National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-05-25
THE SANBORN BUSINESS-THE
RESOLUTION OF CENSURE.

uG lll1l Tic 41OuSC olAolI lsAo1
Q resolution censuring Secretary Richard.
son, Assistant Secretary Sawyer, and Soil
citor Banfeld, of the Treasury Department,
for their connection with the Sanborn con,
tract business, is likely to be abandoned, OIL
TO fail for want of support. 1t is such an
unheard-of proceeding. so wholly without
precedent, and SO unwarranted as an as,
sumption of authority by the House, that il
shocks the better judgment even of those
who were at first inclined to entertain it
Admitting, for the sake of argument, that
all the charges alleged against these gentle
men are true, and that the differences of the
committee, or rather its deductions from
the testimony taken, are correct, it yet ap-
pears that the committee has gone beyond
the scope of the authority of the resolution
confiding the examination to it. The law
under VIII ich the contracts were made was
passed by Congress. and that body having
become satisfied that its execution worked
Injustice to the commercial interests Of the
country. promptly ordered an investigation
Tor the purpose of discovering q remedy for
its defects, or securing its repeal. This is
all that the committee was authorized to do.
Nothing more and nothing less. In the
course of the investigation it was found
necessary to look into the pri-
Eate affairs of certain witnesses. Links
In the chain of testimony were
needed to make the record of Sanborn's
transactions complete. There was nothing
so glaringly improper in this as to provoke
unfavorable comment; but, when the first
step in this direction was taken, the Gu
Tiosity of the examiners seemed to be
aroused. Sanborn and his sub-agents were
thenceforth treated as suspected persons, in
fact, as prejudged criminals, and, from a
mere examination of the workings of law,
the object of the investigation seemed to be
changed to persistent effort to convict
somebody Of some corrupt act. In short,
the investigation thenceforth became per-
sonal A wild hunt followed after some
ill-defned scandal, and a smelling match
was begun, in which each committee
mans nose was more eager than the other
in the effort 10 detect foul odors. Fright
ened and demoralized by the prevalent de-
mand for purgation and reform, and per-
haps prompted by other and more personal
motives, the Republican members gave the
whole thing into the hands of men who, to
Say the least, are unfriendly to the party.
and who, in fact, would not be altogether
scrupulous about the manner in which
they trumped up charges against politi-
cal enemies. In this way the com
mittee travelled far away from the origi-
nal design Of the investigation. Now,
Us We have intimated, there seems
10 be an inclination to relrace some of the
steps which have led to most unfortunate
results, and at any rate to halt before the
matter is carried too far. The best lawyers
in both Houses have examined the subject
carefully, and we have yet to hear that one
of them, speaking from candid convictions
and laying aside both personal and political
animosities, is willing to assert as lawyer
that the proposition to censure is proper
In the first place, it is agreed that it is in the
nature of punishment, and it is denied
that the House has any right to punish ex-
ecutive officers of any grade in such man.
ner, while il is also denied that the commit
fee had any authority to take cognizance of
the question of punishment. If it had
been discovered that any crime had been
committed through or with the connivance
of any executive officer, it would have been
the duty of the committee to report the
TACT to the House for its action. An inquest
would then have followed, preparatory to
Impeachment, and the matter would have
been formally laid before the Senate for trial
underregularly prepared articles of impeach-
ment. But nothing of the kind has been
Notwithstanding of the kind is charged
In the next place, the irregularities which, |
it is claimed, have been proven, are not so
much the fault of the executive officers as
they are the fault of the law itself, and if
there be any fault in the law it rests with
Congress. 1t is consequently plain that the
only thing the House can now do is to
amend or repeal the law, and it would be
nonsense on the part Of the committee to
recommend any other proposition.