The sun., 1890-01-15

Mr. Adams argued In favor OF the. bill, hold
ing that the Sergeant -st-Arms I, was pnnnc pitnr
ward by sanction OF law. with the duty OF dis;
burslnR the salaries of members. He referred
fwenty-Se Congress-. and called attention
to tho TACT that the House at that time voted to
fSnd The 'IS real QUESTION presentinG @ itseii
now, was not n question OF technical right or
technical wrong II was question whether
Ing their receipts. whether the. Government
had lost money by reason Of their fHult. .
nW% money "Nofi'oa on account. Of that fault The
new members had signed the receipts
before they had any legislative power to change
the law. The certificates were presented TO
them and they were, requested to align them In
order to get their salaries. II any member had
&c bis sanpy Sew
was in no wise to blame and he could not see
how an old member could vote against Isl. an ,S Sp-
wero entitledto II an old member felt him
self to blame his only course was to vote for
between. himself and his oonscienoe whether
he would receive the money himself.
ber believed that tha Sergeant-at-Arms was
his personal agent.
Mr.. Adams thought that there was no such
though some some might believe that by q technical
rule OF law the SerReant-at- Arms was consti-
tuted the agent OF the members.
Mr. Hemphil OF South Carolina advocated
the adoptlon OF his bill permitting members to
bring suit in the Court OF Claims for the re-
covery OF their salaries and opposed the bill OF
the majority because he could find no statute
declaring the Sergeant-at-Arms to be dis
He quoted from a speech made by Mr., Gar.
field in the Forty sixth Congress- in which that
gentleman said:
Now, the Sergeant Arms of this House not dis
bnrsnE GINGER Of the United states n S sa Is Sniy our
away with the money in his possession @ We As mcMssTS
the United States holds our receipts The only way
the world that could have any a. an would
Ssy sssin wGai already PH, into 6s
or stolen.
Mr.. Boutelle OF Maine said that MIR. Garfield
had been arguing that the system was ineh-
would be no remedy under the general law.
but the House would be Obliged In equity and
justice. to resort to some special aot such as IL
-" NJ Mr. II HemnRiIl said that gentlemen could con-
strue the language for themselves Congress
called to its attention by report after report of
the United States Treasurer to make any pro-
vision for the protection Of the government IN
had rested ON Congress to provide that money
taken from the Treasurytshonldb be safely guard
was about 5000 Of private money on deposit
in the Sergeant;at- Armss olllce. surely no
%ne w9ud hold that that 0leer Was disburs
cerned and he thought that the House should
not appropriate public money to pay private
money TO. pay members salaries. it ought to
be able to tell the amount due. and until Il was
safe WAS snpiicabIe S to the payment OF private
debts. 1t could not tell how much Was neces;
sary to pay the salaries. The committee could
had taken away with him, whether it was all
public money or whether some OF it was private
Mr, Butterworth- is question between
Mr.. Silcott and the Government, What We
want is what s dHe W. us: IL saanGa,er n; ~ q. ronra
sent ourselves, but the Government as well.
lAnplause.l
afraid to vote himself what Ia due him, may
not the Government feel a little anxious in the
presence of moral cowardice OF that character?
Mr. Hemphill--There will be plenty Of OBJ
portunitios to show our moral courage. There
Is good deal OF difference between the kind OF
independence which people admire and the
kind which rams our hand into the Treasury
and puts money into your poGfie AN
moral courage which will not have the suspi-
cion OF being tinged with the personal desire
to put into t,,E our pockets money to which ~e
Mr Butterworth-Has my friend any doubt
that he is entitled to his pay2 y2,,,.
Mr. Butterworth- this is an exhibition
OF virtue that does dot cost my friend any sac
Mr. HemphiImI do not know any time 4 @oal man
Mr. Butterworth-}ut. Is 1t fair division Of
labor f9r you to exhibit the virtue and for us to
Mr. Kennedy OF Ohio inquired whether. twas
not true that members on the Democratic side
got tip to draw their money.
Mr.. Hemphill replied that he had never heard
OF such q thing. and his denial was corrob-
GRATED by Mr.. Adams. who stated that nothing
committee.
Mr. Holman of Indiana contested the propo-
sition that the Sergeant-at-Arms was dis-
bursting officer. Whlle it was true that . rulo
that rule expired by limitation on the expira-
tion OF the Congress which adopted it 1t was
not not public law: It was no not law Of the
fcer. He contepded that the fund remaining
in the office Of the Sergeant-at- Arms about
embers Wbo we're eS osers BY
Mr. Blount OF Georgia spoke in support OF
the bill Of the majority, and ridiculed the idea
G. Court ft Of Claims in ' order to recover t We I their I
money. He also strongly opposed the pro rata
method of solving the difficulty. He admitted
Sergeant-ut- Arms a disbursing officer; but the
rules ot the House and the custom growing uD
under them had constructiyely made him SO.
geant-at- Arms before it was due was on the
theory that he was adlsbursing officer. Else
the Treasury had no right to pay it to him at all.
requiring him to give bonds by giving him
cashier, teller and bookkeeper. and by re-
quiring members to certify to him their mile
position which he did. Amy action on his part
suggested by fear: and from which there would
TESnG to his fellow @s@eers mem would Ps
prevent him from declaring TO the House and
country his conclusions as to the rights oil his
Pending further debate the House at o'clock
adjourned.
rs GEN. CLARK TO sWEEPs