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NEW YORK HEKALD, THURSDAY, (MME SUBSIDY SCANDAL Arraignment of Irwin for Contempt at the Bar of the House. HIS LIPS STILL SEALED. Testimony of His Counsel and Disbursing Agent. PAYMENTS . MADE Names of Persons Who Were Bribed Still Concealed, WAEHINGTON, Jan. 6, 1875, Irwin appeared at the bar of the House of Rep- resentatives to-day in the custody of the Sergeant- at-Arms. The SPEAKER, addressing Mr. Irwin, said:— “It 1s my duty under the order of the House to address to you this question:—are you ready to answer the questions which have been addressed to you by the committee and which you have here- tofore relused to answer?” Mr, Inwin—I am not, Mr. Speaker. The S¥eakER—The witness 18 at iiberty to make | @ statement if he desires, IRWIN’S REASONS POR CONTINUING HIS SILENCE, Irwin then proceeded to read the following statement to the House :— Mr. Srzaxea+I am not in contempt of the House of Representatives. Lam not in contempt of its authority, as the House of Representatives mever ordered this in: vestigation. Ihave not refused to answer any questions which this House authorized the Committee on Ways and Means to ask. After requesting the Committee on Ways and Means daily, for five days, toturnish me with copies of the resolutions under which they were (or professed to be) acting, there were handed me, on the sth day, five documents, purporting to be the resolu- tions or orders. Two of ‘these documents were resolu- tions passed by the House ot Representauves in the Forty-second Congress, The third was a_resolu- ton” offered on the 3d of April, 1874, ana re- ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means, but not passed by the House and upon which no further or other order has been taken, This resolution, if it had been passed by the House, would undoubtedly have authorized so much of the present Inquiry as was neces- sary to substantiate the statements of Le Grand Lock- Wood that a lurge sum of money was appropriated and used by the Pacific Mail Steamship Compauy to procure the subsidy. But that resolution, even it Bubetautiation of Mr. it was never passei. Lockwood's statement, and The fourth document reters to the testimony taken during ‘orty-second Congress by the Committee of Wa, ana Means, but without any order whatever by this House. Tne fitth paper authorized the Committee of Means to send for persons and papers and administer oaths Ms matters from time to time pending and under examination betore said committee. I am advised that “pending” mean roperly pending, dul; pending, pending under th ding rules or orders of this House or ander the special order of the House. The inquiry inte the Pacific Mail steamship subsidy forms no part of the duty of the Committee on W! Means under the standing orders ot the House, junctions of that committee being confined to the raising ot revenue; and 1do not find among the papers handed to me by the committee or anywoere else auy special order of this Ways and House directing that committee to undertake this Investigation. I theretore most _ respect- fully submit, Mr. aker, that in declining to House has never author- answer a question which thi ted or directed to be put, I am not and cannot be in contempt of the authority of this House. I have stated to the committee, under oath, that I did not employ a member or officer of this tiouse who'was also an officer or member of the last House—in other words, that I did notemploy any person subject to the jurisdiction ot this House to the exient of these inquiries; that I did not bay. any mcney to any sucb person; that 1 had no an- jerstanding that any money was to be paid to an, that I have no knowledge that was paid to any such person. a shadow of © evidence to my statement, and m my judgment there will be and’ never can be, I most_ respectfully submit to you, Mr. Speaker, that this House has no such an: Here oppose never risdiction; certainly that the Committee ot Ways and | ty cone without the order of this House, has no jurisdic- Gon to'the extent of this inquiry over my transactions with other citizens who ure mot ander the conuol of this | House. far as | myseli am concerned the commilwe wilt bear me witness that I have an-wered frankly and fairly and truly every question that was, put to me, in eluain mitwe nor other human power bad any right to ask: such, for example, ax “what wi salary as agent of the Pacific Mail steamship Com- pany at San Francisco,” and the inquiry into my bank account with A frin of private bankers in the city of New York, which | myseit: voluntarily ex- hibited to the comniltwe, showing and staung that it had nothing to do with ‘his inquiry, and which the com- mittee retarned to me as irrelevant to this Inquiry, but which they afterward proceeded to examine during By absence in New York. "These things, Mr. speaker, this commitiece had no more right to examine than they fad w examine my underclothing. While, theretore, as far as I have gone, | have told to the committee the ruth and nothing but the truth, lam prepared to teli the courmittee the whole truth as iar as relates to myssit; but when it comes to revealing matters which exis: in confidence between myself and other, citizens beyond the jurisdiction of this committee and*of this House, to she extent of the inquiries put to me, I stand upon my | duty as a man, upon my honor my rights a gentleman and upon American citizen, and most respecttully refuse to er these inquiries, and in doing so 1 dis ices any intentional disrespect for the authority of this ‘use. in the second place, I submit that neither the House of Representatives nor any other power in this land has ny right to deprive an American citizen of his hre, of hiv uberty or of his property without due process of law, ‘and as the authority for this opinion I refer to the con: stitution of the United States. I reter, Mr. Speaker, to the constituuon tramed in 178 by the convention’ of which Ge orKe Washington wag President. I reter to the clauses drafied by Thomas Jefferson, without which Vir- fra refused to ratity that constitution. I am advised yy my counsel and do myselt firmly believe that there no power in this country to punish any citizen for anyuhing, either In his person or his property, without due vrocess of law. it is the prerdvative ot Congress to make laws (or the goverment or the people and io hang them up where every citizen can see them. Outside igh can be no crime told that this Whether it has or b the right todo Y ican direct against me the whole physical power of this nation, It.is deposited in your hands as a sacred trust; not as partisans, butag judges, Against that overwhelining power I ‘should tontend m vain. Onno man in this mighty hand rest more heavily. In all ages mer. have been forced to lie by every concelvable torture, fever on the earth has one man been compelled by ph: ical force to tell the truth aguinst the dictation ot his jonor or of his conscience. Finauy, | appeal to tue common sense of this House to consider the practical effect of insisting upon a reply, which, in the course of events, has become unnecessary to a question which I