Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-03-13
our Washington Letter.
WASHINGTON. March 3. 49,

WASHINGTON, March 3, 1878.
Editor Rutland Herald The Credit
Mobilier crisis has passed. The various
undertakers (called, for short, commit
tees) have duly investigated, reported
and now rest in the peaceful conscious
ness of a final escape from a sad duty
done, if not in every case well done.
The evidence, alongside of the 'conclu-
sions of the committees, has gone out to
the lords and masters of these faithful
CD servants-we mean the people. The
readers of THE HERALD may ask for our
opinion upon the entire matter as now
presented, but they wont get it, not if
we know 0urself, and we think we do.
Moreover. we advise every reader to
take no other mans opinion, but TO read
the evidence, the reports, the final acts
of Congress and then draw his or her
own conclusion. This is what other
readers have been doing, and their other
servants, the papers, which are pretty
apt to reflect public sentiment, reach
us from all parts of the land in state
of moral effervesance.
Washington probably never witnessed
such day as was Last Tuesday. The
Poland report was to be considered and
long before Congress met the avenues Of
approach to the Hall of Representatives
were distrcssingly jammed. After the
body had convened, the pressure from
without became so much greater than
that from within that doors few open
and the irrepressible public filled all
parts of the hall. Ladies accepted mem
bers seats with the air of the sweetest
of law-givers. Some took position a Ia
Turk III the asIes. they stood in solid
jams of beauty in the rear of the mem
bers desks, they mounted upon sofas,
and flirted with members, messengers
and pages in the cloak rooms. The dis
cussion of that report lasted two days
and the crowd lasted as long as the dis
cussion did. Nobody seemed to know
beforehand Just what was to be done,
and the impression seemed prevalent
that if certain things were done certain
other things would be done, and that
snarl of the Kilkenny order would fol
low, which would reveal more of the
secret machinery of that public institu-
tion called government than is good tor
everyday people to know.
The battle opened by Judge Poland
making a long speech in support of the
committees s report, followed by a long
statement by that old orator Ames,
which, by the way, was read from the
clerks desk. Then followed a series Of
attacks upon the committee anything
but flattering, and able defenses by its
members. Butler championed the cause
of Ames and denied the House jurisdic-
ton to punish or eXpel members for mis-
demeanor committed previous to this
Congress. Voorhees, plead the case of
Brooks, appealing for mercy and charity
No jurisdiction in the case seemed to be
the winning argument, and after the
House had converted majority Of them
selves and many of their constituents to
the belief that, although their sins be as
scarlet, the House had absolutely no au-
thority to expel the accused for the dere-
lictions of 1863, it then with terrible
assumption of jurisdiction proceeds to
censure two of the accused for said acts
and pronounce the rest all right.
What nonplused new converts to the
idea was how the House had iurisdic-
ton to censure if it had none to expel
The whole idea is a subterfuge un-
worthy of the learned politicians, for it
is as clear as day that each House of
Congress has the utmost discretionary
power to deal with its members. 1t re-
quires a two-thirds vote to eXpel; beyond
that the question becomes one of right
and policy and not of constitutional re-
straint. The learned Mr.. Bingham made
one of his deep and eloquent constitu-
tional arguments. Like all of that
gentlemans speeches it would have com
manded great attention had he not been
one of the accused, with too much can
dor and honesty to make even an evaSive
danial. But he could not free himself
from the embarrassment always attend
ING a self-defensive argument He had
the utmost contempt for what he re-
peatedly derided as the 'pe-rio- ri-fi-ca-
ton" demanded by the press. John A.
is ofted right and sometimes wrong. He
must have known that in paying one
thousand dollars for five thousand dol
lars he was getting more than he paid
for and somebody had to pay the differ
ence, but then John A. like good boys
in the primers, couldn't tell a =. He
owned up, and that goes far toward
mitigating the matter
The final action of the House took
none by surprise. 1t was not expected
that the House would stamp official ir-
regularity (to say nothing worse) with
such disapprobation as to make legislat-
ors extremely careful of their comings
and goings, and command the future un-
limited confidence of the country, but
the entire expose will have the effect to
call before the popular minds the pro-
priety of Legislators taking financial in
terests in such projects as are made and
unmade by their official action.
This is one of the coming questions.
Let the verdict be explicit, based upon