New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-08-24

Burke without causing him to modify the
testimony given on his direct examination IN
any essential particular.
-
BUFFERS PARTING SHOTS.
MAJOR BURKE FINALLY RELNQUIsHED BY HIM
UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS TO MITIGATE PREsI-
DENT HAYEs-sENATOR MORToN's NAME INTRO
DUCED.
The session of the Potter Committee yesterday
was tresOme one even to those most interested In
the inquiry, and the more so because, with the eX-
eeption of one or two passages it productive OF
nothing new OF strange General Butler said to
friends on Thursday evening that unless Horne
went on with his testimony he would be ready yes
terday morning for an adjournment, to meet on the
call of the chairman. But instead of that ne came
into the committeeman loaded to the muzzle, and
the mill began to grind vigorously as at the be-
ginning of the week. and during the most of the
session it looked as though he might continue to
keep it running for week longer. General Butler
has, for the last two days of his encounter with
Major Burke, seemed to be afraid to let go of him.
He is never satisfied unless he gets the best OF
witness, and makes him tell just such stony as he
wants to hear. At the cese of his first DAYS examl-
nation he said that he would be done with Major
Burke i'm half an hour. But he could not make Major
Burke throw mud upon the Administration OF upon
the men whom he is pursuing, and that has greatly
ANNOYED him. He has been exceedingly nervous,
and would evidently have been glad to stop at any
timeif he could have done so without seeming to
have been thwarted.
Mr. William E. Horne the witness who was sup
posed to be the custodian of tremendous secret
about Governor Hayes and his sayings and doings
during the electoral count, and who declined TO
testify on Thursday changed his mind yesterday
and agreed to open his budget of letters and dis
patches and tell all he knows but he was not quite
ready to 90 on then because his papers were not in
New-YOrk.
When General Butler took hold of Major Burke
he began the examination of him de nOvo, just as
though he had not already had him on the stand Tor
three OF four days. He began by reviewing
for the twentieth tine at least the events that oc
curred on the sth of January, when Governor
Nichols was inaugurated After skirmlshlng about
in this field for an hour or more, and attempting to
prove that the Nichols Legislature never had legal
existence until the visit of the MacVeagh Commits
sion, he took up bundle of DapeTs-dispatches let
ters and memoranda handed him the day before by
Major Burke-and began to ask questions based
upon them. He thought he had struck
bonanza when he discovered copy OF
the sO-called guarantees given TO the RepuD-
Ecans on the part of the Nichols Gov
eminent in which there were some pencil
interneatiOns. The most important amendments
in-questOn promised the complete acceptance of
the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amend
ments to the Constitution of the United States
His theory was that these words which he con-
sidered very important were omitted from the
paper that was gwen to Mr. Sherman for himself
and associates and he wanted to know the cause of
this omission. Without allowing the witness to
make an explanation. General Butler wasted an
hour only to discover what Major Burke was anx-
ious to tell him in the first place-that the paper
given to Mr.. Sherman did contain these words, and
that the publication of the first draft of the guaran
tees not containing them in the report of the evil
dence taken in New-Oreans, was the result Of
clerical error.
Major Burke's testimony on this branch of the
subject contained very interesting statement OF
the position held by Senator Morton during the time
the negotiations we're going on. He mentioned
BIorton's name with great reluctance, but he de-
clared that the references to the Constitutional
Amendments were inserted in the guarantees
given by the Nichols Government in order to make
them satisfactory to Senator Morton and referred to
a speech which Senator Morton made on the even
ing OF the Sd of March, 1877, setting forth
the terms of the guarantees as the only con-
ditOns on which there could be peace and har-
mOny in the South. 1t is no secret to those who
were intimate with Senator Morton during the last
months of his lifetime that he approved the South
eTn policy OF President HayeSs ADMINISTRATION auu
would if he had hved have defendeditbOldly IN the
Senate. No one can of course, tell what would
have been the effect of his course, but there are
many who believe that he would have been able
to carry a majority of the Republican Senators with
him.
General Butler closed yesterday afternoon by
throwing a few parting bricks at the Administra-
ton for its policy toward South Carolina, and then
sailed away to Boston, leaving the committee to go
on with it's work After tO-day's session the commit
tee will probably take a long recess.