the power of the Government for the purpose of perpetuating party rule, but for the purpose of carrying out measures that are best for the interests of the whole people; and inasmuch as the party that succeeds to power on certain measures believes that those measures are best

for the country, it will naturally call around it those who sympathize in those views; but in carrying them out it should be for the benefit of the country and not as party measures.

But it seems the public service has fallen far below this in the city of New York. There, as in many other places in our country, appointments to office have become a mere personal question. Officers are appointed, not because of their particular qualifications, or fidelity to the Constitution, or ability, or party devotion even, but to a great extent for personal reasons and on account of the importunity of some member, either of the Senate or House of Representatives. I ask any Senator in harmony with the party in power, what are the usual causes assigned as entitling persons to office?

There are two: one is poverty, misfortune in business, and bad health; and the other, party service, and some office is usually sought where the service is light and the pay large.

The Senator from Missouri [Mr. SCHURZ] calls my attention to a part of the testimony embraced in the document from which I have been reading, as illustrating how appointments are made. On page 30, Luther Horton testifies as follows:

"Question. By whom were you appointed?
Answer. By Mr. Murphy.

"Question. On whose recommendation?

Ansicer. Well, I guess my own political status gave me the position.

"Question. Be kind enough to state what that political status is here in the State.

"Answer. I live in a district where I keep up an organization for the party. I could hardly tell you whether there was any recommendation with regard to my appointment. I know that when he gave it to me he spoke about the position, and I said I would take such a position this winter. I think he said that he would put as my backers William A. Darling and Colonel Cornell. I think they were the names that were filed away.

"Question. Were they put on at your request, or at Mr. Murphy's suggestion?

"Ancer. I think he said, 'I will put Mr. Cornell and William A. Darling down.'

Question. Do you think it was as a reward for your political services that you were appointed?

Answer. I don't think it could be anything else. I have been an active politician here for a number of years."

Now, Mr. President, I want this committee appointed for the purpose of foliowing up the investigations that have been begun in regard to the use of patronage. I want a reform, and a substantial reform, in the civil service. I have believed, and I still believe, that it would be a long step toward a reform to pass a law disconnecting members of Congress from all appointments. At a former session I intro-|| duced a bill to that effect, and if no man was to be appointed to any office who had obtained the recommendation of either a member of the Senate or House for the place, it would, in my judgment, bring about a very salutary reformation in the civil service. Not only that, but it would have a salutary effect upon the members of Congress, and upon the heads of Departments. The independence of members of Congress, and of the heads of Departments, cannot be maintained so long as they continue to put themselves under obligations to each other in the matter of appointments of friends to office.

Why, Mr. President, I think it is no unusual thing, even in this body, for appointments to be held up until other appointments are made; or at least in former times such things have occurred. The appointing power has been given to understand that unless certain other nominations were made, certain pending ones might not be confirmed. But, sir, whether or not this has actually been the condition of things in any given case, it is liable to be. I think that it would have been a great relief to the Departments and to the members of Con gress, and would have been highly promotive

of the public service, if a law could have been enacted forbidding Congressmen to make recommendations for office; but the Senate seemed not disposed to pass such a law.

I do not wish to be understood as denouncing as corrupt or unfit all the officers of the Govfar from it. Some of the best men

ernment men of the highest integrity, of great capacity, of intelligence, of education, of character, of fidelity to the Government, hold offices in the country; but while that is true, many others are appointed from other considerations than fitness.

I think this committee during its former organization rendered great service to the country in exposing abuses that had crept into the public service. I am sure in trying to correct these abuses we shall have the cooperation of the Executive. We are notified in the message of the President that appointments are often made upon recom. mendations given without due consideration, and he even suggests the propriety of holding the parties recommending responsible for the character of the persons whom they recommend. If it were practicable the plan might be excellent.

But it is not simply with regard to abuses in the use of patronage that I desire this committee to be continued. I wish it continued to suggest remedies, if it be possible, against the robbery of the public by its officials. These defalcations have become too frequent to be passed over without investigation. Let us examine into them, and let us examine thoroughly; let us go to the bottom without fear or favor to any one; and if the abuses do exist, if the organization in the Treasury Department, in the pay department, in the customs department, or anywhere else, is such as to afford facilities for robbing the public, let us apply the proper remedy. If the system is as perfect as we can make it, if the accusations recently made in the newspapers of the country as to the abuse in the use of patronage, particularly in the city of New York, be untrue, let the fact be made known. I have heard nothing in reference to the present collector. The investigation from which I have read took place before he was appointed, and I hope he may bring about all the reforms we desire in his office. If he has done so, and is administering the collector's office honestly and faithfully, let the country know it.

