The Sun.
London, England, 1870-04-06 00:00:00

RESIGNATION OF CONGRESSIONAL
REPRESENTATIVES.

There was a debate in Congress, on the 7th
ult., on the question whether a Representative
can resign through the Governor of his State. Mr.
Bingham called atteudon to the extraordinary fact
that a State Government assumed to force on the
House a member whose seat bad been vacated by
his own act, referring to the case of Mr. Golladay,
who sent in his resignation to Governor Stevenson
of Kentucky, which was refused, on the ground
that the Representative owed it to himself, his
constituents, and the Sate, to demand investiga-
tion of the charges affecting his own honour and
the fame of the Commonwealth. Mr. Trumbull
saw no such spirit of dictation in the Governor's
telegram, and Mr. Beck explained that the Gover
nor acted on the assumption tha,`,Mr. Golladay had
not tendered his resignation to the House, but had
asked him to receive it, which he very properly
declined to do. The question to General Butler
was, whether the Executive of a State had any con-
trol, mediate or intermediate, over members of the
House, which he could not entertain. The Gover-
nor of a State was notified of the resignation of a
member for no other reason than that he should
take notice of the vacancy and issue a writ for a
new election. That was all the business he had
in the matter. Mr. Banks concurred in that view,
adding that it might be competent for the House
to permit Mr. Golladay to withdraw his resigna-
tion ; but the Governor had no more control over a
member than the Secretary of the Commonwealth
had over the Sheriff of a county. No power existed
of creating a vacancy in the House, except in the
House, where it was absolute, and no man could
separate himself born membership except by the
expressed or implied assent of the House. Mr.
Dawes coincided in these views, and he thought the
question so important that it should be referred to
the Judiciary Committee. Mr. Schenck held that
the Governor had nothing to do with the matter,
being the instrument of the law of a State, to issue
a writ of election, which he would at once do if the
House informed him there was a vacancy in the
Tiiird Congressional District. The Speaker also
regarded Mr. Golladay as then no more a member
than any stranger in the gallery. The House de-
cided that the Governor's assent is not necessary
to a resignation, but the other question remains
whether a member can resign through the Governor
of his State, in spite of Congress. Speaker Blaine
ruled in the Whittemore case that a member can so
resign, and if that precedent stands, any Represen-
tative about to be expelled for misconduct can
escape the punishment if the Governor will accept
his resignation. I.f expelled, he could not be re-
elected; while in the Whittemore case, and per-
hapsinthatof others,there is a chance of their being
sent back by their constituents to Congress. Still
another point has arisen from the imbroglio. Mr.
Golladay, as customary, forwarded his application
to the Executive of his State, merely info' ming
the Speaker of the fact by letter. As Governor
Stevenson stopped the resignation it never reached
the House, and it is on this that the members from
Kentucky ground their arguments in defence of
Governor Stevenson's action ; maintaining that
Golladay was still a member, and that the House
should proceed with the case. The motio i was made
by Mr. Stokes to permit the withdrawal of the com
'enunication to the Speaker, when there could be no
question of the right of the member to his seat in
the House. The Speaker had the communications
he received ,from Mr. Golladay and the Governor
of Kentucky read, and, after the debate, the ques-
tion was put Whether the House would entertain
the resolution as one of privilege, and it was de-
cided in the negative without a division. Finally,
on the motion of Mr. Davis, the following resolu-
tion was adopted :--
'• Whereas, it is of grave importance to the Constitution
of this House that it should be determined whether a
member present during the session may resign his seat
without the consent of the House, and thereby evade his
duties and responsibilities, therefore be it
" Resolved, That the Judiciary Committee he instructed
to inquire and report to the House what actien, or rule,
should be taken or established for the determination of
that question."

lc is certainly nece3sary that such a question should
be settled.

and, ho hoped, favourable action on the treaties. A spe-
cial meeting of the committee was called fcr the follow-
ing Friday to consider the suggestions, and General Bad-
cock and Admiral Porter were summoned to give evi-
detrze. hile talking of the President, wo may state that
when walking on the 10th inst. on Pennsylvania Avenue
with his son, he was met by a man named Terrence Cas-
sidy, who abused him roundly, and threatened to kill him.
Oa investigation the man was pronounced to be insane,
and was sent to the Government Asylum. He had often
attempted to make hie way into the White House, and
been repulsed on account of his strange conduct.

