The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-02-01

Congress Yesterday-Amncsty and the
Negro vote-The New Loan and the
Syndicate.
Again the Senate had yesterday a grand
powwow over the Amnesty bill and the negro
palace car amendment. The Michigan Sena-
tor, Mr.. Chandler, who has fought the Chicago
Relief bill because it might interfere with the
lumber trade of his State, true to his instincts,
made characteristic speech against amnesty,
declaring that God might forgive an unre-
pentant rebel, but that he (Chauder)-a far
mightier power in his own acknowledgements
would He then expressed the humane
opinion that the shooting of two or three hum
dred Ku Klux fellows would effect great
deal more good than the passage OF
an Amnesty bill, and he warned
the members of that mysterious
ghostly clan that, after all, they were
only paroled prisoners of war, and liable to
be taken out and shot for violation of their
parole. Then Sumner mounted his black
woolly hobby-horse and caracoled around in .
manner wondrous to witness, declaring that
the great difficulty with Morrill,, of Maine,
who had made a constitutional argument
against his Supplementary Civil Rights bill.
was that his (Morrill's) Interpretation of the
constitution was the old one, in contradistinc-
ton to the new rule which had conquered at.
Appomattox-in other words, that the Maine
Senator had not fully acquired the lesson Of
deriding and setting at defiance the great
charter Of national government. He warned
the Senators of his own party that il
the Amnesty bill should be passed
and the Negro Palace Car bill
rejected the colored vote would be so divided
at the next Presidential election as to secure
the defeat of the republican party. He an
nounced the fact that the colored voter was q
new power in the land, and should be con-
sidered. Of course he should ar6 the best
consideration that can be paid to him is to
restore the respectable white people of the
Southern States to the position from which
they can direct and control public affairs in
those State and get rid of the horde OF official
thieves who have been bringing the South to
bankruptcy and ruin. The Amnesty bill went
over without action.
The House bill of last session for the retire.
ment, on full pay, of superannuated judges of
the United States Courts, was reported
adversely from the Judiciary Commit
tee of the Senate A bill to refund
to banks, trust and insurance companies, &C.,
the two and half per cent collected ON
profits for the last five months of 1870 was
passed. This is all right, being based on the
principle that, having paid five per cent for
the first seven months of the year, they had
already paid even more than the rate OF
income tax imposed upon the public at large.
The same principle will have to be applied to
all the officials of the government who were
compelled to pay five per cent income tax for
the first seven months Of the year and two
and half per cent for the last five, while all
other citizens had only to pay the lesser rate
for the entire year.
The House spent the whole day in debating
the report of the Committee of Ways and
Means, which justiHes the Secretary of
the Treasury in his negotiations with the Syn
dictate. The report was assailed by members
| on the democratic side, who claimed that the
| Syndicate arrangement was nothing less than
a SUGGEST ul swindle, in which the people had
been victimized to the tune of between four
and five millions, while on the part of the re-
publicans the action Of the Secretary was sus-
tanned and defended, as being at least justified
| by the law, even if it was liable to criticism
as good business transaction. The vote on
the resolution will be taken to-day, and will
undoubtedly result in the exculpation of Sec
rotary Boutwell,. He must not, however, in-
terpret that vote as an authority to repeat such
! a financial transaction; for even his friend Mr..
Dawes declined, in advance, to admit that
such an Interpretation would be correct. 4
| The Audit Bill NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. POwcrs
of the New Board.