1314 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD--SENATE. FEBRUARY 6, 

By Mr. PERKINS: Petition of H. A. Hicks and 39 others, honorably disch~rged officers, soldie~, and sailol'S of the late war, asking for legislation granting a land-warrantofone hundred .and sixtyacresofland 

without the condition of-settlement to every honorably discharged officer, soldier, and sailor, or their widows and orphans, of the late war- totheSelectCommitteeop.PaymentofPensions,Bounty,andBackPay .• By Mr. PETTIBONE: Petition of A. G. Cadle, of Tazewell, Tenn., 

asking pay for certain quartermaster stores taken and used by United 

States troops-to the Committee on War Claims. _ By Mr. SHIVELY: Petition of B. F. Stephens and60others, citizens 

of Elkhart, Ind., praying for legislation _on th~ Mormon question-to 

the Commit:tee on the Judiciary. 

By Mr. C. R. SKINNER: Petition of Silas Davis, of Chaumont, N. 

Y., with accompanying papers, asking Congress to pay him for a cargo 

of stone lost in -Lake Ontario-to the Committee on Claims. 

By Mr. VAN ALSTYNE: Pe\ition of Rev. J. D. Countermine and 

many others, citizens of Albany, N.Y., praying CongresstD take early 

action on the Morn1on question-to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

By Mr. MILO WHITE: Petition of 59 citizens of Austin, Minn., for an increase of widows' pensions-to the Committee on Pensions. 

By Mr. E. B. WINANS: Resolutionofthe board of control ofState 

swamp lands 9f the State of Michigan, relative to accretions adjacent to 

·Maison Island, in Saginaw Bay-to the Committee on the Public Lands. · 

Also, concurrent resolution of the Michigan Legislature, relative to 

the purchase of the Lake Superior and Portage Lake Canal by the General Governmenb-to the Co~ttee on Rivers and }Jarbors. 

The following petitions for the p~ge of the Mexican war pension 

bill with Senate amendments were presented, and severally referred to 

the Committee on Pensions: , By_ Mr. BOUTELLE: Of W. C: Clark and others, of Lincoln, Me. 

By ~Ir. T. M. BROWNE: Of 55 ex-soldiers of Rush County, Indiana. 

By Mr. J. E. CAMPBELL: Of citizens of Clermont and of Butler 

· Counties, Ohio. 

By Mr. CONVERSE: Of G. S. Innis and 13 others, citizens of Columbus; of A. M. Call and 26. others, citizens of Swan, Hocking County; of 

J. M. French and64 others, citizensofNew Lexington, Perry County; 

of Peter Halland 102 others, citi?.ens of Marcy, Fairfield County; of C. 

C. Kagyand 111others, citizensofBremen; of J. H. Brandtand63others, 

citizens of Carroll; of R. T. Field and 57 others, citizens of Columb'l:lS; 

and of M. Hetnl and 58 others, citizens of Columbus, Ohio. 

By Mr. W ... W~ CULBERTSON: _0f129 voters of Soldier, Ky. 

By Mr. DINGLEY: Of citizens of Appleton and of Newcastle, Me. 

By Mr. ENGLISH: Of E. Marsh and 128 others, citizens of Hancock 

County, Indiana. · By Mr. FERRELL: Of citizens of Cumberland and of Gloucester 

Counties, New·Jersey. · By Mr. FUNSTO~: Of citizens of Crouse, ofBaldwin City, of Richmona, and of Burdge ville, Kans. . . By Mr. ~ORGE: Of citizens ofthe State of Oregon. . By Mr. HANBACK: Of· Edward Rickett and 23 others, of Lincoln 

County, Kansas. - By. Mr. H. H. HATCH : Of citizens of Adams, of Shelby', of Cheboygan, of Tuscola, of Emmet, and of Putnam Counties, Michigan. 

By Mr. HENLEY: Of·citizens-of Bn~, of Sonoma, and of Shasta 

Counties, California. 

By Mr. B. W. JONES: Of 107 citizens· of Boaz, Wis. 

By Mr. KEAN: Of 63 citizens of Keyport, of 59 citizens of 1\Iatawan, 

and of 43 citizens of Asbury Park, N. J. 

By Mr. KEIFER: Of S.D. Converse and 123 others, of Plain City, · Ohio. 

By Mr. KLEINER: Of ex-soldiers of Otwell; and of Gentryville, Ind. . 

By Mr. LACEY: Of James S. Perry and 13 others, of Nashville, 

1\Iich. 

By Mr. LONG: OfW. W. Manson and182others, of Scituate; ofW. 

H. Wade and 38 others, of Plainville; and of Charles L. Weeden and 

126 others, of New Bedford, Mass. 

By Mr. MITCHELL: Of soldiers of Menden, of Guilford, of Middletown, and of New Haven, Conn. 

By Mr. MORRILL: 0£ John Nuzman and 57 others, of Soldier, and 

of B. F. Whitaker and 53 others, of Pardee, Atchison County, Kansas. 

By Mr. NEECE: Of citizens of Warren, of Schuyler, and of Rock 

Island Counties, illinois. 

By Mr. PETERS: Of 218 ex-soldiers of Stafford County, .Kansas. 

By· Mr. PETTffiONE: Of N. T. Beal and 170 others, and of John 

Altom and 63 others, of Ibwkins County, Tennessee. 

By Mr. PHELPS: Of citizens of Morris County, New :Jersey. 

By Mr. gssiANRA~: OfF. L.Moultonand9others, ofWestCamp, 

ton; of Levi B. Laney and 68 others, of East Weare and North Weareand of Sanborn M. Crockett and 72 others, of Plymouth, N. H. 

By Mr. RIGGS: Of J. M. Bush and 105 others, of ·Pittsfield; of 

George M. Forsyth and 51 others, of Virginia, and of Da-vid H. Dunmire and 39 others, of Cooperstown, ill. . · 

By Mr. ROBERTSON: Of citizens of Chicago, Marion County, Kenucky. 

By Mr. RUSSELL: Of Benjamin A. Bridges and 118 others, of Holliston; ofS.l\I.Cross and 39 others, of Newburyport, and of C. B. Garfield and 68 others, of Templeton, Mass. . _ By ~fr. SEYMOUR: Of Jaoob Wolf and others, of South Norwalk; 

of A. Bates and othen;, of Lakeville; of George S. Partrie and others, of 

Norwalk; of Caleb Wood and othe1-s, of South Norwalk, and of J. W. 

French and others, of Georgetown, Conn. 

By Mr. SHIVELY: Of Williain Anderson and 50 others, citizens of 

Stark County; of J. E. Vail and 111 others, citizens of La Porte County, 

and· of J. S. Neely and 59 others, citizens of Marshall County, Indiana. 

By Mr. H. Y. SMITH: Of W. W. Long and .47 others, citizens of 

Pleasantville, Marion County, Iowa. • 

By Mr. SPRIGGS: Of citizens of Annsville, ofVienna, and of Utica, 

Oneida County, New York. 

By Mr. STOCKSLAGER: Of Thomas Young and 43 others1 citizens of 

Evans's Landing; of W. W. Sloan and 122 others, citizens of Crawford 

County; of J. E. Enlow and 54 others, citizens of Scott County; of W. 

S. Taylor ari.d 83 others, citizens of Butlerville; of 100 citizens of Clark 

County, of 65 citizens of Tampico, and of 53 citizens of Palmyra, Ind. 

By Mr. STRUBLE: Of J. S. Toliver and 64 others, citizens of Greene 

County, and of W. H. H. Petty and 62 others, citizens of Woodbury 

County, Iowa. 

By Mr. WAKEFIELD: Of B. F. Goodwin and 136 others, of Winnebago City, Minn. 

By ~Ir. WARD: Of citizens of Middle Fork, of Summitville, and of 

Dayton, Ind. · • . · By Mr. WEAVER: Of Omaha {Nebr.) Union Veteran Club, seven hundred and thirty-eight names. · ~ 

By M:r. WILKINS: Of 101 citizens of Coshocton Colinty, a_nd 103 

citizens of Canal Dover, Ohio. . By ~Ir. WOODWARD: Of citizens of Monroe, of Richland, and of 

Vernon Counties, Wis~:-'Onsin. 

SENATE. 

FRIDAY, Feb>·uary 6, 1885. 

Prayer by Rev.:J. J. BULLOCK, D. D., of the city of Washington. 

The Journal of yesterday's proceedings was read_ and approved. 

CREDEN~rALS. 

The PRESIDENT pro t(llfll,pore presented the credentials of JoHN J. 

INGALLS, chosen by the Legislature of Kansas a Senator from that 

State for the term commencing l\1arch 4, 1885; wh~ch were read, and 

ordered to be filed. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore laid before the Senate a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, transmitting a communication from the Supervising Architect of that Department recommending 

that the limit of COBt of the proposed public building at Louisville, 

Ky., be extended to $1,500,000, and concurring in such recommendation; which, with the aecompanying papers, was referred to the Co:tnmittee on Public BUildings and Gro~ds, and ordered to be printed. 

He also laid before the Se.p.ate a communication from the Secretary 

of War, requesting the printing of 2,000 additional copies of Lieutenant Ray's report of the international polar expedition. to Point Barrow, 

Alaska, for· dil:3tribution by the Chief Signal Officer of the Army; which was referred to the Committee on Printing, and ordered to be printed. 

He also laid before the Senate a cOmmunication from the PostmasterGeneral, stating, in response to a resolution of the 4th instant, that the erasures and interlineations in the documentary history of the railway 

xp.ail service were simply the resu1t of the final revision of the docu~ 

ment, and not to be taken as a part of it; which was referred to the-Committee on Printing, and ordered to be printed. 

PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempo1re presented a memorial of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Montana, urging the ena<Jtment of 

such national laws as shall thoroughly stamp out all contagions cattle 

diseases, and prohibit the influx of Texan or other infected cattle into 

that Territory; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

and Forestry. 

He also presented the petition of John Plemer, late private Twentysecond Ohio Volunteer Infantry, praying that he may be allowed a pension; which was referred to" the Committee on Pensions. 

He also presented the petition of F. H. Plqm"Q. A. S. Cosgrove, Charles 

Campbe~, and M. F. Barry, of Wisconsin; and the petition of Thomas 

Walsh and Thomas Hughes, of Eirin Prairie, Wis., praying for such 

legislatiop as shall prohibit railroads betweei,l States from charging more for a short than for a long distance; which were ordered to lie on the 

table. 

Mr. FRYE presented the memorial of F. 0. Additon and others; the 

memorial of J. B. Mason and others; the memorial of W. H. Norton 

&!nd others; the memorial of F. B .. Andrews and others; the memorial 

of Thomas Lane and others; the memorial of Carrie E. Alden and 

• 
1885. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-- SENATE. 1315 

others; the memorial of Z. L. Packard and others; the memorialofW. 

G. Coombs and others; and the memorial of Benjamin Ames and othe:rs, 

all citizens of Maine, remonstratil;}g against the free admission of honey 

under the proposed Spanish reciprocity treaty; which were referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Relations. 

ing the bUI made the same request. The bill will be placed on the 

Calendar with the adverse report of the CQmmittee. 

Mr. CONGER. I inquire whether there is a written report accom~ 

panying the bill? . Mr. CULLOM:. There is. . Mr. LAPHAM presented a petition of manufacturers and merchants 

of New York city, praying for the ratification of the proposed Spanish 

reciprocity treaty; which was teferred to the Committee on Foreign. Re1\Ir. BLAIR. I understood that there would be submitted the views 

of the minority on the bill, and that it is not a unanimous report ad~ 

verse to the bill · 

lations. . . lli. IDLLER, of New York, presented a petition of citizens of Cape 

Vincent, N. Y., and the· petition of Smith & Davis and other vessel 

owners, masters, and marine :underwriters, of Buffalo, N. Y., praying 

that the United States ·may acquire possession of the Portage Lake 

canals ·in the. State of Michigan; which were referred to the Committee 

Mr. CULLOM. The report in the case sets out the facts. I expect 

for myself to oppose the majority report which I submit. I am in 

favor of the passage of the bill notwithstanding the action of the ·committee. 

on Commerce. 

'I am also instructed by. the Committee on Pensions, to whom was referred the bill (S. 2377) granting a pension to Mrs. Emily L. Alvord, 

to report it adversely. REPORTS OF COl\11\IITTEES. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The bill will be placed on the Cal· 

Mr. HARRISON. I am directed by the Committee on Territories to endar. _ report back the bill (H. R.489) to extend thelaws of the United States Mr. BLAIR, from the Committee on Pensions, to whom was referred over certain unorganized territory south of the Stat~ of Kansas, alld to the bill (S. 2484) granting a pension to the widow of the late Com~ 

state that a Senate bill of the same import has been referred to the mander S .. Dana Greene, United States Navy, reported it adversely, and 

Committee on Public Lands. The Committee on Territories therefore moved its indefinite postponement; which was agreed to. - ask to be ~barged from the further consideration of this bill, and Mr. BLAIR. By direction of the Committee on Pensions, I also report 

that it be referred, together with the accompanying papers, to the Com- the bill (H. R. 78'JO) granting a pension to the widow of the late Com~ 

mittee on Public Lands. mander S. Dana Greene, United States Navy, adversely, recommending 

'l'he report was agreed to. it.s indefinite postponement, in wp.ich case I desire to submit the views 

Mr. WILSON. I am directed by the Committee on Pensions, to of the minority favoring the passage of the bill. I ask that the bill be 

whom was ref~rred the bill (H. R. 6946) for the relief of Margaret M~- placed on the Calendar. · Carty, to report it adversely. I wish to state that the adverse report The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The bill will be placed on the Cal~ 

is based upon the fact tlul,t since the action of the Honse a pension has cndar with the adverse report of the committee. 

been allowed by the Pension Office. I move that the bill be indefi- Mr. BLAIR. By direction of the Committee on P~nsions, I also re· nitely postponed. _ ' port adversely the bil],_(S. 957) granting a pension to l'!Iargaret D. Mar~ 

'l'he motion was agreed to. ob.and, recommending its indefinite postponement. I submitalso with 

Mr. WILSON, from the Committee on Pensions, to whom was re- the report the views of the minority favoring the passage of the bill. I 

ferred the bill (S. 2161) granting a pension to Harvey Crane, submitted ask that the bill be placed on the Calendar. . an adverse· report thereon; which was agreed to, and the bill was post- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. 'l)le bill will be placed on the Calen· 

poned indefinitely. dar with the adverse report of the committee. 

lie also, from the same committee, to whom were referred the fol- Mr. BLAIR. By direction of the Committee on Pensions, I report 

lo"ing bills, reported thc..m severally without amendment, and submit- adversely the bill (S. 2428) granting a pension to Margaret B. Harwood, 

ted reports thereon: recommending its indefinite postponement. I submit with the report 

A bill {S. 1655) granting a pension to Newton J. Burris; also the views of the minority, and on behalf of the minority I ask 

A bill H. R. 2002) for the relief of Mrs. Jennie E. Johnson; nori ty be printed. . A bill~IJ- R. 6882) granting a pension to John Otif?; that the bill be placed on the Calendar, and that the views of the miA bill H. R. 6997.) granting a pension to Henry Davis; and The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The bill will be placed on the Oal· 

A bill S. 2160) granting a pensi~n to Robert W~lker. endar and the views of the minority will be prillted, if there be no ob· - Mr: JACKSON, from the Committee on Pensions, to whom werei'e- jection. 

ferred the following bills, submitted adverse reports thel"eon, which l'tlr. BLAIR, from the Committee on Pensions, to whom were referred wer-e agreed to; and the bills were postponed indefinitely: · tbe following bills, reported them severally without amendment, and 

A bill (S. 476) for the relief of Seth Colvin; submitted reports-thereon: · - A bill. (S. 926) granting a pension to Levi H. Naron; A bill (H. R. 6311) granting a pension to ~frs. Sarah S. Sampson; 

A bill (S. 1436) granting a pension to Francis l\1. Cox; A bill (H. R. 3527) granting a pension to George A. llirshall; .and 

A bill (S. 1443) granting a pension to Peter Riley; A bill (H. R. 6956) granting a pension to Maria H .. Sargent. 

A bill (S. 1515) granting a pension to Beverly Post; and M:r. VA;N WYCK, from the Committee on Pensions, to whom were A bill (H. R. 2100) granting a pension to Mary Allen. · referred the following biijs, reporred them severally without amend· 

• 

Mr. JACKSON, from the Committee on Pensions, to whom was re- ment, and submitted reports thereon: 

ferred the bill (H. R. 1084) g1-anting a pension to Dorothea Bothner, A bill (S. 357) granting a pension to William Lockhart; 

1·eported it without amendment, and submitted a report thereon. A bill (H. R. 2140) for the relief of Hugh Dougherty; and 

Mr. CULLOM, from the Committee on Pensions, to whom was re- A bill (H. R. 5923) grantiJig a pension to Ruth Stratton: 

ferred the bill (S. 1653) granting a pension to John H. Crumb, sub- _ Mr. VANWYCK, 'from the Committee on Pensions, to wliom was mitted an. adverse report thereon, which was agreed to; and the bill referred the bill (S. 1804)_granting a pension to Clarinda. Hunt, Teported was postponed indefinit-ely. · it with an amendment, and submitted a report thereon. ~1r. CULLOU. I am instructed by the Committee on Pensions, to Mr. MITCHELL, from the Committee on Pensions, to whom was whom was ·referred the bill (S. 2547) granting an increase of pension referred the bill (S. 1803) granting an increase of pension to George A. 

to Mrs. Frances L. Thomas, widow of Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas, Washburn, reported it with amendments, and submitted a report 

to report it with an amendment. I will state that I shall favor th~ . thereon. • .. - original 'Qill giving the widow the pension proposed to be given by the He also, from the same committee, to whom were referred the fol~ 

bill sent to the committee. lowing bills, reported- them severally without amendment, and sub· 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The bill will be placed on the Cal- mitted reports thereon: 

endar. A billlH. R. 5800) for the relief of Sarah B. Jackson; 

Ur. CULLOM. I am instruct-ed by the Committee on Pensions, to A bill H. R. 4248) granting a pension to William Harbeson; 

whom was referred the bill (S. 1633) granting a pension to James Bond, A bill H. R. 7295) granting a pension to Albert D. Simmons; and 

to report it favorably and without amendment. A bill (H. R. 6934) granting a pension to Ann J. Williams. 

Mr. JACKSON. I ask leave to submit in connection with that re- Mr. CULLOM, from the Committee on Territories, to whom wasre· port the views of tbe minority. . ferred the bill (H. R. 3058) to amend section 1889 of chapt-er 1, title 

The PRESIDENT pro 'tempore. If there be no objection the Views 23, of the Revised Statutes of the United States, relative_ to general inof the minority will be received and printed. corpomtion acts of Territories, reported it without amendment, and ~1r. CULLOM, from the Committee on Pensions, to whom was re- submitted a report thereon. • _ ferred the bill (S. 1416) granting a pension to Mrs. Charlotte Hackett, Mr. DOLPH. On the 12th of January last I reported, by direction 

report-ed it without amendment, and submitted a report thereon. of the Committee on Public Lands, the bill (H. R. 100) for the relief of 

Mr. CULLOM. I am instructed by the Committee on Pensions, to certain pre-emption and homestead settle:rs in California, adversely. 

whom was referred the bill (H. R. 7659) granting a pension to Mrs. I have this morning received a communication from the Attorney-Gen~ 

Emily L. Alvord, to submit an adverse report thereon. I ask that the eral, aceompanied by copies of letters from the district attorney of the 

bill be placed on the Calendar. I ~ll the attention of the Senator from United States for the district of California of January 5 and January 

Vermont [:Mr. MORRILL] to the fact that I am making an adverse re- 24, which I think shonld be printed with the report. The report has 

port on the bill. - not yet been received from the Public Printer owing to the fa.cli that 

Mr. MORRILL. I ask to have the bill plaeed on the Calendar.' certain maps accompany it, and the Printer is waiting on the Bureau 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from illinois in report- of Engraving and Printing to prepare the maps so that they may be 
1316 CONGRESSIONAL REOORD~SENATE. FEBRUARY 6, 

printed in connection with the report. I ask that the papers be printed as an addendrun.to the report. · · 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Oregon, from the 

Committee on Public Lands, reports certain papers the nature of which 

he has described, which he asks maybe printed in connection with the 

report heretofore made on the bill the title of which he has named. 

If there be no objection the papers will be received as part of the re- port· and printed in connection with it. The Chair hears no objection. 

.A. MESSAGE. FROM THE HOUSE. 

A message from the House of Repr~entatives, by Mr. CLARK, its 

Clerk, announced that the House had passed the bill (S. 674) to authorize the purchase of additional grounds fortl;le United States court-house 

and pOSt-office building at Springfield, Ill. 

The message also announced that the House had passed the following 

bills and joint resolution; in which it requested the concurrenceofthe 

Senate: 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The resolution will lie over on objection. 

!Ir. SHERMAN. I shall call it up to-morrow. 

MESSAGE FRO~ THE HOUSE. 

A message from the House of Representatives, by M~r. CLARK, its 

Clerk, announced that the House had passed the bill (S. 2168) for the 

relief of the executrix of Ayres P. Merrill. 

The message also announced that the House had passed the bill (S. 

1793) to amen!J section 4434 of title 52 of the Revised Statutes of the 

United States, concerning commerce and navigation and the rCoou.lation _of steam-vessels, with an amendment; in which it requested the con- currence of the Senate. 

The message fw-ther announced that the House had passed tbe following bills; in which it requested tbc concurrence of the Senate: 

A bill (H. R. 7469) for the relief of Wehrle, Werk & Son; and 

A bill (H. R. 3236) for the relief of Ernest H. Wardwell. . . A bill (H. R.1013) fortheerectionofaimblicbuildingatTroy, N.Y.; - ENROLLED BILL SIGNED. 

A bill (H. R. 5674} for the erection of ·a public building at the city The message also announced that the Speaker of the House had sign.ed 

the enrolled joint resolution (S. R.104) providing for the printing and 

distribution of the Descriptive Catalogue of Goverrunent Publications; 

and it )Va£ thereupon signed by the President pro tempore. 

of Tyler, in the State of Texas; and ' . Joint resolution (H. Res. 320) authorizing the printing_ of the report 

of the Commissioner of Education for 1883 and 1~4. 

BILLS INTRODUCED • . 

Mr. COKE introduced a bill (S. 2618) to authorize the readjustment 

of compensation of postmasters at certain fourth-class post-~:ffices; which was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee on Post-Offices 

and Post-Roads. 

Mr. VAN WYCK introduced a bill {S. 2619) ·granting a pension to 

Martha Hughes; which was read twice by its title, and I'eferred to the 

Committee on Pensions. 

He also introduced a bill (8. 2620) granting ar pension to Thomas H. 

Boaz; which was read twice by~ts title, and referred to the Committee on Pensions. 

HARBOR DEFE....~SES. 

Mr." SEWELL. I offer the following resolution, and ask for its present consideration: 

Resol·ved, That the Secretary of~Var be directed to inform the Sena(ewhether auy plans or preparations h ave· been ma.tured by the Engineer Corps of the 

.Army or in U1e 'Var Dep:utme-nt for defending, QY torpedoes or otherwise, in case of sudden war with any foreign power, the harbors on our seacoast and 

lakes; and if torpedo stations ha.ve been established, or are contemplated for 

such defense of harbors, then wheth er any armament has been proviued or planned for the protection of !>uch torpeuo stations. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is the1·e objection to the present con- sideration of the resolution? 

