CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



183 



interests of the great mass of the people it rep- 

 resents, because in the interest of a few protect- 

 ed monopolists the commission may report 

 against the people, and the House can not even 

 question the men who make the report. I say 

 it is an insult to the House of Representatives 

 to tender to them such a proposition. As a 

 member of that House, if I were there, I would 

 return it to the Senate. If I were a member 

 of that House, and it was to he ignored in as- 

 certaining the information necessary for the 

 House to act upon, the measure should never 

 enter that House longer than to have it sent 

 back to the body whence it originated, and to 

 tell that body that the President of the United 

 States should not select and pick men to tell 

 them what to do ; that they should have some- 

 thing to say about it themselves." 



The vote on the passage of the bill was as 

 follows: 



YEAS Anthony, Bailey, Baldwin, Bayard, Blaine, 

 Brown, Burnside, Butler, Cameron of Wisconsin, 

 Dawes, Eaton, Ferry, Groome, Hampton, Hill of 

 Georgia, Ingalls, Kernan, Kirkwood. McMillan, Mc- 

 Pherson, Morgan, Morrill, Paddock, Pendleton, Platt, 

 Kansom, Rollins, Saunders, Slater, Vest, Withers 

 31. 



NAYS Beck, Call, Cockrell, Coke, Davis of Illi- 

 nois, Harris, Johnston, Jonas, Jones of Florida, Mc- 

 Donald, Pryor, Saulsbury, Thurman, Walker, Wil- 

 liams 15. 



ABSENT Allison, Blair, Booth, Bruce, Cameron of 

 Pennsylvania, Carpenter, Conkling, Davis of West 

 Virginia, Edmunds, Farley, Garland, Grover, Ham- 

 lin. Hereford, Hill of Colorado. Hoar, Jones of Ne- 

 vada, Kellogg, Lamar, Logan, Maxey, Plumb, Ran- 

 dolph, Sharon, Teller, Vance, Voorhees, Wallace, 

 Whyte, Windom 30. 



In the Senate, on April 19th, Senator Cam- 

 eron, of Pennsylvania, moved that the Senate 

 proceed to consider the following resolution : 



The Chief Clerk read the joint resolution, 

 as follows : 



Resolved, etc., That a commission is hereby consti- 

 tuted, to consist of three Senators, to be appointed by 

 the President of the Senate, and three members of 

 the House of Representatives, to be appointed by the 

 Speaker, and three commissioners, to be appointed by 

 the President, who shall sit during the recess and 

 inquire generally into the conditions that will most 

 favorably affect the transportation of the commerce 

 among the States carried by land and water routes, 

 securing thereby to the people the required facilities 

 at the lowest charges with the greatest certainty and 

 economy in time, and that will avoid and prevent any 

 unjust discrimination, unnecessary burdens, or im- 

 pediments in its transportation, in order to ascertain 

 whether these conditions can be secured by legisla- 

 tion by Congress, and, if so, in what particulars and 

 by what measures, and report their recommendations 

 to Congress at its next session. That said commis- 

 sion shall have power to send for persons and papers, 

 to administer oaths, and examine witnesses; shall 

 have power to appoint and employ one clerk and two 

 stenographers, to be paid such usual compensation as 

 shall be fixed by the Secretary of the Treasury ; and 

 each commissioner shall be paid his actual reasonable 

 expenses, and each commissioner appointed by the 

 President shall, in addition thereto, receive a com- 

 pensation of |10 per diem while engaged in the per- 

 formance of his duties ; and the sum necessary there- 

 for is hereby appropriated out of any money in the 

 Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 



Mr. Hereford: "Mr. President, I move to 

 amend, in line 4, by striking out ' appointed 

 by the President of and inserting 'selected 

 by,' and also, in line 6, to strike oat ' appoint- 

 ed by the Speaker,' and insert selected by the 

 same ' ; so as to read: 



" That a commission is hereby constituted, to con- 

 sist of three Senators, to be selected by the Senate, 

 and three members of the House of Representatives, 

 to be selected by the same, etc." 



The Vice-President: "The question is on 

 the amendment proposed by the Senator from 

 West Virginia [Mr. Hereford]." 



The amendment was agreed to. 



Mr. Davis, of West Virginia : " I move to 

 strike out ' three,' in line 6, and insert ' one.' " 



Mr. Conkling : " One what ? " 



Mr. Davis, of West Virginia : " One commis- 

 sioner appointed by the President, so as to 

 make the whole number seven instead of nine." 



The Vice-President : "The question is on 

 the amendment proposed by the Senator from 

 West Virginia [Mr. Davis]." 



Mr. Saulsbury: "Personally I see no neces- 

 sity for the appointment of a commissioner by 

 the President. It strikes me that the members 

 of the two Houses on the committee are fully 

 competent without the aid of an appointee of 

 the President of the United States. I think 

 the whole thing is unnecessary ; but if we are 

 to have an investigation into this subject, I do 

 not see why members of the Senate and mem- 

 bers of the House, who are paid for the ser- 

 vices, may not perform all the duties which a 

 commission composed of Senators, members of 

 the House, and commissioners appointed by 

 the President, may perform. 



" I believe the proposed investigation en- 

 tirely unnecessary. I see no good that can come 

 from it. I have not heard the Senator who in- 

 troduced the resolution explain any necessity 

 for it. I do not know what it proposes; I do 

 not know what evils are to be remedied by this 

 investigation ; and whatever we may do, people 

 will inquire why we appoint this commission 

 and what is to result from it." 



Mr. Conkling, of New York: "Mr. Presi- 

 dent, having concurred as a member of the 

 Committee on Commerce in reporting this joint 

 resolution indeed, the report was the unani- 

 mous work of the committee I think I am able 

 to answer the suggestions or questions of the 

 Senator from Delaware. 



"The purpose of the investigation is two- 

 fold; first, to acquire information, and were 

 that its only purpose, the Senator from Dela- 

 ware might have warrant in saying that mem- 

 bers of the two Houses would be found quite 

 adequate to conduct it ; but the other purpose 

 is to invoke from this commission recommenda- 

 tions, advice, suggestions, a projet of legisla- 

 tion if they shall think legislation' would be use- 

 ful in securing the very important objects in 

 view. When you come to that, you must see 

 the object of going beyond the members of the 

 two Houses. It is that the President, if he se- 