Throughout the land there is an impression that corruption exists, and that there is great demoralization in the public service. The recent exposures showing that the people of the city of New York have been robbed of millions of dollars, have awakened a public sentiment throughout the nation; and how, Mr. President, was it possible for Tammany to perpetrate its frauds? Only upon this principle of partisanship in official position. Do you suppose that all of the many millions of which the people of that city have been robbed remained in the hands of the robbers? Do you suppose the persons who were arrested in the city of New York for robbing that city have got the many millions of dollars that they took from the public treasury? They may have a portion of it, but millions of it, I doubt not, have gone to perpetuate themselves in power from year to year. It has been paid to just such persons as are spoken of in this report-persons who had political influence. It has been paid to pack conventions, to carry elections, and to stuff the ballot-boxes. have no doubt millions have gone in that way.

I

Mr. President, let us separate the Federal Government from any such use of patronage; let us have a higher state of morals among officials; let us elevate both official integrity and public virtue by insisting that the public patronage of the country shall no more be used for mere selfish and partisan purposes. And then, sir, we shall purify the Government; then republican institutions may be continued; | but, unless we can have purity in the adminis

tration of the Government, in its officers, the state of things predicted by Mr. Clay, when he said that the Republic would go down in a despotism as inexorable as that of Constantinople, must sooner or later come to pass.

Mr. EDMUNDS. Mr. President, I believe the question is up now, and the last speech of my friend from Illinois is fully to the point. I think, however, that my friend misapprehends a little what the precise point of discussion here is, after all. I think everybody on all sides of the Chamber will agree with him in condemning robbery, peculation, dishonesty, favoritism, everything that is mean and unholy. I know the Republicans here will, and I have no doubt the Democrats will. The point is not whether it is wise and right to purify every department of the Government, but what is the wisest and most effectual method of doing it. That is the question, and that is all the question. My honorable friend need not spend time in reading pieces of this testimony taken in the city of New York to show that appointments to office in the custom-house at New York can be improved. He does not need any special committee, or any joint select committee, to show that the appointments in the customhouse in New York and in other customhouses can be improved. It is a waste of the public treasure to enter upon any such inquiry for such a purpose, because every Senator who hears me, and every intelligent man in the country knows and has known for a great many years that the system of selections for appointment to subordinate offices-and not very subordinate either, for I would go up pretty high, higher perhaps than my friend would be willing to go-has not been the system best adapted to subserve the public interests.

Whether another can be devised is a subject that the Committee on Retrenchment at the first session of its existence acted upon, exhausted itself, reported upon; and it attempted with all the zeal and ability it possessed then to persuade Congress to pass the bill regulating the civil service of the United States, which I had the honor the other day to introduce in the identical language in which the committee reported it the last time I was on the committee. But there are difficulties about this business, as my friend from Illinois knows perfectly well, difficulties that I hope he and I and the other members of the Committee on the Judiciary, to which the bill to which I have just referred has gone, will be able to overcome. Where, for instance, are you to draw the line (as he speaks of it) between appointing a man on account of his political status and appointing a man on account of his want of political status, or some other reason, is the difficulty. He has read from the testimony of Horton as showing a case of grave misconduct on the part of Murphy, and it may have been-I pronounce no opinion on that-his statement when asked upon whose recom. mendation he was appointed to office: "Well, I guess my own political status gave me the position." That is exactly the answer that might be truthfully made by my friend from Illinois as to his being in this Chamber at this moment. It was his political status that made him a Senator. It was not, I suspect, because he was thought exclusively and solely the only man in the State of Illinois whose private character and whose fidelity to the Constitution was above question, for, as high as we all place that, and I certainly place it as high as possible, nobody will maintain that Senators are selected upon that ground solely.

That is one of the general qualifications which all men who are called to public trust ought to possess; but it is the political status of every one of us here that has given us the places we hold, as persons having had charge of carrying on what my friend denominates party warfare-political influence. That is to say, we have endeavored to maintain the principles of action in public affairs that we believe to be right, and we have endeavored to impress

those opinions upon our fellow-citizens, and having convinced them or assisted in convincing them that a particular course of policy is the true one, then they take us or our predecessors or our successors from among the body of their partisans, as they are called, to represent those principles. Does my friend from Illinois oppose that? If so, he ought to resign to-morrow and ask the Governor of Illinois to appoint a Democrat, or an ultra Republican, or something that he is not, to the place that he fills, because he is holding office upon false principles. Why, Mr. President, that is absurd. My friend knows it as well as I do. And so he said that in a general and abstract way he did not object to certain persons being appointed upon the idea that they had been politicians, upon the idea that they fraternized with certain other persons in the country with a view to a certain policy.

