186 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



and for the purpose for which information is 

 sought by the committees of Congress? 



" It may be said that a regular committee 

 of the Senate is too numerous and too cumber^ 

 some for the purpose ; but it is the common 

 practice to make investigations through the 

 agency of sub-committees. And if from the 

 Committee on Commerce of the Senate there 

 can be no three gentlemen selected, can there 

 not be from this other committee that I have 

 referred to or from the Senate at large ? Is it 

 not possible to find three intelligent gentlemen 

 in the Seriate, if they are not connected with 

 the Committee on Commerce, who possibly 

 might be able to give their time and attention 

 to the investigation of this matter ? And then 

 there is the special committee, of which the 

 honorable Senator from Kentucky is chairman, 

 with nothing in the world to do as a committee. 

 It does seem to me that if the chairman is too 

 busy there could be two men taken from the 

 majority of that committee ; and the honorable 

 Senator from Pennsylvania, who introduced 

 this resolution, is also a member of the minority 

 of that committee. 



''The occasion for the constitution of this 

 commission or this new committee seems to me 

 to be altogether imaginary. I do not see what 

 good it will do, how it can throw any light on 

 the subject that we can not obtain otherwise; 

 and it does seem to me that it is but a continu- 

 ation and aggravation of the old bad practice." 



Mr. Beck : " I desire only to say on the part 

 of the committee of which I have the honor to 

 be chairman that it has had very little to do, 

 and it is composed of members (leaving myself 

 out of view) who are perfectly competent to 

 attend to this matter. The Senator from Penn- 

 sylvania [Mr. Cameron] is a member of it ; the 

 Senator from Minnesota [Mr. Windom] is a 

 member of it ; the Senator from Indiana [Mr. 

 Voorhees] ; and others. That committee, in rny 

 judgment, can take all the evidence ; can make 

 a report; can hear all the experts that can be 

 brought, and will do it, and do it perfectly, and 

 gather all the information that any outside 

 committee can gather, and then give their rea- 

 sons before the Senate for the action they shall 

 propose to take and the recommendation they 

 may make at the next session of Congress, just 

 as well as any set of mon that can be selected. 



"It is because I believe that, that I am op- 

 posed to this resolution. We have had to do 

 with many as important things, and two years 

 ago the whole subject was investigated by that 

 committee, and two large volumes printed, the 

 Senator from Minnesota then being chairman 

 of it. We have had before us all the matters 

 connected with the navigation of the Mississip- 

 pi, the Eads jetties, and so on; and we have 

 now. We have delayed action in regard to a 

 very important subject, connection between the 

 Chesapeake and the Delaware by a ship-canal, 

 because the House is considering it, and we did 

 not think it important to press it before us now, 

 as the House committee was acting. 



" If this question has to be looked into by 

 any committee, I have no hesitation in saying. 

 I do not care how much labor it involves or 

 what time it takes, that committee can do it 

 and will do it, and will make a report that will 

 embody all the views that any gentleman who 

 may see fit to come before the committee shall 

 give." 



Mr. Maxey: "I move to amend the amend- 

 ment offered by the Senator from West Virgin- 

 ia by striking out in lines 6 and 7 of the reso- 

 lution the words 



" And three commissioners, to be appointed by the 

 President. 



" And, as a necessary corollary of that, I move 

 in lines 24 and 25 to strike out the words 



" And each commissioner appointed by the Presi- 

 dent shall, in addition thereto, receive a compensation 

 of $10 per diem. 



"The importance of interstate commerce is 

 thoroughly appreciated, not only in Congress, 

 but by the whole country. It has received a 

 very large share of attention by appropriate 

 committees in both Houses of Congress ; not 

 only in this Congress, but in past Congresses. 

 I can see no reason why Congress should go 

 outside of its own bodies for the purpose of get- 

 ting persons to aid them in the discharge of 

 this duty, for they have the power to summon 

 witnesses, send for books and papers, and re- 

 ceive all the light that can possibly be thrown 

 upon this great subject from any source what- 

 ever. 



"The members of the Senate and of the 

 House are responsible to their constituents and 

 the whole country for the important duties 

 which they perform here. They are supposed 

 to have the intelligence to discharge any duty 

 whatever incumbent upon them in the way of 

 legislation. Therefore I can not see for the life 

 of me why we should go outside of these bodies 

 for the purpose of selecting three persons, to 

 be named by the President, as the joint resolu- 

 tion has it, to aid Congress in doing its duty. 



"If the amendment which I have had the 

 honor to offer is not carried, then I would favor 

 amending the amendment of the Senator from 

 West Virginia further, by providing that one 

 commissioner, selected by the President, shall 

 be appointed by and with the advice and con- 

 sent of the Senate. 



" But still behind all that, I have never yet 

 seen the good flowing from these special roving 

 commissions sent about through the country 

 to Saratoga Springs and the White Sulphur, to 

 test the qualities of those two springs, and the 

 cuisine of the Fifth Avenue Hotel, and other 

 places of that kind ; and that is about all I have 

 ever known to result from these commissions. 

 Let Congress do its own duty, do it through 

 its appropriate committees, and I have no fear 

 whatever that a bill will not be presented such 

 as, after receiving the due consideration of the 

 two Houses, will meet the approbation of the 

 people and the needs of the case." 



