The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1876-01-14
co NC REss.
wAsurSaroS January 1S, 1876.
HOUSE.

All the galleries Of the House Of Rep
resentatives and the approaches to then
were crowded to-day, in anticipation o
the close OF the debate on the amnest,
question.
Mr.. Cox offered resolution instruct
ing the Committe on Printing to inquire
into the cost OF the printing done fol
Congress and the Executive Departments
at the government printing Office, ant
what similar work can be done for in thu
private offices; also as to the cost Of thC
Congressional record, &c., with view o
ascertaining whether u definite and
more economical arrangement cannot bt
made. Adopted.
Mr.. Parsons offered resolution in
structing the Committee on Expenditure
in the Department OF Justice to inquire in
TO the appointment Of special Council
for government fees paid them, and thu
extra fees paid the Assistant Attorney
the investigation to be extended as fal
back as may be necessary for a full
knowledge Of what has been and is being
done in that connection. Adopted.
Mr.. Whitcome, from the Committee OF
Naval Affairs, reported resolution call
ing on the Secretary Of the Navy for {
report us TO the expenditures Of appro'
priations made since July 1870, for thu
testing Of inventions. Adopted.
Mr.. Bennett, OF Idaho, offered q resolu'
ton instructing the Judiciary Committee
10 inquire into the expediency Of incor'
porating into the constitutional amend.
ment provision giving the citizens ol
organized territories the right TO vote
for the President and Vice President
Adopted.
Mr.. Cochrane offered resolution for
the appointment ofa Special COMMITTEES
to investigate the alleged fraudulent let
ting of the contract for the transportation
Of Indian goods and supplies. Refer
red.
HE1TEE DISCUSSION OF THE AMNESTY
QUESTION.
The House then resumed the considera.
ton Of the Amnesty bill, and was address
ed by Mr.. Blaine. He commenced by
disclaiming any intention TO convey the
idea in the discussion yesterday. He
said that from the tone OF the debate
one would imagine that the Republican
party ,as represented in Congress, was try.
ing TO innict some new punishment or to
add some other stigma to the name OF JET.
ferson Davis. 1t might not therefore be
inappropriate to recall the attention oi
the House to the precise question at is
sue. The gentleman from Pennsylvania
(Randall) had introduced bill 10 con-
fer special honor on Jefferson Davis,
and for that honor it cannot be higher
than the full panoplied citizenship Of the
United States. Jefferson Davis had lost
il BY his crimes, and the gentleman from
Pennsylvania, lind proposed in hot haste,
without debate, without an amendment,
to drag every gentleman in the House to
say aye or no on the bill declaring jeff.
Davis to be entitled now and henCefOrth
to the rights Of an American citizen. To
that he (Blnine) and those with him dis
sented. They were not seeking to
throw any OTHER element into the politics
Of the day, and whatever Of that kind had
llown into this discussion lay at the door
OF the gentleman from Pennsylvania, and
Of those who stood with him. II was a
proposition not to punish, but it was n
proposition TO honor, and while he
tBlaine) and those with him disclaimed
the intention of disparaging jeff. Davis,
that they opposed the proposition TO hon
or him. He then passed on to discuss
the question in regard TO the treatment
of prisoners at the South, and who was to
blame for breaking the exchange Of the
prisoners. The speech OF the gentleman
form Ohio (Garield) yesterday had left
him literally nothing to say.
TnEsUBJEcr HAD BEEN EXHAUSTED,
and the argument was unanswerable; and
he undertook to say that as yet no gentle
man on the other side had answered one
fact which the gentleman from Ohio had
alleged, and that no gentleman could an
sweF them. He tBlainej sh6u!d not
therefore at any length rest on that point,
but there was one allegation as to a
point OF history which he felt it his duty,
not merely as member Of the Republi-
can party, but as citizen Of the United
States, to resist and resent, and that was
the allegation made in regard to the
manner in which the Confederate prison
ers had been treated in the prisons OF the
Union. The gentleman from Georgia
(HilD had spoken this sentence in his
speech: "Ihave also proved that with
all the horrors which the gentlemen have
made such a noise about, as occurring at
Andersonville, greater horrors occurred
in the prisons where our troops were
held" Icould not but admire the "our"
and the "your" with which the gentleman
communicated the decision. II was
i'll compared with his pretensions
to unionism. 1t was certainly fling.
ing the shadow Of the dead Confed-
cracy long way over the dead Of the
National House OF Representatives, and
think that the gentleman from New
York (Cox) somewhat fell into n little
Of the same line. He goes on TO say,
"And the atrocities Of Andersonville do
not begin to compare with the stories OF
Elmira, Camp Douglass and Fort Della
ware, and Of all the atrocities both at
Andersonville and Elmira the Confeder-
ate authorities stand acquitted"
Mr.. Hill, who occupied seat on the
Republican side OF the House, arose and
said a said no such thing; | stated that
| brought no charges against anybody,
but that according TO the gentleman'S
logic the result followed"
Mr. Blaine-That is not the report OF
the speech at all. am quoting the gen.
tleman's speech as he delivered it,
Mr.. HiIl-You are only quoting one
sentence out Of its connection.
Mr.. Blainc-I beg pardon; ! am speak
ing OF it as it appeared in the Washing
ton Chronicle and In the Associated Press
report. do not pretend to be bound by
the version OF II which may appear here
after in the Congressional Record, because I
observe that the gentleman from New
York (Cox) spoke one speech and pub
lished another, and l suppose the gentle
man from Georgia willdo the same. lido
admit that he has difficult role to play
tn keep himself in line with the New
York Democrats and to keep himself in
proper position for the Democratic can
didatc as Senator from Georgia, and it is
very difficult thing to reconcile the two.
Laughter on the Republican side.
The barn.burner Democrats in 1858
found it very hard to adhere to their an.
u.slavery principles in New York and
still to support Pierce's administration,