Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 March 1886 — EDMUNDS AND BECK FALL OUT. [ARTICLE]

EDMUNDS AND BECK FALL OUT.

Dr. Burnette, the California dentist who filled the teeth of Preller, the victim of the St. Louis trunk mystery, refuses to come to St. I ouis to testify at the trial unless he shall be paid $15,000. The Doctor says the'London insurance companies have advised him that it will be to his pecuniary interest not to testify at the trial.

The new headquarters of the Salvation Army, now about completed in Toronto, has a frontage of 106 feet and a depth of 100. The auditorium will seat 2,500 persons, and there are all the conveniences of the modern church. This “Salvation Temple,” as it is called, cost $40,000, which has been raised by banquets, special subscriptions, collections, and the like.

Samuel J. Piper and Albert G. Herndon were life prisoners in the Albany Penitentiary for robbing a mail coach in Texas. When the recent epidemic of typus fever broke out in the jail they volunteered as nurses, and both rendered valuable services until Piper himself was taken ill. He is just Recovering. Their heroic conduct induced Albany officials to ask for their pardon, and it has been granted.

The Empress of Austria’s taste for field sports is by no means exceptional among ladies of rank in Austria and Hungary. A little while ago the Crown Princess accompanied her husband on a shooting expedition, and proved herself to be an excellent shot. The imperial hunts in Hungary are always frequented by a number of ladies belonging to the higher court circles. As a matter of fact, the predilection of the Empress for hunting is fully shared by the ladies of the Austro-Hungarian aristocracy.

Captain Boycott, the Irish land agent to the Earl of Erne, and whose fight with his tenantry at the opening of the land war in 1879 gave rise to the word boycott, which has.. been so extensively adopted in this country as well as in Ireland, has been appointed agent of Lord Waveney’s estates in Suffolk. How the English will receive among them a man whose petty tyranny in Ireland set agoing a practice that turned their government upside down remains to be seen.

King Milan’s Queen is said to be the most beautiful woman in Servia, and by this charm, together with her decision of character, she has completely established her dominion, not only

ever her husband’s heart, but over his actions likewise. If Queen Nathalie may lay claim to be the handsomest woman in Servia, King Milan is far from being the handsomest man there or anywhere else. His head is round and large—too large for hia body—his cheeks flat and wide, with a small nose and a little mouth. When at school at Paris he was thought to resemble Prince Napoleon, and always considered himself flattered by being complimented on the likeness.

Speaking of superstitions, a writer flays the old notion that there is luck in a horseshoe finds support in one case at least. When Maud S. did her first really fast mile in Cleveland in 2:10|, Captain Stone, of Cincinnati, who owned her, pulled off her shoes and stored them in his desk, and sold the mare to Vanderbilt for a snug price. He has been making money ever since, and capturing the best things of life. The Captain kept only one of the shoes. He gave one to Mrs. Swain, and she gave it to her larger brother. He hadn’t had it a week before he was married to one of the most charming ladies in New York. He has been prospering like a green bay tree ever since.

Mobs in Asia appear not to be dreaded, and apparently are not dreadful. Kings never dream of prohibiting them, and the people are not in the least afraid of them. All over Asia, from Constantinople to Shanghai, vast mobs continually assemble for worship, for jollification, for curiosity, and nobody interferes. The Kings -do not apprehend revolt from them, the police do not look for riot, the people do not fear accident. In India, Burmah, Ceylon, Arabia, China, immense crowds continually assemble without disturbance of any kind, without endangering public peace, and without disaster, •save when, owing to the consequent ■breach of sanitary laws, some devas-

tating epidemic is occasionally generated. A true “mob” of a hundred thousand persons is a constant phenomenon in India, and is as little regarded by the magistrates as a crowd of a thousand would be in London.

A Boston clergyman was asked recently what he did in his church to break up the habit, so frequent at church sociables, of ladies arranging themselves in rows or clusters, thereby causing the gentlemen to do the same. His answer was that the game of “missionary” was the best and most popular way of doing it, and on being asked for an explanation of the game, gave the following: “We arrange all the ladies about the room, and request a gentleman to stand in front of each of them. Then it k announced that the young ladies are to represent ‘missionaries’ and the young gentlemen •heathen.’ A signal is then given, and the heathen then embraces ‘christianitv.’"

