The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-01-28
CONGRESSIONAL sEHHiRT.

Island, presented to the Government
a statue of General Greene. II was
accepted, and resolutions OF thanks
returned. A number Of bills and res
OiutiOns We're presented. The House
/ Census Bill was reported from the
I committee with al amendment for
the revision OF the schedules. The
( Virginia Bill was taken up. Dir. VIII
/ son moved an amendment recurring
la perpetual guarantee in the State
/ Constitution OF civil and political
rights to all citizens. Negatived.
I Mr.. Drake renewed his motion u
amend by forbidding future changes
/ IN the State Constitution depTiving
+ citizens OF political rights. Discus
sion was continued until late hour,
1 the Senate finally adiourniHg with an
informal understanding that the sub
I iect should be finally disposed Of at
/ O'Clock on the 2lst
IN the House, 8fr. Bingham asked
/ leave 10 Introduce q bill making II an
/ Gtfense punishable with fine and inn
/ pris0nment, 10 propose the repeal OF
/ State action ratifyin@ Constitutional
I Amendments. AIr. EIdridge objected.
i Resolutions were introduced to inquire
AiAND ilit d4tlNtlAtF ~ y AAAtiA p't-Asltt'-
teTs refuse To forward fTanked matter,
mailed at other than places where
! Senators and Members reside; dcciaT-
ing the absence OF constitutional au-
thority in the treaty-making power,
to absorb territory without first con-
suiting the House; declaring that the
tTeaty-making power cannot conclude
the action of the House in any case;
inQuirine a 70 the nature of contracts
for carrying mails. Mr.. Kelly made
a personal explanation TO show that
he was not personally interested IN
any mining or manufacturing busi-
ness. \ petition was presented from
| TWENTY-FIVE thousand citizens Of Utah,
1 for the admission Of Utah as a State.
/ The League Island Bill was taken up.
/ A sharp personal cOlloquy took place
| between Messrs. Dawes and ScOtield.
/ The morning hour expiring, the
House went into Committee on the
| West Point Academy Bill, which was
reported to the House and passed. n
/ resolution to print $1,000 copies OF
/ Commissioner Wells report, gave rise
to a lively discussion, after which the
resolution was adopted and the House
adjourned.
In the Senate memorials of army
officers for an increase of pay; for a
10th Amendment, giving suffrage TO
women, and petitions for the abOli-
ton of the frankingp privilege, were pre-
scented and referred. The latter elici-
ted some discussion. AIr. Thurman
didn't like the POsmasters getting
signatures to these petitions, and said
there had been a time when the Con-
greSs of the United States would not
have quietly tolerated such conduct.
| Bills were introduced and referred, to
abolish the Freedmen's Bureau and
provide for a Board of education; to
prohibit the sale of public lands in
| Kansas except by actual settlement;
also proposing the following amend
ment to the Constitution of the Uni
| ted States: "The basis of suffrage in
the United States shall be that of citi-
Zenship, and all native and natural
lied citizens shall enjoy the same
rights and privileges Of the elective
! franchise. Each State shall determine
/ by law the age Of citizen, and the
! time of residence required for the eX-
eTcise of the right Of suffrage, which
shall apply equally to all citizens, and
shall make all laws in regard to the
time and place of holding elections" F"
| The Virginia bill was taken up, and
during the discussion, Mr.. Trumbull
replied to a former speech of Sumner,
impugning his motives in taking the
stand he did. Mr.. Trumbull became
very personal in his remarks, and was
called to order by the Chair He
charged Sumner with refusing to vote
| for the bill giving negroes in the rebel
/ States the right of suffrage, and also
that he refused to vote for the 18th
Amendment. Mr.. Summer replied in
a similar personal strain, and was also
called to order. He said the reason
| he did not vote for the former bill was
| because he was absent from the
| Chamber on account of sickness. He
reviewed the course of Trumbull in
voting against impeachment, and
charged that in the case of Georgia,
Trumbull was willing to hand the
State over to the Ku-KluX. A vote
was taken on the Amendment of Mr.
Drake, which prohibits the change of
the Constitution of the State, so as to
deprive any citizen Of the right to
vote, except for conviction of a crime
known as felony under the common
law. The Amendment was adopted
by vote of 81 to 2S. Mr.. Drake Of
fered another amendment, prohibit
ing the State from depriVing any citi-
zen from holding office on account of
race, color or previous servitude, or
making distinction between classes of
citizens. Adopted bya vote of 80 to
%. An amendment was adopted, by
vote of 81 to %, that the COnstitu-
ton shall never be so changed as to
deprive any citizen of the United States
OF the school rights and privileges Sc
cured by the Constitution of the State.
The preamble was then slightly
changed, and then the bill passed by
Il strict party vote of Il to p. Adj
journed.
In the House, the Ways and Means
Committee announced they would be
ready to report the tariff bill in about
a week, and leave was given this Com
mittee and the Banking Committee
to sit during the session of the House.
Several private bills were acted on,
and then Mr.. Butler moved the recon-
sideTatiOn of a vote, that he might re-
view the speech Of Dawes, whose
whole argument had come from a
false understanding of facts Object
ions were raised and were not with
drawn, even at the request of Dawes.
After the expiration of the morning
hour the House went into Committee
of the Whole to give Butler a chance,
but Wilson, of Ohio, who had the
floor, insisted on enlightening the
House on the subject of agriculture,
and others following, Butler had to
postpone his defence of the adminis-
tratiOn. Addresses were made in fa-
vor of reduction of the tariff duties
on ali materials that enter into manu-
featuring, and on the question of
finances, and against any reduction of
the currency. The House then adj
iOurned TO meet to-day for general de-
bate only.
In the Senate, the 25d inst, creden-
tials of Lot VI. Morrill,, as Senator
from Maine, Syere presented, and he
was sworn in. \ memorial for the
removal OF the duty on Canadian tim :.
ber, and petitions for abOlishing the
franking privilege and against contin-
uing the income tax, were presented.
\ bill TO relieve certain contractors
for war vessels and machinery was
presented. A resolution of inquiry
into the proceedings of Terry in Geor-
gia was brought in, but objection was
made, and it went over. \ Joint res
Olution was introduced and referred,
giving Mrs. Lincoln Il pension. The
bill to provide Il national currency
and equalizc its distribution was ta-
ken up, and occupied the rest of the
session. Mr.. Sherman spoke at length
on the bill. He said the points of the
bill were, the equalization of the dis
tributiOn of the currency, and free
banking on a coin basis. He said
Massachusetts,, Rhode Island and
Connecticut, with one-ffteenth of the
population of the country, had one
third of the bank circulation. The
West had three dollars to each person
and the South had nearly none. He
said the unequal distribution grew
out of the violation of the banking
laws of Congress, which, if properly
observed, would have given each State
at least - for each person. The fact
that a majority of Congress We're from
the wrongly used States endangered
the whole system, unless Justice be