Ur. MORGAN. I thinK theresolution had better go tO the Committee on J.Iilitary Affairs. The Government of the United States may 

have vei·y good reasons why it does not wish to disclose the full state 

of preparation for the defense of the country. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The resolution is not open to debate. 

It is not yet before the S_enate. ·· · Mr. MORGAN. My motion is to refer the resolution. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The resolution is not yet before the 

Senate. 

Mr. MORGAN. I beg pardon. I shall make the motion at the 

pr8per time. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there ohjection to the present 

consideration of there olution? 

Jt'Ir. CONGER. Ur. President---

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. If there be no objection, the Senator 

from Michigan will proceed. 

Mr. CONGER. If there were any such plans in regard to particular 

harbors, any details of the designs of the Department with regard to 

those harbors, it would be publishing to the world what perhaps ought 

not to be known. As I see there is no discretion left to the Secretary 

of War whether the information is to be communicated if in accordance 

with the public interests, I think the resolution had better be referred. 

Mr. SEWELL. Mr. President-- . The PRESIDENT pro tempore. If there be no objection the Senator 

from New Jersey·will proceed. 

Mr. SEWELL. I have no doub.t as to the propriety of this matter, 

but I have no objection to· a reference of the resolution to the Committee on Military Affairs. 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempore. Is there objection to the resolution 

being considered this day and referred to the Committee on Military 

Affairs? ';Ole Chair hears none, and it is so referred. 

HOUR OF DAILY MEETIYG. 

Mr. SHERMAN. I offer the following resolution and ask for its immediate consideration: 

.Resolved, That on and after Monday, February 9, the hour of meeting of the 

Senate shall bell o'c:locka. m., unless otherwise ordered, and the morning hour 

shall e;rpire at 1 o'clock. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection to the present 

consideration of the resolution? 

Mr. COCKRELL. I think the resolution had better lie over. 

RULE AS TO .AMENDMENTS TO APPROPRIATION BILLS. 

Mr. INGALLS. Pursuant to the notice l gave yesterday, I move to 

amen <I the th:ll'd paragraph of Rule XVI by striking out the words ''no 

amendment whichp1·oposes general legislation shall be received to any 

general appr:opriation bill, n·or shall any," and inserting before'' amendment," in line 2 of said clause, the word "no." In line 3 strike out 

the word "the" before " bill " and insert " any general appropriation;" · and insert after the -word "bill" the word" shall;" so that 

when amended the clause would read: 

No nmen'dment not germane nor relevant to t.he subject-ma'ttcr contained in any general approp riation bill shall be received, &c. · 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Pursuant to the notice given yesterday, the Senator from Kansas now moves to amend Rule XVI. The prop~ ed amendment will be read. 

Mr. HARRIS. I desi~e to ask the Senator from Kansas if he has 

put his motion in the form of a resolution. · 

The PRESIDENT pro te11lpore. It is a motion made by the Senator 

from Kansas pursua.n t to notice. The motion will be read, after which 

the Chair will ask for objection to its present consideration. 

The CHIEF CLERK. .In the third paragraph of Rule XVI strike out 

the words ''no amendment which .proposes general legislation shall be 

re.ceived to any general appropriation bill, nor shall any"-- .:Mr . .INGALLS. No; that is wrong . . 

The PRESIDENT pro tem,pore. The Chief Clerk is reading the official print. · · 

Mr. INGALLS. He is reading the rule as proposed to be amended. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The ChiefClerkisreading precisely 

the notice given yesterday by the Senator" from Kansas. 

Mr. INGALLS. I understood that the Senator from Tennessee[Mr. 

HARRIS] called for the teading of the rule as it would be when amended. 

I was mistaken. 

.Mr. HARRIS. I simply inquired if the SenatoJ;' from.Kansas had 

put in writing .the motion, he makes, a copy of which I now have in my 

hand. r in~ended to suggest to the Senator that he allow.his motion 

to be referred to the Committee on Rules, so that we may have a meeting as early as the Senator may choose and consider it there. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. · The Chief Clerk will I;l.Ow read the 

proposed amendment. 

-The Cm~F CLEBf. Amend the third paragraph of Rul~ XVI as fol- ~~: . 

Strike out the words ''no amendment which proposes general legislation shall be received to any general appropriation bill, nor shall any,'' 

andjnsertbefore "amendment," inline2ofsn,idclause, theword "no." 

In line 3 strike out the word ''the '' before '' bill,'' and insert ' ' any ~eneral appropriation ; " and insert after the word " bill" the word 

'shall;" so that when amended the clause would read: 

No amendment not germane nor relevant to the subject-matter contained in any general appropriation bill shall be received, &c. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. IS there objection to the present con- sideration of the motion? 

Mr. HARRIS. I suggest to the Senator ;from Kansas--

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The subject is not open to debate, as the motion is not yet before the Senate for consideration. 

Mr. HARRIS. I have no objection to its consideration. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection to the present consideration of the motion of the Senator from Kansas? The Chair hears 

110ne. It is before the Senate, and the question is on agreeing .to it. 

Mr. SHERMAN. I do not caie now to do it, but I desire to make 

the motion which the Senato,r from Tennessee indicated, that the question be referred to the Committee on .Rules. That, I think, is the . proper course, because it is very difficult to discuss a question of this 

kind nilless the appropriate committee have first considered and reported upon it: I have no doubt it would be promptly reported. I do 
1885. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 1317 

not desire to delay the question at all, but I think the motion had better be referred to the Committee on Rules, of which I believe the Senator from Kansas himself is a member . . Mr. HALE. CoUld it not be reported to-monow morningprobably? 

Mr. SHERMAN. I think very likely. The Senator's colleague 

[Mr. FRYE] is the chairman of~he committee. 

Mr." FRY E. The Senate will remember that this matter has been 

disctlBl)ed heretofore by the Commit~e on !hues, on a revision of the 

rules, and that the decision was unanimous against it. 

!!.f;r. SHERMAN. I know, but at the same time, during the present 

session, under the peculiar circumstances which surround us, it might 

be that a temporary rule could be agreed upon. · I hope it may not 

become a permanent one. It is a question which .might very well be 

considered by the Committee on Rules. · Mr. FRYE. If we once open this door we shall keep it open, I fear. 

Mr. SHERMAN. I shall submit a motion to refer. 

The PiESIDENT pro tempore. The S(mator from Ohio moves that 

the motion be committed to.theCom.witteeon Rules. The question is on agreeing to ~he motion to refer. ~lr. HALE. The Senate finds itself confronted this year "'ith more instances on appropriation bills sent from the other Hous~ to this body 

of legislation than perhaps ever before. There are bills now pending 

before the Senate which have been reported frQm the Committee on Appropriations containing very marked features of legislation-bills 

which must be considered by the Senate at a very early day. The pension appropriation bill among others contains legislation curing defective and what the House evidently believes, and what I believe, ·to be 

improper legislation of last year. The Senate will be met squarely with 

the question upon that bill to-day or t<nmorrow whether l!lecanse of 

blind adherence to the present rule of the Senate it will take action •against legislation which in itself is proper, is remedial, and is needed. 

I should hope that in view of the presentcondition, the stress of weather 

under which the Senate is acting--

Mr. BECK . . Will the SenatorfromMaineallowmetointerrupthi~? 

Mr. HALE. Let me :finisn this sentence, al;l.d then I shall yield. 

Mr. BECK. I was about to say--

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Maine declines to 

yield. . Mr. HALE. I yield to the Senator from Kentucky. 

Mr. BECK. It was just in the.line of the very sentence the Senator is uttering that I desired to say that even· if we do adhere to our rnle, that does not get clear of it, because the House will come into 

conference and demand it there. We do not get clear of it by adhering to the rule. That is the trouble. I beg the Senator's _pardon for, 

the interruption. . . Mr. HALE. I was going to say that I hope, if the motion is sent to. the Committee on Rules, it 'will have a meeting to-day or to-morrow 

morning and in view of the exigency will relax the stringency of the 

present rnie of the Senate, because ifwe insist upon the rule and vote 

out all the House propositions, vote out legislation that in itself nine 

out of ten of the members of this body would vote .itr, we do not 

thereby, as the Senator from Kentucky says, get rid of it. The whole 

thing is thrown into conference, and it may well be found that the attitude of the other House is that upon proper legislation it will insist 

upon its amendments even if the bill be lost. Then the Senate will 

be found meeting the question squarely whether it will, because of· this rule, :utterly defy the House and declare that upon appropriation 

bills no sort of legislation shall be put, however wise and j nst. I for one upon such matters do not believe that the Senate can stand-I do 

not believe it will stand-when confronted with such a-question as that. 

Therefore, I hope if the motion goes to the Committee on Rules that 

it will have prompt consideration and that the rule will be relaxed. 

Mr. BECK. I rise to apolowze to the Senator from Maine for interrupting him in the midst of his remarks. I wa.s thinking of the same thing and feared that he would leave out the most difficult part of the 

trouble, and I -very improperly interrupted him before he finished his 

sentence. 

Mr. HALE. Not at all. 

Mr. BECK. But that is the trouble. We shall have before us the 

pension appropriation bill, which I understand will be called . up to-day, or to-morrow at the furthest. . Legislation has been placed on that bill 

by the House which we have pro fonna stricken out in the Committee on App1·opriations in obedience to the wishes of the Senate, but which 

the Committee on Appropriations knows it can not keep out, and which we do not believe it ought to keep out, unless the rules compel us to do so. Further, we do not believe the Senate will consent to have -that 

legislation stricken out; and if the Senate does consent to strike it out 

the Honse will never yield. So something ought to be done, such as the Sena.OOr from Kansas suggests, to get us out of this dilemm~, which 

is only the first per}japs of twenty or thirty more which we shall have 

before us in the next twenty days. . 

Mr. BAY A.RD. Ur. President, I do notconcru:with the proposition 

to allow the ingrafting of general legislation upon appropriation bills, 

and so far from desiring to see the Senate rule amended in order to 

permit the extension 'Of that mode of legislation, I earnestly hope the 

Committee on Rules will feel themselves authorized to confer with 

\ 

members of the corresponding committee in th_e other House for the 

purpose of seeing whether a joint rule can not be adopted to exclude ·general legislation from appropriation bills. 

I do not propose to repeat the reasons against ingtafting general legislation on appropriation bills, because they are very obvious: I only 

understand now that the House permits it, and the Senate does not, 

and that between the two there is an inequality of influence. The other 

House may submit to us appropriation bills stuffed. full with general 

provisions and new provisions of law, whereas under our rules .we can not do it. Rather than see the extension of what I think is an evil 

principle in legislation upon appropriation bills, I hope that the com- mittee representing the Senate may be able to induce the House to so modify their rules that appropriation bills will not be capable of becoming the vehicles of general legislation under a joint rule of the two 

bodies. . Ur. FRYE. In· reply. to the Senator from Dela\Vare I desire to say a word. I said that this subject had been considered by the Committee on Rules, and a proposition like thi~ determined against when the 

rules were revised-determined against with i.n$tructions to send to the 

House a joint rule such as the Senator from Delaware' suggests. That 

joint rule was passed through the Se.nate and sent to the House, and 

the chairman of the Committee on Rules believed himself to be instructed to do everything in his power to get the assent o{ the House or of the Committee on Rules oftheHouseto that proposition. He did so. No assent has been obtained, and I desire to say to the Senator 

from Delaware that I do not believe it is within the rang~ of possibility 

that any assent to such n. rule can be obtained. The truth is that un- der the present rules of the House legislation is almost an impossibility 

unless it is had upon an appropriation bill; and so long as that condition exists they will not give up their rule, which allows them to legislate on a general appropriation bill, and I do not believe it is any use to 

undertake in any way too btain a provision on the part of the House such as has been desired heretofore by the Senate, and has prevailed in the 

Senate .• I think they will not give up the privilege which they now enjoy under their rules. 

Ur. BAYARD. It is a very melan~holy condition of things for the 

House of Representatives that they should have adopted such a set of 

rules that they becom'} rather obstruc.tive, instead of assistants to the 

transaction of business; and it scarcely seenis to be the partofwisdom 

that we should cripple our own system of business which has pro>ed 

itself to be convenient, and which in all reason is just and proper, 

simply because the Honse of Representatives tie their hands so that 

they can not legislate in a wise and rational manner. Mr. INGALLS. ~Ir. President, being a member of the Committee on·Rules, perhaps I ought not to object to areferenceofthis resolution 

for the purpose of enabling them to consult thereon; but I think I do 

not go beyond a correct statement o( thts matter when I say tha~ every 

member of the Senate is competent and ready at this time to act upon 

this question, that Senators do not need any instr~ction from the Committee on Rules upon the subject. 

I concur heartily with the Senator from Delaware a.s t-o the vice of 

genera.l legislation upon general appropriation bills; but we are con- fronted to-day with avery grave dilemma. We are !n a predicainent. 

We have gone. into a cul cle sac so far as legislation is concerned, and 

there is nothing for us to do but to turn around and come out again. 

Mr . . President, so far as the attitude of this question is concerned 

there can be but one view. The Senator from l\Iaine [Mr. HALE] has 

stated one proposition. The pension appropriation bill is on the table 

ofthe Senate, ready to be taken up at this present time. It appropriates $60,000,000. Appended to that is certain legislation,. much of 

which is wise and just, some of which is of questionable propriety. 

Under the rules of the Senate we are forbidden either to amend that or to discuss it; and the Committee on Appropriations, the Senator from ~aine informs me, has, in accordance with the rules.of the Sen! tel so reported, and that legislation is absolutely stricken out by the action o~t committee, and so stands upon the Hon.c;e bill to-day. . ~ It is in the power of any single member of this body, by objecting 

to any legislation, to ob~in the ruling of the presiding officer that it 

is not in order ·under the niles, and therefore must go out. We are deprived of the opportunity of amen~i g the legislation that comes to us from the Honse of Representatives. Now, I say frankly that there 

is some of the legislation on the pe on appropriation bill that I can not afford to resist. The Senate of the United States can not afford to 

resist it. It is matter that is material to the interest of this Government and to tke welfare of pensioners and pension claimants. 

Mr. HALE. Will the Senator allow me to interrupt him?. l\fr~ INGALLS. With pleasure. . Mr. HALE. And is also entirely. germane· to the subject-matter of 

the appropriation bill and the laws and rules under which the Pension 

Department runs, as affectipg hundreds of thousands of pensioners. It 

has all that merit. 

1\Ir. INGALLS. The Senator from 1\Iaine intensifies the argument 

that I was making on this subject. With this first clause of the rule 

stricken out, this legislation it would be COIJ?.petent for the Senate to 

consider. 

I hope, therefore, that, inasmuch as it has become apparent that gen-
1318 .CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. FEBRUARY 6, 

erallegislation, however vicious, however undesirable it may be, can not be excluded from general appropriation bills without eit.her a joint 

rule or the mutual agreement of the two Houses, we shall accept the 

situation and put ourselves in a position where we shall be at liberty 

to amend legislation that comes here from the House, to propose legis· 

lation if we ee fit~ and not leave ourselves in this predicament of :finally 

being compelled to accept legislation froni the House of Representatives 

by the report. of a· committee of conierence, without any opportunity 

either for discussion or for amendment. . · 

.As I said at the outset, I do not feel at liberty to oppose the reference of this subject to the Committee on Rules, but I hope the Senate 

will not refer it. It is a matter that ~as been discussed here, so that 

--every Senator is fully advised upon the subject. E"ery one knows i.he 

evil we desire to cure, and we are just exactly as able to a-ct intelligently upon the subject now as we shall be after the Committee on 

Rules have reported either in favor of or against it. 

Mr. l!IAXEY. I should like to ask the Senator from Kansas, who 

is very much more familiar with the rules than I am, if this is not the 

result of the sixteenth rule, that w)lere a measure in the nature of legislation comes from the Honse on an appropriation bill which we think 

in the right direction but defective; then we ean not amend that defect 

here under our rules. Is not that the fact? 

Mr. ING-ALLS. That is very true; we are deprived not only of the 

opportunity of presenting legislation ourselves to an appropriation bill, 

but we are forbidden to amend that which comes from the House of 

Representatives. · · 

1\!r: MAXEY. That was the point I wa.s desiring to suggest. 

Mr. INGALLS. And the practical result is, as the statutes of Congress will show for the past ten years,· tbat notwithstanding the exist· 

ence of this provision in the Senate rules, thP-re is hardly one of your 

appropriation bills that does not contain general legislation that has 

been placed there by conference committees, to which the Senate has 

been ultimately compelled by the exigencie of the situation to agree. 

t!Ir. H.ARIU..';ON. 1\Ir. President, I have thought that the reference 

of this matter to the Committee on Rules might result i.n introducing 

some plan of this sort. I th~ one great .objection to the considemtion of generaUegislation in connection with appropriation bills is that 

the Committee on Appropria tio~s are often called upon to deal with entirely unfamiliar sutUects. These bills come late in the session, and th8 

inYesti.ganon and labor required in look-ing into the items of appropriation pure and imple are sufficient to occupy the time of the App.ro· 

priat.ions Committee. By legislative provisions jn the bills they are 

frequently called upon to co.nsidersomegenerallegislationaffect4Jg the 

Army, possibly without any representative of the .lllilitary Committee. 

upon the Committee on Appropriations. There is no pmvision tmder 

the rule by .wh1ch they can take the opinion of the Committee on }Iili- . 

tary ~1.ii as to that legislation. Now if we are to so modify our 

rules that general legislation coming from the House of Representatives 

may be considered ;tnd amended and that new genarallegislation germane to the bill as ID;l.tters affecting the Army to the military bill and 

the Navy to the naval bill, we ought o to arrange our rules that those 

. propositions hould be submitted to. the judgment of the .appropriate 

committee to which.the matter would go if it was introduced independently here in the Senate, so that the Appropriations Committee should 

have the judgment of the appropriate committee upqn these matters of 

general legislation. It seems to me that if this mea urc goes to the -

Committee on Rules they may so amend the rules as tllat that result 

would be secured. It would undoubtedly aid the Committee on Appropriations. I have no contest with them; I do not desire in the small· 

est degree to depreciate them or their efforts· they are as al>le a any 

other Senators of the same number to deal with all these questions; but 

toward the close of a session it is an overworked committee, and unless 

propositions looking to general legislation can have the com;ideration of 

the :1ppropriate Committees that deal with the subjects about which legislation is to l;>e had, we shall get careless legislation. 

Therefore I think the rule ought to be so framed as that the Com· 

mittee on Appropriations should be required to take theadviceorsubmit to the judgmentr.-not perhaps to be conclusive-but at least that 

they may have the benefit of the views of the particular committee 

having general charge of the subject and thn.t the views of that com- mittee might accompany their report of the appropriation bill to the 

Senate. lf we·are to open . the door to this le islation-an~ it seems 

to me we must do so, for I have no hope at all that the House will 

ever be induced to adopt a joint rule by which they surrender the right 

to put general legislation on an appropriation bill-it should. be in this 

way. lt is absurd that the one b~dy should be free in this direction 

and the other shouJd be absolutely tied up by its rules. If we can not 

come to t he.common ground o' yxcluding it altogether, then there is 

nothing to do but to accept the situation upon this &object. Bntwhen 

that i done I should hope the rule might _be so framed thatlegislation 

would go to the commit tee that is familiar with the partictililr subject 

upon which legislation is asked. 

Mr. SHERMAN. :Mr.. President, thl is an old and controverted sub· 

ject.. I think if there. is to be a r emedy applied it must be a radical 

remedy. I am perfectly willing, in view of the present condition of 

the business of the Senate., to vote for a provision modifying the six· 

teenth rule so as to allow any legislative runendments germane or rele· 

vant in their character to be offered to appropriation bills during the 

present session~ but I want it distinctly understood that if the House are 

to adopt a rule that will force ns to consider general legislation on ap· 

propriation bills; then I. ani in favor at the next session of Congress of 

'reversing the whole theory of our rules and r eferring every general ap· 

propriation bill to the appmpriate committee having charge of th~ sub· 

ject to which the bill relates. There is no other way. 

I have bad long experience on the subject. At one time as a mem· 

ber ofthe House of Representatives, when chairman of the Committee 

of Ways and Means, I entered into a contest with the Senate on·the 

subject. The result then was that the Senate and House agreed upon 

a series of joint rules by which the busines& was conducted. Those 

joint rules now have ceased to exist and are of no force. Rut it is ab· 

_solutely certain that if the House sends legislation on appropriation 

bi.J.lseof the most important character affecting every branch of the pub· 

lie service, unless we want to resolveoumelves into a commi1tee of one 

upon all SUDJects oflegislation, and to haye a single committee to deal 

with, all these multiplied questions, we must send the appropriation 

bills to their appropriate committees. In that event the approprjation 

bill for the support of the Army should go to the Military Committee, 

for the Navy to the Naval Committee, for the Patent Office to the 

Patent Committee, for pensions to the Pension Committee, and so of 

all the different branches of tlte public service because these commit. 

tees are informed upon these various branches. 

.At the pre entsession I believe it is now absolutely necessary to relax: 

the rigor of the sixteenth_ rule in order to "deal with these questions. I 

know one thing: Rule or no rule, I will vote for sOme of the legislative 

provisions proposed by the House of Representatives, but they are legislative provi ions to correct legislation upon appropriation bills by com· 

mittees of conferep.ce, or by the action of one or the other Honse with· 

out full consideration. 

My tendency is to adopt the general change demanded by the House 

of r~presentatives so that each bill may stand upon its own bottom. 

Meantime I think it is necessary to consider-this subject in committee, 

because it is necessary for us to provide some modification of' the rules 

.for the present session. I believe that cau be done better by fi. ve or six: 

gentlemen sitting·.around ·a committee table than in the Senate Cham· 

ber; but if it hould not be deemed necessary to refer it, I sh:ill. offer as a 

sub titute for the proposition of the Senator.from Kansas, which he will 

probably agree to, that·tor the present session the sixteenth rule be so 

modified that amendments -proposing general legislation germane and 

relevant to the subject-matter contained in any general appropriation 

bill may be received, confuting it to the present.session. 

l!fr. INGALLS. That is entil:ely satisthctory to me. 

Mr. HARRISON. .Uay I ask the Senator from Ohio whether it 

would not be bette.r that general legislation proposed here should have 

the s..<tnction ofso.me committee, rather than to open the entire subject? ·Mr. SHERMAN. The rule already requires that no amendment of 

any kind to an appropriation bill enlarging the scqpe of it can be offered 

except by W..OOtion of a committee of the body. That is already in 

the rules . 

Mr. FRYE. I wish· to call the attention of the Senate to this rule. 

I understand the position of. the Senate heretofore to have been that 

there shall be no general legislation on an appropriation bill. The Ho~ 

rule is that any amendment germane and relevant and decreasing the 

expenditures shall be received. The ena.te has been opposed to even 

.that proposition, limited in that way that it hall decrease expenditures; 

but yet·the Senator from Kansa proposes to pass an amendment which 

shall make in order any amendment germane and relevant, whether it 

decreases or increases expenditures. In other words, the Senator from 

Kansas proposes that the Senate shall go beyond the House notwith· 

standing the complaint which has been made of the House. 

