202 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



that this inquiry ought to be made, and believ- 

 ing further that there is great force in the sug- 

 gestion that any one single committee will be 

 greatly embarrassed, to say the least, by an 

 attempt to hold all the inquisition here direct- 

 ed, it seems to me that the inquiry ought not 

 to be committed to a standing committee, 

 which committee we know in advance is ob- 

 structed already by labors making demands 

 upon its time beyond its possibility to comply. 

 And I will venture to add that there are no 

 seven men, whether they be the members of 

 the Judiciary Committee, or a court, or a com- 

 mission, who, in the time available between 

 now and the 4th of March to the Judiciary 

 Committee, could by any diligence dispose in- 

 telligently, conscientiously, and thoroughly of 

 the matters in charge of that committee with- 

 out reference to this ; and my honorable friend 

 before me [Mr. Davis of Illinois] concurs in 

 and confirms me in that statement. So that, 

 unless I stand in the way of the purpose of 

 those who more especially have charge of the 

 resolution, I will venture to submit an amend- 

 ment striking out ' the Committee on the Ju- 

 diciary ' and inserting ' a select committee con- 

 sisting of nine members of the "Senate,' to be 

 appointed by the Chair." 



Mr. Elaine : " I am entirely willing to have 

 the change made. I would have moved it my- 

 self, but for the fact that I do not desire to be 

 chairman or even a member of the committee ; 

 and the person who moves a select committee 

 is under some sort of honorable obligation 

 under certain circumstances to accept the 

 chairmanship. I have no objection to the 

 change." 



The Vice-President : "The amendment of 

 the Senator from New York is that the sub- 

 ject matters of the pending resolutions be com- 

 mited to a select committee to consist of nine 

 Senators, instead of the Judiciary Committee. 

 The question is on the amendment of the 

 Senator from New York." 



The Secretary proceeded to call the roll, and 

 the result was announced as follows : 



YEAS Allison, Anthony, Bamum, Elaine, Booth, 

 Burnside, Cameron of Pa.. Cameron of Wis., Chris- 

 tian cy. Conkling. Davis of Illinois, Dawes, Ferry, Gar- 

 land. Hamlin, Hoar, Howe, Ingalls, Kellogg. Kirk- 

 wood, McDonald, McMillan, Matthews, Maxey, 

 Mitchell, Morrill, Oglesby, Paddoek, Patterson, 

 Plumb, Eollins, Saunders, Teller, Voorhees, Wad- 

 leigh, Windom 36. 



NAYS Armstrong, Bailev, Bayard. Beck, Butler, 

 Cockrell, Coke, Davis of W. Va., Eustis, Gordon, 

 Grover, Harris, Hereford, Johnston, Jones of Florida, 

 Kernan, Lamar, McCreery, McPherson, Merrimon, 

 Morgan, Eandolph, Eansom, Saulsbury, Wallace, 

 Wythe, Withers 27. 



ABSENT Bruce, Chaffee, Conover, Dennis, Dorsey, 

 Eaton, Edmunds, Hill, Jones of Kevada, Sargent, 

 Sharon, Spencer; Thurman 13. 



So the amendment was agreed to. 



The Vice-President : " As thus amended will 

 the Senate agree to the resolutions ? " 



Mr. Elaine : " Let the first part of the reso- 

 lutions be read as amended." 



The Yice-President : " The resolutions will 

 be read as amended." 

 The Secretary read as follows : 



Eesolved, That a select committee, to consist of nine 

 Senators, be appointed to inquire and report to the 

 Senate 



Mr. Elaine: "Let 'by the Chair' be put in 

 after 'appointed.' Let the portion added by 

 the Senator from Ohio come in after the first 

 resolution. Then the two subsequent clauses 

 follow, and then I move an amendment at the 

 end of the last clause to add these words : 



" To take testimony and administer oaths by sub- 

 committees, and to visit any portion of the country 

 when such visit may in their judgment facilitate the 

 object of the inquiry. " 



Mr. Butler of South Carolina : " May I ask 

 the Senator from Maine to consent to one addi- 

 tional amendment after his, ' that said commit- 

 tee be instructed to sit with open doors ? ' " 



Mr. Elaine: "I think there is a good deal 

 under that suggestion of the Senator from 

 South Carolina. He will pardon me for not 

 inserting it." 



Mr. Sutler: "I am perfectly earnest in 

 making the suggestion." 



Mr. Elaine: "Will the Senator explain the 

 motive of it ? " 



Mr. Butler: "My motive is to have a per- 

 fectly fair, impartial, and open investigation. 

 That is my object." 



Mr. Elaine: "The Senator from South Car- 

 olina will observe that this committee will un- 

 doubtedly have a fair and full representation 

 of the minority of the Senate, or of the other 

 side I do not know whether it is a minority 

 or not. Both political parties and all shades 

 of political opinion that sit on this floor will 

 be represented on the committee. Now, I 

 can conceive a case, I think I can go a little 

 further and say that I have heard of a good 

 many cases, in which the committee would be 

 embarrassed by having witnesses come before 

 them who did not want to testify openly. 

 There certainly could be no partisan advantage 

 gained if so active and vigilant an eye as that 

 of the Senator from South Carolina was on the 

 minority, and so of many other Senators whom 

 I might name ; then no harm could come to 

 the inquiry in that respect. But the Senator 

 is not unaware surely that one of the alleged, 

 if not actual, troubles in the whole investiga- 

 tion of the Southern question has been that 

 the very men who were intimidated at the 

 polls were still more intimidated on the wit- 

 ness-stand ; and therefore I would leave that 

 matter altogether to the discretion of the com- 

 mittee. I would neither bind them the one 

 way nor the other. Let them be the judges as 

 to what the propriety of the case demands in 

 this respect." 



Mr. Butler : " I understand, then, the Sena- 

 tor to state that he objects to that addition to 

 his amendment upon the ground that there 

 may be in certain parts of this country some 

 witnesses who would not desire to testify 