Well, sir, how far are you to go? There is the practical question. You are certainly to go through the Senate and House of Representatives, I take it we should all agree. We do not want to be turned out and have our political adversaries put in, in order to purify the Government for our sakes. If you are to go into the Departments, would you, Mr. President, or would my friend from Illinois who wishes to return to specie payments, desire to depose a Secretary of the Treasury, who was in favor of returning to specie payment, and put in a man who was opposed to it, upon the ground that you must be perfectly impartial in the selection of public agents, must not inquire which side of a political question a man is on in order to know whether he is a fit man to execute the purposes of the Government in carrying out its policy? By no means. And so you may run through the Department of the Treasury down a good way-I do not undertake now to say where, for I am as much in difficulty about that as my friend is; I wish to be abstract about that; you may run down a great way before you will be perfectly safe in saying, in advance of experiment, the Government can be carried on upon a particular policy or principle without reposing trust to carry on the Government upon that policy and principle in the hands of the men who are in favor of it from their hearts, instead of those who are against it or are indifferent to it. But, as I said, I think we have misconceived the issue here a little. The point is not whether we are to have a civil service reform-which is a subject referred to my friend's own committee, where, I trust, it will meet prompt and favorable action-but the point simply is whether we are to have a particular committee raised, which the Senate at the last session decided there was no occasion for, or whether we are to proceed with the duties of investigation that belong to this body according to the ordinary course of requiring each committee charged with a particular branch of the public service to make inquiries into that. That is all there is to it, and I was sorry to hear the honorable Senator from Illinois, in making this fine speech of his, go out of his way upon this little question to assail the conduct of the Secretary of the Treasury in the management of his branch of public affairs, and to have the country understand as a cause of grave offense on the part of that official, that he had kept $100,000,000 in the Treasury. It was a little out of place, Mr. President, I submit to you and to him, to complain of a man keeping money in the Treasury at the same time that you are trying to raise a committee to keep it from going out of the Treasury. What has the propriety of the policy of the Secretary of the Treasury, in undertaking to bring legal tenders into some decent kinship to coin, to do with the question of whether we shall have a select committee to investigate into the administration of affairs touching peculation or defalcation? Nothing at all.

It was therefore entirely gratuitous on the

part of the honorable Senator from Illinois to bring in, in this left-handed way, a criticism on the conduct of the Secretary of the Treasury to go to the country, when that subject is not open to debate, and when it would be out of place to go into a debate upon it-a criticism upon his conduct in undertaking, as a private banker would, to hold resources enough in his own hands to show that he had some hope and expectation of meeting his liabilities. If I may say a word in reply on a question that is out of the way, I will say that, instead of a loss of interest to the people in holding that money, in my opinion it has been worth to them in the way of interest saved, and in the reduction of the inflation of currency to a gold standard, more than twenty per cent. per annum, and I think a discussion of that subject would entirely satisfy everybody, even my friend from Illinois, of that fact. But that is entirely apart from this consideration.

Another thing I was a little sorry for, and that was to hear my friend boldly assert, and in terms, that the President of the United States in his message had said that the civil service of the United States was demoralized. That is the language which he imputed to the President of the United States. I have read that message with some care and a great deal of satisfaction. I find no such clause in it. The President of the United States has said in his message, to his honor, that the public service of the United States in respect to appointments to office could be improved. He hass hown, by his return of the management of affairs during the period of his administration, that instead of the public service in his hands being demoralized it has become moralized from the condition of demoralization in which he found it at the expiration of the term of Mr. Johnson. He has expelled peculators and defrauding officers from the service, and he has done it as quickly and as readily whenever he has found people who have been appointed by himself as he has in respect to officers who were appointed by others.

And let me tell my honorable friend from Illinois that the condition in the improvement of the civil affairs of this Government, indeed all its affairs, beginning from the 4th of March, 1869, and coming down to this time, compared with the three years preceding that, is immeasurably to the advantage of the people of the United States. There is hardly any comparison between the efficiency and fidelity of the public service for the last three years and its inefficiency and infidelity from the time succeeding the death of Mr. Lincoln to the expiration of the term of office of the prede. cessor of the present incumbent; and no com. mittee knows that better than the honorable gentlemen who last composed the Committee on Retrenchment; nobody knows it better than the honorable Senator from Illinois, if he will take the pains to inform himself of some of the light strokes in this picture of public affairs, instead of looking for all the dark places he can find.

Why, Mr. President, take this very customhouse at New York, which, I admit, is in a locality so festering with corruption on all sides, so filled up with that element of population which makes politics a mere game and a fraud almost, that it is a wonder we get any revenue at all there; and yet the records of the Treasury Department will show, compared with previous years and previous Administrations, that even this much-abused Mr. Thomas Murphy has been far more efficient and successful in collecting the revenue than any of his predeces sors; and yet my friend, instead of stating that fact, hunts through this stock of testimony, where there was no cross-examination, where the other party was not heard, and finds a fellow who says that he was appointed to office on account of his political status.

Mr. PATTERSON. The Senator will allow me to say that both parties were heard. If he

will read the testimony all through he will find that the testimony given by Mr. Bixby, which was quoted, was replied to by other witnesses.

