Year: 1878

.o,-,,,vc W.T. MISUNDERSTANDING PERPLEXING
orrsuoNs-sECRET OR OPEN SESSIONS.


lPY TELEGRAPH TO THg TRTBUNEI


WASHINGTON, May 2G.-The Potter investigating
committee will hold meeting tomorrow, at which
q is expected that final arrangements for begin
ming the inquiry will be made.


TGroo ouestioas remain to be decided: First,
,bat the scope of the investigation shall be;
.ooondly. whether subcommittee shall be sent
SOnth OF not and thirdly, whether the sessions of
,hs eommittoe shall be secret or public.
The first of these will be difficult one to deter
mine There is a certain amount OF sO-called evil
depce that was prepared before the inquiry was
ordered and which was made the basis of the Potter
,esolution, which it is expected will be presented
early during the sessions of the committee But this
snot cOmplete-that is, there are certain missing
links that can only be supplied by oral testimony,
and without which the evidence is of little I'M
portance. The first aim of the Democrats Will prob
ably be to supply this oral testimony Besides this
Democratic members of the committee are Hooded
with letters from IN all parts of the country,
who desire TO be summoned to Washington
TO give testimony. The Republican members
of the committee will, at one OF the
earliest meetings, present written request
for the calling Of numerous witnesses from Louis
lana Florida Oregon, South Carolina and Clncin-
natl, with statement of the Democratic frauds
attempted. briberies, etc, which they expect 10
prove. This paper was TO have been submitted TO-
morrow, but will now probably be withheld for
day OF two longer. The Republicans are still de-
termined to make an aggressive fight before the
committee and to put the Democrats on the ue-
fensive-as they ought TO be.


On the question of sending subcommittee South
there is some division of opinion. When this was
proposed in the committee at one of its meetings
General j. ID. Cox objected with considerable
warmth to any such division of the committee until
the investigation has gone far enough to enable It's
members to know what the subcommittee are eN-
pected to do Besides this the is now so far
advanced that none of the members of the commit
tee are anxious to go to New-Orleans or FLORIDA.


When the question of open secret sessions was
raised in the committee the other day. General But
Ter was very strenuous for closed doors The Demo-
Gratis on the committee are hating between two
ppiuions The majority of them would probably
prefer secret sessions if they could in fact be kept
secret but that is impossible Certain journalists,
representing Democratic newspapers extremely
revolutionary in their character, have been en-
ploved all Winter and Spring in the collection of
so-caledevidence of fraud They have, IN partial pay
Inent for their services been allowed to copy all the
documents that the promoters of the investigation
have obtained and have arranged them with sensa-
tona comments for publication as sOOn as they are
laid before the committee. Besides this, as Demo-
cratic members of the committee admit, it has been
practically impossible to keep secret the proceed
ines Of any important committee One Democrat
remarked, to-day that lie was opposed to. open
sessions because the live newspapers of the
country are all Republican in politics
and if their correspondents are. allowed to
be present at the meetings of the committee
they will fill the country with their interpretations
of the proceedings In truth. the Democrats cannot
afford to hold secret investigation. The revGln-
tiOnary tendency of the whole proceeding Is PLAN
enough and bad enough with the inquiry open and
above board. With star chamber sessions IT Will be
iDtOlerable.


1t is reported that the mission OF Alfred Morton to
Florida is to bring Judge MclIn to Jacksonville,
where he will be accessible to subcommittee.
McLin lives $50 miles up the st. John River. and
long WAY from mnll rontcs.