Year: 1874

:


revive trade and restore confidence, we hsv,


the extraordinary spectacle of a joint com
mittee, composed Of three distinguishes


Senators and five distinguished Representa-


tives. working night and day for six weeks


with power to send for persons and papers


to ascertain who robbed Harrington 3 safe


and that, too, under resolution of Con


gress


Formerly this would have been regarded


the province of court. A burglary


usually investigated by q grand and peti


jury; but If Congress asserts Its jurisdic


ton We do not see why an investigator;


committee may not foreclose mortgage o


render judgment on promissory note


Certain memorialists inform Congress


that the Board of Public Works are guilt,


of malfeasance In Office. If the charge


made were entitled to recognition, why no


present articles of impeachment and tr1


these officers according to law? If they


have been guilty of violation of law, arr


not the courts openf Why single out thi


instance and devote an entire session to con


sidering it when there are such rich fields


promising abundant harvests, in every par


of this great countryH Look at New York


with an increase of thirty eight millions o.


debt and nothing to show for it Certainly


the Board of Public Works has accom-.


plished something Compare Washington


of to-day with the Washington of only


three years agol Are there not bu1slaries


committed every night in every city in this


countryf and are they not as clearly the


subject of Congressional investigation as


the oRe now receiving attention. Why


not investigate South Carolina, where Moses


has stolen the entire Statef


Conceding, for the sake of the argument


that Congress possesses judicial powers,


the question arises, 'fHow shall it exercise


them?" The tribunals established by the


Constitution are governed by well-known


rules. and those are the safeguards of the


citizen. These rules are the result of the


wisdom of centuries, and the experience


and observation of all civilized communi-


ties reduced to form. If it would add


weight to the observation. we would point


out the fact that they are expressly laid


down in the Constitution of the United


States, and are generally applied whenever


investigations are conducted by any rule
at all Let US notice two or three. A
party accused has the right 10 appear by
counsel 1t is a mockery to admit the
right and they deny the fact by refusing
to overrule objections of counsel to ques-
tions which no court in Christendom would
allow to be answered. Again. A citizen
in his own house is supposed to be secure
from search, or the seizure and publication
of his private papers, Even after death
his administrators ought not to sell them
for testimony, and private correspondence,
sold and delivered, would be ruled out by
judge if offered in a court of Justice.
Again. The accused has the right to meet
the witnesses face to face. Since the Star
Chamber, the Spanish Inquisition and the
Council of Ten have been demolished, the
calumnies of secret examinations have not
been published to the world until Congress
sional investigations came into fashion.
The time may come when we shall have a
'1ion's mouth" at the door of the Capitol,
and bridge of sighs" from the Senate to
the crypt.


The rule of investigation adopted by the
courts is the best and only rule-it is 'the
perfection of reason" the common law-by
which the rights of life, reputation and
are determined. Why not OBJ
serve it heref We submit to the Judges
and the legal profession throughout the
country this question. Would not a Judge
who conducted trial of any citizen in the
manner Mr.. Wilson has conducted this in
vestigation into the affairs of the District of
Columbia, so far as has conducted. be
guilty of an offence for which he should be
A precedent might be found
for it in Venice in its worst days. or it
might be initiated in Turkey, but it would
not be tolerated in England. And yet this
is to be regarded as a judicial investigation;
and it should result in an adverse report, |
the members of both Houses under the |
practice, would be expected to sustain that
report by their votes, because 1t Is the re-
port of the committee. The vote would be |
yes or no. The facts involved in the sub |
ect-matter of the controversy are not pre- =
'ented to them. The only question would |
be. "Shall the report be sustained 2" 1t
would seem to us that the real question |
upon which the judgment of Congress |
should be taken, if it is question for Con-
Eress at all, is, els the result of what has
been accomplished by the District govern.
''ment commensurate to the outlayf" 1t is |
more of business proposition for the judg- |
ment of business men than question of
ethics or morals. In the construction Of a
great work, where large sums are involved,
it is not likely there will be no mistakes, no
and if nobody steals, it is
because nobody wishes TO steal. To assume
the contrary is to suppose the millennium is
ut hand, that everybody is absolutely hon
est, and possesses absolute wisdom. If
that were true we would have no Congress
sional committees, because we would have
no Congress, nor would we require any
law. But we must take men as they are,
and the world as we find if, including
Judge Wilson. Is it expected that men of
capacity will risk their capital, employ their
time and brains in carrying on work Of this
without expecting to realize
profit? Is that the experience of the busi-
ness men of the House and Senator Is
that the experience of the Government
Do you charge the President with the
petty maladministration Of subordinates or
the peculations of dishonest officials or cit
liens under this or any other administra-
ton? Is the president of railroad to be
held responsible for mistakes in measure
ment by an incompetent or dishonest engi.
neer, or mismanagement of subordinate3
The question would be. 'tDid the President
of the United States in the one case, and
the president of the railroad in the other,
perform their duty7" 1t is an easy matter
to look back and see how much better we
might have done, how much better. we
might have been-how much trouble,
how much money we might have saved, if
we had only known it-and it is easy to
give advice, and just as easy to write
homily on the views of other people.
When the line Of strict rectitude is drawn