The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-03-23
WASHINGTON.
The Portland Pension Agency.
Senator SchurZ before the Arms
Investigation Committee.
Secretary Boutwell, on the New York
Custom House Matters.

-... NOMINATION FOR PENSION AGENT.
WASHINGTON, March 22-The President has
nominated George L. Beal for Pension Agent
at Portland.
MIR. SEIZURE TEsTIFIEs BEFORE THE FRENCH
~ r. l-- . ARMS COMMITTEE.
WASHINGTON, March 23.-Mr Schurz ap-
peared to-day as a witness before the Senate
committee on the sale OF arms He testified as
to the manner in which he first obtained infor-
nation about the sales of arms for the French
Government to Remington. About a week be-
fore the Christmas vacation copy of a letter
from Remington to M. Cesne was shown a
member of Congress, the same as appeared in
the preamble to Mr.. Summers resolution. He
did not know of his own knowledge how the
copy was obtained. On being asked to give the
name of the member of Congress, Mr.. Schurz
said he did not feel at liberty to tell it, but
thought the gentleman might have no objection
himself to doing so. He could say, however,
that it was not Mr.. Sumner. In reply to the
question whether he had any knowledge of any
officers connected with the Government having
received money directly or indirectly from the
sale of arms, he replied that good deal of in
formation had come to him from third persons
in confidence, but he thought the information
could be produced by the committee in evidence.
Mr. Carpenter, who asked the question from
what persons Mr.. Schurz obtained the Informal
ton, replied he would waive it for the present.
MIR. SchurZ, in the course of this examination,
said he did not obtain this information from any
person other than the citizens of the United
States
During the proceedings Senator Hamlin said
that he had in his hand an article from the
Nord Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, and trans
ferred it to Senator Schurz, who read it, saying
that the paper was printed in Berlin and was
an official organ. The following sentence &C.
ours therein:-"We believe we are well in
informed when we say that our Government
takes no interest, or at the most only mega
tive one, in the question which Mr.. Sumner has
brought before the American Senate"
The committee adjourned till Monday.
NEW YORK CUSTOM HOUSE INVESTIGATION.
A letter from the Secretary of the Treasury
was read before the New York Custom House
Investigating Committee to-day. 1t -encloses
the correspondence with the several collectors
at New York since March, 1869, relative to the
general order business, and says:-"My views
in regard to the expediency of employing ware
houses under control of steamship companies
for the storage of unclaimed goods are stated in
this correspondence and 1 refer especially to
my letters of June 1st and the 9th, 1870. The
suggestion made by me to the Collector at New
York, that the warehouses of the steamship
companies might be used for storage of I'M
claimed goods, already contemplated that the
storehouses should be placed under the exclu-
sive control of officers of the United States,
and that the owners and managers of steam
ships and the employees of steamship companies
should be treated precisely as other persons and
be excluded from all management OF the ware
houses. "
The afternoon was occupied in the examina-
ton of Jno j. O'Brien, weigher in the New
York Custom House. He was appointed in
1870, shortly after Mr.. Murphy was appointed
collector In the fall of that year he was the
President Of the Sth district Republican Asso-
citation. He detailed the manner in which the
members of the Republican organization We're
approached by members of the Tammany ring
aud in many cases influenced by the money of
that gang. He himself had been approached
by Tweed who promised him guarantee for
his entire future if he would allow himself to
be used in the Republican organization for the
purposes of Tammany. He told Tweed to put
himself in his place and he would then find out
what his answer ought to be. Tweed then said,
''Then We can't agree" but proposed to the
The witness was closely interrogatedby Senator
Casserly, but objected to giving the name of
the delegate who arranged for his interview
with Tweed, only for the reason that the dele
gate was now an invalid. The interview to
which he referred took place at Tweed's private
room at the Office of the Board of Public Works.
& THE KU KLUX LAW.
The Supreme Court to-day took up the cases
number 10, the original ca parte I. Jefferson
Greer. This is one of the South Carolina cases
under the enforcement act OF May, 1870, and
Messrs, Stanberry and johnson, failing to get
the cOnstitutionality of the law before the
Court in the case of Avery and others upon a
certificate of division in respect to the questions
raised on motion to auash, now moved for
writs of hdbedS corpus and certiOri to bring up
this case for review, the Court below having re-
fused to discharge the petitioner on writ of
hdbeds corpus. After some conversation be-
tween the Court and counsel the matter was
taken under Amusement.