“Like many other public me»,” says the Philadelphia Teleqraph, “John B. Gough made money easily and spent it freely. During his lifetime he earned hundreds of thousands of dollars, but his whole fortune is estimated at less than $75,000. He leaves a house and two hundred acres of valuabM ground about six miles from Worcester, Mass. This was his ‘farm,’ and here he rested during the breathing spells in his busy life. His library is one of the finest in the country. It is valued at $20,000, but it is doubtful whether it would bring that amount at public or private sale. Some of the books were highly prized by the great orator. Among them were original sketches by George Cruikshank, which he could have sold a year ago for several thousand dollars. Besides his farm and library Mr. Gough owned lands and mortgages which yielded a small income. An intimate friend was talking to him about his private affairs recently. Mr. Gough told him that in the event of his death his wife would have an income of about $2,500 from his personal property.”

The Charlotte (N. C.) Observer of recent date published a column interview by its Washington correspondent with Junius Lynch Clemmons, Clerk of the River and Harbor Committee of the House of Representatives, who asserts that he is the original inventor of the electric telegraph. Mr. Clemmons says that he invented the system in 1835, and communicated his discovery to a Mr. Page, who was in the Patent Office, and who had become eminent as an electrician. Page did not answer the letter, and eleven years after took out a patent on the discovery, and associated Morse and Amos Kendall with him. The company applied to Congress for aid to develop the discovery, and the world knows the result. Clemmons claims only the original invention, but gives Morse credit for its development. He concludes the interview as follows: “I would not pluck a single leaf from the laurel that circled Morse’s brow, or drop a word that would reflect upon his memory.” The letter is published as a vindication of the truth of history.

Some time since reports reached this country that a new tsxile had been discovered in Trance, which was likely to take tjie place of wool to a large extent. Of course, this report created a good deal of sensation in certain quarters where the wool interests are important. Accordingly, United States Consul Williams, of Rouen, France, was requested to make a complete investigation of the matter and report at his earliest convenience. This report has just arrived at the State Department. He says that the new textile is called berandine, from the name of its inventor, a Maestricht workman named Berande. The French have made very glowing official reports. Mr. Williams says that in the opinion of experts who have since made careful examinations of this textile it is safe to say that it is not likely to take the place of wool, or even the poorest quality of waste wool or cotton. Its presence in a mixture of textile material increases the difficulty of spinning to such an extent that in no instance could it be spun fine. Its use in fabrics of mixed thread diminishes its value by imparting roughness and harshness to the touch. The consul thinks that, while this texture may take a modest place hereafter, it is not at present calculated to diminish the price of wool. Berandine is claimed by experts to be the direct product of certain peat grounds, and is thus cheaper by far than any other known raw textile material. The consul draws the conclusion that the inferiority of the textile surpasses its cheapness, and thus places it low on the list of textiles.

The Vermont Senator Questions the Kentuckian's Honor and the Latter Retorts Savagely. [TJ. 8. Senate proceedings.] Mr. Beck did not wonder that Duskin was not here for himself. Everybody knew, Mr. Beck said, that Duskin was nominated in March, 1881, and the Senate did not see fit to confirm. He was again appointed after the adjournment of the session, and nominated at the October term of the same year, and the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Edmunds) had not felt justified in even rejrorting him to the Senate for confirmation. Mr. Edmunds rose, as a matter of duty, to a question of order. The Senator from Kentucky, he said, was violating the duty of a Senatoi- in respect to proceedings in executive session. Mr. Beck denied this. The records and the public papers, he said, showed three nominations cf Duskin, and it was because the Senator from Vermont knew that he was unworthy that the papers>were asked so he expected to entrap the department. Mr. Edmunds insisted that the Senator from Kentucky was out of order, and asked the Chair to decide the question. The Chair stated that the Senator from Kentucky had an undoubted right to refer to public facts, but Mr. Beck (interposing) remarked that he had, and that to-morrow he would prove the public facts by the press of the country, and also prove by the records of the House of Representatives, which were public, that Duskin was an utterly unfit man to hold the place from which he was removed —among other reasons, because of his connection with Fishback, the Marshal, and the Senator from Vermont himself knew the facts. And Mr. Beck thought die would produce the records from the Attorney General's office—the Republican Attorney General, Brewster, verifying rhe fact stated by him. He hoped also in executive session •to get a vote of the Remits to compel the Senator from Vermont to produce .evidence which he had before his own committee to show Duskin’s unfitness. He hoped to prove that this effort to make an issue in regard to Duskin was because the Senator from Vermont believed Duskin’s case so bad that the Democratic administration would be glad to prove how bad he was; and thin the Senator would claim it as a precedent in good cas ?s. " And I hope to prove,” continued Mr. Beck, “that this move, not made with such a flourish of trumpets—l will not say what I expect to prove, fori could not do it, perhaps, in parliamentary language.” Mr. Edmunds said he would have to leave entirely in silence what the Senator from Kentucky had stated in regard to affairs in executive session.