Mr. EDMUNDS. I am much obliged to my friend for the suggestion. When I said that the examination was ex parte I did not intend it in any sense as reflecting on the committee, because they could not go into trials. I only meant that while the witness was telling his story there was no man to face him, as in a court of justice, cross-examine him, and find out exactly what he did know and how he knew it; but afterward, of course, the committee, in the performance of its duty, would endeavor to seek information to see whether these different statements were well founded or not, and I learn from what my friend from New Hampshire says that in taking this evidence they did find that many of the state. ments of men of this character were not borne out by the statements of others.

Mr. PATTERSON. Allow me to interrupt the Senator once more. Testimony was got. from Mr. Bixby, and also from Horton, in respect to Mr. Leet and others. The committee had Mr. Leet before them, and he denied many of the statements which had been made by Horton and Bixby.

Mr. RAMSEY. I should like to appeal to the Senator from Vermont. There is no probability of this debate closing to day. There are a number of executive nominations on the table, as well as reports from committees already made, and I hope he will give way to a motion for an executive session.

Mr. EDMUNDS. I will in a moment; but I wish to say one word more before I give

way.

It seems that Mr. Bixby was the chief witness relied upon by the honorable Senator from Illinois to show that there was one man in this Government who was not exactly what he ought to be. This Mr. Bixby, if he is the same man I mean, is an old acquaintance of the Committee on Retrenchment. We found him carry. ing on operations under Mr. Smythe in 1866 and 1867. I do not remember all the functions he filled, but the chief one was to sell offices and cartage and be a general broker for sundry people who were speculating and peculating in public affairs there in the time of Mr. Johnson. I do not think his character has very largely improved since

Mr. TRUMBULL. Who is that?
Mr. EDMUNDS. Bixby.

Mr. TRUMBULL. I did not read Bixby's testimony.

Mr. EDMUNDS. The Senator from New Hampshire said you did. That is all I know about it.

Mr. TRUMBULL. and from Dodge.

I read from Horton

Mr. EDMUNDS. My friend from Illinois says he did not call Bixby.

Mr. TRUMBULL. I do not recollect whether I read anything at all from him or

not.

Mr. EDMUNDS. It is not very material. Mr. Bixby's statement would not add, to anybody that knows him, very largely to its credibility.

Mr. PATTERSON. On page 21 Mr. Bixby was called, and the examination of Mr. Bixby ran on till Mr. A. T. Stewart was examined. I understood the Senator from Illinois to quote from his testimony on page 24.

Mr. EDMUNDS. I shall yield to my friend from Minnesota to make the motion he has indicated, as I shall not finish to-night, and if it were not so late, with the permission of the Senate, I should ask the Secretary to read the very interesting and lucid and short report of this very committee, summing up this whole testimony, in which the committee itself shows that while abuses of this character have from time to time in special instances run through the administration of affairs in the city of New York, much more so in former times, they express entire confidence and satisfaction at

the existing management of affairs, and are glad to recommend certain legislation in respect to revising the laws touching certain points of difficulty and disturbance in that city between the importers and the customs officials which had given rise to a great deal of recrimination and debate. I will not ask to have that read this evening, but to-morrow, if it shall be the pleasure of the Senate to have an executive session now, I will ask the Secretary to read that as part of my remarks, because the attention of the Senate and the country, after the very extraordinary speech of my friend from Illinois, ought to be called to the commentary of the committee upon this very evidence.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. On what page is that?

Mr. EDMUNDS. The opening of the report of the committee. I now yield.

Mr. RAMSEY. I make the motion for an executive session.

INTERNAL REVENUE REPORT.

Mr. HOWE. I desire consent to introduce a concurrent resolution, to be referred to the Committee on Printing.

Mr. RAMSEY. Very well.

Mr. HOWE submitted the following concur rent resolution:

Resolved by the Senate, (the House of Representatives concurring.) That two thousand additional copies of the last report of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the tables, be printed and bound for the use of the Commissioner; and that five hundred additional copies be printed with paper covers, also for the use of the Commissioner.

The resolution was referred to the Committee on Printing.

SENATOR FROM GEORGIA.

Mr. THURMAN. I ask the Senator from Minnesota to withdraw the motion for a moment to allow me to ask unanimous consent to take up the credentials of Mr. Norwood, of Georgia, and refer them to the Committee on Privileges and Elections.

The motion to refer was agreed to.

REMOVAL OF DISABILITIES.

Mr. ROBERTSON. I ask the Senator from Minnesota to withdraw his motion to allow me to ask that House bill No. 380, for the removal of legal and political disabilities imposed by the third section of the fourteenth article of amendments to the Constitution of the United States, reported by the Committee on Disabilities this morning, be made the special order for one o'clock on Thursday next.

Mr. EDMUNDS. No, do not let us have any special orders yet.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont objects.

Mr. RAMSEY. That will take more time than we can spend just now. It will come up naturally to-morrow morning after the morning hour.