consider the committee had uo fight to putand which this House has never directet them w but. The committee and the House must by this time perceive that, suvstantlally, al! the information that could possibly be obtained trom me by an answer to the question at isue is now being elicited from other sources; that the truth of my answers is irmed by every line of evidence. and that it 8 become of smnall consequence particularly whether * Treply or do not reply to the questions of the commit- tee, Under these circumstances the only practical effect of any action ihe House may take in insisting upon an answer to the questions in dispute will be to suppress a magPof valuable and interesting vestiinony, for the most part not available from otber sources, but ‘which Iam and always have been ready to place at the disposal of the commitiee, either voluntarily or in reply to their quesuons, and I can imagine no one that will be of these laws Qo punishment. can compel me t House not S| ratified at this resuit except those Who interested in tue suppression of that testimony. If my testimony true, as it is in every word and every iine, allowing for the impertections of human memory at this distance ot lime, it must be evident to very impartial member of this House House of Representatives not oly has no night to insist upon an answer to these questions, which tt has Rever authorized to be put, but that no practical good ean result trom such persisten avd, Mr. speaker, I have told the truth, and that truth Will stand to all tternity like » rock, against which all the forces ot na- ture and ali the powers of man will hurl themselves in vain. QUESTIONS ASKED BY THE MOUSE. When Mr. Irwin had completed the reading of his statement, Mr. Dawes, (rep.) of Mass., oilered @ resolution directing the Speaker to propose to the witness the following questions :— First—Give the names of the persons whom you em- ployed to aid Youin procuring ‘he subsidy irom Con- Gress in 1872 for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. d--What was the largest sum paid by you to any one person to aid in procuring that subsidy The resolution was adopted, and the Speaker proceeded to put the questions to Mr. Lrwin, Yo the first question Irwin replied, “Ar. Speaker, 1 am compelied to decline doing 80, for tue reasuns which I have already stated.” To the second question he replied, “Two hun- dred and seventy-five thousand dollars,” (Sensa- tion.) THE WITNESS REMANDED TO JAIL. Mr. Dawes then offered the following resolation, which was adopted :-— Resolved, That Richard B, Irwin, having been heard by the House, pursuant to the order heretofore made, has talled to’ show suffictent cause why he should not 2 swer, and that he be considered in contempt of the jouse, A long discussion then ensued ona resolution offered by BE. H. Roverts, (rep.) of New York, di- recting the Sergeanvai-Arms co keep Irwin in custody in the common Jail of the District of Co- lumoia. Finally the resolution was modified so as to read:— Resolved, That Richard B. Irwin be remanded to the custody of the sergeant-at-Arms, to abide the further order of the House, and that while in such custoay he be permitted to be taken by the Sergeact-at-Arms be- tore the Committee or Ways and Means, if he shall de- clare himself ready to answer such questions as may be dawully pat w him, and while he shall so remala in the custody of the Sergeant-at-Armes he shall be kept in ahe common jail of tue District of Volumbla. ‘ The resolution was adopted, THE PUNISHMENT FOR CONTUMACY, A further colloguy arose on a guestion sug- gested by the ppeaker as to whether the time had not airived when it was his duty, ander the law on the subject of contumacious witnesses, to cer- tify the fact of Irwin’s refusal to testify to the Dis- trict Attorney of the District of Columbia. No de- cision was arrived at on that point, but the Speaker, as the Howse was about to adjourn, said that In the absence of Instructions from the House he would feel it lis auty to certify the case to the District Attorney. SHR WAYS AND MEANS INVESTIGATION, @ and Means Commitico, Shorty alten. IN WASHINGTON. | it had been | assed, would have directed no inquiry beyond the | Z even some questions which neither thiscom- | and | land would that | t | ship eleven o'clock, resumed the Pacific Mail subsidy investigation, Charles Albert, being sw: testified :—I ve, resided bon Irequendly in Wishwugion. city n attorney tor the. Pucific Mall 3 int: the year 1860 until September, 38 CAD application tor the increased subsidy in December, 1671, and managed the case until the first part of February, 1872, Q. From whom dit you get your instructions in regara to the business of the Pacific Mail steamship Company in the spring of 1872 A. From Mr. Bellows principally ana from Mr. Stock well Q,, Did vou receive instructions in person or by letter? A. Soinetimes by, letter and sometimes in person. Q. Did you have inierviews with Mr. Richard 3. Irwin in connection with that business? A. I did. with the business of the Pacific Mai! steamship Company Were you aware that at that time there was peplioa von asthe counsel and agent for the company in December, 1871. ni him, and in’ colleeting statistics, procuring papers and What were your duties er functions in connection in the spring of 1872, vrior to July, Is72? a. C was Mi. Irwin’s counsel in connection with that matter. +i nd- an toarion: in Congress tor a subsidy! A. a ny 187A. What aid did you give Mr. Irwin in the procuring of that subsidy? A. I aided him as counsel ih advi the general duties of couns: such matters. You directed him as te course he should pursue? 0 A. Tcannot say (hat 1 directed bim in the course he should pursue. I was manaxing the case until February 1872, as. I belleve, the sole agent of the company tor that purpose; about the first partot February, 172-1 was su: berceded and Mr. Irwin was put in sole control of the matter and | was requested by him to aid him as coun- | ‘sel: Twas considerably disappointed and mortified at deing removed, but the co continucd me as its agent, as heretofore, for veneral departmental business, and at Mr. Irwin request I aided him a3 | | counsel in the matter until the conclusion of legislation e reon. Q. Lid you also act, ai peNses in conne . To what state positivel; me. $s disbursing agent for any ex- Hon with it? A. 1 did. unt of disbursements? A. T cannot T have not any memorandum with . You have an idea of about how much? A. Some- thing over $100,000; { cannot say exuctly. Q. Was itiess than $15,000?" A. 1 should think it was. . Was it less than $125,000? A. I do not think it was. . Yes, Q SIE, what period of time were those disburse- ments? A. they were mage at different periods auring the progress of the case. Between what dates? A. Some time between Feb- ruary and the latter part of June, 2 Q. You would say, then, that the period of, the dis- bursements was between lst February and ist July? A. Between 2d February and Ist July, Q. You disbursed nothing connected with the transac- ; tion after Ist July? A. I think there were some dis- | bursements made after that time. | Q. And prior to what time f Fix