The daily gazette., 1882-12-26
A ROW In THE SENATE:
The True Inwardness of the Fight Be
tween Hoar and Butter on Saturday.

tween Hoar and Butler on Saturday.
| WASHINGTON, Dec. 25.-No one would
know, by reading the Congressional Record
to-day that Senators Hoar and Butler glared
at each other with very angry glanees, and
spoke worGs full of passion during the de-
bate last Saturday. 1t occurred shortly be-
| fore midnight, and though 1t lasted but a
| few minutes, was such spectacle as Is very
seldom witnessed on the floor of the Senate.
The Record, however, is dumb about it, in
| dicating that the friends of one or the other,
or both, were so ashamed of It that tney had
| the report of it stricken out. Mr.. Hoar had
been unusually clipper all the evening.
Gen. Hawley, who makes no pretensions
as q lawyer, had been bothered little by
the good-natured but mischievous thrusts of
| West, Jones, Garland and other lawyers on
bent on tangling Hawley up in the subtle
| ties of the law, and its bearing on the Civil
| Service Reform bill, which he was engineer
| ing through the Senate. Hawley had looked
| in despair for Edmunds, who sat in the
cloak room, hugging classic that
he had taken from the library, and
hiding its pages in clouds of cigar
| smoke; but Edmunds would not help him.
| Hoar, as the enly lawyer ON the Republican
side who had not deserted the Senate, was
appealed to by Hawley to help him through.
The precise question that was being dis
cussed at the time of the spasm of anger
was whether the Supreme Court had infer
entially affirmed the eonsttutionality of a
law to prohibit the payment of political con-
tributions to anybody by Government en-
ploye. Vest, Garland and Beck insisted
that by the decision in the Curtis case the
right of Congress to prohibit payments was
affirmed as u necessary consequence of the
right to prohibit the solicitation of contri-
buttons. The point was made because
| Hawley and other Republicans opposed an
amendment to the Civil Service bill pro
hibiting payments. Hawley claimed that
| Congress could not constitutionally pro-
hbit the right of any American citizen to
| do what he wanted TO with his money, but
he was unable to back his assertion with
the argument of lawyer.
Hoar, in clipper manner, undertook it
| for him. Hoar laid down the law that Con-
gress could not prohibit payments except
| for corrupt political purpose, Butler then
asked in tones of utmost courtesy II Hoar
would define what he meant by a corrupt
political purpose The Record reports
Hoar's answer to have been as follows: 81
| think it very easy to defne-to buy votes.
| To hire men to control or intimidate, for
example," Now, Mr.. Hoar said nothing of
the kind. What he did say was: sit is very
easy. To buy shotguns to shoot and intimi-
| date negroes, for instance" Butler started
back as though Hoar had struck him. He
| had, indeed, wounded Butler in very SEN
sitive place. Every one knew that the shot
was personal one, and if there was any
doubt about it, Hoar's angry face and white
| lips would have dispelled it. Senators came
| from the cloak room chatting ceased. But
| ler's hot temper is well known and scene
was certain.
Instantly Butler stepped out into the aisle
and with passionate vehemence shouted
cor to use money to disfranchise 10000
voters in Massachusetts,, as the Senator has
done" When Butler began to speak Hoar
| turned his back on him. When he caught
| these words, however, he turned back. His
face became livid, and, with the passion that
is generally followed by a blow, he rushed
| down the aisle toward Butler, shouting,
| "What does the Senator mean by that"
| Butler did not stir. Other Senators did,
and began to gather near the two angry
| Senators, evidently to prevent further i'm
proprieties. Both Senators, however, speak
| ing at the same moment, were SO passionate
| that their words could not be heard iii the
| galleries. David Davis, however, who was
in the chair, secured order for moment.
Then Butler said, and in voice that might
| have been heard at the other end OF the
corridor, that Hoar had insinuated per-
sonal reflection which he would not dare
make openly. Hoar replied that he meant
no personal reflection; shat ne never limited
nor insinuated, but that if necessary, he
should characterize the Senator In words
which could not be mistaken. Here Don
Cameron, who is Buffers next friend, with
keen sense of the propreties, touched
Buffers elbow, and little Rollins performed
| the SO me office for Hoar, and there was no
| further public exhibition of anger. OF all
| this the record makes no mention, though
Mr.. Vest, in his speech that followed char
aeterized the scene as the first sensation the
Senate had had during the prolonged
| debate.