The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-02-17
xLIId CONGRESS..SECOND SESSION.
SENATE.


ing that no candidate will be eligible to Federal
office who is addicted to the use of intoxicating
| liquor as a beverage.
The resolution that the sale of arms to France
be investigated was taken up.
| Mr. Morton said Mr.. Sumner would have
great difficulty in convincing the country that
| the Introduction of this resolution was not a
move on the Presidential chess board, intended
| to affect the next Presidential Convention or
election by alternating the German vote from
the Republican party Whatever might be said
| OF the substance of the resolution, its form was
lnexcusable, for 1T was SO drawn that Senators
| could not vote for the preamble without assert
ing that the allegations to be investigated were
! true, and 1t was as absurd to ask the Senate to
| do this as it would be to ask jury to find a
| verdict first and hear evidence afterwards. The
preamble assumes that there was discrepancy
OF vi, 900 between the accounts of the Treas
ury and War Department That was not true.
MIR. Sumner said the preamble did not assume
the actual existence of the discrepancy. 1t
only asserted there was apparent discrepancy
in the official reports of the Departments.
Mr.. Morton said that is the very point.
deny that it appears from the reports of the
two departments, and aver that the reports
show that there is no discrepancy, that it has
been all explained. This discrepancy was at
first thought very valuable one, but it had dis
appeared. Even Mr.. Schurz admitted yester-
day that he had no doubt it could be explained.
Mr.. Schurz said that what he said yesterday
was that the Secretary of the Treasury had ex-
planned the apparent discrepancy for the fiscal
year ending in 1871, but had failed to explain
ed the belief that it could be explained.
Mr.. Morton was authorized to say that the
charge that there was discrepancy was frivo-
lous and without foundation.
Mr. Edmunds said that if any one would in
diligently examine the accounts in the reports
he would see there was no discrepancy.
Mr.. Schurz said that the Secretary of the
Treasury has admitted to him that all moneys
paid into the treasury from sales of arms did
not appear in the reports for the reason that
some accounts had not been settled when the
reports were made.
Mr. Sumner said that the Secretary told him
that it had taken some time to look into the &C
counts of the Treasury to sift them to the bot
TOM
Mr. Morton-Yes; and he told YOU in the
same conversation it was all right l
Mr.. Sumner-YeS.
Mr.. Morton-Then we will consider the dis
crepancy out of the case.
Mr. Edmunds insisted that there was no ap-
parent discrepancy, and Messrs. Sumner and
Schurz had fallen into the mistake of suppos-
ing there was by looking for an item under the
wrong heading in the Treasury report.
Mr. Sumner said that in his remarks the 9TH
er day he continued the figures in the report of
the Secretary of War for the fiscal year with
those in the report of the Secretary of the
Treasury for the same year, and said the dis
crepancy showed that there was at least reason
for inquiry, and he insisted that the fact that
there was three days discussion was necessary
to explain the discrepancy, fully justified the
assertion
Mr.. Morton said that it was now admitted
that there was no discrepancy at all. The next
question was whether there ever existed any
sufficient ground for suspicion to justify its in
PRODUCTION into the Senate, and he insisted that
there was not. All great governments were al
ways selling arms for which they had no use,
and that was what our government did in this
case. The cartridges were manufactured be-
cause the arms could not be sold without them,
but it was a mistake to say that special order
was required to manufacture that ammunition
The manufacture was going on all the time I'M
the general law authorizing the disposal of dam
aged ordnance stores. .F-r
Mr. Schurz asked him whether ammunition
not yet manufactured could be cassed as dam
aged ordnance stores? %
Mr.. Morton said this case came expressly
within the meaning of the statute. ~
Mr.. Schurz said the powder used for making
cartridges must necessarily be of good quality,
and asked whether it could be classed under the
head of damaged or otherwise unsuitable stores
for the United States service.
Mr.. Morton said that was standing upon
words The Senator insisted that under the
statute we could not sell powder till damaged
so as to be useless, and then of course We could
not sell it at ALL That construction of law was
new and absurd.
Mr.. Schurz said that according to the con-
SGIuCtiOu VI tllt law ny NIL NlOrGOu tu6 OTu-
nance Department could go into the manu-
facture of cartridges as regular business, for it
might always be assumed that there was always
powder on hand liable to get damaged used in
that way.
