Year: 1859

As to ths charge that ainteriinled dt the words " are hereby fequTeds' inathe reso- lntlons of Sfr. Vaughan + have tlAs to say. From the time r returned to little Rock. l after tel the recess, there were, daily applica- l aons to me by of the members of the House, to sign their certificates for their pay during the recess: this IT invariably refused to, do, and when the resolutions wefe5 shown to me lby Mr. Fanghan. I lat once discovered that their object was to give those members who wanted me Ito sfgn their certificates right to de- lnand that 1 should do it; and then the odium of having drawn the money would have been upon me, whilst now. by the in terineation, 1t is upon them. For unless that was the object of the resolution. there was no sense in its introduction, since I as opeaker already had the authority to sign thelr certificates, if had only had the will, and the reason why l interlined the words are hereby required" is that if the mem- bers intended to pass a resolution which would authorize them to call upon me to slgn their certificates, and if they intend ed It to require me to sign them, I wanted the resolution to say so in so many words -l wanted no ambiguity If this was not what Mr. Duval and others intended by the resolution, and if the resolution did not express their sentiments with the interlinea- tion, why did they vote for and pass it? voted against 1t, and although l interim ed 1t am not responsible for it, or its conse quences. Again, after the resolution al- luded to above with the interlneation was passed, and l refused to obey it, resolu tion was introduced into the House re- questing me, inasmuch as l could not obey the will of the House, upon that subject, to resign and this resolution, from all the indi cations, would have passed had it not been withdrawn, with the understanding that 1 would resign without it.

 Immediately after my resignation, when my whole course both public and private, upon the recess and per diem questions, were fresh in the minds and recollections of the members of the House, the follow ing resolution was offered by Mir. ohnson of Pulaski:

 " Resolccd, That the House of Represen- tatives tender their thanks to their late Speaker, Oliver H. Oates, for the able and impartial manner with which he has presi- ded over this House during the present session, and sincerely regret the necessity which induced him to resign the position which he filled with honor to himself, his friends and the country, and admire the exalted patriotism which animated him on surrendering to his fellow members the high honors which without solicitation they had conferred upon him."

 Which resolution was read and unani mously adopted.

 It will be seen that this resolution is more than ordinarily complimentary, and by the action of the House, its thanks are rendered to me for the satisfactory manner in which l had discharged my duties 1 was then, and am now, grateful to the members for this plaudit of "well done thou good and faithful servant" But it is mystery to me how men who knew me, to be at that time, as they now say l was, thus inconsistent and false to my pro- mises to them, could vote for or sit silent ly by and see the above resolution unani- mously adopted. The people of the State must try and reconcile this evident discrep- ancy between their official acts under oath, when the whole matter was fresh in their minds, and their private certificates in sup port of Mir. Duval and MemseloeS against me.

 Mr. Duval claims that he ought not to be censured by the people for doing what he thought was his duty under the law, but unfortunately for him, it is matter of public record, that he voted against an amendment offered by myself q believe) to the item of the appropriation bill, ap propriating sixty thousand dollars to pay , the members of the next General Assem- bly,. Here is the amendment: , Proyided, That should the next Gen. eral Assembly take recess none of the money hereby appropriated should be ap- piled to the payment of the per diem pay of the members during such recess.'

 This amendment was voted down in the House by those who sustained Mr. Duval upon this subject, thereby refusing to make any provision by law against like occur renee of this great public wrong, which is now so justly condemned by the people

 And again when the item of paying she clerks of the House was under considera-

 

 providing that the clerks should not be paid for the time during the recess, and Nr Duyal & Co. voted that amendment down thereby saying that the clerks who are elected by the House and whose pay might be increased or diminished by it, during the recess, should, when they were no wise in the service of the State, be paid at the rate of six dollars per day from the public trea- sury. What excuse has he to render the people for this-was it right to pay them during the recess or was 1t wrong? The members who voted for 1t are responsible for it. The clerks are not to blame for re- ceiving 1t if any of them did so, for they were the hired servants of the House, and dependent upon it for whatever pay they received, be it much or little.

 Now to wind up this whole matter and show to the people of the State, that those who had sustained Mr. Duval in his posi- ton were conscious of having done wrong, and were afraid of their action in this re- pect being brought to light, l will give below the substance of resolution offered by the Hon. Miles Jeffrey, of Izard county, who is man of sound judgment, sterling integrity, one of the people, and no mere politician, which was voted down.

 Here is the resolution:

 Whereas, the people of the State have the right to know what amount of money has been drawn from the public treasury, and for what purposes by the members of the House. Therefore be it

 Resolped, That the clerk of this House be required to procure from the auditor a copy of the memoranda kept by him of the per diem pay aud mileage of the mem bers of the General Assembly, and he is hereby instructed to insert the same in the journals as part thereof to unpublished. '"

 This is not rer6otim copy (not having the resolution before me, but is the sub stance of it.

 Mir. Duval was cautious to vote for the above resolution, yet those who had acted with him upon the per diem question voted it down. Why was it done? Were they afraid for the people to know how much of