The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-03-12
XLIXth CONGRESS- FIRST SESSION,
SENATE.

w NASHlNGION3 A1dIC4l
The chair laid before the Senate a letter
from the Secretary of the Treasury trans
mitting information as to the expense incur
red by the United States in behalf OF inc
Territory of Utah since the passage OF the
act of June %, 1874. Referred.
A petition was presented and referred from
the National bi-metallic congress and Mi.
Jones addressed the Senate upon 1t IN favor
of silver coinage.
Mr. Hawley, from the commltteeion, c1yii
service, reported adversely Mr. Nance's Dill
for the repeal Of the civil service law, and
it was placed on the calendar Mr.. Hawley
said the committee was not unanimous
Mr. Logan from the minority of the com
mittee on militery affairs submitted the views
of the minority on the Fitz John Porter bill.
Mr. Plumb again called up a bill for forfeit
ure of part of the Iowa railroad lands.
After some discussion of the bill Tor Tor
feiture of the lands granted to the State OF
Iowa to aid in the construction OF railroads
the matter went over till tomorrow.
The chair then laid before the Senate the
resolutions reported from the judiciary com
mittee as to the right of the Senate to papers
ON file.
Mr.. Wilson addressed the Senate in sup
port of the resolutions reported by the ma
jority of the committee Mr.. Wilson said
for the first time in the progress OF this gov
ernment its executive power is now being
used as means of assault upon the charac-
ter and reputation OF its citizens. He stated
IdCbS anu WOulQ uUJ uOW sup W
whether it was the result of a purpose, mex
perience, want of thoughtful action or other
cause whatsoever. The first Congress dis
cussed serious defects in the Constitutlonln
respect of the personal and private, rights OF
citizens of the republic and of the States
composing it. This discovery induced 10 artl-
cles of the amendment proposed by that Con-
gress to the States and assured their ratlnca-
ton No one could read those several arti-
cles without being impressed by the evident
Of of the Congress
which framed them, and OF the States winch
adopted them, to give enact and ample pro-
lection to citizens. But it does not seem to
have occurred to the trainers OF the original
articles of the Constitution or of the amend
ments that it was then or even could be nee
essary to make definite provision to secure
the characters and regulations OF citizens
against assaults by the executive power. 1t
was reserved for the closing years of the first
century of its existence to develop the dan
ger which attends citizen in this regard.
The speaker referred to the Democratic
platform of 1884, whose indefniteness was
expressed in the words we favor an honest
civil service reform, and asked who could
have anticipated its evasion with aaresult so
harmful to the character and reputation OF
citizen as the practice of the present nation
al administration He referred also to what
he called the various stages OF strong poll
tical evolution which has produced the pre-
sent condition, and mentioned the hrSt stage
as being marked by expressions of Mr.
Cleveland in accepting the nomination ten
dered to him by the National Democratic
Convention. The next stage was not reach
ed until Mr.. Cleveland had become the Presl-
dent-elect, when the latter character had be.
come assured to him. Awaiting himself OF
the glad ChristmBs time he took occasion to
announce in his letter to Mr.. Curtis, IN Ian
guage forcible and expressive, that political
evolution was going steadily and resolutely
on toward those higher conditions and purer
practices which show the presence of reform
in the method of executive action. The
fourth of March, 1885, was reached and Mr..
Cleveland became the actual President, and
on that to him. mighty occasion he told the
assembled people Of the country that the
third stage of the political evolution mad
been reached All that he had heretofore said
had been but the utterances OF Mr.. Cleve-
land, and now had come the time for Mt.
Cleveland as President of the United States
to speak, and he did speak.
This inaugural, Mr.. Wilson continued,
marked the officialand highest stage OF po-
litical evolution whose subtlest forces Z hhad
wrought wOnderouSly well In eleyatlng MI,
Cleveland to the Presidency of the United
States. But he was not content with the
announcement of the 4th of March, 1888,
that the official and highest stage OF polltl-
cal evolution had been reached, for he re,
viewed the declaration in his flrst annual
message to Congress and took care to give "
great elaboration. He seemed to have most
earnestly desired to impress the country
with belief that the indefinite protoplasmic
presence in the platform on which his party
placed him at Chicago had evolved subtan-
tial and forciful principle which would purI-
fy, politics and bless the country in general;
The people, Mr.. Wilson continued, had
given Mr.. Cleveland generous credit for sin
cerity, but they could not reconcile his actions
in suspending competent and faithful pup
lie officers with his repeated assurances that
such things would not be done. He had
said that men would not be discharged for
partisan reasons but only for cause, and IL
had logically followed that whenever an OIL
fcer was suspended the people believed some
grave charge had been made against them,
Indeed, every suspended officer was by the
Presidents own declaration made to stand
before the country as unworthy of trust ana ana
confidence. He had suspended SAG puonc
officers and marshalled them before the coun-
try as persons unworthy of trust or conf
dence Many Of those IS bps haa "a the
charges made against them but this had
been denied to them It was most f9TraGr ext the
President to place himself before the coun-
try as the accuser of 643 public officers whom