Show by telegraph conc CONG R ESSI essl 0 hal MAL SENATE 2 mea McA mcmillan lillan lilian presented a resolution of the tho minnesota legislature asking the passage sage s age of an act for the relief of settlers on certain public lands land in that state referred lef erred davis presented a petition from citizens of west virgin virginia in favor of aid to the texas pacific ballway providing that the iron used in the construction of such road be of american manufacture referred the joint resolution in regard to the centennial celebration which passed the house of representatives 3 yesterday esterday was agreed to the senate bill to extend the time for filing altris claims cl for additional bounty under the act of may 28 1866 was passed toh TOZ r 3 the gail gall galleries erles eries of the senate chamber were filled this morning before the hour of meeting ne eting in anticipation of proceedings in the case of the late secretary belknap A majority of 0 f the audience was composed of ladies ladles at one a committee of the tho house orber composed of clymer robbins blackburn bass and danforth appeared at the bar odthe or the were announced by sergeant at arms french upon being 1 redon redo 11 teed by the president pro term tern of the senate clymer said sald mr president in obed obedience lence fo 0 o tin the e der ortho house of represent tate we appear before you an anda V in t the 1 ie dante name of tha house 0 of representatives presenta tives and aall the people of thes the united states of Americ Amoric awe do impeach william W belknap late secretary of barof war wan of the united states of high crimes erlines ana and misdemeanors while in office and we further inform the senate that the house of representatives will in due time exhibit articles of impeachment peach ment against him and make good the s same ime a and nd in the their r name we demand that tle the senate tag take order for the appearance of bmw belknap to answer 1 ferry pre president ident pro iamo acm 0 o the tho senate said 1 mr air chairman and aul gentlemen of thel committee the tho senate will take order in the premises and the committee retired when the committee of the house appeared app arp eared in the senate there was a great sensation in the gall galleries eries erles which by this time were packed and upon the floor were many persons halting the privilege thereof the presiding officer was compelled to detri and aud order in n the chamber chamber before recognizing the committee mr clymer ami and the other members of the committee upon entering the senate and being recognized came in front of the des desk kj where veere ho lie spoke as above in and clear though very solemn tone after the committee retired edmunds of or had been speaking in opposition tit the nd mission admission 11 of pinchback reau resumed nied his argument ment meni 1 HOUSE 0 washington iNGTON 2 morrison chairman of the committee on waymand means presented the views of the minority on the bill to carry lito loto effect the hawaiian treaty order bil bli printed Mr randall idall chairman nf of the committee on appropriations re ported reported a bill appropriating one hundred ands i aty three thousand dollars to provide for the engraving pr printing and other othen expenses of makin making 9 and louing U tf 8 notes and diree direct t ing the secretary of the tre treasury to issue silver coins of the denominations t of ten twenty twenty five and birty cents in fil kedem redemption pt ion inn otan eq equal ual amount of fractional currency and d to provide for boruch uch aeh jed red redemption emption until the whole amou abou u t or the fractional currency is redeemed goodin from the committee on public lands reported a bill declaring forfeited to the U S and subject only to homestead entry all lands granted by the act of the GA gh of march 1803 1863 to aid ald in the construction st of a railroad from leavenworth kannasto rqn Kan sasto the neosho river such grant having been forfeited by the limitation of law afterman after an explanation by goodin and some the bin was passed mcdill from ah the same sare same game committee committe reported a bill to extend the time for the pre preemption emption of public lands the bill extends the time two years passed t z the house went weft into a committee of the che whole saylor of the chair on the bill to carry into effect effect t the he treaty v with lith the hawaiian islands k wood disc discussed at length the effect and advantage otho othe treaty at tho the close of woods speech and without action netlon on the bill the committee roso rose and clymer osmer pre pro a resolution of impeachment against late secretary dfwar of war for high crimes and misdemeanors in office in the midst of great excitement and with unusual illness stillness pt in the house clymer rose and said ocl III 1 I ask the permission of the house to make a report from the committee on expenditures tures in the war department of fit so grave importance that I 1 am certain when it is heard the house will agree that I 1 am justified in asking that permission at this time the permission was wag given and clymer taking fias hs position at the clerks clork s desk read the following re port the committee found at the very threshold of its invest investigation gatlon gation such