Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-06-15

have haan nominated by acciama-
tion The moment the first letter
had passni from his hand % nus
clerks. as letter after letter was fead
and the points impressed themse' yes
upon the hearers, the sfeSu's'o" =
Blaine,s favor was pfo'o."
marked. "There, then" said ne
are the fatal letters that were -
blast my reputation, for the poses.
sion OF which / went down on lh
knees to Mulligan, and for wn,cn :
threatened suicide!" On their lace
it appeared incredible. though many
points were considered blasting anu
dishonorable to the writer.
Still maintaing his character o. .ne
aggrieved, instead OF the onelioei'
after the reading Of the letters ne
sketched the conduct Of the COM
mittee toward him, and thsh
launched his final thunderooi' Dy
saving: "The circle of evidence
clearing my name from all compile.
ity with any OF the things chafsea
here is incomplete In but one par.icu-
lar.o Though the attention Oh inc
house had been at its utmost tension
for an hour and half, this caused a
nay sensation. 81 understand"
said Blaine, and he left the neighbor-
hood OF his seat, and came down
slowly toward the center OF 'he ha'''
looking straight into the eyes 0, me
chairman of the judiciary committee,
!" that that fragment is Telegram
from London from josiah Caiu~eii
generating me from any snare
direct or indirect, in the Little ROCK
and Arkansas bonds, and that testi-
mony, - said he, his voice swe'iing
out and filling the whole hail as with
the volume of thunder, ana that
testimony is in the possession Oh the
honorable chairman of the judiciary
Committee, the gentleman from
Kentucky, Proctor Knott" IL was
a terrific climax. Half the members
arose to their feet. A murninr OF
applause broke out on the floor OF the
house. extended to the galleries, and
ended in prolonged cheer; land In
keeping with the purposes and
methods of my inquisitors," said he,
his voice falling into that low, omni-
Gus, threatening tone which precedes
his vigorous strokes, :" this telegram
reached the chairman of the Judi
eiary Committee on last Thursday,
and because it exonerated me has
been suppressed by him until now,
and now / dare him to refuse to pro-
dnce it.v This brought on final
outbreak of cheers and applause that
drowned everything; drowned an
additional sentence OF Blaine's;
drowned an expostulation from
Knott drowned the protest of Hun
ton; drowned the frantic and imbe-
ellie battering of the gayel in the
hands of Cox; drowned all order,
until such time as absolute exhaus-
ton compelled its cessation, when
the semblance of order was restored
and half the members had fallen in
their seats. Knott then tried to get
the floor, which Blaine refused.
Hunton tried and Blaine refused, and
then sent up to be read a resolution
ordering the chairman Of the judici-
ary committee to produce the called
for telegram forthwith. Then there
was struggle on the part of the
judiciary committee to get the floor,
which Blaine refused on his right to
finish. Ii was plain that Blaine had
the sympathy of the house with
him plain that he had put Knottin
a compromising position plain that,
as in the amnesty debate, the question
at issue was sunk, and that self-de-
Tense was the only thing left the
Democratic majority. a moro com
plete, overwhelming, astonishing
rout never fell upon the party, and
as Blaine walked back to his seat a
hundred arms were outstretched to
him in hearty recognition of his
magnificent triumph. = .'''