·No amendment not germane nor relevant to the subject-matter contained in any general appropriation bill shall be received. 

Mr. INGALLS. Read the rest of the rule. Do not stop there. 

1tir. FRYE. Mr. President- · 1tlr. HARRIS. · I desire to ask the Senator from Maine if he will 

yield to me? 

Mr. FRYE. I do. 

!Ir: HARRIS. I ·ask if he can conceive of any subject.matter of 

legislation that _would not be germane and r~levant to some one or other 

of the appropriation bills that we annually pass; and if that be true, 

had we not quite as well or even better abolish our rule altogether than 

make the modification that is J>roposed? -r am oppo ed to the modi· 

fi.cation, and I am opposed to abolishing the rule. 

Mr. PLATT. - Mr. President, whether this proposition shall be re· 

ferred to the Committee on Rules or not is a matter of indifference to 

me. I am opposed to the proposition, whether we are to a:ct upon it 

now or, with my present light, whetherit·comes·here by the report of 

the Committee on Rules; and I am opposed to the modification of this 

rule for the present session even. There iii a famij.iar quotation that it 

is better to Bear those ills we have 

Than fly to others that we know not of. 

.And while it is true that we are in a predicament, we are proposing 
.. 

1885. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD SENATE~ 1319 

in order to escape that predicament not exactly to fly to enls that we 

know not of, but to evils that we are perfectly acquainted with. -

This rule has been -adopted by the Senate and adhered to for along 

period of years, because it was tlie deliberate conviction of the Senate 

that legislation upon appropriation bill~as fraught with great danger, 

and the danger is just as great at this session and will be just as great 

at a succeeding session as it ever has been. 

:Mr. INGALLS. Will the Senator allow me to inquire right there 

if our adhesion to the rule has prevented general legislation on appropriation bills? 

Mr. PLATT. ·To a certain extent it has, but no:t entirely . . But for 

one I prefer as a Senator to stand in the attitude of rejecting_ all general legislation upon appropriation bills and placing the responsibility 

for such legislation where it belongs, rather than to open the doors to 

what it seems to me will be a very bad and very dangerous practice. 

Mr. PLUMB. :Mr. President, I want to suggest an amendment 

which I presume is not in order, ,but I submit it to enable me to present my views to the Senate on this question. Tlie PRESIDENT pro ternpore. The Senator from Kansas asks that 

there be read an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the res.:. olution. It will bE! read for information, if there be no objection~ 

The· secretary read the proposed amendment, as follows: 

Nor shall any amendment which proposes general legislation be put on any appTOpriation bill unless propo ed by the proper standing committee of the Senate, nor except on a vote of two-thirds of the Senators voting, said vote tQ be taken by yeas and nays. 

. Mr. PL mm. I think it would be unwise to break down this rule 

entirely even for this session. It is just as competent for the Senate to 

meet this emergency now as it will be next year. It has grbwn to the 

proportions 9f a very great evil. But we are still confronted with one 

fuct, and that is that the House will make its own nl.les and that they 

are just as competent and just as much authorized to pass upon the 

question of public policy involv~d as the Senate, and it ought to be understood as a matter due not.only to the Senate bu~ to the House also 

that indirectly we can accomplish notbj.ng; The fair, the frank, the 

manly way to a,rrive at a conclusion on this subject which shall be 

mutu..'l.lly profitable "and ju tis to propose to the House what we think 

ought to be the common rule of both Houses; but it is not fair for the 

Senate to insist that the .Appropriations Committee, nor is it fair that 

the Appropriations Committee shall itself by ind~ction seek to coerce 

the House. We shall in that way neither gain in our own temper nor 

in that of the House, nor shall we gain in anything which concerns the 

public good or .welfare. If we believe that here is a practice which has 

grown up which ought not to be, which is subversive of the good of 

legislation, we ought to say so to the House frankly and ask them to 

confer with us on that subject in order that a common conclusion may 

be a¢ved at which shall meet the case. As it is now we stand in the 

attitude wheri. our virtue is at high-water mark of rejecting a.Jllegislation on appropriation bills and thereby seekin~ to·do by indirection 

what we lack the courage apparently to do by direction, and then one 

extreme following the other, as it always does, we yield entirely and 

take ·everything that the other House sends, with or without amendment, according as the temper is at the time. 

We are nearly at the clo e of a session. We are confronted by a very 

serious problem on the pension appropriation bill now on the Senate 

table. Numbers of Senators feel about this matter as my collepgue has 

expressed himself-that is to say, that there are provisions on that bill 

which he himself is not willing to take the responsibility as a legislator 

here of rejecting i1f tow; and that results in the position in which the 

House may put itself; its members say "we are notwi.l.ling to omit the 

opportunity which our rules afford us" of doing the very thing which 

ruy <:olleagnesays he is rlot willing to omitthe opportunity to do himself, that opportunity being presented. That only illustrates the difficulties which attend the situation all thewaythrough. There maybe 

emergencies occurring at any time at the close of a session when the 

ability to put legislation upon an appropriation bill, the objection of one 

member to the contrary notwithstanding, may·be of the most vital character. Instead, therefore, of tying our hands even at this late hour of 

the Sel3Sion, or opening the door too wide, we ought, I think, to do the 

conservative thing and re erve the right of the Senate under proper discrimination, and after discussion, and when the Senate is full-that is 

to say, when a quorum is present and voting~then only of doing what 

may b~ an emergent thing. Therefore I suggest if the proposed rule 

is to be voted upon now, that it should be amended so that only under 

two conditions will the Senate cons~nt to even amend any legislation 

that may be sent here on appropriation bills by the House. One is that 

the amendment shall be reported by the proper standing committee of 

the Senate; and the second is that there shall be two-thirds of the Senators present..forming a quorum voting for that upon the yeas and nays, 

thereby expressing in an affirmative manner their conviction of the 

necessity or the urgency of the proposed legislation. 

That much at least I think is due to the dignity of men sitting to legislate for the country; that much is due to the position of the body as 

a conservative branch of the Government, and yet, while conservative, 

not willing to put itself in the attitude of being obstructive. 

J speak of this question as a member of the Appropriations Committee, 

wHh the embarrassments which surround the case in that committee, 

and the feeling on the part of 1 he committee that it is not our fliilction 

original1y to pass on the e questions, an(J witli the further feeling that 

the. Senate itself ought not by indirect means to seek to ask the House 

to abandon its rule under which it is proceeding; and as there is now 

time for a conference with the House on the subject, and as something ·apparently ought to be done, though I am willing for one to strikeout 

aU 1egislation from these bills, yet as there is an apparent necessity for 

doing something in a certain directi<1n in the way of legislation that can 

only be accomplished in this method, and as the House has tendered 

us some important propositions and will tender us more-because I have 

a bill on my table, the Post-Office appropriation bill, full of legislation, 

some of which is good undeniably, some of which is vicio11S undeniably; 

and therefore, as I said, we ought to be able to meet it, but while meeting it we ought not as a rule to throw down the bars entirely and open 

wide the door in such a way that there may be a carnival of unwise 

and ill-digested legislation put on appropriation bills in the expiring 

hours of the session when from the very necessity of the case, as we know 

by past .experience, there will be sometimes not a quorum nor half a 

quorum in attendance on the deliberations of this body. ·Mr. DAWES. 11:1t. President, the Senate misses on this occasion the 

orators who instructed and stimulated it to a valiant maintenance of 

its rnles when the pension appropriation bill was brought in from the 

other branch. The difficulty and the defect in our rule was pointed 

out at that time, and the dilemma in which it placed the Senate was 

presented. N everthe1ess we were told then tha;t i£ was the duty of the 

Senate to maintain our rule to the letter, let the.consequences be what 

they rrught; and we were told by Senators of great experience and 

ability and long service in this body that they would stand by this rule, 

let the consequence be an extra session of Congress if the Senate maintained what was framed in wisdom and was necessary for the maintenance of free, unbiased deliberation upon appropriation bills. ·we. were · 

told then that the Qnly cowards in this body in respect to it were the 

Appropriations Committee, that they would come in and in the last 

moments would surrender to the other branch and tak~ legislation on • 

appropriation bills. It did no~ matter that Senators were reminded on 

that occasion of the urgency, when the last days of a session approached, 

the absolute necessity that the appropriation bills shoul{l be adopted, 

and that that nece&Sitywould, in spite of our then valor, Ca.rrythrough 

this body legislation just precisely as it was brought to us. I am 

amazed now that since the Appropriations Committee, stimulated in 

their duty as they were by that debate, have presented the. question 

here, the self-same orators wbo taught us. our duty so plainly and so clearly at that time as to make us surrender all doubt and misgiving on 

our own pa.rt; are now either si1ent or are the first to surrender our 

rnle in toto. 

It was s.upposed by those Senators, and ·they were right, that 1(\,ois· 

lation in. appropriation bills was .an cvil1 an evil that ought to be rem· 

edied, not surrendered to. We are inviting it by this debate to-day. 

We are calling upon ourselves to consider i.l;t appropriation bills the 

1egislation of the country, and you are impo ing upon your Appropriations Committee, in the last days of the session, not only that which 

hitherto has been considered enough for them to do, to consider what 

are proper appropriations, but to take up also the duty of the Pensions 

Committee, the duty of the Committee on Indian Affairs, of the Com· 

mittee on 1\filitary A.ffuirs, of the Committee on Post-Offices and Post. 

Roads, and of the Committee on Naval Affairs, and more than all that, 

that most important of all committees, if I may niake a comparison, 

the Judiciary Committee, all are bythis debate surrendered to the Appropriations Committee, and they can not. take up those matters till 

within three weeks of the end of the session. · 

There. comes .along in one bill private claims enough in a. single ap. 

propriation bill to occupy the Committee on Claims half this session, 

and the committee having it in charge, ·the Appropriations Committee, 

who have supposed hitherto that it was quite enough for them to do 

to ascertain and recommend to the. Senate what were proper appropriations, are called upon to examine into or take unexamined private 

claims enough in a single appropriation -bill to occupy .any committee, 

who would ascertain thoroughly the merits of those claimsJ the whole 

of the next three weeks. · 

Where is the determination of the Senate a few weeks ago to uphold 

the rule? Where are those who told us the~ would stand here in support of the rule till an extra session of Congress, if need be, ·were upon 

us? The rule, in my opinion, was a wise one as it was framed. If there 

is any defect in it at all it is in a misconstruction of the rule some time 

ago, which has since grown into a precedent which ought to be modi· 

:fi.ed, much like the suggestion of the Senator from Kansas [1\Ir. IN· 

GALLS], though he will pardon me for saying that the quarter from 

which it comes is the one I least expected to see it from. 

Mr. President, if you adopt the amendment suggested by the Senator from Ohio you impose at once upon the Appropriations Committee 

a duty they can not perform. To look to the appropriations proper, 

and nothing else, is more than they can properly do in the next eighteen days; but in those bills from the necessity of the exigencies in 

the other branch is all the legislation of the session in the other branch. 

I understand the difficulties of the case. I understand that one branch 
1320 OONGRESSION.AL RECORD-SENATE. ifEBRUARY .6, 

hns just the same power and the same right to determine its rules as the other, and that we have no more right to say what shall be the rules 

of the other branch than the other branch has a right- to say what shall 

be our rules. The only way to meet the case is to find some possible common rule,. and if it be a common rule like t4at which is suggested 

by the·amendment of the Senator from Ohio to the proposition of the 

Senator from Kansas, then distribute the appropriation bills, discharge 

your Appropriations Committee from the consideration of the legislation 

in those bills, divide t~ work, or have it brought in here crude and 

unconsidered, and mature it here in the Sena.te Chamber in the last few 

days of the session. , Let us meet this question as it is, not undertake to. meet the difficulty com.iilg irom the other branch by a counter difficulty here over- whelming them, running a mce with them, competing with them to see which will get the most legislation in an approp1iation bill. -Legislation in an appropriation bill is an evil, an alarming evil, a danger- ous evil, and it ought to be stopped in some way or other, not invited, 

iwt increased, not aggravated as we are proposing to do to-day. 

Mr. HO.AR. ·1\Ir. President, I think this amendment to the rules is one of the most dangerow; propositions ever .addressed to the Senate if 

its logic be a-cted upon in the future conduct of our relations with the 

other branch. I wish the Senate for a moment to consider to what this 

is to lead. 

When the Constitution was adopted theJlOwerwas given totheHoU:Se 

of Representatives,. as _the great constitutional equivalent for the equality of the States in the Senate, to originate money bills. The. House 

has insisted that the true interprdation of that constitutional provision authorizes the Honse exclusively to originate appropriation bills; 

and it was determined when that question arose, upon the declaration 

of lli: Webster, that the House ·mu t from the necessity of the case be 

the final judge of the meaning and extent of that eonstitutional provision; so that practically I am correct in saying that the power was given to the Honse by the Constitution exclusively to originate appropriation bills. 

I will not undertake to proceed. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Senators will please resume their 

sea~. Business will be suspended until Senators take their seats and cease conversa.tion [rapping with his gavel]. 

The Senator from :Massachusetts will proceed. 

lli. HOAR. I do not care about proceeding. 

_1\Ir . .ALLISON. Mr. President, I desire to say a word or two with 

reference to this general subject, which is not a new one, as the Senator 

from Ohio has said. . I think any proposition looking to geneml legislation on appropriation bills is a dangerous one. In the nature of things 

the appropriation bills, whether at the long or the short session, are delayed Ulltil nearlJ the last moments of the session. At the session ending in July last the important appropriation bills did not reach the 

Connillttee on Appropriations of the Senate until in Jlfay and June. It 

is true they were full of legislation at that time. The committee, un- der the instructions of the Sen:tte, eliminated from the bills all legislation. .Afterwards, in the committees of coilfercnce, a portion of that 

legislation was yielded to in order to secure an agreement to the passage of the bills. 

But what was dangerous then is more dangerous now, and is ahva.ys 

especially so at a short s~on. If we are to open these bills to legislation, necessarily there will be legislation put upon ·them that is not 

well considered; and therefore, as a member of the Committee on Appropriations, I should be glad to see the Senate stand rigorously in 

favor of its present rule against all legislation on appropriation bills, 

and against consenting to legislation put on by the House of Representatives; but I know the Senator from Kansas will say in response that 

the end is legislation that the· House insists upon, OJ; a failure of the 

appropriation bills. . . Mr. INGALLS. By the action of the committees of conference-and 

I say that without any invidious allusion at all-that is the praet!cal 

operation, that without amendment or discussion the legislation pro- . posed by the House of Representatives is agreed to finally by committees 

of -conference. 

~1r. ALLISON. More or less of that legislation is thus agreed to, 

and I admit that is vicioW?; but we are confronted always at the end 

with the fact that we must make some compromise on these · bills .or 

else the bills will fail. • Now, I hope this resolution of the Senator from Kansas to amend the 

rules will be referred to the Committee on Rules, and I hope he will 

consent to that, and that that committee, if they see proper to open this 

door at all, will open it in a way to permit the least possible legislation 

on appropriation bills. I would be glad myself to have it confined to 

amendments of legislation that we find on the bills when they come to us from the Hou..~e. If that will not do,· then all legislation proposed 

here on appropriation bills should be proposed by a standing committee of the Senate, because, in the nature of things-, the Committee on Appropriations ca~ not consider such legislation. . Take for illustration the legislation on the pension appropriation blll. 

It affects all the questions relating to pension attorneys and other matters of importance. The Committee on Appropriations, in the nature 

of things, can not examine these questions in the short time allowed 

them. Yet we were compelled on the pension appropriation bill at this 

session to examine in detail, so far as we could, all the legJ..slation found 

upon the bill as it came from the House of Representatives. If the Senate will adhere to its rule that all legislation shall be struck from appropriation bilL~ and insist upon that, \hen we can within a reasonable 

tin}.e, and possibly at this sesslfm, eliminate every matter of legislation 

from these bills; but if we yield to the Honse of Representatives and 

ourselves put on legislation, the effect will be that therewill be a race, as the Senator from Massachusetts says, between: the two Houses with 

reference to legislation, and then not only the legislation of the Honse 

will be found upon these bills, but counter lCoaislationfrom the Senate, 

and committees of confeien~e will in tbe end be compelled_ to decide 

great questions of legislation in conference that. have not been considered in the·Honse or that have not been considered in the Senate. 

The question is not without difficulty. The Committee on Appropriations do not desire power to be given them with regard to legislation upon appropriation bills. I should be glad-and I think I express 

the sentiment of the committee when I say we prefer that there should 

be no legislation upon these bills at any time submitted to the Committee on Appropriations. We prefer that questions oflegislation should 'go to the proper committees whose duty it is to consider the respective 

subjects . . 

· Take the legislation that is proposed in the Post-Office appropriation 

bill for the next year that has not yet reached the Senate. It runs over the entire range of the Post-Office establishment; it involves the 

rates of postage;· it involves the entire contract system; it involves 

grave questions of legislation that ought to be considered by the PostOffice Committee, by the Committee on the Judiciary, and by other 

committees of this body. Surely the Committee on Appropriations can not consider those questions, and I do not see how they can be referred, as the Senator from Ohio ·suggests, to their appropriate committees. 

Take the Post-Office appropriation. bill for illustration, containing the 

legislation tow hich I have alluded. A part of it sholitd go to the Committee on the Judiciary, a part of it to the Committee on Post-Offices 

and Post-Roads, ~nd a part of it elsewhere perhaps. And so with every 

regular appropriation bill th~t comes before the Senate. Take the sun- dry civil bill as an illustration. A part of it should go to the Naval 

Committee, a part of it to the Committee on Military Affairs, a part of 

it to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, a part of it to 

the Committee on Patents, and so on. The sundry civil bill would be 

referred to a dozen different committees of this body on tha.t iclea. So 

of the lCoaislativc, executive, and judicial appropriation bill. That is 

an impracticable thing. Therefore I shall be glad if the Senate will 

adhere as rigidly as it can adhere to the rule that there shall be no legislation upon appropriation bills, and let the Appropriations Committee 

be confined in its jurisdiction and authority to recommending the appropriations of pub-lic money as provided by law, and leave to ev~ry 

other committee of this body its proper jurisdiction to recomm~d the 

ch:mgp of existing laws and such general legislation as it may think 

proper; and uil.less that is done legislation in this body will be hasty 

legislation. · 

The Senator from Ohio very truthfully says that we come in here 

with the reports of committees of conference and then hasty legislation 

is the consequence. That is true, and I will go with him in every instance where a conference committee or the Committee on Appropriations have made mistakes to correct those mistakes on the appropriation 

bills notwithstanding the rule; but my judgment is that we shall only 

increase the difficulty if we open this door to legislation in any way 

through the Senate of the United States. We shall only create an opportunity for more hasty legislation with reference to all the subjects 

that will come before the Senate on the appropriation bills, because 

there are a great many subjects of legislation that are germane to these · bills' and can properly be introduced llere ir the rule suggested by the 

Senator from Kansas i.s adopted as he now proposes it: I trust he will 

consentthatthis proposition of his and the other propositions suggested 

in connection With it may be referred to the Committee on Rules. If 

this door is to be opened at all let it be opened in the narrowest possible way. I will say to him that if he will consent to that I shall not 

call up the pension .appropriation bill until the Committee on Rules 

shall have had an opportunity of acting upon this question. 

.Mr. H.A WLEY. I agree very heartily with the Senator from Iowa. 

This is not a new question in these Halls; it is not a new question in 

the legislative bodies of the several States; it is not a new question in 

the British houses of Parliament. Six. yeal'S ago we had a four months' 

extra session of Congress caused by differences between the two Houses 

arising substantially on this practice. To send us legislation upon appropriation bills is practically to nullify this body, practicallyto make 

it an absolute nullity in the business of the country. It is not a question of personal pride or preference on om-part; itisour constitutional 

duty to stand by our rights in this matter. The appropriation bills 

are absolutely necessary to the existence of the Government. What 

discretion then is le:fb us as legislators when the most important legislation is placed upon those bills? We are virtually told by the very 

presentation of it here from the_other House that we must yield to 

theirviews in certain matters, whethertbeybeonrviews or not; otherwise the Government is p1·o ltdc vice, as the lawyers would say, sacrificed. · 

I hope the Senate will stand by the old rule, and what I conside:z tc 
1885. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 1321 

be not merely a preference or ~ convenience in business, but a constitutional right. 

Allow me.a moment more. Three-quarters of the States forbid this 

praetice. I th.itlk nearly everyone of the original constitutions adopted 

within :fifteen years, and the amended corrstitutions adopted Within that 

time, forbid this practice. Essentially it was forbidden in some of the 

original constitutions adopted one. hundred years ago. If I recollect 

aright, the constitution of the State of Maryland from the beginning 

forbade it. In 1708 it was declared in the British· Parliament that the 

practice was subversive of the constitution, and that put an end to it 

there, for there thevhouse of commons alone can originate supply bills, 

and after a fierce controversy they came to the conclusion that the practice was, as it is here, subversive of the constitution. 

There is only one true final settlement of this whole series of questions, and that is to put into the Constitution of the United States three 

propositions, in substance as they are now in the constitutions of sev- eral States, namely: First, that each bill shall refer to but one subject, 

and that shall be clearly indicated in the title; next, that there shall 

be no generallegisla.tion·uponappropriation bills; and tltirdly, that the 

President may veto any item upon an appropriation bill, approving the 

remainder. These t.hree amendments to the Constitution of the United 

States will settle a question that is dangerous to the present purposes 

and organization of the Government. 

1\Ir. COCKRELL. Mr. President, this is a practical and not a theoretical question. Theoretically, legislation on appropriation bills is 

viciou!:'l. I think there can be no question of that. But Congress is 

composedoftwo Houses; each House is coequal with the other, each 

House makes its own rules and regulations. The House of Represent- . atives has certairi rules. Under them it can place legislation upon 

appropriation bills. The Senate has a rule, .its own rule, a legal rule, 

which prohibits the Senate from either amending that legislation or ingrafting any new legislation upon an appropriation bill. Then we are left in the condition under our rule of being utterly helpless and 

powerles§ to do anything in regard to the proposed legislation of the · House except to strike it out. The House non-concurs in the amendment of the Senate striking out the legislation. It is forced into a con- ference committee. Then the question is, what will the Senate do? 

There has never yet been a time since I have been here, so far as I 

know, when the Senate would have stood upon that proposition, and 

forced an extra session of Congress or the continuance indefinitely of 

the session then near its close,. There is the practical question. 

The .very necessity for legislation upon the pension appropriation bill now pending.lying upon the table of the Senate grows out of the fact 

that we at the last session struck out the House legislation, refused to 

amend or have anything to do with it, and then when the bill went 

into conference legislation slipped in which a great many Senators did 

not understand. 

:Mr. HALE. Ancl which had not been considered by either House. 

:Mr. COCKRELL. And which had not, as the Senator from Maine 

says, been considered by the Senate or the House, and was a. surj>rise 

to a large number of people. I do not know whether it is true or not, 

but some paper published in this city has stated that a distinguished 

attorneyofthis city got $2,500 for his services as attorneyin procuring 

that amendment, and another distinguished attorney got a thousand 

dollars for his services as attorney in · securing the passage of that legislation. 'l'estimony to that effect is said to have been taken before a committee of the other branch of Congress, the attorney himself, :who 

was interested in the legislation, having stated that he made these payments. 

