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tobacco-growers of Whately and Hatfield, Massachusetts, for the same purpose.

Also, the petition of H. H. Mayhew, and 52 others, tobacco-growers of Charlemont, Massachusetts, for the same purpose.

NOTICE OF A BILL.

The following notice for leave to introduce a bill was given under the rule:

By Mr. JULIAN: A bill entitled, "An act concerning the elective franchise in the Territories of the United States, and the admission of new States hereafter to be formed within the same."

IN SENATE.

TUESDAY, May 8, 1866.

Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. E. H. GRAY. The Journal of yesterday was read and approved.

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore laid before the Senate a message from the President of the United States, communicating a second dispatch from the minister of the United States in Paris to the Secretary of State, relative to a proposed exposition of fishery and water culture at Arcachon, in France; which, on motion of Mr. SUMNER, was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, and ordered to be printed.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore also laid before the Senate a message of the President of the United States, communicating, in compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 19th ultimo, a report from Benjamin C. Truman relative to the condition of the southern people and the States in which the rebellion existed; which, on motion of Mr. SUMNER, was ordered to lie on the table, and be printed.

PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS.

Mr. HARRIS presented the petition of Enos Kellsy, of the town of Napoli, Cattaraugus county, New York, who states that he is sixtysix years of age; that he has not a dollar's worth of property in the world; that at the outbreak of the rebellion he had seven sons, all of whom enlisted in the Army; two of them were killed on the field of battle; another died in a rebel prison; another lost a leg at the battle of Gettysburg, and prays for a pension; which was referred to the Committee on Pensions..

He also presented a petition of citizens of Washington, District of Columbia, praying that Congress will enact such just and equal laws for the regulation of inter-State insurances of all kinds as may be effectual in establishing the greatest security for the interests protected by policies and promotive of the greatest good and convenience to all concerned in such transactions; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce.

He also presented two petitions of mechanics and laborers in American manufacturing establishments, praying that the tariff may be so amended as to protect their labor to the extent of the difference of the cost of capital and labor here and abroad, with the addition of the taxes paid by American industrial products, from which the foreign are free; which were referred to the Committee on Finance.

Mr. SUMNER. I offer the petition of citizens of New Bedford, Massachusetts, setting forth that St. Catherines, in Brazil, is an important place of resort for our whaling fleet; that it is essential to our interests that the consulate at that place should be filled by an American citizen competent to the performance of its duties. They go on to say that with the close of the war the salary for the consul there will be stopped. They recommend, in the interest of commerce, that a salary of at least $1,500 be provided for the consul there. This petition is numerously signed by the most eminent and respectable citizens of New Bedford. I ask its reference to the Committee on Commerce. It was so referred.

Mr. MORGAN presented the memorial and proceedings of a meeting of the medical profession held at Baltimore on the 4th day of May, in obedience to a call numerously signed by physicians from every portion of the United

States, praying Congress to adopt prompt and efficient measures for protecting the community against the approach of the Asiatic cholera; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce.

on account of his divine effort to establish emancipation. That report, I am inclined to think, has not disclosed completely the whole case. It does not appear, from what we are told, that the special ground of animosity to the Emperor, at the present moment, is so much the original act of emancipation as the courage and perseverance and wisdom which he has displayed in carrying it forward to its

Mr. MORRILL. I ask leave to present the memorial of O. D. Mesnil, a citizen of Belgium, who respectfully represents that he is desirous of introducing into the United States a new mode for the towage of boats on navi-practical results. gable rivers. The proposed plan is fully explained and its advantages set forth in the printed summary accompanying it. I ask that this memorial be referred to the Committee on Commerce.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Did the Chair understand the Senator to say that the petitioner was a citizen of Belgium?

Mr. MORRILL. I believe he is so described; I am not sure.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the rule a petition from a foreigner residing in or belonging to any foreign Government cannot

be received.

Mr. MORRILL. It is sent to me, not by himself, but by a very well-known citizen. I will withdraw the petition until I am able to ascertain the fact.

PAPERS WITHDRAWN AND REFERRED.

On motion of Mr. CRESWELL, it was

Ordered, That the petition and other papers of Rebecca Scott, praying for a pension, be taken from the files of the Senate and referred to the Committee on Pensions.

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES.

Mr. FESSENDEN, from the Committee on Finance, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. No. 213) making appropriations for the legis lative, executive, and judicial expenses of the Government for the year ending the 30th of June, 1867, reported it with amendments.

Mr. WILLIAMS, from the Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the petition of James Pool, praying to be reimbursed for money paid by him for supplies for the Shawnee tribe of Indians, reported a bill (S. No. 311) for the relief of James Pool, which was read and passed to a second reading.

EMPEROR OF RUSSIA.

Mr. SUMNER. The Committee on For

eign Relations, to whom was referred the joint resolution (H. R. No. 133) relative to the attempted assassination of the Emperor of Russia, have had it under consideration and directed me to report it back with amendments;* and as the resolution is one which I think will interest the Senate, and perhaps ought to be acted upon immediately and unanimously, I will ask that it be proceeded with now.

There being no objection, the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the following joint resolution:

Resolved, &c., That the Congress of the United States of America has learned with deep regret of the attempt made upon the life of the Emperor of Russia by an enemy of emancipation. The Congress sends their greeting to his Imperial Majesty and to the Russian nation, and congratulates the twenty million serfs upon the providential escape from danger of the sovereign to whose head and heart they owe the blessings of their freedom.

The first amendment of the Committee on

Foreign Relations was to strike out the word "their" before the word "greeting," so that it will read: "The Congress sends greeting to his Imperial Majesty," &c.

The amendment was agreed to.