the last limit as nearly | asyoucan. A. { cannotsay definitely, but would state that it was not later th: Q. Were the m you in checks o bometimes by ¢: Q. Can you state what amount you received by checks, or give any round sum which you received by check as nearly as youcan? A, I cannot, Q. Can you not state the largest sam yon received by any gpa cneck? A. The largest sum inany one check wis $100, ‘ Q. And that check was sentto whom? A. That I cannot tell you: 1 mean by that that I don’t recollect, Q. From whom did you receive itr A. I received it from Irwin. Q. Can you give the date when you received it? A. The 27th ot May. Q. Did you receive It by ‘etter? AT received it per soually. . At Washington? A. At New York. aoe neck ‘or $100,000 you drew the money on your- sel @ 5 Q. Where did you take that moneyt A. I brought that money here. “CRRTAIN PATIENTS.” Q. And to whom did you deliver it in Washington? A. I was directed by Mr. Irwin, as his counsel, to make certain payments here: Mr. Irwin, I understand, hag declined fp state to whom he made payments and therefore I tee! a hesitancy as his counse! in answering that quesiion as to whom th inents were made, in view of my relation to him as counsel, further than to say, in defence of & that not a cent of that was ment or understanding or would ever reach any member of Congress; I will sta\ on that point that, presuming I should be interrogated ou that, L have called on Keverdy Johnson tor his opi ion as to the duties of counsel in such matters, and ex- pected it to arrive this morning; I am not a very experi- enced lawyer or I suould bave decided the question on my own responsibility, and I thought that, as the ques- tion would very likely be put to me, | should be pre- ared with an opinion trom & gentleman whove stand- ng is known throughout the country, and I haye writ- ten to him for his opinion an that point . To how many persons did you make payments from that sam of $100,000? A. To from fifteen to | twenty, Launpose, Q. Were thoxe persons residents sf the city ot Wash- ington? A, Some of them were and some of them were saamee of them Inever saw before and have never ince. . In what State did those persons reside who were not residents of Washington? A, That I do not know. Q. But the names of those to whom you made pay- ment were all given to Mr. Irwin, were they? A. The: n September of that year. which you ulsbursed received by sh. A. Sometimes by checks and were. Q. He knows to whom you made those payments? A. He knows to Whom he «directed me to make pay- ments. They were made under his directions as connsel and the receipts were taken and furnished to bi Q. As to the $50,000 or $6),000 which you received on the 15th of May, What was done with that? A. Ido not know. Q. You made no disbursements of that sum? A, I ; don’t know whether I disbursed any of that or not. . But you delivered it ali to Mr. Irwin? a. £ did. I do not Know whether it was $50,000 or $60,000. Q..Was the other sum whic! Darsement in excess of that $100,i 0 peceived In casas you say that you received trom $125, to $150,000? A. pth) Thave stated that that was the only check I received. Q. The rest was handed to youin money? A. Yes. i By whom! A. By rwin. 3 in . ‘Lo be disbursed under bisdirection? A. Yes, . Were these payments made to. persons resident in were not. Q. Were they made to the same persons who received the other sums of whieh you have spoken? a. Ido not know whether any of these were persons who bad re- ceived sums of money trom me before or not. Q. Kecail, it you can, whetuer they were in part the saine persons? A. Several of them were. Q ence to the persons receiving these payments that yon made respecting those who received pavment out of the \v0,000? A. I want my answer in reterence to that mat- ter to cover the whole of the disbursements that 1 made’ Q. Did you receive any sums prior to the 15th of Ma’ eitner trom the Pacific Mai! steamship Company or trom Mr. Irwin? A, think | have mentioned that 1 made some disbursements prior to the loth of May. They were small amounts MORE CONCEALMENT OF PACTS. Q. Were those disbursements made to the same person of whom you have spoken in answer to the other two questions. A. I think not; I caunot be positive at this time, Q. Do re recollect to whom the payments were made? A. I could remember to whom some of the pay- meuts were made. Q. Are you willl ng to state to whom any of those pay. A. No, sir; because all of them ments were made were made by me in the same capacity. . You state that Mr. Irwin received $100,000 the day that he lett New York for Calitornia; please state for what purpose he drew that maiey. ? A. Ido not know. Q. Did ne take it with him to California? A. | know nothing at all about what he did with that money. Q. When did you first receive rapa, to disburse? A, In the latter part ot February or the first part of March. Q. That money you received from Mr. Irwin? A. Yes. @. Did you deposit any of it to your credit in the | bank? A. Ido notthink Idid; I paid the money as the disbursements were required. GROPING YOR TRUTH, Q. Do you know Charles W. Goulding? A. T think I Feeellect a4 inn, Goulding, being in Washington during hat period. Jad he any connection with the Pacific Mail Steam- Company in connection with the subsidy? A. Not to my knowledge. A. I do now . Do you know William 8. King ? A. Ido. . Hagia know of ay funds being paid to him by the eects ail Steamship Company or by Mr. irwint A. I jo not Q. Yo you know A. H. Whiting? A. If the committee commerices asking such ions, and goes all around, it wil by and by obtain an auswer which I do not think as counsel 1 am obliged to give. Q. Do you decline to answer the question as to whether you know Mr. Whiting? A. [do not know Mr. Whiting. Q. Where did you make the disbursements you speak of. A. With oné exception, in Washington. He nas had them? A. Yes. . He acknowledged the receipt of them? A. He did. You brought the cash to Washington and distri- bated itin bills? A, Yes. Q. What was the size of the largest of the bills? A. I think $1,090. Q. How much of the $125,000 was tn $1,0C0 bills? A. 1 wink it likely that perbaps half the amouat was in $1,(00 8. Q. Have you had Py communication with Mr. Irwin with referénce to your estimony here? A. I have. Has he requested you not to state here as to whom you paid this money? A. He has not; he has left it en- lirely to my sense of duty as counsel. . He has not requested you to withhold the names ? A. He has not. Q. Do you understand it to be the privilege of conneet ‘a party to withhold communications .T con. er it the privilege of coun: my client has himselt clined to answer the me to decline answering. Q S he requested you to withhold these names? A. Ido not think he has. 10 WHOM WAS THE MONRY PAID? ut communication whic! wish to ask you as to a fact independent of a nication which he has made to you as counsel or other. wise—that tact is something which you have done your- self, Lask you to whom di¢ you pay that money? A. That money was pa‘d by Mr. Irwin's directions, g, Lhave not asked you ly whose directions it was pald, Ido not ask you for anything communicated to You by