Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1882-03-12
WASHINGTON.
The Senate Passes a Bill Provid-
ing for Commission
To Investigate and Report on the
Alcoholic Question.
Brady and Dorsey Required to
Give Bond.
Unfounded Rumor Of Senator
Hills Death.

WASHINGTON, March lU.-lt Is un-
derstood that the subcommitte of
the House committee on ways and
means have virtually agreed upon
the bill reducing the internal reve>
nue. tax on whisky and tobacco, and
removing the tax entirely from
number of articles embraced in
schedule A" The total amount of
reduction to be effected by the bill is
estimated at about S7O,0O0,O00. The
bill will probably be reported to the
full committe next Tuesday.
Secretary Folger contemplates
issuing on Friday next a call for
bonds-continued sixes--to the
amount of $15,000,000, payable in
three parcels of the above, $5,000,-
900 each on the 3rd, 10th and 17th
of May next.
The Senate confred the following
nominations: Rufus Ingalls,, to be
Quartermaster-General; Walter II.
Johnson, collector of internal reve-
nue. for the second district of Geor>
gia.
To-day ex-Assistant Postmaster
General Brady was required to give
bonds in $4,000 on the Star Route
indictments. Elk Senator Dorsey
gave bonds in $4,000 in the same
cases. His brother, John w. Dor
sey, was not present, but his counsel
state that he is on his way here from
New Mexico, to answer, when bail in
similar amount will be required.
Mr. Dorseys clerk, Rendell, did not
appear. He will be called upon to
give $1,000 bail when produced in
court. John r. Miner was unable
to furnish security in $4,000 at pres
ent, but certified checks for that
amount were accepted until the real
estate security can be furnished.
Samuel G. Cabell gave security in
$4,000.
Senator Hill, of Georgia, is quite
comfortable to-day and is doing well,
notwithstanding rumor that he was
dead, which got afoat early in the
day.
The House committee on foreign
affairs, day, resolved to conduct,
with open doors, the Investigation
into the supposed abstraction of
important correspondence from the
files of the State Department, which
correspondence has reference to the
so-called Peruvian Company, and
which it is supposed will determine
whether any diplomatic representa-
tives of this government have in
volved themselves in schemes, the
success of which depended upon the
Intervention of the United States.
The examination of witnesses was
begun this afternoon.
The first witness examined was
0. st. Clair, chief of the consular
bureau of the State Department, and
until recently index clerk in the
same department. He remembered
indexing portion of the correspon-
dence on this subject, and that when
the letters were subquently asked
for by Walker Blaine they were not
to be found St. Clair then sug-
gested they were in possession of
Trescott, who was attached to the
Department, and nothing more
was heard of the mat
ter until the Congressional
investigation began. st. Clair ex>
planned that Trescott was frequently
called upon to make briefs OF the
State Departments, and being re-
garded as counsel for. the depart
ment, was permitted to have what
ever documents he called for,
and in this manner had, at times,
retained possession for months OF
papers from the State Department
flies, without the circumstances being
regarded as singular. For ex-
ample, he had thus retained,
for q long period, some Of
the correspondence in the fish,
cry question with Great Britain.
From these circumstances st. Clail
advanced the opinion that the corr
respondence which forms the ground
of this investigation is probably now
among Trescott's papers in his home
in Washington.
t. John Newton, who succeeded
the previous witness as index clerk
testified to having indexed numbe,
of letters which were specified, which
he said were marked Private" Re-
turn to Shipherd." Prescott had
never called ON the witness for the
documents, and the last knowledge
the witness had of the letters il
question was of their being in the
possession of the check clerk. The
witness had never seen Shipherd al
the State Department and never heard
of his being there. 1t is expected
that Shipherd himself will appea,
before the committee tomorrow.
WASHINGTON, d. c., March H.
Jacob Il. Sheppard failed to appear
toeday before the House foreign re-
lations committe, to testify III the
Chiii-Peruvian matter, but asked tc
be excused until Wednesday, next
which time was granted him. In
the meontime, the committee will
} hear no other witnesses.
Representative Black, of Georgia
is reported to be seriously i'll.