Daily Kennebec Journal

46th CONGRESS—FIRST SESSION
Senate.
Washington, May 26

Mr. Brown, Senator Gordon's successor, was sworn in, taking the modified oath.

A bill for allowance of certain claims was referred by the accounting officers of the treasury (known as the Fourth of July claims.)

The pension appropriation bill was taken up.

Mr. Eaton moved an amendment for miscellaneous items, exclusive of labor, of $15,000, for the fiscal year ending June 30th.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. Windom offered an amendment appropriating $600,000 for payment of fees of United States marshals and deputies, earned during the year ending June 30th, 1880. He supposed this was omitted by oversight, as the committee knew the courts were being stopped all over the country for want of this appropriation.

The amendment was rejected. yeas 22, nays 33, a party vote, Brown casting his first vote with the nays.

The amendments of the Senate Committee on Appropriations were agreed to,—appropriating $13,000 for propagation of food fish, $12,500 for a fish hatching steamer and machinery, $10,000 for vessels for coast survey, and $15,000 for continuation of the coast survey. The amount appropriated for pensions is $29,210,000. The bill was read twice and passed.

Mr. Edmunds proceeded to oppose the marshals' bill. If the people of the United States desire to sweep away every vestige of National control over National elections, he said, they have a very easy way to accomplish that object. They have only to give victory to the democratic party in coming elections. A bill recently passed took away from the executive appointment of deputy marshals, and placed it in the courts. It was argued that judicial calmness was requisite in appointment of executive officers and that they must be of different political parties. Now the argument is that judicial officers shall be appointed practically by the Senate, that is by a majority of one or another political complexion. In other words, while the executive deputy marshal must be judicially appointed, judicial supervisors must be politically appointed.

If they should be appointed by the Senate, why should not receivers, registers in bankruptcy and all court officers be appointed by the Senate? The effect of the bill was that the Senate might appoint a chief of Tammany as chief supervisor in New York city and then there could be no supervisors of elections appointed in that district unless they were agreeable to Tammany. The court must appoint them, if at all, from those recommended by the chief supervisor. The plainness of design of the bill was something admirable.

About an hour was occupied in a discussion between Cameron, (Wisconsin) Hampton, Butler, Teller, McDonald and Kirkwood as to whether the honor of inventing and first using tissue ballots in South Carolina belonged to the republican or democratic party, and as to the manner and effect of their use as shown by testimony before the Teller committee.

Mr. Cockrell (dem.) of Mo., introduced a bill amending the act of 1878, regarding pensions of soldiers of the war of 1812, so as to place on the pension rolls the names of surviving officers and enlisted and drafted men without regard to color, including the militia and volunteers of the several States who served in the war with Great Britain for 14 days beginning prior to date of ratification of the treaty of peace, or who were in any engagement and were honorably discharged, and the surviving widows of such officers and entitled and drafted men. Referred.

Mr. Teller (rep.) made a speech upon evidence as to frauds in elections.

Mr. Thurman said that fortunately there was no rule compelling the Senator's remarks to be germane to pending bill, for not a sentence of his remarks had been to the point. He had not shown that the bill weakened the law in any respect, but he had started the campaign of 1880 by flaunting the bloody shirt and digging up his miserable old report on Southern outrages. This bill did not take a single power from the supervisors. It simply limited time of office.

Mr. Edmunds said the senator from Ohio forgot one point in the bill,—it took the appointments from the courts and put them in the hands of the Senate.

Mr. Thurman—If it does not. It puts them in the hands of the man who holds his office by the greatest frauds in American history.

Mr. Edmunds—Is that the reason that you vote for it?

Mr. Thurman—No, sir. The honorable senator knows very well it is not that which stops him from objecting to it.

Mr. Edmunds—What if the President appoint these men without consent of my honorable friends and his political associates?

Mr. Thurman—The bill answers that. If the President shall do his duty and send the names in before we go we will consider them.

Does the senator from Vermont say the majority of this Senate will not do its duty?

Mr. Edmunds—According to your view but not according to mine. But is there any constitutional provision by which the President can adjourn the Senate, or cause it to sit here until next December after election if it chooses, and thus prevent any appointments during the recess?

Mr. Thurman said that was an absurd position. The Senator from Vermont was hard pushed for an argument against the bill.

Mr. Edmunds said if he was a democrat and held their views on this subject, he would not go home till certain hot places froze over without accomplishing that object.

Mr. Thurman—The Senator and his party are more used to revolutionary methods than the democrats.

Mr. Edmunds—The Senate, sitting all summer, as it had a right to under the constitution, was not revolutionary.

Mr. Thurman in further remarks said it was ridiculous to charge democrats with not discussing this bill, when the minority had taken up all the time in committee. There was too much important business on the calendar for democrats to engage in such discussion.

Mr. Thurman's amendment was then agreed to by a party vote.

The bill was then read a third time and passed,—yeas 27, nays 14, a party vote.

The committee reported an amendment to the title, to make it read "Bill to define terms of office of chief supervisors of elections," instead of certain officials of the United States.

Mr. Hoar moved to amend the amendment and make the title read "Bill to deprive chief supervisors of elections of their powers, and to remove them from office."

Mr. Beck moved to amend the amendment and add "and to break up iron cages of John Davenport."

House.

Senate amendment to bill amending the internal revenue law in regard to distilled spirits, was concurred in.

Bill for loan of tents, flags and camp equipage for soldiers at the re-union in Muscatine, Iowa, was passed.

A message from the President, urging action on the Ute agreement, was referred.

Mr. Downey (rep.) of Wyoming Territory moved to insert a provision to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury, in order that he may have accommodation for storage of coin, to pay sums appropriated by the bill in lawful silver coin.

Adopted amid applause and laughter.

A proposal by Mr. Warner to strike out appropriation for continuing work on Washington monument, was received with laughter and demonstrations of ridicule. After disposing of about half of the bill the committee rose.

Leave of absence was asked for several members, Mr. Frye of Maine putting his application on the ground of attending the Chicago convention, but Mr. Hutchins (dem.) objected except it was coupled with a condition that those members with whom absentees are paired may vote to make a quorum. So leave was not granted.