitteeonFinance. 

Mr. THURMAN present~d the petition of George J a,neway, and other 

citizens, of Perry County, Ohio, prayin~ for the appointment of a com- mission of inquiry concerning the alcoholic liquor traffic, it relations 

to pauperism, crime, the public health, and general welfare; which was ordered to lie on the table. 

Mr. HAGER presented a concurrent resolution of the Legi lature 

of California, in favor of the pa sage of n. resolution now before Congress, inquiring into the unlawful diversion from the legitimate object 

of certain subsidies and donation from the United States, th St.ate of California, and certain counties and municipalities in that State 

a]ld the State of Nevada and the Territory of Utah, to the Central 

Paoific, the Western Pacific, and the California and Oregon Railway 

Companies, for the purpose of aiding them in the construction, equipHe also pre ented additional paper in the case of Alvis Smith, praying compensation as second lieutenant of Company L, Second Ark- ansas Cavalry, from October 10, 1863, to March 8, 1864; which were referred to the Uommittee on Military Affairs. 

Mr. SPENCER presented the petition of William H. Demp y, Sl.lrvivin~ partner of the firm of Dempsey & O'Toole, tationers, of 

Washington, District of Columbia, asking to be compensated for 

damage incurred by the breaking of a contraot between that firm and 

the Patent Office, in 1868, for furnishing bond paper to that office; 

which was referred to the Committee on Claims. 

PAPERS WITHDRAWN AND REFERRED. 

Mr. HAMILTON, of Maryland. I a k for an order for the withdrawal of the papers of George Herring from the files of the Senate. There has been an adverse report in this ca e. The PRESIDENT ptro tmnpo're. Copies will be retained by the Secretary, and the originals delivered. 

On motion of :Mr. JOHNSTON, it was 

m?~a;{:Zru'!:~~hreeF~:J~a~e ~J't!~~~~:c\~i!~chard M. H~rvey be taken 

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES. 

Mr. OGLE BY, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. No. 154) to amend the act entitled "An act for 

the relief of certain tribe of Indians in the northern superintendency," approved June 10, 1872, reported it with amendments. 

He also, from the Committee on Pensions, to whom was referred 

the petition of Eugene Smith, praying for a pension, submitted a report, accompanied by a bill(S. No. 539) granting a pension to Eugeno 

Smith, of Company F, First Nebraska Veteran Volunteers. 

The bill wa-s read and pa sed to a second reading, and the report was ordered to be printed. 

lli. OGLESBY also, from the Committee on Pensions, towliom wa referred the petition of Richard A. Connor, late of Company I, Sixth 

Regiment Indiana Volunteers, praying for a. pension, submitted an adverse report; which wa.s ordered to be printed, and the committ e 

was discharged from the further con ideration of the petition. 

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

tion of sundry citizens of Vermont, praying for a pension- to Famiy 

Newcomb widow of Irenus Newcomb, late of Company H, Sixth 

Regiment Vermont Volunteers, submitted a report, accompanied by ai 

bill (S. No. 540) granting a pension to Fanny Newcomb, widow of' 

lrenns Newcomb, late of Company H, Sixth Regiment Vermont Vol· unteers. 
' 

1874. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1797 

The bill was read and passed to a second reading, and the report was 

ordered to be printed. Mr. OGLESBY n.lao, from the Committee on Pensions, to w hoin was referred the petition of Mrs. Joannn. W. Turner of Wi cousin, praying 

for a pension, submitted an adverse r eport; which wa ordered to be 

printed, and the committee was discharged from the further consideration of the petition. He also, .from the same committee, to whom w:tS referreu the petition of Virginia A. Hindle, praying for a pension, submitted :tn a<lverse 

report thereon; which wa ordered to be printed, anu the committee wa discharged from t.he further consideration of the petition. 

Mr. CHANDLER, from the Committee on Commerce, to whom was referred the petition of citizens of the State of New York, praying that 

Edward Evans be allowed to change the registry of the tug Noah P. 

Sprague and the ship Alhambra, reported a bill (S. No. 541) to grant an American register to the Canadian tug Noah P. Sprague; which 

was read and paased to a second reading. 

Mr. HAMLIN, from the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads, 

to whom was referred the bill (H. R. No. 1574) for the relief of Richard H. Dutton, postma 'ter at Cavendish, Vermont, reported it without amendment. . Mr. SCOTT, from the Committee on Finance, to whom was referred 

the bill (H. R. No."1892) authorizing the Passaic County National 

Bank, of Paterson, to change its name, reported it without amendment. 

Mr. JONES, from . the Commit tee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. No. 676) for the relief of Joseph 

R. Blackwell, postmaster at Litchfield, lllinois, reported it without 

amendment. 

Mr. SAULSBURY, from the Committee on Post-Offices and PostRoads, to whom was referred the bill (S. No.~) to vest the power of 

establishing post-roads in the Postmaster-General, reported adversely, 

and moved tha it be indefinitely postponed; which was agreed to. 

Mr. CRAGIN, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. No. 229) authorizing corrections to be made in errors in prize-lists, reported it with amendments. Mr. PRATT, from the Committee on Pensions, to whom was referred 

the petition of Edward Healdy, prayi_ng for an increase of pension, 

submitted an adverse report thereon; which was ordered to be printed, and the committee was discharged from the further consideration of 

the petition. 

He also, from the Committee on Claims, to whom wa~ referred the 

bill (S. No. 273) for the relief of Butler, Miller & Co., and Hawkes, 

Miller & Co., moved that it be indefinitely postponed, which was aweed to; and in lieu thereof he submitted a report, accompanied by a bill (S.No. 542)forthereliefof Butler, Miller & Co. 

The bill was read and pa sed to a second reading, and the report 

was ordered to be printed. 

Mr. JOHNSTON, from the Committee on Patents, to whom was referred the memorial of B. D. Washburn, praying that authority be 

granted to the Commissione of Pa,tents to review an application for a patent for an improved tool for cutting glaziers' points, forfeited 

for non-payment of final fee, reported adversely, and asked to be discharged from its further considention; which was agreed to. 

Mr. WEST, from the Committee on Appropriations, to whom was referred th6 bill (H. R. No. 1009) making appropriations for the upport of the Army for the fi cal year ending June 30, 1875, and for 

ot.her purposes, reported it with amendments. 

l\fr. INGALLS, from the Committee on Pen ions, to whom wa<> re- ferred the petition of Geor~e Goerth, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 

praying to be allowed a peruuon, submitted an adverse report thereon; 

which was ordered to be printed, and the committee was discharged 

from the further consideration of the petition. · He also, from the same committee, to whom was referred the petition of Elizabeth Biggers, prayi_ng to be allowed a pension, submitted an adverse report thereon; which was ordered to be printed, and the 

committee was discharged from the further consideration of the petition. 

Mr. COOPER subsequently said: There was an adverse report this 

tn.orninfa from the Committee on Pensions in the case of Mrs. Biggers, 

which ask to have placed upon the Calendar. 

The PRESIDENT pro tentpm·e. Wa it a bill reported adversely' 

Mr. COOPER. It was a petition, I think. The committee asked 

to be discharged. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempm·e. The petition with the arlverse re- port goes upon the files of the Senate subject to the order of the Senate, but will not go upon the Calendar. 

1\fr. COOPER. I thought it was a bill. The PRESIDENT pro tempm·e. The Chair understands that there was no bill in that case. 

ilrnRICAN REGISTER TO SCHOONER GEORGE W ARRE T . 

1\fr. CHANDLER. The Committee on Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. No. 1365) to grant an American register to the 

Canadian schooner George Warren, have directed me to report it 

ba-ck and recommend its passage. As there is a Senate bill of precisely the same-effect, I will a.sk that this bill be put upon its passage 

now, and that the other be indefinitely postponed. 

By unanimous consent, the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, 

proceeded to consider the bill. It directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue an American register to the Can:1di.an schooner George 

Wa,rren, owned by Benjamin F. :Morton, of Detl:oit, Michigan. 

Mr. HAl\ILIN. I should like to know what the facts in this case are. Mr. CHANDLER. The facts are that this ve el was sold at an :tdmiralty sale; and the assi tant district attorney told the purchaser 

thnt a purchase at an admiralty sale would entitle the ship to .:m. American register; and he, an innocent party, purcha ed her under 

this misapprehension. 

She is a little ship, worth not more than five hundred or six hundred 

dollars; and it seems to be but a simple act of justice to the man that 

she should have an American register, as she is useless now without it. 

l\Ir. HAMLIN. That does seem to afford a meritorious case for the 

applicant here, and I therefore shall offer no objection, though it does not come within the rule governing the a-ction of this body in similar ca es. At the same time I would suggest to my friend from Michigan 

that they had better have a district attorney there who knows more law. 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to a third reading, read the third time, and pa sed. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senate bill on this subject, being -Senate bill No. 485, to grant an American register to the Canadian 

schooner George Warren, will be indefinitely postponed. 

REVENUE-CUTTER RELIEF. 

Mr. CHANDLER. The same committee, to whom was referred 

House bill No. 20i6, have directed me to report it back and recom- mend its passage ; and it is in the same position precisely as the other. 

It is simply to furnish a revenue-cutter now out of use in the harbor 

of Mobile al:l n. boa,rding-station for the custom-house there. It is said 

to be important; and therefore I will ask for it present consideration. 

By unanimous consent the Senate, a~ in Committee of the Wholo, 

proceeded to con ider the bill (H. R. No. 2076) to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to discontinue the use of the cutter Relief as a revenue-cutter, and use said vessel for a boarding-st:ttion in Mobile 

Bay. 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered 

to a third reading, read the third time, and pas ed. The bill (S. No. 51:7) authorizing the Secretary of the Treaaury to use the revenue-cutter Relief :18 a boarding-station in l\Iobile Bay, was postponed indefinitely. 

OATH OF POST-OFFICE OFFICIALS. 

Mr. MERRIMON. The Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads, 

to whom was referred the bill (H. R. No. 1920) to amend the fifteenth 

section of an act approved June 8, 18_72, entitled" An act to revise, 

consolidate, and :lJllend the statutes relatin to the Post-Office Depart- ment," have instructed me to report it back without amendment, and 

to ask for its present consideration. 

By unanimous consent the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, 

proceeded to consider the bill. It proposes to amend the section re- ferred to so as to make it rea<l: 

SEc. 15. That before entering upon the duties, and before they shall receive any 

salary, the Postmaster-General; and all persons employed in the postal service, shall, 

respectively, take and subscribe1 before some magistrate or other competent officer 

authorized to administer oaths oy the laws of the United Statesor of any St..'l.te or Territory, the following oath or affirmation : "I, A B, do solemnly sweJ.r (or affirm, as the case may be} that I will faithfully perform all the duties required of me, and abstain from everything forbidden by the la,ws in relation to the establishment of post-offices and post-roads within the 

United States; and that I will honestly and truly account for aud pay over any 

money belonging to the said United State which may come into my possession or control; and I also further swear (or affirm) that I will support. the Constitution of 

the Uniteu State.s. So help meGo<L" 

And this oa~ o~ aJfirmation may be taken before any offic , civil or military holdm~ a cOIDIIDllSIOn under the Umted States, and such officer IS hereby authorized to admiDister and certify snch oath or :~,ffirmation. 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered 

to a third reading, read the third time, and passed. 

HENRY S. WELLES. 

Mr. GORDON. The Committee on Commerce, to whom w:tS re- ferre?- the b~ (H. R. No. 1759) for th~relief of HenryS. Welles, hn.ve 

unammously Instructed me to reportit favorably and a k for its pres- ent consideration. 

The PRESIDENT pro ternpore. The bill will be read for information. · . 

The bill was read. It proposes to direct the Secretary of the Treas- ~y t o pay ~enry S. Welles 193,132.96, for expenditur~s made by 

him under hiS contracts of May 1 and July 5, 1866, for removing ob~tructions from the Savannah River, and improving the harbor, 

pnor to the elate of the annulment of those contracts by the Secretary 

of the Treasury; which sum shall be in full satisfaction to Welles 

for all claims refeiTed to in the report and recommendation from the 

Secretary of W ar. The PRESIDENT pro ternpore. Is there objection to the present 

consideration of this bill T The Chair hears none. 

fr. SCOTT. That is a very large amount of money to be appropriated without hearing a report. I should like to hear the report in 

the case. 

Ir. GORDON. The report is unanimous from the Committee on Commerce of the Senate, and also from the committee in the House 

of Representatives. There was no vote against the bill in the House. 
1798 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD . 

· Mr. SCOTT. I take it for granted that the bill has been reported 

by the committee, but I refer to a written report. I should like to 

hea,r the circumstances of the claim for the amount of money appropria.ted by the bill. 

Mr. GORDON. There is a report made by the committee in the 

House, which I sent to the desk along with the bill. I ask that it be 

read. 

The Chief Clerk read the following report, submitted in the House 

of Representatives on the 3d of February by Mr. CONGER : 

The Committee on Co=erce, to whom was r eferred the bill (H. R. No. 8'23) "to 

provide payment for clearing the river and harbor of Savannah, Georgia, of obstructions durin~he years IS- and 18-," together with the accompanying petition 

of Mr. HenryS. w elle , and contracts of the Secretary of the Treasury with said 

Welles, letter of the Secretary of the Treasury annulling said contracts, and Exec- utive Document No. 123, Fortieth Congress, second session; :tlso, correspondence 

of the Secretary of the Treasury with :Mr. Welles and other parties, togethe11 with 

report of the Secretary of the Treasury and report of the Secretary of War in an- swer to a call for information from the Committee on Co=erce of the Senate of 

the United States in referonce to said petition, respectfully r eport: 

That in May, 1866, the ecretary of the Treasury made a contract with H enry S. 

Welles, and in July following said contract was modified: 

The contract was for removing certain artificial obstruction~ placed in the river anu harbor of Savannah, Georgia, to prevent ve els of the United States from 

npproaching the city of Savannah, and con is ted of sunken vessels, a floating drydock sunk, cribs filled with stone and bricks, &c. 

These obstructions ar shown upon a Coast SUITey chart made in 1865 by the 

United States. Mr. Welles proceeded to fulfill the conditions of bis contract, and gave bonds in 

the sum of $50,000 for faithful performance of the same, and continued until Jan. uary, 1870, when the Secretary of the Treasury, without notice and without clniming any failure upon the part of Mr. Welles, but solely because the law officers of 

his Department advised him there was no authority upon the part of the Secretary 

of the Treasury to make such contr-acts, annulled the contract. 

oltb~~a~~.Js ~;!~~~~[fi.~tm~~ci; ~~::r;caJJ~~eceive his pay from the proceeds 

He was compelleu by the exi~encie of co=erce and correspondence of the Secretary of the Treasury and his agents to confine his efforts to the opening and 

widening of the main channel, and not allowerl to take up the dry-dock anu the 

iron-clad vessels that did not lie directly in the main channel, which at that time were of -great value if they were raise(i, and he was so kept at work in the main 

channel until t.be annulment of the contract in January, 1870. 

Thns, from an error in or want of authority of the Secretary of the Treasury, and 

from other reasons hereafter referred to in the report from theW ar Department, .Mr. WHiles bas become a great lo er, while the Government are the gainers by his losses. Mr. Welles, nuder this tate of the case, with no contract. hall no other r ecourse but an appeal to Congre s, setting forth his expen es and receipts under the orders 

of the Secretary of the Treasury, and asks payment for actual 0xpenses and disl1ursements. He applied by petition to Congress in December, 1872, and his petition was referred to the Secretary of the Treasury by the Committee on Co=erce of the 

United States Senate, and the following report from the Secretary of the Treasury was received by said Senate committee: TREASURY DEPARTlll>NT, 

Washington, D. 0., Feb1·uary 4, 1873. 

Sm: It appears from the records of this Department that on the 1st day of May 

and the 5th day of July, 1866, two contracts were made by the Secretary of the 

Treasury, acting under the captured and abandoned property acts, with one Henry 

S. Welles, to remove the following wrecked property: 

1. The wreck known as the Savannah. 

2. The wreck known as the Ogeechee. 

~: ~~: ~:~t ~t;~s~i:~!n~eb~fo~ ~~!~'b!~~~~!~·boat. 5. The dry-dock sunk in Saint AugWJtine's Creek. 6. The wrecks sunk near Fort Pulaski; and such other wrecked vessels as may be discovered in and near the ri>er and harbor of Savannah. .And also to remove all cribs, piles, boats, .scows, vessels, and other property that obstruct the channel 

of the Savannah River. 

.And that said contracts were annulled by me on the 18th day of January, 1870. 

