The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1875-05-06
From the N. Y. Tribune,
MR. PoTTER'S VIEWS ON THE
LOUISIANA DIFFICULTY.
Limitations of the Congressional Com
rnittee's Acknowledging In the
Agreement to Prevent Passing
ON the Right to Seats.

With view to learning addltlonal par
ticulars concerning the recent unseatlng
of four Republican members of the Louis
lana legislature by the Democrats, and to
ascertain the views of member of the
congressional committee which was sent to
New Orleans, a reporter of the Tribune
called yesterday upon the Hon. Clarkson
N. Potter. Mr.. Potter, speaking in gen.
eral way in regard to the correspondence
between Marshal Packard and the Hon.
Mr.. Frye of Maine, said that his impress
sion was that Mr.. Frye was entirely mis-
taken in his premises; Mr.. Potter said the
written submission was said to be different
from the submission expected, and that he
had no copy of it. From his general un-
Outstanding Of the case as stated in yester-
days papers, the unseating of the four
Republican members was a matter with
which the congressional committee had
nothing to do The committee had acted
only and solely upon the 10 individual
cases which had come before them. Upon
being further questioned Mr.. Potter used
the following language:
II am not able to speak with entire GER
tainty as to this arrangement IN Louisiana.
| had no share in bringing it about.
How great sacrifice it might be to the
interest or duty of that oppressed people to
submit to was question felt they should
themselves decide. l therefore declined
to advise as to the proposed settlement.
But after a settlement had been agreed
upon, | consented to act as one of the per-
sons to pass upon the returns of the cleo
ton to be submitted to us. When the ar
bitrators met, q written agreement wa:
laid before them, signed by some l9 Con
sentative members of the lower honse, who
claimed to have been legally elected and t
have been unjustly deprived of their seat
By the Returning Board, and who agreed Il
submit their claims to these arbitrator
So far as our award was against them the.
we're to give up their claims. So far as
was in their favor, then, if by the action o.
the house the award was made effectivt
and they got their seats, they bound them
selves not to impeach or disturb KellOgg
for his previous acts The agreement wa
also signed by one or more persons claim
ing seats in the senate. This was tn
agreement as | remember. l have see
no copy of it, and cannot now speak as t
its particular contents nor as to what, j
any, further arrangement there was beside
But so far as l understood there was moth
ing in the arrangement by which the gen
tlemen who submitted their claims to tn
arbitrator were to be prevented, after be
ing seated, from passing upon the right o
any other person to a seat in that bod
whose claim had not been the subject o
our award. They were to be bound b
what the arbitrator decided in all tn
cases submitted to US, but were not boun
as to the cases which were not submitte
and as TO which there was no decision"
MR.. wHEEJER's VIEWS.
We observe that Mr.. Wheeler, of tn
Louisiana committee, is credited with tn
same opinion of the rights of the Conser
vatiYes under the compromise that is en-
tertained by Mr.. Potter, both agreein
that there is nothing in that instrument
prohibit the house of representatives fror
seating the four members recently admit
ted on the strength of certificates from tn
KelloOU RaturnipO BOARD their caSeS mr.