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Show LATEST DISPATCHES. GENERAL. FORTY-FOURTH CONGRESS. SENATE. Washington, 7. Ingalls presented a petition of citizens of Franklin county, Kansas, asking the passage of a law to admit free of duty machinery ma-chinery used for the manufacture of raw silk. Preferred. Frelinghuysen called up the senate bill for the protection of agriculture against injurious insects, which authorizes the secretary of the' interior, in-terior, the secretary of the Smithsonian Smithso-nian Institute and the commissioner of agriculture to appoint a commission commis-sion having the requisite scientific and practical knowledge to investigate and gather information relative to the Rocky Mountain locust, chinch bug, army worm, Hessian fly, potatoe bug and other insects injurious to vegetation, vegeta-tion, in order to devise successful methods for their destruction, etc. A long discussion took place. Logan spoke in opposition to the bill. Edmunds moved to amendo that the appointment of the commission be made by the president by and with the advice and consent of the senate, etc. Agreed to. Morey moved to amend so as to have the investigation extend to the cotton worm. Agreed to. Lntran submitted an amendment providing that the investigation shall be made by the agricultural department depart-ment instead of a special commission. commis-sion. Sargent argued that the agricultural agricul-tural commissioners could make the investigation and would accomplish the same result as if a special commission com-mission were appointed. The question then being on the amendment of Lagan, providing that . the investigation be made by the commissioners of agriculture, it was agreed to yeas 29, nays 28. The bill was then read a third time and passed. Hitchcock moved that the bill to enable the people of New Mexico to lorm a constitution and state govern-, ment and for the admission of the said Etate into the Union be committed com-mitted to the committee on territories. terri-tories. Agreed to. Paddock introduced a bill to amend section 113 of the revised statutes of the United StateB in relation to the appointment of army sutlers. Referred. Re-ferred. It ves's tho appointment of post traders in the generals commanding com-manding the department where they are situated instead of the secretary of war. The senate then took up the resolution reso-lution for the admission of Pinchback and Christiaucy addressed the sonate in opposition to the resolution, areu-ing areu-ing that Pinchback had not a prima Jacit case, and Kelhogg was not the governor of Louisiana J jure. In conclusion he asked how many of those now supporting Pinchback would vote for his admission if his oarty affiliations were reverse!. Howe spoke in favor of the admission ad-mission of Pinchback. After a lengthy discussion Morton moved that the. senate proceed to the consideration of executive business. Agreed to. The senate went into executive (session and soon after adjourned. On motion of Wells of Missouri, tho senate amendments to the house 'bill to provide for the purchase of material and for the contiuuanco ol work on the custom house building at St. Louis wero concurred in. Lawrence introduced a bill to prevent pre-vent the monopoly and cxhorbitant charges in the trading establishments at military posts and to secure good order at tho same; also a bill to protect pro-tect witnesses on tho trial of tho impeachment im-peachment case. Kelerred. Walling, from tho committee on public land?, reported a bill to amend the homestead act by authorizing proof of residence, occupation," cultivation, cul-tivation, etc., to bo mado befuro July in any court of record in the county and state in which lands are situated. After discussion the bill passed . Crounse, from the same committee, reported a bill on the subject of tho stale taxations of lands heretofore granted to tne Pacific railroad companies. com-panies. After debate tho bill was amended fo as to make it applicable appli-cable to the.land grant compai.i.13, and w.w pa.osed. Clymer rising to a question of privileges, priv-ileges, Btatcd that a subp'.ona had been served ou him isied by the supreme su-preme court of the District of Columbia, Colum-bia, sitting as a criminal court, to appear before that court and bring with him all the papers, checks, documents, doc-uments, etc., and to testify in regard to the charges pending in t'nat court against tho Into secretary of war. Two of his collc.iguC-J,Jtiobljina and Blackburn, had been similarly sub-'pained. sub-'pained. Ho (Clymer) had appeared before tho court and stated that in obcJieuce to law ho appeared at its bar to obey its order, but that us a member of tho committee gf tho house he felt it would bo prejudicial, to tho highcot interests of the country coun-try that his colleagues and himself should bo compelled to etate what' had transpired in their committee, room. ife believed that such a' course would not only cluso the, mouths of all witnesses, but in many, cases it wou'd drive them from thV 1 land. He had Biiid, urtherfore. that! while not pleading tlicir privileges as ! members of the house, they must, nevertheless prott st a-ainst being j examined, and would only consent to . be so examined al'.er an order being made specially to that end by the court. The court had taken time for deliberation ood had determined if i needed their attendance hereafter to bring the matter to the attention of tho house, in order that the house might tako such actiun as might be right, just and necessary. Blaino asked Clymer if tho court had asked or had desired to ask for any information not contained con-tained in the published reports and w;is not a matter of record and general notoriety, ho could very well conceive that the gentleman from Pennsylvania might not wish to he called upon by that court to testify what was still a committee secret; but what point of delicacy could arise as to these matters, which wero as common as history could make them, he could not see. Clymer replied that tho court had not proposed to asK them any question ques-tion at all; they were to be examined before tiie grand jury. If questions were to have been asked by the court, in the presence ol tho public, ne i might not have as great an objection, but he and his colleagues had felt that i if they were to go before a grand jury whose proceedings wero necessarily i secret, that fact would strike terror everywhere throughout the land, and would close all avenues of testimony to the house and its committees. Blaine reminded Clymer that his own privilege as a member protected him, and there was no power to compel com-pel him to testify. I Clymer repealed that he had stated to the court that he did not intend to plevd Lis privilege, ;o it might not be said that he intended to exclude anything any-thing which shonlel bo rightfully known to the public. Lamar said there should nut bo an