If Mr. Welles has expended more than he has received for rmproving the harbor 

under his contra<Jts, I know of no authority to a-djust and pay the same, except the 

authority be granted by Congre s. In this connection, I tran8mit herewith Executive Document No.1~, Fortieth 

Congress, second session, beinu a letter from the Secretar3:' of the Treasury in answer to a resolution of the HOuse of Representatives relative to obstructions in 

the Savannah River. 

The petition inclosed with your letter of the 24th ultimo is r eturned herewith. Very respectfully, · 

GEO. S. BOUTWELL, 

Sec-retary of the Treasury. Hon. Z. CHANDLER, 

Chairman Committee on Commerce, United States Senate. 

Whereupon the said Committee on Commerce of the Senate reported a bill unani- mously to pay Mr. Welles. The said Senate committee also sent said petition to the Secretary of War for a report, and during the interval of time between the last 

Congress and the pre ent the War Department have given the matter full and care- ful consideration and inve tigation, and adjusted the amount due Mr. Welles and 

made the following report anrl reco=endation : ' 

[Senate Executive Document No.5, Forty-third Congre s, first session.] 

Letter from the chief clerk of the War Department, in r elation to the application 

of HenryS. Welles for compensation for removing obstructions from the harbor 

of Savannah, Georgia. 

w A.R DEP A.RTMENT, 

Washington, December 8, 1873. 

Srn: In response to the letter of the chairman of the Committee on Commerce of 

the United States Senate, dated January16, 1873, inclosing the petition of HenryS. 

Welles, praying compensation for remoVing ob tructions 1rom the harbor of Savan. 

nab, ~r!ri.a, and reque tinJ? information in relation to the matter, I have the 

honor, 1n the absence of the Secretary of War and by his direction to traURmit let- t er of t~e Chief ,of En!ri.nee~s of the 4th instant, inclo ing copy of' report of Major 

Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of'Engmeers, the officer in charge of the improvement of Savannah Harbor, dated November 14, 1873. and accompanying papers. Major Gillm,ore w:a:a prevente d ~y a!Jsence on other duty from giving the subject of ~I:r. Welles s petition the attention It seemed to demanll prior to the a.djouxnment of Congress. 

The report now transmitted, it is believed, will furnish all the information desired 

by the commi'ltee. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

The PRBBIDENT United States Senate. 

H. T. CROSBY, 

Oh',ef Olerk. 

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF ENGTh'"EERS, 

Washington, D. 0., December 4, 1873. 

Sm: The letter of the chairman of the Committee on Co=erce of \he Senate of 

the United States, dated January 16, 1873, inclosing petition of HenryS. WelleR, 

for compensation for removing obstructions from the harbor of Savannall, and r e-

~~a. information, &c., referred to this office for report, is herewith respectfully 

The letter was referred to Major Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers, the officer in cha~~e of the improvement of Savannah Harbor, and a copy of his report thereon, 

dated -l"ovember 10, 1873, is hereby submitted. 

Major Gillmore appears to have given the subject close attention, and it is believed 

that his report will furnish all the information desired by the co=ittee. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

.A.. A. HUMPHREYS, Brigadier-G~tneral and 0 hief of Engineers. 

Hon. W. W. BELKNAP, Secretary of War. 

UNITED STATES ENGINEER 0FFICB, 

• New York, November 10, 1873. 

GENERAL: I have the honor to return herewith the papers relating to the petition 

of HenryS. Welles for compensation for removing wrecks and obstructions from 

the. Savannah River, Georgia, und!ll' his contracts with the Trea:snry Department, 

which papers were referred to me for report January 22, 1873. . Owin~ to my absence at the time on duty in the South, and my consequent inabilIty to ootain access to Mr. Welles's records and accounts, it wa~ impractic..'l.blo for me to give the subject the attention it seemed to demand and render a report before 

the aujonrnment of Congress. 

Attention is respectfUlly invited to the papers herewitl'l transmitted. The ex- tracts and copies I have compared with the original papers in Mr. Welles's posses. sion, and have found them to be correct. 1. Printed memorial, (marked A,) containing copies of original contracts dated 

May 1, 1866, and July 5, 1866, and copy of original letter of the Secretary' of the Trea ury, d.1ted January 18, 1870, declaring said contracts null and void. 

2. Printed brief, (marked B,) containing extracts from the correspondence b(}. tween Mr. 'f elles and t.he Secretary of the Treasury, and from the reports of the 

agent.s appomted by the Secretary of the Treasury to make inspections from tim~ 

to time during the pro!ITess of the removal of the obstruction. 

3. House Executive 'Document No. 123, (marked C,) being a letter from the Sec· 

retary of the Treasury, in answer to a. resolution of the Honse relative to the obstructions in the Savannah River. 4. Letter of the Secret..'lry of the Tre..wnry, dated February 4, 1873 to the chair· man of the Senate Committee on Co=erce, (marked D.) ' 5. Printed statement (marked E) of Mr. Welles's expenditures, in detail accom. panied by the affidavit and certificates of his superintendents and extracts from 

the accounts renuered· by them to Mr. Welles, showing the earnings of the wreck· inCT equipment and proceeds of sales of materials recovered. ~om these papers it would appear that Mr. Welles entered into contracts with 

the Treasury Department to remove cert:'l.in designated wrecks, cr,ibs, and other 

sunken obstructions from the Savannah River, and that these contracts were based upon the Coast Survey chart, made in December, 1865. This chart shows nine ves- s.els to be removed, besides the dry-dock and single line of sixteen cribs at the main ,. line at the. head of. Elba Isl_and .. 1 know, from personal observation, th..1.t there wall a double line of cnbs at this pomt, and that there had been removed forty cribs in 

all, most of them being from this main line of obstructions. Twelve cribs remil.ined 

when Mr. Welles's contract was J.nnulled, January 18, 1870, which have been re- moved under my supervision within the past year. In addition to the forty cribs, I am convinced· by personal observation and investiga.tion that about one hundred and fifty piles, many iron-shod snags, and anum- ber of torpedoes, were taken from the channel by the contractor. Instead of nine vessels~.~ shown on the Coast Survey chart, from twenty-seven to thirty were sunk at ainerent points in the river. Mr. Welles removed over twenty of these, and seven remained to be removed when his contract was "l>nnullea. 

In efl.'ectinl the removal of these obstructions Mr. Welles claims to have expended 

