Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1874-03-18
THE DISTRICT INVESTIGATION.
Hon. J. 3. Black on the :. Drag Net, Of
the MemOrialfsts

the committee sendlng our q drag net Tor prl
vate papers. He cited numerous authorities 10
show that such a proceeding would be an inys-
sion of a citizens most sacred rights.
Mr.. Merrick followed for the memortalists.
Hon. j. ). Black then rose and said:
MIR. Chairman: want To make q suggestiO 20
to Mr.. Merrick before he sits down. ought {,
define my own position. am not counsel for
the District, or any member OF that government,
but for aLother person outside, whose name IA =
been mentioned in these general accusations
and who thinks it possible that he may be Al
tected injurisusly, unless he is properly pro
tected, by the evidence which will be produced
4 therefore venture now TO say TO the counse !.
employed by the memorialists that there can
no possible difficulty about having any invest
CATION as full and as rigid as they please t.
make it in this case. Not only is my own client
loudly innocent, laughter and perfectly will
ing to hear all that can be said against him,
but L suppose that il an allegation be m al
against the Beard of Public Works they viii
have prudence enough when it is made, il they
know It to be true, to acknowledge it. But, Ia
order to get the case fairly before the commit
tee, and in orier TO give u Just result to your
deliberations, it is necessary that you, and
everybody else concerned in the matter, shall
know what you are about-shall know what IT.
is that the memorislsts accuse those parties of.
believe that you have insisted upon tn
charges being specifically made. Now that, IL
all Investigations of every kind, in all coutro
yersies OF a judicial or quasi judicial kind, L.
an absolute essential prerequisite to any inyes
tgatiOn. Some of the members of this com
mittee-not many OF them, perhaps only on,
was done IN 1886, during Gen. Jackson's admin
istTatiOD.
Mr.. Hnbbell, addressing the Chairman sOtg
roce.) He refers to you.
Mr.. Black.-The Chairman, mean, of course
lLaugbter.l
Certain gentlemen of very high honor, actin,
upon what was believed TO be a sense of duty
declared that one or more OF the departments
the War department particuiarly-was conduct
ed as my friend, Mr.. Merrick, says the govern
DeDt OF this District is conducted, in an Oh
pressive, unrighteous, wicked, and most tyran
nical manner, and coIruptly-
MIR. Merrick.-I didn't use the word corrupt
ly.
Mt. Black.-And they add what Mr.. Merrick
does not add: that all this was the result OF cor
ruptiOn, whereby the republic was recevinl
great detriment. Then they demand the pa
pers. They called upon all the clerks to com
forward. They threw such drag-net as this
which is proposed to be thrown over the Dis
trict government across the War department
When the subpoena was issued GeB- jackson
sent a messag e wrote a letter to the House OF
Representatives, or to their committee, in which
he declared that no man who was under the pro-
lection of the United States should be subject
ed TO any such demands. That il they would
make their accusations so distinct that the par
ties implicated could say yea or no to them,
could deny them, or admit them, could plead
guilty or not guilty, then if they would call for
any papers which would tend to prove either the
truth or the falsehoOd of the charge, the papers
should be forthcoming, or the witness that they
called for should GO before the committee and
give bis testimony, but that until they made
their charges he would direct all the officers un-
der him to attend TO their proper business, and
pay 10 attention to that committee or its sub
Iona either. Mr.. Wise was driven to the ne
cessty-he firmly believed what he had said
he was driven to the necessity of making specific
charges upon his own oath; and then the inves
LEGATION went forward.
MIR. Stewart.-Was he a member of the com
mittee?
MIR. Black.-The accusation was proven tU
be gToundless. Mr.. Wise was a member OF the
House OF Representatives, and had made the
charge. He made the charge first on the floor
in a speech, and then got up committee to in
vestigate IL in this general way. 1t was he'll.
that until specific accusation was made Their
could be and ought to be no inquiry about il
Now, there is 10 trouble here, if the gentleman
instead OF going out on this wide sea, will simpl
sail to some particular port, aud say that he be
heyes that an act that is corrupt, or wrong, o:
uni awful. for which any of those parties Ough
to be punished, or supposed that it is prope r
that Congress should take some action upoi.
against tiff any responsible person will simpl,
say that he believes it, or has reason to believe
IL, why that will settle the matter. Ii will no
be asked that they shall be as precise and def
mite in the charge as would be required in a..
indictment, but let them make a charge that
can be understood substantially-the particular
act and by whom il was done. Then if the other
parties deny th at TO be true, let them assert thu
existence OF any papers, either In the
hands of the party charged or any other
hands, which will prove it, and upon a mere
notice to produce it-wIthOnt any subpoena
about tit ought to be produced. And If the
parties do not prove IL, or II they do not give
some good reason why they cannot produce il
there will be a very strong presumption arisin :
against them, and that presumption ought To
be very strong, 80 strong that nothing but verN
clear proof OF their innocence would be sufi
cient to repel it. Now, If the committee please
the proposition now is, in the somewhat en-
pbatic language of the counsel himself mean
the gentleman who first spoke Mr.: ShellabsT-
ger)-to throw a drag net over the District, an 4
gather up all their papers-papers that may OF
may not have reference to this subject.
Mr. Shellabarger.-You misunderstood me
That is just what we said we did not want.
Judge Black Il do not know what they want
to do, but that is what they asked the com mite
to do.
Judge Black.-They do nOt specify any par
ticular paper that these parties are required 70
produce, but they say all papers of a certaiu
kind, all papers relating TO certain subjects
and a very large number OF these papers, OF
course, have no connection with and will throw
no hight upon this investigation. When the
Secretary of State sent his emlssaries to the
house of Algernon Sidney and took his keys
and ransacked his drawer and his paper cases
until they found the /" Essay on Government -
and then carried that away and made il the
subject of a criminal prosecution in which he
was convicted and executed, all men, even the
subjects OF the most absolute governments
outrage, and the House of Commons long
afterwsrd, in shame and in sorrow, went back
over that proceeding and reversed the at
tainder, declaring that 1t was a disgrace To
And now / demand to know whether il Is any
thing worse to send for q mans pa pers AMI
compel him to produce them in a lump, put
them down upon this table, and then go over
them here and see whether you can find any
thing, and il lou can make IL the subject, not to
prove the fact now alleged, but TO prove some
thing else-some other accusation of which il
may be made a foundation? Is there anything
worse in SIdney's case than there would be IN
that-going and taking mans papers out OF his
possession and bring them here by force, or
compel him to do It, and then using them In
some way thai you would have used them IL you
had taken them the other way? Now, If the
committee please, this lie not q question about
whether II is going to criminate anybody. 1 say
that you cannot make q general cali upon a IN An
for his papers, and then afterwards search
through those papers, by way Of experiment, in
order TO see whether he has been guilty OF some
offence that you can charge him with hereafter,
any n ore than you can call for their production
for the purpose Of proving the accusation ALREADY
made. And it does not make any difference
whether the party in whose custody the papers
are be the one that Is nov charged or some
third party who is not implicated In the bust
ness at all. That was the case of Pierce
In New York. A Mr.. Glentworth, to
gether with divers other persons, had had q
correspondence. Divers letters had passed be
tween them, which il was supposed would prove
that the parties to that correspondence had en-.