The next amendment was to add as an additional section the following:

And be it further resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to forward a copy of this resolution to the Emperor of Russia.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. SUMNER. Before the vote is taken I will take the liberty of making one remark. In considering the resolution in committee, it seemed in some respects inadequate to the occasion, and yet the committee did not think it advisable to attempt any further amendment. The public prints have informed us that an attempt was made on the life of the Emperor of Russia by a person animated against him

I have had occasion, formerly, to remind the Senate how completely the Emperor has done his work. Not content with issuing the decree of emancipation, which was in the month of February, 1861, he has proceeded, by an elaborate system of regulations, to provide, in the first place, for what have been called the civil rights of all the recent serfs; then, in the next place, to provide especially for their rights in court; then, again, to provide for their rights in property, securing to every one of them a homestead; and then, again, by providing for them rights of public education. Added to all these, he has secured to them also political rights, giving to every one the right to vote for all local officers, corresponding to our officers of the town and of the county. It is this very thoroughness with which he has carried out his decree of emancipation that has aroused against him the ancient partisans of slavery, and I doubt not it was one of these who aimed at him that blow which was so happily arrested. The laggard and the faithless are not pursued by assassins.

The Emperor of Russia was born in 1818, and is now forty-eight years of age. He suc ceeded to the throne on the death of his late father in 1855. Immediately after his accession he was happily inspired to bring about emancipation in his great country. One of his first utterances when declaring his sentiments, was, that it was important that this great work should begin from above to the end that it should not proceed from below. Therefore he insisted that the Imperial Government itself should undertake the blessed work, and not leave it to the chance of insurrection or of blood. He went forth bravely, encountering much opposition; and now, that emancipation has been declared in form, he is still going forward bravely in order to crown it by assuring all those rights without which emancipation is little more than a name. It was, therefore, on account of his thoroughness in the work that he became a mark for the assassin; and, sir, our country does well when it offers its homage to the sovereign who has attempted so great a task, under such difficulties and at such hazards, making a landmark of civilization.

Mr. SAULSBURY. I move to amend the resolution by striking out the words "by an enemy of emancipation ;" and upon this amendment I will submit a remark. The Senate of the United States, sir, is called upon to vote for this resolution as its stands, and to assert by its vote that the attempt made upon the life of the Emperor of Russia was "by an enemy of emancipation." Now, sir, I ask you, I ask any member of the Senate, whether there is one particle of evidence before this body, or whether there is a particle of evidence extant in this country, and accessible to the people of this country, which shows that such an attempt was made by an enemy of emancipation. I have seen none such. The statement that I have seen in the papers is that it was by a man in the humble walks of life, and I presume by a man that did not own many serfs. If it be the fact that this attempt at the assassination of the Emperor of Russia was made by an enemy of emancipation, that fact can be easily ascertained, for Russia is represented here by a minister. Inquiry could have been made of that minister; and if the fact be as alleged in the resolution we could have had knowledge of that fact from a proper and reliable source. I do not suppose there is any person in this Chamber, or any person in this country, who approves of the attempt to assassinate the Emperor of Russia, or anybody else; but when we come to record our votes in favor of the passage

of the resolution, ought we not to be properly informed whether the resolution states a fact, or whether it does not state a fact? Sir, I sat in this Chamber in 1861, and I saw a resolution pass this body, which I supposed at the time was true, which affected a warm personal friend of my own, formerly a member of this body, declaring that he had joined the enemies of his country, and evidence was brought forward that he had subscribed some two hundred dollars to establish a newspaper to aid the southern cause, and that he had left Missouri and had gone over into the enemy's lines. Even my colleague, (Mr. Bayard,) a member of the Judiciary Committee at that time, was betrayed into the belief that that was the fact, and joined in the report. And yet, sir, I know the fact that on the very day that resolution passed the Senate of the United States, that gentleman was living quietly in the State of Missouri, at the house of a friend, had taken no part in any movement against the United States, and never did subscribe one dollar to establish a paper to aid the confederates. It is true that in 1860, during a political canvass, he subscribed $200 to establish a Democratic newspaper, and that fact was used to found upon it the charge that he had given $200 to establish a paper to aid the confederates, and that he had gone over the lines and joined the enemy. Sir, I have seen that Senator since, and I know the fact that at that time he was quietly living in the interior of Missouri, and had done no act against the Government. Well, sir, gentlemen honestly believed that was true. Now gentlemen may honestly believe that this is true, that the attempt upon the life of the Emperor of Russia was made by an enemy of emancipation. I want to know the facts. I am willing to vote for the resolution; I condemn the act as much as anybody else; but I want to be informed of the truth of the allegation that it was done by an enemy of emancipation. Why, sir, it seems, nowadays, that no crime can be committed, that no law can be violated, that no moral principle can be outraged, but that it is some slaveholder that does it, or some friend of slavery, some enemy to emancipation! If it be true that the act was done by an enemy to emancipation, we can readily be informed of that fact. Being informed of that fact, I will as readily vote for the resolution with that clause in as with it out; but I want to know whether I am voting for a fact. I therefore move the amendment.

has information from his Government dis-
closing all the circumstances of this matter.
It will not injure this resolution, it will not
spoil the compliment, if compliment it be, to
wait for one day until the fact can be ascer-
tained. Now, sir, I am just informed by my
friend on my left, the Senator from West Vir-
ginia, [Mr. VAN WINKLE,] that the papers
stated last evening that the man who made this
attempt on the life of the Emperor was a hypo-
chondriac. Here are conflicting statements. It
may be that the offender was some crazy man,
that does not know what emancipation means;
and we are called upon solemnly to send to the
Emperor of Russia our regrets at an attempt
upon his life by an enemy of emancipation,
which, perhaps, when it gets there will be all
news to him. What would he think if it was
to turn out that the person was not really an
enemy to emancipation, but was some crazy
monomaniac that attempted his life, as was the
man who attempted the life of General Jack-
son? He would laugh at our folly.