~!·23~~~:a ·~.amount being charged in detail in the printed account of expendiIn support of this claim Mr. Welles presents hli! labor receipt-books, his accounts-

~~~ =d~~:~~~t~~ :~~JW~~j~!d~t, lfr. Willink, and the affidavit of Mr. 

The books and a~counts have been carefully examined, and I fl.nd that the monthly accounts for labor agree with the charges in the printed statement. Superintendent 

Woodward appears to have taken proper receipts f. or all amounts paid by him on this a.ecount, but under Mr. Will ink's superintendence no signature3 were taken in 

the time-book, possibly for the reason that but few of the employes could write. From my personal knowledge of the amount of work done, I feel satisfied that in 

this particnbr the account is correct. The char?es for the subsistence of emplo:ves I believe to be reasonable. The 

charge for ' wrecking equipment," which fon:ns so large a proportion of the agsre- gate, I have not been able to verify from any accounts in Mr. Welles's possession. Th s~:~ accounts, it is claimed, were lo11t with the wrecking steamer when that ves- sel wa.~ sunk. _Considming, however, that the employes were constantly required to work extra time, the wa~;es paid them appear to be reasonable and the value of 

the use of the steamer, lifting ves els, lighters, diving apparatus' &c. seems to be 

fairly estimated. Mr. Woodward's certificate and the atlidavit of Jtfr. Willink on these points are submitted with the printed account of expenditures marked E . Both Mr. Wooc~ward and Mr. Willink are personally known to me, and are rega>I·ded as good anthonty. 

Attached to this account, also, is a statement of the several amounts received for 

relieving vessels iu distress, an~ from sales o~ materials recovered, aggregating $40,102.77. These figures areobtamed from ongmal accounts-current, with which I have compared them and found them to agree. 

The corresponcl~nce ~etween the Secretary of the Treasury and Mr. Welles indi- c:ttes that ~~e engene1es of co=erce, as stated by the pilot co=issioners and CI~Y authonties of S~vannab, ship-rna ters, a~d o~ers, required the removal of the en~ , wrecks, and piles at and near the mam. line of obstructions at Four-Milo Pomt. The contra-ctor appears to have carried on his operations in obedience to tb orders of the Secretary, and to have first devoted his attention to the removal 

of the wre~k~ an~ cribs which seriously obstructed the channel. 

In my opnnon, if Mr. Welles had been required to remove only those wrecks and cribssh~wn upon the Co~t Survey chart, the proceeds of the wreck of the dry-dock 

and the rron-cla.-ds Georgta and Savannah would have afforded him a considerable 

profit on the entire worK. Or, if he had been permitted to complete his contract the p_roceeds o~ these wrecks would have enabled him to reimburse himself largely for his expenditures on the other more serious, but, to him, comparatively value1ess 

obstructions.. That ~ey were of little value is shown by the rem on.'! trance of t11e mayor and City ~uncil of Savannah, referred to in the letter of the Secretary of 

the Treasury (prmted document marked C) herewith transmitted, page 17. 

~he facts of tpe case seem to be that., in executing in good faith a contract, the enstence of which was known to Congress, as well as to the Treasury War and N a.yy- epartment~, ~d therefore a presumably legal one, Mr. Welles ac~mpllsbed 

~ unportant public rmprovement at a heavy personal cost. No default, on his part, 

IS allef<Ted. The annulm_ent of_ his contract, bef?r.e he had t..'l.ken up the most valu- ~ble o .the wrec~s, depnved him of the only legitimate means he possessod under 

1t to reunbnrse himself for money actually expended by him. In addition, I deem 
1~74. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1799 

it at lea-st questionable whether the same work could have been done by the United 

States at that time, under the contract system or otherwise, at a less cost than that 

incurred by Mr. Welles. 

I therefore eonaider his claim for 250,000 a just one. and recommend its pay. ment. Very respectfnlly, yon.r obedient servant, 

Q. A . GILLMORE, 

Major of Engineers, Brttvet Major· Gen-eral, U.S. A. 

Brigadier·Genera.l A . .A. HUMPHREYS, 

Ohief of Engineers, U.S. A., Washington, D. 0. 

Your committee further report: Congress would have been compelled to have made appropriations t.o open this 

ch.a.n.nel of commerce, and have made appropriations since the annulment of this contract to the amount of $100,000, to proceed with the work, and new appropria- tions are annu:illy granted by Congress for the same kinds of works performed by Mr. Welles forthe benefit of commerce and navigation. 

In view of all the facts and investigation, this committee r eport favorably, and 

recommend the passage of the accompanying bill. 

Mr. HOWE. Mr. President, this bill appropriates a very large sum of money. I do not know how it is with other Senators, but I have 

listened to the ren.ding of the report very carefully, n.nd I should 

want to know two or three other things which I cannot gather from 

the report, before I could vote for the bill with any satisfaction to 

myself. I desire to sn.y in the first place, however, and for the first 

time in my life, thn.t this and all kindred claims should go to the 

Committee on Cln.ims. I have never said this before, because I have 

n.lways heretofore been associated with that committee myself, and I 

did not know but that it might look like :fighting for my own jurisdiction, which I never was at all j ealous of; but we have a commit- tee created for the express purpose of investigating just such matters, 

and I think all of them should go to that commit.tee, that we may 

havo one rule of anjudication in the Senn.te, if that be possible to 

get. Now, will the Senator from Georgia Le good enough to state 

what was the consideration to be paid to the contractor, Mr. Welles, 

for removing these obstructions T 

Mr. GORDON. The contract with the Government allowed Mr. 

Welles the property he recovered. That was the original contract. 

The Secretary of the Treasury annulled that contract n.nd ordered 

Mr. Welles upon a different line of work entirely from the original 

contract; and the officor of the Government, General Gillmore, on examination, declares in his report t hat if Welles had been allowed 

to go on as per contract with the Government, h e would have made n. handsome amount of money out of his contract. That contract wa-s annulled by the Government, and Mr. Welle expended money--

Mr. HOWE. Then this is to pay him for what he would have 

made. 

Mr. GORDON. Not at all. It is to pay him for money that he ex- pended in executing orders of the Department . I should be very glad 

if the Senator from Connecticut, [:Mr. BucKINGHAM,] who, with the 

former Secretary of the Treasury, [Mr. BOUTWELL,] was the sub-committee on this subject, would explain to the Senator from Wisconsin 

the details of this bill. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempm·e. Is there objection to the present 

consideration of this bill ' 

Mr. BUCKINGHAM. I should likeThe PRESIDENT pro tentpo're. The Chair would like to know 

whether there is objection to the present consideration of the bill. 

Mr. WRIGHT. Is the bill reported this mornin~Y 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It is reported this morning. 

Mr. WRIGHT. Then I object. 

Mr. BUCKINGHAM. I wish the Senator would withdraw his objection. I think the bill can be pas ed in two minutes. I will make a brief explanation. 

:Mr. CHANDLER. I hope, by unanimous consent, the Senn.tor n·om Connecticut will be permitted to make an explanation for a couple 

of minutes. 

Mr. CONKLING. I hope so, too. Nobody will object to that. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The bill being reported n·om a com- mittee to-day, when objection is made to its consideration it is laid 

aside; but the Senator from Michigan asks that the Senator from 

Connecticut have unanimous con ent to make a few remarks on the 

subject. Is there objection Y The Chair h ears none. Mr. BUCKINGHAM. I will state, then; as briefly as I can, that the 

Secretary of the Treasury mn.de a contract with Henry S. Welles to 

clear the Savannah River of certain obstructions. They consisted of 

certain vessels and of cribs filled with stone and with brick. The 

contract with J\.Ir. Welles was that he should receive as compensation 

for his work the proceeds of the wrecks and obstructions which he 

recovered. After he had gone on with this work for some time, tho 

Secretary of the Treasury who was the succe or to Mr. McCulloch was advised by one of his legal officers that it hau not been competent, under the law, for his predece sor to make the contract with Ir. 

Welles, and therefore tbe Secretary annulled that contract, leaving .Mr. Welles precisely in the condition in which h e must stop where he wa - break off from his work. By the pressure of the city authoritie 

of Savannah he had removed tho e obstructions which, perhaps, were 

the most important to commerce, but which were less remunerative 

to him; and, therefore, he W3B broken off at a time when his loss was very heavy. 

Now, whether he shall receive an amount equal to what he might have made~ ?r not, is a question. The committee did not feel t hat he 

ahould. Tnis same matter was before the committee at the la-st Congress, and they reported in favor of a bill allowing the Secretary of 

the Treasury to adjust the account equitably and pay it. That bill 

did not pa s the H ou e. But since that time this matter has been re- ferred to the Chief Engineer, and he reports the cost of the work to 

:Mr. Welle , !riving the items in detail, saving only this: an estimate 

is made of w'hat it was worth to supply certain implements which he used, so that as to t he e implements he gives, not the actual cost, but 

thevalueestimatedbycompetentengineers. H ereisadetailedaccount 

of the wage paid, of the amount paid for subsistence of the men, an.U. 

all the expenses except what I have stated, and claimed to be accu- rate. Upon this statement, Major Gillmore reports that Mr. Welle had expended n. certain urn, and from that, if he deducts $40,000which 

he has received, he will be entitled to $193,000 actual cost; but ho 

thinks he ought to have 250,000. The bill recommended by the Committee on Commerce, anti which ha pas ed the House, does not yield 

to the suggestion of Major Gillmore, but proposes to pay the 193,000, 

the sum of actual cost to Mr. Welle , as near a that can be ascertained. 

The PRESIDENT p1·o t pore. Does the Senator from Iowa withdraw his objection 

Mr. WRIGHT. I have no objection to it consideration, if we can have a vote on the bill at once. My object in making t he objection was that I did not want a bill I have in charge to be ob tructed by 

this. • 

The PRESIDENT p1·o ternpo're. If there be no objection, the bill 

will be regarded as before the Senate 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 pas ed. 

ARM:Y PAYMASTERS. 

Mr. LOGAN. I desire to call up Senate bill No. 320, to increase the 

Pay Department of the Army. This bill authorizes the appointment 

of some paymaster , which are required, in pursuance of a recom- mendation of the Secretary of War, the Paymaster-General, and the 

President. .A number of deaths have r educed the corps down to fortyfour; and they recommend more than this bill grants. This bill provides for a.n increase up to :fifty. I ask the Senate to allow the bill now to be considered. The PRESIDENT '[YrO tempm·e. The Senator from Illinois move to 

proceed to the consideration of the bill indicated by him. It will be 

read for information. 

The CHIEF CLERK. The Committee on Military Affairs propose an amendment, to strikeout all after the enacting clause of the bill, and 

in lieu thereof to insert the following : 

That the number of paymasters is hereby established at fifty, instead of sixty, as was designated in the eighteenth ection of the act of July 2 , 1 66; said pay- masters to liave the rank, pay, and emoluments of majors of cavalry. 

SEc. 2. That so much of said eighteenth section as relates to the persons from 

whom said paymasters shall be selected be, and is hereby, repealed . 

Mr. SHERMAN. What is the present number of payma ters now in service Y 

1\Ir. LOGAN. Forty-four. 

:Mr. SHERMAN. This increa ·es t h em six. 

Mr. LOGAN. This makes the number :fifty. The Pay Department was established at sixty in 1866. It was afterward provided, however, that no promotion or appointment should be made in any of the 

staff corps. Under that this ·corps has been reduced to forty-four; 

and the Paymaster-General and the Secretary of War recommend 

the :filling up to t he number of fifty-two, allowed by the act of 1870. 

But after consulting with different persons it was concluded that fifty 

would probably be sufficient to do the dutie of payma ters of the 

Army. Hence we proviue that the number shall bee tablished at 

:fifty, instead of sixty, a fixed by the law of 1866, and authorize the 

President to appoint these paymasters to :fill up vacancies. 

:Mr. SHERMAN. I ask the Senator whether the public service really · demands the addition of ix more paymasters¥ · :Mr. LOGAN. The only means I have of judging is what the Paymaster-General himself says, and what the President aud Secretary 

of War recommend. The Paymaster-General has been very persistent 

in reference to this matter both at the last Con$ress and this; he has 

asked for a larger increa~e than we give in this bill . . We have declined to do it up to the present time. That is the only means of information I have. :Mr. WEST. Ir. President, this matter i brought to the attention 

of Congress in the report of the Paymaster-General, which is submitted with the r eport of the Secretary of War. The Payma tor-General, a has been remarked by the Senator from Illinoi , ha in his pre- ceding report, and repea.ted it iu this, laid his recommenuations before 

Congre , alleging that it is actually neces ary, in his opinion, that 

there should be six additional paymasters. The Secretary of War, in 

commenting upon that proposition, merely calls the attention of Congrc s to the fact, but makes no recommendation on the point . The 

conclu ion, therefore, is apparent that the Secretary of War does not ron cur, or at least give merely a negative support to the recommendation mad by the Paymaster-General. This is a proposition to add 

si:s: majors to the Army of the United State , and I believ~:~ it is not 

out· of place for me to say to the Senate now, that in the .Army appropriation bill, which has been adopted by the House of Representa- tives, there is a provision which r educes the rank and file of the Army by five thousand men. The PRESIDENT p1·o tC1npm·e. The Chair thinks it is out of orde-r 
1800 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 26. 

to refer to proceedings in the other House for the purpose of rufecting 

votes in the Senate. 

Mr. WEST. Perhaps that is so. Mr. CONKLING. If my friend will pardon me, I beg to suggest 

that he is referring to a bill which is on our table. He has a right to 

do that. 

Mr. WEST. Before the Chair interrupted me-- The PRESIDENT pro tenlpore. If the Senator from Louisiana had 

stated the fact mentioned by the Senator from New York the Chair 

would not have interrupted him. 

Mr. CONKLING. I know it; and I ventured to cnll the attention 

of the Chair to it. 

Mr. WEST. ·I was about to say that that bill was on our table and 

had been referred to the appropriate committee in this body, and that 

appropriate committee has acquiesced in the reduction. Consequently we are to have an army of twenty-five thou and men in lieu of thirty 

thousand, and we are to increase this staff department by six more paymasters, when we have five thousand men less to pay. · I do not see that the occa ion calls for it; and if it did, it is apparent that by this reduction of the rank and :fi!.e of the .Army .we shall 

place at leisure quite a large number of officers whose services might 

be availed of in paying the troops. Now, if the chairman of t,he Milftary Committee thinks that it is impo sible that the proper service of 

the .A..rmyin the Pay Departmen~ can be accompli hed through the present staff, we might repeal that provision of the act of 183 which prevents the Secretary of War from detailing any officer for tha.t purpose; 

and he could so detail officers if we repealed that provision. If it is 

desirable to have these six men, I ofl:er this n.s a substitute for the bill 

reported by the Military Committee--

Mr. SHERMAN. Does the reception of an amendment preclude an objection to the consideration of the bill' 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair understood that the bill was before the Senate. 

Mr. SHERMAN. I understood it was subject to objection. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair will rule that it is wbj ect to objection. The attitude of the que tion is this: the Senator 

from Illinois moved that the Senate proceed to the consideration of 

this bill, and the Chair directed it to be read for information. The 

question is on thn.t motion. 

Mr. STEVENSON. I wn.nt to know if the adoption of this amendment will prevent-- The PRESIDENT pro ternpore. The amendment is not before the S~nate at present. The 4_uestion is on the motion of the Senn.tor from 

Illinois to take up the bill. 

Mr. CONKLING. I trust I can kee.Pwitbin the rule and yet assign 

the objection that 1 have to taking up this bill now. The Senator 

from Louisin.nn. has cn.lled our attention to the fact that we have lying on the table a bill n.wn.iting our action, which bill, should the Sen- ate concur with the other House, reduces by five thousand the volume 

of the Army. It seems to me cogent as a reason, n.nd aJso in order to 

suggest that we can judge much better :tfter we know whether the 

Senate is to concur with the Hou e in reducing the .Army, whether it 

is well for us to proceed to increa e a certain branch of -the Army. 

Thereforef without referring at n.ll to the merits of this measure, and ' 

without, I beg to assure the honorable Senn.tor from Illinois, meaning 

to interpose an objection to any request of hi , it eems to me that, if 

it would be eqnally agreeable to him, it woul<l be better for the Senate 

to allow this bjil to await the action of the Senate upon the Army 

appropriation bill. If the Army is to be reduced five thousand, it is 

very likely that the chairman · of · the Committee on Military Affairs 

would like to adapt this bill more or less to that fact; n.nd, therefore, 

unless he has some special wish to consider it now, I suggest to him 

that it would be better if he would allow it to abide the event of the 

other bill. · 

Mr. LOGAN. I have no criticism whatever to make on tho n.ction 

of the Committee on Appropriations, nor do I care anything about this 

bill except merely to cn.rry out the wishes of the Department, which 

ought to know what is nece ary for it. I hn.ve not read the n.ppropriation bill as reported to the Senate, or as I understand it is reported. 

I have not noticed it. I will only say that for the Committeo on Appropriations to take up the question of a reduction of the .A..rmy without any reference to the Military Committee of the SeiU1te is rather :1 

strange proceeding. I have noticed veryrecentlynot a disposition on the pnrt of that committee or any other, but tha;t measures that have come from the Committee on Military Affairs with regard to the Army 

have been generally que tioned as to the propriety of them. That is 

proper n.nd right for the Senate. I do not know what they intend to 

do about reduciri.g the .A..rmy. That question has not been referred to 

the Milit:u-y Committee. The committee have not been consulted in 

reference to it. The committee of the Hou e have not consulted the 

committee of the Senate in reference to the reduction of the Army. 

They had witnes es before them and examined them; but we know 

nothing about it. The Committee on Appropriations have not con- stilted our committee in refereuce to it. I presume however, they have examined the question most thoroughly and under tand it, and 

have mn.de a report in accordance with their under tanding after 

examining the nece sity for a .reduction of the .A..rmy. If the matter 

is to be taken out of our hands, and all que tions with reference to 

military affairs are to be examined by the Committee on Appropriations, I hn.ve no objection; it will save usa great deal of trouble; and 

I am very much obliged to that committee for having taken the trouble 

upon themselves of examining such questions. If the proposition is 

merely to reduce the file of the Army, to dismiss the soldiers of the 

.Army, without affecting the .A..rmy in other respects, I can ay for one that I shall opfwse·it. 

But, sir, I will not press this bill n.t this time any further. If tile 

Senate concludes to reduce the .Army by reducing the numher of privn.te soldiers in it, then I shall claim the right at that time to otft'r some amendments in reference to other parts of the .Army. 

The PRESIDENT pTo tentpo're. The Senator from illinois withdraws his motion. The introduction of bills is next in order. 

BILLS INTRODUCED. 

