Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1881-04-08
THE SENATE.
Report Of Proceedings Of the Sen
ate in Extraordinary Session.

| w NASH1NGTON, ApTll i'-Aho 'ioo
President laid before the Senate
message from the President trans
nitting, in response to resolution
of the Senate of the 18th ult., the
report of the Secretary of State,
with accompanying papers, In rela-
ton to the capitulations OF the
Ottoman Empire. Ordered printed.
The pending business being the
resolution for the election of the
Senate officers, was then taken up,
and motion to go into executive
session, made by Mr.. Pendleton, was
as usual voted down-yeas 29,
nays 80.
Mr.. Vance addressed the Senate
on the subject of the State debt of
North Carolina, denying that the
debt had ever been repudiated, and
asserting that one of the first acts
passed by the Legislature of that
State after the war had been one
providing for the payment of its in
debtedness. Under the force of the
reconstruction acts for the first time
in the history of North Carolina she
had found herself compelled to re-
pudiate any of her obligations. That
she had to do at the dictation of the
non-repudiating, honest and virtu-
GUS Republican party of the North.
It was not the voluntary action of
the people of North Carolina. He
proceeded to. criticize and ridicule
the acts of the Republican legisla-
ture during the years 1868 and 1869,
instancing the fact, among others,
that that Legislature had purchased
eight thousand acres of land for the
site of a penitentiary. It had au-
thorized the issue of $22,000,OO0 of
bonds for the purpose of construct
ing railroads, not one of which had
been built, and had then passed an
act repudiating every dollar of the
debts which it had contracted. From
the day that the citizens of North
Carolina had received control of the
State, instead of trying to pay the
debt created by the carpet-bag
government placed up them in a
fraudulent manner, they never would
try to pay it. It was fraudulent and
vicious. It was not debt in any
sense of the word.
The Republican side, he said,
coming down to the question of the
election of officers, had inquired
why the Democrats would not vote
for Mr.. Riddleberger. That was
shifting the issue. The question
was how could the gentlemen on the
other side support him. He was a
rebel, an unrepentant rebel; a Demo
crat, an unrepentant Democrat; a
Readjuster, an unrepentant Read
juster. How could they forgive him?
What was the object for their sup
porting him? He (Vance) objected
to voting for any man who called
himself a Democrat who had q sur
name before the word Democrat. He
objected to the manner in which the
Republican party had undertaken to
a candidate upon the Senate, be-
cause it was in defiance of the whole
plan of political salvation. Riddle-
berger had been taken up in his sins,
unrepentent and unshayen, and had
been translated into the heaven of
Republicanism without having tasted
of death. Laughter. The Sen
ator from Connecticut (Mr.
Hawley) had stated that
) this movement was going to break
up the solid South. It reminded
him of the story of the boy whose
, dog, Toy, had died, and who ''bet that
the angels would be scared wher
they saw Toy trotting through the
front gate" The solid South was tc
be broken when Toy came trotting
through the fro 1T gate. Laughter.
Had SO great an undertaking ever
been inaugurated by such small
means Did anybody ever before
hear a party announce the ex'
tremeties to which it was reduced
: when it announced that it relied fol-
g success on an alliance with the Sena
. tor from Virginia and tue cleo
ton of Riddleberger to the
Office of sergeant at arms? In
!. stead of the movement being
as was stated, an alliance to promote
the purity of the ballot-box, it was
, he said, Ian attempt once more to sub
ject the people of the solid South
, who had been free long enough tt
f gather little money, to the dominion
| of carpet-bag rule, in order tina
their little savings might be swept
away. .-..
Mr.. Kellogg followed on the sub
: ject of the North Carolina debt, as
p serting that since the State had beer
= under the control of the Democrats
Q the debt had been scaled down from
, S26,OOO,0O0 to 100000, repudia.
. tion of $22,OOO,OOO.
= A long discussion ensued, tht
9 North Carolina Senators answering
J. Mr.. Kellogg's charges, and DENYING
). that that State had repudiated any
, of its honest obligations. MIR. Ran,
som called attention to the fact tha
North Carolina 4 per cent. bond.
were quoted at IS cents, and ap-
pealing to Mr.. Sherman obtained
from him the admission that tina
| was fair price for 4 per cent. State
: bonds Mr.. Ransom then arpneC