Year: 1872




not have dared TO put this insult upon him
lest be (Brownlow) should have taken
Beck's overseer's whip from his hand to lay
il over his back. He also said that when
Beck abandoned the respectable business of
hostler to become a slave driver, he sank
below the notice of all decent men.


The Vice President said this language
was improper under the rule.


Mr.. Chandler moved that Mr.. Brownlow
have unanimous consent to proceed.


Mr.. CasseTly asked the Vice President
whether he knew of any precedent for the
utterance Of such language in the Senate.


The Vice President said he did recollect
several instances when such language had
been uttered, but not, of course, in accord
ance with Parliamentary law.


Mr.. Blair said Mr.. BrOwnlow's language
was appropriate to the means by which he
attained his seat. He hoped he would be
allowed to proceed.


The Clerk then read the explanation. Il
reviewed BrOwnlow's careeraS Governor of
Tennessee: asserted that his dealings with
the State Treasury had been strictly honest.
1t further said that Mr.. Beck's statement
that he (Brownlow) was hated and despised
by the people of Tennessee was


As False as He'll.
In conclusion he said he left Mr.. Beck in
the worst possible company, namely, with
himself.


To DisfranchiSe Their Friends.


Mr.. Cole submitted a resolution which
was agreed to instructing the Committee on
Education and Labor TO inquire into the
eXpediency of an amendment to the Con-
stitutiOn, providing some educational test
in the exercise of the electoral franchise.


Summers BOmbshelI.


The Senate then resumed Summers res.
olution and Mr.. Harlan continued
his explanation of 'the sale of arms
during the French and Prussian war
He reviewed in detail the preamble Of
Mr.. Summers resolution, and argued that
the letters and documents cited or referred
to therein showed clearly that some one in
the country must be in nOn-official and IN
authorized communication with the French
Legation, because several of them could
not have been got in any ether way. He
believed, therefore, that the whole proceed
ing had been excited by the present French
Government, and that It's agents had been
sufficiently adrOit to draw into it a member
of the Senate. The French Government
wanted evidence to prosecute some of its
own agents suspected Of dishonesty, and it
it had been able to find some person here
who was willing to aid it and Tansack the
records of the French Legation III the hope
of finding something that could be used
against department Of his own govern
ment. The preamble compared the records
of the War Department of the amounts re-
ceived for arms and the French records of
what had been paid by that government.
Now the question was, where did the
author of the preamble get access to the
French record?


Sumuer-Wby, | held that record In
my hand while l spoke yesterday. It Will
be found in the Journal Of the French re-
public.


Harlan-AnOther newspaper statement.


EdmUnds-HeTe it is in the New York
Sun. Laughter


Sumner-IC is the report of French Of
fetal published in the French Official Jour
nal.


Harlan-And copied into the Sun.


Sumner-Copied into the Sun. Laugh
ter


Mr. Frelinghuysen reviewed the para
graphs of the preamble, one by one, and ar
gued that some of the statements Of the
question in it are plainly false, and that
none of them furnished foundation for the
alle92ion that the good name Of our Gov
eminent was seriously compromised. The
investigation must now go on, but he hoped
it would be made, not by the committee
proposed in this resolution because, by par
liamentary usage the chairman of that com
mittee (Alr. Sumner) would be one who
had already assumed in this preamble the
truth of the charges to be investigated. He
hoped that the matter would be referred to
the Committee on Investigation and Re-
trenchment-the committee created for the
purpose of investigating, This was


An Era of Investigations.
They were ordered on almost every pretext,
and many of them, like this one, were quite
unnecessary, but they would continue un-
til after the Philadelphia Convention.


Senator SchurE


said that this investigation seemed to be
very popular in the Senate yesterday, but it
was less so to-day. 1t was now regarded
as a disgrace to the American name, and
the Senator from Massachu ssett (Sumner)
who had always passed for good Ameri.
can, was suddenly made TO appear in the
character Of


An Agent of France
or person put up to a job by somebody
for the benefit of the French Government
The Senator from New Jersey (Frelinghuy-
SEM had also charged him with doing that
which would incite the Prusgian Govern
ment to make claims against the United
States. 1t appeared therefore that Mr..
Sumner must be regarded as


A Prussian Agent


also, and that the two great belligerents of
1870 were united in this one thing. Laugh
teri. But the opposition to this investga-
tion should not excite surprise, f.r it would
be remembered that the resolution for the
Investigation of the abuses in the New York
Custom House had been met III the same
manner, and that the men who moved and
urged it were said to be very doubtful
characters compared with Leet and Stock
ing. [Laughter.l He insisted that there
was no ground whatever for the inSinuation
that Sumner, or any Senator had instigated
the proceedings of the French government.
The facts seemed to be that that govern
ment had ordered certain Investigations and
had discovered difficulties, and also reasons
for believing that the government of the
United States was aware of practices Of a
questionable character having gone on here
in connection with the sale of arms.


The rule laid down for itself by the
United States Government seemed to have
been that no arms should be sold to known
agent Of either belligerent, and if this rule
had been observed, no arms would have
been sold when their going at once into the
hands Of either belligerent was matter Of
ordinary probability. If arms were sold to
individuals, who with any degree of prCba-
bility could be presumed to transfer them
to either belligerent, then it was as clear as
thg1sunlight that the adoption of that rule
vas only 4 solemn moCkeIy. When the
war between France and Prussia was raging
it was a tair presumption that every man
offering o purchase large lot of arms,
wanted them for one or the other belliger.
ents. If a man applied for $4,000
muskets and ten batteries Of artillery, the
presumption was that he did not want them
to scare blackbirds or kill geese in a pond.
Laughter When Remington applied for
$4,000 mushets and


Seventeen Millions OF Cartridges,
it was at least certain that a great change
had taken place in the market for arms, and
it was the duty Of the Government to be