Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-01-20
BloOdy-Shirt Morton on the Mississippi
Election "A Rehash Of his Former
Speeches Nothing New.
Nine Millions Of White People Indicted
by a Leading Aspirant for the
Third.Termer's Place and
HOnOrS.
A HOtch-POtch Of FalsehOOd, Libel and
Partisan Bitterness The Centen.
nial Appropriation in the
House.
SENATE.

| WASHINGTON, January 19.-After tn
expiration of the morning h9ur. Senate
Morton moved to lay aside the uDfin
ished business, the resolution Of Senate
Davis to appoint a separate committed
to investigate the books and accounts o
the trrasury department, and take uI
the resolution submitted oy him before
the holiday recess TO inquire into the
circumstances attending the recent ac,
ton II Mississippi. Rejected; yeas %
nays 80.
The senate then resumed the consider
| alton Of the solution submitted by Ssn-
a'or Davis 10 regard 90 the books of the
| treasury department. Pending the ones.
tion-being on motion of Senator E l.
/ munds TO strike out "a special com.
mlttee" and insert "ihe committee on
| finance and also that the investiga
| ton shall be made by the finance COM
mittee instead of q special committee
| Senst r Sherman said that a senator
| speaking in this body about matter
which affected the public cIedit should
be exceedingly careful as to what he
said. ANY thing dercgst0Iy TO our public
accounts aft ctet the public good more
keenly thau anything else. He denied
that there was q discrepancy in the
public debt to the extent of one hundred
| million dollars on 1870, ss charged by
the senator from West Virginia, and
said there WAS no ground for SUCH a state
| ment. he (Snermau) would be glad to
nave the senator lr lm West Virginia
(DsviE) go 10 the treasury and examine
the boOEs for himself. He argusd that
IL the senator had read the finance re-
ports, and compared the diff sreHt state
ments, he would not have pointed out
any discrepancy, IS the whole thing
was explained in these reports. He read
from tho finance reports Of 1870 to show
that the sinking funds were not included
in one statement, but were in others.
The total debt July l, 1870, after deduct
ing the cOin aud sInging-fund bonds,
etc, was two billion three hundred and
eighiy-six million three hundred and
tiity-eigbt thousand five hundred and
| nine dollars, or nearly one hundred mil
| lion less than the amount given by the
honorable senator from West Virginia
| (Davis). Before the administration of
President Grant the public debt state
Rents were very meageT, tut when his
Rdminis stration commenced and Bout
we'll entered the treasury the statements
were enlarged. For the information of
the public, be desired to cay that If the
investigation should be left to the COM
mittee on finance that committee would
do the best it could; but he would prefer
10 have special committee appointed,
and let tie senator from West Virginia
look out for himself. The business of
the treasury department was extensive
and complicated. He had often heard
| it said that the manner OF keeping the
accounts in the treasury should be
h. rrrrnd hrrS ha fhnn rhf II vUnElI6 ho
serious matter to improve oD the plan Of
Alex. Hamilton, Gallstin and other
noted finaDcieTs.
Senator Eaton said he did no. want to
say anything to iDjure the creiit OF the
government, but the condition of the &C:
counts Of the tressurV should BE- probed
and examined. He was engaged
himself about six months ago
with one of the shrewdest bankers
in the United States in an examination
OF the fiuance reports from 1871 to 1874.
The time occupied was about three weeks,
and he did no: hesitate TO assert thai
there was not an accountant in the
United States who could take the
finance reports and the public debt
statements and come within Fl ty
millions OF dollars of the amount
Of the public debt. In his opin-
ion there Should be three departments in
the te2suTy-one Of public accounts,
another OF commerce aud third of pub
lie labor. There was something wrong
in making up the accounts Of the gov
erBment, and there should be a change.
Senator Herman favored an investig l.
ton by q special committee.
Senator Dawes said il the senator from
West Virginia would state that he had
reason to believe that any one had st
tempted to make the books Of the treas
ury department falsely state the condi
tiOn Of the puolic tbt he (Dawes) would
vote for a special committee, but if the
whole purpose of this resolution was to
ascertain il the books Of the treasury
department could not be kept in more
simple manner, 1t was evident to him
that the finance committe could make
the inquiry. The senator from West
Virginia should be more explicit
in the statement as to whether be
charged fraud, or whether his purpose
was to ascertain if the manner of book
keeping could be simplified.
Senator Davis said that not only the
senator from Massachusetts, but other
senators, had attempted to put words in
his mouth. He (OavilI had not said
tered the books; but he did say that the
ststements sent to congress, from year
TO year, had Oeen changed; and further,
that the new table Of 1870 did not agree
with the registers report but since then
the registers report had been made TO
agree with that table.
Senator Dawes said that IL the senator
from West Virginia chsrged that there
was frsud, he tDaWes) would 90 with
him in pressing the investigation, -
that no guilty man should escape.
SENATOR Frelinghuysen hoped the
amendment Of the senator from Yer
mont [Edmun1sl would be adopted. He
3 aid that next TO the liberty of this coun-
try was the credit, and the people were
exceedingly sensitive 10 regard to it. 1t
was the right Of the people, without re-
gard to party, to know if there had been
blundeIi0g in the treasury. II 1t wes
true that there had been such blunder-
ing, il wGs akin to fraud.
Pending the Discussion, Senator Sher-
msn moved that the resolution of Sena-
tor Davis be laid aside, in order that the
senator from Indiana MortoDl might
ell up his resolution IN regarG to the
Mississippi election, aud submit remarks,
which he Was prepared to do, Agreed
TO.
MORTON ON MISSISSIPPI.
The senate then took up the resolution
of senator Morton in regard to the Mis-.
sissipyd stection, ard Senator Morton
said:
MR PREsIDEEr-If the information
1 have received from very many sources
is substantially true, the late pretsDaed
election in Mississippi was an armed
revolution, chsTa etefiZed by fraud, muir
der and violence in almost every Form'
II vas carried on in some respects under
IT, forms OF law, but its real nature was
ID al Of karce, the violation Of law, and
tae trEnpllng gnder foot OF the dearest
rights Of great masses OF men. A little
less Sudden than those revolsto2s when
have distinguished the 5 .stes OF Mexico
and the counties of South America, 1t
aid not differ from them ia character,
and vas equal in Rtroci;y. 1t Is mat
tef Of the grayest import to the Ameri-