The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-06-09


OF impeachmcnt against any 2illeGr ol tlic Coy,
ernment who shall br deemed in iis judgment
10 bc guilty Of h.h crimes and misd"mcanors.
The House is made. ms II II sometimes said,
the grand inquest of the nation" to pui in mo-
ton the Legitimate and nccessnry steps to 9r,nk
high criminals before the highest court oi the
nation. the Senate of the United States, sitting
rs court Of impcarhment Properly 10 90
those duties requires the full lest power oi TAX
ing testimony. Before the lowest court which
has the jurisdiction Of the lowest class Of
msdemeanors. every man. when properly
called upon in due form. must appear
and give evidence. under pain OF con
tempt Of jurisdiction Of the court. and suh-
jant to be punished for that contemui. How
much more. then. before n body legislative i'll
form, hut judicial in action acting under pow
ers conferred for that purpose hy the Consiitu-
tion. must every man. high or low. be bound to
appear. and testify when required IN such n
case. Whether our deliberations shall result in
the impeachment Of anybody or not depends
upon the testimony which we can get. II We
| cannot get testimony, W. cannot do our duty as
a committee oi investigation. II any one man
/ can stay away from the committee on any plea.
| injustice may be- done, not only to the unlted
| States. which W. represent. but TO the dciend-
ants or persons implicated or persons ac-
cused. II is no excuse for man to sny.
Il do not know ANYTHING which can ls
of advantage. and therefore | Will not GO
! No other object in view, having neither enemy
to punish nor friend TO reward IN this inv"sii-
CATION. Mother guilty person to shield nor in
| norent person 10 convict. want to know all tho
| facts tho countrys want io know all the facts
and every man must come mere who il sent for.
Nay. II now occurs to me lbe ause had maio
no preparation in my own mind for such an
event. any moro than | had made preparation
to meet a bow from my son when returned to
duces isc6i was ordered to Ge issued by
Chief Justice Marshall, sitting rs u COM
W,sf94rT gas,egiGn @ oroa as1BIa,e Bqr IN r. m
Jefferson the President Of the United States 10
bring before him certain papers inut were want
mise WIS effected by which the defendant agreed
! 20 receive the papers because conicssedly Mr.
Jefferson knew nothing Of the facts. In the
same way we could make q comlrOnlise. So far
as papers are concerned. with MIR. Matthews;
| hut there nre two missing papers. and should
| Ike to know how they are missing | think II
| due to the persons accused here that Mr.. Mat
thews should come TO testify Therefore the
. First-fs the committee convinced that Mr..
Matthews is witness who may be, possessed of
| Having determined that question.
| Second-Has the House any power TO get at
| that knowledge which he has or Is supposed 10
| hayel Having determined th"sctwo questions
| aud they are to he discussed and gravely con-
sidered-ihcn the question comes shall we sgt
| here, or are we 10 surrender the privileges Of
the HouseY therefore submit the following
resolution:
R,,or-i That the Hon STANLEY Matthews seeming to
be an orttnt and competent witness IN the inyeea-
be ssugd summon. said stanley Matthew'S due lorm
| 10 testify bci'rc this committee
| present this resolution In open session. and
| have made my remarks about IL because am
mean and what deem 10 be right and proper.
| And now move that the committee go into ok
| ecutivc session for the purpose OF discussing
Mr.. Cox-I hope the committee will not do So
| hope that. as the discussion has been in pub
| lie. Il may be continued IN public.
Mr.. Butler-l am content | have no objection.
Mr. Cox-I think we ought 70 be reasonably
| cautious in this thing. because" the mntter hav-
spf Sefh agF 81 hTp %p m f1i in rri
| 10 1t. and may do what would make the personal
matter grow 20 be one Of gravrr importnnce. /
| think. therefore. that the subpuna. in such
case. should be 50 worded as evidently TO Tree
Mr.. McMahon-How can we know until we
subpoena him TINT Senator Matthew'S W III ALSO
| lutely avail imseli of his so-cnlled privilege?
think that the subpoena should issue g. him.
and then he can act upon il as he secs it, and
We can pct upon II rs We see III.
Mr.. CoX-The subpoena should IN Itself limit
the hours OF attendance to such ones rs shall be
maniiestly outside OF the daily session oi Con-
Mr. Butler-As offered the resolution for the
invitation. II is perhaps not improper for me- To
remark on what belieyrto be ne proprr course
supposed that Mr.. Matthews would be glad 10
come here at once 10 hnve his explanation 70
once" but it was suggested 10y member ot the
committee, that that might look perenpiory'
| lence were Put IN. so rs TO give MN lusi snch
| time as he pleased to take. Thut thought was
due TO him; had the idea at that time that Il
was doing him rather favor. but my opinion
| to-day is Of no consequence on that matter
Still. should have framed the resolution which
! have now offered differently II Mr. Matthews
had said. My attendance on the Senate and
my leg isatve duties so occupy my time that !
| cannot leave" think that that excuse wouh
| have been one to be weighed and considered
| with great care. | suppose the rule il
| that court will not issue a subpoena to u party
| AZ a distance who is a member OF Congress
| when such subpoena would call him away from
| his duties When court issues It's suhprna.
II is perfect excuse to set forth other and pub
| lie duties rs an answer TO such sunIernu. But
| Mr. Matthews takes no such grounds. He
| takes the ground that he declines 10 appear Tor
| the reasons which ! have before stated. He
| does not suggest the very proper ground which
his friend. Mr. Cox. has suggested ;, ior MIN
issue on the question whether he can
be brought here at at AL jaIn And pick up
He seems TO set up the privilege OF the Senate
against the RrlygEe 81 ihs edl hSqSe H, ,n NOM % Is
tion broadly and | think. legally and as
which a member Of the senate has not To tell
such privilege have never yet known OF II, and
perhaps the reason has been that ! never felt
privilege to protect me. have never found oc-
casion 10 claim II as a member OF he House,
books boo '1s'"i' to see il / had it. j there
fore state broadly that u, my Judgment
there is no such privilege; Ihere meyer has
Lords never claimed it against the Commons.
and the House of Commons meyer claimed II
is that peer owing 10 his nobility. Is to testify
on his honor rather than ON his oath. But as
we have no nobility in this country. all of us
from the lowest to the highest. hold up our
right hand and kiss the book until tho truth is
ascertained. Therefore | desire 10 test the
question OF privilege II il Is pleaded here. once
for all. a privilege which never asked Tor my
self and never asked for the House Of
Representatives. not for moment. Mr.
Matthews may come here in obedience
to the subpoena. or he may state that the party
is so evenly divided in the Senate that he cannot
attend that he can get nobody to pair with hun
long enough 10 enable him TO come here and
tell the truth. Then If he does 50 we shall take
that as n sufficient excuse and give HIM time, or
we will sit here in the even ng and ask the com
mittee to accommodate itself 10 every possible
contingency Of that sort. for do not desire that
public business shall be delayed. nor even a
party Injured by tho loss OF vote, but
that must be ON the return to our sub
pUna. He can raise II on no other
question. We have given the invitation. and 1t
is returned 10 us. We are informed thnt there
Is a court which can examine him, which IS
negative pregnant that this Is court which
cannot examine him and we have the further
intimatlon that II IL a court which can dp Nun
justice. which is n negative pregnant that TINS
is 4 court which will not do him justice. That
is the condition exactly in which we are now.
| am not going to suffer under that impression
If can help II. and therefore nsk simply that
Il suhpUna shall issue, and on the return we
will consider such excuse as the witness may
have tor not answerinE
After further discussion. the Chairman asked
Mr. COY Nvhethpr he desired TO gllgHpSt uuN