:Mr. LAPHAM. He stated further that both of those sums were made contingent upon the success of the legislatiOn. 

Mr. COCKRELL. Both made contingent, as the Senator from New 

York says, upon securing the kind of legislation that was desired, and 

it having been secured the money was paid. . Now, Mr. Presjdent, it is 'a practical -question, what shall we do? 

Shall we continue to tie our hands andremainsupinelyuponourbacks, 

do nothing, strike out all legislation, and then leave a conference com- mittee to modify it, and finally have such legislation enacted as neither 

the Senate nor the House knows anything about? 

Mr. HAWLEY. -May I ask the Senator a question? 

Mr. COCKRELL. Certainly. 

Mr. HAWLEY. If this legislation, obtained in the manner he has 

said, is so exceedingly vicious, if there be such a desire to repeal it, why 

would not a bill repealing it pass the Senate in half an liour, and why 

should not the House unanimously consent to the passage of such a bill? 

Mr. COCKRELL. The bill, I understand, is already reported and 

has been f~r some time from the Committee on Pensions, and is now on the Senate Calendar. . 

Mr. HAWLEY. There is no doubt that the Senate would pass it, 

I suppose. 

Mr. COCKRELL. No doubt about that. Why bas it not been 

done? 

Mr. HAWLEY. I am not on that committee. I do not know. 

Mr. COCKRELL. I am not on that committee, nor am I of the ma- jority of tbe Senate that controls and regulates the business of the 

Senate. The Senator is. · 

!Ir. ALLISON. Will the Senator allow me? 

Mr. COCKRELL. I yield with pleasure. 

Mr. ALLISON. The Senator from ~Iissouri will remember that a bill was intr:oduced here some time ago on that very subject, and has 

been reported favorably by the Committee on Pensions, and is in the 

hands of the Senator from Tennessee [Mr . .JACKSON] to rep~rt. 

?t.{r. COCKRELL. I understand J;hat it is already reported, and is 

upon the Calendar. 

Mr. ALLISON. Very well. 

Mr. COCKRELL. And subject to. the disposition pf the Senate. I am not saying that anybody is specially to blame, but the Senator 

rather intimated by his question that some of us ought to have had 

that legisilltion pa.ssed. 

M:r. ALLISON. NQ. . 

Mr. COCKRE.LL. I was simply, gently, and kindly informing him 

of a fact that be was well aware of. 

Mr. ALLISON. I know bow "child-like and bland" the Senator 

from Missouri is, but I do not think where a non-partisan matter is in 

the bands of a committee of this body and its conduct is committed to 

a member of the body, that it is quite fair to charge that upon the 

party majority. 

Mr. COCKRELL. There is no dereliction about it. There are hundreds of other as important bills on the Calendar of the Senate, reported 

by Democrats and Republicans, that have not yet been considered. 

Mr. President, what shall we do? It is; a practical question. 

M.r. FRYE. I should like to inquire of the Senator whether or not 

it was also a joke that a majority of the Senate were of an opposite 

party to him, and that they, t4erefore, were responsible for the legislation when the Senate sent some two hundred bills over to the House; 

and under the rules of the House they went to the Speaker's table, and 

there was no going to the Speaker's table by the House for over five 

months' time and no reference of a single l?ill which was sent by the 

Senate-- . The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Maine is not in 

order in referring to what the House of Represent..-.tives bas or has not 

done within its owR Hall. 

:Mr. COCKRELL. Mr. President, the people elect their Representatives and their Representatives are responsible to the people, and I shall 

not arraign them here. Let them answer to their constituents,. their 

masters. 

Mr. DAWES. I want to remind the Senator what the Senator from 

Maine was cut off from reminding him of, that the·very legislation he 

is alluding to bas received the sanction of a body containing three hundred and twenty-five members, four to one, already. · 

Mr. COCKRELL. That is not the question that we are now discussing. It is, what shall we do in regard to legislation upon appropriation bills? It seems to me perfectly plain 'that there is but one plan 

that will secure success, and that is for the Senate to direct its Committee on Ruies or appoint a select committee to confer with the House; 

and, if possible, agree upon a joint rule in regard to these matters. 

We had joint rules for a long time; they have been set aside; we have 

no-joint rules now. There has been no determined effort either on the 

part of'the House or on the part of the Senate to have joint rules adopted, so far as I know. -

?tlr: FRYE. Will the Senator pardon me? 

Mr. COCKRELL. Certainly. 

Mr. FRYE. This Senate sent a whole code of joint rules to the 

House of Representatives immediatelyon reporting the revision of the 

rules, and with the same report, and they have been in the House of 

Representatives now .for a year and a half. 

Mr. COCKRELL. Still I think that action ought to be taken in re- gard to that. If we are to take a stand that means anything we ought 

to make our position impregnable, and t~t is J:>y having another con- ference on that question; and then if we can notagreeuponjoint rules 

with the House, we ought to do one of two things as sensible, practical 

busineSs men: we ought either to adopt a 'rule which will :permit us to 

amend the legislation of the House in· matters germane to that legislation. or we ought to say that we will strike it out and never will agree 

to any appropriation bill with legislation upon it, and then let session 

after session be continued if necessary in our refusal. There are only 

two practical co~es that I see. I fo.r one in our present emergency am in favor of the Senate exercising the power to amend the legislation 

of the House in a manner germane to that legislation. I think it is the 

only practicable, sensible plan for us to pursue now. Mr. JACKSON. I ask consent of the Senate at this time to call up 

Senate bill 2511. 

Mr. INGALLS. Irask the Senator to yieldonell!omentwhile !may 

have final disposition made of the su~ject before the Senate. 

The PRESIDENT P!O tempore. The hour of 2 o'clock having ar- lived, it is the duty of the Chair to lay before the Senate the unfinished 

business of yesterday, being the. bill (H. R. 4976) for the· ·retirement 

and recoinage · of the trade-dollar; pen~g which the Senator from 

Tennessee [Mr. JACKSON] asks unanimous consent that the Senate now .. 

consider Order .of Business 984, being the bill (S. 2511) relating to claim 

agents and attorneys in pension cases. Mr. INGALLS. I ask the Senator from Tennessee to yield to me for a motion to dispose of the subject pending when 2 o'clock arrived. 
1322 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. FEBRUARY 6, 

:rtlr. JACKSON. Certainly. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Kailsa.s is entitled 

to the floor. . Mr. INGALLS. I wish to make a single ob ervation only. . The PRESIDENT pro temp01·e. Is there objection to the Senator 

from Ka:psas proceeding on the motion offered by him? The Chair 

hears none. , . Mr. INGALLS. Iwish tomakeasingle observation aboutaremark 

which fell frQm the Senator from Missouri [Mr. CocKRELL], which appeared to· me to show the necessity of some action in the direction indicated by my resolution. H~ states that the pending legislation in 

the bill making appropriations for the payment of pensions is due to 

the fact that certain vicious au.d pernicious legislation was introduced 

into the pension a-ppropriation bill passed last y~. He states that the 

legislation was not considered in either House. It must, therefore, have 

been admitted to the appropriation bill by the action of the conferees of 

the two Houses, ~d the Senator says that for the purpose of procuring 

that legislation one e~ent attorney was paid $2,500 and one other 

attorney less eminent was paid 1,000. What inference is to be·drawn 

from that of course I am not able to say; but it shows the importance 

of having some discussion upon matters of this magnitude in one House 

of Congress or the other. · 

As there have been several propositions looking toward the amend- . mentor modification of this rule~ and, in the e:x:pecta~ion that the Committee on Rules will be able to report before the pension appropriation 

bill is called up by the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, 

I will suggest that this subject be referred to the Committee on Rulesthat that resolution and all the amendments be referred to the Committee on Rules. • T4e PRESIDENT pro tempore. ·Is there objection to the request of 

the Senator from Kansas? 

Mr. CALL. I think thi:> mattex had better go over until to-morrow. 

["No!" "No!"] · The PRESIDENT 1JTO tempm·e. Does the Senator from Florida object? 

Mr. ALLISON. I hope the- Senator from Florida will not object. 

:rtlr. C.ALL. I will not object, but I desire to say something on the 

subject. 

Mr. ALLISON. That can be done when the Committee on Rules re- ports. 

The PRESIDENT pro lempm·e. Is there objection to this motion with 

all t.lw suggested amendments being referred to the Committee on Rules? 

The Chair. hea:rs none, and the reference is ordered. The Chair now rec- ognizes the Senator from Tennessee. · Mr. JACKSON. 1\Ir. Pxesident1\fr. COCKRELL. Will the Senator from Te'unessee yield a minute 

until I can make a correction? 

Mr. JACKSON. Certainly. 

The PRESIDE~ pro teinpore. The Chair will recognize th Senator from Missonri .to ask a question. 

· Mr. COCKRELL. l waBted to ask a question of the Senator from 

Kansas, why he made the statement that I had said so and s0 inregard 

to the paymen of money? · I know he did not intend to leave that impression, but he.said thatfstated thatmoneyhad been used. I tated 

that it was reported and published in the papers of the city, purporting 

to have oeen testimony taken before a committee of the House, that a certain party had paid $~,500 to a distinguished attorney and a thousand dollars to another distinguished attorney-! did not make any 

di'5tinction between their eminence, because they are both very distinguished gentlemen. In doing that I simply stated what I saw in the 

papers without any intention of reflecting at all upon the conference 

members of either the Senate or House. 

Mr. INGALLS. Certainly, I did not understand the Senator to reflect on them. . 

Mr. COeKRELL. Because I do not think that there was any ill 

purpose wh;ate>er on the part of the conference committees of· either 

the Senate or IIouse: I think they did just exactly what they thought was best, and they were jus~ble in doing it under the advice and 

reco.mmendati,ons which they had at the time. 

FEES L.'i PENSION CA E • 

Mr. JACKSON. I_ renew the motion to suspend the pending order 

and take up Senate bill No. 2511. 

The PRESIDENT pro temp01·e. The Senator from Tennessee moves that the Senate now proceed to th con ideration of Order of Business 

984, being the bill (S. 2511) relating to claim agents and attorneys in 

pension cases. 

Mr. MORRILL. I take it--

The PRESIDENT pro t(}tnpore. · Debate is not in 9rder. 

Mr. MORRILL. I wish· to ask a question of the Chair-whether 

that will upe:rsede the regular unfinished ·business? 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It will if it is agreed to. 

Mr. MORRILL. 'l):ten I ho~ . . The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Debate is not in order. 

M:r. MORRILL. I hope it will not be acceded to. 

tion is on agreeingtothemotion of the Senator from Tennessee. · [Putting the question.] The ayes n,ppear to have it. 

:Mr. MORRILL called for the yeas and nays, and they were ordered. 

1\!r. CAMERON, of Wisconsin. Can we not get out of thi difficulty? 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Debate is not in order. Mr. CAl\1ERON, of Wisconsin. I ask unanimous con ent--

The PRESIDENT ,JJro tempore. The enn,tor. from Wi consin asks 

unanimous consent to be he~ on thi~ question. Is there objection? 

The Chair hears none. 

1\Ir. CAMERON, of Wisconsin. I was going to inquire if we could 

not get out of this difficulty by agreeing unanimously that the silver 

bill may be informally laid aside. 

1\Ir. MORRILL. I have no o~jection to that. 

The PRE'3IDENT pro tempore. The Chair would state that always 

under £uch circumstances a presiding officer would recognize the gentleman in charge of the unfinished business to move it again. 

Mr. CAMERON, of Wisconsin. · As soon as this is disposed of, un- doubtedly the silver bill will come up. 

Mr. MORRILL. Under those circumstances I withdraw the call for 

the yeas and nays. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senn,tor from Vermont a ks that 

the vote ordering the yeas and nn,ys be reconsidered and the call withdrawn. Is there objection? The Chair bears none. Mr. BLAIR. Mr. President--

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Debate is not in order. 

Mr. BLAIR. I wish to object, if I can, to the withdrawal of the 

call for the yeas and nays. . · . · 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New Hampshire 

objects to the call for the yeas and nays being 'Withdrawn. The ques-· tion is on agreeing to the motion of the Senator from Vermont to re- consider the vote. of the Senate ordering the yeas and nays. · The motion to reconsider was.agreed to. . 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Vermont now withdraws the call for the yeas and nays. The question is on agreeing to 

the motion of the Senator from Tennessee [Mr. JACKSON]. 

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

Whole, proceeded to consider the bill (S. 2511) relating to claim agents 

and attorneys in pension cases. 

WOMAN UFFRAGE. 

1\Ir. PALMER. In pnrsualfce to the notice I gave on Wednesday, I 

ask of the Senn,te unanimous consent to take up Order of Business 436, 

being the joint resolution (S. ~. 19) proposing an amendment to the 

Constitution of the United States, for the purpose of submitting a few 

remarks and not for final action. · · 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from :Michigan asks 

unanimous consent that the Senate take up for consideration, with a view to his submitting remn,rks upon it only, Order of Busin 436, 

being Sen~te joint resolution No .. l9, proposing an amendment to the 

Constitution of the United States. Is there objection? The Chair 

hears none. · 

1\!r. PALMER. I now give way to the Senator from Pennsylvania. 

MAJ. WILLIAM LUDLOW. 

1\'Ir. CAl\IERON; ofPennsylvania. lam directed by the Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the joint resolution (H, Res. 309) 

extending the permission granted Maj. William Ludlow l;ly the act of 

February 28, 1883, to aecept a civil position, to report it without amendment; and I ask for its immediate passage. · 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The enator from Pennsylvania< ks 

unanimous consent to report at this time a joint resolution, and he asks 

unanimous consent that the joint resolution. be now con idered. 

Mr. INGALLS. I object. 

The PRESIDENT pro te?n,1J01"e. It will be placed on the Calendar. 

l\Ir. CAMERON, of Pennsylvania . . Can I say a word? 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Michigan is entitled to the floor. 

Mr. P ALl\.IER. I call for the reading of the jomt resolution. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The resolution will be read. · 

WO~AN SUFFRAGE. 

The Chief Clerk read the joint resolution (S. R. 19) proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United State , a fo1lows: 

Resolved, &c., That the following article be propo ed to the Legislatures of the 

several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States; which, 

when ratified by three-fourths of the said Legi latures, shall be nilid as part of 

said Constitution, namely : 

. ARTiCLE-. 

SECTION L The rightof"citizens of the United States tQ vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of ex .. SEc. 2. The Congre shall haye PQWer, by appropriate legislation, to· enforce . the provisions oft~is article. 

Ir. P.A LMER. Mr. :President, this r olution involves the considThe PRESIDENT p1·o tempore. Debate is not in order. 

eration of the broadest step in the progress of the struggle for human 

liberty that has ever been submitted to any ruler or w any legislative 

body. Its ta.l..'ing is pregnant with wide changes in the pathway of 

future civilization. Its obstruction will delay and cripple our advancement. The trinity of principles whi~hLord Chatham called the ' ' Bible -The ques- · of the English constitution," namely, the 1\Iagna Charta, the Petition 
1885. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD- SENATE. 1323 

of Rights, and the Bill of Rights, are towering landmrueks in the history of our raee, but they immediately concerned but few at the time 

of their erection. 

The Declaration of Independence by the colonists, and its successful 

assertion, the estabAtshment of the right of petition, the abolition of 

imprisonment for debt··and the property qualification for suffrage in 

nearly all the States, and the recognition of the right of women to earn, 

hold, enjoy, and devise property are proud and notable gains. 

The emancipation of 4,000,000 slaves and the subsequent extension 

of suffrage to the male adults among them were measures enill:rging 

the possibilities of freedom, the full benefits of which have yet to be 

realized; but, sir, the political'emancipation of26,000,000 of our citizens, equal to us in most essential respects and superior to us in many, 

seems to me to translate our nation, almost at a bound, to the broad 

plateau of universal. equality and co"-operation to whi(,!h all these bloodstained and prayer-worn steps have surely led. 

. RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE MOVEMENT. 

The time which I may occupy in advocacy of this measure will pot 

admit of even a cursory revie~ of the history and progress of the movement whose ultimate is before us. Like life insurance and the man who carried. the first umbrella, its 

inception was greeted with derision. Born of an apparently hopeless 

revolt against unjust discrimination, unequal statutes, and cruel· con- structionsof courts,· it has pressed on and over ridicule, malice, indifference, and conservatism, until it stands in the gniy dawn before the 

most po:werful·legislative body on earth and challenges final consideration. 

In its progress it has benefited all and injt;red none. It has created a public sentiment before which Legislatru·es have bent and courts have 

bowed. 

The laws which degraded· our wives have been everywhere repealed or modified, and our children may now be born of free women. Our sisters have been recognized as having brains as well as hearts, 

and as capable of transacting their own business ~irs. 

New avenues of self-support have been found and profitably entered 

upon, and the doors of our colleges have ceased to creak their dismay 

at the approach of women. Twelve States have extended limited suffrage through their Legisla.- · 

tures, and three Territories admit all citizens of suitable age to the 

ballot-box, while from no single locality in which it has been tried comes any word but \hat of satisfaction concerning the experiment. 

The spirit of. inquiry attendant upon the agitation and discussion of 

this question has permeated every neighborhood in the land, and none can be so blind as to miss the universal development in self-respect, 

self-reliance, general intelligence, and increased capacity among our women. They have lost none of the_womanly graces, but by fitting 

themselves for counselors and mental companions have benefited man, more perhaps than themselves .. 

OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 

In considering the objections to this extension of the suffrage we· are 

.fortunate in finding them .grouped in the adverse report of the minority of your committee, and also in confidently assuming from the ac- knowledged ability and evident earnestness of the distinguished Senators who prepared it that all is conuincd therein in the way of argument or protest which is left to the opponents of this reform after thirty- . 

seven years of discus ion. 

I wish that every Senator would examine this report and note how 

many of its reasonings are self-refuting and how few even seem to war- rant further antagoni ·m. . They cite the physical superiority of man, but offer no amendment 

to increase the voting power of a Sullivan or to disfranchise the halt, the 

lame, tp.e blind, or the sicli. . · They regard the manly head of the family os its only proper representative, but would not exclude the adult bachelor sons. · 

They urge disability to perfQrm military service os fatal to full citizenship, but would hardly consent to resign their own rights because 

they have passed the age of conscription, or question those of Quakers, 

who will not fight, or of professional men and civic officials who, like 

mothers, are regarded as of more use to the state at home. 

They are dismayed by a vision of women in attendance at caucuses at late hours of the night, but doubtless enjoy their presence at routs 

and entertainments until the early dawn. They deprecate the appear- ance of women at political meetings; but, in Michigan, women have 

attended such meetings for years upon the earnest solicitation of those 

in charge, and the influence. of their presence has been for good. Eloqueut women are employed by State committees of all parties to can- vass in their interests and al'e highly valued and respected. 

They object, for their own States, to the addition of their former bonds- women because of their ignorance; but that risk was taken at greater 

hazard upon the adoption of the fifteenth amendment; and I hardly. 

think the gentlemen would care to acknowledge their inability to provide that control for women which they appear to have obtained over the men. . · 

They object that many women do not desire the suffrage and that some would not exercise it. It is probably true, as often claimed, that 

many slaves did not desire emancipation in 1863, and there are men in 

most communities who do not vote, ·but we hear of no freedman to-day 

who asks re-enslavement and no proposition is offered to disfranchise ~ll 

men ~ecause some neglect their duty. · 

The minority profess a willingness to have this measure considered as a local issue rather than a national one, but those who recall the 

failures to extend the ballot to black men, in the most liberal Northern 

States, by a popular vote, may be excused if they question their frankn.ess in suggesting this transfer of responsibility. 

The education ofthe people of a whole State on this particularques~ 

tion is a much more laborious and expensive work than an appeal to 

the several Legislatures. The subject would be much more likely to 

r-eceive intelligent treatment at the hands of the picked men of a-State, 

where calm·discussion may be had, than at the polls where prejudice 

and tradition oftentimes exert a more potent influence t:Q.an logic and. 

justice. . To deny this method to the women of this country is to discriminate 

against them invidiously. · 

A whole race, distinct from us, was enfranchised in this way, after 

repeated attempts· at securing popular approval from .the voters had 

failed, and to refuse it to those to w pom we are bound by the dearest 

ties ·betrays an indifference to their requests, (fr an inexplicable adhesion to prejudice, which is only sought to be defended by an asserted 

regard for women, which to me seems most illogical. 

I share no fears of the degradation of women by the ballot. I believe 

rather that it will elevate-men. I believe. the tone of .our politics will 

be higher; that our caucuses.will be jealously guarded, and our con- ventions more orderly and Q.ecorous. I believe the polls will be freed 

from the vulgarity and coarseness which now-too often surround them; 

and that the polling booths, instead of being in the least attractive parts 

of a ward or townJ will be in the most attractive; instead of being in 

stables, will be in parlors. I believe the character of candidates will be more closely scrutinized and that better officers will be chosen to make 

and administer the laws. · I believe that the casting of the ballot will 

be invested with a seriousness-! had almost said a sanctity-second 

only to a. religious observance. 

.:XHE MISU E OF THE BIBLE. 

The objections enumerated above appear to be the ollly profferings 

against this measure excepting certain fragmentary quotations and deductions from the sacred Seriptures; and here, :Mr. President, I desire 

to enter my most solemn protest. . The opinions 'of Patll and Peter as to what was the best polic;ly for 

the struggling churches under their supervision, in deferring to the 

prejudices of the communities which they desired to attract and benfit, were not inspirations for the guidance of our civilization in matters of 

political co-operation; and every apparent il;lhibition of the lev:elment 

of the· caste of sex may be neutralized by selections of other paragraphs 

and by the general spirit and trend of the Holy Book. 

• In the history .of hum:m advancement no single influence has been so powerful as that of the Bible. It has sufficed i'or all the ages passe<! 

and will suffice for the ages to come. To its students has come wisdom~ 

Its precepts have trained to virtue. To the wretched it :Q.as afforded 

comfort, and to the sorr6wing it has brought consolation. None have 

learned from it bad citizenship, and i!;s guidance has ever led to gentleness, honor, and truth. Its histories, poems, and inspired directions: 

altogether, inculca~e the broadest equality of the hUJD.aD race and the 

greatest tenderness of mutual ;rights; while its pyramidion, the Golden 

Rule, voiced by the Saviour, con tams the essence of all the law -and the 

prophetS. ·. · . 

Sir, my reverence for this grandest of all compilations, human or divine, compels a proteBt against its being cast into the street as a barricade against every moral, political, and social reform; lest, when tho 

march of progress shall have swept on and over to its consnmmation, it 

may appear to the superficial observer that it is the Bible which has 

been overthro'Yll and not its· erroneous interpretation. 

TRADITION AND PREJUDICE SHOULD BE LAID ASIDE. 

Sir, if, with our present experience of the needs and dangers of co- operative government and our present observation of woman's social 

and econm:qic status, we could divest ourselves of ·our traditions and 

prejudices, and the question of suffrage should come up for incorporation into a ;new organic law, a distinction based upon sex would not be 

entertained for a moment. . . lt seems to me that we should divest ourselves. to the utmost extent 

possible of theSe entanglements Qftradition and judicially examine three 

questions relative to the proposed extension of suffrage: First. Is it 

right? Second. Is it desirable? Third. Is it expedient? If these be 

determined a:ffi.r.qtatively our duty is plain. 

IS IT RIGHT? 