Mr. BOREMAN nsked, and by unanimous consent obtained, l ve to introduce a bill (S. No. 543) to provide for holding the district 

court at Martinsburgh, in the district of West Virginia; which wa · read twice by its title, and r eferred to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

Mr. HOWE (on behalf of Mr. CARPENTER) a ked, and by unani- mous consent obtained, len.ve to introduce a. bill (S. No. 544) to enh.-

ble Ann Jennette Hathaway, executrix of the last will and testament 

of Joshua Hathaway, deceased, to make application to the Commissioner of Patents for the extension of letters.;pn.tent for an improved . device for converting reciprocating into rotn.ry motion; which wa 

Tead twice by its title, and, with the accompanying petitions and affidavits in support of it, referred to the Committee on Patents. 

ORDER OF BUSINESS. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. If there be no further morning busi- ness the Secretary will report the first bill on the Calendar. 

lli. CAMERON. · I move that the pending bill and all others be 

postponed for the purpose of taking up the centennial bill. 

Mr. SARGENT. Has the morning hour expired f 

The PRESIDENT pro t.mnpore. It has not. The motion is in order. 

Mr. SARGENT. During the pendency of the morning hour Y 

Mr. CAMERON. I thought the morning hour was over. The PRESIDENT pTa tempore. The morning business has been con- cluded, and the motion is in order. The Senator from Pennsylvania moves that the Senate proceed to the con ideration of the centennial 

bill. 

Mr. SARGENT. Is it in order to move to :1mend that motion by 

proposing that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the naval 

apllropriation bill f , The PREiiDENT J~rp tentpore. It is not. 

Mr. OGLESBY. I ask leave to present a petition which I have just 

received. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair will receive it. 

Mr. OGLESBY. . I present the petition of about forty or fifty ba.nlrers, manufacturers, and citizens of Rockford, Winnebago County, Illinois, respectfully repre enting that they view with alarm the ;eropositions before Congress for increa-sing the volume of United States 

notes. I move the reference of this petition to the Committee on Finance. 

The motion was agreed to. 

1\fr. SARGENT. 1\fr. President- The PRESIDENT p1·o temp01·e. The morningbour having expired, 

the Senate re umes the consideration of the unfinished business of 

yesterday, which is Senate bill No. 432. 

Mr. SARGENT. Imovethatthat be laid aside, andthattheSenate 

proceed to the consideration of the naval appropriation bill. 

The PRESIDENT pro ternpore. The Senator from California moves to postpone the pending and all other orders, and proceed to the con- sideration of the naval appropriation bill. ~fr. C.A.MERO:N. Did I not make a imilar,motiori in ref-erence t o the centennial bill T 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempore. The Senator from Pennsylvania made 

his motion in the morning hour; but before the question could be put on that motion the Senator from Illinois obtained leave to present a petition. While he wa presenting it the morning hom expired, and 

it wa th duty of the Chair to call up the unfinished bu.sine , after 

which the Senator from California fir t addre ed the Chair. 

Mr. CA.MERO:N. I have great respect for the decision of the Chair, 

but I think this is pretty sharp practic , not meaning to be offensive. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair understands that the 

rule of th.e enate are all harp, and are to be sharply enforced. 

1\fr. CAMERON. I do not want them to be made so sharp that I 

cannot get up my bill. The Senate adjourned yesterday upon my 

motion, which, it seems to me, gave me the right to call up my bill 

to-day after the morning hour. Then I made the motion again ju ·t a the clock pointed to the hour of one. I gave way to the Senator 

from Illinois to present a petition. It wa.s a very inopportmte moment 

for him to present it, and I thought so then; lm t he is always so kiwl 

that I gave way to him; and while I was on my feet the Pre ident 

made a different decision. . The PRESIDENT JY1'0 tentpore. The Chair will say to the Senator 

from Pennsylvania that, as he understands it, when the morning hour 

expires, all morning business, motions, and everythlng el e that per- tains to the morning hour, fall with it. The Senlt!tor made his Illotion 

in the morning hour. It had to abide the fate of the morning hour. 

When the morning hour expired, the unfinished busines came up,--and 

the Senator from California was the first Senator who addressed the 

Chair after that. 
1874. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1801 

Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont. May I remind the Chair that n. mo- tion waa pending at the time of the adjournment last evening to pro- cecu to the consideration of the centennial bill f Would it not therefore come up as the unfinished business f 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempm·e. That motion did not bring the bill 

before the Senn.te. If the motion had been ca,rried, the bill would 

then have been the unfinished business; but the Senator from Michigan [Mr. CHANDLER] moved to proceed to the consideration of exec- ut.ive business pending that motion, and before a vote was taken upon it. 

Mr. CAMERON. I have never paid much attention to the rules, 

nnd I n.m gla,d I have not, for it has saved me a great deal of trouble 

in my long service here; but I thought my motion was entirely in 

order, a,nd, with great respect to the Chair, I think his decision is 

wrong. 

The PRESIDENT pro ternpore. The motion of the Sena,tor was entirely in order when it was made. · Mr. CAMERON. And then I gave way to the Senator from Illinois 

to present a petition. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempcrre. And then the morning hour expired, 

and the unfinished business came up. 

Mr. CAMERON. Then my motion ought to have come up immediately, in my judgment. 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempore. Had the Senator been spenJring on the bill itself it would have fallen with the expiration of the morning 

hour. The Chair may, however, say to the Senator that his motion 

could not prevail unless n. majority of the Senate were in favor of it. 

If a majority of the Senate a,re in favor of it, they can vote down the 

motion of the Senator from California, and then the motion of the 

Senator from Pennsylvania will be in order. 

Mr. CAMERON. I understand tha,t, and I have no doubt tha.t the 

Senate now, in their gren.t sense of justice, will vote down the motion 

of the Senator from California,. 

Mr. SARGENT. Mr. President, we are now atthe close of the third 

month of this session, n.nd up to this time the Senate has not tn.ken 

any action upon the appropriation bills except to refer them to the 

Committee on Appropriations. I gave notice several weeks ago that I 

would call up the nn.vn.l appropriation bill n,t the earliest moment. 

Subsequently, by an n.rmngement between myself and the chairman 

of the Committee on Finance, I a,llowed the :finn.nce bill to be tn.ken 

up n.nd discussed at length, and, if possible, disposed of, subordinn.ting 

the naval appropriation bill to it, with the understanding, however, 

that when thn.t discussion terminated, or was laid aside, the naval 

appropi1ation bill should come up and be in order. I do not say that 

this is binding upon the Senate at all, but I mention it to show that so far as I have been concerned I have certainly acceded to the wish 

of the Senate to examine that question. This morning some of the 

gentlemen who intended to spen.k upon it are n.bsent, being ill, and 

ot.hers are not prepared to go on; and the Committee on Finance are not willing to press the further consideration of that subject, desiring 

to resume it in the course of a few days. Now, strictly in accordance 

with the notice which I formerly gave, and with this understanding, 

in the most perfect good faith, I ask the Senn.te to att3nd to this most 

important business. - ' 

I call the attention of the Senate to the fact that there are four- I 

teen regular appropriation bills. Some of those bills-for instance, ' 

the miscellaneous or sundry civil bill and the legislative bill- are fought over line by line in the Senate. Every line almost raises a question upon which there is a division of opinion in this body. 

Sometimes those bills take one or two weeks for discussion. It is 

very well known that Senators sometimes take advantage of the 

pendency of those bills to discuss other subjects, and are allowed to 

do so under the rules of the Senate; for instance, the transportation 

question n.nd other questions which aJ:'e now pending before us, and even the :financi..'ll question, may be discussed upon appropriation 

bills, the tendency of which is to retard the' passage of the appropri- ation bills, and to extend the time required for their consideration. 

Now, sir, if it only took two or three days for each of these bills to 

be considered, it would take nearly two months of the working days 

of the Senate to dispose of them. 

An evil which ought to be avoided by Congress, if possible, an evil 

of a most glaring character, is that these appropri.ation bills are crowded, as a rnle, into the last week of the session almost. They come then tumbling over ea.chother. They come then, on account of 

the system of which I have spoken, and the habit of delaying them, 

without opportunity to scrutinize the. items; and the result is that 

the Treasury js depleted. Frequently there are appropriations put 

upon these bills which, with opportunity of scrutiny, and to point out 

their mischiefs, or even of examination, the Senate never woUld accede 

to. There is le~slation of the most heterogeneous character sometimes 

put on these bills in the haste in which they are considered, by which we find either that the Government is hampered in its operations, or persons who are sharp have obtained advantages that the Senate ney,er intended they should have, and which even those who offered the · propositions would not have assented to if there had been an oppor- ~ 

tunity for the discussion of those propositions. I believe that this system of considering the appropriation bills in the last few days of the 

session-and I speak from som·e experience on the Committee on Appro- ' 

priations in the other House and after examination-costs the Government several millions annually, more than perhaps is embraced in 

the proposiHon of my friend from Pennsylvania to be appropriated 

• 

for the benefit of this centennial fund. These miHioua <lertainly ought 

to be saved; and they might be saved if, ~er your .Committee on Appropriations has sat down &nd carefully a,nd oalmly considered in 

its committee-room and reported an appropriation bill, it could be 

t.aken up and disposed of. It makes a slight interruption in the-other 

business of the Senate, but it is business necessarily that !p.ust be disposed of; it is b'usiness which, by the custom of the Se!late, has preAedence of these side motions and all these little schemes which are gotten up for the benefit of this locality or that locality; it r:is busi- ness which ought to }lave precedence of that other special busine s which has particular Sena,tors pushing it ex officio on the attention of 

Senators. The great appropriation bills, which affect the whole coun- try, have simply the committee which ha.s them .in pharge to bring 

them to the attention of the Senate. Of course we endeavor to ili ·-

charge that duty; but these special schemes have not !p.erely the cOmmittee to which they may be referred, but they have able individual 

Senn.tors, who have their constituents pulling them at the elbows ;the 

moment they step out into the lobby, and they are continually reooi v- ing letters from them keeping them up, as horsemen say, to their 

speed on these propositions, and there is no danger-thattheywill not 

find time enoug~ in the Senate. From the nature of things they are bound to be considered by the Senate. ·whatever alse may be neglected, 

they are not; and the result is, I say, that the appropriation bills are neglected, and they are crowded off to the close ,of the session, ·and are then passed through in a crude shape, to the injury of the Government and people. 

Now, sir, at this late moment, after three months of this sf)ssion 

nearly have expired, I ask the attention of the Senate for n. day or two 

until we ca,n pass the appropriation bill for the Nn.vy Departmentthe regular naval appropriation biJl. 

Mr. CAMERON. Mr. President-

:Mr. SHERMAN. Before the Senator from Pennsylv1111ia ·proceeds, 

I desire tha,t, by common consent, the pending bill, the pn;finished 

business of yesterday, may be postponed until Tuesday :next, JIDd . then the Senn.te can determine which of these other controve11ted 

questions it will go on with to-day. •I .desire to give noti~e thllot I 

hope we shall have a vote soon on the fina,nce bill. Indeed, if it was possible to have n.n understanding of the Senn.te to ta,ke a vote at some :fixed time, I should like to :fix a tim.e to take a vote ·on thut 

question which we have been debating so long. I feel bound to give 

way now, however. 

Mr. LOGAN. Before that motion is made, why not agree on ~Ionday¥ • 

Mr. SHERMAN. That is too soon. Tuesday is-e:trly enough. 

Mr. LOGAN. Suppose the nn,val appropriation bill is not through 

by that time, what will be the result¥ 

l\fr. SARGENT. I think we can :finish that this -week. ·It is mpre 

likely to be through by Tuesday than by Monday, lwwever. 

l\Ir. SHERMAN. I have :fixed Tuesday, on consultation with several 

Senators. 

Mr. LOGAN. I have no objection, except that I desire, as far as my own individual feeling is concerned, to have it understood that thlR 

:finance question is not postponed so a.s to be moved out of its place. 

Mr. SHERMAN. Not at all; it is a special order. 

Mr. LOGAN. I am very anxious for a. vote; as much so u.s any 

Senator. 

Mr. SHERMAN. I would rather go on now; but the Senn.torkn<n'ls 

very well why I yield now. • Mr. LOGAN. I have no objections; onlyiwnnt it understood.thpt 

the question will be resumed, and thn.t we will go on ·with it ·until we take the vote. I have no objection to the time n;uned. I merely .o.sk 

that it be completed when taken up. 

Mr. FERRY, of Michigan. So far u.s I lJ.ID cpncern,ed, :J shoul<llike 

to have it well understood that in case the navalappropriation bill :is 

not concluded by Tuesday, it will then be laid aside and the suQjel!f, 

of finance be resumed. 

Mr. SARGENT. I would not consent to that. 

Mr. FERRY, of Michigan. Then there would be a conflict. I arm 

not disposed, so far as I am concerned, to enter now into n.n arr.angement that will put off too long the quest:j.on of finance. We •have 

spent so much time on it,.thn.t it is far betterto conelude that than·to 

take up another subject. 

:Mr. SARGENT. I have no doubt the nava,l appropriation -bill.aan 

be disposed of by that time. Of course I do not know .that ,Senators 

will not take advantage of this bill to make speeches op.-trap.apnrto.-

tion and many other subjects ; but. in the ordinary course pf ·busjne a, 

especially if Senators will confine themselves to the detn.Us of the bill, we can certainly get it through in two legislative sessions-to-day-and 

to-morrow. 

:Mr. FERRY, of Michigan. There would still be t.fonday opJm. 

Mr. SARGENT. Monday would still be qpen: but I do npt tQ.ink 

any arrangement is necessary. ~fr. 'FERRY, of Michigan. Let it be the understanding ·that ,on 

Tuesday the :finance bill shall be resumed. 

l\1r. SAR{!ENT. The same majority that now determines to .con- sider this pill can determine to take that up then, and I have no doubt, 

from the interest in the question, the majOJ.:ity will be willing .to ,do 

so, if we seem to be dra.gging with the a_pprqpdation bill. 

Mr. FERRY, of 1\.fichigan. The Senator from California will .see tbat, with the proposition now to make such an unde~'Standing, the 

/ 
IR02 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 26, 

finance question waived-to be subject to a majority vote at that 

time, if the naval appropriation bill is then before the Senate-the 

Senate will not be disposed to overrun the partial determination of 

the Senate to-day. 

Mr. SARGENT. The Senator will observe that I did not a k for an arrangement or understanding, but simply moved that thi bill be 

laid aside, to enable us to proceed with that; and the other bill will 

be postponed until Tuesda.y, according to the motion of the Senator 

from Ohio. 

Mr. LOGAN. But that motion was made with an understanding. 

Mr. CAMERON. I give notice that I am bound by no ide arrangements. I shnJJ. oppose everything now until the centennial bill is 

disposed of. It is a question which must be decided at once, if at 

all. It can just as well be done in an hour. 

Mr. SHERMAN. My motion does not interfere with the Senator 

at all. 

Mr. CAMERON. I am in favor of the Senator's motion. 

Mr. SHERMAN. Until the :finance bill is disposed of th~Senator 

cannot get up the centennial bill. I move to postpone the pending 

bill, which is the unfinished business of yesterday, until next Tuesday. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Ohio moves to 

postpone Senate bill No. 432 to Tuesday next, which takes precedence of the motion of the Senator from California. 

Mr. CAMERON. Very well. 

Mr. FERRY, of Michigan. From what has been disclosed from the 

Senator from California and from other Senators, I should judge that 

the naval appropriation bill will be concluded before Monday. 

Mr. SCOTT. If it is taken up. 

Mr. FERRY, of Michigan. If it is taken up. With that general 

underst:mding I am disposed to withdraw opposition, for the purpose 

of resuming the question of finance on Tuesday next. · Mr. SARGENT. Very well; all right. 

The PRESIDENT P'I'O tempo're. The Senator from Ohio moves to 

postpone Senate bill No. 432 in regard to national-bank circulation 

until Tuesday next. Is there objection to that motion T The Chair 

hears none ; and that order is made. Mr. CAMERON. Now, Mr. President, I believe by the rules my bill comes up a-s the special order. 

The PRESIDENT pro tem,pore. No; by the rules the Senator from 

Pennsylvania can move to take it up. 

Mr. CAMERON. I so move now, then. The PRESIDENT P'I'O tempo're. The Senator from Pennsylvania moves that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the House bill 

known as the "centennial bill." 

Mr. SARGENT. Does that take precedence of my motion Y 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempore. It does. 

Mr. SARGENT. I will not complain of the ruling of the Chair in 

that respect ; but I trust the Senn,te will vote with me to take up the 

regular naval appropriation bill. 

Mr. CAMERON. Now we are even, SARGENT. [Laughter.] · The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on the motion of 

the Senator from Pennsy1vania. 

Mr. SUMNER. A.s I understand-! rise for information-the question is now between proceeding with the naval appropriation bill and 

what is known ad the centennial bill. A.m I right in thatT 

Mr. SARGENT. Yes, sir. • Mr. SUMNER. May I ask the Senator what is the sum total of the 

appropriation in the naval bill T 

Mr. SARGENT. About $18,000,000. 

Mr. SUMNER. About 18,000,000. Now, what is known as the 

centennial bill, as the Senate.is well aware, is only an appropriation 

bill under another name. There are two kinds of appropriation billsthe regular appropriation bills, one of which is now moved by the 

Senator from California; and what may be called irregular appropriation bills, one of which is now moved by the Senator from Pennsylvania; and the irregular bill at this moment I suppose presents as much occa-sion ·and necessity for debate as the regular bill; and I suppose 

when we confront it, it really involves an expenditure, if not up to 

the $18,000,000 of the naval appropriation bill, yet very br t.oward it. 

At any rate I fear that it does; and I am sure that before there is any 

action upon it the Senate should consider it so carefnlly as to ascer- tain precisely to a dollar tow hat extent it may be carried. I think, under 

the circumstances, we had better follow the regu1ar bill; and then the 

irregular bill. Let us dispose of the regular bill; it is earlier on the 

Calendar; it is more intimately associated with the Government of this 

Republic. Let us act upon that, and finish it. I know not that we may not finish it so as to be able to begin on the irregular appropriation 

bill before next Tuesday; but, at any rate, I hope we shall proceed 

with the regular bill. 

Mr. SCOTT. Mr. President, I desire only to call attention to what 

the Senate has alrea-dy done for the purpose of asking that the reso- lution :¥ready arrived at shall be carried out. During the last week 

I made a motion that this centenni.:Ll bill should be made a special order, with the assent of my colleague, who has charge of it as chair- man of the committee which reported it. It was at that time desirable to know whether the appropriation bill could be out of the way or not, and it was hoped that it wou1d be, and with that uncertainty 

