Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-01-27
A CALL FOR LIGHT.
Continued From First Page.

| reading OF this correspondence IN Wnicn are
| unkind and bitter things: before our
! tempers are uroused by offensive utterances
E, -utterances which may have been made be-
! fore any conclusion is reached, give US all
| the.facts so that we may keep our minds un.
biased until We have all that is possible OF
! truth and light to base our conclusions
| upon. If the gentleman from Georgia (Mr.
| Blount) thinks the resolution ought not 70
| come up for immediate consideration Will
| not oppose him, though will most seriously
| think it is a mistake.
Committee Rights Upheld.
Mr.. Blount, of Georgia, Chairman of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, replying 30
Mr.. Breckenridge, said:
| Whether or not this House hereafter, in
| Its wisdom and in view of the gravity OF the
| situation, in the matter of our relations
| with Chile, sees fit to consider them i'll secret
| session, ut least it seems to mo that at this
| time, before that course shall have been
| considered Mt all, there ought not be thrust
upon this House and the country, by any
! mode OF procedure, discussion on thnt silt
| uation. lApplause on the Republican side
L remember. and it is familiar TO you all, the
course pursued in the War of lSl2. A
message WAS sent to the Congress or the
| United States; the Senate and House went
into secret session; the Committees on For
| eign Affairs resolved upon secresy OF pro-
cedure, and the report of the Committee on
| Foreign Affairs was made to this House, ac-
companied by q declaration of war and other
! measures subsequently i'll relations to regula-
tons OF privatecring; yet nothing was given
| to the public; the injunction of secresy WAS
never removed until the Executive sigma
| ture had been affixed to the bill declaring
war. Is there anything in that procedure,
directed by the eminent men of those times,
TO admoniSh us that either by indlrectlon or
| by direction we shall deviate from that de-
| llberate, calm course in which the safety OF
the country rests?
Sir, there is a great responsibility upon
| this House at this time. l trust that this
resolution will be referred to the Committee
on Foreign Affairs, and that every matter
touching this question will be so referred, be-
cause we have an illustration this very IN
slant how unexpectedly to everybody the
situation has been brought to the considera-
ton OF the House and the country
All Information to Be Discussed.
Ipresume and trust that no gentleman
upon the floor of this House will undertake
to discuss the matter, pro and con. So Tar
as any information is concerned in relation
to dispatches received to-day or yesterday
or tomorrow, /, for one, and speaking for
the Committee on FOREIGN Affairs, assure
the gentleman from Kentucky and this
House tnat that committee will not be will
ing to report to this body without exhaust
ing all the information to he had from the
correspondence. [Applause on the Repub-
lican side.] And beg shis House TO remem-
Der that the line of safety is the line of de-
liberation. You can treat this matter as
we'll tomorrow or next week, after deliber-
alton, as you can in the passion provoked
by instantaneous discussion. beg that
we shall be earnest, serious calm, manly, in
all this matter.
Mr.. Herbert was recognized for five min
utes in opposition to the adoption of Mr..
Breckenridge's resolution. He said:
We are in the midst OF q very grave crisis.
No one can say with absolute certainty that
the situation is less grave to-day than it
was yesterday. No one can say with apso-
Il ,, ,-fh
peared this morning as an Associated Press
dispatch from Santiago is true. There are
circumstances connected with that d1spatch
or at least there are features OF the face OF
it-which, in my opinion, render it very
doubtful whether the dispatch is true. Sup-
pose that the dispatch is untrue and that we
pass now the resolution of the gen
tleman from Kentucky, what will be
its meaning? don't say that the
gentleman himself intends to cast
any such imputation, but i'll my opinion the
country will look at n resolution like that as
imputing to the Chief Executive, in mat
ter of such great concern as his message OH
yesterday, bad faith to the country and bad
faith to this House. Are we ready now to do
that?
A Stand for the Committee.
An attempt to press this resolution to an
immediate consideration also carries with
it some imputation upon the Committee on
Foreign Affairs, TO which this whole matter
has been properly referred. Is not that COM
mittee competent to consider this whole
question? think we can trust that COM
lnittee, and think. toe, il there be anything
in this resolution, that it will keep for few
DAYS. At q time when the issues Of peace or
war are trembling in the balance, let Us be
deliberate. Let US not now engage iii a dis
cussion in which there will be on the part of
certain gentlemen an attack upon the Presi-
dent, and upon the part of Others defense
of the Chiel Executive. Is this 4 time for
the House to engage in discussion on that
line? Has the gentleman from Kentucky, or
ANYBODY else, any reason to give why - dis
cussion of this kind, if proper at any time,
House will not do it, but will let it go to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs. which must,
under the rules, make report within 10
days.
Mr.. McCreary, of Kentucky, q member of
the Foreign Affairs Committee, next spoke,
as follows:
This House is confronted now with grave
and important questions. The questions
were of sufficient Importance for the Presi-
dent to send to this House yesterday
message accompanied with documents and
diplomatic correspondence. This morning
the Committee on Foreign Affairs had
that all proper dispatch has been made. 1
respect my friend from Kentucky who has
offered this resolution, but see no reason
now for unreasonable haste In the manage
ment of a question so important as this. If
this resolution is referred to the Committee
on Foreign Affairs have reason to believe
that it will receixe immediate and prompt
consideration. We have not in the last few
weeks been acting in this House according
to what we see in newspapers, but We have
waited, sir, until the Executive sent to this
House a statement OF the situation in Chile,
accompanied by correspondence.
Time for Gravity and Calmness.
Is there any reason why this House should
undertake, when there is Committee on
Foreign Affairs appointed to look into these
matters, to take charge of this matter and
call for the additional correspondence? If
there is other correspondence it will come
in due time But it seems to me that the
situation demands that gravity, that calm
ness, that deliberation, that care which will
show that we are not now acting as partisans,
but acting as patriots. [Applause.] This
resolution should be referred to the Com
will be made. No one can be injured by
delay. The country cannot be injured, and
this Important question will not ne injured
mittee of this House shall consider it. Zap
piause.l
Mr. Blount moved the previous question
on his motion to refer the resolution to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, but finally
yielded five minutes to Mr.. Breckenridge,
the author of the resolution.
Merely a Move for Moro Light
Mr. Breckenridge was surprised that
resolution which sought for nothing but in
formation should have met the opposition
it had. The resolution did not touch the
merits of any controversy between Chile
and the United States. 1t did not criticise
anybody, executive officer or Minister, or
anyone connected with this transaction. 1t
simply asked for light.
Mr.. Burrows, of Michigan, inquired
whether the gentleman thought tina. the
President, when he received the dispatch,