Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va) 1886-1890, 1890-03-06
....& -.snin. secret Sessions and an
Interesting Debate Ensues..A Vote
Expected Soon.

WASHINGTON, March 5.-The senate
in secret session debated at length a
resolution offered by Mr.. Dolph in be.
half of the committee recently APP
pointed to investigate executive session
leakage, calling for the arrest and I'M
prisonment of ~. j. Halford. of the AS
ISOLATED Press, and George Grantham
Balm, of the United Press. for contempt,
in refusing to divulge the sources of the
news concerning secret sessions which
they have sent out from time to time.
The resolution and report of the com.
mittce set forth the fact that these
correspondents have been guilty OF
making public the confidential business
of the senate contrary to the statute
and that they have placed themselves in
contempt OF the senate by refusing to
answer questions concerning the sources
Of their information.
Unsatisfactory witnesses.
Mr. Dolph said that the committee
had been unable to OBTAIN satisfactory
information from five newspaper men
who had been called as witnesses in the
investigation which had been in pro-
gress for some time. The local papers,
he said. obtained most of their secret
session news from the press associations
and only few papers published else
where printed other than the regular
press reports. He held. therefore, that
the press associations and the men who
furnished these facts to them were
particularly culpable and that it would
be wise for the senate to make an ex-
ample of them.
During the discussion that followed
it was suggested that the other cor >
respondents who had refused TO answer
questions were equally in contempt and
when the resolution is finally acted
upon it may include their names also.
They are NJ. G.. Sickcndorif. of The New
York Tribune; Jules Guthridge, of The
New York Herald, and f. y. Dupuy, OF
The New York Times.
Open Executive Sessions.
Senator Teller offered as substitute
for Mr.. Dolphs resolution the resolu-
ton heretofore offered by him and now
pending before the committee on rules
providing for the considerati" ,~-ss
nations in open executive 81
said that the senate =
ridiculous in its efforts tt Z e
betrayers of executive seos y,
that senators knew perfes y HAT
most of the information oil Gr S5nfiden-
tial character was betrayed ~ members
of the senate He did not think it pos
sible to accomplish the end which Mr..
Dolph desired by throwing two or three
newspaper men into Jail. Instead OF
preserving the dignity of the senate
they would make that body Il common
laughing stock.
Mr.. Wilson, OF Iowa, member Of
the leakage committee, supported Mr..
Doph and said that the newspaper men
ought to be locked up until they would
tell where they got their information. n
Blackburn Dislikes Criticism.
Mr.. Blackburn, also member of the
committee, gave the resolution quail 4
fled Endorsement He was sOmewha u
exercised over the publication in tn
newspapers of Tues lay morning of til,
proceedings of the secret session Cd
Monday, particularly the criticism in IT,
New York paper OF the attitude Of tlss&
Democratic senator's whQ-y I'D for u
confirmation of My
sIr. Platt stlpp~ =:
]: !: !: J. :
the 81, s = s. {
open sessio- - x
the resolution Q i $ *
senate i'll plain III ! s
owed to the press a. 4 3
the corps of Washina> : 4 :; s
cnts. III -
The debate was continue 4
length, the matter being undeS )
SION for nearly five hours. A v.
I've reached soon. The indications 81
that the Dulph resolution Will no
agreed 10