CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



187 



Mr. Davis, of "West Virginia : " It was said 

 by the Senator from Kentucky that there is a 

 transportation committee, and that that com- 

 mittee is willing to take this work. It will be 

 recollected that three or four years ago, in 1875 

 I believe, the Senate appointed a committee on 

 this very question, and that committee went 

 over almost the entire territory of the United 

 States, and perhaps into Canada. There are 

 two large volumes now in the document-room 

 containing their report and testimony. That 

 committee was composed, among others, of the 

 Senator from New York [Mr. Conkling], and 

 had the benefit of his information and advice. 

 The present Secretary of the Treasury, I recol- 

 lect, was on it. The Senator from Minnesota 

 JMr. WindomJ was the chairman. They went 

 ully into the very subject that is now proposed 

 this special commission shall take charge of. 

 The Committee on Transportation grew out of 

 that, and it has grown into a standing commit- 

 tee upon this very question and no other ques- 

 tion commerce among the States, commerce 

 with the seaboard. That special committee 

 was organized for that purpose, and, as I said, 

 it went over the whole territory of the country, 

 and made a report which is now in the docu- 

 ment-room. 



"In addition to that, we know that the 

 House of Representatives at this session has 

 heard almost every eminent railroad man in the 

 country, and has had his views taken down in 

 writing. Those views are now in evidence be- 

 fore the House. I do not know of an eminent 

 railroad man in the country who has not been 

 summoned before the House. The information 

 is there, and there is no necessity for this reso- 

 lution in order to get a committee. If there is 

 any particular man wanted by any committee, 

 he can be summoned and brought here." 



Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania : " Will the 

 Senator permit me to interrupt him a mo- 

 ment?" 



Mr. Davis: "Yes, sir." 



Mr. Cameron : " The Senator is arguing 

 against the appointment of a special committee." 



Mr. Davis : " The Senator is arguing that 

 in part. He has many objections to the resolu- 

 tion. That is one." 



Mr. Cameron : " On that part I should like 

 to call his attention to a special committee, of 

 which I think he is chairman, that has been in 

 session now for three years, during which time 

 the Senator took a trip to Europe and returned, 

 and I should like to know what is going to be 

 the result of that special committee." 



Mr. Davis: "The Senator will find out in a 

 very few days now, and I think he will not be 

 as well satisfied as he is now on that." 



Mr. Cameron : " I will be satisfied with any- 

 thing that comes from that committee or the 

 Senator from West Virginia." 



Mr. Davis : " The Senator will hear from that 

 committee in due time, and it will not be very 

 long either. But if the forming of that com- 

 mittee has anything to do with this committee 



I fail to see it, and if the Senator thinks he 

 can push his scheme forward, if it is a scheme, 

 or push his committee because there was a com- 

 mittee appointed two years ago or more, that 

 is a question that does not enter into this." 



Mr. Cameron : " This is not my committee, 

 and I do not expect to be a part of the commit- 

 tee ; therefore I have not any scheme to push 

 forward of a personal character." 



Mr. Davis: "1 correct that. I do not be- 

 lieve the Senator has a scheme. I think it was 

 a wrong word, and I corrected it immediately ; 

 but still the Senator had as well let the ques- 

 tion alone about another committee. I think 

 that has nothing to do with this matter. There 

 are, as is well known, among the four great 

 trunk lines of this country two that are entirely 

 in one State ; there are two others that pass into 

 and through different States. We all know that 

 the question of whether or not Congress can 

 control the railroads in either case is a doubtful 

 one, but certainly there are very few persons 

 who claim that Congress can in any way legis- 

 late for or control a road that is entirely in one 

 State. The Pennsylvania Central Railroad and 

 the New York Central Railroad, I believe, each 

 starts and ends in the same State, while the 

 Erie, and the Baltimore and Ohio, and the Ches- 

 apeake and Ohio go into two States or more, 

 and so they are in a very different position as to 

 the legislation of Congress, as is thought by a 

 great many people. A very different state of 

 things exists as to them. 



"It may be possible that some legislation 

 may be presented that would affect a part of 

 these lines and not affect the others, for there 

 are very few persons in the country who claim 

 that when a road starts and ends in the same 

 State Congress has anything to do with it. That 

 is the case with two of the great railroads of 

 this country to-day. I think it best to allow 

 the States and the railroads to control their own 

 affairs, and Congress ought to have very little 

 to do with them." 



The resolution failed to pass. 



In the Senate, on February 25th, the follow- 

 ing bill was considered : 



Be it enacted, etc., That James Monroe Heiskell, of 

 Baltimore City, Maryland, be, and he is hereby, re- 

 lieved from the operation of section 1218 of the Re- 

 vised Statutes of the United States, being in chapter 

 1, title U of said Eevised Statutes. 



Mr. Edmunds, of Vermont: "Let us hear 

 the section of the Revised Statutes read from 

 the operation of which it is proposed to relieve 

 this person." 



The Chief Clerk read as follows : 



SECTION 1218. No person who has served in any ca- 

 pacity in the military, naval, or civil service of the so- 

 called Confederate States, or of either of the States in 

 insurrection during the late rebellion, shall be appoint- 

 ed to any position in the Army of the United States. 



Mr. Edmunds : " I should like to inquire, just 

 for information, why it is that we do not take 

 up in lieu of this special bill the bill reported 

 by the Senator from Indiana [Mr. McDonald] 



