The Portland daily press., 1871-02-23
XLIst O0NGRESS---Third Session

Ahlst U0NGRESS---Third Session.
SENATE.
WASHINGTON, Feb 22-The credentials {
Lot Nj. Morrill, as Senator from Maine for 81
years from March next was read aud tabled.
BY special order the Philadelphia Centet ma
celebration bill coming no the mornlpg hOu
was occupied by Mr. Conkiiug with a speec
in opposition and reading by The secretary {
ex- NJ lister BigelOw's recently published pla
for aeeueral celebration Of the Centennial 1
American Independence On the expiration G
the morning hour Mr.. Cameron made. an in
efectual attempt to have the bill further con
sfdered and the Senate i'll committee of tn
Who'll, took the Indian appropriation bill.
HOUSE.
The House proceeded to the consideration 0
the detclency bill. which apprOpriates SIC, GIT,
525, and includes the following items: For re
porting and publishing debates, 100000; TO
New York post Office, $500, 600; Tor Boston new
post office in addition to uuexDended balances
Tor purchase of the site, $6422.s; for cour
house at Madison, Wis, $2l S99: for coul
house at Portland. Me-, $2O079; Tor apprais
er's store in Philadelphia, $4,000; for public
printing, paper and binding. 1926, 900; for cav
airy aud artillery horses, $500 0OO; 'or army
clothing and caDo equipage, $500, 600; for army
contingencies, $15O,OO0; for army medical sup
plies, 100000; Tor army pay and mileage and
clothing, 2,045, 900; for quartermaster gener-
ais department, 1855 600; for 1reedmen's blu
reau, $140 900; for collecting revenue from i'm
ports Tor half year, So, 10000. The last item
is not included in the aggregate.
The item Tor tile Boston post Office ellflted
some Discussion. arising from opposition to il
by Mr.. FarnswOIth. The item for furniture in
the Treasury department brought out Mr..
FarnswOrth in an attack on the architect oil
the Treasury department, and he mentioned
an incident of two expensive mirrors being
toted about to adorn and beautify the house OF
a distinguished member of Congress in Wash
ingtOn City, and that one costing some $40 600
had been broken or lost in portation for
ward and backward.
Mr.. Eldridge of Wisconsin asked Mr.. Farms
worth to what member of Congress he referred
Was he a Democrat?
MIR. FarDsworth replied that his politics were
of that uncertain kind it was difficult to tell
what they were. He had been Democrat
and Everything else by turns but nothing
long" (Laughter)
Mr.. Butler of Massachusetts, replied to Mr.
FarCsworth's nsinuaton. There were some
things, he said, which men could not avoid.
He could not avoid when going along the
streets having mud carts spat5er filth upon
him. The member from Illinois had accused
him of being interested in the granite contract
for the Boston post office, but his colleague on
the Post Office Committee (Fitcb) had inform
ed the House there was not the slightest evil
dence connecting him with it. Then came
some item about furniture, and thereupon the
mud machine went at it again and the House
was told that furniture belonging to the Treas
ury had been used by him (Butler) There
was not word of truth in it, The accusation
was that the Secretary of the Treasury, super
vising architect and everybody who had to do
with these appropriations were all corrupt, all
fraudulent and all wrong; AID this charge
was made by man whose majority had dwin-
died ten-iold, from IA 900 to 400, and against
Methodist preacher, TOO. (LauShter.) He bad
IN m q L hQG NO hat
he who accused all the world convicted only
one, and that was himself He who ran q
muck against every man only showed his own
heart and had all the qualities with which he
desired to invest every one else. He was hike
man who being drunk himself saw all the
world staggering before him. The member
from Illinois saw polhlng but wrong, fraud,
misfeasance and maleasance in everybody
else. (Laushter.)
