Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-03-22
SENATORIAL SECRECY.
NEWSPAPERS CONSIDERED TOO
ENTERPRISING.


Senator Sherman Rather Anxious to
Apply a Little Gag Law-Fears that
the Lower House Would Nip the Plan
10 the Bud Prove a ScarecrOw.
WASHINGTON, March 21.-The Senate,
through its Committee on Privileges and
Elections, has undertaken to provide
more stringent methods for guarding
against the publication of its secret pro-
ceedings. The committee recently held
long meeting about which not the slight
est information has been allowed to leak
out. What course was decided upon none
may know, but the Senators do not hesi-
tate to say that hereafter nothing which
may occur in the secret meetings of the
body will reach the eye of the public, ex-
cept that which may from time to time
be given out through official
channels. That which is ordinarily
given out in this way comes
through the executive officers of the body
and consists of the names of nominees to
Presidential offices ard combinations or
reiecFOps of nominations. From time to
tin e the Senate formally removes the in
junction of secrecy from particular pOr-
tons of its proceedings. Thus last ses-
sion the injunction was removed from the
vote and portion OF the proc eedings upon
Il e treaty, which was ratified thirty
years before. In this case the Senatorial
idea of news did not seem TO be in accord
with that which prevails in newspaper
offices, and the press did not avail itself
OF its privileges. Still more recently the
inju lctiOn was removed from Mr.. Ed
mundE' resolution respecting the BarriOs
n after, and the text of the document was
gwen to the public before the subject had
lost its interest.
CONSIDERED INTOLERABLE.
The publication of the secret proceed
ings OF the Senate has, in the opinion of
the Senators, grown to be intOlerable.
l. is not alleged that any mischief has
ever resulted from such publication, nor
is it denied that much good has at times
grown out of public comments upon
matters which were under discus
sion, and of the expression of the
cOuntTy's judgment in regard thereto
But the dignity of the Senate is involved
in the matter. To show the extent to
which the practice of publication has
grown, it may he said that in one execu-
tive session a few weeks ago, when the
sui jact was incidentally alluded to,
Senator Sherman said that he did not see
anv necessity for attempting to conceal
the proceedings in executive sessions,
since they were always published. He
upu Ibdu ludS LuOtul du dCCOUub VI the
proceedings of tee day before, and how
straight they got it, remarked Senator
Cameron, OF Wisconsin. "Yes,' rejoined
Mr.. Sherman, "they publish our secret
meetings better than they do our public
ones"
SENATORIAL CAUCUSES.
The proceedings of the Senatorial eau
cuses, too, while not guarded by the pen
alties which are supposed to attach to the
publication of those of executive sessions,
are given to the public when they are
important enough to warrant publication,
greatly to the annoyance of the Senators.
In a recent caucus much time was spent
in discussing the subject. The transOms
and windows of the room were examined
| to see if listeners might not be hanging
about, and a suggestion was made to
withdraw TO the room of the Committee
on Commerce, which, being in
only one entrance, was more
easily guarded. ltWas then remembered
that the only business before the caucus
was to decide upon the membership of
certain committees which did not seem
to require more than an ordinary degree
of secrecy, and which would IN the course
of things be made public within few
days. Therefore the proposition for re-
mOval was abandoned.
THE CAUSE OF THE TALK.
The act which has given rise to the
present movement was the publication
last week of letter written by Secretary
Bayard to Senator Miller, of California,
setting forth the projects of President
BarriOs as far as they were known to the
State Department, and the action of the
department In connection Herewith.
DOth the Secretary and Senator were
willing that the letter should be pub
lished, and had so expressed them
selves. 30, too, were a majority of
the Senators, but the letter had been
printed by the Senator in confidence for
the use of the Senate, and hence when a
motion was made in executive session tc
remove the Injunction of secrecy.
few wece in doubt of the propriety of
giving Information to the masses, and a
single objection carried it over for day.
The document had been distributed to the
Senators, and most of them left their
copies on their desks at adjournment.
A FRUITLEss RUSH.
The doorkeepers and others rushed
about from desk to desk gathering up
copies hastily, but In some way the mat
ter got out and was found in the papers
the next day. The executive session fol-
lowing the publication is said to have
been unusually interesting, and it was
then that the Committee on Privi-
leges and Elections was directed to
take the matter into consideration and
devise ways and means for preventing
premature exposure of executive secrets,
a proposition was made to arrest and
punish correspondents who should be
found guilty OF publishing executive Sc
crets, but Mr.. Voorhees, called attention
to the experience OF the Senate on a for
mer occasion, when the suggested course
had been resorted to, and resulted in fail
ure. There was no law under which it
could be done, he said.
PENAL OFFENsE.
Then n suggestion was made and dis
cussed to pass law making it penal
Otfense to publish the secret proceedings
of the Senate. The proposition was
abandoned upon the suggestion that the
House of Representatives, which enter
tanned some Old-tashiOned notions regard
ing the freedom Of the press and which
had its own opinion of the dignity of the
Senate, would probably not concur
in the passage Of such law.
Several other propositions were then
made and briefly discussed, One was to
deny access to the reporters gallery to
the representative of any paper which
should publish any of the proceedings of
an executive session. Another was to
employ detectives to find out how the pro-
ceedings reached the ears of the newspa-
per men, and for this purpose a sugges-
LlOu WAS Hdue ludL tue contingent lu0u
be increased by $4,000.
MCPHERSON OBJECTS.
Senator Mcpherson did not wholly con-
cur in all that was proposed TO be done,
and said in substance that he did not see
that any harm had resulted from the pub
IicatiOn of Secretary Bayard's letter. He
called attention to the fact that its writer
was willing that it should be given out, |
and to the probability that the Senate it. |
self would have given the dOcu- |
ment to the press few hours |
later had such an act not been |
rendered unnecessary; thereupOn the |
whole matter was referred to the Commit |
tee on Privileges and Elections, with in
structions substantially to spare no pains |
to accomplish the purpose, and the CON-
mittee held its meeting the next morning. |
The Committee on Rules had the same
subject under consideration to-day, but |
nothing Of its proceedings has become |
known beyond the fact that it took steps
to provide the Senate with an official seal.
Mr.. Villas First appointment.
WASHINGTON, March 21.-The newly
elected Representative from Tennessee,
j. b. Richardson, has the honor of secur-
ing the first appointment made by Post