exhibition of parly feeling or excitement excite-ment at such solemn events as were throwing their shadows over the house. .It seemed to him tho voice ol faction should at least be hushed. He regarded this mandate 'or subpoena, sub-poena, issued to the members of the committee by the supreme court of the District of Columbia, ns an outrage out-rage on the privilege of tho house. He regarded it as a dictation ot the privileges of I ho house for the court to issue a summons to a member and order him to bring along with him the records of the house and to remain re-main in the court and not depart until allowed by the court or district attorney. Blaine Does not tho gentleman from Mississippi see, and does not the whole country Bee that having possession pos-session of evidence on which an indictment in-dictment can be found, and having in its possession every paper inihe case, the house puts itself behind its technical tech-nical privilege, and throws .itself across the indictment of Belknap, and that to day it stands as an obstacle ob-stacle and the sole obstacle to an indictment in-dictment of the secretary of war? Lamar Neither the gentleman from Mississippi, nor the country, nor Maine, see any such thing. The question ques-tion is simply whether the house will nermit its records to be at the beck and call of the district court. There ! is no doubt that when the invesliga-l tion is completed it will be within tne j discretion of the house to permit the courts to come in and get the evidence, evi-dence, but not pendente lite. While the investigation is going on and while the committee is taking further testimony such a proposition was monstrDus and ridiculous. Blaine said lie agreed with Lamar that while the affair was in limine it would be improper for a court to interfere, in-terfere, but that was not the case here. The question was whether the house would permit tho testimony and papers in the hands of ils committee com-mittee to bo sent to the court. The house could refuse it or could send it, and now. said he, daro that side of the house refuse it? (Applause on the republican side and great excitement). excite-ment). Lamar continued his remarks, which he closed by offering a resolution resolu-tion reciting the history oi the case, declaring the mandate o( the court to be a breach of the privilege of the house, and directing the members ot the committee to disregard it. TL- o-rrni-rfl tint ll,n Imi.ao ond Jackson areuexi mat tno nouae anu committee had no right to embarrass the grand jury in the execution of the j laws of tho land. McCreary reminded his colleague1 that the committee had in its posses- 1 sion a contract which must be the foundation of any proceeding for an indictment of the offender, and that . the contract was probably the very thing the grand jury would get hold of. Clymer remarked that the contract was between Caleb P. Marsh and John S. Evans, and that the secretary of war knew nothing ol it when it was made, nor for two year afterwards. Kasson, in tho ccurse of some-further some-further remarks, re furred to an interview in-terview which Blackburn had with some of the parties implicated, and suggested that the grand jury might desire to examine him about it. Blackburn replied that if tho gentleman gen-tleman from Iowa said he had had a conversation with Mrs, Belknap, and at great length, he would copy the remarks of the senator and would authorize the gentleman from Iowa, whenever be heard nnyliody makfj s'ich a statement, to say that he had his (Blackburn's authority for telling tel-ling that man he hed. (Excitement.) After further sparring between Kasson and Blackburn, the former, in answer to the request ol tho latter, made a statement of what occurred at an interview between him and Belknap. Belk-nap. He said before tho committee made its rr port tliero came a request to the entiro Iowa delegation in both houses to call on the secretary of war as he wanted to see them that day. We went in the evening, senators and members, and wo met this statement from him: "When I sent lor you, gentlemen, I supposed there would be some opportunity to bo heard in tho house on this subject. I have now learned that I am impeaohoJ, so it is useless for me to trouble you with 'what I was going to say us to the evidence in this caso," and wo left him. Ainsworth a.kcd why the Iowa delegation had left him out? (Luightcrou the democratic side ) The debate continued amid great excitement and frequent demonstrations demonstra-tions of applause and laughter on either side uf the house. Blainu was the tigurc on tho republican side at which all shafts of f-loqucnco were launched from tho democratic Bide. Tho republicans intimated that the witness Marsh had been allowed lit escape from tho country through B Jmo motive which the democrats had and it was charged ou the democratic Bido that tho president nud cabinet were instrumental in driving him out of tho country through intimidation. intimida-tion. His cscapo was characterized by Beebo as Unit of oil obscure petty thief, and ho suggested that the I democrats wero so intent on greater game that they allowed that miser-1 able offender to slip through their hands, through the machinations of the executive and cabinet officers. The democrats, however, proposed to pursue, not the Marshes who wero, mere trichinae, but the villians in high places. The gentlemen on the other tide might pursue their flea, catching it if they pleased, but the democrats would drag from their tur-. bid waters of pollution whales, and would eupplemcnt it. perhaps, by-dragging by-dragging out the leviathan himself, , exposing himself to the indignation of. an outraged community. ! Finally the dtba'.e clewed and the house proceeded to vote on the reso-i lutiou offereel by Hoar, as a substitute of Lamar's anil which proposed to declare de-clare that the members subpenaEd were at liberty to attend tho criminal court and give such evidence and produce pro-duce such documents as relate to tho charge against W. W. Belknap for receiving a bribo from one Mar-h. The substitute was rejected, yeas SI, nays, 13S. Lamar's original resolution resolu-tion w:w then agreetl to, yeas, 130, nays, 75. Whithorn, from the committee On navil affairs, submitted the testimony of E. S. Wolf, former bookkeeper to S. P. & A. P. Brown, navy contractors and claim agents of Washington, in which he declined to answer the following fol-lowing nueslions: 1st. Did vou ever take any money ftom Brown and hand it to anybody connected with I the naval service ? 2d, Did you know ! of any commission or payment having j been in any way paid to anyone con nected with the naval service ? ' Whithorn also offered a resolution directing the speaker to issue his warrant war-rant to the sergeant at arms to take in custody Elchios F. Wolf, and lo bring him tis tho bar of the house to show cause why he should not be punished for contempt. Atlopted. Adjourned. |