CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



193 



the gubernatorial appointment of A. J. Edger- 

 ton in Minnesota and J. W. McDill in Iowa. 

 The organization of the Senate threatened to 

 be a matter of some difficulty on account of the 

 equal political division, both parties indicating 

 a purpose of insisting on controlling the com- 

 position of the committees and the election of 

 officers. They accordingly held caucuses and 

 arranged the membership of committees, the 

 Republicans also selecting candidates for the 

 offices. General Mahone and Judge Davis 

 took no part in either caucus. The Demo- 

 cratic list of committees was submitted in a 

 resolution for their appointment by Mr. Pen- 

 dleton on the 10th of March. The Republi- 

 cans had declined to fill in the places reserved 

 for their party according to custom, and the 

 Democrats had arranged the entire member- 

 ship, giving their opponents the customary mi- 

 nority of places. The Republicans determined 

 at once to resist the adoption of the Democratic 

 resolution. Mr. Davis, of Illinois, who had 

 been named for the chairmanship of the Judi- 

 ciary Committee, declined the place in a speech 

 in which he defined his position. He had been 

 elected to the Senate in 1877 unexpectedly to 

 himself by a Legislature in which the Republi- 

 cans had a plurality, but chiefly by Democratic 

 votes. He explained his former connection 

 with the Republican party, his participation in 

 the Liberal movement of 1872, and his recent 

 entirely independent attitude in politics, and 

 declared that he should support the organi- 

 zation of the Senate as it stood. His closing 

 words were : " Every good citizen should de- 

 sire the success of the Administration, for we 

 all ought to have a common interest in the 

 glory and in the greatness of the republic. 

 Measures intended to advance either shall have 

 my cordial support. The President and his 

 Cabinet are entitled to a fair hearing, and to be 

 judged impartially by their acts. If they fail 

 to justify the public confidence, it will be a 

 misfortune which has overtaken other adminis- 

 trations having equally good intentions and 

 prospects. I shall vote for the appointment 

 of all these committees, except the Judiciary 

 Committee. I wish to retain my old place on 

 the Judiciary Committee, and, though I am 

 thankful to my friends, I must decline the posi- 

 tion of chairman." General Mahone did not 

 appear in the chamber until the second day of 

 the debate on the resolution appointing the 

 committees, which occurred on the 14th of 

 March. In answer to charges of desertion and 

 bad faith made by Mr. Hill, of Georgia, he de- 

 clared his position, claiming to be a Democrat 

 in principle, but not to owe his position in the 

 Senate to that party, and announcing his pur- 

 pose to vote with the Republicans in organizing 

 the chamber. The same day the Republican 

 list of committees was prepared, but it was 

 determined to postpone action until the vacan- 

 cies then existing in the Senate had been filled. 

 After General Mahone's position had been de- 

 fined, the Democrats, having the casting vote 

 VOL. xxi. 13 A 



of the Vice-President against them, gave up 

 the contest for the control of the committees. 

 On the 18th of March the resolution submitting 

 the Democratic list came up as the pending 

 business, and a motion was made by Mr. An- 

 thony to postpone it indefinitely. The result 

 was 37 yeas and 37 nays, and the Vice-Presi- 

 dent announced, u The votes being evenly di- 

 vided, the Chair will vote ay." A protest was 

 entered by Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware, against 

 the right -of the Vice-President to a casting 

 vote in the organization of the committees. 

 The Republican list of committees was then 

 adopted by the same vote, Judge Davis acting 

 with the Democrats and General Mahone with 

 the Republicans. 



The Democrats determined to make a reso- 

 lute stand for the organization of the Senate 

 itself, as it stood, and the retention of the exist- 

 ing Secretary, Sergeant-at-Arms, and clerks. 

 The Republicans, on the other hand, resolved to 

 contest their right and power to retain control 

 of the subordinate offices of the body, and in 

 caucus on the 23d of March nominated George 

 C. Gorham for Secretary, and Henry Riddle- 

 berger, a Virginia Readjnster, and a leading 

 supporter of Mahone, for Sergeant-at-Arms. 

 The Democrats decided in caucus, on the day 

 following, to oppose the adoption of a resolu- 

 tion for the election of Secretary, Sergeant-at- 

 Arms, and other officers of the Senate, resort- 

 ing to motions to adjourn and to go into exec- 

 utive session for the purpose of staving off 

 action, as the Republicans had done to secure 

 delay in constituting the committees. The 

 motions involved in this plan of action were 

 made the subjects of a series of speeches on 

 both sides, in which attempts were made to 

 justify the course persisted in by either party. 

 Senator Davis, of Illinois, again defined his 

 independent position. He explained that his 

 previous vote, in -regard to the committees, 

 had been intended to sustain the existing or- 

 ganization of the Senate, but the control of the 

 committees being changed, notwithstanding his 

 vote, he now deemed it proper that the same 

 party should complete the organization. He 

 said that the majority entitled to control had 

 been disclosed by the casting vote of the Vice- 

 President. " However fleeting and fractional 

 that majority may be, we are commanded to 

 accept and obey it. The majority that chose 

 the committees is, fairly entitled to choose the 

 officers of the Senate. One naturally goes 

 with the other in order to perfect the organi- 

 zation. This conclusion will neither be de- 

 layed nor obstructed by any vote of mine, and 

 it can not be reached too soon for the public 

 interest. I do not regret at all that the new 

 Administration, which has to confront the 

 country with its policy, should have the con- 

 trol of both branches of Congress. The re- 

 sponsibility for measures to be proposed can 

 not be avoided with the power to initiate legis- 

 lation. The majority is not large enough to 

 indulge in rash experiments, and the minority 



