The record-union., 1897-03-09

served upon A. NJ. Lawrence managing
and supervising editor of the Exam
iner," and upon L. L. Levings, CORE
spondent and reputed author of said
article, and upon Al Murphy, also a
correspondent of the Examiner" and
Whereas, In pursuance of said sub
penas SO issued and served, the said
witnesses appeared before the commit
tee Of investigation of this Senate on
the evening of March ), 1897, and
each of the witnesses being severally
duly sworn and during the course of
the examination refused to answer
questions pertinent to the said issue as
to their knowledge touching the mat
ter set forth in said article, and to
papers which We're admitted to have
been in their possession or to tele-
grams which they had seen and had
knowledge of, and
Whereas, The truth of the said arti-
Gle is supposed to rest and be in the
knowledge of said witnesses, and
Whereas, They are supposed to have
caused the said article to be published,
and
Whereas, The said witnesses have
and pertinent and material to the in
vestigation before the said committee,
and
Whereas, The said committee has
reported to this Senate the refusal of
said witnesses to testify or to answer
questions material to the investigation;
now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Sergeant at
A 0f tIon 10 T. md bn ic
by authorized and directed to bring all
of said witnesses upon subpenas is
sued by the said committee through its
Chairman before the bar Of the Senate
forthwith, and then and there to an
swer the questions propounded to them,
and which they declined and refused to
answer and that upon the service of
the said subpoena upon said witnesses,
if they refuse or fail to attend at the
time aforesaid at the bar of the Sen
ate, that the Sergeant-at-Armsb be, and
he is hereby authorized and empowered
upon warrant issued by the Committee
of Investigation, through it's Chairman,
to arrest said witnesses and bring them
before the bar of the Senate that they
may purge themselves of contempt in
refusing to answer the said questions,
and be it further
Resolved, That upon the appear
ance of said witnesses if they so desire
it, that they and each of them may
have counsel to represent them, but
that said counsel shall not be permitted
to occupy more than one-half hour of
time, and be it further
| Resolved, That upon the said wit
nesses being brought before the bar
of the Senate, that the President of the
Senate shall ask them if they have any
cause to show why they should not be
punished for contempt in refusing to
answer the questions propounded to
them by said committee, through its
counsel"
SEAWELL'S POSITION.
Seawell took the floor and said that
while he had signed the report of the
committee, he believed the inquiry
would If continued, be prosecuted un-
availingly, and that the investigation
would leave the matter where it stood
at the beginning. He did not believe
any of the charges brought by the
Examiner" but felt that to prosecute
the investigation meant a waste of
time. He thought no ultimate good
would result from further investigation
by the Senate and that the matter
should go before the Grand Jury or
some other body. No good could or
would come out of the controversy, and
it ought to be referred to some other
tribunal.
MOREHOUSE EXPLAINS.
Morehouse said the Senate was not
undertaking to prosecute any news
| oh hn6
brought against one. 1t was the news
Iaper which had brought charges
against the Senate by the statement,
You have been bribed," but when the
employees of that paper are asked to
disclose the nature of the information
upon which the charge was based, they
had replied, We decline to reply" The
charge was brought against the whole
Senate, and the entire State was ask
ing whether the Senate was composed
Ct scalawags or honest men. The
paper went out over the State with the
statement that the Senate was COM
posed of a parcel of infamous scoun-
drels, and it would be cowardly to lie
under those aspersions particularly
when coming from a great newspaper.
l. the investigation was continued, the
truth would at last come to the top,
and the Senate be shown to be COM
posed Of honorable men.
No direct charge against himself the
speaker said, had been made. He
wished to God there had been. In
that case he would have the courage,
alone and unaided, to call the Exam
iner" before the courts, and there show
up its falsity and corruption.
Why, he asked, should the Senate
bow down before A. NJ. Lawrence, be-
cause he happens to be a hired scrib-
bier of an INSCRIPTIONS newspaper?
When did he become a god? You,
the speaker said indicating the mem
| berS present, may be afraid of him,
but / am not, and neither do 1 fear
the Examiner thank God. An honest
man has nothing to fear from any
source"
These holy, god-lke men of the press
had said of the Senate, the speaker
said, You have accepted bribes," but
when asked to produce their evidence,
they replied, I'VE decline to answer
They wrote "scoundrel' across the
foreheads of the Senators, and still
there We're Senators who would argue
that the time of the session was too
short to allow the investigation to pro-