The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1865-03-29
VOL. 12.

TALLY says to the heads Of the Executiv
Departments, "fve days in each wee
shalt thou labor, and do thy work. an
on two other days Of each week we VII
ask you some questions about it, OF ia
quire of you whether We had not bette
pass resolution touching some subjec
concerning which we desire informa
ton"
To show that I am not doing injustic
to the committee, l quote the folloWin,
from the proposed amendments to tn
rules
On Monday and Thursday of eacl
week, before any other business shall b
taken up. except by unanimous consent
the resolutions and questions shall b
taken up in the order in which they hav'
been entered upon the notice book fo
that day,
The member offering resolution MAJ
state succinctly the object and scope o
his resolution and the reasons for desir
ing the information; /; and the Secretary
of the proper Department may reply, Civ
ing the information or the reasons why
the same should be withheld; and then
without further debate, the House shall
vote on the resolution, unless it shall be
be Withdrawn or postponed.
In putting any questions to the Score.
taries, or the Attorney General, or Post
master General, no argument or opinion
is to be offered. nor any fact stated, ex-
cept so far rs may be necessary to explain
such question. And in answering such
question, the Secretary, the Attorney
General, or Postmaster General, shall not
debate the matter to which the same re-
ters, nor state facts or opinions other than
those necessary to explain the answer.
Under the operation of these rules you
would have the immediate presence Of
the Secretaries, backed by their influence,
patronage, power to reward or punish, to
resist the passage of the simplest and
most proper resolution of inquiry touching
the affairs of the nation. We all know
how difficult tits now to secure the sdop-
lion of resolutions Of inquiry, especially
when offered by the Opposition, OF which
the Secretaries have no knowledge. How
much more difficult would it be if the
head of an Executive Department. we're
present standing in direct opposition to
the adoption of any given resolution.
The effect of the presence Of Secretary
on the floor of this House is forcibIy illus
trated By the committee in the appendix
to the report. | quote this example from
the many citations from the Globe made
by the committee for the purpose of en-
forcing the conclusion of the report:
"Mr. Stevens offered an amendme Mt
providing, among other things, that the
interest on the bonds should be paid in
currency. This amendment was carried
BY vote of 7s for to 81 against it. The
bill thus amended was reported to the
House, and on vote of yeas and nays, on
Mr.. Stevens amendment it was defeat ed
yeas 80, nays 81. In the meantime
the Secretary of the Treasury and the
Assistant Secretary had come to the
House, and were then on the floor. ~ -
Page 2l53.
Here, sir, almost 10 the twinkling Of
an eye, a vote of the House is changed
from yeas 7S, nays 81, to yeas 50, nays
81. This extraordinary result 10 explain-
ed by the itslicised comment of the com
mittee ''in the meantime" that is in the
time that elapsed between the taking of
OF these two votes, which We all remem-
Der was very short time; "the Secretary
OF the Treasury and the Assistant Secre-
tary had come to the House, and wei
then on the floor"
1he committee seem not to approve of
this potential kind of presence. Then
why not forbid it 7 This would seem to
be the most appropriate remedy; but the
committee think otherwise. The remedy
of the committee is to declare by Law tha
this thing complained Of, this self-evideht
evil, shall be adopted as part of the leg
islative and executive practice of the coun-
try, and held to be entirely right and
proper.
But it is asked, concerning the Secre-
taries;
"Would it not be better that their
opinions should be expressed, their facts
stated, their policy enforced, their acts
defended. in open day, on the floor of the
House, in the face of the nation, in public
speech, in official, recorded statement,
where there can be no hidden purpose, no
misconceptions. no Misrepresentation"
The answer to this ia that it is not pro
posed to interfere with the means hereto.
fore resorted to BY the heads of Execu.
tive Departments to influence the action
Of this House. Whatever of evil now ex.
lists is to be preserved; and every gentle
man in this body Who has given any st.
tention to the course pursued BY the
members Of the British cabinet when
questioned in the House Of Commons
concerning matters which they choose to
keep to themselyes or send abroad in 4
mist, can we'll anticipate the grand success
which will attend the adoption Of the
English system BY this House. When
the Secretary has good case, we will re.
ceive it from him in its brightest colors
and gayest apparel. When the case
stands otherwise, we shall rscsive Just In
formation enough to indicate the opposi.
tion Of the Secretary to the passage Of On
unpleasant resolution of INQUIRY, and that