New-York tribune., 1879-01-31

/ spoke on the Edmunds resolutions yester-
day. In the other branch of Congress
the day was wasted in roll.calls, in order TO
/ defeat any agitation of the war claims qae5-
/ ton. General Newton has sent in a report on
! the Harlem River. Reports from the yellow
! fever experts and from part of the Joint
Committee ON Indian transfer have also been
| sent in. The French Ambassador has begun
| to give a series Of social entertainments.
NEWYOEK CUSTOM HOUSE.
MR.. sHrRMAN TO SEND IN HIS LETTER TO-DAY
MR. CoNKIING PROBABLY 10 FORCE a VOTE Al
ONCE.
tBY TELEGRAPH TO TIIt TRIBCNEl
WAsHINGToN. Jan. 30.--Secretary Sherman, as
sisted by several of his subordnates, has been
gagged to-day in the preparation of his reioinder TO
the lct crs of General Arthur and Mr.. Cor
NELL and this paper, accompanied by doc
umcnts and tabular statements prepared to
sustain the assertions made i'll IT.. VIII
he sent to the Senate tomorrow morning. Mr..
COnklng, it is understood. will move for an eNecu-
five session early in the afternoon, with the purpose
of holding the Senate in continuous session until
vote on the nominations OF Generals Merritt and
Graham is reached. Whether he Will he able to
do this or not seems doubtful tonight The letter
| received from Mr.. Sherman will undoubtedly he
read at length and that will occupy anhOur or two.
| Then some Democrat is sure to suggest that Cen
eral Arthur ouC; to have anOthe, chance TO defend
| himself; and By the time that question Is decided
! the Senate will probably be fatigued and hungry,
and Will adjourn.
Mr. Conkling's friends very hopeful tonight,
in spite Of the vote in the Senate Yesterday. The
counting Of noses has nearly all been on their side,
and they probably have. therefore, more substan-
al reasons for their belief that the nominations
will he defeated than the friends of the
Administration have that they will be con-
frrncd. Some of the most experienced OBJ
servers IN WashnCtOn-mcn who aro taking
very little personal interest in the contest, and who
! have not participated in it-arc wholly unable 10
give vcr< positive opinion about the result of tie
vote when il is reached, although the general be-
lief seems 10 he that Mr.. ConkhnC viii win. lie
generally knows where his votes are to come from
when he enters such contest as this and rarely
forces the fighting until be is sure Of winning. be
cagcrucss with which he now proposes to push
The Senate 10 a vote inspires his friends with the
greatest confidence
On the other hand Administration men say that
Mr. Conklng IS sure of only four Democratic votes
those ot the two Senators from Connecticut. Son
atur NaHcy and one other and that unless ne Gc;-
more than that uuHhor he will ccria MY be de-
feitcd. One or two Scna t0rs who voted with him
a wear AGO are absent ana # they are not paired on
til, subject ha may also lose l!ttle in that way
On the whole. thrre c.n be sail to Dee very litlc
excitement in WASHINGTON over the coutr0vcrSv
except among those Immediately Interested Sen
ator Conhnr- friends say Tonight that he has re-
Ccvcd several letters to-day, from members OF the
NcV-loiA Ir9I> azure say ing thai thcF SIEH'" lh'
petItIon asking for the confirmation of Gcncral
Merritt under a - Hs1prrenenSion. Iley und'r-
stood that MT. CoHkIng desired some such oNIe5-
sion ma order that lc might have an excuse for al
loving the confirmation to take place
4 Conoro1 prouc ,ji.uatrh ea,.s that q caucrc e
Democratic Senators held at the Cap-
tol tonight. There were very few present
and the entire tine devoted 10 an
interchange Of views concerning the NeW-York
Custom House nominations. 1t was not the pm
pose to take any action ;hat would he bind 2
the final vote for confirmation should be .ea....
but merely to discuss the general situation III
that the views of each Senator might be "nd''
stood fully by the others. The fIhj'ct
was discussed very gcIerally by the few
Senators present. but no Tesolr or
suggestion was offered that would tend 10 bind
the vote of any one. On the contrary it was under
stood th8t each member should vote according to
his own convictions. The smal!ncss of tn" number
present and the contrarety OF 0p mon expressed,
dyc,ed the proceedings of any special slgnliicdncc
~ am index to the cOuTse which Will he pursued by
Democratic ScnatOis.
4 ROW JUST BARELY PREVENTED.
SIR. ArRAN = HEWITT SAVES HIS PARTY FROM :
WRANGLT OVER SnUTHrEN CLAN>-TIIT coz
FLICT IRR PRES-IBLE, HOW WEIR, AND SURE 10
CONE.
lBY TrLEGHArH III TRIBUNK.l
WAsHfNGIoN. Jan. 3O.--TLele was great interest
IN the proceedings of the House tbs morning, al
though they seemed 10 cons 1t merely of a succcs-
sion of roll cali. The southern Representatives.
VINO wished torcpy to General Bragg's speech on
Southern claims were determined that they would
have % morning hour Most of the Republicans
wer .,.ally determined that the SOutherBers
si. y have their WAY. The managing Democrats
parr ularlv the Northern leaders who did not wish
t, ace their party divided. and who are sraining
every nerve to keep united until 1880, obstructed
the >outhcrncrs at every point Whatever was
done had to be done within two hours, as at
o'clock the day, ny decision which could not be
revoked, had been set apart to business from the
District OF Columbia.
The majority under the lead Of Mr.. Ahram y
Hewitt. exhausted every cXpedicnt 10 consume the
time until 2 o'clock to prevent the ordering OF the
rorpiup hour and the debate which was certain TO
follow. Ten or twelve SOuthernerS combining
with the Replblican- Succceded finally in having
morning houI fixed but pending a motion 10 re-
consider that vote, the hour Of o'clock arrived.
Tnlc>s Speaker Randall is more ingenious and
fertile IN partisan parliamentary decisions than he
bashithcrio been, it will be impossible for hi~ party
TO escape the dilemma which threatens 1t. The Is
sue l. a significant one and the attitude OF South
cln Democratic Congress Is such as to cause Sc
r;ous apprchcns ions among their Northern aSs"ci-
ate, OF impending permanent dissenSlons IN the
party II Is reported That General Bragg welcomes
thr attack and that n viii DE supported III the p"-
sltlon he has taken bl great IDanv Northern lein-
orr9t. who disrcgardug party aii AT ons. Will re-
g. ~ uD,u the south in "A manner not calculated 70
restore harmony III Democratic ranks.
TIE FRrNCn AMBASSADOR GIVES tn FIRST or