New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-03-01

effect
TILLAIAN THE GREATER OFFENDER
Mr. Burrows then presented the report of the
ma tority of the committee. The report reclted the
history Of the alteration. and quoted the lahsuase
used by the offenders. All agreed 10 TINS S'@'0
ment. The report then continued as follows:
infringement of the privileges OF the Senate VIC
acer lending III sueS bTng the gg0o
contempt cannot be questioned or oehs sdx niSced
the Senate by unanimous vote mas areduy piaS5Su
on record its condemnation OF the oehd'0lS W w
carins both guilty Of contempt are Of opinion
that the legal effect of adJudging these senator's III
tfons as Senators. and that such punishment Ior
disorderly behavior clearly WITHIN the P oTe5
OF the Senate, but the conclusion they nsvG ms
makes It unnecessary to discuss this queSnon Lue
offences committed by the two senators tt 81
equal gravity. The charge made by Mr. d1 fitn
denied in parliamentary language by Mr. Mciaurin:
The offence charged against Mr. McLauIih o Ma
commit. He could not ignore or fail TO reIute 10
and hope to be longer respected as either man Oh
McLaurin did not commence the encounter. but
Spe s and n resisted the attack that made
upon him. In other words. his offence was cohnne1
he had unusual proyocation Nevertheless. his Of
fence was violation OF the rules of the Senate OF
committee, IL should be condemned -, a..
the ne %asg St & commeneed b the Charge he
made against Mr.. McLaurin. Such charge is IN
TO investigate. Mr.. Tillman not only made me
charge without any avowal OF purpose 10 lh S
to establish the offence. and this he said AFTER TER
the charge had been specifically and unduahned3y y
any circumstances. would he resented by any man
worthy to be a Senator; but made ii was in this
instance. its offenSivenesS greatly tntenslned
and the result must have been foreseen by Mr. TIL
me s9V OK b s ae6 This feature Of his
offence; coupled with the fact that he also com
distance away from Mr. McLaurin, and. rushing
violently upon him struck him in the face makes
the case one of such exceptional misbehavior that
ajorty of the committee are or opinion that
this offence was of much greater gravity than
The penalty of censCre by the Senate in. in the
offence OF which the offender has been adjudged
guilty. Therefore, Notwithstanding the fact that
in the opinion of the majority OF the committee,
under consideration. your COMMITTEES are Of the
that b PULLS good and Re ana S 9
so far as this particular case is concerned by i'm
censure Of the Senate for the offence by him
committed and therefore recommend the adoption
of the resolution.
Mr. Bailey offered the following statement as rep
resenting views of himself and Senators Pettus.
Blackburn Dubois and Foster. of louisiana:
We dissent from so much Of the report OF the
committee as asserts the power OF the Senate TO
vote and SO much as describes the Offences Of the
Senators as of different gravity; but We approve
the resolution reported.
WANT TILLMAN MORE SEVERELY PUN
ISHED.
The report Of the minority Of the committee was
then presented by Mr.. McComas behalf OF him
self and Mr. Beverage. Mr. Pritchard concurring
in part These Senators say that. while they accept
the statement of the made in the principal
report. they DO not agree with the majority OF the
committee to the punishment proposed. Then
they say:
The junior Senator from South Carolina IS
guilty OF unparliamentary language The senior
violence Neither in the statutes Of any State nor
in the common opinion OF manknd are these two
sfpse OF TIL THIS g55Eo Eon Re retain b is 9w
ing over the grave offence it has suffered The
ightest f2rH Of is t TePTimand or
poses 70 infct for two offences differing in char
a are Of the Opinion that s eg IS na
quate. and 10 ignore the differences between the
are Of the opinion that the SUSPENSION Of the two
9tenders from SeatoraI prIvlleses herstoIore IN
tinued for different periods OF time
The minority report then enters on an extended
argument in support OF this proposition. based
the second clause fifth section Of the Constttu-
ton. comforting on each house Of Congress power
20 punish It's members for disorderly behavior
The report closes by recommending that McLaurin
be suspended from his functions as Senator for
five days and that Tillman be suspended for TWEEN
ty-hve days. The signers add:
The objection that no punishment should deprive
sovereign state OF us votes IN me senate Ias
above all the right and duty of the Senate OF the
United States TO punish an unusually grave Of
fence.
Mr.. Pritchard's addition to the above statement
is follows:
concur I'm all the foregoing views except as TO
the punishment of the junior Senator from South
he Sas ALREADY suffered is adequate 70 his ofencs
| make recommendauon as 10 the punis nment
to be imposed on the senior Senator from South
Carolina.
DEBATE ON THE RESOLUTION.
Mr.. Bacon called attention to what he considered
an important omission in the narrative of the ma
torfty OF the occurrences OF last Saturday. There
was no official record Of the proceedings IN the
secret executive session. he said but some Of the
salient facts ought be brought out. He said that
the senior Senator from South Carolina (NIr. TIL
mani had expressed his desire through the Senator
from Kentucky CMr. Blackburn to make public
acknowledgment Of his error and 10 apologize 10
the Senate The junior Senator from South Caro-
lima NIr McLaurin) had expressed the same desire
through him (AIr. Bacon). He deemed it important
that these facts should be made part Of the
record.
Mr. Ciallinger said that under the Senate rules 1t
was not competent to move 10 substitute minority
for A majority report. otherwise he would move to
substitute the minority report for that Of the ma
iority. as he believed the minority report recon-
mended the precise kind of punishment that ought
TO be inflicted the Senators involved. The
minority report he thought, properly differentiated
between the degrees OF offence committed by the
Senator'S In the circumstance he felt constrained
to vote for the resolution.
When the name OF Mr.. McLaurin. of Mississippi.
reached in the rollcan he said: Being related
by kfnship of the Senators involved I ask
to be excused from voting" The request was
granted.
Mr. McLaurin OF South Carolina one Of the
offending Senators. said IN response the call OF
his name which had been restored to the roll: Il
refrain from voting for obvious reasons"