The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-23
SENATE WILL NOT INVESTIGATE
CHARGES OF SPECULATION.
Members Who Bought and Sold Sugar
Stocks, If ANY, May Put Aside Their
Fears for the Present.
REPORT OF SENATOR JONES
ON THE RESOLUTION INTRODUCED BY
"PITCHEORX'' TILLMAN.
All Newspaper Charges Alleged to BE
Mere Indefinite illusions, Insin-
uatiOns and Guesses.

Mere Indefinite illusions, Insin-
uatiOns and Guesses.
WASHINGTON, July Ex-senator Jones,
of Nevada, chairman of the committee on
contingent expenses, to-day submitted the
report of that committee on the resolution
introduced by Senator Tillman for an in
vestigation of the charges of specializing in
Sugar stocks, etc. The report takes a
strong position against ordering the inVestt-
cation and is a very exhaustive review of
the procedure Of the Senate in the past in
such matters. The report takes the posi-
| ton that, aside from the names of the
newspaper men themselves, only the name
| of Senator Smith, of New Jersey, is men
| toned in the newspaper making the charges
| on which the resolution was based. The
| position is taken that the newspaper men
| do not count "inasmuch as those gentle
| men do not profess to write from knowl-
! edge and usually, if not always, decline to
disclose the sources of their information"
| With reference to Senator Smith the report
| says:
Here is q newspaper charge made
| against a senator OF the United States
| without any aVerment of personal knoWl-
! edge the part of the writer and without
| the slightest particle of evidence to sus-
| tain it-nOt even much would warrant
| a justice of the peace IN summoning wit
| nesSeS 10 determine the truth of a COM
| plant by one citizen against another with
! reference to the most trining incident of
| everyday life. 1t is the bold and naked as
| sertiOn of a man who does not profess or
| pretend to have any knowledge whatever
| OF the alleged fact OF which he writes. On
| the other hand, have a definite, explicit
! senator aTtected-a denial publicly MADE
! from his place in the Senate upon the re-
the United States"
| AS to the clause of the resolution which
charges that brokers in New York knew
| in advance what the financial committee
| would report as to the sugar schedule, the
| committee says it can find in the newspaper
| clippings presented in support of the pro-
| posed inquiry nothing but indefinite al
! lusions, insinuations, guesses and infer
! ences drawn by correspondents from hear
| say statements, and the hearsay some
| times several degrees removed Many of
| their expressions indicate the timsiness of
| the foundation on which they have erected
| this structure OF scandal The attack of
| one of the correspondents is characterized
! as "a deliberate, unfair and enVenomed de-
| termination to, if possible, bring upon the
| subcommittee of the finance committee the
| contempt of the country"
CANNOT FIND AUTHORITY.
Whenever" the report continues, I'VE
approach statement that, judging from
the sensational heading of the article seems
| about TO give definite and responsible
| information, which could be reached by an
| investigation, we are disappointed to find
that, instead of affording evidence of the
| alleged fact, the statements consist of in
| situations, mysterious hints and indefinite
! illusions made on the authority of some
| person whose name the correspondent does
| not disclose All these guesses, differences
| and 1nnuendoes are met in the most direct
| and emphatic manner by the statement of
! the senator from Rhode Island, Mr.. AL
| dr1ch, the chairman of the subcommittee of
| the finance committee having in charge the
arrangement of the details of the tariff
| Senator Aldrich's reply to Senator Till
| man, in which he refers to Senator Jones
| of Nevada, as the only senator outside of
| the subcommittee who had knowledge of
| It's proceedings, is quoted at length. Re-
| plying to this statement Senator Jones
| makes an individual parentheticaI state
| ment in which he says: He is men,
| Der of the finance committee of the Senate
| and that such information as he obtained
| from the subcommittee on the occasion re-
| ferred to by the senator from Rhode Island
| was information received in legitimate Off
| cial consultation with the members of the
! subcommittee and that such information
was conveyed by Mr.. Jones to no human
| being in any form or manner before the
! presentation of the particulars to the Sen
! ate and it's publication in due and orderly
| course"
The report takes the position that the dis
! tinct assertion of senators is not to be
| Outweighed by newspaper attacks insti-
| gated by men willing to make statements
| to newspaper correspondents with view to
| publication, and then, like assassins who
| use the stiletto in the dark, skulk behind
| those correspondents and refuse to permit
tn eIr names 10 De mace known, even Tor
! purposes of evidence" 1t would, they con-
| tinue, be monstrous to set in motion the
| investigating machinery of the Senate
| every time that such an attack is made
| a thew conclude
| every unfathered rumor and unsupported
! charge were to be held sufficient ground on
! which to base an investigation into the offi-
| cial conduct of the peoples representatives.
! there is no legislative body in the world
! that could for single day carry on the
| work for which it was designed. It's entire
| time would be given over to the work of
| investigating rumOrs, whispers and charges.
| Before the investigation of one such could
! be completed, another would have made it's
| appearance and, when the second had been
| investigated, a third would have been pro-
| vided and would be ready, which in turn.
| would be succeeded by a fourth. and the
! fourth by a fifth. There would be no end"
| CANNOT INVESTIGATE RUMORS.
The committee says that the Senate has
on several occasions held with reference
| to proposed Investigations into the conduct
of it's members, that in order to warrant
so grave a proceeding there should be some
| tangible evidence-some specific and prop
erly supported allegation of fact from a
responsible source ana NOT merely vague
general charges of rumors."
! The committees says with reference to the
| portion of the resolution which requires the
reopening Of the inquiry of 1894. that no
new evidence has been produced and that
the proceedings in the courts lin the mat
ter of certain contumacOus witnesses do
not show any probability of securing in
formation beyond that already adduced."
It calls attention to the fact that in all
the prosecutions growing out of the former
inquiry there was only one conviction, the
others being acquitted on the ground that
the questions put to them were not per-
tinent The committee concludes that this
status cannot be changed by reopening the
case.
With reference to the proposition that in
quiry be made whether the Sugar Trust
has contributed to or controlled the cleo
ton Of a senator in this body at any time
tire committee expresses the opinion that
the time to investigate a subject Of that
character will be when some evidence is
offered to show cause for the inquiry"
and adds that upon the election of a SEN
ator his political or other opponents are
sufficiently active and alert in their own
interest or in interest of their party to
make known to the Senate any irreguIarity
or cause for contest in his election. In so
far as the American Sugar Refining Com
pany may offend against the statutes of
the United States let it be dealt with ac-
cCrding to law. We are not the apologists