The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-06-04
TALKATIVE TILLMAN.
South Carslinian Spelling Morgan
in the Senate.
LED IN ANOTHER SENSATIONAL
COLLOQUY YESTERDAY,

The Proposed Sugar Investigation Causes
of All the Trouble-More Progress
Made on Tariff schedule-Forenoon
Sessions Will Begin Today.
Washington, June 3.-In the Senate to-
day Mr.. Vest of Missouri, offered a reso-
lution.reciting that the skeletons of Anne
RIGA soldiers killed at BuenaVista in 1S47,
were being exhumed, and asking the State
Department to investigate the subject
and report the facts to Congress. The
resolution was agreed to. Z
| Mr. Tillman of South Carolina then
came forward with another phase of the
proposed sugar investigation, closing
with a motionssto discharge the committee
consideration of the resolution recently
offered by him to investigate the alleged
speculation in sugar stocks. Mr. Till
man began by presenting a clipping from
a Haverhill, Mass. paper, referring to the
recent speech of Mr.. Tillman and adding
a query as to whether the proposed sugar
inquiry would be supplemented by an
inquiry into the charges of ex-senator
Butler in connection with Mr.. Till1nan' s
administration of the South Carolina
dispensary law.
The charges against him were stale, Mr.
Tillman said. He had met them before
and he read an open letter written to the
1e IL 50.
the charges as ISLANDERS. This was an at
tempt to divert attention from the sugar
schedule, the senator declared, but the
attempt would fail. He had come from
the plough to the governorship of South
Carolina over the prostrate forms of those
constituting the old regime, and it had
won him many enemies. All the crimes
in the decalogue had been charged against
him. He had appealed to his people and
the Senate after a heated canvass in
which Mr.. Butler had sought to ely
blow" his (Tillman's) character. If any
man desired to look into his character,
then said Mr.. Tillman, he courted the
fullest inquiry. And any other senator
against whom there was the breath of
scandal, should have the charges probed
to the bottom and the scandal dispelled.
He had made no charges against the Sen
ator from New Jersey, Mr.. Smith, he de-
clared, but had merely submitted the
published charges now before the public
and, since the committee had made no
report on the resolution, Mr. Tillman
said he would now move to discharge the
committee from further confederation of
the resolution. So that, 7" he added, with
rising infection, "senators cannot put
themselves on record as to whether they
want these charges investigated.
He said he approached the chairman of
41,.N
i (Jones of Nevada, and had been told by
him that he was ready to report the reso-
luton, but was awaiting the action of the
other members of the committee (Jones
of Arkansas and Gallinger of New Hamp-
shire.)
Mr.. Gallinger then secured recognition
for statement of the attitude of the
committee 'tEvery man in public life
feels the sting of false charges" he said,
land must the Senate pause every time
such accusations are brought to spend its
time and money of the United States in
pursuing these charges? If this was to
be the case then there would never be
a tariff bill or any other bill.
1t was for every senator to act as he
saw fit on these floating charges, but not
for the Senate as body to take cogni-
zance of.them. As for himself, Mr.. Gal
linger said, he would decline to enter in
to an inquiry as to the character Of the
Senator from South Carolina or of any
other member of the Senate. He protest
ed against this effort to relieve the COM
mittee which was proceeding with all
due speed in considering a question of
this Importance.
Here Mr.. Vest suggested that there
was a precedent for ignoring charges
( against the personal character of sena-
tor. He referred to the attitude of Sena-
tor Thurman when an investigation was
proposed against one OF his associates.
He had held that the courts were open for
private redress and that it was not for the
Senate to undertake to right private
wrong.
Mr.. Tilhnan was again on his feet.
The newspapers were trying to make a
fire in his rear, he said, while he was
engaged in fire in front. His resolu-
tion simply sought to determine whether
the finance committee was the creature
of the sugar trust, whether senators were
'the tools and paid agents of the sugar
trust" or whether they were here per-
forming their duties as honorable men.
Mr.. Gallinger proceeding, said the peo-
pie OF each senator's state must pass up
on his character. The people of South
Carolina have passed upon the character
OF the senator from South Carolina and
that was sufficient vindication without
an appeal to the Senate. Intimations
ana vague charges had been made against
the members of the finance committee
and against the senator from New Jersey
(Smith.) Mr.. Gallinger went on. Those
who knew these senators needed no inves-
tigation to show that the charges were
false.
But since these had been made the SEN
ator. from Rhode Island, .(Aldrich), a
leading member of the finance committee
had risen and had made a special and
sweeping denial to the Senate. So that,
J declared the senator, it is the word Of
Nelson A. Aldrich against that of the cor
respondent of a New York newspaper
Which was the Senate to accept? Was
there to be moments hesitation in
accepting the statement of Mr. Aldrich?
"Can Senator Aldrich and the commit
tee deny hearing?' queried Mr.. Till
man, when the paper making the
, charge offered to appear and prove the
charge
Mr.. Gallinger said that this investiga
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