The New Orleans Democrat. (New Orleans, La.) 1875-1876, 1876-06-06


forth TIE idse d impression that p.
Oaatse would not permit that man o.
4nY man, whsn ! could prevent y, from
private correspondence there must be
something Ia Il most deadly and de.
struUtlv0 to my reputation. would
like any gentleman on this floor, and oil
Of them are presumed TO be men Of ri.
fairs whose business has been varied
and whose intercourse has been large.
To stand up here and say that he Il
willing and ready to have his private
correspondence for the last ten or twelve
years handed over and made publfc7
Mr. Blaine said he proposed 10 read
these letters to the House to silence
Islander and check surmise.
There was d decided sensation and
applause.
HE THEN HELD Up A PACKAGE
OF letters reading them rapidly, and
casually stopping to make some expla..
nation, and ~ he concluded, handed
them to his private secretary. who stood
near him.
Mr.. Blaine charged Mr.. Knott, chair
man Of the committees, with suppress
ing n telegram from Josiah Caldwell In
Europe, entirely exonerating him.
Mr.. Blaine explains
THE SPENCER CONTRACT,
to which allusion was made In one Of
the letters, by saying that In the sum-
mer OF 1861, two years before he first
came to Congress, he had been asked X
he could not get IN opportunity for the
inventor Of the spencer rifle to bring
that new arm to the attention OF the
Secretary or War. He said he thought
he could, aud he had come on to Wash
ingtOn and had an interview with Secre-
tary Cameron. Mr.. Cameron had given
orders to have It tested by the Ordnance
Bureau. 1t had been thoroughly tested
and the experiments were SO satisfac-
tory that q preliminary order for 10000
rifles was made.
The company had Immediately pro-
ceeded TO erect an arinory IN Boston.
He had been paid not an extravaRant
but moderate fee for his services,
which no had just as much liberty 10
take as any lawyer or agent had to take
u fee. Subsequently he had taken and
paid for $4,000 worth Of stock In the
company, which had since been merged
In the Winchester Rifle Company. That
was the whole story.
Mr.. Knott said he hnd listened to Inn
putations upon himself within the last
two hours which, coming from a differ
ent source, no might perhaps answer
very differently from the manner An
which he should now attempt to answer
them. Those who were intimately ac-
quainted with him knew that he was the
last man In the world to seek personal
and he assured the House
that OF oil men in the world the gentle
man with whom he would seek such a
That gentleman, he re-
was entirely too immense In
his proportions.
Why. man. he doth bestride the narrow world
Like d Colossus, and we. petty men,
Walk under his huge legs. and peep about
TO lind ourselvc dishonorable graves"
controversy seemed to be that
forte. As friend Of his
would say, the gentleman wasFntirely
too bumptious and too usurpttous' for
him." Laughter on the Democratic
Iide.1
Two-thirds OF the time the gentleman
vas In the House he did not seem to re-
llize whether he was Speaker, or simply
J member, and to a stranger 1t would
70 an insoluble enigma to know which
10 was. The gentleman had quite I'M
lugged him (Knott) into this |
PERSONAL matter OF his own. In the first
,lace, he had insinuated that from some
unworthy motive, he (Knott), rs chair
nan Of the Judiciary Committee, had
appointed on the subcommittee which |
lad charge Of these investigations the |
Gentleman from Virginia (Hunton), and
he gentleman from North Carolina
Ashe). In answer to that he had to say,
lrst, that either Of those gentleman was
vord, and that in point or honor II was |
10 disparagement to the gentleman from |
daine to say that they were his superb |
re-. Misses and other remarks Of dis |
from the Republican side
I the house,
Mr.. Knott That Is all right. There
re three kinds OF animals In the world |
hat hiss-vipers, geese and fools. |
Laughter In the second place this
was selected long before |
here was any insinuation, public or
,rivate, that the gentleman from Maine |
vas in any manner implicated In any |
I the alleged fraudulent transactions
n the part OF any OF these corpora
Ions, and 1t did seem to me when the
entleman flung his imputation at me,
8 little strange that he could as
ribe such motives to me under the cir
|eman from Virginia and the gentle
IAN from North Carolina were his per-
onal enemies. 1t does seem little re-
larkable that you cannot touch one OF
hose railroads but the gentleman from
fain will squeal. AS to the cable dis
atch from Joseph Caldwell, 1t Is true
hat on last Thursday morning did re-
Give dispatch. The gentleman from
faine seems to know precisely the hour
t which I received it, and it's contents.
lie seems fully posted on the subject;
ut permit me to say, with regard to
he insinuation that that telegram has
cen suppressed, that any man, high or
,w, whoever he may be, who will else
here make such an insinuation will
ave to take the consequences. / hurl
he falsehood back into the teeth Of any
ian who makes suggestion rs to the
OF that dispatch. Applause
n the Democratic side.J I received it:
did not suppress it at all. In less than
lirty minutes after received 1t read