Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1882-08-22


see reproaeh at the capital of the
nation. During the extra session of
the Forty-sixth Congress, just
after you had generously re-
elected him for second term
as your Representative, he exhibits
ed himself at the Capital of your
State, in the presence of people from
all parts of Tennessee, in a prolong-
ed and besstly l oauch. He went
to Nashville for the purpose of aid
ing in the defeat of the late Hon.
Horace Maynard for United States
Senator, position which he would
have honored, and in which he
would have reflected credit upon
you. And while his conduct at
Nashville was a modification to you,
l will say that this is the one big
spree of Houk's life for which he
might have asked pardon, had he be-
haved himself since then, with even
a small degree of decency say
this because the six
weeks be was at Nashville,
with the exception of a few days, he
was too drunk to do any harm to
Mr.. Maynard as candidate for Sem
ator. From Nashville he proceeded
to Washington, where it was hoped
by his constituents he would render
some service for the big salary which
he is paid for looking after your
interests. But the official record
shows that during the last session of
the 10th Congress, in one hundred
and tcceaty-seven calls of the roll
OF members, your so called
representative answered to his name
just fifteen times . This debauch
continued until the expiration of the
10th Congress, by the Inauguration of
Garfield He was the only Con
gresham who was In bed drunk
when the President was inaugurated.
He says he was paired . with a
Democrat during the greater part of
this absence, and thus his party did
not lose his vote or lost nothing by
his not voting Now, this statement
is intended by Houk to deceive you.
1t is the custom here for a Congress
man who Is drunk, as Houk was dur
ing nearly all this period, to find out
what Congressman of the other
party is sick or necessarily absent
because of sickness in his family,
or Tor the purpose of attending
to some business at home, and
he requests the sick member or
the one who is going home
anyhow to pair with him so
that he viii have some excuse
to offer mis- constituents for has neg
lect of duty while drunk But dur
ing this prolonged wholesale drunk
enuess of Houk, he could not "pair "
with anybody in the matter of look
ing after your interests and urging
the payment Of your claims before
the committees of Congress and IN
the departments. The same remarks
are applicable to any "pairs " which
the professional pairer may have
made during his prolonged absences
from the long session of Con
gress just closed. The Con-
gressional Record for this session
has not yet been indexed and it
would require that each page of the
House proceedings, in FIVE or six
large volumes, be examined to give
the exact number of days he has
been absent, but | am sure the Rec
ord viii bear me out In saying that ne
has been almost as frequently absent
during the session just closed as
he WAS during the last session of the
46th Congress. And it would be
better for the good name of East
Tennessee, and particularly the honor
and good name of the people of the
Second District, bad your so~called
Representative absented himself
from the Capitol much of the time
when ne was present. I say TINS
because [ have the authority of sew
eral Congressman and of a number
of journalists of the highest charac-
tried to speak in Congress when he
was too full (of liquor for utter
ance. And it would have been
better had he absented himself when
he often reeled over the floor of the
House lin the presence of the Reps
resentatives of fifty millions of p, o.
ple) so drunk that his friends on the
floor helped him to a seat or led him
OF the floor and put him in closed
carriage to be sent to his hotel.
And II would have been far better
had he absented himself from our
magnificent capitol on which stands
the Goddess of Liberty, when he
emptied the contents of his stomach
and bowels on the fine government
carpets Of his committee room, right
under Miss Columbias feet and
nose. Besides all this, fellow >citi-
zens, your so-called Representative
has exhibited himself in the
different departments of the
government before Cabinet
officers and chiefs of Bureaus In state
of beastly intoxication, to your dis
credit and to his own everlasting dis
grace He was arrested at 5 o'clock
on the morning of the 18th of June,
III state of beastly intoxication,
and locked up il stone cell, No. 5,
in the station house, for disturbing
the public peace by loud profanity
This cell is a more filthy and disi ep-
utable place than the prison cell
where Guiteau was confined for as.
sassinatlng President Garfield Wher
taken to the station house he said
''he Was Congressman Houk, of Ten
nessee, and swore "he would be-
id if he didn't have the
policeman discharged or turned
out of Office for arresting him.
That is to say, s.he would bring
official pressure to bear to have
| that policeman sent home to worl
/ for a living" When discharged