Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-02-27


The gentleman from Georgia had said that
he rKennedyl had been mistaken when he
said that the COMMITTEES on elections had been
appointed by the speaker. II the selection Of
the gentleman from Georgia for the chair
mansbip Of that committee had been
an insult to the house and to the
intelligence of the people OF the
United States, was it not as much an outrage
II he was selected by a Democratic caucus as
If he was appointed by the speaker The rec
ords Of the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth con
crosses showed that the speaker had appointed
as the chairman OF the committee on elections
Turner OF Georgia. gentleman elected by
the same sort of fraud and infamy which had
returned Crisp TO this floor. Ii it was an In
fanny to appoint Crisp, was it not an lnfamy
to appoint Turnerf In the Ffftieth congress
Turner did not desire TO continue at the head
OF that committee, and asked the speaker to
relieve him. He was transferred to the COM
mittee on ways and means. Crisp, in
stead of getting the craftsmanship of the
committee on Pacific railroads to which by
the unwritten rules of the house he was en-
titled, had been selected for the committee on
elections The people of the United States
had been insulted and outraged by the selec
by every sense Of decency and honor. The
committee had been appointed for purpose.
With undue haste the committee had re-
ported the case OF John q. Carlisle to the
house.
At this point Bland denounced it as unfair
for the gentleman to make his speech, and
raised the point OF order that the gentleman
must confne his remarks to the Indian bill
Utterly ignoring BANDS interruption Ken
nedy said that he desired TO show that the
gentleman from Georgia, at the head Of the
elections committee, did not treat the Carlisle
election case with the same precision and ex-
actness with which be treated the case OF
Robert Smalls, Of South Carolina He wished
TO show that the Democratic party never had
done and never would do justice TO black
mau. Another interruption came from Bland
and another demand for the enforcement OF
the rule
The chair ruled that he might proceed with
his speech From this ruling Bland appealed,
and the vote resulting 1875 to 2O In favor of
sustaining the ruling, raised the point of no
quorum. Further points Of order were made
BY Bland and overruled.
Continuing, Kennedy contrasted the But
tsrworth case In 1879 and the action of the
Democratic house upon 1t with the action Of
Democratic house in the Carlisle case The
speaker, he said, had remained as silent as
the sphinx. Never but once in the history OF
the government had there been such pro-
ceeding. lie would not mention any names
but the gentleman would go out TO private
life condemned by his political associates and
despised by his political enemies; without so
ciety save that only which tll-gotten gains
could purchase him-too low for pity and
beneath contempt. Was it any wonder that
the contestee should, after the vote, be GOV.
cred with humiliation and shanei Was II
any wonder that be left the exhilarattng Of
fscts OF Washington society and sought the
breezes Of Old Point Comfort to restore him
TO mental and moral equilibrium He [Ksn-
nedyl left him to himself, his country and the
people OF Kentucky. Misses on Democratic
aide.
The gentleman from Georgia had said that
he lKennedyl knew nothing about Georgia.
His lKennsdy'sl standing might not be az
high in Georgia as the gentleman from
| Georgia, because that gentleman had worn
the Confederate gray and he lkennedyl the
! Union blue in the great contest. He had nc
| desire 70 compare records with the gentle
man from Georgia; but he believed that In
the estimation Of every loyal man 10 the
country his record was as high above the
gentlemans in that great conflict as the
angels OF light were above the angels of
darkness.
Kennedy then referred to the speech re-
Gently made by Governor Lee Of Virginia
In which he declared that the country wanted
q white mans government He then quoted
Gen. Rosser's declara alton that q southern
gentleman could whip Yankee every time.
If Lse and Beauregard and Rosser had been
hung at the gibbet they ought 10 have
been hung after the contest was over, they
would not now be teaching rebellion and
treason TO the young men OF the south.
Crisp said that the gentleman had charged
that the committee ON elections had been ap-
pointed by the speaker. This he [Crispl had
denied, and he now quoted from The Record
TO show that the committee had been elected
by the house. The gentleman, from his re-
marks to day, seemed to be willing to fly from
the position Of ignorance and assume that Of
malicious defamation. He [Crispl said that
with full knowledge of the meaning Of the
words-malicious defamation of the speaker
of the house-a gentleman who stood before
the house and the country az an honorable
and high-toned man. In Justice to the COM
mittee on elections and in justice to Carlisle
he would say that the committee had framed
a docket for the trial of these cases and that
the docket had met the approval of every Re
publican member of the committee. The gen.
tleman had criticised his small vote In
Georgia. The object seemed to be to Justify
the Republican party in some outrageous con-
duct which was to come in the future
He then referred to the proceedings which
took place In the Ohio state senate when Ken
needy, as lieutenant governor, presided over
1t, stating that with but seventeen Of the
thirty-six members present, the gentleman
had entertained motion to turn out four
Democrats and scat four Republicans. This
was circumstance by which gentlemen
could determine what value should be placed
On the opinion of the gentleman from Ohio
on question of honesty.
Turner said that he believed that the very
worst enemy of the public peace and Of the
welfare and prosperity Of the country, the
very worst foe to the highest interests Of the
land, was the man who a,ailed him
self of every slight prete,t to stir
up old wounds and fight ever again
BATTLES which honorable men had adj
adjusted on the field long ngo. Talk about
Grant peace to his ashesl and Sheridan and
Ipausingl Kennedy in the same BREATH While
the gentleman had been delivering to-day
ISLANDERS upon him rTurnerl be could have
placed his hand upon one Of his own col
leagues who was a living monument to the
fairness Of Democratic house Of representa-
tives He referred to Romeis, and he asked
that gentleman If he would stand up In the
presence of his colleague and say whether or
not his [Turner'sl administration Of the com
mittee ON elections had bean infamous
Romeis-I am living witness to your fair
ness, and am prepared to say 90. (Applause
and cheers on the Democratic side and in the
galleries.]