National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-03-09

acter 70 be admitted under the fvics,whicAi
govern the acceptance of testtmony. We
have bod ocnsiod before this 10 allude 10
The ss.Rarts clnrscter Of ihvestieations By
committed Of Congress, and refer to II now
ior the purpose Of showing that in the
present instance the. accusers have been al
lowed . wide latitude. We do not CON-
plain of this. On the contrary, we are re-
joiccd that they have been thus privileged.
They will have no ground upon which to
base charge, which they no doubt now
mediate as means of.escape from certain
odium. that the investigation has been preju-
diced. But we are also rejoiced that Judge
Thurman, so carly in the investigation. has
very pointedly called the attention of the
counsel to the inadmissibility Of mere opin-
ion as competent evidence. He did this for
the evident purpose of preventing School
Superintendent Wilson from giving his i'm
pressions regarding the payment Of teach
ers' salaries, He did it. too. very properly,
because the committee is appointed to ascer-
tain facts. When the facts are ascertained
the duty will devolve upon the committee
to make its own deductions and to form its
own opinions. Every fair-minded citizen
will hail this indication Of the intention of
the committee with satisfaction. 1t shows
plainly that, if carried out, the report of
the testimony will be freed from either the
commendatory or the slanderous beliefs
and expression Of opinions by witnesses.
The opportunity afforded by Congress
sional committees to witnesses to give
vent to their prejudices. and to publish
to the world vile ISLANDERS against respecta-
bic citizens, has often been made use of both
for political and personal purposes, and no
doubt the memorialists had intended to do
as much damage in this way as their raven
Gus desires would allow. Happily their
intentions have been nipped in the bud at
the beginning. With such eminent lawyers
as the majority of the committee, tine rules
of evidence which prevail before judicial
bodies will probably serve the purpose to
keep the investigation within bounds.
Those rules are not of recent origin, but
are the aggregated result of generations of
experience. They are based upon princi-
pies as lasting and as fundamental as liberty
ITSELF Why they should not be observed
in this case we cannot imagine. 1t may be
argued that the committee is not court;
but such an argument is inapplicable. The
trust imposed upon each member by the
resolution authorizing the committee is
semi,judicial in character. and the respon-
sibilities involved are as great as any ever
presented before any court in the land.
Not only the fair fame and reputation of
respected and leading citizens is at stake,
but the progress and success of an entire
community is involved These considera-
tons alone should be sufficient to impress
the committee with the gravity of its trust;
but in addition to them, indirectly, though
it may be, the question of appropriating
the money of the taxpayers of the country
at large must be considered. There is, be-
sides this, the purely political aspect. In |
80 Ear as the administration is responsible
for the acts of its appointees, the Republi-
can party will be held to account for the
deeds of the District officials But we are
satisfied that the committee is now i'm
pressed with the necessity of confirming the |
investigation to reasonable limits, and we
our readers that we are able |
TO make the announcement.