The Litchfield County post., 1828-04-17
MORGAN EXCITEMENT.

StInDivp OI tli HboNs uAthOtt6"N the appointment of commissioner to inves tgate the Morgan affair, was taken up in committee of the whole. The following is the report of the debate, as was given m the Argus.
 Mr. Gross moved to strike out the first see- ton, or in other words. reject the bill. He avowed himself mason, but warned the house against partaking of. the excitement which was felt on this subject in the western part of the state, and under its influence to pass law which would hereafter, when the passions of men became cool, subject the le gislature to contempt. The powers with which it was proposed to clOthe this officer, to be appointed by the executive, were enOr- nous; it would in fact be establishing an in quisitiOn in our state, which would violate the principles of our institutions, and involve the innocent with the guilty in one common ruin. He believed Morgan was murdered, ,and mur- dered by MasOns, but he would consider the conftrring ot this inquisitorial power an inf Dtely greater evil, and more to he deprecated than even the murder of Morgan by drluded and wicked men. He was not disposed to condemn the excitement which prevailed on this subject in the western part of the state, on the contrary he was proud of it for the HOIOT Ol TUT d uccu OI tuC udI kest die had been perpetrated, and that by RasOns, by members of a numerous fraternl- ty, and it was honorable to the character of our citizens that they should deeply interest themselves on the occasion but it became the duty of the legislature of the state of N. York 10 act with caution and deliberation, to free themselves from the contagion of this ex- citement, boldly to stem the current of popu- lar feeling, and to save unimpaired the sound principles of jurisprudence, and refrain from setting precedent of the most dangerous character.
 Mr. Skinner hoped the motion to strike out would not prevail. He urged that two years had now elapsed since the perpetration ofthis horrd crime, aud all the ordinary means to bring to justice the actors in this dark scene had proved unavailing. He contended that this bill did not propose to erect new tribu- nal unknown to our laws,but simply provided the means Ofinvestigation which do not now exist. Nor was the precedent of sending public officer to attend to those duties novel |; as the attorney general was frequently requi- red to attend in particular counties in the pros ecutiOn of criminal offences, either on the re- quisitiOn Ol the executive, or one of the judg- es of the supreme court He thought this an occasion which demanded extraordinary ef- forts for the detection and punishment of of tenders, to which the ordinary course ofjudi- cial proceedings was totally inadequate.
 The speaker addressed the house in support of the motion to reject the bill. He alluded to various instances in the history of England to show the effect of popular excitement. and the injurious effects flowing from it. Admit ting that Morgan was murdered, he asked whether it was right to change our course of judicial proceedings on that account If our laws were defective they should be amended: but when amended, they should be made to bear on all offences alike. He asked whether Morgan, though murdered by free masons, was entitled to any more cOmmisseration, than if he had been destroyed by highway man.
 MT. Granger said that the excitement in the western part of the state on this subject was as much, if not more, attributable tO free masons, than to those who were charged with carrying on a crusade against free masonry. If free masOns, and those, too, distinguished men, had done their duty, this excitement might have been checked. As to the delu- sion which is supposed to prevail on this sub- lect, he could say that amongst those who felt deep interest in this question, there were men second to none in the United States, as the list of names of those who attended the convention from whom emanated the memo rial to the legislature, would show. He could not perceive the evil which was apprehended from sending public agent to investigate this affair, to collect testimony, and drag offenders to justice. He was not conscious how such proceeding could encrOach upon the funda- mental principles of government. The Comp trOler had been invested with similar power to investigate frauds upon the canal. He re- gretted that the proposition made last winter to send special commissioner of the legisla- ture into the section of the state where the outrage had been committed, had not been adopted. If much good might not result from this measure,it would have tendency to pro- duce something like quiet and-harmony, when the people saw that the legislature. did not turn deaf ear to their prayers. The people at the west were not exactly crazy, but there is abroad in the community feeling, deep toned feeling, which is not to be trifed with, it is not to be secuted or laughed at, but must be sOOthed and not aggravated.
 Mir. BrinckerhOf said he had hoped that the bill would have passed without debate.- Whatever excitement existed elsew here, it ought not to have been brought into action here, and to prevent every thing like feeling in the house, he called for the question. Mir. Emmet said he was mason, and as yet he had DO cause to regret it. He was de. cidedly in favor of the bill. If crime had been committed, whether by mas0ns or oth- nf h..L L..~