The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1877-12-20

| Nominations. and Winds up by RE-
| jecting the Names OF IsOOsVeIl and
Prince.
WASHINGTON, d. G., December l2-The
Senate was in executive session Tor nearly
six hours, ad jOurnins at eight o'clock this
evening. The entire session Wa, devoted To
the New York custom house nominations,
two of which, namely, those OF Theo koos-
welt TO he collector III place OF Arthur, To be
removed, and Bradlor Prince, as naval
officer. vice Cornell, To be removed were
reported from the committee on commerce.
uniavorably, and the third, namely, that
OF +. A Merritt to be surveyor OF customs
in place Of Sharp, whose commission has
expired, was repor ed with
FAVORABLE RECOMMENDATION.
No opposition was manifested to the lat
ter, but the contest in regard 10 the two
proposed removals was animated, and took
a very wide range, and covering a discus
sion OF the rights, powers and duties Of the
President i'll regard to removals from office
and the object OF the civil service policy in
general.
Mr.. Conkling, chairman of the committee
on commerce,
OPENED THE DEBATE
with brief statement of the reasons why,
in the opinion OF majority of that COM
mittee, the two first named nominees should
not be confirmed. These were, in brief,
that no charges, either Of corruption or in
efficiency, had been made against the pres
ent incumbents, but that, on the contrary,
they were conceded To be faithful, honest,
experienced and able officers.
MR.. BAYARD FOLLOWED
in an extended argument, maintaining the
right OF the Executive TO make changes
which, in his opinion, would he for the
benefit OF the public service, he being re-
spOnsible for the execution of the laws and
entitled 10 select hi agents. subject to the
confirmation Of the Senate, but without
being obliged to furnish the Senate state
ment Of his reason.
MR.. HERMAN
delivered speech OF considerable length
on the same side of the question, defending
the action of the President.
GENERAL GORDON
was the next speaker. He warmly
commended the civil service policy
If the President, and, in regard
to the pending nominations, asserted,
emphatically, that the removals which they
contemplated were demanded by a proper
regard Tor the purity of the service. He
charged that Cornell and Arthur had dis
gracefully made Use Of the power and pat
ronage of their offices for merely partisan
and selfish purposes, and he iniima ted that
it was time for the one-man power in the
state OF New York to be broken.
THE DrR,rr
then became quite general. Messrs Hoar
and Matthews spoke in favor Of sustaining
the action of the President in the exercise
Of his constitutional power, and of what
they argued was his sound public policy ia
removing the civil service from the domain |
of partisan control. Mr.. Teller and Others !
spoke, briefly. in reply, arguing that in the |
present instance al least, the President had !
departed from the principles Of the civil |
service which he, himself, had announced, |
namely, that faiiful and efficient services |
should protect an officer from removal. &c. !
Mr.. CONKLING CLOSED THE DEBATE
in a speech of considerable length and great |
vigor and earnestness. He replied in detail
to the various arguments advanced by the |
supporters OF the nominations, and repealed,
with the utmost emphasis, the charges that /
have been made against the official eharac-
ter and conduct Of the officers whom the
President proposed to remove. He insisted
that they had been
FAITHFUL, HONEST AND EFFICIENT
in every particular, and challenged proof
that a single charge had ever been made
against them, either by the mercantile COM
munity or by the Secretary of the Treasury,
or by the President himself He also de-
fed any one to show, or TO assert, that his
(Conkling's) action in this whole matter
had been otherwise than fair, open, courte-
Gus and above board.
IN CONCLUSION
he claimed that the Senate would be alike
unjust to the faithful officers, careful Of its
own prerogotives and duties and unmindful
Of the dictates of true civil service policy.
II il failed to vote that these nominations
should be rejected.
A vote by ayes and nays was taken upon
the nomination of Roswell and il was ne
iected BY . majority of 1.-THE ayes being
Is and the noes 81 The nominasion 81 [
Ptincs Va rejscted upon ansthef roll eaIl
y tkauuns voee. In each essa &c., /
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