Mr. TRUMBULL. I hope the motion to go into executive session will be voted down then, and let us get up the other business.

Mr. EDMUNDS. I hope the Senator from Illinois will not violate the rules by making speeches on a motion to go into executive ses

sion.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota moves that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of executive business.

The question being put, a division was called for, and the ayes were twenty-seven.

Mr. TRUMBULL. As this is the test-question on the removal of disabilities, I call for the yeas and nays.

Mr. EDMUNDS. It is not a test-question at all.

Mr. TRUMBULL. I think it is. I call for the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

Mr. HAMLIN. I wish simply to say that the ipse dixit of the Senator from Illinois cannot make this a test question for me nor for any other man.

The question being taken by yeas and nays, resulted-yeas 31, nays 25; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Ames, Anthony, Boreman, Brownlow, Buckingham, Cameron, Carpenter, Chandler, Clayton, Conkling, Corbett, Edmunds, Ferry of Michigan, Flanagan, Frelinghuysen, Gilbert, Hamlin, Howe, Kellogg, Morrill of Vermont, Morton, Nye, Osborn, Patterson, Pomeroy, Pool, Pratt, Ramsey, Scott, Sherman, and Wright-31.

NAYS-Messrs. Alcorn, Blair, Casserly, Cooper, Davis of West Virginia, Fenton, Ferry of Connecticut, Hamilton of Maryland, Harlan, Hill, Johnston, Lewis, Logan, Rice, Robertson, Sawyer, Schurz, Stevenson, Stockton, Sumner, Thurman, Tipton, Trumbull, Vickers, and Wilson-25.

ABSENT-Messrs. Bayard, Caldwell, Cole, Cragin, Davis of Kentucky, Hamilton of Texas, Hitchcock, Kelly, Morrill of Maine, Saulsbury, Spencer, Sprague, Stewart, West, and Windom-15.

So the motion was agreed to.

EXECUTIVE SESSION.

The Senate thereupon proceeded to the consideration of executive business. After twenty minutes spent in executive session the doors were reopened, and (at three o'clock and thirty-three minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
MONDAY, December 11, 1871.

The House met at twelve o'clock m. Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. J. G. BUTLER, D. D. The Journal of Thursday last was read and approved.

ORDER OF BUSINESS.

The SPEAKER. This being Monday, the first business in order during the morning hour is the calling of the States and Territories for the introduction of bills and joint resolutions for reference to their appropriate committees, not to be brought back into the House by motions to reconsider. Under this call memorials and resolutions of State and territorial Legislatures may be presented for printing and reference. The morning hour now begins, at five minutes past twelve o'clock.

DISCHARGE OF POOR CONVICTS.

Mr. PETERS introduced a bill (H. R. No. 480) in regard to the discharge of poor con. victs; which was read a first and second time, ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

REMOVAL OF CAUSES FROM STATE COURTS.

Mr. PETERS also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 481) in amendment of an act entitled "An act for the removal of causes in certain cases from State courts," approved July 27, 1867, and acts in addition to and amendatory thereof, approved March 2, 1867, and July 27, 1868; which was read a first and second time, ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

COMPENSATION OF CRIERS.

Mr. PETERS also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 482) regulating the compensation of criers of the United States courts; which was read a first and second time, ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

AMENDMENT OF RULES.

Mr. PETERS also introduced a resolution to amend the rules of the House so that bills introduced by unanimous consent shall not be brought back by a motion to reconsider; which was ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee on Rules.

REMISSION OF TAXES ON VESSELS.

Mr. LYNCH introduced a bill (H. R. No. 483) authorizing the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to remit and pay back taxes assessed and collected on vessels; which was read a first and second time, ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee of Ways and Means.

EXPENSES OF JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE. Mr. POLAND introduced a bill (H. R. No. 484) making an appropriation to supply a defi

ciency in the appropriations for the expenses of the joint select Committee on Alleged Outrages in the Southern States; which was read a first and second time, ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee on Appropri ations.

ACTIONS IN COURT OF CLAIMS.

Mr. POLAND also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 485) to regulate actions in the Court of Claims by loyal owners of property seized under the act of March 12, 1863; which was read a first and second time, ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS.

Mr. BUFFINTON introduced a bill (H. R. No. 486) authorizing the construction of a building at Fall River, Massachusetts, for custom-house, post office, and other purposes; which was read a first and second time, re-. ferred to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and ordered to be printed.

COMMISSION OF ARBITRATION AT GENEVA.

Mr. BANKS introduced a bill (H. R. No. 487) making appropriations for expenses which may be incurred under the treaty of Washing. ton relating to the commission of arbitration at Geneva; which was read a first and second time, ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

FISHERIES.

Mr. BANKS also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 488) to carry into effect the provisions of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain, signed in the city of Washington on the 8th of May, 1871, relating to the fisheries; which was read a first and second time, ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

BRITISH AND AMERICAN CLAIMS COMMISSION.