If the right of the governed and. the taxed to a voice in determining by 

whom they shall be governed and to what extent and for what purposes 

they may be taxed is not a natural right, it is nevertheless a right to 

the declaration and establishment of which by .the fathers we owe all 

that we possess of liberty. They declared taxation without representa~ 

tion to be tyranny, and grappled with the most powerful nation of their 

day in a seven years' struggle for the overthrow of such tyranny. 

·~ 
1324 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. FEBRUARY 6, 

It appears incredible to me that any one can indorse the principles proclaimed by the patriots of 1776 and deny their application to women. . Samuel Adams said: 

Representation and legislation, as well as taxation, are inseparable, according to the spirit of our Constitution and of all others.that are free. · 

Again, he said: 

No man can be justly taxed by,or bound in conscience to obey, any law to which he has not given his consent in person or by his representative. 

And again: 

No man can take another's property from him without his consent. ·This is 

the law of nature; nnd a violation ofitis the same thing whether it is done by one man, .who is called a king, or by five hundred of another denomination. 

James Otis, in speaking of the :rights of the colonists as descendants 

of Englishmen, said they "we:re not to be cheated out of them by any 

phantom of ·virtual representation or any other fiction of law or -politics." 

Again: 

No snch phrase as virtual represenlatioq is known in law or constitution. It 

is altogether a subtlety and illusion, 'i\!holly unfounded and absurd. 

The Declaration o{ Independence asserts that, t~ secure the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, governments are instituted among•men, "deriving their just powers from the con- sent of the governed.'' 

Benjamin Franklin wrote. 

That liberty or freedom consists in having an actual share in the appointment of those who frame the laws and who nre the guardians of every man's life, 

property, and peace. That they who have no voice :1;1or vote in the electing of representatives do not enjoy liberty, but are absolutely enslaved to those who haYe votes and to their representatives. · · · . 

James .l\Iadison saicl: 

Under every Yiew of the subject, it seems iii dispensable that the mass of the 

citizens should not be without a. voice in making the laws which they are to obey, and in choosing the magistrates who are to admiuister them.; 

But it ·seems unnecessary to multiply these excerpts, familiar to every 

student of the history of those times. · These declarations were not confined to our shores. 

Lord Somers said: 

Among all the rights and privileges a.ppertaining unto us, that of having a share in the legislation, and being governed by such laws as we ourselves shall cause, is tlre most fundamental ana essential us well as the most advantageous and beneficial. 

The judicious Hooker wrote: 

Agreeable to the s:une just privileges of natural equity.is that·llllL-..:im of the 

English constitution that" Law to bindal'l.must be assented to by :ill," and there can be no legal appearance of assent without some degree of repr.e entntion. 

In 1790, Condorcet, in his treatise on the admission of women to the 

rights of citizenship in France, Sa.ys: 

Now, the 1·ights of men result solely from the fact that tliey are rational beings, susceptible of acquiring moral ideas and reasoning on those ideas. 'Vomen, 

baving the same qualities, have the same equal rights. Either no one individual of the human kind hl\S true rights or all have the same, and one who vot.s against the right of another, whatever be 'that other's religion, color, or sex, from that moment forfeits his own. 

:Mirabeau condenses the whole question in his definition that" a :representative body should be. a. miniature of the w bole community." . The right of women to personal representation through the ballot seems to me unassailable, wherever the right of man is conceded and 

exercised. I ca.n conceive of no possible abstract justification for the 

exclusion of the one and the inclusion of the other. · 

"IS IT DESffiADLE? 

Is the recognition of this :right desirable? The earliest mention of 

the Saxon peoples is found in the Germany of Tacitus, and, in his terse 

description of them, he states that "in all grave matt&s they consult 

their women." Can we afford to dispute t)le benefit of this counseling 

in the advancement of our race? 

The measure oftbe ~ivilization of any nation maybe no more surely 

ascertained by its consumption of salt than by the social', economic, and 

political status of its women. It is not enough for contentment that we assert the superiority of our women in intelligence, virtue, and self-sustaining qualities, but we are to consider the profit to them and to the State in their further advancement. · 

Our statistics are•lamentably meager in information as to the status 

of our women outside their mere enumeration, but we learn that in a. single State 42,000 are assessed and pa.y one-eleventh of the total burden of taxation, with no voice in its disbursement. 

From the imperfect gleaning of the Tenth Census we le.'\m that of 

the total enumerated bread-winners of the United States more than 

·one-seventh are women. They are classified in round terms as follows: 

Agriculture, 600,000; professional and personal services, 1, 400,000; trade 

and transportation, 60,000; manufactures and medu'tnical and mining 

industries, 600,000. That these 2,647,157 citizens of whCilm we have 

official information labor from necessity, and are everywhere underpaid, 

is within the knowledge and observation of every Senator upon this 

floor. · 

Only the Government makes any ·pretense of paying women in accord- ance with the labor performed-without submitting them to the competition of their starving sisters, whose natural dignity and self-respect 

have suffered from being driven by the fierce pressure of mint into the 

few and crowded avenues for the exchange of their labor for bread . Is it not the highest exhibit of the moral superiority of our .women 

.that so very few consent to exchange pinching penury for gilded vice? 

Will the po~ession of the ballot multiply and widen these avenues to self-:support and independence? . The most thoughtful women who have given the· subject thorov.gh 

examination believe it, and I can not but infer that many men, looking 

only to their own selfish interests, fear it. 

History teaches that every class which has assumed political responsibility bas been materially elevated and improved thereby, and I can not believe that the rule would have an exception in the women of 

to-day. 

I do not say that to the idealized women so generally described by 

obstructionists-the dainty darlings whose: prototypes a:re to be found 

in the heroines of Walter Scott and Fennimore Cooper-immediate 

awakening would come; but to the toilers, the wage-workers, and the women of affairs the consequent enlargement of possibilities would give new courage and stimulate to new endeayor, and the state would be 

the gainer thereby. 

The often urged fear that the degraded and vicious would swarm to 

the polls, while the intelligent and viJ:tuous would stand aloof, is fully 

met by the fact that the former class has nev~r asked for the suffrage or shown interest in its seeking, while the hundreds of thousands of 

petitioners are frQID our best and noblest women, including those whose 

efforts for the amelioration of the wrongs and sufferings of others have won for them imperishable tablets in the temple of humanity. 

Would fear be entertained that the state would suffer mortal harm 

if, by some str:tbge :revolution, its exclusive control should be turned over to an oligarchy composed of such women· as ba.ve been and are identified with the agitation for the political emancipatio~ 0~ their 

sex't 

Saloons, brothels, and gaming-houses might vanish before such na. administration; wars-~voi~ble with safety· and honor-might not be 

undertaken and 4xes might be diverted to purposes of general sanitation and higher education; but neither in these respects nor in efforts 

to lift the bowed and strengthen the weak would the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happine.ss be placed in peril. 

Women have exercised the highest civil powers in all ages orthe 

world-from Zenobia. to Victoria-and ha.ve exhibited statecraft and 

military capacity of high degree without det~ting from their graces as women or their virtues as mothers. · A woman, Mrs. Ross, designed the America.n flag. 

The records of all wars show the presence of women in the ranks. 

More than four ·hundred were discovered in· the Union Army who bad 

eh1elecl the scrutiny of the mustering officers and served in disguise. 

The services of Clam Barton, Dorothea. Dix, Elizabeth Blackwell, 

ancl hundreds of other noble women were as valuable as any received. 

That the most important campaign of that war was planned by Anna 

Ellu. Carroll is attested by the report of the Committee on Military Affairs of the House of Representatives March 3, 1881, as "fully ~stablished," and was vouched for in elaborate detail byRon. B. F. Wade, 

chairman of the Committee on the Conduct of the War, soon after its 

triumphant close permitted him to speak. 

The rallying of a Michigan regiment by Ann Ethridge and leading 

them again into the hot fires of Chancellorsville was only a repetition 

of the cbiv.alrous deeds of women :recorded in every age. 

The preponderance of women in our churches, our charitable organizations, our educational councils has been of such use as to suggest the 

benefit of their incorporation in to our voting force to the least observant. 

.;1 woman who owns railroad or manufacturing or inining stock may 

vote unquestioned by the side of the brightest business men of ou:r con- tinent, but if she transfers her property into :real estate she loses all 

voice in its control. . 

Their abilities, intellectual, physical, and political, are as various as ours, and they err who set up any single standard, however lovely, by 

which to determine the rights, ne(lcls, and possibilities of the sex. To me the recognition of their capacity. for full citizenship is right 

and desirable, and it on1y r~mains to con!':ider whether it is safe, whether 

it is expedient. . · 

IS IT EXPEDIENT ? 

·To this let experience answer. to the extent that. the experiment has 

been tried. 

During the first thirty years of the independence of New Jersey, universal suffrage was only limited by a property qualification; but we do 

not learn that divorces were common, that families were more divided 

on political than on religious differences, that children were neglected 

or that patriotism languished, although the first seven years· of that 

experiment were years of decimating war, and the remaining twentythree of poverty and recuperation-conditions most conducive to discontent and erratic legislation. 

The reports from Wyoming, which I have examined, are uniform in 

satisfaction with the system, and I do not learn therefrom that women require greater physical strength, fighting qualities, or masculinity to 

deposit a ballot than a letter or visiting-card; while in their service as 
1885. CONGRESSIONAL. RECORD-SENATE. 1325. 

juro:t:a they have exhibited greater courage than their brothers in finding verdicts against _desperadoes_in accordance with the facts. 

Governors, judges, officers, and citizens unite in praises of the influ- ence of women upon the making and execution of wholesome laws. 

In Washington Territory, last fall, out of a total v_ote of 40,000, 

12,000 ballots were cast by women, and everywh~e friends were re- joiced and opponent~ silenced as apprehended dangers vanished upon 

approach. 

Some of the comments of converted newspaper editors which have 

reaclled us are worthy of preservation and future reference. The electio·ns were quiet and peaceable for the first time; the brawls of brutal men gave place to the courtesies of social intercourse; saloons wer() 

closed, and nowhere were the ladies insulted or in any way annoyed. 

From the Isle of Man, where universal suffrage obtains, comes similar 

approval " 

Women vote intelligently and safely, and it does not appear that their 

place is solely at home any more than that the fanner should never leave 

his farm, the mechanic his shop, the teacher his d~k, the clergyman his 

study, or the professional man his office for the purpose of expressing 

his wishes and opinions at the -tribunal of the ballot-box . To-day-and to a greater extent in the nea1· future-we are confronted 

with political conditions dangerous to the integrity of our nation. 

In the unforeseen but consistent absorption· from immigrants and 

former bondsmen of a vast army of untrained voters, without restrictions as to intelligence, character, or patriotism, many political econo- mists see the material for anarchy and public demoralization. 

It is claimed that the necessities of parties compel subserviency to 

the lawless and vicious classes in our cities, and that, without the addition of a cotmterbalancing element, the enactment and enfo.rcement 

of wholesome statutes will soon be impossible. 

Fortunately that needed element is not far to seek. It stands at the 

door of the Congress urging annexation. In its strivings for justice 

it has cried aloud fu petitions froii}. the best of our land, and more than 

one-third of the present voters of fiv~ States have· indorsed its cailse. 

Its advocates are no longer the ridiculed few but 'the-respected many. 

A list of the leaders of pJ;ogressive thought of this generation who 

espouse and urge this reform would be too lon~ and comprehensive for 

recital. 

Mr. President, I do not ask the submission of this amendment, nor shall I urge its adoption because it is desired by a portionofthe.A.merican wom.en, although in intelligence, property, and numb(u-sthatportion would seem to have every requisite for the· enforcement of their 

demands; neither are we bound to give undue regard to the timidity 

and hesitation of that possibly larger portion who shrink from additional responsibilities; but I ask and shall urge it because the nation 

has need of the co-operation ofwomen in.its direction. 

The war power of every government compels, upon occasion; all citizens of suitable age and -physique to leave their homes, families, and 

avocations to be merged in armies, whether they be willing or unwilling, cmven or bold, patriotic or indifferent, an<_l no one gainsays the 

right, because the necessities. of state require their services. 

We have passed the _harsh stages incident to our permanent institlltion. We have conquered our independence, conquered the respect of 

European powers, conquered our neighbors on the Western Continent, 

and at vast cost of life and waste have conquered our internal differ- ences and emerged a nation unquestioned from without or within. 

Our heroic and semi-barbarous ages have closed and slumber in history, never, I trust, to be rea~ted. . The great questions of the future conduct of our people are to be 

economic and social ones. No one questions the sn:Periority of womanly 

instinctB, and conseqb.ent thought, in the latter, and the rep~ ted fail- ures and absurdities exhibited "by male legislators in the treatment of 

the former, should give pause to any assertion of superiority there. · The day has come when the counsel and service of women is required 

by the highest interests of the state, and who shall gainsay their con- scription? 

We place the ball~ in the keeping of immigrants who have grown 

middle aged or old in the environment of governmentB dissimilar to the 

apirit and purpose of ours, and we do well; because the responsibility 

accompanying the trust tends to examination, comparison, and conse- quent political education; but we decline to avail ·onrselves of the aid 

of our daughters, wives, and mothers, who were born and are already _ cdll:caf:ed under our sys~m, reading the same newspapers, books and, 

penodicals as ourselves, proud of our common history, tenacious of our theories of human rights, and solicitous for Qur future progress. . 

Whatever may have been wisest as to the extension of .suffrag"e to 

this tender and humane class, when wars of assertion or conquest were likely to be -considered, to-day and to-morrow and thereafter no valid reason seems assignable for longer neglect to avail ourselves of their as- sociation. . . 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. If there be no objection, the joint 

resolution will be returned to the Calendar. 

HOUSE BILLS REFERRED. 

The bill (H: R. 7496) for the relief of Wehrle, Werk &.Son was read 

twice by its title, and referred t-o the Committee on Finance. ' 

· The bill (H. R. 3236) for the relief of Ernest H. Wardwell was read 

twice by its title. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The bill will be referred to the Committee on Claims. 

M.r. HAMPTON. I suggest that the bill .be sent to the Committee on Milit:.ary Affairs. · 

~e PRESIDENT pro tempor-e. The Chair directed the reference to 

the Committee on Claims as from ita appearance the bill seems to provide for a claim. If the Senator from South Carolina moves to refer 

the bill to-the Co~ttee on Military Affairs, the Cl!air will entertain 

the motion. 

:Mr. HAMPTON. It is similar to the Senate bill.which, on my mo- tion, was recommitted to the Committee on Military Affairs the other 

day. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. If there be no objection the reference 

will be changed, and the bill will be referred to the Committee on Mili- _tary Affairs. 

The foRowing bills were severally read twice by their titles, and re- ferred to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds! 

A bill (H. R. 1013) for the erection of a public building at Troy, N. ~;and · · A bill (H. R. 5674) for the erection of a public building at the city 

of Tyler, in the State of Texas. _ The joint resolution (H. Res. 320) authorizing the printing of the 

report of the Commissioner of Ed~cation for 1883 and 1884 was read 

twice by its title, and referred to the_ Committee on Printing. 

GOVERNMENT BUIL:q:nm IN JAPAN. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore laid before the Senate the following 

message from the President of the United States; which was referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relatiom;, and, with the accompanying 

documents, ordered to be printed: 

To the &nate and House of Representatives of the United States: 

r'hercwith transmit a communica.tion from the Secretary of State relative to 

the Japanese Government's offer to donate a valuable piece of land to the 

United States in fee-simple for legation purposes, and earnestly recommend that 

the Executive may be immediately authonzed to accept the gift in the name of 

the United States, nnd to tender to his Imperial JapaneseMajesty'sGovetnment a suitable expression of this Government's thanks for the generosity which ·prompted the presentation of so desirable a site of ground. - I deem it unnecessary to eslarge upon the stat~ment of the Secretary of State. 

I feel certain, however, that a persual of his com.Dlunication will at once com- mend itself to the favorable attention of Congress, and doubt not that the neces- sary authorization of Congress will be immediat~ly given for the acceptance of 

the gift, as well as insure early action looking to the erection on the premises of suitable public buildings for the use of the legation of the United States at Tokio. This step can not but be favorable to the United States in every honorable way, while the disinterest~d motives of a friendly foreign government de- serve from us a proper and just recognition. 

ExECUTIVE MANSION, 

Washington, February 5, 1885. 

CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 

THICKNESS OF STEAM-BOILERS. 

The PRES~ENT pro tmnpore laid before the Senate the amendment of 

the House of Representatives to the bill (S. 1793) to a~ end section 4434 

of title 52 of the Revised· Statutes of the United States} concerning com- merce and navigation and the regulation of steam-v:essels, which was, in 

line 15, after the word "sounds," to insert "or the great lakes, or any 

of them, and water flowing to and from the same, or any of them." 

Mr. CONGER. ·I move that the Senate concur in theamendmentof 

the House of Representatives: 

The amendment was eoncurred in. 

.A~DMENT TO THE INDIA.!.~ .APPROPRIATION BILL. 

Mr. VAN WYCK submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 

by him to)he Indian appropriation bill; which was referred to the-Committee on Appropriations, and ordered to be printed. 

FEES . IN PENSION CASES. . 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. ~he bill taken up on the motion of 

the Senator from Tennessee [Mr. J .ACKso:N] is now before the Senate. 

The Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the 

bill (S. 2511) relating to claim agents and attorneys in pension cases. Jrlr. JACKSON. I am instructed by the Committee on Pensions to 

propose certain amendments to the bill. At the (1nd of section 2, after 

the word "pensions," I move to add the words: 

Under such regdl.ations as the Commissioner of Pensions-may prescribe. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. JACKSON. In section 3, line 8, after the word" dollars," I move to insert: 

Subject to revision by the Commissioner of Pensions· as to the amount to be ~~ . . 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. JACKSON. In section 3, line 11, I move to strike out the word "twenty-e~h~" and insert "twentieth;" S<?~ to read:," June 20th; 

1878," wh1ch IS the date of the statute referred to. · The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. JACKSON. In section 5, line 6, after the word "thereof," I move to insert "under such contract;" so as to read: 

Or arrears thereof, under such contract, greater than is herein~provided. 

The amendment. was agreed to. 
1326 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENA-TE. FEBRUARY 6, 

Mr. JACKSON. In section 6, line 4, I move to strike out the word 

''twenty-eighth n and insert "twentieth;" so as to read: "20th day of 

June, 1878." · · 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. JACKSON. In section 6, line 16, aflier the-word "duress," I move to strike out all down to and including the word ''act,'' in line 

18, in the following words: 

, For the prosecution of claims .filed ~fter the 4th day of Jnly, 188i, and prior to 

the passage of this act. . 

And to insert: 

In accordance with existing law. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to the 

amendment. 

Mr. JACKSON. It i'i proper to explain that amendment, which is 

the most material one offered by the committee. 

certify to the pension agent paying the pension the tact that a new contract has 

been filed in the Pension Bureau, and on account thereof no deduction shall be 

made. • ' 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. JACKSON. In section 7, line 3, I move' to strike out the word 

"heretofore" and insert " or may be;" so as to read: 

That this ·act shall riot be o construed as to prohibit any <:laimant the pro e- cution of whose claim has been or may be abandoned by his attorney from em- ploying another attorney or agent. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. JACKSON. Thenextamendmentthat !wish to propo eon behalf of the Committee on Pensions is in section 8, line 18, after the word 

''State" to insert the words "or Territory." 

Mr. HARRISON. · May I ask the Senator from Tennessee whether 

by section 8 it is intended to prohibit the pay~ent of the fee of. $25 by a &<>ldier residing in the District of Columbia to an agent in the District? 

Mr. JACKSON. No, sir. 

Mr. HARRISON. It does so, I think. 

Mr. JACKSON. That was not the intention. . 

.Mr. HARRISON. That is the effect of the section, I think, as it 

stands. · 

lli. JACKSON. I suggest to add '~or the District of Co~umbia;" 

I!!O as to read: . 

: Since the passage of the aet of July 4, 1884, certain new contracts 

have been made and entered into for the payment of $25 on the cases pending between 1878 and the date of- the passage of that act. So)lle 

of those contracts, it is presumable, were entered into fairly and un- derstandingly. If so, it is not in our power to abrogate or disregard 

them. The purpose of the amendment is to leave in force such con- tracts as have been entered into under the act of 1884, where those new contracts have not been procured by fraud or duress. We did not feel 

that we were at liberty to disturh contracts that ·were fairly entered Pro1tidtd, That the provisions of this ad authorizing contracts for a fee of 825 l.l shall be limited to attorneys or agents residing in the State, or Territory, or into under existing law, arid so we propose the amendment that those the District of Columbia.. . 

contra~ts made without fraud or dureSs, in accordance with the existing The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Tennessee modifies 

law, may stand. his amendment. The quest~on is on agreeing to the l\mendment as , Mr. ALLISON. As I understand this provision, without the amend- modified. 

ment suggested by the Senator from Tennessee all contra.cts fairly made The amendment was agreed to. 

are preserved if they relate to claims filed after the 4th of July, 1884. Mr. JACKSON. The next amendment which I propo e on behalf 

Taking the whole provision together from the word "provided," in of the Committee on Pensions is in seCtion 8, line 19, after the word 

line 14, down to the word "act," in line 18, it preserves all contracts "attorneys" to strike out the words "in the Di trict of Columbia" 

that were entered into since the act of 1884 relating t-o pension claims and insert a residing elsewhere;" so as to read: . 

filed after J nly 4, 1884, does it not? And shall not extend to agents or attorneys residing elsewhere. 

Mr. JACKSON. Yes, sir; I think it does; but the committee had some doubt and preferred t-o make that perfectly clear. The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. ALL~ON. If th.:l.t provision were to stand as found in the bill, 1\Ir. JACKSON. In section 8, line 21, after the word "State,'' I move and then if the repe..'l.ling clause were to stand, all contracts made re- to insert the w_ords "or Territory, or the District pf Columbia." 

specting pension claims filed after ·the,20th of June, 1878, and before The amendment was agreed to. 

the 4th of July, 1884, would be nullified by the bill. Mr. JACKSON. I believe t~at covers all the amendments suggested 

.Mr. JACKSON. That is not the purpose of the amendment, and it by the Committee on Pensions. was not the intention of the committee. If it has that effect, of course Mr. PLATT. If I may be permitted to go back-to the sixth section, we had better l~ve it as the bill originally stood, and the amendment I wish to call the attention of the Senator from Tennessee to the apought to be voted down, for that was not the intention of the com- parent effect of that section as amended, according to my understandmittee. . ing of it: I understand that the Senator desires to have the section 

Mt. ALLISON. What I wish to call the attention of the Senator when amended validate the contracts which have been made since the 

to is ~his: The Committee on Appropriations co.nsidered tpis clause and passage of the act of July 4, 1884, with referen~ to clain:i.s filed since 

they agreed with the Committee on Pensions that we could not nullify 1878, so that wher~ contracts have been entered I? to fo~ the payment 

contracts fairly made relating to p~ion claims filed after the 20th of of more than $10, if thos~ contracts W:ere entered mto Without fraud or 

June, 1878. Therefore the Committee on Appropriations suggested an . ~uress, they shall not be m~rfered Wlth ?Y the bilL I fear that such 

amendment looking to an abrogation of so much of the law as requires IS not the effect of the section. It proVIdes: 

the Pension Office to pursue the claim up to the point of payment, leav- That no agent or attorney shall either demand or receive, on account of the 

ing the pensioner and the attorney to settle that question as best they prosecution of any claim J>rovidcd for under the provisions of this act, where such claim was filed after the 28th day of June, 1878, and prior to the 4th day of 

may between themselves, not requiring the Pension Office to pursue July, 1884, any fee or sum of money in excess or $10. 

the claim; so that if the amendment suggested by the Committee on Further on in this section there is this proviso, as amended: 

Appropriations to the pension appropriation ·bill shall be adopted it Provided, That this act shall not be so const.ued as t.o interfere with any con- seems to me the language now found in the bill should be retained. · tracts, entered into fairly and without fraud or duress, in accordance with ex- 1\Ir. JACKSON. rrhe amendment proposed by the Committee on isting law. 

