The Leavenworth weekly times., 1879-02-27

l.. S.n4t1 1-E C'EieDE in reiU-Ivc fC re.
~ CT the sGhI o.a4 i--upi on ths I7tb =
Of February, ls7g. BY Tie Committee 80
pointed, nader resolution oi The House OF
Representative, To i;.E5stigste charges ol
bribery ant corruption In the late S.usto
rial election, and bring him bzfcre the b,,
Il the House Of representatives 10 answer
Tor sI b c0nremp.
Lae motion prevailed AM lie rszo'u.i, y
YGs adopted
The Speaker laid hef4r. the House 3 CON,
munic5,irn from the chairman OF The iy,ycs
tigating committee, notifying the HOUSE
that Mr.. +. :. Pre-br.y had rendered hi.
resignation as clerk Il ,h4; committee
which resignation had hean accepted, and
that the committee hsd appointed Mr. E.
L. Mcbride 20 I'll said vacancy.
The House then, upon motion Of Mr. lie.
gate, adjourned until two O'Clock.
AFTERNOON SESSION
The House was called 70 order at .
o'clock by Mr.. Speaker Clarke.
Roll call; quorum present.
BY consent leave Of abs9nce wlz granted
TO Mr. holiock, on account Of sici.ne3s 10
in his family.
Mr. Lsgate moved that the s7ecial order
for to-day a, > o'clock NJ. being a sub
stitute for II. i. 100, by the Committee on
Apportionment: An Act TO Create Six
teenth and Seventeenth Judicial Districts,
to provide for Judges thereof, and for hold
ing terms Of court therein TO define the
boundaries of the Ninth, Thirteenth and
Fifth Judicial Districts, and to fix the
terms the court thereof, and to detach GER
tain counties, herein nsme1 from the Ju-
dicial Districts, in which they are now sit
uate, and attach them 10 others as herein
provided, be made the special order for
next Tuesday at o'clock p II The mo-
ton prevailed.
TOPEKA, Feb. % In the House, at the
amendments to the Leavenworth county
bill to allow the city and county Of Lesv-
enwo-th TO take up and refund its railroad
bonded indebtedness we're concurred in.
\ large number of bills were considered
in committee OF the whole.
Three bills were introduced at The morn
ing session.
The Douglas county bill to provide for
the funding of Its railroad bonded indeb,-
etness, WIS pessed as amended.
The ssrgeant-st-arms announced that he
had executed the order of the House and
arrested E. l.. Smith, and that he WAS now
before the bar of the House, and made the
following return.
HoCsE OF REPRESENTATIVES,, I
TOPEKA, Fec. y, 1879. I
Hon. Vim Higgins, sergsant-at-arms oi
the House of Representatives, sir-on ths
Dist day OF February, 1879, the House OF
Representatives adopted resolution a.
follows:
Resolved, That the sergeant alarms oi
the House is hereby instructed to arrest +
l.. Smith Tor contempt in refusing 10 re.
spect a subpena issued on the 18th
day Of February, 1879, by the
committee appointed under a resolution
OF the House oi Representatives to investi.
gate the charges OF bribery and corruption
in the late Senatorial election, and bring
him before the bar of the House Of Repre-
sentatives 10 answer Tor such contempt
Now, therefore, N compliance with tht
above resolution, you are hereby ordered tC
take into custory the said L. L. Smith, and
have him brought before the bar OF tn,
House OF Representatives., at 10 o'clock a
N. on Saturday, February 22i, 1879. tc
answer for said contempt, and abide tht
further orders of the House.
SIDNEY CLARKE,
Speaker Of the House.
To which Mr.. Higgins replied as fol
lows:
To Sidney Clarke Speaker Of the House:
The within warrant for the arrest of E
L. Smith has been properly served. ard th'
prisoner is before the bar OF the Hous,
awaiting its action.
WM. HIGGNs. Sergeant-atArms.
Mr.. Randolph offered the following Isso
luton, and moved the previous questson
which was su-tained
Resolved. That L l. Smith, Of the city o
Topeka, Kansas, row in the custody Of III,
Sergeant alarms, in an attachment for
contempt, in refusing or reSlecting obsdienc,
TO the summons OF asubpeni duces tecum be
fore the DEMONSTRATING committee Of the Houst
of Representatives OF The Stste al Kansas
ne row srrafgntd before the bar Of II,
House, and thst the Speaker PROFOUND /,
him the following questions:
!. What excuse have YOU for refusing {,
answer before the Committee o.
Investigation Of this House in pursuance o
the summons served On you for that pUr
pose?
= Are you now ready TO appear bsIort
Paid committee and answer such prope
questions a. shall be put to you by said
committee, and u produce tn. te legram
required by the summons served On you.
The resolution was adopted.
The Serge presented Z. l.
Smith before the bar Of the House, aud th'
above questions were p,opourded TO him
The following wss his answer:
TO Hon. Sidney Clarke, Speaker Of th'
SRI most respec' fully submit that th,
action taken BY the House of Representa-
,Ives, requiring your sergeant-at-arms I,
bring me before the bar OF The House TO az
swer ior contempt IN not appearing bsior,
the committee OF which Hon. A. NJ. +
Randolph, is chairman, Is based upon
milappfehensioa OF my communication L
Mr. Randolph, oi the date OF the 10Th ms,
| did not decline or refuse 10 90 before tn
committee. In my communication | uset
the following language: hold mysel
in readiness 10 appear before your commit
tee at any time you my designate" ! hst
been instructed by the manager OF til
Western Union Telegraph company to de
cline to produce any original te!egrsms il
nv hands "a ire custodian OF tn
company, snd so informed the committee
but should have appeared nevertheless q
any time on notice or request, or woul,
have answered any and all questions put 4
me nv the committee not invading
the rights or duties OF the telegraph com
pauy to preserve the confidence exisiin:
between such ccmpspy and lis patrons
The telegraph company has advised m,
that it has forwarded by mail communi
cation enclosing an answer it desires Il
make in its behalf, in support Of lis righ
to withhold from any tribunal an origina
message or part thereof intrustcd TO it FOL
transmission from one person TO another
such communication has not yet been re
ceived and cannot therefore submit th,
answer. The telegraph company has EN-
ployed ". &. Webb as its attorney, and hai
instructed me 10 ssk that he be per
mitted to appear for such company and foI
me before the investigating committee anC
House of Representatives as such attorney
to represent the views and protect the, com
panies against producing such original tele
grams or disclosing their contests.
Most Respectfully, (signed)
E L. SMITH, Manager,
Topeka, Kan.
The following resolution was ther
adopted:
Resolved, That the said f. L. Smith b,
committed to and detained in close custody
by the sergeant-at- arms in the capital dur
ing the remainder of the session or unit
discharged by further order of the House
to be taken when he shall have been purg
ed of the contempt, upon which he was ar
rested, by tes;ifying before the committee
authorized to continue the investigation
and produce the teleprams required by The