If gentlemen are satisfied to vote in the dark,
or if they have information on this subject that
satisfies their minds that this was done by an
enemy of emancipation, let them so vote. I
cannot vote for any such fact. I do not know
it; I doubt it. It may be true or it may be
false. I will not say that I doubt it. I have
no opinion about it. I have seen no evidence
of it. The latest news states that the man was
a monomaniac, as I understand. It is for this
reason that I made the suggestion to the Sen-
ate that before a resolution goes solemnly from
the Congress of the United States stating a
fact, the Congress of the United States ought
to be satisfied that the statement is true. That
is my object, and my only object.

That an

Mr. HOWARD. Mr. President, I do not
see that it is very material to go into an inquiry
respecting the particular facts connected with
the attempted assassination of the Emperor
of Russia. We are acting on the evidence
brought to us by foreign journals. That is the
best evidence we can have at present; and
whether it is in all respects perfectly accurate,
I regard as entirely immaterial.
attempt has been made upon the life of that
most excellent and magnanimous prince, Alex-
ander II, of Russia, is, I suppose, beyond all
doubt; and I shall, for one, vote for this reso-
lution with a great deal of pleasure. He hap-
pens to be one of the very few of the princes
of Europe who has maintained his position of
firm friendship to the Union and his attach-
ment to the success of our great cause; and I
feel, for one, that this resolution is but a fair,
reasonable expression of the gratitude of the
nation for the high, heroic stand which has
been taken by that Emperor toward our own
country. I hope the resolution will pass with-
out this amendment. I regard the mere fact
implied in the mere reciting part of it as im-
material to the real purpose which we have
in view. Our great object is to express our
respect for that prince.

Mr. SUMNER. Mr. President, it is impossible for the Senate of the United States on this occasion to send out a commission to Russia in order to ascertain the precise facts in this historic case. Sir, it is a historic case, to be adjudged by the rules of history and not according to the practice of a justice's court. I do not think the Senator will expect that we shall introduce witnesses on the floor on this occasion to prove what the Senator requires. Suffice it to say, sir, that the same testimony which tells us that the attempt to take the life of the Emperor was made, discloses also the character of the assas- Mr. SAULSBURY. I shall say one word sin. The Senator from Delaware must doubt more, and then I shall not detain the Senate that the attempt has been made, if he doubts further on this subject. There have been frethe attempt was made by an enemy of emanci quent attempts made in Russia heretofore to pation. The same report that announces one assassinate sovereigns, but it has never been fact announces the other; and if the Senator alleged on any former occasion that the attempt sets aside one fact he must set aside the other. at assassination was done by an enemy of emanThey both stand on the same authority. I pre- cipation or by persons in favor of retaining a sume, therefore, that the House of Representa-portion of the people as serfs. What right have tives, from whom this resolution proceeded, we to assert that this arises from an opposition went on the original report as it came to us to emancipation, when it seems to be rather from Europe, even from the Russian author-approved in Russia to attempt the assassination ities; they did not go behind that; and assuming that the attempt was made, they went further and assumed that the same authority which declared that the attempt was made was truthful when it disclosed the character of the author of the attempt. I do not think that the Senate can go behind that.

Mr. SAULSBURY. I do not desire that this body should send out a commissioner or that they should introduce witnesses upon the floor of the Senate; but the Russian minister resides in this city; if it be a fact he knows of it; he

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of a sovereign?

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on the motion of the Senator from Delaware to amend the resolution by striking out the words "by an enemy of emancipation." The amendment was rejected.

The joint resolution was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendments were concurred in. It was ordered that the amendments be engrossed and the joint resolution be read a third time; it was read the third time and passed.

BILL INTRODUCED.

Mr. HARRIS asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 310) to change the place of holding the courts of the United States for the northern district of Mississippi; which was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

APPROVAL OF A JOINT RESOLUTION.

A message from the President of the United States, by Mr. COOPER, his Secretary, announced that the President of the United States had approved and signed, on the 7th instant, a joint resolution (S. R. No. 80) extending the time for the completion of the Union Pacific railway, eastern division.

ASIATIC CHOLERA.

Mr. CHANDLER. The Committee on Commerce, to whom was referred the joint resolution (H. R. No. 116) to prevent the introduction of the cholera into the ports of the United States, have directed me to report it back with an amendment in the nature of a substitute, and I ask for its immediate consideration.

There being no objection, the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the joint resolution.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Committee on Commerce report the joint resolution with an amendment to strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof a substitute. The substitute alone will be read unless the reading of the original resolution is asked for by some Senator.

The Secretary read the words proposed to be inserted in lieu of the original resolution, as follows:

That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of War. with the cooperation of the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of the Treasury, whose concurrent action shall be directed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, to cause a rigid quarantine

against the introduction into this country of the Asiatic cholera through its ports of entry whenever the same may be threatened by the prevalence of said disease in countries having direct commercial intercourse with the United States.

Second. That he shall also enforce the establishment of sanitary cordons to provent the spread of said disease from infected districts adjacent to or within the limits of the United States.

Third. That said Secretaries are hereby authorized to use the means at their command to carry out the foregoing provisions.

Fourth. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to open a correspondence with the foreign Powers whose proximity to the United States will endanger the introduction of Asiatic cholera into this country through their ports and territory, soliciting their cooperation with this Government in such efforts to prevent the introduction and spread of said disease.

