The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1884-01-31


Keifer, (Jan. 26,) letter in which referring
to the report that Mr.. Keifer had charged
General Boynton with misrepresenting him
before the public because he had defeated
claim which General Boynton had attempted
to lobby through Congress he epclosed this
card, and said further:
Il cannot conceive 1t possible for an honorable
man 70 make such charges You have thus circulst
90 and maintain silence when asked for the proofs
on which they were based. Unless you
withdraw these charges or take action before the
close of Mondays session looking to submitting to
an investigation ahall consider myself at liberty
to make this letter public as an evidence that yOu
confess your inability to sustain your charges"
To this on the 2Sth Mr.. Keifer replied by
the letter which he had read in the House
Tuesday, calling General Boynton liar,
and rehearsing alleged incidents of person
al interview when General Boynton made
corrupt propositions to him; but refusing to
ask for an investigation. On the same day
General Boynton replied to the letter, ar
follows:
II have received your Communication Of this date
in reply to mine Of the 26th instant, in which you
decline to submit to the test of committee of in
vestigation charges which You have made against
me. In the face of your rspetitions of them and
your additions of pretended details still declare
your whole charge, far as it reflects upon me- to
be snqnaliAsdly false; and assert further that
never held any conversation whatever with ysu
concerning the provisions Of the McGarrahan bill,
which, by the way. was reported favorably by q
committee Of your own appointment. Ineyer saw
n fhA oho
ed and never read 1t till after tho reception Of your
letter Of this date AS cannot induce yeu to take
any steps toward subztaptiating your charges, it
will be necessary for me to try other means of Sc
curing hearing. In concluding, allow
me to observe that the language of the fish market
is not the vernacular of the long line OF distin-
guished men who have filed the place which you
occupied; and that when the public become aware
OF the pitable spectacle You have made before the
committee charged with the Investigation of your
shameful abuse Of the power intrusted to you as
Speaker of the last House. no one will be surprised
at the manner in which yeu seek to avoid the re-
spensibility of your false accusation"
The next morning he addressed a respect
full letter to the Speaker of the House recap
itulating the facts and asking an investiga-
ton, and resolutions authorizing an invest-
CATION were passed, the speaker ruling
against an objection made by Mr.. Calkins,
after consultation with Mr.. Keifer, that the
question was one OF privilege, Mr.. Keller
making long speech virulently attacking
General Boynton and reasserting the charg-
es
JIG will assist to clearer understanding of
the conditions of the case to state the rela-
lions of the body of correspondents to the
House. A portion of the gallery behind the
Speakers chair is allotted to correspondents
and known az the Reporters Gallery. Ad-
mission to this gallery is by the rales of the
House under the immediate control Of the
Speaker. Every correspondent admitted to
it has to obtain from the Speaker at the be-
ginning OF each session card of admission,
and on making his application which is in
writing he N ust sign statement that he
will not be interested in any claim coming
before Congress. Several years ago, the gal
lery being crowded by throng of people who
had some connection with newspapers but
did not send daily dispatches, whose re-
quests fer admission, aided by personal in
nusnce, the Speaker found it iHconvenient
to refuse, some general rules were devised
by the representatives of leading papers dis
eliminating in favor of correspondents who
sent daily dispatches and therefore needed
to take notes. These were sanctioned by
Speaker Randall and later by Speaker Keifer
A committee of correspondents was appoint
ed to advise the Speaker who were entitled
to tickets. This committee had no an
thority TO exclude any one, but only to adj
wise the Speaker whether an applicant was
the duly accredited representative ofa paper
receiving special dispatches.
These points are pertinent to the charge
of the ex-Speaker that w. B. Shaw
had been admitted to the gallery in spite of
1t was in evidence taken by
Congrsssio ! committee many years ago
that he had been paid large sum of money
by corporation asking legislation. Mr..
Shaw has heAn for many years the
accredited correspondent of the Boston
Transcript. he has signed the usual prom
Use, and under these circumstances he is not
likely to be shut off from the privileges of
the gallery until Speaker has been elected
who has the courage also to discriminate
against ex-members of Congress of unsavory
reputation with regard to the privilege of
admission to the floor of the House.
1t is this status of the cor respondents as
persons admitted to special privileges under
the rules of the Heuse, which makes an in
vestigatien BY the House of charge of vie
lating the rules proper, and right
which may be claimed, as General Boynton
has claimed it. We do not know that the
peiRt has bsen raised before. 1t is an i'm
portant one, both for the House and the
correspondents. 1t il, perhaps, s.
Important that they should not be wantonly
discredited as that congressman should not
be.
So far, in this business, General Boynton
has conducted himself with entire propriety
and gentlemanliness. From the first breath
of scandal he has asked nothing but that the
matter should be thoroughly investigated by
testimony given under oath. Mr.. Keifer
has thought it becoming for him to keep
this matter secret for nearly year, then to
make these charges whom himself under In
vestigation, and to do what he could to pre-
vent an investigation of them. No cores
pondent ia Washington has more or staunch-
er friends among unsupported public men.
No one has more foes among men of diff
ferent character. While it is inconceivable
that an honest man would coin the story
that Mr.. Keller tells, it is not bit more
probable that General Boynton did what the