Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-03-29
TELEGRAPHIC.
CONGRESSIONAL.
First Session -44th Congress
SENATE.

WASHINGTON, March a.
The Senate took up for considera-
ton the post route bill.
Mr.. Hamlin said the committee had
paidpersonal attention to all proposed
routes and had made personal inquiry
from different members as to the me-
cessity ofall they had proposed. They
had stricken out and inserted only
such as they had carefully scrutinized,
and perhaps upon this statement the
Senate would not insist on having the
bill read in full.
Debate ensued, during the course of
which MIR. Sargent said let the de-
partments send their mail matter'by
stroke ofthe pen. 1t will take no
more time than to lick stamp, and il
will not cost any more to send the
mails in this manner than it does with
stamp on. He believed this econ
omy might be carried little farther,
and members of Congress and other
Senators might be put in communica-
ton with their constituents by the
Thanking privilege. He believed it
right that members and Senators
should be permitted to communicate
with their constituents and to send
them such information, printed and
otherwise, as they deemed necessary.
The bill was amended as to minor
points and passed.
The Senate then resumed its con-
sideration of Senate bill No. l, to
count the votes for President and
Vice President.
Mr.. Burnside moved to reconsider
the vote whereby the bill was passed
to its third reading, and then intro
duced an amendment, viz:
Sec. 3. That if more than one re-
turn shall be received by the Presi-
dent Of the Senate froma State, pur-
porting to be certificates of the cleo
toral votes given at the last preceding
election for President and Vice Pres
ident in such State, he shall imme-
diately make report thereof to the
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
| of the United States who shall at once
cause said Supreme Court to proceed
to examine as to who are the legal
electors of said State and shall have
power to send for persons and pa
pers; and said Chief Justice shall, on
or before the last Tuesday on the
January next succeeding the meetings
of the electors of the President and
Vice President, report to the Presi-
dent of the Senate which of said
electors were legally elected, and the
returns sent by the electors so desig.
mated shall, if in all other respects
they are legal, be counted before the
two Houses of Congress.
Mr.. Bayard introduced an amend.
ment proposed by Mr.. Cooper as fol.
lows: If the two Houses do not agree
as to which return shall be counted
then that vote shall be counted which
the House of Representatives, voting
by States, in the manner provided by
the constitution, when the election
devolvcs upon the House, shall bt
true and valid returns.
After debate the question was Ia.
ken on the amendment offered by
Mr.. Bayard, which was lost; yeas Is
nays 30.
The question was then taken on the
amendment proposed by Mr.. Burn.
side, and it was lost.
The question was then taken upon
the passage of the bill and it was
passed as follows:
Ieas-Allison, Dawes, Ingalls,, Nor.
rill of Maine, Anthony, Dorsey, Jones
of Nevada, Morton, Boutwell,, Ferry
Oglesby, Burnside, Frelinghuysen
Logan, Paddock, Cameron Of Penn.
Hamilton, Mcmillan, Patterson, Cam.
eron of Wisconsin, Herman. Merri.
mon, Sargent, Christiancy, Hitchcock
Mitchell, Sherman, Spencer, Thur
man, Key, Window and Wright-32
Nays-Jones of Florida, Bayard
Dennis, Kelley, Stevenson, Bogy, Eat.
on, McCrcery, Wallace, Caperton
Edmunds, Mcdonald, White, Cocker.
81, English, MaSey, Withers, Conk,
ling, Goldthwaite, Randolph, Cooper
Howe, Ransom, Davis, johnson and
Sanlsbury-26.
HOUSE.
The House went into Committee OF
the Whole, Mr.. Cox i'm the chair, on
the Legislative Appropriation bill
with the understanding that the gen.
eral debate would be limited to one
hour.
Mr.. Hurlbut of Illinois, replied to
the invectives which had been poured
against the ItepubIlcan party by
Messrs. Hill and Yeates. He said he
believed there existed a division to
this day in public sentiment of this
country between those who believed
that levying war was crime. and
those who did not so believe, and that
it existed as strong as it did i'm 1864
in 1875. He then proceeded to
argue against reduction of salaries
| of government officials.
Mr.. kasson suggested that in the
matter of economy majority of the
House want to go possibly too far,
and the minority possibly not far
enough. He proposed to see if there
was not some ground on which care
full and prudent men on both sides
could combine in consideration of this
bill. Proceeding to discuss the re-
duction of salaries, he declared he
would thousand times rather strike
down compensation of members of
Congress to what it was prior to 1860
$1,000, than touch the poor pay of the
various employees of the government
who are only receiving now the same
as they received thirty years ago. lie
would not touch those old established
salaries. The proposed reduction in the
State Department was not retrench-
mcnt but DISCRIMINATION. The fact
was that the Committee on Appro-
priations in reporting this bill struck
down the force of the department
without the approval and consent of
the department and in some instances
without consulting the department.
AT the close of Mr.. Kasson's speech
the committee proceeded to consider
the bin in detail. The item for COM
pensatiOn Of Senators, which is the
first item in the bill, having been
read, which fixes salaries at $500,
Mr.. Baker, of Indiana, moved TO re-
duce to $1,000. Rejected.
Mr.. Foster moved to reduce to 81
700, and intimated that the Demo-
cratic majority if it wanted to be con-
sistent, should vote for reduction to
~, Zoo.
Mr.. Randall, interrupting-Why
did you not propose that amendment
in committee, instead of resisting the
reduction of pay 10 per cent. that we
have made.
Mr.. Foster-I am not to be cate
chised Oh the floor.
Mr.. Randall, persistently--I want
to show the country and the House
the Inconsistency and the duplicity of
the gentleman from Ohio i'm coming
here and offering an amendment to
reduce the salaries of members to
$1,000, while he resisted in committee
Il reduction of $500.
Mr.. Foster-I have good answer
to the attack.
Randall have made no attack.
Foster-You have charged me with
duplicity and INCONSISTENCY.
Randall-There is no sincerity in
your amendment and You do not ex-
pect il to be adopted.
Fostcr-Try it and see.
Randall-The Committee on APP
preparations has fixed the compensa-
ton of members where think the
people of the country will be salts
fed.
Mr., Foster asserted that he had Of
fered the amendment in good faith as
he did everything. There was no
demagoguery about him and the gen.