your client or that you have jearned from eye Giient, ‘Task you simply, as to what you have been doing yourself—that is, to whom did” you pay that money? A. I consider that an answer to that question would be a violation of the rel Mr. Irwin and me as his counse! Q. I will be satisfied if you simply. Jolt will answer the question? A. 1 at present advised ; Reverdy Johnson trom ‘answering gations as he has made to’ you, but l say whether or not cannot answer it to liow tar 1 should’ be that question ot will st relieved ut instantin answering the question, but Mr. Irwin having himself declined to answer the question, and 1 having geen him on that matter and he having declined to give his consent to my wering the question, 1, as at present advised, hesitate to answe: It beiag past twelve o'clock, and this request appearing reasonable, the examination of the wit- rise was suspended and the comwmittee took a ‘ecess, AFTERNOON SESSION, At the afternoon session of the committee Mr. J. G, Moore, the bookkeeper of the National Metro- politan Bank o| Washington, produced a trans script of irwin's account from the books of the bank, showing that the total of his de- osita there betweem February 14 and Juiy 1872, was $34,500. The witness produced the vouchers for the payments made on and alter July 22, 1872, Moswof the checks Were in payment of Current household expenses, About $4,100 had pee aie on checks to the order of Charles Abert, the Washington counsel of the Pacific Mail Steam: mp Company. Pibdened citi e e€oumittee adjourned until to-morrow at hali-past ten A. M. THE SEARCH FOR KING UNSUCCESsrvUL, Sergoant-at-Arms Ordway 18 still unable to reach ex-Postmaster King, of the House of Rep- reentatives, with the summons to reappear be- night gna 18 no Aankr: XxX fore the Ways and Means Committee, Mr. King is reported to have been at Bulfalo last Monday Ww gupposed to be somewhere in ee you think it was betweea $125,000 and $150.0)? | ‘ou received for dis. | Washington? A some or them were and some of them | 0 you wish to make the same statement in refer- | Q. Do you know ot any funds being distributed by him? | question, and that is what | I do not desire to pak at this time tor any confiden- | y commu. | ations existing between | ar | from Major Merrill by the Adjutant General, De- Thave asked the opinion of Mr. | | such knowled; ! munity than has been NEW ORLEANS. Sheridan’s Trouble About the “Banditti.” HE IS NOT AFRAID TO TELL THE TRUTH, More Meetings and More Indignation. Five Radicals Rejected by the Board Seated by the House. The Outrage Considered in Both Houses of Congress, NEW ORLEANS, Jan, 6, 1875, The day has passed without any tmportant event occurring. In the afternoon the excite. ment in regard to rumored arrests died away, and a better feeling now pervades the com- apparent for some days. The action of the people of the North, as reported by telegraph, having inspired them with hopes of,a speedy solution of the Louisiana troubles. The Congressional Committee left this evening, and it is generally believed that their report will be unanimous in favor of the | Conservative claims, Iv is known that Sheridan this morning received despatches from General Grant fully endorsing bis action, and the arrest of prominent citizens, under cover of civil law, ts sttll antictpated, To these arrests, if made, no opposition will be offered. But hittle interest ts manifested in the doings of the Legislature, and the bolters content them- | selves with caucussing twice a day. THE PROPOSED COMPROMISE is regarded as nuliified by Kellogg and Antoine failing to respond, will soon issue a proclamation for*new elections in the districts of the bolting members, but this will only be done after all conciliatory measures are exhausted. In fact the city, although PERFECTLY QUIESCENT, is in @ volcanic state which any imprudent or in- judicious action upon the part of the authorities, civil or military, may fire into a popular eruption. The following telegram has been sent by Gen- eral Sheridan to tne Secretary of War:— NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 6, 1875, Hon. W. W. BELKNAP, Secretary of War, Wash- ington, D. O.:— The city is very quiet to-day. Some of the ban, ditt! made idle threats last night that they would assassinate me because I dared to tell the truth. I am not afraid, and will not be stopped from in- forming the government that there are localities in this department where the very air has been impregnated with assassination for some years, P. H. SHERIDAN, Lieutenant General commanding. PROTEST OF THE UNDERWRITERS. At @ special meeting of the Boara of Under- writers held this day the following report of a committee appointed at a previous meeting was unanimously adopted :— Resolved, That this Board has read with feelings of the deepest sorrow apd mortification the pub- lished msane despatch of General P. H. Sheridan to the Hon. Secretary of War, under date of the 4th inst.; that we esteem it @ wanton, gross and unjustifiable Wrong and lipel on the Jair fame of every person in our State and city. ‘This Board has been established for purely commercial pur- It 18 rumored that Kellogg | poses. No political question has ever been ais- | cussed or proposed. ‘But, in view of this criminal outrage on the best interests of our city by a Stranger In temporary power, it not only warrants but demands from us an expression of our unqualified denial of those vile aspersions upon our citizens; that we give our assurance to our brother underwriters at the North and West that we claim to be true and loyal citizens of the United States, an’ as such we are law-loving and Jaw-abiding people, and that life and property are as safe With us as with them, for the truth of which we confidently appeal to the noble army ot Knights Templar from every State in the Union who recently visited our city: that we cannot but eXpress our surprise that any one occupying the position of General Sheridan should presume to ge of his alleged important tacts upon such brief opportunities as he possibly could have during the short time he has been in the South, and the only excuse we find for such utterances is the suggestion that comes to us this morning ‘rom New York that this despatch was written in Washington and sent to General Sheridan before he left his Northern command; that we earnestly appeal to our North- ern brethren, to the Congress of the United States, \o their love of liberty and justice,to afford us that protection from this present violence and trom any wrong and outrage which may follow, which, as lellow citizens of .this great country, we have a right to demand; that we cordially indorse the | manly and patriotic expressions of the Cotton Ex- change at their last meeting. THOMAS A. ADAMS, President. AN APPEAL FOR FORBEARANCE. The following appeal was issued by the Commit- tee of Seventy :— To THE PEOPLE OF LOUISIANA:— In the name of ali tnat men hold dear and sa- cred I implore my tellow citizens to avoid, by all means, the traps which our enemies and oppress- ors have deliberately set for us. Our deliverance from political bondage depends upon our pru- dence and forbearance, and