Mr.. Morton said the officers of the Ordnance
Department had power to do that.
Mr.. Wilson said it was their duty to do it.
Mr.. Morton said that Mr. Schurz's narrow
construction of the law showed the desperate
straits into which he had been driven. These
ylnfh rxyy how
ammunition with them, and they would not
buy the ammunition without arms. Reming
tons statement in his letter. quoted in the pre-
amble, about the difficulty of getting cartridges
manufactured were probably made for the pur-
pose of magnifying himself in the eyes of his
French employers. But why was the action of
our Government in this matter arraigned in the
Senate when Prussia, the only party aggrieyed,
if anybody was, had made no complaint. The
Prussian Government had known all about
these transactions at the time and could have
bough. the arms themselves if they wished, but
they declined and made no complaints because
the arms were sold to others.
Mr.. Conkling said the Baker & Co. referred
to by Mr. Schurz was German firm, who, he
was informed by high authority, had bought
arms of our Government which afterwards
passed into the hands of the Prussian Govern
ment. fryy .1t -
Mr.. Morton said that when the Prussian Gov
eminent permitted arms sold by our Govern
ment to be shipped openly from New York to
Brest and Havre without objection it was very
extraordinary that an intervention in behalf of
that Government should now be made in the
Senate.
Mr.. Schurz asked whether he meant to insin-
uate that either Mr.. Sumner or himself was
acting on behalf of the Prussian Government.
Mr.. Morton did not mean that but meant to
say that when the Prussian Government made
no objection there was no occasion for Ameri-
can Senators to try to convince it had cause to
complain. Ltl
Mr.. Morton again said that the object of the
resolution was to ALLEVIATE the German vote, but
he did not believe the attempt would succeed
The Germans were an educated people, re-
markedly well informed in politics Of this coun-
try. Were in the habit of thinking for them
selves and did not belong to anybody nor could
they be carried I'm anybodys breeches pocket,
however capacious 1t might be. They We're Re-
publcans because the principles ct the Repub-
lcan party accorded with their own liberal and
progressive ideas, and they were well aware of
the notorious facts that the sympathies of the
Republican party and its leading journals were
with Germany in the late war, while those of
the Democracy were with France and that
when the Germans in Paris had need of a pro-
tector they chose the Minister of the United
States, Mr.. Washbume. Recurring to the main
question he said that even if there was any
thing wrong in the sales of arms by the ord
nance department the President was not to
blame, as he never ordered them, and Mr..
Schurz had admitted that the Secretary of War
wrs not to blame.
Mr.. Wilson read letter from Treasurer
Spinner, saying that when he was in Europe
last summer the story about taking arms from
the French on the Loire was current in German
journals and adding that the discrepancy be-
tween the accounts of the Treasury and the
War Department was found to be less than
100000. Mr.. Wilson made a statement of
former large discrepancies between the accounts
of the department and said such Discrepancy
did not necessarily imply fraud.
Mr.. Morton in conclusion said, that the re-
suits of this administration were so magniti-
Gent that nothing was left to its enemies but to
raise prolonged howl of corruption Before
the meeting of Congress he heard of the mine
that was to blow Gen. Grant OIt of the Presi-
Dental field, but now the mine had been ex-
ploded and instead of the President it was the
engineer that was blown up. He warned liberal
Republicans against the dslusive idea that they
| could organize new party which would take
| in the Democracy The contest was to be be-
| tween the nominee Of the Philadelphia Oonven-
| ton and the nominee Of the Democratic Con-
| yention and if any man hated Gen. Grant so
much as to wish to see him defeated In that
contest he could contribute to that result in
| two ways-by going over to the Democrats, or
| by going to the CINCINNATI Liberal Convention
| and putting third party in the field. The
| Democrats were playing postum and preparing
to profit by the quarrels of the Republicans. 1T
| was shrewd game but it would not succeed.
| The platform of the liberal Republicans was
substantially Democratic platform-one on
| which even the Ku-Klux at the South could
stand. If it should triumph in the next cleo
ton 100000 colored citizens at the South could
| not receive protection against their ku=Klux
| prosecutors. The records of whose deeds soon
| to be laid before the country in the report of