The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1849-08-28


man of respectability, showing the inn
portance of calling upon the officers OF
the Newport bank, in the State of Rhode
Island, and that this bank would disclose,
as he was informed, eoidence Of importance
to be received By tie committee. Mr.. PEY-
TON therefore moved that the chairman
forthwiM forward the interrogatories, from
one to thrty-six, to the officers of said
bank, to be answered upon oath. Mr..
GILLETT objected to this motion, which
was decided in the affirmative, by the fol-
lowing vote: .Ayes-Messrs. Pierce, Fair
field, Martin, Peyton, Garland. No
Mr.. GILLETT.
Skip some eighty pages of the docu-
ment, which are chiefly occupied with
,errogatores and dispositions, and open
to page 345, where Mr.. PEYToN proposed
a question to Mr.. Seth j. Thomas with
regard to an expression which he had made
use of the day previous, desiring him to
be good enough to explain fully what he
meant by the expression, and to state all
he knew on the subject before the com
mittee. Mr.. GlLLETT objected to the
question, and the question was approved.
.Hyes-Messrs. Wise, Garland, Pierce,
Fairfield, johnson, Martin, Peyton. No
Mr.. GILLETT!
1t must not be inferred from the above
references that the Tory associates of Mr..
GILLETT on that committee frequently
voted with Mr.. WISE and MIR. PEYroN.
They were quite as anxious to stihe
investigation-to suppress questions-to
withhold subp9nas and witnesses-as MIR.
GnLErT himself; but they occasionally
remembered what MIR. GILLETT seems
uniformly TO have forgotten, that they had
constituents to reckon with as well as a
party to accommodate Mr.. GILLETT had
nearly served out the period which the
New York system Of rotation allots to its
representatives. His second term in Con-
gress was about expiring. By his own
option, or that of his constituents, he was to
terminate his parliamentary career with
) the second session of the twenty fourth
; Congress. Whether or not he was at that
time qualifying himself to hold Office by
the Locofoco tenure, we cannot say but
we take great pleasure in saying, as an act
of Justice TO Mr.. GILLETT, that by his
course upon that committee alone, he
placed himself far above any just suspicion
that he is capable of betraying the secrets
of his party in his capacity as Solicitor of
the Treasury. If integrity" is to be
measured by undertaking consistency in
Withholding information from the people
} upon those subjects which it concerns them
to underestimate "honor" is to be est
mated by the degree to which a public
officer can be blind, deaf, and dumb to
abuses committed by his party associates,
his votes upon this committee will stand
as lasting memorial of his stainless honor
and unimpeachable integrity.
But we are wandering from the Sim
provement' which is to be drawn from
the facts to which we have referred, in
conneXion with the subject of removals
from office. To KEEP LIGHT FROM THE
PEOPLE was the doctrine of the party OF
: the Richmond elite and Albany regency, in
the Post Office investigations of 1884; in
the two investigating committees of 1887
in the committees on defalcations in 1882
in the case Of ANDREW STEWARDS com
mittee of inquiry in 1913; in withholding
the DENLY default from the last Congress;
in arraigning Mr.. GILLETT on the suspi-
cion OF communicating to the press infor-
nation that he had no right to withhold
: On the WHIcs rests the responsibility
! of opening the various departments Of the
public service to the public gaze--with or
without the aid of investigating commit
tees.
A free press alone is able to accomplish
the work-if it is not embarrassed by the
reluctance of hostile officials to commu.
nicate the necessary information.
" To equalize the Offices : much a breach OF
his General TAYLoR'sl pledges as TO remove Dem
3 ocrats expressly for opinions sake - Union
e The Union, in view of the fact that the
Administration has not yet, notwithstand-
j. ing all the cIamor which has been raised
n about prescription, approached an equal.
Is zation Of the offices in the removals that
y have been made, now asserts, that to make
: a fair distribution of official trusts between
the Wing and Locofoco parties would be
Is as much violation of General TAYLoR's
pledges as II would be "to remove Demo
Gratis expressly Tor opinions sake" The
Union, which, before the election, tauntec
!, the Wing party with running candidate
a without pledges OF any sort, now finds Z
J. broken pledge in every act of the Presi
)t dent II could see none before Novembel