General Adam Badeau evidently likes London, for
if report be trop, he has refused the appointment of
Minister to the United Mission of Ecuador, Uruguay, and
Paraguay, for the Consul-Generalship at London. The
Hon. Freeman Morse is, we regret to hear, likely to retire
from the post he so long held, and it was said in Washing-
ton that the Assistant-Se cretary of the British Legation,
who is now in Washington, prefers that post even to the
more dignified one of Minister to the Republics in South
America, which Congress proposes to unite for diplomatic
purpdses in connection with the United States. General
F. Seward, Consul-General to Shanghai, has been ordered
from Washington to his post, after a long visit, during
which he was engaged in the very natural effort to get his
salary increased $2,500, and a gaol and a consular court-
house built for him in Shanghai. Mr. G. Overbeck, the
Austtian Consul-General at Hongkong, is at Washington,
where he is about to marry Miss Romain Goddard, step-
daughter to Admiral Dahlgren. The following nomina-
tions have been sent to the Senate:—Thomas D. Hamil-
ton, of Mississippi, United States Consul at Rio Grande,
Bra7il; John L. Stevens, of Maine, Minister Resident at
Uruguay. Mr. George 11. Butler goes to Egypt as Consul
General, instead of to Calcutta, to which post he had
been confirmed.

The old side-wheel steamer Fulton is being dis-
mantled at the Morgan Ironworks. This- well-known
vessel was built by Smith and Dimon in 1855 for the Now
York and Havre Steamship Company, being 2,016 tons
and 620-horse power. Her sister vessel, the Arago, has
been sold to the Peruvian Government. Another vessel,
the Guiding Star, of 2,600 tons, is also there being dis-
mantled, and others are to follow. The President is much
interested in the revival of the American ocean-carrying
trade, and in a recent conversation with a Congressman he
intimated that he might send in a special message about the
mercantile marine, as promised in his. Annual Massage.
The home. Journal gives an excellent account of
the golden wedding of the Railway King, Daniel Drew,
who married Miss Roxanna Mead, on the 4th March,
1820. At this wedding party there was Mr. Drew's
brother Thomas, with his wife (a sister of Mrs. Daniel
Drew), who had celebrated their golden wedding two
years before. It is also remarkable that there were 200
kinsmen of the Drews present, for the family is old, and
has had a luxuriant root. Mr. James Fisk and Mr. Jay
Gould, as belonging to the fraternity of railway kings,
made up for their absence by magnificent bouquets. Most
of the presents were of gold, as appropriate for the occasion,
and some of them were of unusual richness. Commodore
Vanderbilt is not mentioned among the guests, as per-
haps the fresh honours of matrimony, which still hang
around him, might have contrasted unfavourably with the
half-century of his old railway rival.

Quesada, the Cuban General, had an interview
with the President on the 9th ult., and afterwards called
on Secretary Fish. He has published a report of the ope-
rations in Cuba, for the information of the New York
Junta. He details the.disheartening difficulties and insu-
bordination he experienced on first landing in December,
1868, the equipment of his force, and the plan of opera-
tions agreed upon. After desultory engagements efforts
were made to unite, and he goes on with his description
until he arrives at the glorious day of Las Tunas, of which,
however, he gives no details. Finally, Quesada called a
meeting of the Chiefs, and communicated his intention to
leave the island, which, after some demur, was approved,
the command being. transferred to General Thomas J.
Jordan. The insurgents were much disheartened by the
want of aid from abroad and the coldness of the U.S. press
towards the cause, and Quesada evidently hopes that he
may be of some use in America. The insurgent army in
the three departments of East, Camaguey, and Cinco Villas
consists of 2,G93 officers and 59,000 men. The military
stores comprise 16,000 long 'firearms, 3.538 short firearms,
13 guns, 60,075 machetes, 2,200 lances, 634 sabres. The
horses number 6,070 in the field, and 2,500 at stations
The insurgents have a large number of workshops for
making arms, percussion caps, and shoes; also powder
mills, tanyards, and storehouses. Quesada is described as
tall, lithe, and finely formed, with dark Cuban olive com-
plexion, and jet black hair, thickly spziulducl will). gray.