Mr. CLARK. That resolution is a very general statement, and I shall be glad to hear from the chairman of the Committee on Commerce what is proposed to be done under it, and what is the plan, if there is any, before the com

mittee.

Mr. CHANDLER. The intention is to estab lish a uniform system of quarantine throughout the whole country. The proposition is drawn with very great care, and is deemed by the most eminent physicians of the United States to be an efficient plan. We have had before the committee some of the most eminent surgeons of the country; among others, the quarantine sur geons of New York; and the intention is to make the system uniform throughout the United States, and place power in the hands of the Secretaries to enforce it.

Mr. ANTHONY. I ask the Senator from Michigan the meaning of that part of the resolution which declares that the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy shall use the means at their command to enforce these provisions. Does that mean that they shall use military power, the Army and the Navy, to enforce quarantine?

Mr. CHANDLER. They are to employ the vessels at their command, and all the powers at their command may be used, if necessary. I suppose that in the case of New Orleans, or any southern port where soldiers are employed, and it may be necessary to use them as a guard, they could be used under this resolution. In

other words, all the powers at the command of the Secretaries may be used at their discretion. Mr. ANTHONY. Can they declare martial law?

Mr. CHANDLER. They may use any power requisite to stop the cholora.

Mr. ANTHONY. I would rather have the cholera than such a proposition as this. [Laughter.]

Mr. CLARK. It seems to me that this resolution is nothing more than making the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy and others a board of health for the whole country, with the resources of the whole country at their command to carry it out. I am very slow, the first morning that the report comes to us, to vote for any such resolution. I think we had better consider it. We had better have some plan. I think the resolution had better go over until the committee can tell us more about it. It may be right; it may be that something will be necessary to be done to establish some uniform system of quarantine; but I think the system should be pretty well developed before we place such great powers in the hands of any person. I think it is hardly necessary to do so. There is certainly no such haste about it that we need pass this resolution on the morning it is reported, without some consideration or some information as to what the plan is. It is said the resolution is drawn with very great care; and it may be as to its wording; but nobody seems to be able to tell us what the scope of it is, or what is contemplated. It may be a uniform system of quarantine, but what kind of a quarantine, where established, how rigid? What do they propose by it? I doubt whether it is desirable. It is suggested to me that these Secretaries can do anything under the resolution. I have no doubt they can, but I doubt whether it is desirable to give them that power at once. I think we had better consider it.

Mr. CHANDLER. The Senator has had this identical resolution on his desk since the 6th day of March last, and if he does not know anything about it, it is time that he did.. If the resolution is of any use at all, it is of immediate importance. If it is not of any use, kill it. We have had, as I said, before the Committee on Commerce the most eminent surgeons in the United States, and on consultation with those eminent surgeons and in consultation with the heads of Departments we have introduced this resolution. Put it over if you like; but if it is of importance at all, it is of imporThe cholera is in New York harbor to-day. I do not think it will land; I hope not; but it may. You can wait a month; you can wait until the middle of July; you can wait until next December. If the Senator could not learn what this resolution means between the 6th of March and the 8th day of May, it takes him a great while to learn. That is all I have to say about it. It has lain on his desk the whole time ever since the 6th of March.

tance now.

Mr. CLARK. I have always found that when a man forsakes his argument to attack a person he confesses the weakness of his cause. It may be true in this case. Now, it may be that this resolution has lain upon my desk, and it may be that it has been lying on the desk of every Senator in the Chamber; but you know, Mr. President, and all Senators know, that it is not usual for Senators to pick up the bills and resolutions that are laid on our tables, and examine them seriatim, and we do not care to see what their provisions are until our attention is called to them by some committee that reports upon them, and then, when a bill or resolution comes up and is read at your table, we listen to it, we hear its provisions, and we begin to think about it. It is not strange that after a man hears it read at the table in that way, when he sees that it has such sweeping powers that it goes from one end of the country to the other, and puts all the resources of the Government into the hands of this.commission, he should say, "You had better be careful, you had better wait."

Now, the Senator from Michigan may desire

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to push this resolution through, and for aught I know he may be in such fear of the cholera being in New York that he thinks he can prevent it by a sanitary regulation of this kind; but I do not quite so apprehend, nor do I apprehend that we are in so much danger that we should be justified in passing a resolution of this kind for any reason of that sort.

The Senator says that if we choose to put it over, we can do so. That is very important information; it is very important information that the Senate can put a measure over when they choose. I had learned that some time ago. I supposed they could do so if they thought well, even in regard to a measure which was reported from the Committee on Commerce. The suggestion I made was, whether it had not better lie on the table for one day until we can have some development of the plan, until we can consider the scope of what is proposed, and see what is best to be done. I am not alone in that particular, and the Senator need not show quite so much feeling in regard to me, because I heard Senators around me say, "It is better to put that over and consider it." I have no personal choice about it; I only desire that we should not legislate in such hot haste upon such grave and important matters.

Mr. CHANDLER. As I said a moment ago, the Committee on Commerce have had this subjeet under consideration for more than two months; they have consulted many eminent surgeons; they have thoroughly considered the joint resolution; but in regard to this, as in regard to many other projects that came before the body, we met with opposition from men who had given the subject no consideration. It is under the control of the Senate; if the Senate sees fit to postpone or to defeat it, it is a matter of no concern to the Committee on Commerce or to myself any more than it is to any other man in the United States. As I have said before, we have consulted the most eminent surgeons in the United States; we have had before us the health officers from New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia; the provisions of the joint resolu tion have been thoroughly considered; and now the Senator from New Hampshire wants some plan proposed. We have proposed a plan. We propose to place this power in the hands of the heads of Departments, to be exercised at their discretion. I simply ask for a vote on the subject, and it is immaterial to me whether the Senate postpones it till to-morrow or kills it. I only say we have thoroughly considered it.

