The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-03-25
Fort, Fourth Congress-First Session
SENATE.

WASHINGTON, Mar "A.
In the absence of the Chaplain the Senate
dispensed with prayer.
Several bills and memorials were introduced
and referred.
The House bill in relation to political contri-
buttons was received,
MI Davis of West VIRGINIA suosested that
the bill be sent to the judiciary Committee.
MT. Howe thought it affected political mat
ters more than any thing else, and there was
10 law question connected with it that any
committee was not competent to NEEDLE With,
aud he suggested that it be sent to the Commit
tee on Elections Agreed to.
Several temperance petitions were presented
and referred.
A petition from $50 pensioners in New York
aud 400 from Maine, against The abolishiog To-
cal pension agencies were presented by MessrS.
Conkling and Hamlin.
The Chair laid before The Senate the bill on
the Sioux Deficiencies with the notice that the
House did not agree to the amendment of the
Senate The Senate voted to insist upon its
amendment, and Messrs Witbers, Allison ana
Oglesby were appointed conference commit
tee.
The post route bill was considered, amended
in minor details and passed.
Mr. Anthony from the Committee on Print
ing, reported a resolution in favor of printing
tt e eulogies delivered upon the life of Senator
Ferry, with an amendment providing for an ap-
preparation to pay for engraving steel por-
trait of the Senator to accompany the eulogy.
Passed,
The Senate resumed the consideration of the
Senate bill to count the votes for President and
Vice President
Mr.. Burnside moved to reconsider the vote
whereby the bill was passed to third reading,
and then introduced the following amendment:
Section g. That if more than one return shall
be received by thu President of the Senate for
state, purporting to be the certificates of cleo
toral votes given at the last preceding election
for President and Vice President in such state
ha cha1 lot al 10
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the
United States. who shall at once cause said Su-
preme Court to proceed to examine as to who
are the legal electors Of said state, and shall
have power to send for persons and papers, and
the said Chief Justice shall, on or before the
last Tuesday in January next succeeding the
meeting of the electors of the President and
| Vice President report to the President of the
Senate which of the said electors were legally
elected, and the returns sent by the electors so
| designated shall, if in all other respects they
| are legal, be counted before the two Houses.
Mr.. Eaton discussed the bill and amend
| ments at some length, and said that he cOnsid-
| cred the bill fraud and the various amend
| ments useless. BE would leave the matter
| where it was left by the constitution, and be-
| lieved there was no necessity for legislation.
Mr.. Bayard introduced the amendment pro-
| posed by MIR. Cooper, as follows:
And if the two Houses do not agree as to
which returns shall be counted, then that vote
l
tatives, voting by states in the manner provid-
ed by the constitution when the election de-
wolves upon the House, shall decide to be true
| and valid returns.
When the vote was taken upon this amend
| meut both he and Mr.. Cooper were absent, not
knowing it Was to be taken up, and he intro
| duced it that more full vote might be taken,
1 as he thought change had come over the
minds of many upon this subject
Mr.. Morton was unable to see where the bill
L hQppfitad hu of fha opd-
| ments. Both were rejected.
The bill then passed as follows:
| YEAs-Messrs. Allison. Anthony, Boutwell,, Burn
side, Cameron Of Pa, Cameron of Wis, Christancy
Hitchcock, ingalls,, Jones OF New, Key, Logan, Nc
MILAN. Merrimon, Morrill, of Me Morton, Oglesby,
Pssddoek Patterson Sargent Sherman Spencer
/ NAYs-Messrs- Bayara, Bogy, Caperton. Cockrell,
Conkling, Cooper, Davis, Dennis, Eaton, Edwards,
| Fla. Kelley. McCreery, Mcdonald, Maxey, Ran
dolph, Ransom, Salisbury, Stevenson, Wallace,
| Whyte, Withers-26.
| Mr.. Thurman said he was at loss to see
| what Senators could see in this bill of a parti-
| Fan nature, and he moved reconsideration of
| the vote whereby the bill was pissed, in order
to give one more chance to fix some bill to meet
the question, when two sets of returns were
| sent IN. The motion was entered.
| The Senate theu took up the consular and
diplomatic bill and made it the order of bust.
| ness, and at 450 went into executive session
| and at o'clock adjourned.
| HOUSE
| Mr.. Blonrt of Ga from the Committee on
! Appropriate ons, reported bill to supply de.
ticiency of 5000 for the manufacture of postal
| cards for the year ending June 3d. 1876. Pass
1 ed.
