The Portland daily press., 1876-01-21
History of Seven Days.
The News for the week ending Wednesday
Night. Jan. 10.
CONGRESS-.

Thursday. chair laid before the
Senate communication from the Secretary of
the Interior, enclosing communication from
the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in reg ard
to the expenditure of $500, 700 for the support
and education of certain Indians. Senator
Christiancy introduced resolution providing
for an inquiry into the act making provisions
for the various contingencies which may arise
in the case Of the removal or death of the Pres
ident and if found defective, to suggest what
legislation is needed. Mr.. Davis of West Vir-
gnia called up resolution alleging discrepan-
cies in the Treasury reports and providing for
an investigation, and supported it with
speech. Senators Edmunds, Boutwell, and
Dawes replied, contending that the alleged
discrepancies were only apparent and not real
and originated in the system of bookkeeping
in vogue at the Treasury Department The
resolution went over for further debate and the
Senate adjourned till Monday.
House.-Several resolutions were introduced
during the morning hour, looking to the reduc-
tion of the cost of printing, the completion of
the Texas Pacific railroad, and petition for a
monument at Yorktown, after which the
House resumed the consideration of the am
nesty BILL and Mr.. Blaine took the floor The
speech and debate which followed were exceed
ingly exciting. Mr.. Cox, who had alleged in
his speech that the reputed cruelties at Ander-
sonville rested on the report simply of what he
characterized as a ''humbug committee and
who had attempted to discredit them, was eff
fectually silenced by quotation from a speech
which he delivered In the House in 1864 upon
Int To-. 90 E. A.
barities practiced on Northern prisoners in the
South. At that time he expressed unqualified
belief in the alleged cruelties and used this
language: SIT does not follow that because
our soldiers treated in tho way represented.
and no doubt truthfully represented" etc. By
quotations from recent stump speeches, Mr.
Blaine showed that Hill was far from being a
penitent rebel, but was still for war if the
Republican party succeeded in 1876. Following
Mr.. Blaine, Mr.. Banks made peaceful speech
and offered an amendment to the Randall bill
providing an oath similar to Blaines, but not
excluding Davis. The whole matter then wen.
to the Judiciary Committee.
House-Friday. was passed providing
that the hailing place of every register
ed, enrolled or licensed vessel of the United
States may hereafter be the town or city where
the vessel was built, or the residence of the
husband ort managing owner, and that the
name of such town shall be painted on the
stern. The amnesty bill came up again, re-
ported from the Judiciary Committee with
Banks amendment and the previous question
was Immediately moved and ordered; yeas 182,
nays 92. House then proceeded to vote on the
bill, but it was again lost by vote of 1872 to 81
mot two-thirds in the affirmative. Mr.. Blaine
then took the floor with motion to reconsider
and read a letter from ex.Gov. Holden of
North Carolina, alleging that he was disfran-
chised simply because be prosecuted the Ku-
Klux. Mr. Blaine thought that before South
ern members demanded general amnesty for
rebels they should remove the disabilities
which Union men were now suffering at the
South. After asking unanimous consent to
allow his amendment to be offered and COM
pelling Randall to object, Mr. Blaine threw
the Democrats into utter confusion by with
drawing his motion to reconsider and leaving
the bill dead for that day. After the Demo-
Gratis had recovered from the confusion into
which Mr. Blaine's brilliant tactics had thrown
them, the House went into Committee of the
Whole on the Pension bill, and soon reported
1t to the House when It passed. 1t makes the
following appropriations: For army inyalds.
$12,SOO,0OO; for widows, &C., $14,OOO,OOO; for
survivors of the war of 1872 81 800 900; fees of
pension agents, commissions, &C., $6OO,OO
navy pensions and fees, 81 1,I33,5O0. Total,
$29,533,60O Bill was passed providing for the
immediate payment for Alabama claims court
awards.