The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-06-02
HILL AND SECRECY
New York's Senator Wants
Sugar Investigation
Meetings Public.
COMPOUNDED At WHAT He READS.
Gray Replies That the Matter Was
Carefully Considered and Pres
ent Action Decided On.


ent Action Decided On.
WASHINGTON, June 2, 1884, The House
joint resolution for the purchase or con-
domination of land in the vicinity of the
Gettysburg battlefield was taken up on mo
tion Of Mr. Hill dem, N. "; but Mr.. Gray
dem, Del.) said that while he would dike to
prevent the contemplated vandalism by a
trolley company there were other matters
back of it which he was not quite satisfied
with, and that was as to the power OF emin-
ent domain which was involved. Hethought
that the matter could not be disposed of in
the morning hour.
The doubts expressed by Mr.. Gray were
contested by Mr.. Hawley rep, Conn. and
Mr. Manderson rep, Neb9, who spoke OF
great battlefields of the war, which were to
be preserved as national parks.
Mr.. Gray, while he persisted in question
ing the existence of the right of eminent
domain in the general government for any
thing but a public purpose, and had very
serious doubts whether the reservation Of
Gettysburg was such public purpose, with
OSJSSSANe4, ~~SS~NS-N>~
was passed
The resolution offered yesterday by Mr..
PETER lpop,, Kan.) as to the Government
taking possession of and holding for public
use the coal beds of the country, was taken
up and referred to the Judiciary Committee
HILLS EFFORT FOR AN OPEN HEARING.
Then the resolution offered by Mr. Hill
dem, N. Y } for open sessions of the Select
Committee on the Sugar Trust Investiga-
tion, was laid before the Senate, and Mr..
ELL spoke in its support He thought that
open sessions of the committee were fairly
contemplated by the resolution for its appoint
ment 1t was in the usual form and did not
authorize secret sessions; neither did it re-
fuse that authority. There was nothing in
the original resolution that permitted any
Senator to suggest that it's proceedings
should be secret He started off with the
general proposition that the proceedings of
Senate Investigating committees should be
open; that, as general rule, they were
open; and that there was nothing about this
case that required the proceedings to be
secret.
At half past ten a M the Tariff bill was
laid before the Senate; but Mr. Hill said
that he would continue his remarks, availing
himself Of the latitude of debate authorized
in the Senate. He went on to say that the
and the press, and that would pre-
vent any suspicion that the SEN
ate desired to have those proceedings
conducted in the dark. 1t would satisfy an
honest and just public sentiment, and would
not do injustice to anybody. The committee
was not a ssdfum-head court martial" organ
lied to convict or acquit. 1t was simply for
the purpose of Investigating the truth OF
certain newspaper assertions.
PUBLIC SHOULD NOT BE Excluded.
The Senate itself was not a club-although
sometimes called SO. and there was no rea-
son why the public should be excluded from
its proceedings And so there was no reason
why the public should be excluded from
the sessions of Investigating commit
tees He thought that the investiga-
ton should be held with open doors,
and thar the reporters Of the press
should be present. He had read what
had been given to the public. One OF the
points of the investigation was whether
The Secretary of the Treasury had made
the action Of the Finance Committee Was
there anything, he asked, SO peculiar, SO
improper, SO unprecedented about that that
the testimony in regard to it should not
be taken in the broad daylight and in
the presence OF the press and the peoples
Another point was as to whether Sena-
tors had speculated in sugar stock.
There was no reason why testimony IN re-
gard to that should not be taken in open
session He was sure that there had not
been so many purchases of sugar stock
'shere around this circle" that there was
any fear that disclosure of the facts
would influence the New York stock mar
ket, and that therefore it was not wise to
disclose how many purchases had been made
ssaround this circle" The sessions of the
committee, Mr. Hill added, were supposed to
be secret, but they were neither one thing or
the other. Partial reports were given to the
public by the distinguished chairman of the
committee.
Either the proceedings should be wholly
secret or wholly public If the public was
to have any inkling of what was going on, 1t
should have the whole of it.
GRAY REPLIES TO HILL.
Mr. Gray Dem, DELI, Chairman of the
Investigating Committee, replied to Mr.
Hill He did not intend, he said, either
on behalf of himself or Of the committee,
to do more than say that, having no per-
sonal interest whatever in the matter, and,
having no personal wish to crafty, the COM
mittee was perfectly willing for the Senate
to decide the question raised by the resolu-
tion Of the Senator from New York.
The personal inclination of the committee
and their personal comfort would have sug-
gested the throwing open of the doors of the
Committee room while conducting the
investigation. but, after deliberation
and discussion and a careful con-
sideration of the nature of the duty inn
posed upon them, they had come to the con-
clusion that, for the present at any rate, the
end in view could be better promoted by
- 4 i