The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-06-03
STAR CHAMBER ON SUGAR.
Hill Demands the Opening Of the
Committee Room Doors.


He Claims That the Senate Did Not
Authorizs Secret Hearings - He
Holds That Secretary Carlisle's Tes-
timony and the Stories of Senators
About Their Alleged Speculation in
Sugar Trust Certificates Should Not
Be Kept Beek-Pefer's Resolution in
Favor of Government Ownership of
the Coal Lands.
Washington, June 2-In the Senate to-
day the House joint resolution for the
purchase or condemnation of land in the
vicinity of the Gettysburg battlefield
was taken up on motion of Mr.. Hill, and
passed after brief debate.
The resolution offered yesterday by Mr..
PETER, for taking possession of, and
holding for public use, the coal beds of
the country, was taken up and referred
to the judiciary committee.
The resolution offered by Mr.. Hill, for
open sessions of the select committee on
the sugar trust investigation, was laid
before the Senate and Mr.. Hill spoke in
its support He thought that open ses-
sions of the committee were fairly con-
templated by the resolution for its ap-
pointment 1t was in the usual form
and did not authorize secret
sessions, neither did it refuse
that authority. There was nothing in
the original resolution that permitted any
senator to suggest that its proceedings
should be secret. He started off with
the general proposition that the proceed
ings of Senate investigation committees
should be open, that, as a general rule,
they were open, and that there was moth
ing about this case that required the pro-
ceedings to be secret.
HILL TALKS DESPITE THE TARIFF.
At l0:30 o'clock a. m, the tariff bill
was laid before the Senate, but Mr. Hill
said he would continue his remarks,
availing himself of the latitude of debate
authorized in the Senate. He went on to
say that the investigation should be open
to the public and the press, and that
would prevent any suspicion that the
Senate 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. One
Of the points of the investigation was
whether the Secretary of the Treasury
had made suggestions about the sugar
schedule for the action of the finance
committee. Was there anything, he
asked, so peculiar. so improper, so unpre-
cedented about that that the testimony
in regard to it should not be taken in the
broad light and in the presence of the
press and of the people. Another
point was whether senator's had
speculated in sugar stock. There
was no reason why testimony
in regard to that should not be taken in
open session. He was sure that there
had. not been so many purchasers of
stock, here, around this circle, that
there was any fear that disclosure of
the facts would influence the New York
stock market, that, therefore, it was not
wise to disclose how many purchasers
had been made around this circle.
NEITHER PUBLIC NOR SECRET.
The sessions of the committee, Mr..
Hill added, were supposed to be secret,
but they were neither one thing nor the
other Partial reports were given to the
public by the distinguished chairman of
the committee. Either the proceedings
should be entirely secret or wholly pub
lie. If the public was to have any
inkling of what was taking place,
it should have the whole of it. As an
illustration of the unreliability of the
plan pursued Mr.. Hill spoke of Mr. Nc
Pherson, having been called before the
committee few days ago. The newspa-
paper men, he said were watching the
doors of the committee room to know
who went in and who came out.
And when witnesses refused TO tell
them to what they had testified, the
newspaper men made surmises. So one
newspaper, in publishing the statement
carefully prepared by the chairman of the
committee said that the senator from
New Jersey had admitted speculation in
sugar stocks, and another newspaper said
he had admitted nothing improper The
two statements were entirely different.
1t was a case of You pay your money
and take,your choice"
CARLIsLE's TESTIMONY.
So yesterday morning he learned from
the public press that the Secretary of the
Treasury has been before the committee
He had picked up one paper and read that
the Secretary of the Trersury swore on
the stand that he was responsible for the
sugar schedule. Then he had picked up
another paper, and read that the secre-
tary had denied that he was responsible
for the sugar schedule, and had stated
that he had made no suggestion, but that
he had, in the discharge of his duty, pre-
pared another and a very different sched-
ule. This playing last and lOOSe' was
unjust to the witnesses, unjust to the
great public and unjust to the Senate.
The old fashioned way OF public sessions
would have been the better way.
GRAY ANSWERS FOR THE COMMITTEE.
Mr.. Gray, chairman of the investiga-
ting committee, replied to Mr.. Hill on the
duty which had been assigned to the
committee. that it was one which all
it's members would have been glad
to avoid, but the duty having
been assigned to them they intended
to perform it to the best of their
ability and with the best judgment that
they could bring to them. The personal
inclination of the committeeman and
their personal comfort would have
suggested the throwing open of the
doors Of the committee room while con-
Quoting the investigation, but after delib-
Grafton and discussion and careful con-
sideration of the nature of the duty i'm
posed upon them, they had come to the
conclusion that for the present, at any
rate, the end in view could be better pro-
NOTED by proceeding as they did.
RECORD OF THE SENATE.
Mr. Hill having asserted that the