Mr. HARRIS. I hope this measure will not be acted upon to-day. As I understand, its effect will be to bring on a collision between the Federal authorities and the State authorities. I suppose if it goes into operation its effect will be to supersede the quarantine regulations of the State of New York over the harbor of New York; to take the power of the State of New York out of the hands of the officers appointed by that State, their board of health, their officers of quarantine, their efficient regulations, and place them all in the hands of the Federal authorities. If that is to be the effect of the joint resolution it had better be considered a little before it is adopted. I move that it be postponed until to-morrow. Mr. CHANDLER. I hope not. I hope it will be acted upon now, and either rejected or passed.

Mr. HOWE. Perhaps it is not very important whether the Senate acts upon this question to-day or to-morrow; but before the Senate votes to postpone action upon it at all, I should like to make a suggestion. I do not think it will be the practical operation of this joint resolution to bring about a collision between the authorities of the United States and those of any State or any municipality. We understand that there is a general desire that there should be a uniform system of quarantine established; that is, a system of quarantine established which should be uniform at all ports and at all points of entrance. It is said that an effective quarantine before the harbor of New York is really

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of no considerable practical value to New York itself, if the ports of Philadelphia and Boston and New Haven are left without any system of quarantine. And it is said, too, that quaran tine regulations established for all these ports do not protect the United States nor those sev eral cities against the introduction of those diseases which are said, upon the authority of medical gentlemen, to be portable diseases. They pronounce that this disease of cholera is a portable disease, and can be transferred from one point to another, and although you may establish a most effective quarantine before each of the ports to which I have alluded, yet it may be brought into some port on the Gulf, some port on the Mississippi, or over some railway connecting us with the Canadas. Now, it is very evident that the authority of the State of New York is confined to her own limits in establishing these regulations, and however effective they may be within those limits, they are useless, unless the regulations are just as effective in other States.

Mr. GRIMES. Permit me to make an inquiry. Is it contemplated by the Committee on Commerce that there shall be quarantine established on the various railroads connecting this country with Canada, at Niagara falls, at Portland, and at the other termini of these roads; that there shall be the same quarantine regulations established at these various points that are established at New York.

Mr. HOWE. Perhaps not that every provis ion shall be made in a small port as in a large port, but there shall be the same system; that is, the regulations adopted to keep a suspected vessel out of New York shall be adopted to keep a suspected vessel out of every other port, but the measures necessary to protect a small port against the entrance of a suspected ship may be different at different points. I do not know how that is. It is very evident that if we are to have a uniform system, it must be provided by the national authority, or by compact, agreement between the different States or different municipalities in the several States. Whether the United States will undertake to secure this uniformity, is a question that we have got to pass upon. Something we have done in that direction already. We have passed certain bills which tend to charge us with the care of the health of the United States.

Mr. GRIMES. What are they? Mr. HOWE. Such as appropriating certain vessels of the Navy to this work, dedicating certain ships for this purpose. If you will have a uniform system you can only have it by the national intervention. That seems to me very certain; and medical gentlemen agree in the testimony that a system which is not uniform is of no sort of value; and it was said to the committee that if the United States would undertake the work of providing a uniform system for all its ports and all its avenues our neighbors in Canada would conform to it and establish just such an effective system there, and the same system that we have here, so that there shall be no favoritism shown to one port over another, either in the different States of this country or in the neighboring States. I do not understand that any arrangements have been made with our neighbors to the south in Mexico; and if no arrangement can be made with them we shall have to protect our southern border when it becomes necessary.

Mr. GRIMES. I think I am not open to the rebuke of the Senator from Michigan, that I have not examined this bill. I read it several days ago, and I am as ready to vote upon it now as I shall be at any future time; and if the committee are anxious that it should be taken up, I am willing that it should come up and I am prepared to vote against it. I do not recognize the obligation on the part of Congress that because certain physicians in the city of New York believe that it is necessary that there should be a cordon established in order to keep the cholera away from this country, therefore we shall be justified in abandoning all the pow. ers of Congress into the hands of a commis sion and in conferring upon the Secretary of

the Treasury and the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy all control over the military arm of the Government and over the Treasury, which this bill virtually does. I addressed an inquiry to the Senator from Wisconsin to learn from him, if I could, what was the full scope of this measure. I understand that it confers upon these officers

Mr. HOWE. I did not understand that to be the inquiry.

Mr. GRIMES. I understood from the Senator from Wisconsin that this bill conferred the power on this commission, these three Secretaries, to establish quarantine regulations similar to those they have in New York, although not to so great an extent perhaps, because to such an extent it might not be necessary, anywhere on this continent. The bill does not require that the Government shall adopt the quarantine officers of the State of New York. Oh, no; they are to be new appointees, appointed under this law. The organization of the city of New York or of the State of New York is to be entirely ignored and is ignored by this bill. We are to have another batch of office-holders, innumerable in number if it is to be extended uniformly over the country according to the idea of the Senator from Wisconsin, which I understand is the idea of the committee.

I have not any such fear of the cholera as to induce me to vote for a bill like this. I believe that it will be attended with infinitely worse consequences to the country than the most malignant type of cholera that ever prevailed upon this continent. As my friend near me says, one thing would certainly result from it, and that is that it would give the cholera to the Treasury of the United States if it should be enacted into a law. [Laughter.]

