Daily globe., 1879-06-03

AeS0tUe0, mat lnaSmuCu "a tQe t0lrQ, sixth
and eighth congressional districts of Georgia,
the sixth and eighth districts of North Carolina,
the third, fourth, and sixth districts of Miss
issippi, cast at the last election an aggregate
vote Of only 1851, almost entirely for candi-
dates of the Democratic party, and inasmuch
as at the proceeding election, in 1876 candi-
dates Of the Republican party il these tn. districts
committee is instructed to inquire whether
within these districts, Or any one of them,
there was fraud or undue influence practiced
against citizens at the last election, or whether
there was a denial Of the.right to vote to any
citizens of the United States who are also citi-
zens of the States respectively named herein,
and that in making these inquiries the COM
mittee shall have the right to send for persons
and papers.
Senator Edmunds, rising to debate the mo-
tion to postpone the resolution called the at
tention Of the chairmansof the committee on
Wallace, to the publication by the committee
of a small pamphlet called number three, part
of which related to transactions alleged to have
taken place at the election in Bennington, VT, !
in 1878. Senator Edmunds urgently requested
the committee to investigate the matter alleged
body ought to be punished for misconduct.
He also wished to call tho attention of the
Senate to the odd way adopted by the commit
tee in putting before the public in printed
form, 80 as to be readily mistaken for estab-
tablished facts, what were really only ex carte
charges. He thought this an unfair way to en-
tighten the public judgment or to seek after
truth.
Senator Wallace said when the committee on
alleged frauds changed front at the beginning
of tho present session, there were found certain
documents and papers which had been called
= leading Democratic Senator. They had not
been printed and no notice had been taken of
them, while afidavits, ETC.. taken in the South
ern States had been printed. Leave was
obtained to print the papers thus
found in the record of the committee.
tain charges in reference to Vermont and
Massachusetts. He did not pretend to say
whether they were true or not The committee
had not investigated them, Only 100 copies
had been printed for the use of senator's and
in advance of the committee report.
Senator Ednunds said his point was that]the
documents were in fact printed for public in
formation. It would have been proper and
customary to print them for use of the COM
mittee.
Senator Wallace said the same practice ha.
always obtained. Senators could always get
copies of testimony for distribution from the
document room.
Senator Dawes asked if Senator Wallace
spoke of the papers in reference to Massachu-
setts as testimony.
Senator Wallace said he intended to speak of
them as papers laid before the committee. He
would be glad to remove any erroneous i'm.
preston shown in the newspapers in regard to
| the documents
| Senator Thurman, Senator Harris having
heen called to the chair, said he knew some
thing about the paper referred to. When the
kuklux committee went south and made up
from one kind of material and another, what
was called testimony, not week passed during
which the press did not TEEN with what
purported to be testimony. He (Thurman)
| had tried before the committee went south to
prevent that being done. To provide an elec-
pioneering document during political cam
paign flaming articles appt a:sd to prove that no
man if he was Republican in the south had
! his life safe for moment. The committed g
report was not made until long afterwards,
| some time after Congress met but tidbits of
| the testimony were selected and thus pub
! lished in advance. He did not defend this
system but had denounced it as an attempt to
make political capitals Senator Blaine interup-
ted Thurman to ask if the latter gentleman
| did not lend all his influence toward having
the committee hold its sessions with open doors
and against any privacy in its proceedings. Oh
course when open sessions were held reports o1
| proceedings We're telegraphed to the newspa
| pers.
for publicity it he had not made the motor
for it, for he never had favored any star cham
Der investigations, and he would no more try
! whole people, or a whole party in the darl
than he would single man. But if any sucl
proposition was made it was voted down il
the Senate, and similar motion by Democratic
members in Congress was also voted down.
Senator Blaine said if any flaming proclama
tions had been published in the interest of tht
Republican party, they were at least on wha
occurred before the committee, but the dis
patches from Charleston when the committe
was there were notorious perversions of fac
not sustained by the testimony at all.
Senator Thurman replied that if there ha.
: been such misrepresentation it was an addi
tional argument for open investigation w:e1
such things could not happen. What he com
planned of in the action of the Kuklux' com
. mittee was that portions of the testimony beal
ing against the Democrats found their way int
! print and not the rest. He favored making a
: the te,timony public and letting the peopl
, Judge for themselves.
Senator Dawes said that as Thurman was +.
sponsible for the production before the con
mittee of the Massachusetts document whic
> was forgery, he wonld like to have that ger
tleman explain the source from which obtained
9 Senator Thurman replied he did not kno
0 that He had neverlseen the document. Whe
asked to produce evidence bearing on h
b amendment to the Originul resolution appoin
$ ing the Teller committee, ne had responded
;. sending quantity of information which ha
y come to him from various sources this amor
= the rest.
Senator Cameron remarked that the doc,
! ment offered by Thurman must have also BET
8 furnished to the PRESS for the committee sa
: them in the newspapers of New Orleans befo
g the original paper got there.
3 Senator Thurman-The letter from the Sc
= ator from Maine appeared in the papers.
II course my letters got in the papers in the sar
10 way.
Senator Edmunds said it would not do
3 hold committee responsible for the publ,
: ton of what purported to be transaction
I Similar reports appear in newspapers Of WI
8 goes on in executive session, the secrecy
r which no Senator can be supposed to viola
leo But in the present instance this committee
officially published a certain document, all
sided statement and one forgery, az he
lieved was now admitted, though the commit