Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1879-04-17
Congressional.

WASHINGTON, April 6, 1879.
The nine days debate in the House on the
Army bill did great deal of good. 1t
cleared away come of the fog which bcsct
the subject in tho beginning and it left the
House ln better humor than at the open-
ing of the session. 1t gave men on both
sides time and occasion to think, and thus
answered ono Of the mGst Important pur-
poses of discussion. 1t eliminated from
the controversy the foolish assumption of
the Republicans that putting rider on an
appropriation bill was revolutionary act
aud measure in itself SO offensive to tho
President that he would be justified in
vetoing the bill on that account alone
There is some reason to believe that the
President had been persuaded that he could
justify veto on the simple ground that
there was rider on the appropriation bill;
but General Garfeld's frank admissions on
this point last Friday show that this opinion
is 40 longer entertained
Sccond-The Republicans have reccded
from the untcnable position assumed by
them early in the scssion-that they would
use the rules of the House to keep out. to
use MIR. Conger's words, "any bills except
those which relate to appropriations. AS
tho debate began to cool their heads little
they saw that to-forbid the introduction of
measures as separate bills aud thea to
dcnouuce tho act of putting those measures
on the privileged appropriations bills was
absurd.
Third Further, the progress Of the
debate showed their abicst men that they
could not afford to put themselves before
the country as asserting that it was abso-
lutely right and proper to keep troops at
the polls. Hcnco they had to cast about
for safer ground, and this General Garfield
took last Friday when he saia
Your proposed modification of the law
affects not the army alone, but the whole
civil power Of tho United States Civil off
GERS are included in these sections, and if tho
proposed amendment DO adopted you deny
to sny civil officer Of tho United States my
power whatever TO summon the armed posse
to help him enforce the processes of tho
law. If you pass the section in that form
you impose restrictions upon tho civil au--
thoritiea Of tho United States never before
proposed III any Congress by any legislator
since this government began. say, there.
fore, in the shape you propose this it is
much the woret Of all your "ridcrs." In
the beginning of this contest VIC understood
that you desired only to get the army away
from the polls. thought it was the least
important and tho least dangerous Of your
demands, but as you have put it here it is
the most dangerous. If you ro-enact it in
tho shape presented it becomes later law
than tl.o Supervisors and Marshals' law,
and pro tanto ropeals the lattor. AS it
stands now on tho statute book it is tho
earlier statute, and is pro tonto itself re-
pealed by the Marshals' law of 1871, and
is therefore harmless, so far as it relates to
civil officers. But if you put it in here
you deny tho power of the marshals of tho
United States to perform their duties when.
ever riot may require tho use Of an armed
posse.
1t was 10 pursuance of this change that
Mr.. Conger, who had originally declared
his party's determination to prevent the
introduction Of separate repeating bills,
yesterday guaranteed that if the Democrats
would bring in bills repoaling tho statutes
cntro tho Republicans would support thom.
ON THE DEMOCRATIC SIDE.
On the Democratic side tho debate de-
vcloped the fact that thcro arc two opin..