CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



187 



Pomeroy, Pool, Pratt, Kamsey, Sawyer, and Win- 

 dom 28. 



NAYS Messrs. Bayard, Blair, Casserly, Cooper, 

 Fenton, Hamilton of Maryland, Hamilton of Texas, 

 Hill, Johnston, Kelly, Norwood, Kansom, Saulsbury, 

 Scliurz, Sprague, Stevenson, Stockton, Tnurman, 

 Tipton, Trumbull, Vickers, and West 22. 



ABSENT Messrs. Anthony, Brownlow, Cameron, 

 Clayton, Davis of Kentucky, Davis of West Virginia, 

 Ferry of Connecticut, Gilbert, Goldthwaite, Hainlin, 

 Hitchcock, Lewis, Logan, Osborn, Patterson, Kice, 

 Kobertson, Scott, Sherman, Spencer, Stewart, Sum- 

 ner, Wilson, and Wright 24. 



So the appeal was ordered to lie on the table. 



Mr. Thurraan : " I move to indefinitely post- 

 pone the bill. 



"Mr. President, nothing that has happened 

 since I have had a seat in the Senate has given 

 me more surprise and more pain than the vote 

 which has just been taken. I did suppose 

 that the rule which was adopted by the Sen- 

 ate, and which we unanimously applied to this 

 bill, relying upon what we supposed to be its 

 fair, honest, and well-understood meaning, 

 would not be extended in a way that this vote 

 indicates, extended in a way that takes every 

 Senator on this floor who votes against the ex- 

 tension, not only by surprise, but creates in his 

 mind unaffected astonishment. What is the 

 principle that has this moment been deter- 

 mined by the Senate ? Why, sir, it is that 

 you may amend any law on the statute-book 

 in reference to which there is any appropria- 

 tion made in this bill ; amend it indefinitely ; 

 amend it without limit ; go over almost the 

 whole statute-book of the United States, be- 

 cause there is an appropriation for executing 

 that law. Sir, let us see what it is. 



" The first appropriation in this bill is under 

 the head of ' the Treasury Department,' and 

 relates to life-saving stations. Now, sir, if 

 this decision to which the Senate has just come 

 be the true ruling, the true interpretation of 

 this rule, then we can amend by this bill all 

 the laws in relation to life-saving stations. 

 Then comes the 'revenue-cutter service,' and 

 you may go on and amend all the laws in rela- 

 tion to that service. Then, sir, comes the 

 ' marine hospital service ; ' you may amend all 

 the laws in relation to that service. Then 

 comes ' loans and Treasury notes and national 

 currency,' and you may amend the entire 

 national bank law, and all this under a 

 five-minutes rule of debate, and you may 

 amend all the laws in relation to the issue of 

 greenbacks, and limit the debate to five min- 

 utes. Then comes ' detection and punishment 

 of counterfeiting,' and under that you may 

 amend all the criminal laws on the statute- 

 book in relation to the crime of counterfeiting. 

 Then comes 'the contingent expenses of the 

 Senate,' and you may amend all the laws in 

 relation to them. Then coines the 'judiciary,' 

 and you' may amend every judicial act upon 

 the statute-book, every one from the act of 

 1789 down to this day, and limit debate to five 

 minutes the jurisdiction of the Supreme 

 Court, the jurisdiction of the circuit court, the 



jurisdiction of the district court, the jurisdic- 

 tion of the Court of Claims, the jurisdiction of 

 the courts of the District of Columbia, the 

 writ of habeas corpus, every thing that apper- 

 tains to the judiciary, every statute passed 

 since the foundation of the Government is 

 open to amendment or repeal, and that is under 

 a debate limited to five minutes, under this 

 ruling which has just been made by the Sen- 

 ate ! That is the truth about it. Why, sir, I 

 would a thousand times rather have the previ- 

 ous question "of the House of Representatives 

 than this. 



" Sir, Senators may smile as much as they 

 please ; they may think this is a very smart 

 trick no, I will not use the word ' trick,' for 

 it is not respectful ; they may think this is very 

 sharp practice ; that this is a very acute thing 

 on the part of the majority that has power to 

 do what it pleases. But I say it is not good 

 faith. I say it is not a fair interpretation of 

 this rule. I say it is a ruling which makes the 

 rule absolutely nugatory for the purposes for 

 which it was adopted, absolutely so. Worse 

 than all that, Mr. President, it is a rule that 

 utterly stifles every thing like debate, and 

 that upon the most important questions which 

 can concern the Senate or the American peo- 

 ple. Why, sir, is it so that, whenever an ap- 

 propriation is made to execute an existing law, 

 you can move as an amendment under this 

 rule, and limit debate to five minutes, any 

 amendment whatsoever of that law ? If that 

 is the case, I pray tp know whether there is 

 any freedom of debate left in this body ? Sir, 

 we had better stop all debate at once, if that 

 is the case. 



" I say to Senators, beware before you adopt 

 such a rule as this. There was a time when 

 the Eepublican party marched to victory with 

 1 free speech ' upon its banners. There was a 

 time when it claimed that in every part of this 

 country there should be free speech. There 

 was a time when the silencing of voices and 

 preventing the utterance of the thoughts of 

 even the smallest minority was considered a 

 crime against humanity, and a crime against 

 the Constitution of the country. But now, in 

 the highest legislative Chamber of the country, 

 we find a rule that stifles free speech utterly, 

 and places the whole body of the statute law 

 of the land at the mercy of a numerical major- 

 ity of the Senate, without any debate whatso- 

 ever on the merits of the proposition to mod- 

 ify or to repeal it. I say it will not do to talk 

 about free speech any more. You had better 

 say at once, with Napoleon I., 'I hate phrase- 

 mongers.' You had better at once adopt the 

 logic of the Senator from Michigan (Mr Chan- 

 dler) the other day, who hates all * o-ra-tors,' as 

 he calls them, despises every thing like 

 speech; establish military rule; have no dis- 

 cussion; discussions are always hostile to 

 tyranny. There never was a tyrant yet who 

 loved discussion ; there never was one yet who 

 did not frown down debate. 



