CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



163 



" I want to go a little further. My colleague 

 says that we ought to appropriate money for 

 tliis purpose in the future. It would not be 

 proper on this bill ; but, if it was, how much ? 

 Five thousand dollars? Gentlemen will say 

 that is not enough, and we are nullifiers still. 

 Ten thousand dollars? They will say that is 

 not enough, and we are still nullifiers. Twenty 

 thousand dollars? They will say that is not 

 enough, and we are nullifiers in spite of the 

 amount voted. The fact is, we are always to 

 be called nullifiers unless we meet the views 

 of the Republican party. 



" Congress, Mr. Chairman, holds it in its 

 own power to say for what purposes it will 

 appropriate the public money. We are the 

 judges ; the Constitution leaves it with us only. 

 It would be very foolish for us to appropriate 

 money for an unconstitutional law, because in 

 attempting to carry it out the country would 

 he involved in confusion. But there are plenty 

 of laws upon the statute-book that are consti- 

 tutional, for which Congress fails as a matter 

 of fact to appropriate money. Now, I do not 

 speak for the Democratic party and have not 

 npoken for that party, having no authority to 

 do so ; but I repeat what I said before, that I 

 doubt whether the Democratic party ever will 

 vote to pay five dollars a day to special deputy- 

 marshals so long as the law stands in its present 

 shape." 



Mr. Springer, of Illinois : " On behalf of the 

 Committee on Elections I now offer the amend- 

 ment of which notice has been given." 



The amendment was read, as follows : 



Amend the amendment by adding thereto the fol- 

 lowing : 



For special deputy-marshals of elections, the sum of 

 $7,600 : Provided, That hereafter special deputy-mar- 

 shals of elections, and general deputy-marshals, for 

 performing any duties in reference to any election, 

 shall receive the sum of two dollars per day in full for 

 their compensation ; and that all appointments of such 

 special deputy-marshals or of general deputy-mar- 

 shals having any duty to perform in rcspcct"to any 

 election shall be made by the judge of the circuit 

 court of the United States for the district in which 

 such marshals are to perform their duties, or by the 

 district judge, in the absence of the circuit judge, and 

 not less than two nor more than three appointments 

 shall be made for any voting precinct where such ap- 

 pointments are required to be made, and the persons 

 so appointed shall be of different political parties, of 

 good character, and able to read and write the Eng- 

 lish language, and shall be well-known residents of 

 the voting precinct in which their duties are to be 

 performed. 



Mr. Finley : " Now, I desire to say, in the five 

 minutes that I have, a few words in reference 

 to the marshals employed in the last Presiden- 

 tial election. In that election there were em- 

 ployed 11,615 special deputy-marshals, of which 

 number 10,874 were placed in Democratic pre- 

 cincts, as shown by the report of the Attorney- 

 General. 



" Now, I want to say that I am in favor of this 

 amendment, protesting as I always have and 

 always will against the appointment of these 

 special marshals as a partisan outrage ; pro- 



testing against a law that has been used and 

 abused constantly for partisan purposes. I will 

 vote for the amendment of the gentleman from 

 Illinois, for the reason that it is a step in th, 

 direction for protecting ourselves from the out- 

 rages which we are powerless to prevent in 

 these appointments. When I look into the re- 

 port of the Attorney-General and analyze it in 

 connection with testimony relating to the kind 

 of men used in those precincts tor partisan pur- 

 poses, I feel inclined to do anything that I can 

 by my voice and vote to procure a fair election 

 at the polls and to procure relief from the po- 

 litical bummers appointed by the Republican 

 party and paid out of the Federal Treasury. 



"Now, under the amendment of the gentle- 

 man from Illinois, there can be a mitigation of 

 that kind of outrage in this: that instead of 

 five hundred or six hundred Republican mar- 

 shals, appointed at the polls, as in some cases 

 for instance, one precinct in Georgia had one 

 hundred and three, one in Missouri had several 

 hundred instead of that number paid out of 

 the Federal Treasury, every one of them a Re- 

 publican and a partisan, we can under the 

 amendment of the gentleman from Illinois have 

 a decent number of decent people to attend to 

 the duties." 



Mr. Garfield offered the following amend- 

 ment as a substitute : 



For special deputy-marshals of elections, the sum of 

 87, GOO : Provided, That hereafter special deputy-mar- 

 shals of elections and general deputy-marshals, for 

 performing any duties in reference to any election, 

 shall receive the sum of five dollars per day in full for 

 their compensation ; and that all appointments of such 

 special deputy-marshals or of general deputy-marshals 

 having any duty to perform in respect to any election 

 shall be made by the judge of the circuit court of the 

 United States for the district in which such marshals 

 are to perform their duties^ or by the district judge in 

 the absence of the circuit judge; said special deputies 

 to be appointed in equal numbers from the different 

 political parties. 



Mr. Garfield : " I modify the substitute fur- 

 ther by striking out the words ' and general 

 deputy-marshals/ as the amendment ought to 

 relate to special deputies only." 



Mr. Simonton, of Tennessee, offered an amend- 

 ment to the substitute of Mr. Garfield, as follows : 



Strike out "85" and insert " $2" ; and after the 

 word "judge" insert: 



And not less than two nor more than three appoint- 

 ments shall be made for any voting precinct where ap- 

 pointments are required to"be made ; and the persons 

 so appointed shall be of different political parties ; and, 

 if there are more than two political parties having tick- 

 ets to be voted for, no two of said deputy-marshals shall 

 be appointed from the same party. And the persons 

 so appointed shall be persons of good character, able to 

 react and write the English language, and shall be 

 well-known residents of the voting precinct in which 

 their duties are to be performed. 



The committee divided ; and the tellers re- 

 ported yeas 117, nays 114. 



So the amendment to the amendment was 

 agreed to. 



The Chairman : " The Clerk will report the 

 substitute as it would read if amended." 



