Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1886-03-26
CAPITAL INTELLIGENCE.
DOlNGS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE,
AND OTHER MATTERS.
Biair's Bill for Investigating the Liquor
Traffic Passes the Senate-Little Done
in the House-The Telephone Invcs-
tigation-Other Capital News.


WASHINGTON, March 1S.-On motion of
Blair the Senate passed without debate
the bill providing for commission of five
persons to investigate the alcoholic liquor
traffic, its relations to revenue and taxa
ton, and its general economic, criminal,
and scientific aspects, in connection with
pauperism, crime, social vice, public
health and general welfare of the people.
The commissioner shall be appointed by
the president with the consent of the Sen
ate; all Of the commissioners shall
not be advocates of prohibition, and
they shall serve without salary, The Sen
ate on n like motion of Blair passed with
out debate a bill providing for the study
of the nature of alcoholic stimulants and
narcotics, and their effects on the human
system, in the schools of the territorities
and the District of Columbia, military and
naval academies, and the Indian schools.
At o'clock the unfinished business
was placed before the Senate, being
the resolutions reported by Edmunds
expressing the Senate's condemnation of
the attorney general for refusing to fur
nish papers called for by the Senate. Van
Wyck offered us an amendment the fol
lowing, 'and in all such cases of remov Il
the matter OF confirmation shall be con
sidered in open sessions of the Senate. y
Sewell, occupying the chair remarked !:
The amendment will be printed and lie
over" SpOOner took the floor in support
of the majority report He took up the
question from legal point of view. and
quoted from the constitution and the ten
ure of Office law to show that the power of
removal, as well us of appointments, was
in the President and Senate acting to-
gether.
Spooner criticized the presidents eX-
preston 'innocuOuS deSuetude." The
term always provoked Il smile, but there
was nothing to smile at. This was gov
eminent OF law and he was sorry the
chief executive of the republic should
have used such words of any law that
stood on the statute books. 1t was dan
gerOus time When the president of the
United States with an oath registered in
heaven to take care that the laws should
be faithfully executed should send Il
message to the Senate, saying the statute
has fallen to harmless disuSe, though the
statute renamed on the books. AT )
O'Clock the Senate adjourned.
Senator Spooner Contends Against the
Presidents Errors.
WASHINGTON, March l9-The chair laid
this afternoon before the Senate a com
municatiOn from the secretary of the treas
ury. Its reading was begun as follows {:
Il have received Il resolution of the Sen
ate, dated February n, 1856, adopted by
the Senate in executive sessiOn'-at this
point something seemed to have burnt the
clerks mouth, for with quick inhala-
ton of breath he stopped short, folded up
the paper and handed it back to the pres
mumcation would be withheld for the eX-
ecuuve session The incident created for
Il moment buzz of suppressed excite
mem, followed by deep silence. Plat
was the first senator to recover his voice.
He inquired of the chair whether the COM
muuication VAS marked executive" The
president pro tenpore, sherman, replied
it was not. Plat submitted that III that
case II was for open session. Sherman said
he felt bound to submit the matter to the
Senate in executive session. After another
pause COckrell inquired what had become
OF the letter of the treasurer Sherman re
piled that Oh examination the letter was
found to be an executive document. Not
having been so marked, the chair was not
to blame. Cockrell supposed that if not
marked, "couiideutial," the open Senate
was entitled to it. sherman remarked
with tirmness sit is executive business, -
and then placed before the Senate the
resolution remarking the refusal of the
Acknowledgement to furnish the paDers
called for by the Senate. Spooher re-
sumed the floor III support of the resolu-
ton. He maintained the constitutionalIty
of the tenure of office law and cited the
fact that the president had always stated
to the Senate his reasons for the removal
of IA director of the mint Even President
Il ,t..l hos
for the removal Of the last director.
The Republicans, Srooner continued, eX-
pected to 90 out on the incoming of the
present administration. He Speaker did
not claim TO be an orthodox civil service
man. He believed the administration had
a right to Till the Offices with its friends
This was called the spoils system, bat
Spooner denied it. 1t was proper that the
administration should be held responsible
for the conduct of the public business, and
it should properly feel the weight of that
responsibility. He wanted every man in
an honest, proper sense to be Il politician.
'DivOrCe Offices from politics, put ma
chimes in office. | do not believe in it
myself" said SpOoner. He denied that
100000 voters Of this republic could be
"debauched' by the idea of office. Had
it not been for President Cleveland's civil
service declarations and his expression Of
a purpose not to remove men who were
faithful to their public duties thousands
of Office holders would have resigned.
Honest partisanship was honest citizen
ship. Every man suspended had right
10 know why he was suspended.
He had in his hand a letter from sus-
pended otiicial-a man who had entered
our Mexican army drummer, threw
away his drum on the battle field and en-
tered the thick of the fight with musket.
That man, IN our late war risen to be a
major general WAS suspended by Presi-
dent Cleveland, and the gallant man and
faithful soldier and citizen could not as
certain, nor could Spooner, whether the
charges involved his personal honor or
not. Spooner did not suppose the presi-
dent meant to submit his fellow citizens
to serious injustice, but the system he had
adopted inevitably tended to cast "A
shadow on the honor of honest men
Spooner did not desire to see the admins
tration embarrassed, but some method
should be pursued to protect honest men
from unjust imputations
salisbury claimed that the matter I'M
der discussion was not within the jurisdic-
tion of the Senate. He compared the
number of removals during the eight
To-, II