Mr. BANKS also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 489) to give effect to the provisions of the treaty of Washington relating to the British and American claims commission; which was read a first and second time, ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

AMERICAN CITIZENS OWNING SLAVES.

Mr. BANKS also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 490 490) to carry into effect article thirteen of the amendments to the Constitution of the United States, and to prohibit the owning or dealing in slaves by American citizens in foreign countries; which was read a first and second time, ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

BRONZE STATUE OF ADMIRAL FARRAGUT.

Mr. BANKS also introduced a joint resolu tion (H. R. No. 51) providing for a colossal bronze statue of Admiral Farragut, after a design molded from life; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds.

EXPOSITION OF INDUSTRY IN AUSTRIA.

Mr. BANKS also presented a letter from the Secretary of State, relating to an exposition of industry in Vienna, Austria; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and ordered to be printed.

D. B. ALLEN AND COMPANY.

Mr. TWICHELL introduced a bill (H. R. No. 491) to provide for the payment of D. B. Allen & Co. for services in carrying the United States mails; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads.

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

Mr. KELLOGG introduced a bill (H. R. No. 492) for continuing the improvement of New Haven harbor, Connecticut; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Commerce.

HOUSATONIC RIVER, CONNECTICUT.

Mr. KELLOGG also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 493) for continuing the improvement of the Housatonic river, Connecticut; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Commerce.

CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD.

Mr. WHEELER introduced a bill (H. R. No. 494) relating to the Central Pacific railroad; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on the Pacific Railroad.

STAFF OF THE ARMY.

Mr. WILLIAMS, of New York, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 495) to reorganize the staff of the Army, and for other purposes; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, and ordered to be printed.

STATE AND WAR DEPARTMENTS.

Mr. SLOCUM introduced a bill (H. R. No. 496) to authorize the renting of certain buildings for the temporary use of the State and War Departments; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and ordered to be printed.

FREDERICK A. GARLICK.

Mr. DUELL introduced a bill (H. R. No. 497) granting an invalid pension to Frederick A. Garlick, of Cortland county, New York; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Indian Pensions.

HENRY A. MESSENGER.

Mr. DUELL also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 498) for the relief of Henry A. Messenger; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee of Claims.

UNITED STATES COURT AT SYRACUSE.

Mr. DUELL also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 499) to provide for the holding of a term of the circuit and district court of the United States for the northern district of New York at the city of Syracuse, in said State; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

GENERAL AMNESTY,

Mr. COX introduced a bill (H. R. No. 500) for general amnesty without exceptions; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and ordered to be printed.

SURFMEN ON JERSEY COAST.

Mr. HAZLETON, of New Jersey, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 501) authorizing an appropriation for the employment of surfmen at life-saving stations on the coast of New Jersey; which was read a first and second time, and, with an accompanying letter of the Secretary of the Treasury, referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and ordered to be printed.

PAY OF INFORMERS.

Mr. MERCUR introduced a bill (H. R. No. 502) to repeal all laws giving to an informer any share or portion of the fines, penalties, and forfeitures imposed upon persons convicted of violation of the internal revenue laws; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee of Ways and Means, and ordered to be printed.

INTER-STATE COMMUNICATION.

Mr. KILLINGER introduced a bill (H. R. No. 503) to facilitate intercommunication and promote a cheap and uniform system of railroad.transportation in all parts of the United States and Territories; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Railways and Canals, and ordered to be printed.

JOHN P. REED.

Mr. GRIFFITH introduced a bill (H. R. No. 504) for the relief of John P. Reed, late

deputy collector of internal revenue for the twentieth district of Pennsylvania; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee of Claims, and ordered to be printed.

WILLIAM COURSON AND OTHERS.

Mr. GRIFFITH also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 505) for the relief of William Courson, Huldah Courson, David Courson, and Emma Courson, minor children of David W. Courson, deceased, late a private in company G, sixty-third regiment Pennsylvania volunteers; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee of Claims, and ordered to be printed.

BOUNTY LANDS FOR SOLDIERS, ETC.

Mr. GRIFFITH also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 506) granting bounty lands to all honorably discharged soldiers and sailors who were mustered into the service of the United States in the war for the suppression of the rebellion; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, and ordered to be printed.

LIGHT-HOUSE ON LAKE ERIE.

Mr. SCOFIELD introduced a bill (H. R. No. 507) to authorize the building of a lighthouse on the north side of Presque Isle, Lake Erie; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Commerce, and ordered to be printed.

ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA.

Mr. SCOFIELD also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 508) to extend certain privileges to the port of Erie, in the State of Pennsylvania; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee of Ways and Means, and ordered to be printed.

PATENT OFFICE DRAWINGS, ETC.