upon it the bill was made the special order for Wednesday-yesterday. We arrived at Wednesday, and tho previous special order, the 

finance bill, was still before the Senate undisposed of. We come now to this morning, with the finance bill still undispo ed of, a.nd Senators absent who desire to pa.rticipa.te in the discus ion of that bill. The. chairman of t he Fin~ce Committee n sents that that bill go over until Tue day. next . . This we all k~ w ]JUt over the whole que tion of finance until that time ; and were It not tha.t the resolution reported 

by the Committee on Finance some months ago had been made a previous special order, the action of the Senate this morning in putting 

the finance bill over until n ext Tuesday would have brought the cen- tennial bill before the Senate as a matter of course, and we should 

thus have been ju t where t he enate propo ed to place us yesterday by its vote of last week. 

But now the propositi()n is to displace that bill from the place 

which the vote of the Senate t hen assigned it. The Senator from 

1\Iassachusetts may characterize the bill which is before us as an 

irreg~. appropriation bill, or the Senator from California may chara-ctenze It as a. local measure. I know the rule forbid me from discussing any of its merits, but I wish to put in a protest in advancA 

a$ain~t applying ~y adjective by anybody until we proceed to con- Sider It. There will then be full and ample opportunity to discu s whether they a.re appropriate adjectives or not. . 

Sir, the roes age which was laid before the Senate ye terday ug- gests ample reasons why the Senate ought at once to proceed to 

~etermine the question whethe1: this appropriation bill, regular or rrregular, shall be pa sed, when 1t shill be reached, as an appropria- ~ion bill. It does involve ~t rests which at this time are perhaps as IIDportant as any that are mvolved in any of the appropriation bills 

and I trust that the Senate will not dispL.'tce the bill from the po i~ tion which then· vote gave it la t week. 

Mr. T~UR~. 1\lr. PresideJ?t, I shall vote against taking up this 

centenmal bill, and when the bill shall be taken up-which I hope 

will not be done until the important business of the country shall 

have been attended to-I shall try to show, if nobody else does that 

this project of an international exhibition is utterly inconsister{t and 

utterly destructive of the idea of a great national celebration of t he 

birthday of the Republic and of free institutions1 and that the Congress of the United St ates can clo no worse thing than to put t heir 

hand into the Treasury of he United States and expend millions of 

money for any such purpo e--

The PRESIDENT pro tempo-re. The Chan· thinks the Senator is 

discussing the merits of the bill. 

1\Ir. THURJ\IAN. I think so, too, :md I had just finished what I 

had to say on tha t. I am thankful to the Chair for not interrupting me any sooner. [Laughter.] I shall vote to take up the remliar nppropriation bill, and I shall insist for one that just a soo~ as that measure hall be disposed of, we shill come to orne conclusion upon the financial question, and for this reason: Busines is stngnant in 

the United States now; business is sufferi.nO', One et of thinker say that the rea on is that there is not enough currency in the coun- tryThe PRESIDENT pro ternpore. The Chair thinks the Senator has no right to discuss the finance question; it having already been postponed, is not now before the Senate. 

Mr. THURMAN. I must say, may it plea e the Chair, that if the 

Chair will only give me the same indul~ence on this point that he did in 

respect to the other, I shall be done m one sentence. [Laughter.] 

I want to say this: that one of the greatest (if not the chief) r easons for the stagnation of busines in the country to-day i , that tho busi- ness men of this country do not know what Congress will do; and it 

is therefore the duty of Congre to act. I hope now, sir, that the 

motion of the Senator from Pennsylvania to take up the centennial 

bill may be voted down and the other bill taken up. 

1\Ir. MORRILL, of :Maine. 1\Ir. P1·esident, this is simply a question 

of the order of business. There ought to be, and I think there are, some ettled notions in the Senate of the United Stat e in regard to 

such questions. The question is between two propositions, apparently 

and really proceeding to consider the provision for a centennial celebration, or proceeding with one of the reguL.'tr annual appropriation 

bills of Congress. Now, bywell-settled usage, precedence is given to 

the latter class of subjects; and it is so as a matter of necessity. Both 

branche of Congre ·-certainly the Senate for I shall speak of thathave recognized from the beginning, so fa,r as I know or understand, 

that when this clas of subjects is ready for consideration they are entitled to precedence. It is so as a matter of necessit y. U is impossible to conduct this class of business unless so much deference is paid 

to it that when it is ready to be exhibited and to be con idered in the 

Senate, and those who have charge of it are prepared for its con ideration, the Senate shall yield so much to it. 

The naval bill is the first of fourteen regular appropriation bills to 

be considered by the Senate. It has been ready and awaiting the 

action of the Senat.e now since this month came in, anxious for an 

opportunity, solicitous for a hearing. Before this propo ition which 

is moved by the Senator from P ennsylvania made it advent into 

this Chamber, this appropriation bill was here, waiting, olicitous, 

anxious to be heard; and it was arr:lJlged, so far as it is possible to 

arrange the important business of this body, that when the finance mea ure passed from the consideration of the Senate, this should lm c 

the attention of the body. All this was before the proposition of my 

honorable friend from Pennsvlvania made it advent iuto tlli<~ Cham- ber. Now, to say the best ol it-and I do not intend to characterize 

• 
. 1874.- CONGRESSIONAL RECORD~ 1803 

the proposition under consideration at all, for I have no thorough 

convictions in regard to it one way or the other- it seems to me that 

it is not sound policy a,ny way. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair thinks tha,t touches the 

merits of the bill. 

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. To sa,y that it is not sound policy' I 

wa& about t.o say tilltt- - The PRESIDENT pro t-empore. If the Senator means it is not sound 

policy to proce~d to con ider the bill this morning, that is in order. Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. That is preci ely what I was a,bout to 

sav. [Laughter.] 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempore. To say that it is not sound policy 

to pass the bill would be discussing the merits. 

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. Therefore I will repeat that with the 

utmost emphasis, emphasizing the remark of the Chair. The Chair so thoroughly agrees with me that I nm in hopes there will be no disa,greement in the body. [Laughter.] It is not ound policy, in· my judgment, nor is it in harmony with the established usages of the 

Sena,te of the United State , that a proposition of this chamcter 

should be interposed to intennpt a, regular appropriation bill in this 

body. For these reasons I hope the Senate will give to the nava,l a,p- propriation bill the precedence, which, upon usage nnd necessity, I 

think it fairly entitled to. 

Mr. C.tU!ERON. :Mr. Pre ident, the honorable Senator from Maine 

is incorrect in his dates. I believe that the bill I moved to take up was here before the appl'opriation bill presented by the Senator from 

California,. !know it pas eel the other Honse, and came here 3S long arro as about the first of the month, and I have been anxiously waiti;g every da,y, desirous of getting it up. It i important to the people 

in Philadelphia, and to the whole country th:tt the quest ion should be 

decided. If you3renot going to pass the bill) say. o; let it he dispo ed 

of. Tha,t is all we 3sk. We do not :LSk for any appropriation now; 

I eli claim tha.t. I n,m snrpri eel that the enator from fassachusetts, 

who is generally so conect in his historical news nnd in his facts, 

should have called this an appropriation bill. Certainly he know 

whn,t an appropriation means; at least he ought to know, for he has 

been here a great many years. There is not a word in this billabout 

:my appropriation at all. It is a preparation for the centennial celebr:ttion in Philadelphia. The parties in charge of the enterprise 

desire from Congress certain privileges. If Congre s does not think 

proper to give them to them, let it be so aid at once. I think w~ 

could have dispo eel of this bill in the half hour we have wasted in 

talking about taking it up; and I feel very confident that we hall 

either vote for it or agnin tit within the neA--t hour if we once get it 

up. .After that we c:.~ n talk about appropriations. 

Here I mu t say that I have heard this sn,me story n,bout there not 

being time to pa s the appropriation bills for thirty years in the Senn,te, off and on, and I never have known an appropriation bill but one in forty ye:1rs that dld not pass both Houses. I think there ha.s 

b en only one instance of the failure of such a bill in forty years. 

Besides, this is a long session. We are paid bythe year, and it is our duty to stay here until the appropriation bills shall have all passed; 

and of course we will stay. No Senator i disposed to run a way and 

leave t.J:le public business unc:1reu for. \Vhy, therefore, should we press 

those bills now which do not take effect till the next fi cal yen,r, :1ncl 

for which there is surely no hurry except in the great zeal of the 

chairman of the Committee on Approprbtion . He wants to show, I 

suppose, (a I do sometimes,) that he i doing his duty faithfully, 

energetically, and quickly. I shall vote with him to take up his bill 

at the proper time, and I gue nea.r1y n,ll the appropriations in the 

bill which he sn,ys are right I shall vote for, becau e I have entire bith in him; but I sn,y to him that he ought not to be in too great :1 

hurry. Men have lost more in this world by hurrying th:1n they hn,ve 

by waiting their regnhtr time. There is time, there is good fortune, 

for everybody if he will only wait for it. I trust we shall not argue 

any more about this rna tter, but take up the bill ::md vote yea or nn,y. Mr. SUMNER. Mr. Presiuent, I would mo t kindly recommend to 

my friend from Pennsylvrurin, to follow hi own conn el n,nd not to 

hmry, especin,lly ag:Liust an n,ppropriation bill. And now I reply 

distinctly to the Senator when I say practically this is an appropria- tion bill, not by title. The title is "An act in relation to the centennial exhibition," and t.hen it proceeds to say that the P1·e iclent shall tc extend, in the n:une of the United State , a -re pectful and cordial 

invitation to the govGrnments of other nations to be represented and 

take p:1rt in the international exposition' - I wish the En~lish word 

"exhioition" had been u eel instead- 'to be held in Plnlade1phia 

under the a,uspices of the Government of the United States." 

That is all of this bill; but nobody denies, no candid per on, Senator or other, who speaks for this bill, that it is not the entering-wedge 

to a cn,ll upon Congre s for a very con iderable appropriation. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair thinks th·1>t is discussing 

the merits of the bill. 1\lr. Sill!NER. Mr. Pre ident, the Senator from Pennsylvania bas 

taken me to task for saying that this is an appropriation bill practicn,lly, though I called it an irregular appropri.>,tion bill. He went on 

to show thn,t it was not an appropriation bill. Now I reply to him 

and say that it is practicn,lly an appropriation bill in its character. The PRESIDENT pro ttJmpore. If the Senator will pardon the 

Chair a moment--

Mr. SUMNER. Certainly. 

The PRESIDENTprotumpore. The most unpleasant dutycasto:rithe 

Chair by the rules, as every one can well understand, is to interrupt :1 Senator; but it is the duty of the Chair as far as he can, to enforce · the rule until the Senn,te change them. The rules provideAnd motion to t..'tke up or proceed to the consideration of any question shall be 

determined without debate upon the merits of the question proposed to be con- sidered. 

So that in the opinion of the Chair nothing is ]eft for consideration 

under thi · rule but the inO'] e que tion, whether the matter hall be 

considered to-clay or some other cby; and a. debate tending to show 

that this bill is 3 good bill or a bad bill does not in any way tend to 

ettle the que tion of whether it had better be considered this mm·n- ing or some other morning. Probably the remarks of the Senator from Penns.rlvani::t were out of order also. 1\fr. SU~!NER. Far be it from me to contend with the Chair. I ::un not considering· the merits of this bill. I n,m only considering 

whether in its substance and tendency it is what the Senator from 

Pennsylvania says it i not, an appropriation bill; n,nd I was saying 

that it wa the entering-wedge to a call for money. Now, I do not 

say whether the Senate should appropriate money or not, bec3u e then I should speak to the merits. I am only cbamcterizing and ex- hibiting thi bill that tb Se.nate may determine whether it hall 

proceed with this or with the nn,vnl appropriation bill. 

I say therefore thn,t this bill, preci ely like the naval approprin,tion 

bill, involves money. I do not say that you should not appropriate 

money, but that it involves money. I show it by the authority of tho 

Senator him elf; I have here before me a letter, signed by the Senator, 

which I will rend: 

Hon. WILLIAM S. STOKLEY : WASHINGTON, Februarrj 16. 1874. 

l deeply regret my inability to be present on last Saturday night in Philauelphia to urge all my friends to vote for your re-election. Your continuance in the offico 

you_ have a<lriliniste_reclso ably al_ld.honestly is necessary to the city of Philauelphia. 

durmg t_he.centelliillLl year, and 1t.1S equally necessary to a sure Congress that any appropnation they may ma,ke to rud that great event will be watched over with care, and guarded with integrity and fidelity. 

SIMON CAM:ERON. 

Mr. C.tUfERON. If the Senator will allow me-- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair thinks that is clearly out 

of order. That. is certainly discu sing the merits of the bill by t.he 

Senator from Pennsylvania, and if he cannot do it himself the en- ator from Iassachusetts c::mnot d,o it for him by reading his letter. Ir. SUMJ\TER. I was repl;ying to the Senator-- Mr. CAMERON. If the Senator will n,llow me for a moment-- ~Ir. S blNER. Certn,inly ; I yield. ~Ir. CAMERON. I sa-y that thn,t telegram was mine, every wortl · 

of it, and I approve of every word; but that did not refer to the pas- sage of thi bill. Probably a bill mny come np in the future making an appropriation, and I felt satisfied that if :1 man o bad as the 

opponent of fr. Stokley was should be elected, this Congre s would 

not give them one cent. · 

The PRESIDENT pro tempo're. The Chair rule thit> debn,te out. of 

order, and will enforce the rule unless n,n appeal is takeu to the Sen- ate. 

1\Ir. CAMERON. I will not try to ay n,ny more about tbn,t; but I 

uppo e the Senn,tor preferred the election of lli. McClure. I preferred the election of lr. tokley. 

The PRE !DENT pro tempore. The enator is out of order. Mr. CAMERON. Am I I am sony for it. [Ln,ughter.] 

.Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont. The Senator from.Ma achnsetts insists 

that this bill involves money. I tnke the ground that it involves 

character; and I very much apprehend that as an international exhibi- tion it will be :1 failure, while as :1 national one it might be an n,bundant succe s-- The PRESIDENT pro tempo1·e. The Cha,ir thinks that is discus iu~ 

the merits of the bill. · l\fr. MORRILL of Vermont. Then I will proceed to sn,y mwther thin~ that I think the Chair will not rule out of order : that in my 

opiruon we ought to meet this que tion directly, anu not defeat i by 

indirection. I am ready to confront it and vote 3gainst it, nnles it. shall a ume the form of a nn,tional exhibition in tead of an international one. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator is out of order. Mr. 10RRILL, of Vermont. By indirection, I mean that the Sen- ate having made till bill a special order, and, as it were, given it 

pledge to the enators from Pennsylva-nia (!:1at it shoulu be consiu- ered yesterday and to-uay, for us now to :.~ttempt to defeat meeting 

the que tion by snbstitutinO' some other bill is not quite f3ir- it iH 

indirection. It is a question that, if considered at n,ll, ought to bo· consiclered now. I shaH vote, therefore to con iller it n,t the present 

time, becau "' I think it may be dispo eel of in a couple of hour . Mr. FRELINGH Y EN. 1r. Pre ident, the question is upon taking up thi bill and upon that I wl h to say one word. I think the 

Congre of the Uuited tate , in view of the action it h8s n,lTetttly 

taken, owes it to those who are intere t.ed in this expo, ition to give 

them its determination at once what it intends to do; whether it intends to vote money or no money; whether Congress int,ends that this 

haU be national exposition or an international one. Congress 

ought to ay what it means now. There is very great force in tho 

suggestion of the Sena.tor from Ohio that this measure ought not to 

be antagonized against the finance measure. So, if we do not take up 
1804 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 26, · 

thiS subject now, it will go over probably for thirty days, until the 

whole question of finance is settled. I would not vote to take up 

this measure a~ainst the :financial schemes whlch are before us; but 

the appropriation bills we know will be pas ed, and it is not. a matter 

of any importance whether they ru.-e pM ed now or sixty days hence. 

We have got to stay here until they are passed; but if we are going 

to do anything upon this measure, time is of the very e sence. I do 

not know that I am in favor of doing anything until the subject is 

considered. 

JI.Ir. SARGENT. The Senator from New Jersey says we ought to 

pass upon this measure, and at an early day, in order that those who are concerned in the centennial exhibition may know whether Congress intends to approprl..'tte money or not. I call the attention of the 

Senator to section 7 of the first law ever passed upon this subject, 

wherein it is providedThat no compensation for services shall be paid to the commis ioners or other 

officers provided by this act from the Treasury of the United State ; and the United Stat~s shall not be liable for any expense attending such exhibition or by reason of the same. 

And he will find that repeated in subsequent statutes--

The PRESIDENT pro t.ernpon~. The Senator is out of. order. 

Mr. SARGENT. I suggest to the Chair that the argument is that 

this bill should now be taken up because it is necessary that the people interested in this exhibition should be advised whether money is 

to be appropriated for it or not. I am replying to that ru.-gument by 

showing that it should not be taken up, because that question has 

already been decided by the statutes. . The PRESIDENT pro temponJ. In the opinion of the Chair that is 

equivalent to decidin~.that it ought never be taken up. That refer$ 

to the merits of the bill. 

Mr. SARGENT. I am not saying that it should never be taken up, 

but simply that there is no burry to take it up. Being in order, therefore, I will not repeat what I said. It seems to me it is a sufficient 

answer to the honorable Senator from New Jersey. 

But I wish to remove one misapprehension, if such has been cre- ated upon the minds of Senators, as to the time this centennial bill 

will occupy if it is now taken up, or taken up at any time. It is a mistake to suppose that this bill can be disposed of in an hour, or in two 

hours. I have been notified by Senators around me and on the other 

side of the Chamber that they intend to addres the Senate at length 

upon the bill in opposition to it; and Senators on the other side know, 

of course, whether they will allow those speeches to go unanswered, or whether they intend to make a fight for their bill. Certainly, if 

we intend to embru.-k in this discussion, it will take some time. Therefore I desire to call the attention of the Senate to the fact that we are deceived if we suppose that this bill is to be disposed of almost 

immediately. 

The Senator from Pennsylvania says that he has never known an 

instance, but one, where the appropriation bills have not passed. That 

is true; I do not object that appropriation bills do not get through 

in some shape. I object to the manner in which they get through, 

and the time in which they get through. In the very last Congress an appropria,tion bill appropria,ting twenty-two millions of money 

from the United States Trea ury was passed, and there wa not time 

to send it to a, committee of conference to reconcile the conflicting 

votes between the two Houses, and one House had to take ·without 

rea,ding the a,mendments which were put upon it by the other, which 

