Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-12-29
SENSATION IN THE SENATE.
Hot Words Heard in the Debate on the
Civil Service Bill.

n. I. Sun, 10Th.
No one would know, by reading the
| Congressional Record to-day, that Senators
/ Hoar and Butler glared at each other with
very angry chances, and spoke words full
of passion during the debate last Satur-
/ day. 1t occurred shortly before midnight,
and though it lasted but few minutes,
was such spectacle as is very seldom
witnessed on the floor of the Senate. The
1 Record, however, is dumb about ii, indi-
eating that the friends of one or the other,
or both, were so ashamed Of it that they
had the report of it stricken out. Mr.. HOar
/ had been unusually clipper all the
evening. General Hawley, who makes
no pretensiOns as a lawyer, had been
bothered a little by the goOd-natured but
mischievOus thrusts of Vest, Jones, Gar
land and other lawyers on the Democratic
side. They were plainly bent on tangling
Hawley up in the subtleties Of the law,
and its bearing on the civil service reform
bill which he was engineering through
the Senate. Hawley had looked in despair
for Edmunds, who sat in the cloak room,
hugging a classic that he had taken from
the library, and hiding its pages in clouds
of cigar smoke: but Edmunds would nOt
on the Republican side who had
not deserted the Senate, was APP.
pealed to by Hawley to help him
through. The precise question that
was being discussed at the time of the
spasm of anger was whether the Supreme
Court had inferentially affirmed the con-
stitutionalIty of a law to prohibit the pay
ment ofpolitical contributions to anybody
by a government emplOye. Vest, Garland
and Beck insisted that by the decision in
the Curtis case the right of Congress to
prohibit payments was affirmed as a nee
essary consequence of the right to prohibit
the solicitation of contributions. The
point was made because Hawley and other
Republicans opposed an amendment to
the civil service bill prohibiting payments.
HaWley claimed that Congress could not
constitutionally prohibit the right of any
American citizen to do what he wanted
to do with his p,Oney, but he was unable
to back his assertion with the argument
of a lawyer.
HOar, in a clipper manner, undertook it
for him. HOar laid down the law that
! Congress could not prohibit payments ex-
cept for corrupt political purpose. But
Ter then asked in tones of utmost courtesy
if Hoar would define what he meant by a
corrupt political purpose. The Record re-
ports HOar's answer to have been as fol-
lows: II think it very easy to detine-to
buy votes. To hire men to control or init
midate, for example," Now, Mr.. HOar
said nothing of the kind. What he did
say was: at is very easy. To buy shot
| guns to shoot and intimidate negroes, for
instance" Butler started back as though
Hoar had struck him. He had, indeed,
wounded Butler in It very sensitive place.
Every one knew that the shot was q per-
sOnal 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.
Buffers hot temper is we'll known, and a
| scene was certain.
Instantly Butler stepped out INTO the
aisle, and with passionate vehemence
shouted, COR to use money to disfranchise
1860 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's generally followed
by a blow, he rushed down the aisle tow
ard Butler, shouting, 'What does the Sem
ator mean by that?' Butler did not stir.
Other Senators did, and began to gather
near the two angry Senators, evidently to
prevent further improprieties. Both Sen
ators, however, speaking at the same mo-
ment, were so passionate that their words
could not be heard in the galleries, David
Davis, however, who was in the chair,
! secured order for moment, Then Butler
said, and in a voice that might have
been heard at the other end of the cOrri-
dor, that Hoar had insinuated a personal
| reflection which he would not dare make
openly. Hoar replied that he meant no
personal reflection; that he 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 prOprieties,
touched Buffers elbow, and little Rollins
performed the same 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, characterized the scene as
the first sensation the Senate had had