Appropriations will harmonize exactly With the amendment proposed Then the repealing clause repeals the law of July 4, 1884, so that 

by me on behalf of the Committee on Pensions. We simply mean that when the bill passes that law will not l)e inexistence. It seems to me new contracts which have been made and entered. into -without fraud or the effect of it is that as to all contracts which ha;e been made under 

duress shall not be disturbed by the bill, and our amendment I think the act of July 4, 1884, they will not be validated. I do notknowthali 

accompliihes that purpose. It m¥:es the proviso'read: I understand it, but upon a casual examination, having now looked at 

PNYIJided, That this act shall not be so const.rned as to interfere with any con- it for the first time, it seems to me that that is the effect. 

tracts, entered into fairly and without fraud or duress, in accordance with exist- lli. JACKSON. I think it is hardly subject j,o that criticism inas· 

ing law. . much as this measure recognizes the validity of contracts entered into 

Mr. PLATT. I should like to ask the Senator from Tennessee a ques- without fraud or duress under existing law. If you do' repeal the ex- tion so that I may understand this matter. In the pet¢.on approp.ri- isting law, still the contracts made tJD.der it are good. 

ation act of July 4, 1884, there was certain legislation about the fees 1\Ir. HARRIS. If my colleague will allow me !suggest that instead 

of pension attorneys. Is it the intention of the committee reporling of the words ''existing law'' he substitute the words ''existing at the 

this bill that where contracts have been entered into since that date time of m.al.'ing such contract.' 1 That would make it perfectly plain. 

under that legislatio·n, without fraud or duress, those contracts shall be :Mr. JACKSON. Upon the suggestion of.npr colleague, I will pro· 

validated and preserved? pose to amend it so as to make it read : lli. JACKSON. Yes, sir; that is· just the purpose of the amend- In accordance with the laws existing a.t the time of making such contmct. 

ment. ThePRESIDINGOFFICER l\Ir.GARLA~i·ninthechair . Theques- The PRESIDENTpro tempore. The Senator from Tennessee asks 

tion is on agreeing to the amendment offered by the Senator from Ten· unanim.ollS consent to ainend the amendment already agreed to in secnessee on behalf of the Committee on Pensions. tion 6, lines 16 to 18, so as to read : The amendment was agreed to. In accordance with the laws existing at the time of making such contract. 

Mr. JACKSON. I movetoadd'at the end of section 6 the following Is there objectfon to modifying the amendment already agreed to in 

additional proviso: the manner proposed by the Senator from Tennessee? The Chair hears 

.A.ndprO'Videdfurther, That in all cases filed after June 20,18i8, and prior t~ no objection, and it is so ordered. 

July 4,1884, where new contracts have been entered into under the act of July Mr. INGALLS. I should like the Senator from Tennessee toexoUrin 

4, 188-t. no deduction for attorney's fees shall be made by any pension agent from the ob; ect and reason of the proviso in section 8 which declares 'f that the pension allowed; but the whole amount of such pension shall be paid di- " 

rectly to the claimant; and in all such cases the C.oiiUDlSsioner of Pensions shall the provisions of this act authorizing contracta for a fee of $25 shall b6 
1885. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 1327 

limited to att.Qrneys or agents residing in the State or Territory or the 

District of Columbia, where the claimant resides, and shall not extend 

to agents or attorneys residing elsewhere," and also forbids attorneys 

resident in a State where the clahnant resides "to enter into partnership with or otherwise to divide the fee of $25 with any attorney or 

agent" residing elsewhere. .The provisions ,are certainly novel, and 

unless there is some reason other than that which has been presented to 

the Senate, I should say that they were of doubtful propriety. The 

Senator frQm Tennessee may of course have information t}m.t is denied 

to the rest of us at this time. · 

Mr. JACKSON. I have no special information in reference to it. 

The whole Senate is familiar with what has taken place under the inadvertent legislation of July 4, 1884. · · · 

Mr. INGALLS. I am not familiar with it. I should be vety glad 

if the Senator would sta.te wha"t the pradice :Qas heen under that legislation which requires the adoption of this proviso. . 

Mr. JACKSON. I only refer to that incidentally; but the general 

idea of the committee was that this business could be done better, more 

safely, and at less expense to the pensioner if conducted in the locality 

of his residence; and that when we are legislating uJ)on the subject of 

fees, and to increase fees, we should, as far a-s'pos:Jible, encoura,ae the 

claims being investigated 34 near the locality of the applicant as possible. · · 

Mr. INGALLS. There is much force in what the Senator from Tennessee states uP<>n that point; but take an illustration: Suppose that 

in some remote locality upon the frontier an attorney has two or three 

pension cases which are submitted to him for preparation. Of course 

he takes that in connection with his other business. It is absolutely 

essential that he should have some information or some co-opemtion 

elsewhere, it may be here at the capital, from attorneys who are competent to act il1 these case3 ana who have special information. What 

is the reason why such an attorney, having two or three cases, should 

be forbidden from saying to anybody residing here that for the assistance he will render at the Pension Office he shall have a portion of the 

fee? 

Mr. JACKSON. If the Senator will notice the eighth section of the 

bill he will see that that provision relates alone t.o this proposed con- tingent fee of$25. If we increased the claim agent's contingent fee to 

$25 we thought it advisable and good policy to let that class of ca.Ses go as near the locality of the claimant as posiible. 

Mr. INGALLS. Is not the fee of $25 dependent upon the decision 

of the Commissioner of Pensions? 

Mr. JACKSON~ No, sir; if the contract is made without fraud the 

attorney gets his $25 without reference to the sanction or approval of 

the Commissioner. · Mr. INGALLS. I thought the discretion of the Commissioner of 

Pensions was reserved in the bill. 

Mr. JACKSON. I think not, sir. 

Mr. INGALLS. I am very clear that the Senator's reading is different from mine. 

Mr. ALLISON. The Senator from Tennessee introduced au amendment to that.effect. . • 

Mr. JACKSON. Yes, sir; I I>eg pardon. 

Mr. INGALLS. That amendment was agreed to, and therefore it is 

now a part of the bill. 

:MI-. JACKSON. I was thinking of the bill as originally reported. 

We have made an amendment which makes it subject to the approv~l 

of the Commissioner. 

Mr. INGALL';. So that this fee of $25 is conditioned, ·as the bill 

now stands, upon the decision of the Secretary of the Interior or the 

Commissioner of Pensions? · 

Mr. JACKSON. Yes, sir; upon the approval of the Coillliiissioner. 

Mr. INGALLS. Therefore ~here is no longer any doubt ·or danger 

about the pension appli~nt being imposed upon by agreeing to pay a fee larger than what equity would require. With that safeguard, what 

is the reason, in the case I have suggested, why an att.Qrney having but 

two or three applicants -who have applied to him· for assistance should 

be denied the privilege of sa.ying to some attorney here in this District 

who has access to the Department that for the purpose of filing the 

papers and ascertaining the status of the case he would divide with him 

the emolument he is to receive? • 

:rtfr. JACKSON. In the in.Uvidu3J. case stated by the Senator from 

Kansas there would be an apparent hardship, but the uommittee thought 

it would be the best anc) wisest policy of legislation upon the subject 

of increasing fees to transfer the business as far as possible to the locality of the applicant for a pension. We know, and wecannotasSenat01.'S shut our eyes to the facts, that the existence of the pension claims 

agencies here leads to a great deal of pernicious legislation. Those 

agents press the Senate, they press the. committees ~ various ways, 

and through their influence and by inadvertence and inattention pernicious legislation creeps in upon the subject of pensions. The Committee on Pensions thought it was wise policy to transfer this bUBiness, 

so far 1l.B could be done by legislation, to the locality of the pension applicant. . Mr. PLATT. The practice of sending pension claims to agents in 

Washington has been attended with a great many evils. On the other 

hand the practice of employing persons in the localities where the pensioner resides is attended with a great many evils. I do not know which 

practice is the b~tter. The pension agents here in Washington send ont 

circulars and secure the business, and having once secured it the applicants feel that it is not thoroughly and properly attended to. I do not undertake to say whether such is the case; but if the pension is not granted 

pretty quickly the applicant becomes thoroughly discouraged and disheartened and feels that his business is not attended to, and therefore begi.i:ts to be discontented and finds fault with the pension attorneys here in 

Washington. But, on the other hand, if a fee of $25 is provided for a local 

attorney and not for an agent here in Washington, the effect of it I ap- · prehend will be to put the · business of soliciting pensions into the 

hands of local attorneys who have really no ·understanding of the. rules 

and requirements of the Pension Office, and who, therefore, will not 

properly prosecute the claims. Either practice has a great many evils 

connected with it. I confess that I do not know which is 'the better 

practice. 

But I rose for the purpose of saying that I believe the pension applicants in my own State would be much better served if the. business 

were given t.o the officer who h::tS ~een appointed by the State of Connecticut for the especial purpose of procuring pension.s and attending 

to claims for back pay and bounty. We have, and have had for a long 

series of years, I think for as many as fifteen years, an officer appointed 

and paid by the State, who li; called the assistant adjutant-general of 

the State, and whose sole duty~ to represent pension applicants· and 

soldiers in their claims against the Government. Yet, in practice and 

experience, very few applicants go .to that officer. Although being the 

agent of the State, he has a standing in the Pension Office, is recognized as such, although no friction or controversy is likely to Mise between such an agent and the office, for SQIIle rea.sOn or other the claims 

are given either to local attorneys, who are utterly incompetent in some 

instances to prosecute the claim, or to the pension agents.in WMhington, who, if competent, are supposed, at least by those who intrust business to their care, to neglect it. . I do not know whether this evil can be remedied. There is in the 

country to-day no such prosecn.tionofpension claims as there ought to 

be. If the Committee on Pensions has thoroughly considered this matter, and believe that it is better really to transfer the bnsinessofprosecuting claims from the District of Columbia· to the localities where 

the claimants reside, I shall go with the committee and vote with it, 

although I can see the evils which will attend that practice also. 

M"r. BLAIR Any legislation upon this subje.ct is bad-bad continuously. In my belief, the legislation upon this subject had more fu do 

with the evils Lhat exist in this country in the prosecution of pension 

claims than any other o'ne cause that can be named. 

This business is like any other business, and the principles of human 

nature will assert themselves. It is a somewhat difficult business to 

perform, and incompetent men can not perform it. Competent men, in 

order that their services may~ secured, are able to obtain fair oom~nsation for what they do. To prosecute a pension claim, especially in 

these later years when such great difficulties attend the collection of 

testimony, its proper-preparation, putting it in the right form, and a compliance with the various requirements of the law, is so difficult a 

matter that a certain degree of skilled service is necessary to its proper 

'performance. . 

We have interfered, as :we do not interfere between attorney and 

client, betw~en the principal and the agent, in any other case whatever so far as I know, and we ha~ interfered with the best motive in 

the world-that is, for the protection of the pensioner or the ·claimant 

upon the bounty of the Government. In order to prevent extortion 

we have undertaken by an iron rule to limit the compensation of the 

attorney; and in doing that we have fixed the rate of compensation so 

very low that the business has fallen almost universally into the hands 

of incompetent men or a class of shysters who for the small fee are 

willing to take charge of the claims, hoping by frand and evasion of 

the law to obtain fair compensation for the services which they actnally 

do rens)er, and which services are as a. rule entirely without value to 

the claimant. By the confusion which is created in the preparation of 

testimony, by the incompetency displayed in the discharge ofthe duti 

when it.is assumed on the part of the agent, the difficulties surrounding the case originally are increased rather than diminished. 

On the other hand, those men knowing the merits of the canse, living in the locality of the applicant, knowing the -difficulties that surround the case, having the necessary qualifications belonging to the 

legal profession, or other men who have sufficient capacity to discharge 

the duties under the pension laws in the wa.y of establishing the claims, 

. have not been willing to undertake the work. They have failed to do 

it, and the legislation of the country has come to just this in its practical effect : We have said to applicants for pensions, to claimants upon 

the bounty of the Government, "Yon are en titled to certain tights, to 

certain pecuniary compe:qsa.ti.on for services and sacrifices which you 

have made for the ·country and the dis:1bility which you hav:e contracted in its service;'' but at the same time we have denied them that 

sort of justice which is necessary to the establishment of their claims. 

We have said to those who would have undertaken to assist them: ''You 

shall have such compensation as is not sn.ffi.cient to command your time 

.· 
1328 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. . FEBRUARY 6, 

and your skill." The consequence is that honest, competeJ;lt men 

throughout. the country have not undertaken this bu~ess, and they 

will not touch it. 

That really is the source of the difficulties that attend the a~istration of the pension laws far more than any other cause that may be 

found. Originating, as I say this legislation did, in the best of motives, 

it has been the one great evil that has attended and that to-day att~mds 

the adm:ini.s1cration of the pension laws. In my belief it is an evil which 

will never-be reached and remedied until w~ take that course which 

appears to be the necessary and proper course with reference to the regulation of business like this in all other cases. I would repeal all the laws there are with reference t() compensation 

to th~ attorneys who may prosecute penSion. claims, but I would enact 

the most stringent criminal legislation against those who may practice 

extortion upon these claimants ~gainst the Government. The result 

of that wolild be, as I think, that the claimant would :find assistance 

at home. If he has a good case there are plenty of men With skill an.d 

honesty who would undedakeits'prosecution and who would-see him 

through; the community would do it; but when there is nothing to be -paid at all adequate to the service that is to be rendered, or to the 

money that musj; be advanced and paid out, the proper legal assistance 

is not likely to be found. It has not been found hitherto, it is not 

likely to be found hereafter, and these difficulties will continue. 

I believe that if we should repeal the existing legislation in regard to 

the compensation of claim agents and leave this matter open to the 

natural operation of the laws of human nature, and then enact very 

stringent measures-both by way of fine and imprisonment wherever 

there is any extortion practiced on a claimant, we should reach the seat 

of the trouble. That I suppose is not likely to be done. I presume 

the legislation proposed in the bill is as good as anything else and as bad as anything else that we are likely to get; but it will not reach the 

great evil, and the rights of those who have pensiQll claims are not 

likely to be vindicated for many years to come. · Mr. BECK. . l\1L President, I am not sure that I understand this 

bill as well as I ought to do; and, therefore, perhaps .I ought not to 

speak in regard to it; but we have had the matter under consideration 

in the Committee on Appropriations for some time and very flagrant 

irregularities at least have been made apparent. The House of Representatives bas attempted, as far as it can, in the pension appropriation bill sent to us, to remedy these wrongs; and it seems now we are 

about to undo all the remedial legislation that has come to ·us in the 

bill from·.the Hou.Se, which I hold in my hand, making appropriations 

for the payment of pensions for the year ending June 30, 1886. On 

the 20th of June, 1878, a law was passed, which reads thus: 

Be it enacted b1J t"M Senate and House of Representati~es, &:c., That it shall be un- lawful for any attorney, agent; or other person to demand or receiv& for his 

services in a pension case a greater sum than $10. No fee-contract shall hereafter be filed with the Commi sioner of Pensions in nny case. In pending cases, in which a fe€H!ontract has heretofore been filed, if the pension sh1lll be allowed 

the' Commissioner of Pensions shall approve the same, as to the amount of the · fee to be paid, at the amount specified in the contract. 

That continued to be the law until1884. Under that act, if I properly understand the late report of the Commissioner of Pensions, on page 

22, he shows that the total number of original claims pending on the 

30th of June, 1884, was 239,590, and the number of claims onrejected 

:files, June 30, 1884, was 138,723, making a total of 378,313. All of 

these, at least nearly all of them, come under the provisions of the act 

of 1878, which allowed only a fee of $10. The pension .agents came before Congress and endeavored to h1tve their fees increased beyond that 

amount. Both Houses refused to do it. The bill went into a conference.committee, and after the claimsofthesemen had been rejected by 

both Houses, without a vote in either House, without the consent of 

either House, a clause was added in the act of July 4, 1884, which providedThat section 4785 of the Revised Statutes is hereby re-enacted and amended so as to read as follows: , 

Mr. BECK. That is what I understand. 

Mr. ALLISON. Will the Senator from Kentucky yield to me, be- cause I wish to say one word on this question ? 

Mr. BECK. Yes; I want to get at the facts . . 

Mr. 4-LLISON. It is also true that the provision which came from 

the House was struck out under our rule, so that when the bill went 

back to the House there was no legislation on it except what"the House 

proposed. That threw the whole legislation into the hands of the conference co~it~e-. I wish the Senator from Kentucky to a.llow me to 

state right here that the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner 

of Pensions, at least the present Commissioner of Pensions, both insisted that the legislation was wise and in accordance with the precedents. I_ mention that for the purpose of relieving the conferonce com- mittee of any desire or apparent wish to put into a bill what was not rec- ommended by the proper administrative officers of the pension system. 

Mr. BECK. . Spill the Senator from Iowa will, I helieve, agree with me that when a conference committee meets to decide between the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, neither the Secretary of the Interior nor the Commi3Sioner 9f Pensions nor anybody else has any right to come before that "committee and advise tliem in regard to anything. · 

1\ir. ALLISON. I qUite agree with the Senator from Kentucky. 

They have no right to do that. , : · Mr. BECK. .Any officer who forces himselfbeforeaconferencecommittee is de~elict in his duty, or any conference committee which allows a man to come before them to bring about a decision upon anything, 

other than the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, is derelict· in its 

duty. When they opened up all the cases between 1878 and 1884, and 

allowed a fee of $25 instead of $10 to be taken, they ·were taking just 

that much money out of the pockets of the pensioners and putting it 

into the hands of pension agents without the will of either House of 

Congress and against the known will of both. Consider the amount of 

money io be paid to the attorneys upon the claims reported by the Commissioner of Pensions pending on that day, which I have just read.; 

239,590 pending, and 138,723 which had been rejected but were still 

being pressed for restoration, and perhaps "vill be all or ih grC<'\t part 

restored, as the Commissioner told us the other day. It puts into the 

pockets of the pension agents on the 239,-590 cases, of which there is no ' 

dispute, at the rate of $15 increase, the sum of $3,593,850; and when,' on the rejected claims which are being pressed for restoration, $15 eMh 

is added, it makes the sum of$2,080,845 more. The grand total eutof1 

which the pensioners were robbed-for that is the word-robbed by this. legislation, and which was paid or is to be· paid into the hands of pension 

agents, in violation of their agreements under the law of 1878, amounts 

to the enormous sum of $5,674,695. The pension agents or attorneys 

agreed to do t.l;tat work for -$10 for each case; they had in many instances received the money, and when they managed to get the legislation of last summer through the conference commi_ttee, as I said against 

the will of both Houses, on the recommendation of the Secretary of the 

Interior, the Commissioner of Pensions, oranybodyelse, who had no busi- ness before that committee, they robbed the pensioners of this country: 

of over :five and a half million dollars. Many of them, Mcording to the 

information laid before the Committee .on Appropriations, ha-d aban.: 

doned the cases that were then pending. They had got their $10 iii 

advance, and they sold out to other men their good-will, and th~ papers' 

of a pensioner were withheld until he had to sign a contract to make ~e ~ 

fee $25. The :first fellow got his $10, and then abandoned the case and 

sold out to somebody else, who got $15 more or the applicant fora pen:: sion could not even have his papers presented. 

Now the. House of Representatives comes and demands 1ihat that legislation shall be repealed as a fraud upon the pension~rs of the country! 

That is demanded in a bill now pending before the Senate. The legis~ : 

lation ofthe House was stricken out pro forma by the Committee on! 

Appropriations in order to comply with "the rules of the Senate; but W 

not all, certainly a large majority of the members of the Co:nlmittee on! 

Appropriations, reserved 'the right not only to vote for but to maintain' 

that legislation on this floor and elsewhere, and to insist that the House 

of Representatives was right indemandingthe·repealand in refusing to 

recognize the action which had been thus surreptition&ly obtained ,in 

1884. The provision of the pension appropriation bill from·the Honse' 

is as follows: · 

1 "SEc. 4785. No agent or attorney or other person shall demand or receive any other compensation for his services in prosecuting a claim for pension or bounty land than such as the Commissioner of Pensions shall direct to be paid•to him, not exceeding S25; nor shall .such agent, attorney, or. other person -demand or receive such compensation, in whole or in part, until ·such pension or bou~tyland claim shall be allowed: Provided, That in all claims allowed since June 

20, 1878, where it shall appear to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Pensions 

that the fee of SlO, or any part thereof~ has not been paid, he shall cause the same That no age.O:t or attorney shall either demand or receive, on account. of the 

to be de<Jucted from tb.e pension, ana the pension agent to pay the same to the prosecution of any claim provided for unde1' the provisions of this act, where 

recognized attorney." · . such claim was filed after the 28th day of June, 1878, and prior to the 4th day of 

.I believe that was the clause inserted in conference. It was the July, 1884- . 

clause. Being the ti.J:lle when that law was in forceM.r. JACKSON~ Will the Senator from Kentucky allow me to ex- any fee or sum of money in excess of$10; .Dor shall said$10,oranypiutthereof, 1 · th t? be paid to any agent or attorney until he make and file ·in the office oftheCom-1 

Pam a · . missioner of Pensions the affidavit provided for in section 4 of this act;-and ~ Mr. BEC}{. I desire to have it explained. . it shall appear from said affidavit, or in a.ny other way, that all or any part ofi 

Mr. JACKSON. The House bill and the Senate bill on the subject said no has beev. paid, it shall be deducted therefromt and the residue, if ru:iy,1 

or attorneys' fees, reported at the last session, excepted from its opera- shall be paid to such attorney as hereinbefore providea. 

tion all the claims filed after the 20th of Ju.ne, 1878, and prior to the · .1\!.r. JACKSON. Will the Senator from Kentucky yield to me for a passage of the proposed legiBlation. . moment? 

M.r. BECK. I know that. M.r. BECK. Yes, sir. 

M.r. JACKSON. That clause in the conference committee was M.r. ·JACKSON. The Committee on Pensions would have bee~ 

stricken out, so that these $25 contracts now relate back and cover all. pleased to have retained the bill as it came from th& House if we. the claims that were :filed under the act of June 20,-1878. thought we could have enforced that provision. Will the Senator sng-: 
• 

1885. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 1329 ~. 

gest that it is in the power of Congress to disturb those contracts which 

have been entered into under the act of 1884, even admit~g that the 

act went through without" notice? 

Mr. BECK. I believe that fraud vitiates everything. I believe that 

a fmud was perpetrated upon the committeeS of conference of the two 

Houses. 

:Mr. JACKSON. We save the cases where the contract was under 

fraud or duress. . 