unquestioned evidence of f malfeasance by general W W belknap cheif secretary of war var that they t coundit noun foun dit to be their duty to I 1 lay uie ule fabie same pame before the rouse house they further report that this day a letter of the president of the V U S was presented to the committee accepting the resignation of the secretary of war adb together ether with a copy of his letter of nallon nanon which the president informed the fhe committee ara attee was accepted about 1020 alnis i truing they therefore unanimous I 1 mou s report leport and demand that the sa said saia a I 1 d wm W belknap late lata Secret secretary nr y of bir war be dealt with according to the law of the land and to that end they submit herewith the testimony in 14 the case ta taken ken together with several beveral kate statements ments thereto attached and also aiso a report of the proceedings of the tte committee had during the investigation of this subject et and submit the following resolutions that thab W W late secretary p af pf f war I 1 be impeach ed of high crimes and misdemeanor alsot fasot fl sot ahat hat the testimony in tap the q ease case a af bellnap BelH nap be referred fo to the judiciary committee with 1 instructions n to prepare and report W without unnecessary delay de suitable art ar leles for the tho imp impeachment c nent pent of said belknap 1 l lle ilg Jie resolved holved that a committee of uvo five members of the rouse house be appointed and instructed fo to proceed immediately to the bar of the senate and there impeach W knap late secretary af pf of war of high crimes and alid misdemeanors when in office and to inform that body that formal articles afim of impeachment peach ment will in due time be presented and to request the senate to make such sueh an ord order e r in the premises ses as they deem up appropriate 4 te clymer clymen then proceeded proceed etl eti to read the testimony of caleb P marsh taken yesterday before the committee showing that he alad had paid vald IS secretary ec belknap about in gon pon consideration of his appod appointment fitment as post trader at bort port sill indian territory the reading was listened to with intense interest by the members bof of the house and by the large audience anco in the galleries at the close of the zea reading ding and after many mem mom members in bors bers who had taken up positions near the elerk clerks s desk the better to hear bear the testimony and the accompanying statements had hid returned Turned to their proper seats i clymer 01 y mert mery who had also alsa gone to his seat again arose and said with great emotion mr 1 I 1 would not if I 1 could and I 1 could riot not in my present condition if I 1 would say anything to ta the facts faeta just reported to I 1 the house a uither occasion mar may be aubrei d luo IMO to ta do so they are ard so tso plain that everywhere throughout this brodd broad Ian lan landa ianda dand hd throughout christendom wherever the english language is read or spoken enthey rhey will for long years yeats constitute a record of off official lelal corruption and crimes augh ait aft liere ig is no parallel for in lii our own history or in that oi 01 any iny country that I 1 know of in this hour if it one sentim sentiment I 1 ant of pity one onia word of sympathy could find utterance from me it would be because ca use I 1 feel that the late secretary of war is lg ig but the outgrowth and the true ut itt of the corruption extra ro and misgovernment that have holc cursed this land for years yeara past that being rn my y own reflection 1 I 1 will discharge my duty best to myself and to this house by demanding the previous qu question estion on the Me adoption bf th the 0 resolution re karson kason appealed to clymer to give au an opportunity for some suggestions gest ions to be made before asking the previous question ou on a matter oro grave importance clymer regretted that ho he could not oblige his friend and for the tho reason that his colleagues colleague a on the committee desired to be heard after the previous question was see seconded kasson ballow allow me to say thero there will not bo be the slightest opposition to their bein being all heard clymer decline I to yield and demali demari J t the previous question ac baon a 9 n 4 does the gentleman expect the house tonight to night after nive five ve loe loc joe 3 and without this report art beld being printed to vote on these r resolutions when even the impeachability abilia of the officer at present ia is a point to bo be considered by the house clymen clymer after the previous ous eus question has been ordered I 1 will Y yield 11 eld eid half the hour to the members of the committee who are on the other side mr robbins bobbins pleaded his mental and physical exhaustion from continuous service on the committee as a reason why lie he should not address the tho house at any length he spoke of the report as presenting a case of great shame a and aud nd disgrace to all american citizens As to the question qu estion estien of the impeachability y of an officer who had resigned he gasn wasn Wa ilor fior of prepared to speak worthily except ta 6 suggest that it could not be true that an 0 officer who was being investigated and who had bad been found by the evid ovid evidence enbe to be a