a conflict with the soldiers or authorities wouid be the ruin of our hopes, a rivetting of our chains. A little more of heroism, patience and forbearance, which have aiready crowned you with imperishable honor and aroused the sympathies of the entire country in your favor, and “t¥e usurpation and imisrule to which you are now subjected will have ceased, and ‘ou will be Once more a free, @ prosperous and a appy people. |» M. . Chairman of the Committee of Seventy. SHERIDAN AGAIN IMPUGNED. The subjoined appeal, signed, as will be seen, by the Catholic archbishop, the bishops of the Episco- pal and Methodist Churches and the Jewish rabbi, was promulgated to-day :— To THE AMERICAN PEOPLE:— Whereas General Sheridan, now in command of | the Division oi the Missouri, under date of the 4th inst., has addressed a communication to Hon. W. W. Belknap, Secretary of War, in which he repre- | sents the people of Louisiana at large as breathing vengeance to all lawiul authority and approving of murders and crimes; and whereas he has given to that communication full publicity, We, the undersigned, believe it our duty to pro- claim to the whole American people that these charges are unmerited, unfounded and erroneous, and can have no other effect than that of serving the interests o/ corrupt politicians, who are at this moment making most extreme eforcs to per- petuate their power over the State o! Louis! N,_J. PERCHE, Archbishop, New Orleans; J.P. B, WILMER, Bishop of Louisiana; JAS. K, GUTHEIM, Pastor Temple of Sinai; J. C. KEENER, Bishop M. E. ©., South; ©. DALL, Rector St. Joseph’s church: and many others, REPORT OF THE IRREPRESSIBLE MERRILI. The following report was received yesterday partment of the Gulf, and by him transmitted to General Sheridan :— a HeAapQuanters District OF THE UpPeR RED RIVER, SHREVEPORT, Dec. 80, 1874, To THR ADJUTANT GENERAL, Department of the UL Sin—Referring to your telegram of December 18, directing me in certain events to be in readiness to suppress violence and to let it be understood that I will do it, Ihave the honor to report that in view of these instructions 1 have been at some yal to investigate the probaoilities of violence tere, and the following are the tacts as nearly as 1 can ascertain :— The State Returning Board have ofMicially an- nounced that the candidates for office in this parish on what is known as the radical ticket are duly and lawfully elected. The leaders of the op- posing party declare that such is not the fact, and that the persons there declared electea shall not take or hold the offices. This determination ap- ‘pears to be weil settled, and is so generally ex- pressed and approved by @ large majority of the whites that I bave no doubt itis more than an idle threat, This expression in many instances 1s ac- companted by threats of violence, and even of death, to the officers if they attempt to take the offices, and I cannot doubt that such threats are very seriously made, They are only a repetition Oi what Was at all times the open talk of the leaders belore the election. Three of the officers referred to are members of the Lower House of the Legisiature, and ail three are_now in New Or- leans, The others are Parish Judge Cresswell, Sherif Heaner and several minor officers, the Police Jury, Justices of the Peace and constables, There is on the part of most of them such ap- prehension of danger in assuming their duties AAHRE WMO KALA dae Ady Dok JANUARY 7, 1875.—TRIPLE SHEET. think any of them will atrempt or could be in- duced to take his oMce. The Partsh Judge 1s @ man of courage and coolness, an¢ I canvot tell whether he will attempt to take his office or not. I have not seen him recently, and have no definite iniormation of bis purpose. As long ag any or all Of these officers choose to refuse to exercise the functions of their office [ conceive J am_ not called upon to do anything in the matter. My instruc- tions cover the ‘ollowing points, and will be car- ried out:—That | recognize as legal State oMcials only such persona as are recognized as such by the recognized executive or {adictel oMcers of the State; that, in the legal exercise of their duties, such oMcers must pot be violently disturbed or interfered with, and i! such violence occurs it shall be my duty to suppress it; and that my advice to all persons ls that i! any question o/ right exists for any person to hold office, thut such person stall be taken be- fore the proper legal tribunals, The leading radicals have left, The usual worry- ing and harassing of negroes go on without inter- mission; but lately no acts of violence have come to my notice. Such acts are now confined to plundering, with or without some show ol legal Jorms, and driving them jrom their bomes to seek places to.live elsewhere, Very respectiully, &c. LEWIS MERRILL, Major Seventh cavalry, commanding. SAUCE FOR THE GOOSE NOT SAUCE FOR THE GAN- DEI The Times says:—‘‘It will be remembered that the admission of five members, who had not been returnea by the Returning Board, was made the basis for the military order to clear the House, and that those five members were put out at the point of the bayonet. It now transpires that the republicans, since the retirement of the demo- crats, having only Mity-one members with certitl- cates, have admitted three members who occupied precisely the same position as the five genviemen who were ejected, They are two radicals from | De Soto and one trom Grant parish. The question arises, why don’t the military again interpose and Put those men out as they did the Ove democrats?” LOUISIANA AFFAIRS IN WASH- INGTON. APPROVAL OF SHERIDAN’S COURSE BY THE PRESIDENT AND CABINET—THE DEBATE IN CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 1875. There 1s one comfortable feature about the Louisiana atfair—the public is not left in ignor- ance of any parg of it, ashamed. ‘They do not conceal what they are doing. This morning, for instance, when men read at breakfast the shameful despatch of Gen- eral Sheridan, in which he suggests that with the slight encouragement of a Presidential procia- mation he would at once begin to slaughter the people whom he calls banditti, everybody won- dered what the President would say to that, and it must be added that everybody supposed that | Sheridan would be reproved, or at least that he | would receive a hint to be alittle more decent. GENERAL SHERIDAN’S COURSE APPROVED, Well, we were not long kept waiting, for the | early alternoon paper told everybody officially that the President and all his Cabinet highly ap- prove of all that Sheridan nas done; and of his latest proposition aiso, so far as appears irum the despatches of the Secretary of War, which were sent to him to-day and thisevering. They are as Tollows:: Wasurnaron, D. C., Jan, 6, its. } General P. H. SHERTDAN, New Orleans :— The President and all of us have tuil confidence im and thoroughly Approve your course: . BELKNAP, Secretary of War. A second telegram was sent to General Sheri- dan to night, It 1s as follows:— 4 WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 187 To General P. H. SHERIDAN, New Orleans, La, I telegraphed you hastily to-day, answering