The Portland daily press., 1873-02-28

man who committed it, to control his voice and
yote, anu H3ntn after month the man puts into
MS pocKet the price for which he had agreed to
surrender his independence and honor as a rem
resentative of the people. He contended that
Brooks had precluded the raising of the oues
tion IN his case because he had himself dec1er.
&c in the House if what Mr. Trumbull of him
said were true, he (Brooks) was unfit to be a
member of the House. and ought to be expelled
not only from the House but from all associa-
ton with decent men here or elsewhere. As to
Mr.. Dawes and Mr.. Schofield he (Speer) would
not vote either to expel or censure them. He
owed these gentlemen nothing personally or
politically, but he owed it to his conscience as
an honest man, he owed it to his sense of duty,
he owed it to the cause of truth to say that af-
ter the most careful examination of the testi-
mony in regard to them he believed them to be
innocent But when he came to the cases of
Messrs. Kelley and Garfield, he had to say with
the same honesty of purpose and the same sin
cerity of conviction, that he believed them both
guilty. They never paid dollar for their Cred
it Mobilier stock which they received Mr..
Kelley had been paid $1O79 for what? For moth
ing. I'M
Here the hammer fell, the legislative day of
yesterday ended and that of to-day commenced,
and was opened with prayer by the chaplain.
Mr. Sargent of California, offered an amend
ment to the resolution reciting parliamentary
debates on the case, and condemning the con-
duct OF Ames and James Brooks.
Mr. Hoar of Massachusetts,, suggested that
the amendment would establish parliamenta-
ry precedent worse than any that had been pro.
posed.
Mr., Poland, chairman of the Select Commit
tee, then rose to close the debate. He did not
the large audience that he saw before him. He
knew nothing about stage tricks He knew
nothing about playing the buffoon or the harle-
quin. He never had any gift for saying or do
ing things for the purpose of splitting the
ears of the groundlings even if he had the
gifts he should not have deemed this the proper
occasion to display qualities of that kind. He
could not do such things if he would and he
would not if he could. 2 xr
Mr.. Poland then proceeded to reply to the ar
guments made against the powers of the House
to expel members for offences committed be-
fore their election and to sustain his position
by parliamentary proceedings
Having disposed of that subject Mr. Poland
came back to the facts in the case and to the
scheme of the Credit Mobilier and its inventors.
He said it did not require great ingenuity to
get up scheme to cheat the government out of
$4O000,O00 but it did require good deal of
wit to get up the machinery necessary to run it
successfully. They had contrived the scheme
but there was no man in New York shrewd
enough to get up the running machinery.
They had to send almost as far as Boston to
find man, and they got the right man but
difficulty grew out Of that. This Boston law
yer said mill with SAT 900 900 in the hopper,
mill you are going to filch more than half
that sum out of the government when you have
got a man with wit enough to devise the means
by which you can do that and cover it up.
Yo1 cannot put off that man with fee of
| $4,000. He had to have $4,000.
| The machinery had just got into operation so
| there would be no difficulty if they could stop
the investigation in Congress and not be
| troubled by government directors. Congress
| and government directors were the only things
left that were to be feared, and these had to be
| taken care of. Accordingly Ames had come to
Congress with shares of Credit Mobilier stock
| in his pocket and went round to various mem
bers OF Congress and leading men, and said he
had got an excellent Investment a thing which
would pay 10 per cent, and offered it to the
members who he said had been good friends to
| the Union Pacific Railroad. He was fixing it
| so that those who took shares from him should
| think it was an honest thing. He had found it
necessary to clothe it in the habit of honesty
The hammer fell, the debate closed and the
| House was brought face to face with the ques-
ton
Mr.. Farnsworth of Illinois, for the purpose of
| referring the whole matter to the public, moved
to lay ION the table. The vote was taken by
| yeas and nays While the vote was progress
ing, Mr. Brooks sat at his desk with his head
| down, apparently absorbed in reading, while
Mr.. Ames sat in one of the front row Of seats,
the one usually occupied by Mr.. Wallace of
South Carolina, leaning his head in his hand
| apparently following the vote attentively. A
handsome boquet offered by some sympathizing
friend, stood on the desk before him. The vote
| Weto edhCn III SiituCe, SOleUlu SGlllIeSS
prevailing in the Hall so that responses were
| distinctly heard. The members seats were all
| filled, many new members being present and,
the galleries were densely packed.