Mr. President, it may perhaps be owing to the fact that I have no very great fears of the cholera, having had some experience in regard to it from having lived in a town with it three years, that I am not willing to break down all the barriers around the Treasury, which some gentlemen seem to be disposed to do. There is nothing, according to the provisions of this bill, as I understand it, that it does not authorize the three Secretaries to do. I trust that the time has gone by when we are going to be called upon to legislate in the manner in which this bill proposes. During the prevalence of the war we drew to ourselves here as the Federal Government authority which had been considered doubtful by all and denied by many of the statesmen of this country. That time, it seems to me, has ceased and ought to cease. Let us go back to the original condition of things, and allow the States to take care of themselves as they have been in the habit of taking care of themselves.

Mr. HOWE. Take care of their own cholera! Mr. GRIMES. Yes, sir, take care of their own cholera. My State will take care of its cholera. I do not want to have a cordon, as they call it, against the cholera established between my State and the city of Chicago. I do not want officials, either of the Treasury or of the Army or the Navy out there to prevent a citizen from traveling from one place to another, either on the lakes or on the Mississippi river, which authority is conferred by the provisions of this bill. In my locality we are familiar with this disease; we know that it has not got such terrors as it seems to have to gentlemen who are not familiar with it, and we do not want to have our liberty restrained, nor do we want to have our privilege of locomotion restrained, nor do we want to have the Treasury afflicted by any such bill as this.

Mr. COWAN. I can only add to what has been so well said by my eloquent friend from Iowa, that in the present condition of the medical science nothing can be more absurd than this legislation. If there is any one thing I think well settled, it is that cholera is not contagious in that sense of the word which would enable you by means of some legislative enactment to keep it out of the country. I think for the credit of the body in that respect we ought

to avoid this mode of dealing with that which is now pretty well understood. I should just as soon think of legislating against coughs and colds as against cholera. As has been said, we have large experience in it now in this country; I have been myself two or three times in places where large numbers of people were dying of cholera; and I think the universal sentiment of the profession, the learned sentiment of the profession, is now that no kind of quarantine regulations can prevent the appearance and prevalence of this disease. It is an epidemic instead of a contagion. It exists in the air; and hence there was great propriety in the jest of some Senator the other day who proposed to refer the whole subject to the ventilation committee. If you could prevent the introduction of that air from which the disease arises, if you could prevent it from traversing its circle around the world every sixteen or eighteen years and from coming into our atmosphere, perhaps something might be done; but I am satisfied no kind of regulation other than that of cleanliness and care when the poison is in the atmosphere will have the slightest effect to stay the ravages of the disease.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The morning hour having expired, it becomes the duty of the Chair to call up the unfinished business of yesterday, which is House bill No. 280.

TAX ON PETROLEUM.

Mr. COWAN. Before the Senate proceeds with the unfinished business of yesterday I desire to ask for the passage of a joint resolution which is now upon the table. Yesterday a joint resolution was received from the House of Representatives and laid upon your desk, sir, to take off the internal revenue from crude petroleum. It was not referred to the Finance Committee regularly and formally, but the matter was before that committee this morning, aud was fully considered. I ask now that the joint resolution be referred to the committee, and that I have leave to report at once that the committee have considered it favorably and recommend its immediate passage; and I ask that it be put on its passage, as I think the matter is of great importance to the production of the oil regions, particularly of my State.

At the time when this tax was imposed, petroleum was worth ten or eleven or twelve dollars a barrel. At that time it was hoped that it would retain these prices in competition with the production of foreign oils, but that hope has not been realized. From a variety of causes the price has been reduced from ten to about three dollars, and when the producer pays the tax, and pays, as in a great many instances he has to do, a great expense for machinery, where the well is not a flowing well but pumping and falling, it leaves him nothing, and the wells are being abandoned, and the whole region is in a condition of desolation and panic. They are liable to such accidents as very often destroy the proceeds of months in a single night by fire; and those fires are sometimes the work of incendiaries, growing out, it is said, of changes which have taken place in carrying on the business, throwing many persons out of employ ment. For instance, it is alleged that a very great amount of oil has been consumed recently by carters, draymen, wagoners, and others, who were thrown out of employment by the introduction of pipes to carry the oil to the depositories, some of those pipes being seven or eight miles long.

The expiration of Young's patent in England and Scotland for procuring the petroleum from Scotch shales has reduced prices there, and it is utterly impossible for our people now to compete with those oils, they bearing the burden of this tax. We must consider further that the imposition of a tax upon this commodity is itself against all principle. It goes into the families in every part of the land; it is an article of prime necessity, an article as necessary as air and food to life; and I believe some political economists always, or at least since the days of Adam Smith, have recommended that articles of that character be freed

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from the imposition of burdens of this kind unless in case of absolute necessity; and upon that principle the producers think they are entitled to the indulgence of Congress for this commodity. If it is refused, the revenues will not be the gainer and the people through those regions will be very largely the losers.

I remark another thing, Mr. President, may that just at this season of the year is the time when new wells are put down, and in the condition in which the business is now found nobody will embark in it; there is a stagnation all through that region of previous activity, which is distressing indeed to look upon; and without new wells, and without the investment of the capital necessary to put them down, the production of oil ceases to be a matter of any moment to anybody; because there is no well, no matter how good a one it may have been at the outstart, how freely it flowed or how profusely it could be pumped out, that is not in time exhausted; and hence to procure the commodity new wells have to be continually sunk and followed up by the investment of very considerable amounts of capital. This is now stopped entirely, owing principally to the imposition of a tax of one dollar a barrel upon oil. I hope, then, the Senate will concur with the House of Representatives in relieving from this burden.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. With the permission of the Senate, the Chair will lay before the body the joint resolution from the House of Representatives referred to by the Senator from Pennsylvania.

