National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1876-07-31
THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.

The debate in the House on Saturday
uron the majority and minority reports of
the Naval Committe upon the Robson in
vestigation will be found of great interest
Although the time was very short, it was
found to be quite sufficient to enable the
Republicans to most completely expose the
dnimus which governed the majority of the
committee, not only in the Star Chamber
inquisition, but in the compilation of the
report. The able speeches of Messrs.
Harris, Danford, Harfeld, Hale, Frye and
Kelley in defense of the character and
policy of the Secretary are simply unan-
swerable. They show that the majority
first tacitly confessed their generalization
of villainy by placing the seal of secresy
upon the lips of the minority. They then
secretly used every effort to obtain all the
scandalous heaTsay testimony that was
floating ia the columns of the New York
Sun and IN the air derivable from other
equally disreputable sources, utterly regard
less ofrules of evidence, and discharged their
witnesses without having given the accused
officers any opportunity to test its validity
by their cross-examination. Having &C.
complished their worst, they conclude their
report with the following disgraceful rec
ommendation, which Mr.. Kasson, of Iowa,
had read at the Clerks desk at Saturday:
"Your committee do not hesitate to recon-
mend that all officers of the navy who have
been connected with any of the frauds and
corruptions disclosed by this investigation shall
la hrp 60 Ixrt ria al hafn r,rf
martial, with view that if unjustly charged
they may be indicated, and If guilty they may
be speedily and vigorously punished and the
service relieved; yet they do find In the case of
the Secretary some embarrassment in recon-
mending what shall be the measure and man.
ner of his punishment, arising from the present
condition of the law, as viewed by at least q
portion of your committee"
We cannot more fifty characterize this
whole proceeding than by reproducing
from the Record the eloquent and patriotic
appeal of Mr.. Kasson. 1t is as follows:
81 call the attention of the House, Mr.
Speaker, TO that part of the repor. just read,
which has been overlooked so far as | know by
the gentlemen VINO have hitherto spoken.
And desire their attention to 1t in connection
with the resolution with which the report
closes, and upon which it Is proposed this
the House to vote censure; fails to ask the
House to impeach; fails to find the officers
guilty; fails to find the Secretary guilty; fails
of everything with which it is customary to
close report upon investigation of Depart
ment or upon the conduct of an official. 1t
evades the entire responsibility which points to
one man as the object of punishment, or to one
law as the object of repeal.
81 am going 70 appeal TO the gentlemen on
the floor Of this House upon point of national
honor and of personal character. The instinct
of every honorable member rebels against an
IL situated dishonor upon the reputation of a
gentleman of his acquaintance. You with
draw from it in disgust as from an act of
cowardice. When you say, SUCCESSFULLY and
whisperingly, if such man did so and so he
ought to be punished, he is man dishonored
in the pre- sence of his neighbors and his coun-
try; while you dare not openly make the
charge, you disbonor yourself. When you
say Of George NJ. Robson we cannot say
whether he has been guilty, or what he has