The Portland daily press., 1870-01-28
XLIst O0NGRESS---Second Session.
SENATE.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27.-Several petitions
against the ranking privilege were presented.
The House joint resolution was passed, pro-
hibiting assessments upon or collections from
subordinate officials to make presents to their
superior officer.
The resolution relating to the seizure of spir-
its at San Francisco was taken up.
Mr.. Cole favored reference OF the subject
| to committee.
The subject was indefinitely postponed by a
vote of 20 to 15
The bill was passed making Omaha port of
delivery.
A joint resolution was reported for the sale
of the Cherokee lands in Kansas.
The Vice President com municated the fact
that the President had signed the Virginia bill.
Mr. Boreman said that one of the Senators
| elect from Virginia, John f. Lewis, was pres
| ent, and moved that he be qualified. The Gre
deDtials of John f. Lewis, John w. Johnson
Senators elect from Virginia, were then read.
Lewis then appeared before the Presidents
desk when the usual oath of office was admin
istered by the chair.
The currency bill was then taken up and de-
bated until the hour of adjournment.
HOUSE.
Several bills were introduced and recommit.
ted.
The bill introduced by Mr.. Davis, of New
York to amend the Virginia bill by constituting
the word "oath" to Include affirmations, was
taken up and passed
Several resolutions of inquiry were offered.
The following were appointed select COM
mittee on postal telegraph bills: Messrs Wash
burne of Wisconsin, Lawrence, Deweese, Da-
| Wis, Palmer, Woodward and Beck.
Mr.. Paine, of Wisconsin, moved that such OF
she Virginia members as to whose right to seats
| there was no objection should now be sworn
| in. Messrs. Platt, Ridgeway and Mines came
forward and took the oath of Office.
| Mr.. Wood, of New York, objected to the
| oath being administered to MIR. Porter, ana
| read as the ground of his objection the charges
| ,yvh q POrtprl
| had been convicted and sentenced to i've
| months Imprisonment, which sentence had
been approved By Maj. Gen. B. f. Butler; that
| Mr. Porter had been convicted of declaring
eminent was Cd id humbug from begin
| ming to end; that Abraham Lincoln was doing
everything that he could for his own election
| and that this was rotten bogus, corrupt gov
| eminent from beginning to end.
Mr.. Paine, of Wisconsin, in answer to Mr..
| Wood sent to the clerks desk and had re i'd a
| telegram from Mr.. Butler, dated May 8, 1868,
| stating that Charles 81. Porter, in heated dis
| cusson had used words which being reported
to him he was obliged to notice. He had, how
| ever, omitted the onerous part of the judgment
| of the commission because it's case and the pre-
vous acts showed that Porter had not in fact
| been disloyal.
| Mr.. Roots, of Arkansas, remarked that the
| gentlemen on the other side OF the House were
| frequently making such imputations, and that
| if men were to be ruled out for such express
| siOIs the members from the other side would
| rule themselves out.
Mr.. Eldridge, of Wisconsin. asked Mr.. Paine
whether Mr.. Porter had ever taken back the
/ expression charged against him.
Mr.. Paine said he did not know. He had
never conversed with him on the subject.
Mr.. Sargent, of California, asked Mr.. Wood
whether he was prepared to say that any per
son should be excluded from membership in
| the House for having used such language
Mr.. Wood said that he had no difficulty in
answering that question. He did not believe
that anybody was fit to sit In the House who
humbug, or who denounced the President in
! such scurillous terms.
Mr.. Sargent remarked that he had simply
wanted to get the profession of faith.
Mr.. Whttemore asked Mr.. Wood, sarcasti.
cally, whether he did not think it better to trea
that class of people with Cancellation and kind
ness.
Mr.. Wood-Yes; but not to give them front
seats.
An excited discussion ensued, and was partici
pated in by Messrs. Woodward, Eldridge, Hol-
| man, Smith of Oregon, Brent, Voorhees,, Sar-
gent, Cox Mayham, Butler of Massachusetts,,
Wood, Morgan.
Mr.. Holman of Indiana, reminded the House
| of the exclusion of Young and Brown, me m,
bers elect from Kentucky, on the pretence Of
their having used expressions that were re-
| garded as disloyal.
Mr.. Sargent recalled the fact that during the
| last congress MI w OOu lidu U6cu CcuSuTeu ny
the House for declaring in speech that he
would vote against this most infamous bill OF
the most infamous Congress, and asserted thai
the Democratic party had from the beginning
of the rebellion thrown its influence in the
| scale against the government.
Mr.: Cox. of New York, declared that that
| statement was not true. He was in Congress
| at the breaking out of the rebellion, and was
among the first if not the first to denounce Sc,
cession. The great body Of Democrats hao
I N s-1n 1y,14 l,n I1nIn
member from Kansas Conway offered Sc
ries of resolutions for dismemberment VINO
| on the other side moved to expel him; put
when the member from Cincinnati (Long
| made speech for secession and disunion ma
| jori.y OF the other side voted to expel HIM, pu
the one was Republican and the other
Democrat If all of those who made expires
| sions against the government before tne wa
| were excluded from the House half the seat'
on the other side would be empty. He agree
with his friend Mr.. Voorhees) as to the righ
of representation. No wrongs ON the otnel
| side could make it right and they should Sc
| no rules for them. >.
| Mr.. Sargent repeated that the Democratic
. party of the North had not been during tn
war in sympathy with the government. E
Democratic President, a Northern man, hat
sent message to Congress atng that he hat
? no power to coerce a State, and in that he hat
, been fortified by Attorney General Black,
Northern Democrat.
l
| as to an editor of New York Republican pa
| per advocating the right of secession
At this time the confusion and excltemen
had increased to such an extent that the SPEAK
t er had to resort to the strenuous use OF tn
9 | gavel and request the members to resum
y their seats
Order having been restored, Mr.. WOODWARD
of Pennsylvania, said he rose to reply to ID
slanderous charge made against the Demo
9 cratic party by the gentleman from Californii
= | He had denounced it as slanderous at the III {
9 ment it was uttered and he repeated It no
d again. If the Democratic party of the MORT
had not recruited the army of the Unite
q States the Southern Confederacy would no
be an accomplished fact He had always o.
: served that those persons who brought tn
e charge against the Democratic party were gel
orally people who did the least to suppress IL
rebellion.
- Mr. Butler, of Massachusetts,, made sou
$ excusatory remarks in favor of Porter, sayln
n that the words uttered by him were ebull
ton of ill-nature in an excited political discu
sion, and reminded the other side of the Hou
of the amount of joy in Heaven over one sll