The joint resolution (H. R. No. 137) to provide for the exemption of crude petroleum from internal tax or duty, and for other purposes, was read twice by its title.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The joint resolution will be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Mr. CONNESS. I hope it will not be referred. I trust the Senate will proceed to consider the resolution now.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It requires unanimous consent to consider it at the present time.

By unanimous consent the joint resolution was considered as in Committee of the Whole.

It proposes to exempt from internal tax or duty paraffine oil not exceeding in specific gravity thirty-six degrees Baumé hydrometer, the product of a residuum of distillation, crude petroleum, and crude oil the product of the first and single distillation of coal, shale, asphaltum, peat, or other bituminous sub

stance.

Mr. CONNESS. I beg to say one word on the motion that I have made to proceed to the consideration of this measure now. When the question was before the Senate hitherto, and this tax was imposed, I for one was not in favor of it. Living as I had lived for many years in a mining country, where perhaps one in a hundred enterprises succeeded, I understood well the nature of the enterprise of seeking for oil. I believed then that the imposition of this tax would prove precisely what it has proven to be-a tax rather upon effort than upon prop erty. Such has proved to be the result, and I hope that no person will object to remitting it, so that this great interest may be relieved from a burden which is really intolerable to those engaged in it.

The joint resolution was reported to the Senate, ordered to a third reading, read the third time, and passed.

HOUSE BILL REFERRED.

The bill (H. R. No. 563) to regulate the time and fix the place for holding the circuit court of the United States in the district of Virginia, and for other purposes, was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Senate

USE OF THE HALL. up Mr. HOWARD. I move to take bill 109. Mr. SHERMAN. I hope that will not be

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Mr. SHERMAN. I think we can dispose of the Post Office appropriation bill, which is the unfinished business of yesterday, in a little while. The debate is exhausted, I imagine, and we can take the vote.

Mr. HOWARD. Very well.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The unfinished business of yesterday is the bill (H. R. No. 280) making appropriations for the service of the Post Office Department for the fiscal year ending the 30th of June, 1867.

Mr. WADE. I ask the Senate once more to take up the resolution granting the use of the Chamber to Mrs. Walling. I suppose there will be no debate upon it.

Mr. SHERMAN. Let us take a vote on this question.

Mr. WADE. On what question?

Mr. SHERMAN. The question debated yesterday.

Mr. WADE. This will not take a moment to decide it one way or the other. I ask the unanimous consent of the Senate to take it up. I only desire to have a vote upon it. If there is any debate upon it, I will let it go over.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Ohio asks the unanimous consent of the Senate to take up the resolution granting the use of the Chamber to Mrs. Walling for the purposes of lecturing. No objection being made, the resolution is before the Senate, and the question is, Will the Senate reconsider its vote rejecting the resolution?

Mr. MORGAN. On that question I ask for the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

Mr. WADE. I barely wish to say this before the vote is taken on the reconsideration: this lady, I believe, was in Texas when the war broke out. She has three young children dependent on her for support. She lectures, as I understand, very much to the acceptation of the people, and she endeavors to support herself in this way. She is exceedingly anxious that she should have an opportunity to lecture here at once, more, I believe, on account of the prestige it will give her to have this Hall than for any other reason. I hope this privilege will be granted to her. That is all I wish to say about it.

The question being taken by yeas and nays, resulted-yeas 19, nays 11; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Anthony, Chandler, Doolittle, Edmunds, Fessenden, Guthrie, Howard, Howe, McDougall, Morrill, Nesmith, Nye, Poland, Pomeroy, Riddle, Sumner, Wade, Williams, and Wilson-19. NAYS-Messrs. Buckalew, Davis, Grimes, Harris, Henderson, Morgan, Norton, Sherman, Trumbull, Van Winkle, and Willey-11.

ABSENT-Messrs. Brown, Clark, Conness, Cowan, Cragin, Creswell, Dixon, Foster, Hendricks, Johnson, Kirkwood, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Ramsey, Saulsbury, Sprague, Stewart, Wright, and Yates-19.

So the motion to reconsider was agreed to. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question now is on the adoption of the resolution. Mr. WADE. I move to amend the resolution by striking out "Monday evening, the 7th instant," and inserting, "Thursday evening, the 10th instant."

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. I should like to have the resolution read, as amended.

The Secretary read it, as follows: Resolved, That the use of the Senate Chamber be granted to Mrs. M. C. Walling for the purpose of delivering therein an address on Thursday evening, the 10th instant; the floor of the Chamber to be for the exclusive accommodation of members of the Senate and House of Representatives; and that hereafter the Senate Chamber shall not be granted for any other purpose than for the use of the Senate.

The resolution, as amended, was adopted.

POST OFFICE APPROPRIATION BILL. Mr. SHERMAN. I now call for the order of the day.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The unfinished business of yesterday, being the bill (H. R. No. 280) making appropriations for the ser

vice of the Post Office Department during the
fiscal year ending June 30, 1867, and for other
purposes, is now before the Senate, the pend-
ing question being on the amendment of the
Senator from Illinois, [Mr. TRUMBULL.]

Mr. MORRILL. I move to amend the
amendment of the Senator from Illinois by
striking out the last clause, I think it is, which
provides for a report of the cause of removal
to the Senate.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Maine moves to amend the amendment by striking out the words "the cause, in case of removal, to be reported to the Senate at its next session;" so that the amendment, if amended, will read:

And be it further enacted, That no person exercising or performing, or undertaking to exercise or perform, the duties of any office which by law is required to be filled by the advice and consent of the Senate, shall, before confirmation by the Senate, receive any salary or compensation for his services unless such person be commissioned by the President to fill up a vacancy which has happened during the recess of the Senate, and since its last adjournment, by death, resignation, expiration of term, or removal for acts done or omitted in violation of the duties of his office.