Mr. SCOFIELD also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 509) to provide for furnishing copies of drawings and specifications of the Patent Office to the circuit courts of the United States at Erie and Williamsport, Pennsylvania; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Patents, and ordered to be printed.

ENLISTMENTS IN THE ARMY.

Mr. STORM introduced a bill (H. R. No. 510) to prevent the enlistment in the Army of the United States of persons under the age of twenty-one years; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, and ordered to be printed.

PENSIONS.

Mr. SPEER, of Pennsylvania, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 511) fixing the time from which pensions heretofore granted, or which may hereafter be granted, shall commence, and extending the time for the filing of applications for the same; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions, and ordered to be printed.

BOUNTY LANDS.

Mr. SPEER, of Pennsylvania, also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 512) granting bounty lands to the soldiers and sailors who served in the war for the suppression of the rebellion, and to the widows and children of those who are dead; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, and ordered to be printed.

JOHN GARSED.

Mr. KELLEY introduced a bill (H. R. No. 513) for the relief of John Garsed; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee of Claims, and ordered to be printed.

MARY WADE.

ABOLITION OF HARBOR AND OTHER FEES.

Mr. NEGLEY also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 516) prohibiting that harbor, port, or pilotage fees, dues, or other taxes or imposts be levied or pretended to be levied on the tonnage, merchandise, trade, imports, or cargoes of any vessel, or the vessel itself, by virtue of the authority of any State or municipal government, except wharfage, pierage, and dockage, and enacting that the collection or attempt to collect the same or any portion thereof be a penal offense; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Commerce, and ordered to be printed.

FIXING SALARIES.

Mr. NEGLEY also introduced a bill (H.R. No. 517) fixing the salaries of certain officers; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and ordered to be printed.

RETIRED NAVAL OFFICERS.

Mr. NEGLEY also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 518) in relation to promotion in the Navy to grades of commodore and rear admiral, and pay of retired officers; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.

NAVY AND MARINE PENSIONS.

Mr. ARCHER introduced a bill (H. R. No. 519) to regulate the pensions of the Navy and Marine corps, and for other purposes; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs, and ordered to be printed.

GRANT OF LANDS TO COLLEGES.

Mr. TERRY introduced a bill (H. R. No. 520) donating public lands to the several States and Territories which may provide a college for the advancement of literature, science, and the arts; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on the Public Lands, and ordered to be printed.

ABOLITION OF AN OATH OF OFFICE.

Mr. HARRIS, of Virginia, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 521) to repeal the act of July 2, 1862, prescribing an oath of office; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and ordered to be printed.

JOHN O'KELLY.

a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Freedmen's Affairs.

REMOVAL OF DISABILITIES.

Mr. WHITELEY also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 526) to relieve from political disabili ties Richard F. Lyon, Cincinnatus Peoples, and David Irwin, of Georgia; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. SPEER, of Georgia, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 527) to remove the disabilities of certain parties laboring under disabilities imposed by the fourteenth amendment in the State of Georgia; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

AUGUSTINE BACON.

Mr. PRICE introduced a bill (H. R. No. 528) for the relief of Augustine Bacon; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee of Claims.

REMOVAL OF DISABILITIES.

Mr. SLOSS introduced a bill (H. R. No. 529) to remove all legal and political disabilities from persons therein named; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. HARRIS, of Mississippi, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 530) for the removal of the political and civil disabilities of certain citizens of Mississippi therein named; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and ordered to be printed.

SALE OF PUBLIC LANDS IN LOUISIANA.

Mr. DARRALL introduced a bill (H. R. No. 531) to provide for the sale of certain public lands in the State of Louisiana; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on the Public Lands.

MRS. ANNE JEFFRIES.

Mr. SPRAGUE introduced a bill (H. R. No. 532) in relation to the pension of Mrs. Anne Jeffries; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions.

ISAAC B. KINKEAD.

Mr. SPRAGUE also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 533) for the relief of Isaac B. Kinkead; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, TOLEdo.

Mr. PECK introduced a bill (H. R. No. 534) to provide for holding the United States district court in the city of Toledo; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and ordered to be printed.

ASA M. TRIMBLE.

Mr. BEATTY introduced a bill (H. R. No. 535) for the relief of Asa M. Trimble; which was read a first and second time, and, with the accompanying papers, referred to the Committee of Claims.

AMENDMENT OF RULES.

Mr. VAN TRUMP introduced a resolution to amend a certain rule of the House; which was referred to the Committee on the Rules, and ordered to be printed.

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.

Mr. MORGAN introduced a joint resolu tion (H. R. No. 52) proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, so as to make naturalized citizens eligible for the offices of President and Vice President; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and ordered to be printed.

PUBLIC BUILDING AT COVINGTON. Mr. ARTHUR introduced a bill (H. R. No. 536) to enable the President to purchase 2 site and erect thereon a fire-proof build

ing for the accommodation of the United States courts and post office in the city of Covington, Kentucky; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and ordered to be printed.

