The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1876-03-03

legal question you have submitted 10 me
and In this situation Of affairs the Secrc.
tary OF War should decide whether you
are 10 remain in Washington or leave
the country. DR.. Tomlinson said he woult
return to Washington and he prepared two
formulas Of telegrams which would un
derstand. One was, ~ hope your wife il
we'll" which was 10 be interpreted
to leave the country. The othel
was, II hope your wife is better,
which meant come TO Washington. We
then parted, and on going home in the
street cars was thinking the whole thing
over about the conversation at tho time
Of the funeral, ! made up my mind thai
although l had stated TO Mr.. Bartlett
that Thought / had Some conversation
at the time Of the funeral with tho Secre'
tary Of War about sending this money
yet l was so undecided that | was
certainly willing to give the Secretary the
benefit OF the doubt. | thought | would
seeTomlinson and tell him, he was to leave
for Washington at 3 o'clock. went to
the depot and met him, and told him that
in thinking over the matter | was so un'
decided about the conversation with the
Secretary at the time OF the funeral that
| would give him the benefit OF the doubt.
he said he was very glad to hear this be-
cause my sister, Mrs. Belknap, said this
was fact. That Saturday evening got
telegraphic dispatch from Mrs. Bel
knap which said come.to Washington; il is
necessary. i received 1t in the evening.
Next morning, Sunday, received dis
patch from Dr.. Tomlinson, "Is your wife
batter," which according TO our
agreement meant come TO Washington.
MFR. Blackburn said nc would not con-
sent that the gentleman from Mas:
sachusetts should make this politi
cal or partizan question. He would
not consent that his side Of the house
should be placed in the position OF pros:
ecutors and that the other side should
take up the position Of defenders. II
was q question which addressed itself
to every member Of the House. lie re-
garded The case as an unprecedented one
In more respects than one. The action
Of the President in accepting the resig-
nation OF Secretary Belknap under the
circumstances was Unprecedented and
this was the first instance in the history
Of the country when any man claiming
manhood and holding an exalted station
had sought to shelter himself from legit-
innate investigation by interposing the
dishonor OF wife. [Sensation. Pass
inp IN the impeachability OF Mr..
Belknap he suggested that the qucs-
ton, as. Judge Story had intimated,
might properly be left TO the de-
cision Of the Senate. On such a state
Of facts would the House be asked to
shrink from the performance Of its duty,
because there might be mist or shadow
Of doubt on that point. The House could
not do 80. 1t wouldlnot be admissible.
He quoted from the impeachment case
Of Lord Bacon, in which it was stated
when the Lord Chancellor had sought
to save himself by resignation Of his high
office the attempt was in vain, as the
King did not and could not interpose.
Was the House TO be told that man was
present at the other end OF the avenue
who was able to rob mn American Con-
grcss of the right and power which the
King OF Great Britain could not take
from parliament. Applausel 1t used
to be the theory that the King could
do no wrong, but no man has ever been
found bold enough in this country
to say that the President could
do no wrong, il tho man who
had uttered the memorable sentence,
"Let no guilty man escape" held il in
his power to rob an American Congress
Of its right TO infict punishment or pro:
nounce censure on publicly convicted
criminal, where was the barrier TO be
found beneath whose shelter the liberty
Of the people could rest secure?
Mr.. Hoar-Does the gentleman say
that Congress has the power TO punish
any man in this country?
Mr.. Blackburn will not submit to
any interruption. am the last man
who would introduce one atom Of politics
in this discussion. 1t is not admissible.
Hence the Republican members OF the
committee were as earnest and honest in
the prosecution of this inquiry and
in the presentation OF this report
as the members representing ma
iority OF this House. We have seen
no difference in the committee-room. |
appeal to the members Of the House that
there shall be no difference manifested
here. If fraud has been perpetrated, il
criminality exists, il corruption has been
proved, let the representativesof Of the peO.
pie in this house so declare it and send
the issue to the court where II may finally
be tried, and II we are unable to punish
where guilt is almost openly confessed,
let the responsibility for that failure rest
on other shoulders than ours.
Mr.. Danforth, another member OF the
committee, expressed it as his judgment
that the acceptance Of Belknap's resigua-
ton in no manner changed the posi-
ton Of that officer to the country. lie
disagreed, however, with the statement
Of the Chairman (Clymer); that the con-
duct Of this officer was legitimate out
growth Of the principle Of the party in
power, and he expressed hope that there
would not be single vote on the Repub-
lican side Of the House against the rcsO.
luton.
Mr.. Kasson said that few yelrs ago
there had come from his State young,
we'll educated and gallant gentleman to
fight the battles Of his country. He had
gone through the war, and the President
had afterwards called him TO seat in his
Cabinet, placing him at the head OF that
army Of which he had been an humble
but somewhat distinguished member.
This morning, for the first time, n dele
CATION from Iowa had heard that thatgcn.
tleman who had been so much respected
in his own State and SO much honored by
the Nation, had been found guilty Of re-
ceiving compensation for an act Of his
official duty and that that compensation
had been continuous, the members Of the
House would judge OF the emotion with
which the members from that State had
listened to the reading OF the evidence
He had never heard anything read with
greater interest than that report, and
when at the close OF tho reading he had
made an appeal 10 his friend from Penn,
sylyania ,(Mr. Clymer) not for himself
alone, but for his colleagues whose pride
and honor were 80 touched by the charac'
ter OF the report, for moments delay
that they might find whether there
might not be in the evidence