The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-02-16
WHEELING. ". Az FRIDAY MORNING. FEBRUARY 1s, g72:

not been included in the report Of the Chic
Iot Ordnance, TO support which Mr.. SUN
NER had read IN Associated Press dispatcl
Stating that such sales had been made
Mr.. HARLAN explained that no sucE
sales were made, the bids having beer
rejected, and in proof of this he produced
the records Of 4he War. Department. HI
then reviewed in detail the preamble o
Mr.. SUMMERS resolution, and argued tina
the letters and documents cited or refer
red 10 therein showed clearly that somC
one in the country must DO in non.ofllcia
and unauthorized communication will
the French Legation, because several o
them could not have been got in any othel
way. He believed, therefore, that The
whole proceedings had been excited bJ
the present French government, and thai
It's agents had been sufficiently adroit Ia
draw into II member OF the Senate
The French government wanted evidence
to prosecute some OF It's own agents slls,
pected Of dishonesty, and II had
been able TO find some person
here who was willing to aid II
and ransacked the records Of the French
Legation In the hope Of finding something
that could be used against a department
of his own government. The preamble
was compated with the records Of the
War Department Of the amounts received
for arms, and with the French records OF
what had been paid by that government.
Now, the question was, where did the
author Of that preamble get access to the
Frenchrecords. AF a H.
Mr.. SUMMER: Why, held that record
in my hand while Ispoke yesterday. Il
will be found in the journal ofthe French
Republic.
MIR. HARLAN: Another newspaper state
ment. A--''
MIR. EDMUNDs: Here it Is in the New
York Sun. Laughter -a.. a
Mr.. SUMNER II is a report of "a
French official published in 4he French
official Journal
Mr.. HARLAN: And copied in the
New York SIN.
MIR. SUMNER: Copied in the Sun.
Laughter. -s-.--.,l-..., ,.s-..-.---,z.,-.,---.s.
MIR. HARLAN-Well whether that is
sufficient authority for the arraignment OF
u high officer of our government by q
member of the American Senate, I leave
to the American people to decide. Mr..
HARLAN then criticised the resolution
itself, and asked why,it proposed to limit
the investigation q the period of the
Franco German war, if the only motive
was To. Vindicate our own government
from unjust suspicious. Again why was
the committee TO ascertain who were the
real parties interested, what difference did
il make to our government whether the
purchasers bought for themselves or for
somebody elsa, whether or not must we
ascertain what sums were actually paid
by the real parties in the interest. The
explanation was that the French govern.
ment wanted this information to be
used against their own officials, and
the question was whether it was legiti.
mate for the American Senate to lend
itself to the French Legation for such q
purpose. II France had received any
wrong at our hands let her resort to the
Courts.
Mr.. FRELINGHUYsEN said he could not
vote Tor the preamble. He did not see
how any Senator could, and the resolution
itself was wholly unnecessary. The pre-.
amble and resolution together were very
anomalous productions, and if they had
not been introduced by one whose patri-
Otism he could not question, (SUMNER) he
would be forced to believe that they were
introduced in hostility to this country.
The events. to be investigated had occur.
red in 1870, and no complaint on, the su b.
ect had been made by the Prussian gov.
ernmcnt. Yet in the absence of such q
complaint or any other ground m Ameri.
can Senator had introduced q preamble
asserting that the good name of our COY.
ernment was seriously compromised, and
resolution proposing an investigation.
MIR. FRELINGHUYsEN then reviewed the
paragraphs of the preamble one by one,
and argued that some of the statements
quoted in 1t were plainly false, and none
OF them furnished any foundation for the
allegation that the good name of our
Government was seriously compromised.
The investigation must now go on, but
he hoped 1t would not be made by the
committee proposed in this resolution,
because, by parliamentary usage, the
chairman Of that committee (Mr. Sum.
NER) would be one who had already as.
sumed in this preamble the truth OF the
charges TO be investigated. He hoped
the matter would be referred to the Com.
mittee on Investigation and Retrench.
ment. Committees created for the
purpose Of investigating were ordered on
almost every pretext, and many OF them
like this one, were quite unnecessary; hut
they would continue until after the Phila.
delphia Convention.
Mr.. SCHURz said this investigation had
seemed to be very popular in the Senate
yesterday, but it was less so to-day, II
was now regarded rs disgrace to
the American name; and the Senator
from Massachusetts, (Mr. -SUAINER), who
had always passed for good American
was suddenly made to appear in the
character Of an agent OF France, or a
person put up to q job by somebody fol
the benefit Of the French Government
The Senator from New Jersey (Mr. FIRE,
LENouUYsEN) had also charged him with
doing that which would incite the Prus,
sian Government to make claims against
the United States. ItappearGd, therefore
that MIR. SUMNER must be regarded as d
Prussian agent also, and that the two
great belligerents OF 1870 were united In
this ono thing. [Laughter. But the
opposition to this investigation should moi
excite surprise, for 1t would be rcmem.
bered that the resolution for investigation
Of the abuses oil the New York Custom
House had been met in the same manner
and that the men who moved and urged
II were said to be very doubtful charac
tiers compared with Leet & Stocking
Laughter. He insisted that there was
no ground whatever for the insinuatior
that Mr.. SUMNER or any Senator had in
stlgated the proceedings of the French
government The facts seemed TO bt
that that government had ordered certain