ORAL ARGUMENT OF SIR RICHARD WEBSTER, Q. C. M. P. 123 



ernmeiit as being the most experienced person who could possibly give 

 information with regafd to seal life. He has been put forward and 

 chosen with that object; and at no stage, Mr. President, prior to this 

 case have the contents of that report from whicli I read the extracts — 1 

 mean the report of 1881 — been impeached until the matter came in 

 controversy to-day. You may remember when Sir Charles Knssell 

 quoted from tliat report, stating that he did not understand that to be 

 attacked, my learned friends said they had not referred to it and 

 they must not be understood as agreeing at all in Mr. Elliott's earlier 

 conclusions. 



But now, if the court will give me a very few moments with regard 

 to this matter in order to complete it, I am in a position to put before 

 the court that which I certainly had not the opportunity of doing a few 

 days ago. I happen to have before me the report of the debate in the 

 House of Eepresentatives and in the Senate when this gentleman was 

 appointed; and I read from the public Congressional liecord. 



Mr. Carter. — Is that in the case"? 



Sir EiOHARD Webster. — It is not. 



Mr. Carter. — Then we object. 



Sir EiCHARD Webster. — I read from the public document of the 

 Congressional Record of what happened in the Senate when Mr. Elliott 

 was appointed. 



The President. — Is that an official paper? 



Sir Richard Webster. — And I would tell you also that I am going 

 to read from the letter written from the Treasurj^ Department at Wash- 

 ington, an official letter. 



Mr. Phelps. — Will my friend excuse me. If we are permitted to put 

 in evidence from the public documents and elsewhere on the other side 

 of this case when we come to reidy, I have no objection to your reading 

 the observations of any member of Congress on this subject. 



Sir Richard Webster. — Mr. Phelps, I should not object, if it were 

 for me, to any public document being referred to upon this or any other 

 question; because in my opinion 



Mr. Phelps. — We should be glad to read the Secretary of the Treas- 

 ury's letter that accompanied this report and some other matters. If 

 we are to try Mr. Elliott we had better try him upon the evidence on 

 both sides. 



■ Sir Richard Webster. — Yes, I quite agree. Mr. President would 

 you prefer that I should suspend for the present"? 



The President. — If there is an objection I think it would be better 

 for you to suspend. 



Sir Richard Webster. — Before we adjourn will you allow me to 

 state that I proposed to read the official letter of the 13th of March. 



Lord Hannen. — That stands on a different footing than the matter 

 to which objection was raised. 



Sir Richard Webster. — Oh, no. 



Lord Hannen. — I thought you were going to read reports of speeches 

 in Congress, and that I understood was objected to. 



Sir Richard W^ebster. — It was not my fnult, my Lord, that inter- 

 position was made before I had the opportunity of explaining myself 

 fully. I was going to read from the letter of Mr. Batchelor, the Acting 

 Secretary, from the Treasury Department, office of the Secretary at 

 Washington, the 13th of March, 1890. My only reference to it is the Con- 

 gressional Report. When that letter had been read I did subsequently 

 intend to refer to some of the observations made in the debate. I wish 

 the court to have exactly before them what my proposition is. 



The Tribunal thereux)on adjourned for a short time. 