yoar despatch. You seem to fear we will be misled by biassed or partial statements of your acts. Be assured that the President and Cabi- net contiae in your wisdom ana rest 1n the belief that all acts of yours have been and will be judicious, This I intended to say in my brief telegram. WM. W. BELKNAP, Secretary of War, It is remarked here that it took Sheridan less than three days in New Orleans to iniorm himself so fully of the condition of Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana, a region as large as France, to de- clare a large port of their people banditt! and as- War DEPARTMENT, | sume the responsibility of advising that they be hunted down, THE PRESIDENT SATISFIED, BUT GLOOMY. As for the President, he is clearly satisfled with the Louistana situation and with Sheridan’s con- duct, “He says little,” said one of his intimates to-day, “but he is very tenacious. He is hard to | move, and he only sticks the closer to @ policy or @ man when he finds either He is said to be gloomy attacked.” and = silent | just now, but entirely satisfied with Sheridan, and convinced that if he is only let alone all will go right, GENERAL GRANT'S ADVISERS. So far a3 18 known no republican who does not approve of the New Orleans outrage has yet dared to tell the President so. They are all shy of him, and complain that with the men who sur- round General Grant it is useless to try to advise him or even to explain to him the perils of the situation which he will not see, He “will pull the party through all right in 1876,” he still thinks, THE PROCERDINGS IN THE SENATE. In the Senate the debate was resumed this morning and the galleries were crowded, a great many ladies being present. As Senator West, of Louisiana, opened the debate the Senate arranged Itself to listen, General Logan and the Sec- retary of War sat together on a sofa. Conkling, Howe and Morton prompted West as he spoke, supplying suggestions or quotations, Mr. Conkling in the intervals of this employment carefully par- ing his nails. The Secretary of the Treasury came in to hear the debate and sat by Mr. Conkling, and among others on the floor were Mr. Lamar, of Mississippi; Governor Brooks, of Arkansas, and ex-Governor Parsons, of ‘Alabama. Mr. West closed his speech by speaking of the democrats of New Orleans as a mob, adding “and as a mob they were put down.” SENATOR GORDON’S SPEECH. General Goraon, of Georgia, folldwed and spoke calmly and often pathetically, but evidently under deep excitement. He was listened to with great interest, and his was the speech of theday. At the close he was interrupted by Senator Edmunds, but it was thought that Gordon gave a good account ofhim., Flanagan, of Texas, followed Gordon and finished the aay. OPINION OF A REPUBLICAN. The impression of the debate so far is that it has Not hit the centre of the subject. "“Tney talk og | the disease,” said a republican who had listened to it, “but itis not the disease, but the doctors, It is not what the man is sick of, but the medi- cine they are giving him that ought to be discussed. The republicans speak of Southern outrages and lawlessness, but the real question | is the President's authority under the constitution and the laws to disperse a peaceable assemblage of citizens. Many of our States have had two legislative bodies sitting at the same time, or two men claiming to be Governors, but no one ever before imagined that the President would send a | man on horseback to disperse the one he tancied to be illegal.” ‘this was the comment which was made by a shrewd lawyer. THE CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTION. To-morrow Senators Hamilton, Bayard, and perhaps Schurz, Ferry and Tipton will speak, and the question whetver the President has vio- lated the constitution and acted without the law Will, it is believed, be fully discu: PROBABLE RESULT OF THE DEBATR. The republican Senatora, however, are likely to hold together and to insist upon Mr. Conkling’s amendment to Mr. Thurman's resolution of in- quiry, which leaves it to the President to send in or withold the information ag he chooses. Mean- time, however, he will have heard some very plain truths. ‘ THE SUPREME COURT ON MILITARY USURPATION, In the House a littie breeze of discussion of the question on all sides arose when the Fortifications bitl came up, and Mr. Beck, of Kentucky, made a hit by reading first General Sheridan’s “banditti”’ despatch, and then anextract from the decision of the Supreme Court in the Milligan case, in which the Court denounced the proposition that “in time of war the Commander of an armed force, if in his opinion the exigenctes of the country demand it, of which he ts to juage, has the power within the lines of his military dis- WEAGG 60 AMARORG All (AYU FURUUH ABA FeMedies BBA) heUloye FLA WME REAVE MOD ARAIUAG Whom the Reg: The actors in it are not | subject citizens as well as soldiers to tne rule of his will. MARTIAL LAW SUBVERSIVE OF CIVIL LIBERTY. “Of this proposition the Supreme Coart says,” said Mr. Beck, “ ‘if true republican government a fatiure and there ig an end of liberty regulated by law, martial law established on such a basis destroys every guarantee of the constitution and effectually renders the military independent of ana superior to the civil power, the at- tempt to do which by the King of Great Briain was deemed by our fathers such an offence that they assigned tt to the world as one of the causes which tmpelled them to deciare their independence. Crvii liberty and this kind of martial law cannot endure together, and in the conflict one or the other must perish.” These 1m- pressive words of the Supreme Court were listened to with interest. A FEIND TO GAIN TIME, Mr. Hale, of Maine, later introduced a resolution proposing a new election in Louisiana, and Mr. Willard, of Vermont, demanded its refer- ence to the Judiciary Committee, because he Was not willing without consideration to say that Congress could order a State election whenever | it saw propertodoso, Mr. Hale’s proposition is Probabiy made to gain time and to enable the | question to be fully considered. EXPKCTED RETURN OF THE NEW ORLEANS COM- MITTEE. The House Committee will be here on Fri- | day or Saturday irom New Orleans, snd on -their report some action may be taken. Meantime there is continued dissatisfaction among the republicans, They cannot defend the President, and they do not want to break with him, They talk in private very freely, but in pub- lic they are silent. Some of them would like to ask by what authority the President acted in the , late events in New Orleans; some would like to threaten him with impeachment If be does not at once recall Sheridan; many speak of the gross im- propriety of sending to New Orleans or to the South an officer of go little political experience or . calm judgment as Sheridan, and it is said that “the President knows better than any one the tools to choose for the work he wants done.” If | he meant conciliation and moderation he would dave sent Sherman or some other judicious oMcer. OUR MODERN CROMWELL. “When we read as boys ol Cromwell dissolving | the Parliament and driving the members out of the