Mr. HOWARD called for the yeas and nays on the amendment to the amendment, and they were ordered.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I wish to say a single word on this subject. I intimated the other day that as the amendment stood originally I had made up my mind to vote for it, and I gave some reasons why I thought we might with propriety pass something of that description with reference to what has been done heretofore, which I deemed to be very improper; but I could not vote for it with that clause in it. My colleague now proposes to remove that objection, so far as it existed to that particular clause, by striking it out. I shall vote to strike it out, because I think if the amendment is to be passed at all it would be much better without that clause, and if that is stricken out it would take away the most offensive part of it.

But I desire to say that on further reflection I have come to the conclusion not to vote for it as an amendment to this Post Office appropriation bill, whatever particular form it may assume, and for a reason which I will state. If this was very important-and I deem it important that something of the kind should be done-I would vote for it as an amendment even to an appropriation bill if we were at the very last of the session, and we had not time to legislate on the subject in another way; but I deem the suggestion made by the honorable Senator from Missouri [Mr. HENDERSON] in relation to a bill upon the subject, which might be well considered and digested, to be the proper course to be taken with regard to it. Undoubtedly this is a matter which needs consideration, because we have felt at various times that there were evils growing out of it, but it should be done with consideration, and embrace the whole subject. We have ample time to do it left us. We are not at the heel of the session. The thing may be well adjusted and well considered; and for a wellconsidered bill I should be very willing to vote, for the reasons that I gave the other day.

But I do not think it wise in any point of view, either as a matter of general legislation or, if Senators please, in a party point of view, to put an amendment of this sort, at this time and under existing circumstances, upon an appropriation bill, more especially upon the Post Office appropriation bill, which may very much embarrass it, and with which the dealings of the country are very much interested. If I had had any doubt on the subject the argument that was made by my friend who has charge of the bill, [Mr. SHERMAN,] and whom I feel in some measure bound to follow in relation to it, was such as to convince me that the course which I have now suggested is the proper course to take in relation to it.

to vote for this proposition. As it is, I think it had better be struck off the bill altogether.

The Secretary proceeded to call the roll. Mr. GRIMES (after first voting in the affirmative) said: Yesterday I paired off on this bill and all the amendments to it with the Senator from Connecticut, [Mr. DIXON.] I understood that the pair only extended to yesterday; but as he is not here to-day it is possible that he may understand that it extends beyond yesterday. I therefore desire to withdraw my vote. I voted "yea." I do not know how he would vote if he were here.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Shall the Senator from Iowa be permitted to withdraw his vote? No objection being made, his vote will be erased.

The result was announced-yeas 22, nays 16; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Anthony, Buckalew, Clark, Doolittle, Edmunds, Fessenden, Foster, Harris, Lane of Kansas, McDougall, Morgan, Morrill, Nesmith, Norton, Riddle, Saulsbury, Sherman, Stewart, Van Winkle, Willey, Williams, and Wilson-22.

NAYS-Messrs. Chandler, Conness, Davis, Guthrie, Henderson, Howard, Howe, Lane of Indiana, Nye, Poland, Pomeroy, Ramsey, Sprague, Sumner, Trumbull, and Wade-16.

ABSENT-Messrs. Brown, Cowan, Cragin, Creswell, Dixon, Grimes, Hendricks, Johnson, Kirkwood, Wright, and Yates-11.

So the amendment to the amendment was agreed to.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question now is on the amendment as amended.

Mr. HENDERSON. I hope the Senator from Illinois will now withdraw the amendment. I think there is nothing in the amendment now except the admission of the power of the President to make removals, and I cer

tainly will not vote for it.

Mr. HOWARD. The reason which the honorable Senator from Missouri has for voting against this amendment is the same reason that will prevail with me. I regard it as a plain recognition by Congress, or by the Senate at least, of the absolute and unconditional power of the President to make removals from office, and I cannot concede such a principle.

Mr. HOWE. I should like to have the amendment reported as it stands now. The Secretary read as follows:

And be it further enacted, That no person exercising or performing, or undertaking to exercise or perform, the duties of any office which by law is required to be filled by the advice and consent of the Senate, shall, before confirmation by the Senate, receive any salary or compensation for his services unless such person be commissioned by the President to fill up a vacancy which has happened during the recess of the Senate, and since its last adjournment, by death, resignation, expiration of term, or removal for acts done or omitted in violation of the duties of his office.

Mr. HOWE. I think there is enough left to vote "yea" upon it, and I believe I will stick to it.

Mr. DOOLITTLE called for the yeas and nays on the amendment as amended, and they were ordered.

Mr. TRUMBULL. I think as the proposition has now been amended, striking out a part of the clause in reference to removals, it would be better to strike out all about remov als and present it in the form in which it was originally offered. The proposition as originally offered was refusing pay to any person put in office in a vacancy which existed during the session of the Senate. It is clearly not within the constitutional power of the Presi dent to fill a vacancy which does not occur during the recess of the Senate. I prefer, as a part of the amendment has now been stricken out, to put it in that form, and let us see whether the Senate is prepared to vote to pay men who are put into office without the consent of the Senate, when the vacancy existed while the Senate was in session, and it could have been consulted; in other words, whether it is proposed to repeal the existing law.

Mr. SHERMAN. I will ask my friend from Illinois if the law of 1863 does not cover that very case.

Mr. TRUMBULL. It does not cover all the

Under the circumstances I have deemed it proper to make this explanation, as otherwise I might be considered as acting in the face of what I remarked the other day; and that is that Mr. SUMNER. Then I suggest to the Senwithout this addition to it I should be disposedator to modify his proposition.

cases.

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