Mr.. Wiltshire of Ark, from the Committee
| on Indian Affairs, reported a bill to provide a
territorial government for the Indian territory.
| Referred to the CommIttta dian fairs
The House in Committee of the Whole (Mr.
| Cox in the chair considered the gislative,
executive aud Judicial appropriation bill.
Mr.. Hurlburt II piled to the invectives which
| had been poured against the Republican party
| by the gentlemen from Georgia and North Car
| DINA (Hll and Yeates) aud criticised the
speech of the gentleman from Georgia as an
| astonishing parody on the parable of the prod
| igal son who asked his fathers forgiveness.
while the Southern people did not He be-
| leved that levyng war was crime and those
| who did not so believe and that it existed as
| strong as it did in 1864 and 1865 Recurring to
| the bill under confederation he said the Demo-
cratic party 10 this House was on trial here and
the eyes of the entire country were upon il, land
| he did not believe that they would meet the
views of the people by eating down the sala-
| fies of government officials The American
| people were not too poor to pay fair cOmpen-
| satiOn to their public servants.
Mr.. Kasson OF Iowa, suggested that in the
matter OF economy the ma jority of the House
| wanted to go possibly too far and the minority
| possibly not far enough. He would a thousand
| times rather strike down the compensation of
members OF Congress;te what it was prior to
1860, $4,000, thanitouch the poor pay of the
| various employees of the government who are
only receiving now the sum they received 80
| years ago. He would not touch those old es-
tablshed salaries.
The committee proceeded to consider the bill
| in detail.
The item for the compensation of Senators
having been read, which fixes the salary at
$500, Mr.. Baker of Iud, moved to reduce it to
$4,000. Rejected.
Nh. Foster of o., moved to reduce it to 5000
and intimated that the Democratic majority if
| 1t wanted to be consistent should vote for the
| reduction to $2700.
MIR. Randall (interrupting why did you not
propose that amendment in the committee in
| stead of resisting the reduction of the paltry
| ten per cent. we have made?
Mr.. Foster-I am not to be catechised on the
| floor.
Mr.. Randall (persistently)-I want to show
| of the gentleman from Ohio in coming in here
! and offering an amendment to reduce the sal
aries of members to 5000 while he resisted in
| committee reduction of $500.
Mr.. Foster-l have good answer to the at.
| tack.
Mr.. Randall have made no attack.
Mr. Foster-You have charged me with du-
| plici ty and inconsistency.
MIR. Randal-There is no sincerity in your
| amendment and you do not expect it to be
| adopted.
| Mr.. Foster-Try it aud see,
Mr.. Randall-The Committee on Appropria-
tons has fixed the compensation of members
where L think the people of the country will be
| satisfied.
Mr.. Foster asserted that he offered the
amendment in good faith as he did everything.
There was no demagoguery about him and the
| gentleman we'll knew it. There was no con-
sistency in this bill unless the salaries of mem
bers were reduced to $1,000 as that would be a
| reduction of 10 per cent. on salaries as fixed
| when those of the clerks in the departments
were fixed. He regretted exceedingly that the
chairman of the committee (Randail) had made
this assault on him so early in the debate; that
gentleman's own consistency could be called in
question more than that of any other member
of the House. Up TO year ago he had been
an advocate of high salaries and his marvellous
conversion had taken place since that time,
He gave him credit for an honest convention
but he did not want him or any other gentle
man to strive to deter him (Foster) from the
honest discharge of his duties by charge of
duplicity.
Mr.. Baker of Indiana said that he had
pledged to his constituents to use his voice and
vote in the direction of retrenchment, economy
aud reform, and he intended with ali honesty