hall, we did not dream of secing something very like it done in our own country,’”? was a re- mark made by @ very zealous republican; and the auswer was, “Ifyou are not careful Sheridan will go gunning after you Congressmen some day.” PEELING OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR, Meantime you cannot here find a more cheerful being than the Secretary of War. He, at least, feels certain that everything is lovely, and that Sheridan is the right man in the rigut place. As he walked through the Capitol his 1ace beamed With sauisfaction, and be evidently thinks, the country is safe. [here are a good many here wuo think otherwise, CONGRESS ON THE OUTRAGE. ° A SCENE IN THE SENATE. WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 1875. Various memorials and bills were presented and reported in the Senate and were appropriately reierred, Aiter the expiration of the morning hour tbe Senate resumed the consideration of the resolution submitted yesterday, by Mr. Thurman, in regard to the Louisiana troubles, the pending question being on the motion of Mr. Conkling to insert the words “if not incompatible with the public interests,’? SHERIDAN’S REPORS OF LOCISIANA’S CONDITION. Mr. WEsT, (rep.) of La., said it was somewhat remarkable ‘nat those who thrust this resolution | upon the Senate declared they were in possession of all the facts about Louisiana, yet they wanted the President to send information to them, He then spoke of the condition of affairs in Louisiana, | And quoted from the despatch of General Sheridan to show that it was necessary for the govern- ment to interfere to protect life in that State, | it had been charged here by Senators on the other side of the chamber that. the President had used the army in Louisiana in violation of law, They need not think the President had made a mistake, He might make mistakes sometimes, but he never made a military mistake. It had veen charged here, further, that General Sheridan was ordered to New Orleans over the General of the Army and contrary to ali usage. He (Mr. West) before com- mencing his speech fortunately had found upon the floor of the Senate the Secretary of War, and upon asking bim if such had been tne case, the Secretary replied in the negative and handed the evidence to him to contradict the statements that | the General of the Army had been ignored. GHNERAL 8HERMAN’S POSITION, Mr, West then sent to the Clerk’s desk and had read the following letter recelved by him from the Secretary of War:— HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARM Sr. Louis, Mo., Dec. 30, 1: General W. W. BELKNapP, Secretary of War, Wash- Ingtop, D. C.:— GENERAL—I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your confidential communication of December 26, with the enclosures. Very respect- Juily, your obedient servant, . T. SHERMAN, General. Mr. SavLspury, (dem.) of Del.—That 1s simply an ackuowledgement of the receipt of confiden- tial communications and does not state the char- acter of them, Mr. West—When this resolution shall have been passed, and all the information comes out, the Senator will see that it was an acknowledgment. of the receipt of all orders and communications in reference to General Sheridan being ordered to New Orleans. be 0, THE CONSERVATIVE ACTION. He then proceeded to review the circumstances attending the organization of the Legislature in New Urieans on Monday last, aod charged that vy the laws of Louisiana the acts of the conservative members of that Legislature were illegal, violent | and revolutionary, and, in fact, were the acts of a mob. The seating of five members whose seats were contested, before any permanent organiza- tion, Was without a parallel. He quoted from the records of Congress to show that Johm Quincy Adams at one time presided in the House of Rep- resentatives as temporary Speaker for sixteen days on account of certain contested seats which were not acted upon until long after permanent organi- zation had been effected. The so-called Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives had declared those who contested seats were entitled to them without any evidence to show that they were elécted. The vote by which Wiltz claimed to have been elected Speaker lacked five of a legal majority of the body. He next read from a tele- gram stating that Congressman Potter w: present at the organization, and discountenanced the action of Wiltz. SPRECH OF SENATOR GORDON. Mr. Gonpor, (dem.) of Ga., said he did not pro- pose to reply to the speech of the Senator (Mr. West). He was quite willing it should go to the country and make its own answer. But when the people whom he (Mr. Gordon) loved as bis own life, whose fortunes were his through weal or woe, through life or death, were held up as assassins and murderers, he could not and woula not re- main silent, and if bis voice and gestures were tremulous now with emotion it was not the emo- tion of anger, but the emotion of indignation at the outrage perpetrated upon his people. He stood aghast at the spectacle presented m this Senate yesterday—a spectacie of one portion of the members seeking to ruin the fair name and the honor of the people of one section of this country before the civilized world, He was amazed, utterly amazed, that there should be found in the hearts of men with whom he datly associated upon this floor so much hate, He was totally unprepared for tt, and if he beheved to-day that tne expressions which he heard (rom Senators’ lips yesterday reflected the sentiments of the Northern people he would feel that it was time for the Southern people to die, If he believed that those expressions foreshad- owed the policy of this governmeut toward the South, then he would say let us have done with this FARCE OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT, He did not believe that such sentiments were enteriained by the Northern people. He aid not That tg the fact and I know it to | 3 ple of the South had lately contended entertained any such sentiments. He believed the great ma- jority of the American people of both North and@ South, white and black, abhorred any such spirit of animosity. He believed the movement inaugu- rated in 1872 by that large-headed and large- | hearted man of New York to bring about good | feeling aud harmony would be successful. In the | support which he (Mr. Gurdon) gave to the reso- lution as presented by the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Thurman), he protested against any construction which would make tt appear that he was wanting in respeet to the President of the United States. Much had been said here about the President being commander-in-chief of the army. He (Mr. Gordon) was giad he was commander-in- chief; glad that the military was subordinate to the civil power. He did not propose to discuss the resolution, but to reply to what ne was forced ta conclude were gratuitous inaults offered to hig people by some of the Senators on the other sida of the chamber, | FALSE CHARGRS AGAINST THE SOUTH. | Tv was charged that marders prevatied throughouY the South, and that these murders were by the hand@ of the democratic white man’s party. His reply to | that was brief, The charge was false. 