The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1904-03-19
SEVEN HOURS OF EXPLANATION
AND DENUNCIAIION.
Result Is a Committee to Examine
Into Origin of BristOw Report
Minority Wants PostOffice De.
partment Investigated Also.

remuneration, and then OrCered, with
only two negative votes, an invetsi-
CATION of postal affairs so far as mem
bers of the house are concerned, by a
special committee of seven members
to be appointed by the speaker, who
likewise are to examine into the origin
of the Bristow report so far as it con-
Germs members of the house.
The demand of a minority for a
sweeping investigation of every branch
of the postoffice department was not
granted.
| A resolution for an investigation Of
! the connection of members of the de-
partment, offered by Mccall, of Mass
achusetts, was then agreed to, only
two members opposing it.
Defends the Committee.
Mr.. Cowherd, of MISSOURI, was rec
ognized and defended the action of the
committee presenting the report. There
was no occasion, he said, to refer the
matter to the committee to see wheth-
er the charges against members had
been made. The report of Gen. Bris-
tow had gone out with the approval of
the president.
81 say now, " he vigorously declar-
ed, that if we must answer whether
the charge is true that Beavers usually
complied with the requests of mem
bers of congress regardless of the mer.
its of the case, the answer is that the
charge is true"
The committee, he said, could not
undertake to edit the department. re-
port, nor could they discriminate be-
tween the cases cited. If they had
done so, the committee, he said, would
have been dashed from the floor of
the house.
Mr.. Bruleson, of Texas, vigorously
asserted that the department had given
the committee information not asked
for, and yet, he said, you laid it be-
| fore this house. He declared it an
outrage.
And 1 say that the committee could
do nothing else," holly retOrted Mr..
Cowherd. "The members of this house
owed it to themselves that the truth
be given.
Mr.. Cowherd then entered upon a
vigorous and emhatic answer to the
charges and epithets which members
had hurled at the department. The
mem beers, he said, had stated that the
department had lied and published a
malicious SANDER against members of
the house Several members did it for
purpose, and the members of the
house will appoint committee before
which members cannot go and have
the particular case investigated.
But" he said, his words being
greeted with applause, ':when You
come to investigate the department, it
must be by yourselves.
Continuing, he inquired:
Are you going to say to the country
that the department that lies about
you tells the truth? Tells the truth
about it's own actions? Do you intend
to 60 before your constituency and the
people of the United States and say
that this great department which pub
lished this report conceived in sin and
borne in iniquity' is the purest and
best aud most capable to examine into
its own iniquities?" He was, he said,
a partisan and party man, but he
put the honesty and the honorable
management of "a great department of
the government above the demands of
any party that ever lived The Amer
lean people are not hysterical and
members need not be afraid of their
censure because they go to the depart
ment and demand their just rights and
the rights of their constituents.
He closed with the suggestion that
there is one path you can tread with
Justice to yourselves and honor to the
country, and that is full examina-
ton of the entire postal affairs, both
as to themselves and to US"
Many members, amid much excite
ment, made remarks on the subject,
most of them denouncing the Bristow
report 80 far rs it concerned members
of the house, as wholly uncalled for.
When near the close of the session
there was a moments pause. Mr.. Nc
Call demanded the previous question,
and his resolution was carried, 256 to
9. Lind, Democrat, of Minnesota, and
Gillespie, Democrat, of Texas, voting
in the negative.
The vote had the effect of sending
the Hay resolution to the special COM
mittee named in the Mccall resolution
but does not provide for an investiga-
ton of the postoffice department.
Mr.. Williams then offered resolu-
ton providing for the appointment of
committee of five house members TO
investigate the postoffice department.
Mr.. Payne demanded the regular or
der, and made an objection, which
was sustained.