The Portland daily press., 1872-05-11

to the Senate the nomination of Thomas N
Cole for collector of customs at Saco, Me-
The Kansas Gases.
The Kansas cases of alleged bribery in the
election of Senator Pomeroy in 1867, and Sena
tor Caldwell in 1871 will be taken up in the
tomorrow.
Report of the Senate Committee ON Sales
of Arms.
The Senate Arms Committee to-day agreed
upon their report which will be made to-mor'
row. The committee in reviewing the protests
ST Senator Sumner say:
Having given them due consideration, the
committee cannot doubt that a subpoena was
properly issued to him and that he was bound
TO obey it and to testify before the Committee,
and that his refusal to answer the questions
which were put to him cannot be justified.
The Committee are duly jealous of the honor
of our country and the reputation of the officers
of the government, and have great satisfaction
in being able, after the most thorough and i'm
partial investigation, to say there is nothing in
these terms or actions which reflects dishOnOr
upon either The sales were made according to
the settled construction of the statute in the
War Department with results exceedingly IA
vorable to the government. -
They find nothing in the conduct of the Sec
rotary of War or his subordinates deserving
censure in this subject There is no doubt that
they all proceeded in the full belief that they
The right to sell the stores cannot be question
ed. The manner of the sale at the worst was a
mere error or an irregularity in details of the
execution of the undoubted power, and in the
result there was no sacrifice of any interest OF
the government. The sales of arms and mill
tary stores during the fiscal year ending June
80, 1871, were not made under such circumstan-
ces as to violate the obligations of our govern
ment as a neutral power, and this for three
reasons:
First, That the Remingtons were not, in fact,
the agents of France during the time when the
sales were made to them.
Second, That ii they were such agents. such
a fact was neither known nor suspected by our
government at the time the sales were made.
Third, That if they had been such agents, and
if that fact had been known to our government
or, ifinstead of sending agents, Napoleon or
Fredk William had-personally appeared at the
War Department to purchase arms it would
have been lawful for us to sell them in pursu-
ance of the national policy adopted by the Unit
ed States prior to the commencement of hostil-
tiles
There is not the slightest foundation for even
a suspicion that any officer of the War Depart
ment of the Government derived any advantage
from these sales. The name of Gen. Rufus
ingalls, having been mentioned in this connec-
ton, and he having been subjected to some
criticism, the committee feel bound, as mere
act of justice, to say The is fully exonerated.
His only connection with this transaction was
the execution of an official friendly office in de-
livering a message and making an enquiry of
the French minister at Washington, for which
he neither received or expected to receive the
slightest consideration or advantage. The COM
mittee believe the conduct of the Secretary OF
War and his subordinates in these transactions
entirely blameless and that they resulted in
great advantage to the Government. Ina;much
as the Remingtons have also been mentioned
in this connection, justice requires at the hand
CATION has not resulted in impeaching the high
character which they have SO long sustained
for enterprise and business integrity
The committee, in conclusion, say that an ex-
animation of the testimony cannot fail to pro.
duce an impression that Marquis De Cham.
brun is the source of all the aspersions which
have been thrown upon our Government and
the suspicious which have been cast upon its
officials. His connection with the Legation OF
France, from which he sometimes energies, and
under which at other times he shelters himself.
leaves in doubt what was his real purpose in all
this matter. At times he seems to have been
intriguing in the interest of the French Gov
eminent to establish claims or causes of COM
plant against American citizens, and at other
times he seems to have been acting as an agent
or friend of his relative, the former Consul
General of France at New York, Mr.. Place
1t is impossible to determine from the testi
mony precisely where his official character end
ed and his personal efforts commenced or pre-
cisely what was the purpose for which he de-
sired this investigation, but it is certain he la
bored constantly and finally with success to ac'
complish it. Having failed to procure an in
vestigation by our Government, by which he
hoped to obtain proof to affect the trial OF his
friend and relative Mr.. Place, in France by ap
plying to Senator Patterson and Secretary Belk
nap, both friends of the administration of oul
Government, the Marquis next applied to Sen
ators Schurz and Summer. He furnished
Senator Sumner with the copy of the letter
from Remington to Lecsne; although in sub
seuuent conversation with Secretary Boutwell,
he denied that he had done so and charged up.
on Senator Patterson that he (Chambrun) had
given the letter to him to be shown to the
President and that Senator Patterson had just
given it, or a copy Of it to Senator Sumner
This letter was one of the. principal induce
ments to the introduction by Mr.. Sumner Of
the resolution for an investigation. Another
inducement was the supposed discrepancy be
tween the accounts of the War and Treasury
Departments. In regard to these sales which
turns out not to have existed. Yet another was
a pretented resolution of the French Assembly
on some committee thereof, which it appear
never was passed. Had Senators Sumner anC
Schurz applied to the Treasury and War De
partments for information on this subject witt
the slight inconvenience of five minutes walk
but which they omitted to do, they would hav'
learned all the material facts which it has cos
| the government thousand of dollars to ascertain
by this investigation.
They would have learned that there was n,
discrepancy between the accounts of the tw'
departments and there was no fraud nor viola
| ton of the law of nations in these sales Blu
| in that case Chambrun would have failed il
his efforts to use the Senate as an instrumen
| tality for obtaining testimony to vindicate hi
friend, Mr.. Place. and the opportunity woul'
| have been lost to cast suspicion upon and rails
scandal against the executive administration
| of our government. To rest the case, this in
vestigation was moved first upon statemen
that certain resolution had been adopted il
France; second, upon msapprehensiOn as t
the state of che accounts between the two ex
| ecutive departments of our government; an
third, on the totally unfounded suspicion as t
the conduct of the War Department in maxim
sales. 1t is now ascertained that such suppos
ed resolution never was passed, and that tn
other two grounds had no existence in fact, a
might easily have been discovered by the Sens
tors who moved and supported this resolution
| of inquiry In other words, this resolution wa
based upon one falsehood, one misappreheI
sion and one unfounded suspicion, and woul
not have been moved at all had other Senator
initiated the wisdom and prudence which mari
ed the course of Senator Patterson. The con
mittee also inquired whether the breech-loadin
muskets or other muskets capable of bein
transferred into breech-loaders were not sold
the War Department in such large numbers
to seriously impair the defensive capacity
the country in time of war, and after quotiI
testimony on the subject, say that there can
no doubt that the government could arm a mi
lion of men as fast as they could be raised an
organized to receive them. The commits
therefore report that the sales under consider
ton have not seriously impaired the defensi'
capacity of the country in time of war Sen
tor Stevenson will present his dissenting view
Report Of Disagreement.
A report was in circulation to-day that a T.
egram was received from London this momil
giving no promise of an arrangement betwe
the United States and Great Britain respectil
our claims for consequential damages. BO
the countries adhere to their respective po
tons.
Violence in the seuth-We
ST. LOUIS, May 10,-Some days since t.
men named Tulden and Anderson We're mi
dered in Caldwell, Summer County, kans'
by a man named McCarty, who escaped IL
the Indian Territory. A vigilance commit
Immediately set out in pursuit and found a
r shot him. After the return of the vigilants
shooting affray occurred in Wellington,
which Jack Lynch shot and wounded two III
Hopkins and Clark, and received two wour
himself. Lynch WAS arrested and the afr
coming to the knowledge of the commit
f they marched over to Wellington, a distance
ll~