1t was true that murders had occurred; put no one deplored them more than himself, nor more than the | people he represented. His people had always said that the class of people committing these murders were the worst enemies of the South, If murders were committed, was that any reason for branding tne whole Southern people as @ set of assassins and barbarians? Wherever in the Southern States people of honesty and integrity have control of public affairs, property, life and | Wberty were as safe as they were in any Northern | State, (Applause in the galleries.) Did the Sena- tor from Vermont (mr. Edmunds) jorget that there were States in the North in the hands of the demo- | crats? He (Mr. Gordon) apprehended that those | States were governed just as well as States gov- erned by republicans. He was sure that such wag ; the case in the South. Since the war not a } solitary arm had been raised in a Southern | State against the power of the federal | government, andyet the Southern people’ were | charged day after duy witt being disloyal toward the government because there were riots at elec- tions or riots at crossroads. ‘A band of misguided ' negroes, who marched at night with arms to mur- der and heart to plunder, could not be attacked | by whites in self-defence. If they were attacked and a conflict ensued in which afew were killed | the South was then charged with atsloyalty and antagonism to the tederal goverument. Colored | militiimen might msult women, rob, pillage and | drag imnocent men from their beds, and when the white men resisted them the Southern people were held up a8 murderers and assassins. Men were sent down among them who had no common interest with them. These men made the laws, collected the taxes and governed the South- | ern people, and then maligned the same | people. If the South asked how New Eng- | land would like that, how the West would like | that, and strived by every lawful means to over- i | } throw these men, her people were charged with being murderers aud assassins, How long are we thus to be misunderstood in the face of every evir | dence we give of our readiness to meet the North- ern people on equal ground? But we are told | that we intimidate voters. It does not matter | what may be our minority, though we may be as | one to many, still we intimidate voters. It would | soon be found that there was intimidation on the other side, He (Mr. Gordon) then read from the | Chicago Inter-Ocean certain testimony taken in | Alabama, to the effect that bacon for the relief of 1 persons in the overflowed districts was dis- tributed to persons living out of those districts on the eve of election. Other colored voters swore that tney had been discharged for voting the re. Publican ticket, and others that they had been beaten and turned out of churen for so voting. ' THE TRUTH AND POWER OF THR PRESS. | The Senator trom Indtana (Mr. Morton) yester. | day bad spoken of lies sent out by Southern Asso- clated Press agents, He (Mr. Gordon) thought that a libel on the Associated Press of the South, and he thought he knew as much about it as the | Senator trom Indiana. He (Mr. Gordon), as a | Senator and a man, recognizing his responsibility to his country and to his God, would say those | things are true. (Renewed applause in the gal- | leries.) Continuing his argument, he said :—Liars, | are they ? What does the Senator do with the | reporters sent out by the Jeading papers of the | country from the city of New York? Are they | also Mars? If so why did not the Senator | charge it? They testified to the very same | Class of facts. Why, Mr. President, does ; it find @ place in the Senator's heart to charge falsehood upon the Southern reporters, when, if falsehood existed, it also existed in the city of New York? No, sir; the Senator cowered | De‘ore the power of the HERALD, Tridune and Times, and dared not say it, (Renewed appiause in the galleries.) ‘The CHarr (Mr. Sargent) gave notice that if any further applause be made the rule would be en- | forced and the galleries cleared, WHICH PARTY DESIRES MURDER? Mr. GoRDON, resuming, said he was forced to the conclusion that those on the other side, who claim to be the friends of law and order, desire murder in the Southern States. They knew when peace | came, when the people of this country under- stood each other, as they are beginning, thank God, to understand each other now, | good government would ensue, life, liberty and property would be safe, and there would be no place for these disturbing spirits. He | Was responsible only for his belief, but he thought {1 true, and in time bistory would write it down so. Not one man in a thousand in the South was armed, There were not half so many armed ag before the war. There were not a8 many military | companies in the South as before the war. Even the old-iashioned douole-barrelied shotgun had almost disappeared. Was it all right for the gov- ernment to arm black militia and disarm white men? Before the men who had mo interest with the Southern people, except to array the blacks against them, came there good feeling existed between the whites and blacks, There were churches and schoolhousesin the South for the blacks, and in every Southern State muney had been contrivuted by the whites for schooinouses and churches for the blacks, The Southern white | People haa contributed more than any one else. | Only the other day, @ resident of Georgia, in his | last willand testament, oequeathed $100,000 to educate colored people. Did the Senator trom Vermont (Mr. Edmunds) think these acts of semi- barbarism, which he attributed tothe Southern | people, in bis speech yesterday ? A PARLIAMENTARY SPAT, Mr, EDMUNDS, (rep.) Of Vt., said the Senator did Not quote him correctly. Mr. GORDON —Doea the Senator say that he did | Not say that velore the war the Soutn was in a state of semi-barbarism? Mr. EDMUNDS—I do. Mr. EDMUNDS then requested the Senator to read from the Record what he did say. Mr. GoRDON--Never mind what may be tn the Record, the words are in my memory and will not out, Mr. EDMUNDS—Well, the Senator has the Record, and if he can fish outof it anything of that chare acter, then bis ingenuity is equal to his audacity. (Sensation). Mr. GoRPoN—I took down the Senator’s words ag he said them and am responsibie for them. Mr. EDMUNDS—Responsibility is @ very good thing. Mr. GORDON—The want of it sometimes is s very good thing too, (Laugnter.) Mr. GORDON then read irom the record of yesters,. day Mr, Edmunds) remarks, where be said:— When [ see, Mr. President, as 1 have not yet Seen, that the people, as they call themselves, the White Leaguers, or the white democrats, or the white conservatives, or whatever they a Bs of any State in this Union; when they fad that 0; their associates or murder or wrong ne cause bus opinio: | d bi then begin to have some faith that Southern brothers, who, It seems, have not yet forgotten the old manners and ways. : semt-barbarous times, havo thought better of Os Resuming his argument Mr. Gordon said:—~ “Where is the audacity now in bringing the Sena- Vas besore we Qhamper adi bare duet” Ba tam \