Mr. BECK. I want them to go to the courts. The same power that 

made the recommendation to give them·the $25 in the Department of 

the Interior or the Pension Office will never see a fmud. Let them go 

to the courts of the country and get their fee, nnd not put it in the hands 

of the very men who aided them in perpetrating the- fraud to decide 

whether it was a fraud or not. That is what I insist upon. The House 

assume upon the very face of the bill (and the fads will warrant them 

before any court in the counb·y) that this clause inserted, that $H>-should 

be added in' each case, amounting to over ~,000, 000, in violation of con- tracts, was h. 'duress; and I will not trust any Commissioner of Pensions or any Sec1·etary of the Interior to_ pass upon it, especially· when the 

Senator from Iowa says the Secretary and the Commissioner ad~ed 

this to be clone after both Houses had rejected it, and when a committee of conference yielded to .the pressure of men who had no 1·ight to 

speak to them abo~t matters pending before them when tbey were only 

conferring properly about the difterences between the two Houses. · Mr. JACKSON. The Senator. will allow me to s:.1y that I should be 

perfectly willing to enact that legislation and distm·b these contmcts if we had the power to do .it. The question with the committee and the 

question. with me as a lawyer was; assuming that some of these contracts 

might be valid, ha~ing been entered into freely and understandingly, 

whether Congress had power to invalidate them. 

Mr:SAULSBURY. We can .ffi. appropriating money provide that 

n3ne of the money we appropriate shall be applied to such contracts. 

Mr. ALLISON. I fear that I may ha~e been myself misunderstootl. 

I want to say that the Secretary of the Interior; I understand, recommended this legislation, and I know, ·as does the Sen::ttor from Kentucky, that the present Commissioner of Pc:msioris stated before the 

Committee on Appropriations that he would allow this ·legislation to 

stand. I did not mean to say that the C9mmissioner of Pensions at 

the time this legislation was proposed recommended it, bec:1use I do not 

know.whether he did or no't. 

Mr. HARRISON. The Sen:1tor from Kentucky will allow me to say 

·that 1 understand· from the chairman of the Comp1ittee on Pensions, 

who sits beside me [Mr. MITCHELL], that Colonel Dudley, then the 

Commissioner of Pensions, did not advise or fuvor this legislation. . Ur. ALLISON. I did not mean to say that he did so advise, and 

that was why I wished to correct myself if the Senator from Kentucky . misunderstood me. . Mr. JACKSON . . I wish, in reply to the suggestion made by the 

Senator from Delaware, to remark that one of the amendments we bave 

adopted prevents the Commissioner of Pensions from using any portion 

of the pension fund to pay these pension attorneys the $25 fee. 

Mr. BECK. And I hope it goes further and does not allow the Commissionel· of Pensions to (letail clerks, as he is now' detailing them, to 

work up the cases wherein .the men claim they have :r;tot even got the 

$10 for their former services in obtaining a pension. · Thol.t is another 

cloak of wrong. In other words1 the pension agents have managed in 

this legislation to obtain without the will of either Hous~all they ask; 

and a more skillfully drawn proposition to rob the pensioners and violate their own contracts and coerce out of them $25 each in two hundred and odd thousand cases when they had agreed to d-o the work for 

$10 never was devised. I am prepared to annul it, ang. stand by the 

House in annulling it, and I believe every court in the country will 

stand by the House in annulling that legislation when ever the facts are fairly presented. · r know that these agents, maD¥ of them not lawyers, not pretending 

to be lawyers, get up these claims in the country and send .them here 

to 'Vashington, and go into combination with people here who have 

made fortunes <>nt of the misfortunes of these poor men, and every Senator here, and I suppose every Representative, has to go to the Department day after day; I have presented hundreds of cases myself for the 

poorest people all.over Kentucky, many of whom can.neither read nor write. We ha-ve t<> do all the work of preparing their C4Ses and getting 

them through, and then there stands a bummer at the other end to "re- ceive $25 o·ut of the money which he neither helped to get nor had the 

capacity to tell how to aid the pensioner in.obtaining. , That is the way nine-tenths of these men get their fees. There is not 

aSen!torherewho doesnotknowit. I have presentedfivehundredcases. since the 1st day of December, in my opinion, and have employed the 

time of my secretary and myself to work them through and get the 

proofs, or tell the parties how to get them, while these agents are increasing their compensation from $10 up to $25 by law, going into confer- ence committees and getting men .to recommend that they onght to have 

it when they did more harm than good in the effort to obtain a pension. 

They never go to the Pension Office; they never see the papers; but 

induce the applicants to write to their Representatives and senators, a.s 

they d 1; every Senator knows it. Then they get this sort of legislation 

XVI-84 

c 

for their own benefit. I do not care whether the House is right or wrong 

in putting on appropriation bills legislation to meet this. The most 

rndical remedy to reach such men and to stop their robbery of the poor 

people ought to be applied and take the chances of the courts sustain- ~~ . 

:Mr. CALL. Mr. President, this bill provides in the eighth sectionTh:1t the provisions of this act authorizing contracts for a fee of $25 shall be 

limited to attorneys or agents residing in the State where the claimant resides, 

and shall not extend to agents or o:ttorneys in the District of Columbia.. 

The Constitution provides that'' the citizens of eaeh State shall be entitled to all pri v.ileges and immunities of citizens in the several States.'' 

Now, I suppose the right to contract with a. pension agent iii the States 

is a privilege of:~ citizen. I pre..,"'Ullle that a citizen of the District of 

Columbia is not excluded from the right to contrnct w.ith a. citizen of a · 

State, eq1,1ally with a citizen o( any pthcr State, although. the Distnct 

is not a. Htate. I have-never heard that it was within the power of Congress to provide tha.t the people who live in the District of Columbia 

shall not ha'\e. the privileges.of the citizens of each State; and manifestly the Constitution is not intended to have any such construction; 

and yet this bill provides that bec.ause a man lives in the District of 

Columbia he shall not have the same right to contract with a pensioner 

tlmt a. man h~\S who liv_es in a State. It is suggested by the Senator 

from Tex.as [Ur. COKE] he may be a citizen of some· other State t~mpomrily residing here in the· District, but manifestly there is no propriety in a provision which discriminates between citizens of the United 

:5tates, whether in tho Dist.rict of Columbia or in the States. 

Then, again, I am at loss to know where Congress gets the power to 

punjsh criminally a. man who makes a contract with another citizen 

of the Unite<l States for the payment of a fee. · I do not .find anything 

in the -powers given to Co'ngress which jru;tifi.es that. The eighth sec- tion of the first article of the Constituti-on provides· that ''Congress 

shall have power to prO\ id~ for the· punishment of counterfeiting the 

securities and current coin of the United States;" shall have power 

'·to define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the hlgb seas 

and otfen~es against the law of nations.'' B.nt the right of contract, the 

power of making a contract in good faith with another citizen, is.not 

inclnded within any ofthe:se terms and descriptions, and it ne\er was 

so intended. · 

It certainly is competent for Congress to provide that so far as the 

money appropriated for pensions ·is concerned it shall be paid entirely to 

the pensioner, and that ""no iee at all shall be charged, or that any specific amount shall be charged; and yet that would not interfere with 

the right of contract between those citiz~. When a m~n gets his 

money, it is no crime in him to give, and there is no power in Congress 

to say that it shall be a crime for another man to accept from him any 

p:irt of that money. . But this bill does not limit itself to a.."Certaining and fixing the payment of the money in the hand~ of the pensioner, but it makes it a crime and punishes severely the. man who contracts with another-one. Section 5 provides- · 

Thut a.uy agent or attorney or other person instru.II\ental in prose;uting any claim for pension, or arrears thereof, who shall directly or . indirectly contract for, demand, or receive and retain any compensation for his services or instru- mentality for prosecuting a claim fo'r pension, or arrears thereof, gre.'\ter than is herein provided; or in any other manner than herein .provided, or shall will- folly or knowingly make a false statom~nt in regv.rd to the amount of fee already . received, sb~ll be deemed guilty of a. high misdemeanor;and upon conviction thereof shall for every such offense be fined not exceeding $1,000, or be confined at hard labor not exceeding two years, or both, at the discretion of the court. 

In my judgment thiS bill is not within the powe~of Congress to pass, nor do I think it good policy. I agree wi~h the Senator from Kentucky as to the wrong and bad policy of allowing pension agents to appropriate a large portion of the ~oney voted to pensioners. I think jt very 

proper that a limitation should be laid upon the fee so far as concerns ·the p;:•yment of it by the proper officers of the Government. Rut! do 

not concur in the provisions of this bill that m;::tke it a crime for a man to contract with another one for the payment of a reasonable fee for his servi~. _ Mr. HARHISQ~. I do not wish to interpose a hasty consideration 

(and that is all I have been able to give to the eighth section) against -the ·more mature consideration of the lawyers tlpon the committee. If 

I understood the Senator from ,Tennessee, .when the object of the provisions of this secUon was inquired for by the Senator from Kansas, it was put on the ground of abuses which had grown up here in conpection with the claim-agency business in tl1e District of Columbia; and 

the bill seems originally to ha.ve been framed with the sole view of putting a limitation upon the power of agents in the District of Cdlumbia. 

to contract for a fee of. more than $10; but as tt has been amended it 

is in this shape: it applies to the States ~ well. If the object is to 

bring the attorney into the neighborhood of the claimant, so that he 

qmy reach his witnesses readily, and m:iy render him effi.cie~t service, 

the amendments which have been adopted would very often defeat that 

very thing. . · .· · A pension claimant residing near the line of a State would be prohibited from making a contract, within threemiles or within one mile 

of the place of his residence, with an attorney in a case that seemed to 

justify a fee of $25; but would under ~he bill be authorized to make it 

in his own State at a "distance of two hundred miles from where he re-

_t 
. . 

1330 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. FEBRUARY 6 , 

sid~. It ~ms to me that that distinction is of doubtful propriety. service of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, and 

If 1t be best at all to allow a contract for a fee of $25 it seems to me for other purposes. . . . 

that to limit it within Statelinesisnotproper. Itmaybethataclaim- Mr. ALLISON. I ask unanimous consent that the first or formal 

ant in my own State would be much ~ore accessible to Cincinnati and .reading of the bill may be dispensed with, and that the amendments 

would be able to have a much more reliable and effiCient agent there· niay be considered as t]J.e reading progresses, and that the committee 

than he would at Indianapolis or Terre Haute; and yet under this bill amendments may be acted on before other amendments are received 

he co~d not contract with an agent at Cincinnati to give him a fee of and considered. 

$25 for getting his claim through, but he could contraet with a man The PRESIDING OFFICER. If there be no objection the first readliving two hundred miles from him. ingofthe bill wUl be dispensed with and the bill will be read for amendIt does not seem to me that this division upon State lines can be jus- ment. Under the rules the committee amendmentB are to be first contified. I think the reason which has been stated, namely, improper sidered. . 

practices he1·e in the District of Columbia., does not cover this whole The Chief Clerk proceeded to read the bill, which had been reported 

provision; i~ comes short; and it seems to n;te that if a fee of $25 is to from the Committee on Appropriations with amendments. 

be allowed, some other guard or restriction that would be founded upon The first amendment was to strike out the following clause, from 

better reason ought to be provided than this distinction by territorial lines 19 to 23: 

lines. . · Forsalariesofenvoyse.rlraordina.rya.ndministersplenipotentia.ry to Belgium, Mr. JACKSON. The whole subject is very difficult to deal with,'·and Netherlands, Sweden and Norway, Argentine Republic, Venezuela., Hawaiian 

the committee in reference to that matter concluded that it was better IsJands, tge United States of Colombia, and Turkey, at $7,500 each,$60,000. 

to adopt that line of policy, if possible, in reference to the increase of fees The amendment was agreed to. 

that would transfer the business as near the pensioner's locality as pos- The next amendment was, after line 28, to insert: 

sible. Of course there may be individual hardships arising under the For salaries of envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary to the 

opc;ration of such a. law, but the general principle is undoubtedly the United States of Colombia. and Turkey, at $7,500each, 815,000. 

best. . · The amendment was agreed to. · · I will not take up the tiJne of the Senate to answer the objection of The next amendment was, after line 32, to insert: 

the Senator from Florida [Mr. CALL] in regard to the constitutiQnality For salaries of ministers-resident in Belgium, Netherl!l.nds, Hawaiian Islands, 

of this legislation, because it is in a line with all legislation since the and Sweden and Norway, at $7,500 each, $30,000. 

pension laws were adopted. This bill as now proposed is practically The amendment was agreed to. . the act 'of 1870, with a single exception in reference to the $25 fee. The next amendment was, after line 35, to insert: 

In regard to what was stated by the Senator from Kentucky [Mr. For salaries of ministers-resident and consuls-general in Venezuela and Ar· 

BECK] the committee went just as far as they felt they had the power gentine Republic, at $7,500 each, 15,000. 

to go in annulling the 8.f!t of 1884. We felt that we could not go any The amendment was agreed to. 

further than we had done, and that we had no right to do so. We could . The next amendment was, after line 44, to insert: 

not abrogate or annul contracts entered into understandingly, volun-· For salary of minister-resident and consul-general t~ Roumania., Servia, and 

tarilY, and without frJ.ud. That was the reault of our examination. Greece, $6,500. 

The bill was reported to.theSenate as amended, and the amendments The amendment was agreed to. . 

made as in Committee of the Whole were concurred in. The next amendment was, in line 50, after the word "agent," to 

The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading: rea.d the strike out" and consul-general;" so as to read: 

third time, and passed. For salary o_fagenflto tbe.States of the Congo Association, S5,o00. 

!IAJ. WILLIAM LUDLOW. The amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment was, in the same paragraph, after the word 

?tir. CAJtiERON, of Pennsylvania. ' I now ask unanimous consent to . ''dollars,'' in line 51, to insert: • 

have the Senate take up Housejoint resolution No. 309. Said agent to be charge'd with introducing and extending the commerce of 

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. HARRIS in the chair). The Sen- the United States in the Congo Valley; and for such purpose the further sum of 

ator from Pennsylvania will suspend until the Chair lays before the $.),000, or so much thereof as may be necessary. 

Senate, or rather the Senate resumes the consideration of, the unfinished The amendment was agreed to. 

business, the Secretary informing the Chair that the .unfinished busi- · The next amendment was, in line -72, before the word " Austria,'' to ness was informally laid aside. insert "Turkey;" and after the word "all," in line 73, to strike out 

Mr. CAMERON, of Pennsylvania. I ask that it be-laid aside. ''nine thousand'' and insert'' ten thousand eigh~ hundred;'' so as to 

The PRESIDING OFFJCER. The Senate resumes the consideration make the clause read: 

of the unfinished business, being the bill (H. R. 4976) for the rethe- For salaries of the secretaries of the le~tions of Spain, Turkey, Austria, ltn.ly, 

ment and recoinage. of the trade-dollar. · BraziJ, and .Mexico, at $1,800 each ; in all, $10,800. 

Mr. CAMERON, of Pennsylvania. I ask that that be laid aside in- The amendment was agreed to. 

formally to take up House joint resolution No. 309. The next amendment was, in line 75, after·the word ''in," to strike 

The PRFBIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania asks out "Turkey;" and befor~ the word "dollarS," in line 77, to strike out 

unanimous consent that the un.finishea business be inforinally laid aside ''four tho~nd .five hundred'' and insert ''three thousand; '' .so as to 

in order that the Senate may proceed to the consiqeration of the joint make the clause read: 

resolution (H .. Res. 309), extending the permission grhnted Maj. Will- Fo~ n.la.ries of the secretaries of the legations in OWli and Peru, at 81,500 

iam Ludlow by the act of Februa.ty 28, 1883', to accept a civil position. each. $3,000. 

Is there objection to the request of the Senator from PeQnsylvania? The amendment was agreed to. . The Chair hears none. The next amendment was, in line 92, before the word " hundred," 

The Senate, as in Committee ofthe Whole, proceeded t.o coBSider the to strike out" eight" and insert" two;" and in the same line, after 

joint resolution. It extends for the period of· one year the permission the word ''each," to strike out ''·three thousand six'' and insert ''two 

granted to :M:aj. William Ludlow, Corps of Engineers, United States thousand four;" so as to make the clause read: 

Army, to accept a civil position in tbe service of the city of Phili.del- For salaries of second secrElta.ries of the legations in Japan and China, who 

phi&, without a forfeiture of his military commission, until the 1st day shall be American students of the language of the court and country to which 

Of April," 1885. By the provisions of a J. oint resolution approved' Febru- they are appointed, respectively, and shlll.l be allowed and required, under the direction of the Secretary of State, to devote their time to the acquisition of 

ary 28, 1883, Ludlow is ns>t to receive from the United States any pay such language, at 1,200 each, $2,400. 

or allowance whatever during the period indicated. The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. CAMERON, of Pennsylvania. I wish to say that Colonel Lud- The next amendment was, in line 94, after the word q legations," to ·low is now in tbe employ of the city of Philadelphia, and has charge strike out "and consulates-general;" and in line 96, after the word • of work now going on and which is uncompleted. The city desires to "dollars," to insert "each;" so as to make the clause read: 

retain his services for another year, and therefore has asked that this For the salaries of interpreters to the legations in China, at $3,000, and in Japan resolution be passed by Congress. It has already passed the Honse, and Trn·key, at 12,500 each; in all, $3,000. But no person drawing the salary of 

and I hope it will pass the Senate without objection. interpreter as above provided shall be allowed any part of the salary sppropri· 

The joint resolution was reported to the Senate without amendment, a ted for any secretary of legation or other officer. 

ordered to a third reading, read the third ~e; and passed. · Tbe amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment ~~ after line 106, to insert: 

CONSULAR AND DIPLOl\I.ATIC APPROPRIATION BILL. For salary of interpreter t~ tl\e legation in Corea, 81,000. 

~Ir. ALLISON: I ask now that the regular business be laid aside The amendment was agreed to. 

infprm.ally in order that I may call up House bill 7857, being the con- The next amendment was, after line 108, to insert: 

sular and diplomatic appropriation bill. For salary of the clerk to the lega.ti~n in Spai~, 81,200. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa asks unani- The amendment was agreed to. mous Consent that the unfinished business be informally laid aside in The next amendment was, after line 122, to insert: 

order that the Senate may proceed to the consideration of the bill indi- To enable the Secretary of State t~ comply with the requirements of tbe fourth 

ca.ted by him. Is there objection? The ~hair hears none. section of "an act regulating fees and the practice in extr.adiUon cases," apThe Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the proved August 3,1882, to be disbursed by the Secretary of State, $>,000. 

bill (H. R. 7857) making appropriations for the consular and diplomatic The amendment was agreed to. · 

• 
1885. CONG~ESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 1331 

The next amendment was, after line 127, to insert: 

To meet the necessary expenses attendant upon the execution of the neutral- ity act, to be expended under the direction of the President, pursuant to the requirement of section 291 of the Revised Statutes, Sl2,QOO, OI' so much thereof as may be necessazy. · 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment was, after line 133, to insert: 

For the payment of the actual and necessary expenses of two civilian experts as delegates of the United States to an international commission for the estab- lishment of electrical units, $3,~. · 

The amendment was agreed to. ·The next amendment was, after line 137, to insert: 

For rent of buildings for legation and other purpose~ at Peking, or such other p~e in China as shall be designated, $3,100. . 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The reading of the bill was resumed and continued to 1ine 151. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair will suggest to the Senator from Iowa that after the word "partisan, " in line 150, there apparently should be a co.mma. Mr. ALLISON. There should be a comma. I move to insert j,t. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It will be inserted if there be no 

objection. 

The reading of the bill was resumed. The next amendment of the 

Committee on Appropriations was, in line 153, before the word" year, " 

to insert the word "calenqar, " and after "year" to strike out "ending June 30;" so as to make the clause read: 

For contribution to the maintenance of the inte:-national bureau of weights and measures for the calendar year 1886, in <'onformity with the terms of the convention of 1'11a.y 24,1875, the same, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to be paid, under the direction of the Secretary of State, to said bureau on its certificate of apportionment, 32,270. 

· The amendment was agreed to.· · . The next amendment was under "Schedule B," in line 167, before 

the wor~ ''consuls-general,'' to strike out ''salary of'' and insert ''salaries of t'he;" in line 168, after tlie word "at," to strike out "two " 

and insert ''three;." and in line 169, before the word."thousand," to 

strike out "four" and insert " six:;" so as to make the clause read : · 

For alaries of the consuls-general at Constantinople and Rome, at $3,000 each, 

$6,000. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment was, in line 170, before the word " conSulsgeneral," to strike out "agents and;" so as to make the clause read: 

For salaries of the consuls-general at London, Paris, Havana, and Rio de .Ja- neiro, at $6,000 each, 324,000. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment was, in line 181, after ''Vienna," to strike out 

"Bucarest;" and in line 182, before the word "thousand," to strike 

out "eighteen" and insert "fifteen;" so as to make the clause read: 

For salaries of the consuls-general at Saint Petersburg, Frankfort, Halifax, 

Vienna, and in Ecuador, at $3,000 each, 815,000. 

The amendment was agreed to. • 

The next amendment was, in line 186, before the word'' at,'' to strike 

out " 'consul-general" and insert " ·consul;." so as to read: 

For salary of the consul at Liverpool (Great Britain), 86,000. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair will call the attention of 

the chairman of the committee to line 184: 

For salary of the consul-general at 1\Iexico, at $2,500. · 

Should the secon4 word "at" be there ? Is there '? bj ec;:tion to the ~endment last stated? The Chair hears none, and it is agreed too: Mr. ALLISON. Strike out "at" before "two," in line 184. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. If there be no objection that c~nge 

will be made. · 

The reading of the bill was resumed. The nex£ amendment of the 

Committee on Appropriations was, in line 190, after the word ''clerks,'' 

to strike out "to be appointed under section 1704 of the Revised Statutes, thirtc·en thousand," and insert "fourteen thousand five hundred;" so as to make the clause read: 

For salaries of thirteen consular clerks, 14,500. 

Mr. ALLISON. Instead of $14,500, that should be $14,600. So I move to strike out ":five" and insert "six." 

Th(;} amendment to the amendment was agreed 1;o. 

The amendment as amended was agreed to. 

The reading of the bill was resumed. The next amendment of the 

Committee -on Appropriations was, in line 195, to reduce the total appropriation ''for salaries of' consuls, vice-consuls, and commercial 

agents" from $321,000 to $318,50.0. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment was, in the appropriations for consulates of 

"Class II," in line 200, after "Foochow," to insert " Hank ow;" so as 

to read: CHINA. 

Foochow; Hankow; Canton; Amoy; Tien-Tsin; Chin-Kiang. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment was, in the appropriations for consulates of 

"Class VI," to strike out lines 297 and 298, as follows: 

CHINA. 

Hank ow. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment was to strike out lines 373 and 374, in the following words: 

For salary of a. clerk to the legation in Spain, $1,200. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment was, in line 375, to increase the appropriation 

."for allowance for clerks at consulates"· from $47,840 to $4,9,280. 

The amendment was agreed tQ. 

