Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-02-20

oil ISL was then considered The fifth section
restoring to the pension rolls those persons
whose names were stricken therefrom for dis
loyalty, led TO long discussion. motion To
Stilke out was negaiiyed by vote of
yeas I, nays NJ, and the bill was then read a
third time and paSSed-yeaS AZ, nays 5. Adj.
journed
Sharp Political Debate I'm the House.
HOUSE.-After our report closed
The contested election case of Darrell VS.
Acklin, from the fourth Louisiana district,
was debated. The majority report was in
favor OF Ackin. the contestant, and the mi
nority in favor of Darrell, the sitting member
MIR. Hale, obtained the floor, and defended
himself from the charges made by Mr.. Gibson.
nouncing the people of that state. He said he
had watched the experiment made there,
hopefully trusting that the conciliatory course
pursued by the President would be met with a
generous and hearty return. He had seen
that honor and plighted faith went for nothing
anu pontlcal prosecutions instituted that re
minded hlm OF former days. He claimed that
Governor Nichols and his legislature had
PROMISED pardon for all political offenSes
but To the surprise of the President and every
BODY else the promise had been yislated.
Mr.. Davis asked whether there was a com
pact that the crimes of forgery and perjury
should go unpublished in Louisiana. III there
was every person connected with il or who
aSSCnled TO ii should be in the penitentiary
MIR. Hale went on 10 say that the adhercnts
OF the democratic party in the south who were
now so eager for the upholdng OF law and for
It'll
in The swamps and on hillSides and in the
raylneS of the south 10 ambush and shoot down
the officers of the revenue. Ii was party SO
sensitive to-day that il robbed constituencies
OF their representatives on this floor, aud cast
decisive votes in the House at the hands of
men who had no more right TO seats than Dick
Iurpln had to the booty which he had plum
dered on the highway. He said there was a
profound impression that that proceeding in
Louisiana had its root, its handspring its
source elsewhere: that there were many who
3eneved that the whole performance had been
dictated and driven forward by restless men
who lid not mean ever to admit that the pres
idential title had been settled. The President
OF the United States was learning to-day the
lesson OF misplaced confidence. 1t was the
old, old story. There had been nothing which
the President could do to make efficacious his
course toward the south which he had not
done. He had appointed cabinet ministers
foreign ministers and other high officials from
that section because he had been anxious that
II Tie experiment failed nobody should be able
to say that it had failed from any lack on his
part, and now this was the return received
| from Louisiana. In conclusion, he intimated
| that ii might be the constitutional duty of the
| President to see to it that no in Justice was
done to citizen OF the United States.
| that there had been any such compact for i'm
munity from crime as had been asserted by
| MIR. Hale: AS to the case of the murder of Su-
which Mr.. Hale had spoken, he (Mr. GibSonD
| had interested himself in having the guilty
party brought to justice, and the Information
which he received was that it was the general
| impression that Webben had been murdered
by man of his own party. personal enemy.
| He denied that the returning board was being
prosecuted on political grounds. Who had
| anything to gain by that? Certainly not the
people of louisiana: certainly not the ma,
| tlOnal democratic party, for Hayes title had
been passed upon by Congress. The return
| ing board was being prosecuted for forgery.
| That crime of forgery was trivial in SO far as
| the recent election was concerned, but it was
crime OF enormous proportions, and the man
| who falSlfied returns struck blow at civil
| liberty and free government.
Mr.. Elan defended the state and the party
from the charges of Mr.. Hale, denying there
was any compact that forgery should go uu
| punished.
MI, Clymer said that every portion of the
country, outside of the borders Of Louisiana as
well as in it. was interested IN Tie rotcaeding:
| now taking place in that state. I'm behalf OF
! the people whom he represented he could saw
that they desired that the persons connected
with the electoral fraud as principals should
be punished, and that all who were abettors
and aiders should be punished. This question
should not be considered as local one, and
the whole people should give encouragement
to the people of Louisiana to go right forward
and discover who were the principals.
| Mi. Garheld said that the gentleman from
pennsylvania (Mr. Clymer) called upon the
party to get at the great crime of the PreSiden
| tial count. This he (Mr. Garfield) character
| lied as the entering point of the wedge which
was 10 be driven home to what was called the
| great crime OF the century. In his judgment
President Hayes was an Optimist, who looked
only on the bright side Of human nature and
disliked to look at its dark side. His (Presi
dent HayesD faith and hope had been larger
| than the faith and hope of most people. He
had gone forward to the very verge of the con.
stitu!ion in offering both hands in fellowship
and in Offering the olive branch of peace. He
bring about the era of good feeling and pacifi
cation. If the strict letter of the law had been
adhered to at the end of the rebellion there
would have been no end to the awful spec
| tacleS OF prosecution and punishment (under
| the law signed by George Washington against
| those who had committed the crime of treason.
MIR. Gibson asked if Mr.. Garfield held to the
theory that every man in the Confederate SER
vice had been guilty of treason? [CrieS of
Yes, from the republican side
MIR. Garfield went on to say that the action
| OF the President in removing the troops had
| been looked upon by the people of Louisiana
| as generous and magnanimouS action, and
| they had garlanded the man VINO performed it
| With the richest praise In that era of recon
| Citation both sides had forgotten and forgiven
much. Who had begun this latter revival of
the chapter? While that work of reconcilia-
ton had been going forward there had com
menced at the north (he affirmed it boldly
the process of laying the keel for another pres
Idential campaign, and the order had gone
| OF the returning board; to disguise it under
| the form of a state proceeding. but to enter
| her wedge, and then the democratic party.
| as the gentleman from PENNSYLVANIA (Mr
| Clymer) had stated, would summon all its
| strength to drive the wedge to its head and
| stamp the great election fraud as il desires
1t had been denied that the proceedings OF
| the state court had been irregular. There was
| a letter in tO-day's New York Times from J
Madison Wells. (DeriSiye laughter on the
democratic side, which called the retOrt from
| MIR. Garfield: If you were judges in court
| would you haw-haw at a witness? If YOU
| would, laugh again."D In that letter Mr.
| Wells stated that five successive grand juries
| had refused to find true bill of indictment
against him, and from other statements he
| had refused to find true bills against Ander-
son.
Mr.. Finley-Has the gentleman any other
| information on that subject except from Madi.
| son Wells? because | desire to say that a com
| mittee appointed by the forty-third Congress
| certified that Madison Wells had committed
what was equivalent to perjury.
MIR. Garfield.-f my colleague has heard
anything eX parte in his life let him examine
| it, and take that for his answer. He went on
| to say that there was an Interior purpose
| behind all the persecution. Ii was but cloak
| and cover for a raid to be made for political
purposes in the name of a party upon the title
OF the President of the United States.
| Mr.. Clymer attempted to get the floor to re-
ply. but motion to adjourn prevailed at
| O'Clock.
ASDr. Bruce Thomas, of Frederick, Md,
| has declined the position of deputy collector
| of internal revenue for Frederick county, re-
Gently rendered, vice A. w. Butler, who will