WILLIAM T. CHEATHAM.

Mr. MCHENRY introduced a bill (H. R. No. 537) for the relief of William T. Cheatham; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee of Claims.

Mr. MCHENRY also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 538) for the benefit of William T. Cheatham; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee of Claims.

HOMESTEAD LAW.

Mr. RICE, of Kentucky, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 539) to enable, honorably discharged soldiers and sailors, their widows and orphan children, to acquire homesteads on the public lands of the United States; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on the Public Lands, and ordered to be printed.

THOMAS LANE.

Mr. BUTLER, of Tennessee, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 540) for the relief of Thomas Lane, of Tennessee; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS.

Mr. GOLLADAY presented joint resolu tions of the senate and house of representatives of the State of Tennessee in favor of the establishment, by international cooperation, tions and crop reports; which were referred to of a systematic plan of meteorological observathe Committee on Appropriations.

PENSION LAW OF 1871.^

Mr. WHITTHORNE presented resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, instructing her Senators and requesting her Representatives to vote for a modification of the pension law of February, 1871; which were referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions.

SOLDIERS OF THE WAR OF 1812.

Mr. WHITTHORNE introduced a bill (H. R. No. 541) to modify the first section of the act of Congress, approved February 14, 1871, entitled "An act granting pensions to the soldiers and sailors of the war of 1812, and the widows of deceased soldiers," so as to extend its provisions to all soldiers and sailors of said war and the surviving widows of such as may be deceased; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions and War of 1812, and ordered to be printed.

UNITED STATES COURTS IN WEST TENNESSEE.

Mr. CALDWELL introduced a bill (H. R. No. 542) to change the place of holding the United States circuit and district courts in the district of West Tennessee to Humboldt, in Gibson county; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

MISSISSIPPI LEVEES.

Mr. CALDWELL also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 543) to grant to the justices of the county of Fulton, Kentucky, and the justices of Lake county, Tennessee, five hundred thousand acres of public land to enable them to levee the Mississippi river upon the borders of said counties; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the select Committee on the Mississippi Levees.

REMOVAL OF POLITICAL DISABILITIES. Mr. GARRETT introduced a bill (H. R. No. 544) to relieve certain persons therein named of legal and political disabilities; which was read a first and second time, and

referred, with the accompanying papers, to the Committee on the Judiciary.

PUBLIC BUILDING AT MEMPHIS.

Mr. VAUGHAN introduced a bill (H. R. No. 545) to provide for a building suited to the use of the custom-house, post office, and pension and revenue offices, and the judicial officers of the United States in the city of Memphis, Tennessee; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds.

CHARLES F. TRACY.

Mr. NIBLACK introduced a bill (H. R. No. 546) for the relief of Charles F. Tracy; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.

T. R. CURTIS AND J. H. RICHMOND. Mr. NIBLACK also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 547) for the relief of T. R. Curtis and J. H. Richmond; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.

PENSIONS FOR SERVICE IN INDIAN WARS.

Mr. KERR introduced a bill (H. R. No. 548) to so amend an act entitled "An act granting pensions to certain soldiers and sailors of the war of 1812, and to widows of deceased soldiers," approved February 14, 1871, as to extend its provisions to the soldiers of the war against the Indians in the Northwest, under General William H. Harrison, in 1811 and 1812; which was read a first and second time, ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions and War of 1812.

GEORGE W. WILSON.

Mr. WILSON, of Indiana, introduced a bill (H. R. No. 549) for the relief of George W. Wilson, private in the first Iowa battery, and to remove from him the charge of desertion; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.

BUREAU OF LABOR.

Mr. SHANKS introduced a bill (H. R. No. 550) establishing a bureau of labor, providing for the appointment of a commissioner thereof, and defining his duties; which was read a first and second time, ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee on Education and Labor.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS AT INDIANAPOLIS.

Mr. COBURN introduced a bill (H. R. No. 551) to provide for the erection of an addition to the United States court-house and post office at Indianapolis, Indiana; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds.

RESTORATION OF RECORDS AT CHICAGO.

Mr. FARWELL introduced a bill (H. R. No. 552) to restore the records of the United States courts at Chicago, Illinois; which was read a first and second time, ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

B. H. CAMPBELL.

Mr. FARWELL also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 553) for the relief of B. H. Campbell, United States marshal at Chicago, Illinois; which was read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

JUDICIAL DISTRICTS IN ILLINOIS.

Mr. BURCHARD introduced a bill (H. R. No. 554) to divide the State of Illinois into three judicial districts, and for other purposes; which was read a first and second time, ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

RELIEF OF CHICAGO SUFFERERS BY FIRE.

Mr. BURCHARD also introduced a bill (H. R. No. 555) for the relief of the sufferers by fire at Chicago, Illinois; which was read a first