criminal could ilee fleo from justice he alluded to what he called the unseemly acceptance of secretary Belk Bel knaps naps napa resignation and referred to the english cases of hastings and lord bacon bacen both of whom were imp ached after they ceased to hold the offices in which they committed 7 crimes and misdemeanors rs ba bass s of N Y another member of the committee questioned the statement of the chairman clymer as to this case ease having no parallel and said he would not eave have e to leave his own borders in order to find not only a parallel for it but lie ho could find cases compared with which this case was wasas as white as the driven snow he admitted that a mere statement of thi sease as presented by the testimony was wag sut but sufficient fi to justify every mem member berIn benin in hotl ng for t he the resol resolutions u eions p presented resented lamar inquired f from rom bass his opinion as to the i of a resigned officer bass replied that the english 0 authorities ties seemed to maul mahi maintain tain the jurisdiction of jor ap impeachment hp merit in such a case but in this country it was an un adjudicated question and one that was not free from douht doubt his own best judgment was wis in favor of the right to impeach and to let the question ba adjudicated by the senate hoar mass in reference to a casual remark of some member as to this being a political question entirely disclaimed and repudiated pich gieh such sueh an idea on the point of the impeachability of a person not nob in office he referred to the caso ease of whittemore ot ors S 0 in which the house had determined that a formal actual renunciation of an officer terminated the office and that any american america citizen could lay down an office held by him without any acceptance of his resignation judge storey had laid down the doctrine th that a t I 1 it t co could il d not bo be done in eng eu land but there any citizen could be impeached and therefore the E eng 13 lish cases of warren hastings od and lord bacan did not apply in A merica america no man could be impeached but a civil officer and when he ceased to be a officer lie he ceased to bo be within the lite literal ral rai description nathe ef the constitution in this country tho 0 only n ay judgment that could be rendered in an impeachment amse was removal atom office and future disqualification from holding office but by the statutes a person guilty of such could be indicted tried tiled and sentenced by the criminal courts of the country he protested against hot haste I 1 in this matter without having the testimony printed he thought sueh euch haste unworthy a grave question I 1 and if lie stood alone ho he would I 1 stilt till stand here to say sa so blackbur blackburn 11 another member of the committee ek pressed expressed his satisfaction that the report which had been read by his colleague 0 clymer showed to the world th that at nothing had been left undone by the corn cora to shield and shelter from dishonor every person ierson except the otie one whom it was the duty of the committee to investigate and report rn H ho would inot not consent that the gentleman from massachusetts should make this a political or partisan question he would not consent that this side of the house should be placed in the position of the prosecution and that the other side bide should take up the position of defenders it was a question which addressed itself alike to every member of the house he regarded the ca ease case so as an unprecedented one in more respects than one the action of the pres Pies president ident in accepting belk naps resignation una und under ertho erthe the tho cincu instance was unprecedented and this was the first instance in the history of the country where any man claiming manhood and holding holdina ad ail exalted position tion had sought to shelter himself from a legitimate investigation by interposing the d dishonor of a wise ref res resignation passing to the question of the impeachability in peach ability of belknap he be suggested that that question as ju juige ige storey had intimated might properly be left to the decision of the senate on auch such a state of faits faita at ts would the house be asked te t shrink from the performance of its duty because there might ha be luft or shadow of doubt on that point the hou to do eo so it would lot rot be admissible he quoted from the impeachment casear lord bacon in which it was stated that the lord chancellor had sought to save have himself by the ignation resignation res rea of hig his high office the attempt was vain I 1 as the tho king did not and could nio nip nut not t interpose was the house to be told that a man in power at the other end of tho avenue was able to rob an american congress of the right and power which the king of great lid ild betalu n could not take from parliament it used to be the theory that the king could do no wrong but no man had ever been found bold enough in this country to say that the president could do no wrong if the man who had uttered the memorable sentence fice let lefano no guilty man escape heid held beld it ca his power to rob the american C congress angress of its right night to inflict punishment ish ment or to pronounce censure an ona a public convict where is the barrier to be found |