The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-02-16
PECKHAMS FOES OPEN FIRE
The Debate on His Nomination on in
Executive Session.

Hill ana HIS Ant1-Admln1Strat1on
Coterie on the Ground Early, En-
deavoring to Win Votes Against
Confirmation - The Hill Element
Very Aggressive And Confident of
Defeating Confirmation.
Washington, Feb. 15.-At an unusually
early hour for United States senator's
the advocates and opponents of the con-
firmation of Wheeler H. Peckham, nomi-
mated to be associate justice of the United
States supreme court, were astir this
morning, Mir. Hill being among the first
to reach the Senate wing of the building
Senators Villas and Lindsay were not far
behind him, and then began the prelimi-
nary struggle to present a solid front for
the contest which had been agreed upon
for this afternoon. Mr.. Hill did
some active work, and was in con-
| ference with senators in the committee.
rooms, corridors and cloak rooms, and in
| this missionary work was assisted by
several republicans. The friends of the
administration were not less energetic,
but lacked the helping hand of the repub-
licans, such as had declared their inten-
ton Of supporting the nominee, content
ing themselves with that and making no
efforts to make proselytes among their
| colleagues The cloak rooms of the Sen
ate filed up at an earlier hour than
usual, and the tariff gave way in the
| cloak room talk to gossip about the out
| come of to-daY's battle. Both sides still
possessed confidence, but there were evil
dences of anxiety on the part of the OPP
posing leaders.
A CANVASS OF THE SENATE.
Last night careful canvass was made
of the Senate by leading senator and
the vote, as compiled by him, showed -
votes against Peckham. 81 votes for him
| and IL doubtful. If this list be accurate,
the nominee would be defeated, evenif all
| the doubtful men voted for confirmation.
OF course, in such poll, account is taken
| OF abSenteeS who are paired Those
marked doubtful in this list are: Messrs
| Allison, Hale, Hoar, Kyle, Lodge, Nc
| MILAN, McLaurin, Morrill, Squire Stock
| bridge and Washburn.
| According to the same poll, Messrs.
| Dixon and Sherman are placed in the af-
| firmative; but it is claimed that Mr.,
| Dixon will not vote to confirm. Mr. Alli-
son voted against Judge Hornblower, and
it is expected that he will vote the same
| way.
Mr.. Dolph, who has been counted as be-
ing opposed to Mr.. Peckham, it is now
said, will vote for him; but this is Offset
by the fact that Mr.. Hoar has come out
against the nominee, and declared his in
tention of voting to reject. In this way,
also Mr.. lodge, and possibly Mr.. Morrill,,
will be transferred from the doubtful col
umn to those in active opposition.
| AS the hour for the executive session
| approached, the anti-administration men
became more aggressive.
o.. OPENING OF THE SESSION.
When the doors of the Senate were
| closed, MIR. Pugh at once called up the
| nomination and proceeded to address the
Senate. He laid before the Senate the
matter contained in the letters that had
| been sent to the committee and made an
| argument against the fitness of Mr.. Peck
ham for the high place to which he had
been appointed, calling the special atten-
| ton of the Senate to what he termed the
| prejudiced character of mind of the
nominee. Mr. Pughs speech was ad-
dressed mainly to the legal qualifications
| of MIR. Peckham, which, he said with
| much positiveness, were entirely incon-
sistent with the duties of a jurist. The
nominee was, he said, more the biased
and pejudiced special pleader than
the impartial judge, capable of
looking into both sides of a legal
| question. He also opposed him sor
| his attitude in certain elections, when,
| Mr. Pugh said, Mr. Peckham had proved
| by his actions that he was not a good
democrat. MIR. Pugh spoke for an hour
and half, making a temperate, but, as
| senator's pronounce it, strong speech.
He was followed briefly by Mr.. Harris,
| dem, of Tennessee, in support of confir-
| nation.
At 4:45 O'Clock, MIR. Lindsay, dem, of
| Kentucky, member of the judiciary com
mittee, replied to some of the arguments
| of Mr.. Pugh, and made an earnest speech
| in behalf of the nominee. Mr. Lindsay
spoke for upward of an hour, and at $50
! o'clock was followed by Mr. Mcpherson,
! dem, of New Jersey, in favor of confrma-
| ton.
AT so o'clock, Mr.. Villas got the floor.
| prepared for a lengthy speech, and it be-
came evident that no result could be
reached. BY common consent an adjourn
| ment was taken until tomorrow, when
the discussion will be renewed imme-
! diately after the morning business.
| BOTH SIDES BoAsTFUL.
There was no attempt to test the feel
! ing of the Senate on Mr.. Peckham's nom
/ nation, but had it not been for several
! social engagements, including two din
ners and thcater party, a
night session would probably have
resulted. The contest will be
renewed Immediately after the morning
| UuSluSSSi anu OO-uls III bObu SUES Chilli
victory. The Hill men figure out a ma
| jority of about nine, while the friends of
Mr.. Peckham say they believe he will be
confirmed by a small majority. An effort
is being made to consolidate the demo
Gratis on party lines.
| HILL PULLING THE WIRES.
Richmond, Va, Feb. 15.-William H.
| Sands, of this city, received to-day tele-
! gram from Senator David B. Hill asking
! him to get some prominent democrats
here to wire Senator John w. Daniels,
asking him to oppose the confir-
nation of Mr.. Peckham for associate
| justice of the supreme court of the Uni
ted States Mr.. Sands circulated tele-
! gram to Senator Daniels, which read
| about as follows: I'VE are opposed to
the confirmation of Peckham's nomina-
ton" and it was signed by several mem
| bers of the House and the Senate and one
or more nonresident members of the
/ state democratic committee