The next amendment was, in line 378, before the word ''at,'' to strike 

out'' consul-general'' and insert ''consul;'' in line 380, before the word 

"consuls-general, " to strike out "agents and;" in line 381, after , ''Havana,'' to insert'' Shanghai;'' in line 384, after ''Vienna,'' to strike 

out'' Shanghai'' and insert '~l\Iontreal;" in line 388, after the word 

"year/' to strike .out "for the consul-general at l\Iontreal;" and in 

line 395, after "Colon (Aspinwall)," to. insert " Singapore;" so as to 

make the clause for COD$Ular clerks read: 

For the consui at Liverpool, a sum not exceeding the rate of $2,000 for anyone year; and fort~ consuls-general a.t London, Paris, Havana, Shanghai, and Rio de .Jancirp, each a sum not exceeding the rate of$1,600for any one year; for the consuls-general at Berlin, Frankfort. Vienna, Montreal, and Kanagawa, and. Cor the consuls at Hamburg, Bremen, l\Ianchester, Lyons, Hong-Kong, Havre,'Crefeld, and Chemnitz, each a. sum not exceeding the rate of $1,200 for any one year; and for the consuls at Bradford and Birmingham, each a sum not exceeding the rate of $960 fm; any one year; for the consuls-general at Calcutta, Port au Pl:ince, 

Hayti, and 1\lelbourne, and for the consuls at Leipsic, Sheffield, Sonneberg, Dres- den, Marseilles, Nerem berg, Tunstall, Antwerp. Bordeaux, Colon (Aspinwall,) 

Singapore, and G1asg.ow, each a sum not exceeding the rate of $800 for any one year; for the l'OnsulsatBelfnst .. Barmen, Leith, Dundee, Victoria, and Matamoras, a.ndfor the consul-general at Haufax, each a sum not exceeding the rate of$640 for any one year; for the consul-general at Mexico, and for the consulsat Malaga, 

Naples, Genoa, Stuttgart, FJorence, 1\Iannheim, Prague, Zurich, Panama., and Demarara., each & sum not exceeding the rate of 8480 for any one year. 

The amendment Was agreed to. 

The next amendment was, in line 416, before the word "thousand," 

to strike out "ten" and in·sert ''twelve;" and in line417, after the 

word "Provided,". to strike out: · 

That not more than $1,200 shall ~ expended for interpreting at any one con· sulatc or consulate-general: And provided further. 

So as to make the clause read: 

For salaries of interpreters to be employed a t consu!ates in 'China and .Japan, $1.2,000: Provided, That no person otherwise receiving a salary in any capacity · whatever from the United States shall be entitled to any part of the above sum. 

The amendment was agreed to. . The next amendment was, in J.ine 424, before ''Smyrna,' 1 to insert 

'

1 Constantinople; '' and in line 425, after '' Corea,'' to strike out '' three'' 

and insert "four;" so as to make the clause read: 

For interpreters a.nd gLUJ.rds at the consulates at Constantinople, Smyrna, 

Cairo, Jerusalem, and Beirut, in the Turkish dominions, and at Seoul, in Corea., 

&1,000. 

The amendment wa8 agTeed to. 

The next amendment was, in line 427, before the word ,, marshals," 

to strike out • 'seven '' and insert ''eight; '' and in line 428, before the 

word "thousand," to strike out "seven " and insert "eight;" so as to 

make the clause read: 

For salaries of eight marshals for the consular courts. in .Japan, China, and Turkey, $8,000. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment was, in line 431, to increase t4e appropriation 

''for hiring of steam-launch for use of the legation at Constantinople,'' 

from $500 to $1,000. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

l\1r. ALLISON. At that point I desire to offer, from tqe Committee em Appropriations, another amendment. I move, after line 431, to insert: · 

For boat for official use of the United States consul at Osaka and Hiogo, and for pa.y of boat's crew, $500. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The reading of the bill was resumed. The next amendment of the 

Committee on Appropriations was, in line 443, after the wore\" interpreter," to strike out "and the expense of a prison and prison-keeper 

at'' and insert '' to;'' and in line 445, before the word "hundred,'' to 

strike out "one thousand two" and insert "five;" so as to make the 

clause read: 

For the salary of an interpreter to the consulate-general in Bangkok, Siam. $)()(). 

The amendment was agreed to. . The next amendment was, after line 445, to insert: 

For. the expen£ of a prison and prison-keeper at the consulate-general in Bangkok, Siam, $1,000. . . 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment, was in line 460; after the word "Turkey," to 

strike out ''the sum of seven thousand five hundred" and insert "nine 

thousand; " so as to read: 

For the purpose of paying for the keeping and feeding of prisoners in China, 

Japan, Siam, and Turkey, 89,()()(). . · . 

The amendment was agreed to. 
1332 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. FEBRUARY 6, 

The next amendment was, in the proviso to the same clause, in line 

465, after the word ''feeding,P to strike out--

And snch payment shall cover Rll expenses attending the keeping, feeding, 

and care of any such prisoner~ And provided f~trther, 'l'h_at no allowance shall 

be made for the keepmg or feeding of any prison~r who is able to pay or. does pay the above sum o( 75 cents per day; and the consular officer shall certify to the fact of inability in every case. 

So as to make the clause read: For the purpose of paying for the keeping a nd feeding of prisoners in China, 

Japan, Siam, and Tm·ker, S?,OOO: Pro.v ide_d, Tllat n<;> more than i5 cents per day for the keeping and feeding of en.ch pnsonc r •. whll ~ a ctually confined, shaH be allowed or paid for any such keepmg 1\lld feeding. 

The amendment was agreed to. · The next amendment was, in line 472, afte1· the word· "of," to strike 

out '' prisoners ' ' and insert ''prisons;;' so as to make the cia use read: 

For rent of prisons for American convicts in Turkey, and for wages of k eep- ers of the same, $1,000. · 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment. was, in line 476, before the word "thon8aud, '·' 

to strike out "forty" and insert "fifty;" so as to niake the clause 

read: 

For relief and protection of American seamen in foreign cotintries, $50,000, or so much thereof as may .be necessary. · 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment was, after line 477, to insert: 

For expenses of shipping and discharging seamen at Liverpool, LOndon, Cardiff, Belfast., and Hamburg, $6,000. 

Th.e amendment was agreed to. 

The pext 'amendment was, after line 4D5r to insert: 

Rent for consul-general at London: For rent, in lieu of the statutory allow- ance of 20 per cent. of salary, of consul-general at London, $2',400. . 

· The amendment was· agreed to. · 

The next amendment was, aft~r line 499, to insert: 

Rent for consul-gene1-al at Paris: For rent, in lieu of the statutory allowance 

of 20 per cent. of salary, of consul-general at Paris, $2,000. 

The an1endment was agreed to. 

The next amendment was, after lin~ 502, to in ert: . 

To pay the expe)lse of a preliminary search, to be inade under the direction 

of the Department oJ State, of the records of the French prize courts from li92 to 1801 inclusive to ascertain whether any evidence or documents rfllating to the claims of Am~rican citizens for spoliations committed by the F1.·ench prior .to the 31st ofJnly, 1801, still exist, and, if so, the nature and character ther~of, 

U1e sum of $5,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary, the same to be lm- _mediately available. _ .... 

. lfr. IIOAR. I ask the chairman of the committee whether that 

should not be a little more comprehensive than merely to authorize the 

search of tlie recOrds of the French prize courts? It is quite possible 

that the claims which were forwarded to the French Government from . ours may be in the archives of their department of _foreign affairs. 

Would it not be better to say "records of the French prize cour~ or other French archives," because the Department of ~tate 'Yould see of course that the money is properly applied"? · Mr. ALLISON. I will state to the Senator that we used the language 

of the law which provides for this search. I think it is section 5. of the 

act passed this year. - Mr. HOAR- Has the Senator that act? 

.Mr. ALLISON. I have it not with me at this moment. It is the 

Jaw passed at this session. · l'Ir. HOAR. I will suggest the amendment-it can certainly do no harm-to insert after "prize courts," in line 505, the words " or other 

French archives.'' The Departme.1;1t of State will see that proper search 

is made. 

Mr. ALLISON. I do not know that there is any harm in the p::.-oposition; but that is a pretty wide authority, to search the archives of the 

French Government. 

l\Ir. HOAR. ·But it is limited by the smallness of the.appropriation, 

which is only $5,000. 

:Mr. ALLISON. I know; but I take it the French prize courts· are open and their records are public documen-ts, but the archives of the 

French Government may not be. · :Ur. HOAR. The Department 1Vill not spend any more m<_mey than 

will aniwer the purpose· under this appropriation. 

Mr. ALLISON. Very well; I make no objection. 

Mr. HOAR. I move to amend .the amendment by inserting after 

'' courts,'' ~ line 505, the words ''or other French archives.'' 

The amendment to the amendment was agreed to_ . The amendment as amended was agreed to. 

The next amendment of the Committee on Appropriations was, after 

line 512, to insert: · 

To enable the President to meet unforeseen emergencies ~sing in the diplomatic and consular sen-ice, and to .extend the commercial anll other interests of 

the United States, ~.ooo. · · The amendment was agreed to. . . The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The reading of the bill has been con- cluded, and the amendments of the Committee on Appropriations have 

been disposed of. · · · 

1tlr. HAWLEY. I wish to call the attention of the chairman of the 

Committee on Appropriations to the class in which the consulate at J e- rusalem is placed. Jerusalem, on p.:'lge 14, iS under class 6, at a salary of $1,500. I was about to look at the estimates of the ~epartment. 

My. recollection is that the Department recommends or estrmates that 

the salary be put at $2,000. I !tappen ~have some informati?n a'h?~t 

that particular consulate. There are qmte a _number ~f Amencan Clti- zens residing there, some of whom are Amencan by bni,h and several 

hundred of whom are adopted citizens, with m9re or less of controversy 

from time "to time. 

Many hundreds of American travelers visit J erusalem, as everybody 

knows, and scarcely one ever comes near to the city _without s~nding 

word,- perhaps in advance, ~the consulate, and cer~ainly not w1thout 

calling upon the consul, asking for more or less of adVIce, and frequently 

for the company of that .officer; and very naturally being inyited in a great Jlla.Qy cases to luncheon, be is involved in very conside_rable expense in traveling about the vicinity anywhere from ~me to ~wentr-? e 

miles. In short, the inevitable expenses of the dutle~ of his pos1tion, as well as tbe"hospitalities which he dan not as a gentleman shun, make a very h~vy deduction from his pay. · 

Once this bill came here putting the consulate in the $2,000 class, 

and the State Department thinks it is wise and ~as recommended it, 

not .at my solicitation, but of its own accord, though I was there two 

years ago inquiring about it. They said it was true that this consu- late ou..,ht to be raised. What is left for the consul is a very small sum 

in this"' ca e: I do not see bow any consul _stationed there, except the one who is there now, could get along at all. I )rnow him to b~ a scholar in Arabic, learned in the geography. of the Holy Land, devotrng 

what time he can spare to studies of all these subjects at the instance 

of vario'us learned societiea, the Pale tine Exploration Society and others. He speaks ~rabi~, has the confidence of the na~ives about him; 

is a very useful and especi~y fitted man1 and: I ~y .his net compe~­

tion is scarce1y that of a laborer about this bnildmg. The reports thiS 

consu1 has made I happen to know, in two or three cases, have been 

specially commended for their value. · 

The PRESIDENT pr.o ternpote. Does the Senator from Co~necticut 

make any motion? 

1\b:. HAWLEY. I do not know what is the usual course. I move to place the consu1a.te at J erusaJem in class 5, at $2,000 per annum. 1'he PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Connecticut moves 

to insert in line 250, after the w:ord "Beirut," the word " Jerusalem." 

That will bring it in class 5 in proper connection. 

l\Ir. HAWLEY. i thank the Cha1r. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

l\Ir. HAWLEY. Does that strike it out in the other place? 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. No. 

l\Ir. HAWLEY. 1 move to strike it out. . The PRESIDENT pro_ tempore. The Senator from Connecticut m<>v es 

to strike on t, in line 330, the word.' ' Jerusalem.'' 

The motion was agreed to. 

The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendments were concurred in. 

The amendments were orderei to be engrossed and the bill to be read 

:1. third time. 

The bill was read the third time, and passed. 

1\.ITI.ITARY ACADEMY APPROPRIATION BILL. 

l\fr. ALLISON. l\Ir- President--

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senate res nines the consideration 

of the unfinished business of yesterday. 

lir. ALLISON. I 'W'ish the Senate to dispose of the l\Iilitary Academy Approprll}tion bill. It will take but a moment . . · 1\Ir. MORRILL. Laying u~ide the unfinished business informally. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Iowa asks leave 

to make a report at this time from the CoJ11IDittee on Appropriations. 

If there be no objection the report will be received. , 1\Ir. ALLISON. 'The Committee on Appropriations, to whom was referred the action of the House of Representatives on the amendments 

of the Senate to the bill {H. R. 7577) ma.lfing appropriations for the 

support of the Military Academy for the .fisc..'l>l yea1· ending June 30, 

1886 and for other purposes, direct me to report it back with the rec- omm'enda.tion that the Senate recede from its amendments to the House 

bill. 

The PRESIDENT pro temp01·e. The Senator from Iowa mov~s tl_mt 

the Senate recede from its amendments heretofore agreed to to this bill. 

The amendments will be read. 

Mr. ALLISON. I will state in brief that the amendments relate to 

the pay of tJ:le subordinate officers at the academy. The S~nat~ made some amendments in reference to that, but on fnrtberexammahon the 

committee has become satisfied that the House provision is correct. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The amendments will be read. 

The CHIEF CLERK. On page 2, line 12, after the word ''professors,'' 

the Senate struck out "and offi~rs on (increased rank);" and in the same line, after the word "service," the Senate struck out "$9,525" 

and inserted "$8,898.50;" so as to make the clause read: For additional pa.y of professors for length of service, $8,898.50. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Iowa moves that 

the Senate recede from these amendments. 

The motion was agreed to. 
CONGRESSION~L RECORD-HOUSE. 1333 

.COINAGE OF SILVER DOJ:.LARS. 

The Senate, as in COmmittee of the. Whole, resumed the consideration 

of the bill {H. R. 4976) for the retirement and recoinage_of the tradedollar. · 

~The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The pending question. is on the 

amendment proposed bytheSenatorfromKansas lMr. I:!!<mALLs], striking out the fifth section of the amendment reported from the Committee on Finance. · 

Mr. MORRILL. I move that the Senate proceed to the considera .. tion of executive business. · The motion was agreed to; and the Senate proceeded to the consideration of executive business. After sixteen minutes 'Spent in. execu- tive session the doors were reopened, and (at 5 o'clock and 6 minutes 

p.m.) the Senate adjourne~. 

HOUSE OF RE~RESENT~TIVES. 

FRIDAY, Feb'ruary _6, 1.885. 

The House met at 12 o'clock m. {Mr. BLACKBURN in the chair as Speaker pro tempore). PrayeLby the Chaplain, Rev. JOHNS. LINDSAY, D. D. . 

T~e J ou.rnarl of the pr~eedings of yesterday was read and approved. 

INSPECTOR of PUBLIC BUILDL~GS. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. If there be no objection the Ohair will 

lay before the House at this time some executive coiQ.munications. 

There was no oojection; and it was ordered acoordingly. 

The SPEAKER pro_ tempore laid before the Hou8e a letter fro:rp. the 

Secretary of the Treasury, asking an appropriation to pay thesalary.of 

inspector of public buildings; which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and ordered to be printed. 

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 

The SPEAKER pr·o tempon also laid before the House a· letter from 

the Secretary'of the Treasury, tmnsmitting estimate for salaries and ex- penses of the Bureau of Labor _Statj.stics for the next fiscal year; which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and ordered to be 

printed. 

CIVIL OFFICERS, ALASKA. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore also laid ·before the House a letter from .thh Secreta.ry of the Treasury, inclosing a letter from the commissioner 

for Alaska, asking appropriation to pay the expenses of civil officers; 

which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and ordered 

to be printed. 

making ·the correction he desires; my point of order is inade entirely in 

the interest of the public business. 

1\fr. ROGERS, of Arkansas. I hope the gentleman will withdraw 

_his objection, as the letter I send up to the Clerk's desk to be read will 

make the proper correction. 

:Mr. BROWNE, of Indiana. It is not a correction of the REOORD, 

but a correction of the gentleman's own .statement. 

Mr. ROGERS, of Arkansas. I did not hear the gentleman's last re- mark. · . 

·Mr. BROWNE, of Indiana. I say that it is not. a correction of the 

R.ECOR~ but a ~rrection of some previous statement which the gentleman nas had put upon the RECORD. . Now I make this objection in the very best of faith, because I desire 

to save the time of the House and to get on with the public business now before uS. I have uniformly interposed these objections, and cer- tainly with no ill-feeling toward any gentleman here upon the floor. 

Mr. ROGERS, of Arkansas. Let me make ·two suggestioPS to the 

gentleman froll1 Indiana: First, as a member of this House, if I have 

inadvertently made a ·statement which I ha~e found afterward to be 

not correct, it occurs to me that I should, under the rules of the House, 

have a right to make the correction. 

The SPEAKER pro temp01·e. The Chair must interpose and sustain 

the point of order of the gentleman from Indiana. 'tlie Chair does not 

think that the gentleman from Arkansas has stated a proposition which 

embodies a question of personal privilege. His proposition, as the 

Chair understands it, is simply to' correct a statement of his own which 

appears-in the RECORD, and the correctness of the RECORD in xegard 

to the statement is not questioned. It is only a correction of what the 

ge~tleman ltas himself placed in the RECORD, and in the opinion of the 

Chair does not constitute a question of privilege. 

Mr. ROGERS, _of Arkansas. Then I wi)l ask the gentleman from 

Indiana to with~:w the point of order and allow this letter to be 

printed in the RECORD for the information of the House. 

Mr. BROWNEi of Indiana.. I have no objection to that. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 

gentleman from·Arkausas? 

There was rio objection. 

The let~er referred to by ~Ir. RoGERS, of Arkansas~ is as follows: 

' OFFICE OF U!>'ITED STATES DISTRICT ATTORNEY, 

Fo1·t &ni~h. Ark., February I, 1885. 

DEAR .JUDGE: Your favor of the 28th ultimo, relating to the Payne eases, is duly received. Payne was not convicted under a· criminal statu1:e1 but at the time of 

his death there·was a criminal suit pending against him for mtroducing spirit- uous liquor into the Indian country. There was also at that time a civil prose- cution pending against him for the enforcement of a penal statute against intruders in the -Indian country (R. S., sees. 2147 and 2148). Prior to this time two 

other civil suits fo·r the enforcement of this penal statute had already gone to 

judgment., one at the term preceding Payne's death and the other some two 

PUBLIC BUILDING, LOUISVILLE. or three years before.· The first of these. suits was hotly contested, prominent ·· laWYers from Saint Louis being sent here to argue it. · · The SPEAKER pro tempore also laid before the House a letter from The way the criminal proceeding came to be instituted was because at the _th& Secretary of the Treasury, inclosing a letter from the Supervising time of Payne'e last arrest be pointed out to the officers some whisky which he 

Architect of the Treas lat'v· to ' · · th li 't f th said he had introduced and that he defied the Government to proceed against ·-4 ury, re 1 e an mcrease ln 6 ml 0 e him for that; -that-in such a proceeding the question would be directly raised as ·cost of the public building at Louisville, Ky.; which ·was referred to to whether the country he and his followers were settling was in the Indian 

the Committee on Appropriations, and ordered _to be printed. count;ry. When he wag hrought here, and I was informed oflhis matter, I conQUESTIO.Y OF PRIVILEGE. 

Mr. ROGERS, of Arkansas. I rise to a_ question of personal privilege. On the·lst of .January last, while the gentleman from Kentucky was occupying the floor, by his permission I inten~pted him . to give something o~ the history of the prosecution against the late 

Mr. Payne, of Oklahoma notoriety. After my remarks were made a gentleman on the Committee on Appropriations called and asked me to show him the remarks to which I called his attention. On reflection I came to the oonclusion that one statementof fact in my remarks, 

found on page 904 of the CoNGRESSIO~AL RECORD, .was an error. I 

therefor'( addressed a letter to the district attorney of the United States 

for the western ~strict of Arkansas asking _the precise status of the 

litigation then pending, ~s well as that which had been. disposed of in 

court, .and in ord~r to correcb this statement now and to lay before the 

people of the country at this time interested in legislation touching 

the Oklahoma territOry I send the remarks I then made to the Clerk's 

desk to be read, and then will lay before the House the answer of the 

district attorney to my letter, which will furnish the country, and more particularly those States surrounding the Indian Territory, with the 

exact status of.that Oklahoma territory at this time as determined by 

the cou.rt.s. 

Mr. BROWNE, of Indiana. I am compelled to make the point of 

order, :Mr. Speaker. 

. The SPEAKER pro tempore. And the Chair is bound to sustain the 

point o:( order, because the gentleman from Arkansas does not state 

anything in the nature of a question of personal privilege. 

Mr.' ROGERS, of Arkansas. I desire simply to correct .an error in my remArks made in the House at that time. 

'f!J.e SPEAKER pro tMnJ1ore. If the gentleman desires to correct the 

RECORD, he will proceed, and the correction will be made accordingly, 

asJthat is a privileged question. But the gentleman proposes to cor- rect·an error of his own and not an error of the RECORD. · . Mr. BROWNE, of Indiana. I have no objection to the gentleman 

cluded to accommodate him, and filed the information charging him with the 

introduction. He then made an appUcation to the court for a continuance oT the case on the ground of an· absent witness by whom he alleged he could p1·ove that he did not bring the whisky in, but that it was brought in by another. I 

had announced myself ready for trial, and was perfectly willing to try the issue 

in that way. The case was continued on his motion. 

This suit, together wit·h the third and last civil action, abated at.hisdeath . At the tim.e the last civil suit was brought against Payne, there were suits of 

the same character brought against each of some twelve or fourteen of' his followers. These have all gone to judgment within the last few days. Very respectfully, Wl\1. H. H. CLAYTON. 

Hon . .J. H. RoGERS, Washington, D. C. 

ORD:ER OF BUSINESS. 

The SPEAKER pro -upnpore. Under the rule the Chair will now en~rtain ,motions to take up bills and resolutions for.. consideration, the 

hour beginning at twenty-five minutes past 1_2 o'clock. 

I\f.r. WHITE, of Kentucky. I rise to a questio:Q of order. 

The SPEAKER pro 'tempore. The gentleman will stat.e it. 

Mr. WHITE, of Kentucky. I desire to know whether under the 

rule recently adopted the Chair will hold · that the first blisiness in o1·der 

to-day is not the consideration of the Private Calendar; whether, in 

other words, the special rule of the House will supersede the order of 

business on Friday13? · 

K~THERINE n. C. MERRILL. 

The SPEAKER pro tempo1·e. The Ghair thinks that the rule of the 

House is imperqtive, and that the .first business in order is the unfinished business coming over from yesterday morning under this special 

rule, the bill called up by the gentleman from Louisiana, which the 

Clerk will report. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

Be it enacted, &c., That the claim of Katherine C. B. Merrili, executrix of the 

last will and testament of ·Ayers P. Merrill, deceased, and late of the State of 

Mississippi, for quartermaster and commissary stores and supplies alleged to 

haVe been taken and used by the United States A!'my, during the rebellion, from the plantations of said Merrill, in the vicinity of Natchez, Miss., be re- ferred to the Quartermaster-General, who shall investigate the justice and legal-