The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-02-19

whom any serious accusation has been made
which would. If true, influence tine action Of the
Senate in the case, to cause the
person concerned to be informed of the
substance of the complaint against him and give
him an opportunity to defend himself. and 1t is
also known that at this very session a considera-
BILE numbar of instances of that kind have oc-
Cured and are daily occurring. If the Senate
Is proceeding upon a false principle in such in
stances, it is high time that its course in these
respects should be reversed, and that hereafter
it should act upon such accusations without any
knowledge other than that derived from the ac-
cusers. and leave the victims of such Injustice to
console themselves with the reflection that all
parties are now engaged in an effort to reform
the government. Why should the facts as they
may appear from the papers on file be sup
pressedf is it because that, being brought to
light. it would appearthat misrepresentation and
perjury are somewhat abundant, or mere
ly that faithful, and competent, and hon
orable officers have been suspended and are
proposed to be removed under the advice and
consent of the Senate, in order that places may
be found for party men, because they are party
men. or are the special objects of party faForl
How does it happen, in this time of suggested
reform and pure methods in government, for the
first time it is thought important that the his
toric and administrative facts relating to the
official and personal conduct of officers OF the
United States should be withheld, and that the
administration of the government should pro-
coed with a secrecy and mystery as great as IN
the days of the star chamber The high respect
aud consideration that the Senate must always
have for the executive officer would make 1t re-
~lnctant to adopt either theory; but at present
the impenetra BILE veil continues and the COM
mittee is unable tosuggest any'other solution OF
the riddle. 1t must leave it until this veil is
lifted and the operations of the government shall
again be known"
Among the bills introduced was one by Mr..
Bowen to provide a new basis for the circulation
OF national banks. Mr.. Bowen said he would
take occasion to address the Senate on the sub
ject of this bill at an early day. At his request,
therefore, the bill was. for the present, laid on
the table.
On motion of Mr.. Maxey. a bill was passed to
grant right-of-way for,a railroad and telegraph
lire through the lands Of the Choctaw and
Chickasaw nations of Indians to the st. Louis
& San Francisco Railroad Company.
On motion of Mr.. Berry, the bill to grant a
rieht,of-way for q railroad through the Indian
Territory to the Kansas g. Arkansas Valley
Railroad Company was taken up, and. after de-
bate, went over.
Mr. VanWyck entered a motion to reconsider
the vote by which the Senate passed the bill
granting the right-of-way for a railroad through
the lands OF the Choctaw and Chickasaw In
dams.
The education bill was then taken up.
Mr.. Plumb offered an amendment to it, pro-
yiding that as to the Territories, not the Secre-
tary of the Interior, but the legislatures OF the
several Territories. shall have the administration
III Lib IHOH6y. Akreeu Id.
Mr.. Teller moved an amendment to the bill so
as to include Indians in its provisions. Re-
iected.
Mr.. Morgan offered an amendment providing
that the fund going to the Territories should be
based on a census to be taken in 1887.
MIR. Ingalls, said that the North. the Northwest
and the West did not want this bill; on the con-
trarv, they Stunned it The people Of Kansas
Indignantly spurned the assumption that they
desired a donation from the national treasury to
Cl1cfaip fh oIv nYn N n ~ c0hnn1c nv InOo11c yvoc
'fatigued' with the presumptions he had heard
that tho Northern and Western people wanted
this money. Let us drop disguises and come
down to common sense. Do not insult
the people of the Northern and Western
States by declaring that they want any portion
of this donation. The bill, Mr.. ingalls, said, was
essentially dishonest; and the States that would
take the money under it were actuated by pre-
cisely the same spirit that would pick a pocket
or rob a graveyard. 1t was an act of grand lar
ceny on the treasury. When the States of the
South asked for this money on the basis OF the
whole number of it's illiterates above ten years
old, they knew, and the whole country knew.
that they were obtaining the money under false
pretenses.
Mr.. Maxey emphatically denied that Texas
asked for the bill.
MIR. Ingalls, inquired who was responsible for
the illiteracy of the slaves over twenty. one years
old? The laws of the Southern States made it a
penalty to teach a slave to read-even to read
the Bible that taught him the means of saliva
ton.
Mr.. Coke addressed the Senate in opposition
to the bill. He entered an earnest protest
against its passage, declaring it to be the most
pernicious measure introduced into either house
of Congress since the war. He prophesied that,
as a precedent, it would be destructive of the
limitations imposed on Congress by the Consti-
tuition. The bill, he said, was a measure of deg
potism. 1t would result, he said, in stirring up
endless strife between the North and South.
"A number of amendments having been sub
mitted in order that they may be printed, Mr..
Evarts took the floor. He remarked that he
was heartily in favor of the bill. but would not
speak on il if the Senate desired to come to a
vote.
Mr.. Blair said that if Mr.. Evarts was going to
make a speech somebody would be sure to move
an adjournment. Thisremark was greeted with
loud laughter, in which Mr.. Esarts himself