Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1877-10-24
Yesterday IL the senate.


day, on Thurman's motion to admit
Spofford, the bogus applicant from
Louisiana, without further reference
to the Election Committee, of which
Morton is chairman, who is at homo
sick, Mitchell of Oregon being second
ON the Committee and acting chair
man.
Bayard of Delaware opened in fa-
vor of the immediate admission of
Spofford as on act necessary to fully
inaugurate the millennium. The mo-
ton to refer carried by 36 Republi-
cans to 33 Democrats. Davis ofIll ;,
who succeeds Logan, voting with the
Confederate Brigadiers. Cockercll,
Gordon, Harris, Hill, Lamar, Merri-
mon Morgan, Ransom, Withers& Co.
Then Whyte of Maryland moved
that the committee be instructed to
report by Nov. lst. and the Confed-
crate Brigadiers and their allies, who
have been fillibustering for years to
keep Pinchback, Kellogg and other
Republicans out, at once set up q
howl against the wrong to Louisiana
of keeping her SO long unrepresented
in the Senate.
Senator Wadleigh, of New Hamp-
shire, said:
"If it is expected by the Senate that
the decision of the Committee on
privileges and elections on this case
should be final, it was asking too
much Of the committee to report by
November LIST. 1t might be that tho
members of the committee would not |
come to the conclusion that the re-
moval of the government seat in
Louisiana by military force could set
tie the question for the Senate Of who
was entitled to the seat in the Senate
from that state. But for the pressure
of the League the packasd govern
ment would have remained the gov
ernment in fact, as he believed it was
in law. He argued that the pro-
ceedings under which Kellogg was
elected Senator were valid and cor
rect in form. Tho testimony in the
Louisiana case covers thousands oft
pages and the committee could not
examine all of 1t and report to the
Senate November 1st."
Thurman said, "at no time since
1873 had the state OF Louisiana more |
than one Senator on this floor. Her
ferred to various Investigations re-
garding the state of Louisiana, and
said now after all these years of in
quiry, we are told that this able COM
mittce cannot make report by the
1st of November. Every material
fact was before the Senate already,
and the Senators were simply shut
ting their eyes to the testimony to say
that they could not decide this case.
What was the reason for this attempt |
to postpone the matter? Was it in
tended to postpone it for four years
Was there dread of collision upon
the railroad? II there was no dread
Of the smashing Of the cars as they
came head to head on the same track,
he could not sec why it was so essen
tial to postpone the matter.
Senator Edmunds said he did not
understand what the Senator meant
by his paraphrase about railroads.
Senator Thurman said that he
would never attempt to explain any
thing to the Senator from Vermont
which man of the most ordinary
comprehension could understand -
Such an attempt would be an insult |
to his Intelligence.
Senator Edmunds said that the /
Senators on his side were not runners
on any railroad at all; they always
labored topromote the interest of the
people according to law"
Finally, after much pointed debate,
of similar character, in which Ed
munds, Wadlcigh and Conkling spoke
for the Republicans and Thurman,
Whyte, Gordon and others for the
Democracy, the motion of Whyte to
instruct the committee was rejected
81 yeas to 35 nays, Davis again vot-
ing with the Confederate Brigadiers,
which action pretty well defines his
status. 1t was a spicy and notable
debate in which the Republicans are
entitled to the first blood, in spite of
the absence of Morton and the defec-
ton of Davis. Matthews and Booth
voted steadily with the Republicans.
Daily Of the 1871.