National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1876-07-27
Geo. NJ. robson.
TOoa,inued from Fir,t Pace. l

nrch. Monadpock, Puritan, Terror, Quinne-
baug, Swatara, Galena, Vaudaiia, Marion,
Mohicsn and Nipsic. We hold the conduct OF
the Secretary open to no objection. Congress
appropriatPs from year to year a certain
amount of money to be expended According to
the judgment OF the Navy Department in the
construction and repair of vessels, and it
would he absurd to hold that without special
authority from Congress he could not sub
stsntially rebuild a vessel, II in doing so he
could produce a better ship with less money
than he could by repairing an old and worth
less one The committee complain of him for
not keeping up the navy, yet would limit his
power merely to the duty of repairing old aud
worthless vessels We may well ask what
sort of a navy we should now have had he
acted upon any such construction of the law
The truth is, he has pursued this course ac-
cording to a wise policy of administration,
ouenly adopted, publicly ayowed aud approved,
and acaulesced in year after year by Congress
and the country. If in the discharge of that
duty he has acted fairly and honestly in the
lawful exercise of his official discretion, and for
what he deemed to be the best interests of the
navy, he is auswerable only to the President of
the United States, whose servant and exec Itive
officer he is. Congress has no power to punish
or even criticise his conduct, unless it can be
clearly proved that in the performance of his
official duties he acted corruptly or in willful
violation of express statutes. And as the ma
1OrltV 1all TO HDu dDNLu VI Tic IuelT
.fault-fnding and criticism are entirely out of
place.
= The report concludes as follows: We
confess that after the fierce and high sound
ing phrases about "frauds," corruption"
"gross abuses" aud s'willful violation of the
law" which abound everywhere in their re-
FORT and which are intended to give force and
point to its most important passages, we were
prepared to find long list of the names of
officers in service in the Navy Department
whose ''crimes" and "frauds" had been dis
covered and laid bare by this investigation,
and who should be delivered over for public
disgrace and punishment. We had right to
expect they would be named and designated,
so that those whose duty it is to bring crimi-
nails to justice should have no embarrassment
in determining who were intended.
We were prepared by the condemnatory Ian
guage of the report to hear the honorable Sec
rotary of the Navy charged directly and une-
quivocslly with specific violations Of law and
acts of "fraud'' and corruption" We GER
tainly had no intimatiop, until the report was
read, that the majority were conscious of inca
pacity to pass upon the legal questions evolved
in the investigation, and were not prepared for
such confession neither were we prepared
10 learn that it was the deliberate purpose of
the majority to transfer to another committee
of this House, who have given no especial at
tention to naval affairs or naval administra-
ton, and who have seen none of the witnesses,
and cannot, therefore, well judge of their truth
and credibility, all the testimony and proof,
and 10 require that committee TO ind what this
House has assigned to the Committee on Naval
Affairs. We regard it confession that the
facts do not justify them in making definite
charges of misdemeanors or otfenses, punisha-
bic by impeachment, against the Secretary of
the Navy.
We feel that under such circumst ances, hav-
ing pointed out all errors and abuses, whether
arising from the imperfections of our system
or otherwise, and devised proper measures for
their correction, they should have declared the
fact plainly and fairly, as it appears in the
proof that they had found no grounds for per-
sonal accusation.
In view of this action on the part of the ma
jority, and of our own settled conviction, after
q full examination of all the testimony, we
recommend the adoption of the following reso-
luton:
RESOLVED, That during this investigation no
fraud corruption or willful violation of the law
has been shown or appears to have been commit
ted by Hon. George NJ. Robson while in the dis
charge of the duties of Secretary of the Navy
and find no reason to censure or tind fault with
his conduct in the administration of the Navy De-
pariMent
b W. HARRIS.
CHARLES HAYS.
L. DANFoRD.