The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-03-09

would prevent the offering of amendments. He
thought the bill would easily pass.
Mr.. Blaine-The vote would be unanimous.
Mr.. Knott declined to make any compromise
and so there was nothing for 1t put call OF the
House.
After the call, which showed the presence of
quorum, Mr.. Blaine made another effort to
secure O chance of discussion on the Republican
side, discaiming anything that had the appear
ance of fillibustering, but his voice was drown
ed in shouts of 'order" from the Democrats
Another vote by tellers had the same result,
aud there was another call OF the House.
After two hours were consumed in this way
an arrangement was made which Knott said he
had proposed from the first, that half the hour
left the committee after the second previous
question should be given to Lawrence.
Mr.. Lawrence yielded part OF that time to
Mr.. Kassop, who expressed regrets that the
statements which had been made yesterday in
the heat of debate had been repeated today by
the cool gentleman from Kentucky (KnottL
and who undertook to show that Marsh could
not have been frightened away by any proceed
ing, as Marsh had left Washington at II clock
Thursday (three hours before the report was
presented in the House) and could not have de-
vined anything about the mythical meeting Of
the Cabinet till he read it 10 the Montreal pa.
pers of Saturday morning.
MIR. Lawrence also yielded few minutes to
Mr.. Blame, who declared he had been authoriz
ed to say there never had been any instruction
in the Cabinet to prosecute Marsh. Mr.. Marsh's
case had never been considered in the Cabinet,
but simply the question of prosecuting Belk-
nap. 1t anybody stated that Marsh had been
frightened oat of the country by anything the
Cabinet did, he stated what had 70 foundation
in fact. The simple failure of the Committee
on Expenditures in the War Department to dis
charge Marsh would have retained him here.
He tBlaine) would vote for this bill even if it
were full of Outrages, and he begged his Re-
publican friends to do the same, but he ventur-
ed the prophecy that no matter what bills of
exemption were passed, they would not get
Marsh. Several Democrats, "How do you
know?')
Mr. Blaine-I do not know, but am Yam
kee by adoption and can guess, and guess that
he will not come between the great dignity of
the House in regard to the indictment Of Belk-
nap and the halting of the Judiciary Commit.
tee about impeachment. 1t looks to me as if
the late Secretary of War would escape and
drop between the two stools He will neither
be indicted because it is against the dignity of
the House to furnish the testimony, nor will he
be impeached because on the whole there is not
enough to impeach him on Ia whispered re-
mark from Hoar) as my friend from Massachu-
sets suggests, give the question to this side of
the House, and we will do both quickly. Gap
plause on the Republican side.)
Mr.. Lawrence thought the Republicans were
not responsible for Marsh's absence.
Mr.. Knott closed the discussion.
The bill was than passed-yeas 2O6, nays 10.
Mr.. Clymer rose to a personal explanation
and had read a statement in the Washington
correspondence of the N. Y. Herald relating to
a supposed interview between Mrs. Belknap,
Mrs. Marsh and other ladies at the Arlington
Hotel, in which the charges against Belknap
were discussed, and among them charge that
Geo. Fl. Pendleton of Ohio had paid to Mrs,
Belknap bride of $4,000 in the interest of the
Kentucky Central railroad, when Mrs, Belknap
is represented as having said that she had only
received half that sum, and that the facts were
brought to Clymers knowledge by Mr.. Dan
ford one of the members of the committee, but
that Clymer paid no attention to them and
further that Mrs. Belknap, Pendleton, Clymer
and Mr. and Mrs Marsh had made a tour to-
gether when Clymer became acquainted wit b
the main facts in the case.
In reply to this Clymer said he had never
seen Marsh till he testified, nor Mrs. Marsh
till the day she and her husband left Washing
ton. He never met Geo. III. Pendleton save on
this side of the Atlantic. He heard rumor
about some conversation at the Arlington, but
there was no foundation to go upon save that it
was said there was a record at the War De-
partment, and he sent and had this record
hunted up. He avowed himself for the fullest
investigation strike where it would, and de-
nouncei the newspaper story as malicious
fabrication. Nhe other members of the COM
mittee confirmed his statement with regard to
his action in the rumored fraud in which PEN
dleton's name was mixed up.
Mr.. Blaine called Blackburn's attention to
misstatement made yesterday by him in saying
that the witness, Marsh, was within the power
of the House when the report was made, the
fact being that Marsh had left the city two
hours before
Mr. Blackburn made the correction, but in
timated that Blaine seemed to have been keep
ing company of witness or keeping close on his
track.
Mr.. Blaine responded that he had never seen
Marsh aud ne never heard of him till the case
was brought before the House, but that the
tact of Marsh's leaving the city at that time
was an essential fact in the history of the case,
SO essential that after the newspapers through
out the United States had blazened it abroad
that Marsh had been frightened off by an or
der from the Executive Department; that he
lBlaine) had taken pains to find out when
Marsh left the city.
Finally the discussion ended and the seco nd
bill reported by the Judiciary Committee was
recommitted. The Speaker appointed Mr.. Phelps
on the select committee on the whisky prose-
cution in place of Harris of Va. resigned.
Adjourned at o'clock.