, 1873-02-16

;nr that provision which refers claimants to'the
Courts III their districts instead Of tribunals 70
sit in Washington as proposed in the Senate bill.
eaid 1e was q member of the COMMITTEE On
Claims and knew how claimants were robbed IN
the den of thieves outside of Congress, by men
who watched them at every corner anu De,
mauded nav for influence which they profcseed
to have with members Of Congress: He d1d
not want claimants from his district to be setlt
TO Washington. where they would hrst nave 70
pay claim agent 25 por cent; thon nave TO pay
hundreds OF thousands of dollars to the 1ools "
claim agents. Az to the claims OF the insurance.
companies. they were entitled not 70 mercy
or cauity but to law, to the bond. and notnlnS
but the bond. These insurance companies nhu
never shown any mercy to owners OF Vessels. Ht.
They had used their power without mercy: I9oy
should not now como to Congress pleading Tor
equity or mercy. They had made pront OF Two
millions Of dollars on their war r1sks: InerG
was no equity in allowing them aaoll1onaa
profits.
reservations. He argued that tho war risks on
caraoeg should be made not to the owner OF the
cnreoes, but to the owners OF tho vessels.
br. MYERS pennsylyanla) argued IN IN anses iasos
of tho right Of the insurance companies 10 snare
in the distribution of the award
Mr.. EAMES argued in support Of the amend
meut offered by him yesterday. admitting INTO
the distribution tho claims Of NIL WHO sustained
losses By the dcpredations Of the Confederate
cruisers
Mr.. BECK opposed the bill and rather favored
the substitute offered by Mr. Poland, ~ 60 iar
as it referred the whole matter to three Courts,
to sit in New York, Boston, and PhAdelpnla,
He was in no frame OF mind to decide what was
exact Justice in the question. He, therefore,
preferred to let the Courts Of the United states
say So instead Of Congress-. He denied that any
part of the money could bo paid TO maze
GOOD any other losses than those inflicted
bv tho Alabama, Florida aud Shenandoah, be-
cause it was for these losses that England paid
the money. As to tho insurance companies, ne
saw no means of escaping from the conclusion
that they should be subrogated to the rights OF the
insy,rcd, But, if the Courts could find any way
| to get clear Of that, he should be glad He saw
none. Tho money could not be Kept IN tue
| Treasury. He would rather see 1T sunk in tile
ocean than to have it said TINT the United states
| Government had received money to pay for dam
| ages for which Great Britain Was. Responsible,
and Ind then paid it for other purposes. Tho
| good filth of tho Government was worth more
! than all tho money. When the Courts had DC
termined the question the world would be sa1ls-
| fed.
MIR. KERR also opposed the bill. He was not
willing to follow lis projudices or dislkos
| towards the wealthy corporations OF the country.
| He would say with tue utmost sincerity that he
had entered on the Investigation OF the 81 lece
| with the settled and deliberate determination,
! il possible, OIL corTec. and honest grounds, to
l decide against those corporations, and to decloe
in favor Of the other classes Of citizens, and OF
the Treasury, but ho would not 40 so nancn
give a vote which would, in his Judgment violate
! fhe settled recognized honorable principles OF
| lay. There was an element Of cupldity IN tho
bill. He argued that it should not be in Its
| present form passed. He very greatly preferred
tie proposition of the gentleman from Vermont
! Poland) to submit the distribution to the
Courts.
Mr.. VOORHEES,. member Of the Com
mittee supported the bill, and replied to the
arguments Of Messrs. Beck and korr. There
was in those arguments lie said, an element OF
respect to ENGLAND, as well az Of respect to the
insurance companies. According to them, the
insurance companies must be looked to with
awe II not. then England must be looked to
| with respect and awe, because that Government
| would hold the United States responsible for not
applying tho money in the way it was intended
to be paid. more degrading idea bad never
entered into consideration in regard to the
foreien policy Of this country. The distribu-
l. ton of this money was the business OF the
American Government. A moro shameless ana
degrading idea had never beon advanced III the
House Of Representatives as that & 10 ioret1n tga
Government of the United States what
it should do with its own people, and
it's own funds. It was not only absurd:
but it had been refuted by the instructlons OF
mitted to ANYTHING required at their hands BY
England, as to what should be done with sin
rle dollar of the money Whenever he could see
his way plain in settling up tho dreadful results ~
| 1NeAANAA@3
further accretions Of enormous wealth, aho
against further speculation on tho side OF
already bloated fortunes, but on the side Of the
equities of the poor, who we're not powerfully
Represented, he should certainly 20 1onno
j. there:
Mr. BUTLER (AIass.) closed the debate in
! eunuort of the BILL as reported by him. He ar
cued that Mr. Poland's proposition WAS wholly
inapplicablo and WOULD leave without any rene.
; dy ali the small claimants, who could not ntIord
to sue in the tribunals provided therein. He de-
Tended the provision of the bill regarding the in
surance companies, and stated that tho whole
theory Of insurance was that tho premiums PAID
the LOSSES The fact in this was that tho III.
surance companies paid little over s
millions. and had received as war premiums .
little over Biz millions. Not more than two
thirds Of the war premiums had yet come in. As
the claims stood, the insurance companies, IS
hody. had made million dollars Of profit. BE
: thought they had made two and q half or three
millions yet it was proposed to let them partlcl
, patio in this distribution. Some men called thai
. equity and justice, but he knew whore the gen"
tle1nan from Indiana (kerr) had got his notlonE
. | on the subject. He had seen him accompany
= the attorney Of the insurance companies, Mr
Evarts, into the Committeeman Of the Judiciar.
Committee and listen to his argument
!, N1r. KERR (angrly)-Tho gentlemans state
. ment is not true.
Mr. TLEI-Vere YOU not there
Mr. kERR-Yes, but did not accompany th'
. attorney, as thegentlenan states.
| "
= we're there ouly at that time aud ut no othe
y time.
: Mr.. KERR had the right to so there unde
a the courtesy Of tho Committee, to listen to tn
y argument. I went there, but I accompanied
u nobody there except tho gentleman from Ken
r trcky (aIr. Bec!l).
n NJ. BUTLEN-Woll, that is the keynote o
4 the gent1cmaa's argument.
n 3tr. kEKR-It is not true.
D1r. BUTLER-I did not sec the gcntlema,
T., there afterwards, and simply saying TINT ''it i
not true" does not alter the matter at all, shel
: the fact stated il true. Now, I am aware tho
it was tile agent OF the United States at Geneva
the paid attorney Of the United States, wh
ca1no before the Committee and said he was th
paid attorney Of the insurance companies befor
=. he was agent Of tue United States. lie went tt
,f Geneva IS the retained counsel Of the insuranc
i companies. Ho calne before the Committee M
~ ~ argued the case in favor OF the insurance com
- paniea 10 has been on this iloor, arguing til
case. with what results NC have seen, but not t.
!, change the vote Of any honest man, in my judg
,t ,nent who has heard both sdes. Perhaps b
n may have influenced the minds of those VII