Morning journal and courier., 1886-03-26
FORTHWITH CONGRESS-.

l S1, JOG, 900 for carrying United States mails | in American vessels to and from foreign ! countries, making it the duty of the post l master general to advertise for proposals and l to accept the lowest bidders proposal for ! carrying the mails. The bill was placed on ! the calendar.
 ] At o'clock the Edmunds resolutions were placed before the Senate and Mir. Voorhees, ! took the floor in opposition to the minority | resolutions. The resolutions, Mir. Voorhees, | said, were meant for popular effect. They contemplated no measure of legislation to l bring about the removal of any evil or pre- tended evil. They were merely a formula l tion of senatorial opinion, barren of result other than a cheap partisan denunciation. l Mir. Voorhees, endorsed heartily the Presi dents action in making removals and would heartily endorse it if it went thousand | leagues further With the exception of | fourth class postmasters there were at the | present time ten Republicans iii | office to one Democrat. Such state of af- fairs he declared was not consistent with the true theory of popular government or with it's safe and honest administration. The people had ordained change in the govern ment and such change was not properly linn ited to changes in few chief offices. | This was not a form of government adapted or intended for offices with life tenure. | Trained bands of officials would not be toIer- eted here in Europe The civil service I law had never commended itself to the iudg- | ment of MT. Voorhees,. Very recently he had voted in committee and should vote in the | Senate for its absolute repeal. It had proven itself to be violent and odious obstruction to the welfare of the people and stumbling block in the way of rational and successful administration. His tory had shown that no political party could administer the affairs of a government through the instrumentality of it's enemies. After referring to the efforts of the Republi-
 
 ton of their partisans in office, Mr. Voorhees, said the President could not be blamed for moving slowly. Every act in his administra- tion was in the right direction and the coun- try would understand why greater progress had not been made and would place the sponsibility where it belonged.
 MT. Evarts then addressed the Senate i'll support of the majority report. He read | from the report of the minority of the Judi ciary committee to show that the minority l conceded that official papers on the files of | the departments relating to subjects within the jurisdiction of the House and Senate were subject to the call of either house of Congress. On this admission it seemed to NIT. Evarts there should be | but little doubt as to the vote on the resolutions before the Senate. He said the arguments by Democratic Senators would accord to the President the right to say whether the papers called for related to subject with which Congress had right to deal. The President could under this con struction refuse papers affecting his own con- duct which it might be important for Con gress to secure. The doctrine, he argued was inadmissible. "Give us, said Mir. Evarts, ''the premises of the powers of the houses of Congress under the constitution that not disputed-here mean the general pow CTS; give us the constitution of the depart ments; give us the arrangement of regulating these; give us the fact that the papers in the possession of the department of justice and that the Attorney General can lay his hand on them, and then ] vote if you will that a peremptory instruc tion of the President can follow these depos- it's of papers and select from them those that are suitable for the inspection of either house of Congress. Let it be conceded that the work of selection is not intended to be arbitrarily, capriciously, undutifully dis charged; let it be agreed that the President means to send to the two houses of Congress all the papers that are pertinent to every public duty. How do you by that proposition advance other than the most monstrous doctrine, under the constitution, that the President is to judge of what the duties of the two houses relate to and what the papers would show or would prove, and whether they were or were not important or of interest matter over which Congress had authority" It would seem then, said MT. Evarts, that when the President should direct the Attorney General to withhold papers on the sole ground that they belonged to topics that did not interest or touch the duty of Con l gress there would be established subordin- ation on the part of Congress to the personal judgment of the President and unluckily personal judgment about himself and his conduct and these evidences that
 Congress might wish to inspect. for the colnbatants on the other side of this question to rest on this reduction of the
 powers and authority of the two houses of Congress without exhibiting to sthis Senate
 some reason why in their judgment these pa pers should not be sought or why the Senate itself should not pass the judgment that 1t had no duty or interest on the premises, or why the Senate itself should not draw the line of demareation between public and private documents; between pa pers that were on file as part of the posses
 sicn and under the control of the govern
 ment The power of removal was great
 question and in MT. EvartS' opinion was
 settled question. He believed it to have
 been decided, and correctly decided, that the
 power of removal under the constitution
 belonged to thesPresident without the partici-
 patton of the Senate in what related to
 the mere act of removal. The question was
 whether the power of removal unconnected
 with appointment was exclusively lodged H.
 the President. MT. Evarts then proceeded to
 discuss the tenure of office act which he
 
 during the vacation. The suspension did not
 vacate the office. MT. Evarts had never ap-
 proved of that law, but had never been able
 to express an opinion that it was unconstitu-
 tional. He had never been able to see how It
 should be so denounced.
 Mir Call followed in opposition to the ma
 jority report. If the principle on which these
 resolutions proceeded was correct, said Mir.
 Call the President might as well abdicate
 his powers to the Senate.
 Mir Ingalls, obtained the floor, but gave
 way for an executive session.
 Mr. Edmunds says he will insist on vote
 on these resolutions tomorrow.
 The Senate after the executive session ad-
 journed.
 HeusE.-A number of reports from com
 mittees heretofore published having been agreed to were submitted; also petitions pre- sented by Mir. Belmont in favor of postal savings bank system.
 The House then went into Committee of the Whole on the postofice appropriation bill, which was discussed until 5:10, when the House took a recess until 7:3O o'clock. The evening session of the House was de- voted to the consideration of resolutions ex-- pressive of the sorrow of the body at the death of Joseph Rankin, late representative from Wisconsin. Eulogistlc addresses were made by Messrs. Henderson of Pennsylvania, Bragg, Hudd, Guenther, Thomas and LaFol- l lette, May bury of Michigan and Hurd of New York. The resolutions were unanimously adopted and as mark of respect to the memory of the deceased the House at 9:30 | adjourned.
 1 Secretary Manning Somewhat Better. l WASHINGTON, March 25.-At late hour tonight Secretary Manning is reported by l his physicians and family as somewhat bet l ter than last night The Secretary's son, James H. Manning, in speaking of his fath, i CTS condition said: "All things considered
 we feel encouraged He is very sick man.
 though, and we can only hope until the next
 two or three days bring the crisis. Father does not know of my arrival or indeed that
 the family gent for me and we think it best | [ 1, vi cio ia r,aaaad '