embraced seveml millions, and then there was n, difficulty in getting 

the bill enrolled so as to be re:l>dy for the President's signature before 

the adjourninent. That is passing a,ppropriation bills, I admit; but 

is it a proper passing of them f Is that giving due attention to the 

people's business t Certa,inly it is not. While this is an exagzerated 

instance, it is an instance of the kind of legi lation which IS done 

when we pass those large appropria,tion bills. Against that I protest. 

I insist that we ought to have some of t he deliberative time of the 

Senate, some of the earlier months of the ses ion, to pass upon the e important mea-sures, and then, if there are local bills or special bills 

which need attention, let us take them up at the latter portion of the . session, when it may not be a matter of a great deal of importance to the 

country whether they are passed or not, and if they are lost there will 

be very little injury to the national Treasury. For that reason I ask 

that we now proceed with the naval appropriation ·bill. 

One other remark. It is said that the faith of the.Senate is pledg d 

to take up the centennial bill, because some time last week it was made a special order for yesterday. Was that pledging the faith of the 

Senate f Does not every body know that under the rules of the Senate a special order may be set aside at a,ny time by a majority vote vV as there any rule of the Senate n.ffected or repealed ! W M it provided 

that a majority should not pass upon the question, when the time 

should arrive or the time should have passed, whether the hill should 

be considered or not f Could it not be set aside by a majority vote 

That is all thart is asked now, that it be set aside by such a vote. 

There is no pledge of the faith of the Senate, or of :my individual 

member of the Senate, to the proposition that this centennial bill 

shall now be considered. 

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

the Senator from Pennsylvania, that the Senate proceed tcr the con- sideration of the centennial bill. 

Mr. ANTHONY. I regret that those two bills are antagonized, for 

I fully agree-with what was said by the Senator from Vermont [Mr. 

MoRRILL] that it is duo to this great enterprise, and I think it is also 

due to our colleague from Pennsylvania, and due to the interest which 

is felt in this ubject in the other House, that this question should be <lecicle4; and under ·almost any circumstances, without committing 

my elf at all to any vote that I might give after the bill is taken 

up, I hould vote t0 take it up; but as one of the Comniittee on Naval Affairs I have been urging the Senator from California to bring 

forward the naval appropriation bill, and I cannot vote to lay that 

aside for any other bill. 

The PRESIDENT p ro tempo're put the question on the motion, ami 

declared that the noes appeared to prevail. 

1\Ir. CAMERON. I call for the yeas a,nd nays. 

The yeas and nays were onlered. 

Ur. STOCKTON. I did not intend to say anything in reference to 

the order of business on this occa ion. I did not intend to be le:l 

into the temptation of di cus iug the merits of either of the e bill.•. The line between discussing which is the proper bill to come up, without alluding to the merits of either of them, and trespassing bcyonrl 

that line and violating the rule, is so nice a one, that it is very <lifficult 

to steer clear of violating the rule. But, sir, gentlemen upon the otbt> r side who are opposed to the coming up of this c~ntennial bill h:-t\0 

trespas ed upon that rule. They have been in hot haste to character- ize the bill, when those who might be willing to defend it had no 0 '1 -

portunity of reply-being restricted by the rule. The Senator f:ro~:1 Ohio, with his great experience, tre pa eel upon this rule, anu t:.w.t seemeu m ther to congratulate himself that before the Chair called hi.r u t.o order he had been enabled to put before the Senate his views iu ref- erence to this bill. I can say, with the Senator :t'!om Pennsylvaniu, 

that the time may come, perhaps, before the debate on the que tion i 

over, when orne of these gentlemen may wish that they had not been so very hasty in expre ing their opinion and characterizing the biil 

before it was properly under the consideration of the Senate. 

But, sir, I rose t.o sa,y a, word as to my own vote in reference to tb 

order of business. I presented some time ago, a-s a,Iso did my col- league, re olutions from the State which we represent, in tructing the 

Senators and requesting the members from that State to vote in favor 

of the centennial bill; and now this morning I find that the question 

brought uefore me in reference to the order of busiLess is whether 

that bill shallue taken up orthena,val appropriation bill. Being my- ~elf upon theN a val Committee, and it being my duty, and that of gen- tlemen connected with such committees, by the courte y of the S nate 

and by almost the necessities of business, to follow those who ha.ve 

charge of the bill i.rom the Committee on Appropriations-under those circum tances, I shall feel it my duty, a this antagonism has 

been brought about without any fault of mine or withont my knowledge, to follow the Naval Committee and vote for taking up the naval 

appropriation bill. But I do so, not for the reason given by any other 

gentleman, and with the earnest hope and belief that the centennial 

bill can soon be brought up, and feeling that it is very important indeed that the que tion should be determined by Congress one way or the other. 

The remarks of the President of the United States, in his message on tbi subject, are certainly exceedingly proper. There ca,n be no man in this Senate, or anywhere el e, who can feel in the present con- dition of things that it is not our duty to say to the gentlemen engaged 

in this enterprise "yes" or "no." There need be no excitement about 

this bill. There need be no reason why we ca,nnot simply and calmJy 

ay, "We will put the bill through a,nd a,llow the President to i ue this invitation." When the que tion does come up there is no rea on why we should not say how farit may be national or international, or how far they ought to have an a,ppropriation. When those questions come up properly, there is no reason why they cannot be carefully and 

calmly considered. There is no ncce ity of anticipating a,ction upon 

it, there is no nece ity to characterize it as an appropriation bill before 

the que tion comes before the Senate; but upon this occasion I sav that the Presiuent is right. I feel sorry that I cannot vote to bring 

up the bill at once, but I am constrained, in accordance with my view 

of my duty, to vote to take up the naval appropriation bill . The PRESIDENT pro tempo1·e. The yeas and nays have been or- dered, and the Clerk will call the roll. 

The question being taken by yeas and nays, resulted-yeas 23, nays 

2 ; as follows : 

YEAS-Messrs . .Alcorn, Bayard, Boreman, Buckingham, Cameron, Carpenter, Clayton, Fenton, Ferry of Michigan, Frelinghuysen, Ramlin, Hitchcock, Logan, Merrimon, :Mitchell, .Morrill of Vermont, Pea e, ltilmsey, ltilnsom, RobertSOJl, Scott, 

Sherman, and We t-23. 

NAYS-Me srs. Allison, Anthony, Bogy, Boutwell, Chandler, Conkling, Coop r, Davis, Ferry of Connecticut, Flana,.<ran., Goldthwaite, IIaaer, Hamilton of Maryland, Hamilton of Texa , Howe, Ingall . McCreery, Morrill of Maine, Norwood, O~lesby, Pratt, argent, Saulsbury, Stockton, Sumner, Thurman. Windom, and Wright-~. 

A.BSENT- M srs. Brownlow, Conover, Cragin, Dennis, Dorsey, Edmunds, Gil· 

bert, Gordon, Harvey, JohnstGn, Jones, Kelly, Lewis, Morton, Patterson, churz, 

Spencer, Sprague, Ste>enson, Stewart, Tipton, and Wailleigh- 22. 

So the motion of Mr. CAl\:IERO.~: was not agreed to. 

MESSAGE FRO~I THE HOUSE. 

A message from the House of Representatives2 by 1\fr. McPHERSON, 

its Clerk, announced that the House had pussea. the following bills; 

in which the concurrenre of the Senate was requested : A bill (H. R. No. 1015) to authorize the President to accept for citizens of the United States the juri diction of certain tribunals in the 

Ottoman dominions and Egypt, established or to be esta,blished under 
1874. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1805 

the authority of the Sublime Porte and of the government of Egypt; merely observers. That change was made intelligently, on consultaA bill (H. R. No. 83) to authorize the Secretary of the N:::.vy tore- tion. move the powder margazine from Fort Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia; Mr. WEST. .All right. It refers, then, to line 94, I suppo e. A bill (H. R. No. 1364) to ruuend the act entitled" An act to regu- Mr. SARGENT. Yes, sir. 

late the carriage of p'a sengers in steamships and other vessels," ap- The amendment was agreed to. 

proved March 3, 1855; and The next amendment of the Committee on Appropriations was in 

A bill (H. R. No. 2201) to render a.vail:1ble a. cert:1in unexpended line 116, to increase the appropriation for pay of computel'S and clerk 

b:1lance of appropriation. for compiling and preparing for publication the American Ephemeris 

ENROLLED BILLS SIGNED. and the N:1utical Almanac from $10,000 to 15,000. The :1mendment was agreed to. 

The message also announced that the Speaker of the House had }.fr. SARGENT. In line 115 the word "the/' after the word ''and," 

signed the following enrolled bills; and they were thereupon signed is redundant and should be ~tricken out. It should reaq. "the Ameriby the President p1·o tempore: can Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac." 

A bill (H. R. No. 1759) for the relief of Henry S. Welles; ru:ld The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. ANTHONY in the chair.) That 

A bill (S. No. 437) to restore William Kilbmn, of San FrtiDcisco, verbal :1mendment will be made. 

California, to the Navy of the United Sta-tes, as ~ ensign. The next amendment of the Committee on Appropriations was in 

NAvAL APPROPRIATIOX BILL. line 118, to increase the appropriation for continuance of work on new planets di covered by American astronomers from 2,000 to 3,000. Mr. SARGENT. I now move to take up t he naval appropriation bill. The amendment was agreed to. 

The motion was agreed to; and the Sen:1te, as in Committee of the The next amendment was in line 130, in the appropriation for misWhole, proceeded to consider the bill (H. R. No. 1013) making :1ppro- . cellaneous items for the Bureau of Ordnance, after the word "items" 

priations for the naval service for the year ending J tme 30, 1875, :1nd to insert "freight, express charges, and purchase of instruments." 

for other purposes. The amendment was agreed to. 

ThePRESIDENTprotempm·e. Theamendmentsrecommendedbythe The next amendment was in line 143, in the appropri:1tions for tb,e 

Committee on Appropriations will be acted upon as they :1re re:1ched Bureau of Ordnance, to reduce the appropriation for repairs to buildin order in the re:1ding of the bill, if there be uo objection. ing and wharves from $2,000 to 1,000. · Mr. SARGENT. Before the clerk proceeds with the reading of the The amendment was agreed to. 

bill, perhaps five minutes occupied in expl:1n:1tion of it may save the The next amendment was in line 146, in the apptopriations for tho 

necessity of asking orne question by and by, and perhaps obviate any Bureau of Ordnance, to increase the appropriation "for labor, includ- occasion for extended debate. I hould like t o remark to the Senate ing chemist, pyrotechni t, electrician, machinist, and clerical force," 

that the bill as reported by our committee appropriates $17,103,586.85. from 15,000 to 20,000. 

Tho appropriations for the current ) ear, including the extra sloop bill The amendment was agreed to. 

and the exigency bill, were 28,04 ,150.65. For the next fiscal year, , The next amendment wa to strike out lines 147 and 148, in thefol- therefore, the Navy will be run for 10,944,503.80 less, if that bill as ' lowing words: 

reported by the committee of the Senate pa es and no emergency For contingent expenses of the ordn..'IDce semce of the Navy, $1,000. not now foreseen arises; that is to say, we shall get along with nearly eleven millions less when this bill, with all the changes of the com- The amendment was agreed to. 

mittee, passes than we have dming the current year, if there is no emor- The next amendment was in line 159, in the. appropriations for the. 

genoy; and it is fair to the Navy Department to say that they have Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting, to increase the appropriation never made any deficiencies. Dming the last six or seven years, which for equipment of vessels, &c., from $1,100,000 to $1,250,000. 

have particularly come under my notice, I can say that there never has The amendment was agreed to. been 11 deficiency of any character whatever coming from the Navy The next amendment was in lines 222 and 223, in the arppropri:1tions· Department; so that the fair pre umption is that the amount which for the Bureau of Provisions and Clothing, to increa.se the a-ppropria- we appropriate by this bill, although very much less than the appro- tion "for provisions for the officers, seamen, and m:1rines" from 

priations of the current fiscal year or of any recent fiscal year, will 1,:300,000 to 1,352,600. 

run the Department ; in other words, the Department will not spend The amendment was agreed to. 

any more money than we give them, and will not come in :1fterward The next amendment was in line 224, to increase the appropriation 

with deficiency estim:1tes. for purchase of water for ships from 30,000 to 35,000. 

The origin:11 estimate for this year were 19,251,935.86. After the The amendment was agreed to. 

panic and n,t the request of Congress, the Navy Department, in con- The next amendment was in line 251, in the appropriations for tho 

nection with the other Department , went over theu· estimates a-nd Bureau of Steam Engineering, to increase the appropriation "for re- revised them, and sn bmitted u.s the· revised estimates the amOtmt of pairs and preservation of boilers and m:1chinery on naval vessels; 

$17,449,235.86, being a reduction recommended or authorized by the and for fitting, repair, :1nd preservation of y:1rd machinery and tools; 

Secretary himself of . 1,502,700. The bill, as reported by the Senate and for laborin navy-yards and stations not before included; and for 

committee ·and now under con ideration, still further reduces the incidental expenses; and for purcha,se :1nd pre ervation of oils, co:11, 

amount of these revi ·eel e timate by 645,679.01, being nearly three- iron, and :1ll materi:1ls and stores; and for completing and erecting on qu:1rters of a million les ; so tb:1t t he original estimates were cut bo:1rd ve els compound engines with boilers," from 1,500,000 to 

down by the revised estim:1tes about a million and a half, and the $1, 65,000. 

committee have cut down the :revised estimate still more, nearly three- The amendment was agreed to. 9._!1:1rters of a million. The House has reduced even more than this, by The next amendment was in line 327, under the head of "N:1val 

$597,700. The committee have retained all the reduct.ions of the House Academy," to increase the appropriation "for contingent expenses'' 

that seemed in the line of reform or contractions of wh:1t might be from 30,000 to • 46,600. 

called the civil service, as, for instance, the employment of clerks The amendment was agreed to. 

about n:1vy-yards. The reduction in the navy-yards is 40 per cent. The next amendment was in line 333, at the end of the appropriaby the bill; nearly one-half of the current expenditure of this ye:1r tion for pay of officers, &c., of the Marine Corps, to insert the followand of former fiscal yea-rs. All uch features in the bill h:1ve been ing provi 0 : 

ret:1ined by the Senate committee. The only instances in which the Provided, That t.he office of commandant of the Marine Corp having the rank of 

'tte f th S t h · d th :fi f th H a brigadier-general of the Army shnJI continue until a vacancy shall occnr in the comml eo e en:l. e avelncrease upon e gure o e ouse same,a.ndnolonger; a.ndwhensuchvacancyshaJloccurinsaidoffice,immediately have been in the op rative Bureaus, such a,s the Bureaus of Con- thereupon all laws a.nd parts of laws creatin$ said office shall become. inoperative, struction and Steam Engineering, where the expenditure of the money and shall, by virtuo of this act, from thencerorth be repealed. 

goe directly into the material of the Navy, in keeping ships atflo:1t, :Mr. CRAGIN. 1 offer an amendment to this amendment, which is 

producing permanent advantages, and is not absorbed by the wages very brief, and to which there will be no objection, 1 presume. It is 

of Io:~~; Mr. President, that this is all the explanation tha,t is neces- . ~s!: :end of the amendment of the Committee on Appropriations to 

sary of t,he bill as to its financial chamcter; and I ask that it now be 

read. 

T.lie Chief clerk proceeded to read the bill. The first amendment of the Committee on Appropri:1tions wa.s in 

line 86, to reduce the appropriation for making ch:1rts, including those 

of the Pacific coast, from $40,000 to 30,000, in the item for the Bureau 

of Navigation. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment was in line 97, in the appropria,tion for ex- penses of Naval Ob ervatory, to strike out" two assistant observers," 

and inser-'; "three as i tants ;" so as to read: 

For three assisronts, at $1,500 e..'tch. 

Mr. WEST. I suggest to th Senator who ha the bill in charge that the word" observers" ought ta follow "assi ·tants." It is a mere verbal error, but I think it would be proper to correct it. 

Mr. S.All.GENT. No, "three a sistants" · right. -They are not 

And prov-ided further, That thereaft~;n· the commandant of the Marine Corps shall halve the rank and pay .of a colonel, and shall be appointed by selection by tho President from the officers of said corps-

}.fr. SARGENT. I have no information ftom the committee on that 

matter; but so far a.s I see myself, I perceive no objection to it. The amendment to the amendment was agreed to. The amendment as amended was agreed to. The next amendment of the Committee on App:~;opriations was in 

line 341, to increase the appropriation for the civil force of the M:l.rine Corps from 8,000 to 10,000. 

The amendment wa.s agreed to. 

The next amendment was in line 350, to reduce . the appropriation for military stores for the Marine Corps from $10,000 to 9,000. 

The amendment wa.s agreed to_ The next amendment was in lines 351 and 352, under the head of 

"the Marine Corps," after the wotd "of" to insert the word& '~officers, 
1806 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 26, 

their servants, and," and to strike out the word "five," and to insert 

in lieu theTeof the word "six;" so as to make the paragraph Tead: 

For transportation of officers, their servants, and troops, $6,000. 

Mr. SARGENT. The committee instruct me to move to restaTe 

lines 351 and 352 as they were before the italics were inserted, making 

the appropriation $5,000 instead of $6,000, and leaving out the words 

"officers, their servants, and;" the object being to make a separate 

appropria: ion of $1,000 for their transportation. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER, (MT. ANTHONY in the chair.) The 

Senators object will be accomplished by rejecting the amendment 

reported by the committee. 

Mr. SARGENT. VeTy well. 

The amendment was rejected. 

Mr. SARGENT. I now move to insert immediately after line 352 

these words: 

For transportation of officers tr-.tveling without troops, $1,000. 

The necessity of separating these items is that the transportation 

of troops is paid by the quartermaster, while the transportation of 

officers is paid for by the paymaster; and of course they have to be 

separate funds. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment reported by the Committee on Appropriations was in line 371, to increase the amounts appropriated for contingencies of the :Marine Corps from $15,000 to $20,000. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill has now been read through. 

Mr. CRAGIN. I move to amend on page 7, line 161, by inserting 

the words "expenses of recruiting," after the word "for." It does 

not increase the appropriation at all, but these words were omitted 

by mistake. 

Mr. SARGENT. And omitted from the Book of Estimates evidently. 

Mr. CRAGIN. Yes, sir; I have a letter from the head of the Bureau on the subject. Mr. SARGENT. There is no objection. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. CRAGIN. I would sn.y thn.t the Committee on 'Naval .Affairs 

proposed, an amendment which was sent to the Committee on Appropriations, to abolish the grade of commodore; but at the suggestion 

of the Committee on Appropriations that this was specialleglSlation, 

the Committee on Naval .Affairs have concluded not to offer the 

amendment, but to bring the proposition forward in a separate bill. 

The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendments were concurred in. 

It was ordered that the amendments be engrossed, and the bill read a third time. 

The-bill was read the third time, and pa.ssed. 

HOUSE BILLS REFERRED. 

