The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1860-09-28
"The Charge is Entirely New to Me
II Know Nothing OF such Bill--I
Would be glad to Get Light upon It,"

At the debate at st. Anthony, between
Messrs. GILMAN and WINDOW, the latter, in
response to Mr.. GILMAN's inquiry, as to why
he (WINDoM) had not voted for the bill
appropriating 5000 900 for an overland
mail from st. Paul to the Pacific said -
"Ihe charge is entirely mea0 to me. knoc
Z" nothing of such a bill. Iacould be glad to
"get light upon it," These were the exact
words of Mr.. WINDOW. We were present
and took them down as he uttered them.
We propose to give Mr.. WINDOW and
the people of Minnesota, light upon this
subject. At the last session of Congress,
while the Post Route bill was under consid-
Grafton in the Senate, the following amend
ment was proposed and adopted
And be 1t further enacted, That the Postmas-
ter General be, and he is hereby authorized
and directed to provide for the conveyance of
the entire United States mail on which letter
postage is paid, weekly, from st. Paul, Mime
sota via. St. Cloud, and from Superior, Wis
consin, via. Crow Wing to Seattle. on Pugets
Sound, with a branch to the Dalles, in Oregon,
with the same pre- emptlon right as heretofore
allowed upon other through routes: Provided,
The service can be obtained at an annual cost
not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars,
and the trip to be performed in twenty days,
from May 1st to November LIST; in thirty days
the remainder of the year.
The amendment passed the Senate, and
was sent to the House, on the last day of the
session. The bill was bitterly opposed by
JOHN SHERMAN, the Republican leader of
the House. but was supported by SCHUYLER
CoLFAx, who made motion to suspend the
rules and put the bill upon its passage.
This required two-third vote, which it
failed to receive. The bill was of course
lost. Mr.. WINDOW did not vote for it );
and when asked the reason confessed he
knew nothing about the bill-did not even
know such measure was pending!
We ask our readers to carefully examine
this amendment. 1t proposes to expend
100000 per annum, in conveying letter
mail from st. Paul to the Pacific, and it
also grants to the contractor valuables pre-
emption rights. If it had become law,
it would have been the entering wedge of
practical legislation for a Northern Pacific
Railroad. Yet one of our Representatives
in Congress-who receives about $4,000 per
year for attending to the interests of Mime
sofa at the national capitol-whose duty it
was to have been at bis post when this bill
was pending-who should have known ev-
cry thing about it, and labored earnestly to
secure its passage confesses, when interro-
gated, that 81 (W1NDoM) knes0 nothing OF
such a bill. Iacould be glad to get light up
on it," Is not this pitiable-a disgraceful
confession? What do the m erchants, bust
ness men, and property holders Of St. Paul,
st. Anthony, Minneapolis, st. Cloud, and
in fact of every town and village in the
State, think of Mr.. WILLIAM WINDOW and
his confession above quoted? What is their
opinion of his fitness for the position of Rep
resentative in Congress !? Will they not, in.
dividually, feel inclined to quote WINDOW s
own language, at the polls in November,
and say sine knOay nOthin o of S,lch n RiW"