The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1873-02-27

Tor all time to come He quoted the case OF
'o1l M3rrlssey, gambler and prize tighter,
ana yet ne took he took his seat in the House,
ana no man dared to raise his voice against
| him. he remained during his term of election
and was as well H. behaved member as was ever
set to give two-thirds of the House the riobt to
| eXpel member whom they did not like that
moment the death seal of liberty was struck.
Mr. Voorhees, of Indiana then took the floor
| and made an argument against the ex-
| pulsion of Brooks. Good character, lie
| said, stood for something in this world and
| when man had lived long in the community
and won its respect, there should be no haste
convicting him when grave charges are brought
| against him. He argued that there was no
| evidence of corrupt influence being exercised in
this matter, and that certainly was a circum-
| stance which should have its weight. If the
charge were made that bargain to assassinate
| a man was entered into, it would certainly be a
| circumstance to show that no attempt of as
| sassinaton had been made in this case Where
was the act showing that Brooks had acted or
voted improperly? The committee submitted
| no proof to it, but so far as Brooks is concern
| ed they furnished no testimony.
| He reviewed the testimony affecting Brooks
| and argued that that the statements of Nc
Comb had been directly contradicted by John
| 3. Alley and Cakes Ames aud Benjamin F.
nam, the Secretary, and Sidney Dillon, the
| President of the Credit Mobilier, who must
have known all about the transaction. The
ease with which some minds arrive at q dread
| full conclusion against their fellow men was
something revolving; but in this case, as it
stood, the House had only to find Brooks guilty
OF corruption but guilty OF perjury also, and to
| find Cakes Ames, Alley, Wilson and others,
| guilty of perjury He intimated that the COM
mittee had not been very liberal towards
Brooks OF given him time to explain any I'M
| certain matter, and which seemed to bear
| heavily against him. He thought that if there
| was one case which appealed more than another
to every sentiment of liberty and kindness, it
was the case of Brooks man sick and
/ broken in health since his VOYAGE around the
world, not broken by sense of guilt as he (Vor-
hees) knew, but by the increase OF the malady
| on him under the nervous excitement naturally
| produced by his surroundings. He read let
ter from Mr. Brooks to the chairmon of the
| committee, complaining of the exclusion of tes-
| timony in his favor.
Mr.. Niblack OF Indiana, a member of the
| committee, made an explanatory statement.
| This brought Brooks to his feet, who, address
| ing Mr.. Niblack, said, ''you opened the doors
| to Colfax two days after you closed them to
| me''
| In conclusion Mr.. Voorhees, declared solemnly
that he never was upheld by tirmer faith than
| that which he now had that Brooks had told
! the truth on this subject. He did not believe
| he had been corrupt government director and
there was not word of proof to SHOW that he
| committed malfeaSance in Office. He made
| closing appeal to the House; not mercy for JUS
| tice.
| Mr. Stevenson sustained the report of the
| committee, which he said had been extorted
| from reluctant committee and well that COM
mittee might have been, for what was the
charges? 1t involved the Vice President elect,
/ the Vice President sitting, the Speaker of the
| House, the Chairman OF all important COM
mittees of the House, the House ITSELF its very
| existence and organization. He quoted the
| testimony of the Wilson Committee to show
the enormity OF tue fraud perpetrated on the
public and said that even this was but a part of
the great system of fraud and the cropping out
| OF surface indications of great system of
frauds by which there had been turnedsnto the
pockets OF private and official citizens of this
country, the value of $200,000,00 600 Of the public
lands and over $50, 000 000 of cash, the value of
the lands being stated in railroad circular to
| be not less than billion of dollars. 1t was the
most mammoth fraud ever practiced on any
| government on the face of the earth.
| Mr.. Frye of Maine, tired 10 interpose a remark
| but Mr.. Stevenson refused to yield saying that
he had great many books and papers to refer
| to-
Mr.. Frye advised him to coniine himself to
books and to stick to the tru h. (Laughter)
Mr.. Stevenson referred to the Congressional
Globe to show the action of various leading
members of the House on the questions affect
ing the Union Pacific Railroad Company. The
ninths of the Globe and request to print
what he would have said was rejected through
the objection of Mr.. Conger.