+ The next question was on substituting Mr..
| SargeptS resolution for those reported by the
select committee. The vote, yeas 115, nays 14O
Messrs Eldridge of Wis. and Voorhees, ct Ind,
having originally voted "no," changed their
vote to aye and endeavored to give their
| reasons, but were not permitted under the rule
| which forbids debate during roll call.
The question then required on the first Of
Mr.. Sargent's resolutions as follows:
Resolued. That the House absolutely condemns
| the conduct of Oakes Ames, a member of this
House from Massachusetts, in seeking to pro-
cure Congressional attention to the affairs of q
| corporation in which he was interested, and
whose interest directly depended on the legisa-
tion Of Congress- by inducing members of Con-
greSs to invest in the stock of the said corpora
| ton.
The resolution was adopted-1S1 to So.
| Mr.. Brooks voted in the negative
The next resolution of Mr.. Sargent was the
voted on. 1t is as follows:
ResoIced, That the House absolutely con-
| demns the conduct of James Brooks, a MEM
| Der of the House from New York, for the use
| Of his position of government director of the
| Union Pacific railroad, and of q member of the
| House, to procure the assignment to himself
or family of stock in the Credit Mobilier of
America, corporation having contract with
| the Union Pacific railroad, and whose interests
depended directly upon the legislation of Con-
| gress.
The resolution was adopted-yeas ia, nays
| 80.
| The next resolution included Mr.. Sargent
| substitute, which was as follows.
| ReS0lued, That the special committee be dis
! charged from further consideration of the sub
| ject. f1t1'-t
| Mr.. Hoar moved to lay the resolution and
| preamble on the table,
Mr.. Wood suggested that it would prevent
| the reporting of resolutions as to other MEM
| bers implicated. IEN
| The Speaker stated it certainly would be the
| Judgment of the House that it had accepted
and disposed of the report of the committee.
Mr.. Sargent asked what would Mr.. Hoar's
motion carry to the table? Would it carry the
resolutions already adopted?
The Speaker replied it would not carry with
it the resolutions already adopted.
Mr.. Hoar of Massachusetts, withdrew his
motion.
Mr. Randall of Pennsylvania, asked whether
in case the resolution to discharge the commit
tee were not, adopted, it would be in order for
any member to offer as privileged question:
resolutions as to other members affected by the
testimony
The Speaker replied that if the House did not
discharge the committee from further consider
alton OF the subject it would, of course, be still
before the House. If the committee were dis
charged the subject would be taken away from
the House as question of privilege
A vote was taken and the resolution discharg-
ing the committee rejected-104 to Ia.
Mr.. Sargeants resolution stating that there
were some doubts as to the right of the House
to expel members for their action years before
their present election, it was not proper to take
action on their cases, was lost IS to 131.
Mr.. Hale of Maine, moved that the report of
| the committee be re-commftted and moved the
previous question. Lost, II to 49,
Mr.. Spear presented a resolution censuring
Messrs Kelley for receiving moneyof Oakes
Ames.
Mr.. Dingley Of Pennsylvania, objected to the
resolution and characterized the preamble as a
stump speech. st.lr .s.. =
The Speaker put the question whether the
House would now consider the resolution and
1t was decided in the affirmative, 118 to so.
Substitutes were suggested by Messrs Sar-
geant Stevenson and Hawley Of the Commit
tee, but Mr.. Spear declined to allow any to be
offered He proposed to yield half of his hour
to the gentlemen affected by the resolution.
Mr.. Kelley said he asked the House only to
be true to its own honor and the rights of each
member. He had no witness before the select
committee. 1t had not been intimated to him
that he might have witness or that he might
be heard on his own behalf other than the
III L. IL |.