. The following bills _from the House of Representatives were sev- erally read twice by their titles, and referred as indicated below: 

A bill (H. R. No. 1015) to authorize the President to accept for citi- zens of the United States the jurisdiction of certa.in tribunals in the 

Ottoman dominions and Egypt, estn.blished or to be established under 

the authority of the Sublime Porte and of the government of Egyptto the Committee on Foreign Relations. 

A bill (H. R. No. 83) to authorize the Secretary of the Navy tore- move the powder magazine from Fort Norfolk, Norfolk, Virgininr-to 

the Committee on Naval Affairs. 

A bill (H. R. No. 1364) to amend the a-ct entitled "An act to regulate the carriage of passengers in steamships and other vessels,'' approved March 3, 1855-to the Committee on Commerce. 

A bill (H. R. No. 2201) to render available a certain unexpended 

balance of appropriation-to the Committee on Appropriations. 

THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 

Mr. SCOTT. Mr. President, I now move that the Senate proceed 

to the consideration of the centennial bill. 

Mr. SUMNER. There are Senators interested in that subject who 

have left the Chamber, not anticipating that it would come up, and 

I think it is hardly fair to them. There is the Senator from Ohio, 

who said something on the subject to-day, and who, it is known, 

would like to be heard upon it. I think there can be no harm in the 

Senate taking it up and making it the special order for to-monow. 

I shall make no objection to that, but shall be very willing then to 

go on with it. 

Mr. SCOTT. It is well known that the Senate Chamber may be 

thin at the time when a bill of this character is under consideration, 

but tlw,t the Senators can all be had within a very few moments for 

the purpose of proceeding with the bill ; and I presume none of the 

Senators had any other idea thac. that the centennial bill would be 

resumed whenever the naval appropriation bill was out of the way. 

I have no doubt, from what has already transpired, that if this bill 

shall be taken up, as it was anticipated it would be, the discussion 

which will take place upon it will give ample time to have a full 

Senate before we shall reach a vote upon it ; and certainly it is not as important, in many of its aspects, as the bill which has just been disposed of; and it is to be presumed that we ought to dispose of 

business of this character whenever it can be properly reached. I 

hope, therefore, it will be taken up, and I have no doubt there will 

be a full enough Senate to consider it. · 

Mr. SUMNER. Well, Mr. President, !think that taking it up now would be in the nature of a surprise. I submit that to my friend. 

Senators have left the Chamber who are interested in the measure, 

because, after what had passed, they imagined that the naval appropriation bill would occupy at least all of to-day, if not to-morrow. 

Now, I think that the Senator ought to profit by the opportunity and 

agree to make it the special order for to-morrow at one o'clock. 

Mr. SCOTT. The Senator from Massachusetts will permit me to 

say that, this appropriation bill having been disposed of, I acted in 

the absence of my colleague who has charge of this bill. He hM since come into the Senate, and any appeals on that subject should now be 

directed to him. I, of course, stand by the motion which I made; 

but he ha-s charge of the bill. · Mr. SUMNER. As the Senators colleague has just come into the 

Chamber, he is not perhaps aware that the naval appropriation bill 

is disposed of, and that the Senator from Pennsylvania on my left 

[Mr. ScoTT] moves to proceed with the consideration of what is known a-s the eentennial bill. I suggest that as Senatm:s are out of their 

seats now, not anticipating that this would come up to-day, it would 

be fair, it would be less in the nature of a surprise, if the Senator con- sented to make this bill the special order for to-morrow at one o'clock, 

and then he would have the day before him. 

:Mr. CAMERON. Mr. President, I will consent to the suggestion if 

the Senator will assist me to-morrow in getting it up. 

Mr. SlD\INER. I will. 

Mr. CAMERON. Then I move- . l\Ir. SCOTT. I suggest to my colleague that there shall be a further 

understanding. I do not know what may be taken up next, but this 

as a special order would be displaced by the unfinished business, if 

any should be left to-day. 

Mr. SUMNER. If there is no other business before the Senate, this 

might be taken up now, and then the Senate might go into executive 

session. 

lli. SARGENT. I think that would be better. lli. SUMNER. That would leave this the unfinished business. Mr. ILU.fLIN. I would suggest that this bill be now taken up, 

then that it be laid a ide informally. It will, therefore, when the 

Senate adjourns, be the unfinished business, and will not be within 

the control of any one objection. Mr. SU~Th~R. That is right. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Pennsylvania moves to proceed to the consideration of the eentennial bill. Is there 

objection Y The Chair hears none; and it is before the Senate. 

:Mr. WRIGHT. I believe the understanding was that when taken 

up that bill should be laid aside informally until to-morrow. I suggest that we go to the Calendar; and if that is not agreed to, I shall move to proceed to the consideration of Senate bill No. 161. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Iowa moves that 

the Calendar be postponed, and that the bill referred to by him be 

taken up. 

Mr. WRIGHT. That is the fii:st bill on the Calendar. 

LIQUOR-TRAFFIC COMMISSION. 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempore. The centennial bill is laid aside 

informally, and the Calendar will be proceeded with. The first bill on the Calendn.r is the bill (S. No. 161) to provide for the appointment 

of a commission on the subject of the alcoholic liquor traffic, the 

pending question being on the amendment of the Senator from Maine 

[Mr. MORRILL] to the amendment of the Committee on Finance. 

Mr. WRIGHT. I wish to suggest that, on conference with the Senn.-

tor from Maine who offered this amendment to insert $10,000, I propose to change it and to make the amount 5,000. I am sure he has no objection. To get the question before the Senate, I move to amend 

by striking out 10,000 and inserting $5,000. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. That motion would not be in order 

at the present time. The question is on the amendment of the Senator from Maine. 

Mr. BAYARD. What is that amendment¥ 

The PRESIDENT pro tmnpo1·e. It will be read. 

The CHIEF CLERK. It is proposed to amend the second section of 

the committee's amendment by striking out the words "the amount 

necessary," in line 8, and inserting "for this purpose the sum· of 

$10,000." 

M:r. BAYARD. l\Ir. President, I have no objection, but, on the con- trary, I approve of a limitation of the amount to be appropriated for 

this undertaking; but I have been unable to satisfy myself that the 

proposition is one that comes within the proper jurisdiction of the 

Congress of the United States. The commission may be termed a. roving one. It is to procure information-statistics which are to be maae the basis of some future legislation on the subject of the traffic 

in alcoholic drinks in the everal States. However desirable it may 

be to have statistics on a subject so important as this, no one will 

doubt that, unless the Congress of the United States is to legislate in 

regard to the subject, the accumulation of statistics had better be left 

to the State governments, which alone have proper jurisdiction of it. 

I would thank any gentleman who is interested in the passage of 

this bill to point out. under what clalll!e of the Constitution of the 

United States the power exists for Congress to legislate at Rll in 

respect of these matters of temperance, or intemperance, in the sev- eral States. I know of none. I can imagine no grant of power in the 
1874. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1807 

Federal Constitution that will warrant the enactment of a law by the 

Government of the United States to enter a State and assume so large a portion of its nece sary police power . Now, sir, if the matter inquired of is not a matter of Federal cognizance, we should have nothing 

to do with it. If it be a matter which, as I believe, is properly and 

solely, under our system of government, committed to the charge of 

the several States, then I submit that Congress should leave these 

inquiries to be et on foot and conducted by the several States. 

Mr. Pre ident, one of the troubles <>four times is that so many very 

well-meaning and respectable persons consider that everything that 

is right in itself should necessarily be performed by the Conhrress of 

the United States, forgetting that this i a Government of limited, 

enumerated, and delegated powers, and that the desirability of a measure is no test whatever of the right of Congress to enact it into 

law. I believe, sir, it is an indifference to this truth, and it is a dis- re~ard of this truth, that has led this cotmtry into most of the diificUlties from which we have suffered and which still surround us. No one will deny the evil, the vice of intemperance; ut how is it 

proposed to meet and punish it ¥ My answer is, it must be left to 

the police powers of the communities where the vice exists. The 

States have full power and control over this subject, n-nd each State 

punishes the offense according to its own discretion. If, then, as I 

suppose, it is not within the power of the Congress of the United 

States to assume and control this class of ca 'es, then the proposed 

commission leads to an end which it would be unlawful to follow to 

ita consequences. 

There is no doubt that the legislation which is hinted at by this 

bill is Federal legislation, and there is no doubt that Federal legislation on this subject wonld be a usurpation of power; and, as I said 

before, I would like some friend of this measure to point out some authority under the Con titution for Congress to legislate on this 

subject. 

Mr. President, there are orne ::>ubjects which are clearly within the 

domain of law. There are others which are as clearly within the 

domain of morals. There are some the jurisdiction of whieh may be 

considered doubtful. But there can be no doubt-and this remark 

applies to general legislation, not, simply to the legislation of the 

Congress of the United States, which must be under the limitations 

of the Federal Constitution. but it applie , as I ay, to general legislation-that whether the subject proposed to be acted upon is properly within the domain of law or the domain of morals is not always 

easily to be decided. There can be no doubt that sumptuary laws are rather within the domain of morals than of law; and the result 

has been that they always have been considered odious among all 

free peoples, objectionable, difficult of execution, and their enactment or execution has generally been abandoned. One difficulty, therefore, 

respecting this question of enforced temperance, is that all the laws 

in relation to it partake in their nature of sumptuary laws ; they are in themselves invasions of that right of individual action, that con- trol of personal tastes guided by personal predilection and by individual constitutional peculiarities, which e.wh man should be left to 

judge of for himself, and the interference with which he justly con- siders an uuauthorize!l inva ion of his personal liberty. 

Mr.President, this bill propo es that a commission shall be appointed 

by the Pre ident of the United States, to consist of five per ons, who 

shall "investigate the alcoholic liquor traffic in its economic, moral, 

criminal, and scientiiic a ·pects, in connection with pauperism, crime, 

social vice, the public health, and general welfare of the people; and 

also to inquire and take te timony as to the practical ?'CSltlts of license 

and restrictive legislation jo1· the p1·evenUon of intemperance in the several State.<~." _ • What have we to do with the practical results of legislation "in 

the several States f" If the result are unfavorable, what power has 

Congress to correct it "in the several States '' . As I said before, if legislation i to come of thi · inquiry, to make it 

lawful it must be enacteU. by "the several States." The States hn,ve 

the fullest opportunity of gathering this information and of judging 

of its weight, according to their own discretion. Congre can have no lawful authority over the subject; and yet I can well understand 

that this commi sion hints at an attempt to be made hereafter, by a law of the United States, to prohibit, to trammel, to interfere with 

the rights of the States and of the people of the States to control 

this question accordino- to their own discretion. 

It seems to me, sir, t1at the plain ol1ject of this bill and this com- mission is to allow the advocate of what I may term the political 

temperance movement to obtain a budget of what they would be 

pleased to call "statistics" to brandish before the eyes of Congress 

and of the State Legislatures, so as to demand prohibitory legislation 

in regard to the sale of alcoholic drinks. 

Mr. President, this is a very serious question. The Government of 

the United States has already een fit to impo e a heavy tax upon thi 

branch of business by which it is expressly legitimized. The reve- nues to carry on this Government to the amourrt of GO,OOO,OOO a year 

and upward, are derived from the taxes on distilled spirits and malt 

liquors. Af-ter that follow some forty-odd.millions of dollars derived 

from the tax upon tobacco. The great bulk of our internal revenue is derived from the three source -alcohol, malt liquors, and tobacco- a total of upward of $100,000,000 11e~ annum. This is a question of broad public policy, antl thi.s vast r venue is 

drawn from a business conductecl under the license of the Government, under the strict supervision of Government agents, in regard 

to whose returns and accounts there is no necessity for a commission; 

for the most minute and thorough details of the whole busine s are in 

the hands of the proper officials, who can give all information desired on the subject. 

So far, then, a-s to the domain of law, the facts are before the coun- try and easily attainn-ble upon the application of any citizen at the 

proper Department. Now, by far the major proportion of this production of alcohol is consumed as a bevera~e. A large portion of it 

is u ed for scientific, medicinal, and mechanwal purposes, but all used 

under regulations of law, all a source of enormous revenue to the 

Government, making other taxation unnecessary. . Now, sir, a great portion of the information desired to be obtained 

by this commission can be had from the census reports. The staitstic of mortality will disclose to any accotmtant who will take the 

trouble to sift them the reports throuo-h the agents of the Government of the deaths which have occurred all over the United States in 

the last decade arising from intemperance and kindred causes ; and I 

submit that with the enormous expense to which the country haa 

already gone for the purpose of procuring such informn-tion, if that 

be not correct and reliable, if st-atistics obtained at so much cost-1 

superintended and tabulated with so much ability as those containe<l 

in the last census report_ cannot be relied upon, how absurd it is to 

suppose that five volunteers, with a single secretary, c:m, within the 

space of a single year, be able to obtain more, and more reliable, facts on the same subject. It seems plain to me, therefore, that the information desired can be well obtained from the public documents which 

have been compiled at so vast an expense and with so much ln,bor as 

the census report. 

But, fr. President, this commission would be incomplete if it did 

not connect with the information it seeks to obtain much more. There are other branches of inquiry equally important to the country. This commission looks only to obtainin~ what is evil in the results of 

this traffic, and from the use of alcoholw spirits. The testimony of 

physicians, the mo t learned, the most able, the most trustworthy 

in the country, will disclose the fact that the use of distilled spirits 

in cases of pulmonary disease, and other classes of disease resulting 

from disordered circulation, has become of late years very beneficial, 

guided by experience and by discoveries of modern science. All these 

facts, all these considerations, should enter into the examination of a subject so va t; and yet the langun,ge of this bill does not seem to 

contemplate them; and certainly an examination of the subject without considering all the sides of it would be imperfect and illusory. Mr. President, temperance is one of the virtues, beautiful and · orderly, as are all the virtues; and it is to be encouraged by education 

and by practice, as are other virtues. But whether it will be admitted 

by the friends of mea ures like the pre ent or not, yet I am very sure that the experience and final result of all these attempts at coercive 

treatment of the supject will compel the admission that the chief 

force of any virtue will always be found to proceed from within the 

human heart, and not to be created by compulsion from without. To 

make their exercise constn-nt and reliable it must be volunt.."try. Who shall ever settle and what statistics shall ever prove to you 

whether care and sorrow are the children of intemperance, or whether 

intemperance is not in most cases begotten by care and sorrow, who 

aroits true parents. Often, Mr. President, is intemperance-! mean intemperance in the over-indulgence of aleoholic drink- the sad 

refuge from trouble and pain and other harassments of life; and 

when gentlemen study the statistics what will there be to betray to 

them the proof whether it be a result or whether it be a cause t The 

experience of every man who hears me will bear me out in aying 

that it is not the happy. and prosperous man for whom you fear the 

evils and the da,ngers of intemperance. It is not he who becomes a drnukard; but it is the man whose affairs have become deranged; 

whose embarrassments have multiplied; whose sufferings of body 

and mind have driven him to the temporary relief which the use of 

alcoholic stimulus oftentimes affords. What part has been played 

and is played every day in the creation of drunkards by the extrav- agance of their wives and their daughters and others who depend 

upon them for snpportf This commission propo es to ask nothing as to these causes, as to what the love of dress or the love of jewelry or the habits of idleness and dissipation may bring; and how the em- barrassments which :flow from debt caused by such habits, may be 

the real cause which sends the man for relief to habits of drunken- ne , to drown his sorrows in the wine-cup. If you would remove an evil, is it not common sen e that you should strike at its cause t 

Would you cure a fever by scraping the furred tongue t If there be 

evil, must you not attack it at the root' Otherwise will not your 

attempted remedies be absurd and superfidt1l 'I And in dealing with a great physiological and moral question like this, are you to attempt 

to control it 'vith stati tics as though it were a question of taxes and 

income; of money and of mem;ures of value "I If gentlemen think 

they can do so, I can only a-ssure them that they will be sadly mistaken. 

The physiology of this question of intemperance is one that ha-s 

fortunately received more care and more thought from scientific men recently than at any former period, and the fact is becoming, by those 

who study the que tion and are best competent to speak upon it, to 

be admitted that the excessiv-e u e of alcoholic stimulant resulting in 

intemperance is a physical disease, just as much so as any other that 
1808 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 26, 

afflicts the human frame ; that t h ere i necessarily no connection with 

it of a moral nature. I am not fully competent, and certainly at this 

time am n(lt prepared, to present to the Senate the results of the ex- amination and research of those benevolent, sincere, highly educated men who are considering t his subject in this country and elsewhere. The institution o:f inebriate a~ylums throughout this country is one of the most excellent features of our time in connection with this 

subject. They are studying the laws and causes of this disease; are studying its effects; and they are applying those remedie which I 

believe to be the only really efficient ones to relieve us from the dreadful results of intemperance. 

Let it not be suppo ed, because I stand here to-day to oppose the 

assumption by the Federal Government of powers which I do not 

believe are within its jurisdiction, that I an;L the le s sensible of the 

evils that grow out of intemperance; that I feel less sorrow at its 

results, or less horror and disgust at its exhibition . But I should be 

fn.lse to my duty, either as a servant of the Constitution of the United 

States or as a representative of the people, who ereal interests I have 