Mr. Whitehouse of Tennessee got the floor
Ior some minutes anu expressed MS views IN IA
vor OF the pending resolution He opposed the
report, however, because it did not go for
enough. He found-Oakes Ames guilty, not on
ly of tri1ing with the House, but of trifing
with his own conscience. If Cakes Ames had
not pryuned himself then his evidence stained
Kelly and Garfield deeper than any other mem
Der on the floor. AS to Mr.. Brooks he had a
knowledge of the Credit Mobilier frauds and he
was guilty. If Mr.. Brooks was guilty what
should they say of Mr. Hooper of Massachu-
sets, who had signed the agreement to let
Cakes Ames have the stock to enable him to
carry out his work of corruption? He favored
the expulsion of all members who had dealings
| with Mr.. Ames.
Mr.. Niblack member of the committee, next
got the floor and made an argument in the de-
Tense OF the position taken by the committee
| as to the complaints contained in Brooks let
ter. He met chat by saying that after consid-
ering the contents of the letter the committee
was of the opinion either that the matter re-
ferred to in it had to be considered or that they
were immaterial to issue.
Mr.. Brigham of Ohio, took the floor and pre-
faced his remarks by saying he asked no par
don and rendered no apology for entering on
the discussion. 1t was easy for any man to
undertake to silence the voice of q Representa-
tive. of the people by making false and
malicious sccusatons against him, The men
who undertook that task had mistaken alto
gether the temper of the man with whom they
dealt. Some of the journals, he did not speak
OF the general press of the country, had dis
honored their great station before the Ameri-
can people, holding in trust, what not in
aptly had been called in other days the pala,
dunn of the liberties of the people in under
taking by clamor to dictate to the Representa-
tives of the people how they should discharge
the duty enjoined on them by the obligation of
their oath. He'would reply to them in the
language of the President of the French As
sembly to the message of Napoleon who order
ed them to disperse, go tell your master that
the Assembly of the people can receive no order
| from, 10 acIya cd 60,
men. He did not live by the breath of their
mouth
Passing on to the question of the power of
the House to expel member for acts done be-
fore his election, he said that bad as the Credit
Mobilier might be, its guilt was covered with a
dark eclipse in the presence of the assumption
made here that any House of Representatives
might usurp the power to strip the people of
their rights to representation on this floor. He
would have it understood that he interposed the
the laws of his country, not so much on behalf
OF any single man accused here, as in behalf of
the rights of free people attempted to be be-
trayed and overturned by two-thirds of the
House on the occasion of what they were
pleased to ball the power of publication
Referring to Brooks he said never in the long
years of his service with him had he heard the
breath of suspicion against his good name until
this accusation was made; and as to the repre-
sentation from Massachusetts, (Ames) it would
be said OF BIN whatever might be the determ-
inatiOn of the House that he had not lived in
vain, and that he had contributed something to
the honor and glory of his country; but whatev-
er might be said of either of them by the way
of praise censure, one thing was true that
the American people would demand of this
House whatever rights belonged to these men
under the constitution and laws should be ac-
corded them
Mr. Banks next addressed the House and
commenced his speech with graphic exordium
ON the oversbadowing influence Of wealth and
corporations, and the duty of Congress to purge
itself of unworthy members. He then pro-
ceeded to support the report Of the committee
in its action towards Messrs. Ames and Brooks.
MI Hale of Maine in reply to the remarks
and quotations of Mr.. Stevenson, in which the
latter seemed to intimate something against the
Speaker, quoted from the Congressional Globe
the proceedings resolution offered by Mr..
Washburne of Illinois, in 1868, looking to the
establishment of low fares and freghts on Pa
cific Railroads, and showed ON the votes taken
Mr.. Blaine had voted on the same side as Mr..
Washburne, while Mr.. Poland had voted on
the other side and Mr.. Banks had not voted at
ALL
The House at T. 10 o'clock took recess till Z. &c
o'clock.
The MOdoc WAR.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. ga special to the