The record-union., 1897-03-10

ed by the said committee, We're then
and there propounded to him, the said
! A. NJ. Lawrence, by the President of
| the Senate, and he, the said A. NJ.
Lawrence, then and there again re-
fused and declined to answer the said
questions, having no lawful or legal ex-
| cuse therefor, and having been duly
represented by counsel of his own cleo
ton, and having the ability and power
to answer the said questions, but con-
tumaciously refused to answer the
same; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the said A. NJ. Law
renee be and he is hereby declared to
be guilty of contempt of this Senate;
and be it further
Resolved, That he, the said A NJ.
Lawrence, be taken into custody by the
| Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, and
that he be committed to the County Jail
| of the county of Sacramento, State of
California, until he shall have purged
himself of this contempt by answering
the questions which We're propounded to
him under the direction of the Senate;
that copy of this resolution duly at
tested by the Secretary of the Senate,
| be the authority of the Sergeant at
Arms of the Senate and the Sheriff of
the county of Sacramento"
MOREHOUSE MEANS IT.
Morehouse moved the adoption of the
resolution and Francks seconded the
motion, whereupon the former took the
floor and briefly reviewed the article
published in the Examiner" headed
Bribery in Aid of Thievery,' in which
! it had been asserted beyond doubt
bribes ranging from $3.50 to $500 had
been received by members for votes for
A. B. 273
The speaker related how he had Of
fered resolution, which was adopted
providing that committee be appoint
ed to investigate the matter contained in
the article, and find out, if possible, who
the men We're who had received from
$3.50 to $500 for their vote
| The committee had been appointed
and in getting to the bottom of the mat
ter had found that one A NJ. Lawrence
was managing editor of the "Examin-
er," and issued a subpoena for him to ap-
pear and testify. The speaker paused
to inquire if there was anything wrong
about that. The supposition, he contin-
ued, naturally was that the Examiner
knew who the guilty ones We're, and its
managing editor was squarely asked the
question and declined to answer"
RESPECT TO KNIGHT.
| There were men in the Senate fully as
competent to pass upon it's rights, the
speaker said as was George A. knight,
hired Republican speaker, who ap-
peared for the witnesses
Morehouse read from the investiga
ton proceedings that landed McCarty in
| jail, and submitted that it was upon
lines parallel to the present case. He
quoted to show that the charge was
| similar, and that resolution the coun-
| terpart of the one offered by him, had
| been the commitment which warranted
McCarty's imprisonment
In speaking of the assertion made by
| Knight that the Senate had only the
| power to discharge one of its members,
| the speaker submitted that a charge of
| bribery had been made. If such charges
were true the Senate would be lacking in
consistency and would be cowardly in
the extreme in dropping an investiga-
ton set on foot to bring the guilty man
| to justice. Nor was that ALL He quoted
from the Constitution, showing under it's
provisions the Senate was empowered
to protect itself and members form Ii
belOus and slanderous assaults This,
he said, was a distinct refutation of the
argument advanced by Attorney
Knight.
Further than that, Morehouse said,
the Constitution provided that the SEN
ate should protect itself and it's mem
bers from corruption, and also that it
should investigate any subject matter
pertaining thereto and to subpoena wit
nesses to testify. These subpenas, he
said, would apply to most persons, but
it was contended that they would not
apply to reporters on a. newspaper the
reputation of which would be injured
were it placed on an honorable basis.
BOARDING THE LION.
He called attention that the investi-
cation was not persecution of the "Ex-
aminer," but that as the employees of
that paper had seen fit to throw down
the gage and denied the right of the
Senate to question them he had had the
courage to pick it up-to beard the lion
in his den, the Douglass in his hall" He
expected opposition from the "Examin-
err" but he said: Let them pile on; the
time will come when my voice will be
heard from Siskiyou to San Diego, and
be bigger than any newspaper in the
State, and don't you forget it,
ASKS A QUESTION
Why should the Senate, the speaker
inquired, bow to the will of A NJ. Law
renee because he chanced to manage a
big newspaper? Was he a god that men
and women should fall down and wor-
ship? Yet these honest and honorable
men" had said the Constitution did not
apply to newspaper reporters. He spoke
he said, of the honest and honora BILE
men, as did Mark Antony-ironically.
In speaking to the materiality of the
questions asked, Morehouse quoted
from the statutes to show that they
We're proper. He insisted that justice
ought to be dealt out regardless of the
fact that the parties before the bar
were connected with big newspaper.
He knew that some men were afraid
Of 1t, and felt the sting. He, too, felt
the sting but said that, by the grace
of God, he would never yield until the
matter had been probed TO the bottom.
Lawrence, he continued had stood be-
fore the bar of the Senate, and refused
to answer-refused to tell the truth
The latter was not at all extraordinary,
as. to tell the truth while editor of the
Examiner would salivate his whole
life.
There was no politics in the question,
the speaker continued. but a plain.
simple matter of making Lawrence tell
the truth That was all that was de-
sired 60 fa ha WAS nnnnarn q