at heart, did I not declare that all these measure of inquiry now pro- posed, preliminary to prohibitory and coercive mea ures hereafter, are only conducive of injury to the cause of temperance, which they 

profess to serve. They are shallow, they are ignorant, they are re- gardless of those truths which the sensible and cientific men who 

have considered this subject tell them control it. It is certain that 

the era ving for excitement, cerebral exci tern en t, the craving for stimu- lus, which sometime degenerates into the disease which we call intemperance, is inborn in humanity. There ne er was in any age a people, high or low, cultivated or savage, in whom this taste was not 

found to exist. It is universal, and all history, all human experience so declares. It is not a result, but the taste for this timulus exists in 

the nature of man ; and how are you to treat and control a taste so universal, so positive, as that T Do you tell me that coercion will do 

it f That prohibitory laws will do it f It cannot be so. If it be the 

physical disease that I esteem it to be, it must be treated just as are other diseases of mind and body. If it be a moral question, it is beyond the domain of positive law; and all you can do is to punish the 

crime when it ha been committed. But you cannot undertake to 

punish it before it has been committed, and you cannot undertake to 

punish a taste, the existence of which is coeval and coextensive with 

human naturo itself. Morality may be the object, the inferential re- sult of laws. They should be conducive to morality. .Although they 

may not enforce it, they may prevent the execution of those acts 

which would be contrary. to it. Surely no greater punishment can await those who are guilty of the crime and folly of the intemperate use of liquors, whereby their reasoning faculties are, for the time, 

paralyzed and betrayed, than that general feature of the law which 

prohibits drunkenne s from being received as an excuse for crime; 

but, on the contrary, regards it a~ an aggravation of the offense. 

Mr. President, in the world's history, in the history of mankind, it 

will not appear that the absence of the use of a,lcoholic drinks is 

accompanied pm'i pas8lt with a,n elevated morality. Of the defects of 

the American people I am conscious, and often regret them; but I 

must say that there are many countries in the world where intemperance as to alcoholic drinks is almo t entirely unknown, where the 

grade of morality is utterly inferior to th:1t known throughout the 

United States. The southern portions of Europe, Turkey, parts of 

Asia, all disclose the fact that intemperance is there rarely known. 

It is a vice so exceptional as scarcely to be called a public vice ill 

those countries. Yet who will consider the standard of morality 

practiced in the homes of the American people and not thank God 

that his lot has been cast in this land and not in theirs T Certainly no American will be found who would desire to exchange with them 

on that subjeet i and this may be said in no sense of over self-right- eousness. I do not understand, Mr. President, the ground upon which this 

constant interference in the shape of sumptuary or coercive laws can be justified. I do not understand how their advocates can expect 

from them any other thj,n the usual results-an enforced obedience 

that will break into disobedience, and drive t he parties, eyen while 

they submit, into hypocrisy and dis imulation. If the vice must be, 

let it be an open one. Its horrible, its shocking, attendants may do 

something to prevent it. The ancient Spartans, we are told, made 

their helots drunk, as an example to their youth. Therefore, if this 

thing must be, it had better be public, that men may find the disrespect that follows such practices, and they may be shunned, :1nd may 

be useful as examples if they are useful for nothing else. 

There is a narrow-mindedness, as it seems to me, in this system of 

enforcing the same clas of h abits to one man as to another, that r 

cannot approve. Without re~ard to his tastes, without regard to his 

capacity, without regard to his means, without regard to the idiosyncracies of his constitution, you would say that on this subject all men must be alike. There is no sensible physician, there is no sensible 

moralist, that will not answer that the proposition is false per se. There are scarcely any two constitutions upon whom this same stim- ulus will have the same effect. To one man the moderate us of :11coholic stimulus may be a source of health and vigor; to the other it is 

almost a poison. How can we prescribe a law which will enforce the same system l18 to both f 

As to the morals of the question, they are of late discovery. "\Ve 

have had the precept and the example of the wisest and best men 

the world has known to the effect that the use of God's gifts, and not 

their abuse, is man's duty; that "God is paid when man receives." 

"To enjoy, is to obey." I prefer to follow that charitable rule which 

will allow each man to beeome his own guide a to these questions 

affecting his own happines , than the rule of tho ·e cast-iron statesmen 

who insist on stretching each man on 3.( procrustean b d of their own manufacture, and lopping him off or stretching him as the size of 

that bed may require. 

The first miracle performed on earth by the Son of God himself was to change water into wine; and t he Great Book which contains 

the history of His acts on earth i filled with example of the u ·efnl- ne , the wisdom, and the propriety of the use, not the abuse, of 

tho e things which He ha given for our. comfort. The subject, Mr. President, is broad and deep and what l have said 

upon it has been in a very de ultory and unprepared way. My obj ections to the bill I stated at first. Without precisely demanding 

legislation, it hint at prohibitory legislation by the Congress of the 

U¢ted State . If it does not do so, then there is no pretext in our pa ing the bill. If it does do so, then we have till b tter rea on to 

stop, for we are entering upon a jmi diction which we have no right 

to , occupy. The matter belongs to the States. They have full and 

ole control ov r it; and I submit that this is an a umption, and a very dangerous a umption, by the Congre s of the United States over a subject which in my opinion rests far more within the doma~ of morals than it does in the domain of statute l:1w. 

Mr. FLANAGAN obtained the floor. 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I hope the Senator from Texas will permit me simply to offer an amendment to this bill. I may not be here 

at the proper time to have it considered. . :Mr. FLANAGAN. Certainly; I yield with plea ure. Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I offer an amendment to the pending bill, 

at the suggestion of the agent in Washington of those interested in 

brewing and in fermented liquors, and I understand that is not objectionable to several members of the committee, but they look upon 

this amendment a merely perfecting the bill. 

Mr. BUCKINGHA f. I a k the honorable Sena,tor from Texas if he 

would yield to a motion to go into executive se ion. 

Mr'. FLANAGAN. Iwouldrathermake my few remarks now, but I am not very particular. I should like to have the amendment of the 

Senator from New Jer ey reported. 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempore. The Senator from New Jersey gives 

notice of an amendment, which at the proper time he will move to 

the pending bill. 

Mr. FLANAGAN. Mr. President, I have listened attentively to the 

rema.rks of my distinguished friend from Delaware1 [Mr. BAYARD] 

and with a great deal of pleasme, though differing directly with him 

in his views. Some of his point are well taken in the defen e of the 

great crimina.l that is now arraigned broadca tin this mighty Union. He defends him with ingenuity and with grea.t :1bility, invoking God's Holy 'Vord in doing so. I think myself, however, tha.t it is fa.r-fetched, 

and will not strike with great force in supporting the terrific evil 

that is known to exist throughout the nation. Would th:1t I could 

confine my remarks to the n:1tion; but, sir, it is broadcast so far as known to civilized man. The Senator makes a very emphatic remark, and one that I sh:1ll 

raise no issue with him upon, that there is great ignorance abroad in 

the land. That is very true. He says further that those who are attempting to resist the inroads made by this gre:1t wrong-doer, alcohol, do not understand the subject. He refers us al o to the first great 

mira le performed by the Saviour, of water being turned into wine, 

3Jld therefor. it must be indorsed by the human family. In th..'1>t arne book it is related of a gre:1t judge sitting not preci ely in the capacity of your honor at this moment, but upon an occasion when one of 

the m.ost eloquent men that ever opened lips before m::tn-who I nppo e would equal my friend from Delaware, even, upon this subjecttold him that much learning had made him mad. I think tb:1tis about 

the condition of my friend upon this occasion. He has studied this 

question, and he say , too, that if this inquiry is instituted, if the bill 

should become a law, only one ide of the question will be pre ented 

to Congress. Now I have no hesitancy in saying that, from the noble 

effort in behalf of the defendant at bar which has b en put in by him 

to-day, he will be here, and he will defend that cau e, be it good or bad. I think it a bad one, however i but it is in good hands. 

The Senator says further that this bill contemplates action ou. the 

part of Congre s. I meet that question boldly. Certainly it does; 

and if it did not, I would not give a bawbee for it . I want to :find a panacea, if it is po sible, to meet this grand question, and it seems to me that this is a good start. If it were not, I should not advocate it 

.for an instant. · 

The Senator says there is no power known to the Government of 

the United States authorizing action upon this ubject, tending to 

the ability to suppress this great evil. Now, Mr. President, there comes in beautifully t he question of ignorance, the word played upon by my friend. I must confe that I :find myself in that category. 

If there be no such power, I am ignorant of the fact. It would be v ry vain in me perhaps to raise :1n issue with the distinguish cl 

gentleman who as erts roundly that such is the fact, and challenges 

contradiction or information upon that ubject. When you speak of 

the Constitution, Mr. President, I have neve1· been a very strict con- stl'Uctionist. I might be. saiq to be a l;ttitudinarian, if you please. 
• 

1874 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD~ 1809 

Now ~ir, simple though it may be, yet I can find sufficient authority 

in the Constitution of the United States to authorize me to arrive at 

the conclusion that I do. In that I may be entirely wrong; but if I am wrong, the framers of the Constitution of the "Vnited States were likewise wrong. They were not then prepared literally to declare 

for and against everything; but we must look to their intent. I 

find in section 8, of th~ fir t article, that the Congress of the United 

States shall have power to do-what' 

To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises. 

There is no question upon that subject. Everybody is agreed upon 

that, whether wise or ignorant. 

To pay the debtsThere would be no issue upon thatand provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States. 

That language is latitudinous. It contemplates rattlesnakes, if you 

like, Dahlgren eannon, verything and anything that is pernicious to 

the human family-yellow fever, cholera, or anything else. They have 

the power to protect theGovernmentin all thes respects; and further: 

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for•arryinginto execution 

the foregoin~ powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in tJ.le Gov· ernment of tne United States, Ol' in any department or officer thereof. 

It may be said that it would require money to do all this. That 

is very true, and this bill proposes to aJIJ_)roprin.te 10,000. I think 

it ought to be 15,000. I think these commissioners ought to have 

3,000 each. I think, as my friend from Delaware has very well said, 

it is a matter of great moment ; and I have no hesitancy in saying 

that I should not look to the patriotism of the country to thn,t degree a to require learned men and good ones, as they certainly should be, 

to make a sacrifice on this great subject. My friend proves that it is 

great, for he talks of the millions of revenue paid by the manufacturers of alcoholic liquors. That is very true; but is that a single reason in the mind of this nation why it should have recognition for one instant f No, sir; this fell and great destroyer of the human 

family should not have standing or place in this broad land, no matter what the estimate of the revenue from it might be in dollars and 

cents, if it is concluded that it is injurious to the nation at large. 

Therefore I ignore that proposition, and would go further directly 

upon that line. 

There is a great question pending here now, as to the resumption of 

specie.payments. I would go any day, yea, I would leave my bed at 

midnight, in the deepest snow that we have now on God's earth, and 

go to the Capitol and vote to make the Government pay the debt of 

the nation as it contracted to pay it. I would resume specie payment-s by taxation upon alcohol and its various ramifications. I 

would want no better subject for taxation. Let those who are determined t.o enjoy it, suicidally or otherwise, enjoy it; but let them bleed 

freely in taxes for doing so. Those taxes would bless the nation. If 

· you wish to do it, not in part but to go the whole length, tax it sufficiently high to _enable you to wipe oat the debt of this nation, and 

perhaps that ID.Ight check some of the defenders of it to some extent. 

Why sir, in the great city of New Yorkr which this mighty nation 

is proud of, which the world is proud of, there are nearly eight thousand liquor saloons. Look what a deluge there is there! There is 

a volume for this mighty nation to contemplate in one city alone 

of our proud nation. What might I say as to the number known to 

yom proud city of Washington, the capital of the greatest nation on God Almighty's earth, in my humPJe opinion' I. will not undertake 

to give the numbers here. There are too many known to all good men. 

My distinguished friend from Connecticut, [:Mr. BUCKINGHAM,] 

whom I alw!Lys love to J:ear, because he comes ri~ht down to morality 

and everything of that lrind of the very best order rill speakingupon this 

subject the other day said something about;. the women's movement. 

Sir, I am glad to know that they are moving. I have never been an advocate for the suffrage of women;· but I pledge you my word to-day, 

sir, that I am very nearly a convert, looking a.t the noble achievements of women at th.i& day, and seeing what they are doing, particularly if they shall succeed, as F hope in Gocj.'s name they may, 

in the great movement in which they are now eu(Taged. If they 

should do so, I· think it would be well for them to t~e the place of 

American legislators, because they will 1 have proven to the world 

clearly and conclusively that they are their superiors. They know 

the miseries of the human family; they know the woes that they are surrounded with growing out of this destructive element that is so ably defended and advocated1 by my distinguished friend from Dela- ware. If I knew that there was· a woman within the United States 

who couJ.d bring influences to .bear that would secure a prohibitory 

law that would save the men, women, and children of this nation from 

this scourge, and I had-the power to vaeate my seat here and place her in it, I would do it. 

Why, sir, I am ready to· go this far : I believe we never should have 

had the great-war that· existed between the brethren of this mighty 

nation, the people of the North and South, if it had not been for alcoholic liquors. I charge it' to alcohol; not to bad men. Unfortunately 

there are good men who participated1 in it, around the social board 

<Lild in the various avenues and ramifications pertaining to it; blood 

got _up ; fighting ensued; and yeti alcohol is triumphant. 

Srr, I am one • of tho e·who•will vote·against it in any way that it 

114 

is pqssible t.o suppress it. I believe the power exists under the Constitution of the United States -to meet this great ques~ion. If it does 

nOt, then I would be most anxiotls to vote for an additional provision 

that would reach it. This investigation opens up and invites the 

mind of the nation in that direction, and at the same time it strength- ens the mighty effort now being made on the part of the women of 

the land. Let them all come in together, and it may be that before 

the time of the great centennial exhibition is reached the gordian 

knot will be cut, and n,ll may meet together on that momentous oc- casion as a happy nation in the first one hundred years that alcohol 

has been tried and condemned; and in that case we shall be the most 

happy nation upon earth. 

:M:r. BUCKINGHAM. I now move that the Senate proceed to the 

consideration of executive business. 

Mr. WRIGHT. I appeal to the Senator from Connecticut to allow us to take a vote upon this bill unles there be a disposition to debate 

it further. So far as I am concerneu, having the bill in char~e, I 

have no disposition whatever to debate it; and I think we nnght 

have a vote now and dispose of it. 

The PRESIDENT JYI"O tempore. Does the Senator from Connecticut 

withdraw his motion' 

fr. BUCKINGHAM. I will withdraw the motion if we can take a vote on the bill. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Connecticut withdraws his motion. - ltfr. THURMAN. I do not think this bill will pass without some further debate. I renew the motion to go into executive ses ion. 

:Mr. SHERMAN. This will come up as the unfinished business 

to-morrow and displace the centennial bill. 

ltfr. HAMLIN. Let the centennial bill be taken up first. 

Mr. SHER~UN. I appeal to my colleague to let this matter get 

out of the way of other business. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempm·e. The understanding of the Chair is 

that the centennial bill was laid aside informally, and was to remain 

the unfinished business to-day . . :Mr. SffifNER. That is the understanding. The centennial bill is 

in order for to-morrow. Mr. SHERMAN. I appeal to my colleague to allow a. vote to be 

taken first, on account of the general interest felt in this subject by a large number of people. As it is, it will stand in the way of the Calendar and all other business until it is disposed of. It is certainly a matter of not so great importance that we cannot decide how to vote 

upon it. I should be very glad to hear the views of my colleague 

about it, but still, I think, we ought to act upon it because it stands 

in the way of all private bills on the Calendar. By a vote of the Senate it has been placed at the head of the Calendar, and the Calendar 

cannot be reached in the ordinary course until this bill is disposed of. 

The PRESIDENT JYI"O ternpore. Does the Senator from Ohio withdraw his motion f 

Mr. THURMAN. No, sir. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The· question is on the motion o:ti 

the Senator from Ohio. 

The motion was agreed to ; and the Senate proceeded to the con- sideration of executive business. .After one hour and ~-four 

minutes spent in executive session the doors were reopened,. and the 

Senate (at five o'clock and ten minutes p.m.) adjourned. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES~ 

THURSDAY, Februa-ry 26, 1874. 

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

J. G. BUTLER, D. D. 

The Journal o.f yesterday was read and approv~d. 

BRANCH MINT IN SAN FRANCISCO. 

ltfr. GARFIELD. I ask unanimous con ent to report back from 

the Committee on Appropriations, for present consideration, the joint 

resolution (H. R. No. 58) to render availa.ble a certain unexpended 

balance of appropriation. The object of- the joint• resolution is to save an unexpended balance from being covered into the Treasury. 

The joint resolution wa-s read. It proposes to reappropriate and 

make available, from and a.fter the pa age· of the joint· resolution, 

the unexpended balance of the appropriation for tlle construction of 

the United States branch-mint building at San Francisco, California, now remaining on the books of the Treasury Depart.D;lent to the 

credit of the appropriation for that work, and unava.dlable underthe 

provisions of the :fifth, sixth, and seventh sections of ·the act of July 12, 1870. . 

ltfr. WOOD. I ask the gentleman from Ohio, whlJ>t is- the amount 

of the unexpended balance of appropriation proposed to be rendered 

available under this joint resolution 7 

Mr. GARFIELD. I hav:e a letter from the 'Sectetary of the Treas~ 

ury which fully explains it, and which I ask the Clerk to read. 

The Clerk read as follows: TRtllABURY: D RPARTME IT, 

Washingl.on, D .• 0., Jant.UJ,ry 5, 1874: 

Sm: I inclose horewith copy of aletteu from the Supervising..Arch.itoot;in_rega.rd • to an unexpended balance, amounting to ~4,:P6.6i, st::tndino- to the credit of-the