Mr.. Farnsworth said he had not stated that
the house of the member from Massachusetts
had been graced with mirrors belonging to the
Treasury, but as it seemed that the coat fitted
that member, he would now say it Lad been
proved before committee of the House and
was susceptible OF proof again, and that tue
members house was eraced by mirrors
belonging TO the United States govern
men, and that some of these mirrors had been
OsG in their transportation to and from the
Treasury. He held in his hann docume Mt
which would prove to any unprecedented jury
that the member from Massachusetts was in
tereSted 10 the stone quarry from which grain
lite was taken for the Boston post office. 1t
was as well understood in the city OF Boston as
any other fact that was notorious there, that
the quarry was universally called Buffers
quarry. The testimony showed q man named
French. a distiller and a former officer on the
staff OF the member from Massachusetts, but
who could not get commission from Governor
Andrew on account of his VIGOROUSLY bad
character, had been TAX en- down into the mem
bers district and used there in connection
with the quarry. That man had come on to
Washington because his distllery had been
seized for violation of the revenue laws, aud
went to consult the member from MassachE
chusetts, who was usually consulted in such
cases. He had happened to mention that be
had some spare money and to ask how be
should invest it, and the member from Massa-
chusetts advised him to buy a stone quarry
and it happened that it was the very day when
the first appropriation of 100000 was made by
Congress for the Boston post office. The dis
tiler had never owned a stone quarry and
knew nothing about the business, buG he went
and purchased an old abandoned stone quarry,
and Immediately after, under the advice and
assistance of the member from Massachusetts,
he procured a contract, although he was the
highest bidder, tor the granite for the entire
building of the post Office, and although there
was a statute which which made it high mis-
demeanor for any officer of the government TO
make a contract beyond the appropriation al
ready 10 ada. He was not to be told under
these circumstances that the member from
Massachusetts was not interested in that con-
tract
The item for the contingent expenses OF the
House being under consideration Mr.. Dawes
explained that the prif cipal cause of the eX-
haustiOn of the contingent fund was the pay
ment of contestants for seats in the House who
bad received during the present Congress 49,
900 besides $500 paid for expenses in connec-
tion with these cases.
An appropriation for army deficiencies was
opposed by MIR. Brooks of New York, who OBJ
iected again to the use OF the federal troops in
the New York election and in the execution of
revenue laws in Brooklyn.
Mr.. Dickey of Pennsylvania reminded Mr..
Brooks that a precedent for putting down the
whiskey riot in Brooklyn had been set by
Washington himself in putting down a
whiskey instruction in Philadelphia; SO Pres
ident Grant was occasionally compelled to
send a small army to that whiskey drinking
peighborhood in New York to enforce the rev.
enue laws.
Mr.. Schumacher OF New York-We always
had a riot whenever he did it.
Mr.. Dickey-It wonld always create riot
in New York to stop the suppiy of whiskey.
[Laughter]. No where else than in the neigh
Corbood of New York has the love of whiskey
SO developed ITSELF
Mr.. EldIidge of Wisconsir-Excspt in the
House of Representatives,. [Laughter.]
that the President had no rig hit to send an army
or navy into States except on the request of
the governor or legislature, but he did not be-
lieve the President had violated the law in that
respect He intimated, owever,, hat greater
outrage was committed by the House and one
of its committees in not taking such action as
would give to the great northwest the repre-
septation in the House which its population en-
titled 1t to.
Mr.. Brooks of New York expressed his salts
f,of OF l,nr io,t h. 49,
ident for the use of military at elections from
the gentleman from Illinois (Losan) who was
the Presidents superior in civil life aud his
equal in military life.
Mr.. Wood of New York moved to strike out
one of the items for the Freedmen's Bureau
and charged the bureau with having plumber
cd the public treasury; and Mr.. McNeely OF
Illinois, made remarks in the same direction.
Mr. Hoar OF Massachusetts, characterized
the two speeches as illustrations of the malig-
nant hated which the Democratic party enter
taned towards all poor and oppressed aud
down trodden people in the land. The propo-
sitiOn was to reject the item of $4,000 for sup
port of the freedmen's hospital and ASYLUM,
and turn out the sick and blind and aged and
feeble inmates to starve and perish in the streets
rule and Democratic policy. He declared that
after an investigation, unexampled for patience
and fairness, not a scintilla of evidence had
been produced before the committee which in
vestigated the charges against the Freedmen's
Bureau to substantiate these charges. The
DULY persons whom that investigation con-
demped were the men who made the charges
Wood and two members of the committee
who signed their names to the minority repOl t
Rogers and McNeely.
Mr.. Cox replied to Mr.. Hoar, remarking in
cidentally that the freedmen's bureau was rot
ten from top to toe, and that it had been used
in connection with the army for the prostitu-
ton OF the ballot box and the injury OF the ne,
gro race, and now the House had heard