“I feel bound in honor,” he said, “not to make any allusion to any such subjects. The ideas of Senatorial honor, under the rules, of the Senator from Kentucky, and my own, are entirely different. Every Senator is sworn to a faithful performance of his duty as Senator, according to regulations of the Senate that are made under the Constitution, ff the Senator from Kentucky thinks it is honorable to garble and misstate the existence of circumstances in closed doors, of course I have no criticism to make upon his sense of what is honorable and right. I can not make any reference to what has taken place under any circumstances, when, under the rules of the Senate and by oath, the doors are closed. Therefore, I can make no reply to what the Senator from Kenctucky has said on the subject to which he has alluded as in executive session. As to Mr. Beck’s reference to the reports in the Attorney General’s office about Duskin and what they would show " Mr. Beck said his reference had been to the Committee on the Judiciary, of which the Senator from Vermont was Chairman. Mr. Edmunds reminded Mr. Beck that he had referred to papers in the office of Attorney General Garland and what they would show. He (Mr. Edmunds) could not allude to what the Judiciary Committee had or had not until he should have permission. “I shall not violate my oath or my honor,” Mr. Edmunds said, “by doing it now, whatever other gentlemen may choose to do.” If there were reports in the Attorney General's office concerning Duskin they were precisely what the Senate desired when it passed the resolution calling for the papers. “It appears,” Mr. Edmunds continued, “that the Senator from Kentucky can get at what the Attorney General and the President of the United States consider to be confidential and private communications when the Senate of the United States cannot; and that is the advantage that the Senator has over the body of which he is a member; and that is an advantage which the administration considers to be, as all the Democratic Senators do, I presume, an undoubted advantage. But what the Senator from Kentucky gets it appears the Senate cannot get. If it were true,” Mr. Edmunds continued, “that Duskin had been a bad officer, it was of the highest importance not only that the Senate, but the House of Representatives should know it, and what his misconduct had been.” Senator Beck said he had not seen any paper in the Attorney General’s office relating to Duskin, nor had he ever asked to see one; nor had he ever spoken to the President in regard to Duskin. “And as to my honor and oath,” continued Mr. Beck, “I hope it is as sacred as that of the Senator from Vermont. If it was not at least as good as his I would not havj as much regard for myself as I have now. I propose to stand upon my integrity as a man and a Senator ; and I say that a forty-parson power would not do justice to much of the hypocrisy that is now presented to the Senate in pretenses of a desire to establish public justice.” Dushin, Mr. Beck said, was known to be an unfit man for the place he occupied, and nobody knew it better than the Senator from Vermont. The Senator from Vermont spoke of his honor and oath and integrity, and compared them with his (Mr. Beck’s), and Mr. Beck was willing to stand by the comparison. “Thank God,” said he, “whatever I say I say boldly and openly. I mean what I say. I do not stand on the corners of streets and thank Gori I.am not as other men, and pray aloud to make men believe that I have all the virtue and all the integrity and all the godliness extant. When I see a great public question I meet it—l meet it fairly. I may make blunders and I may make mistakes, but I have more respect for the man wh > meets his enemy in the open field and either knocks him down or takes a fair knock-down himself than I have for the man who stabs his brother under the fifth rib while shaking him by the hand and asking him, ‘How is it with you, my brother Ido not believe in secret ways; I do not believe in pbariseeism ; I do not believe in hypocrisy ; I <io not believe in circumventing anybody. I will move now, in o.’der to see whether I am telling what is true or not—and if I cannot move it now I will do so the first opportunity—that all the proceedings in March, 1881, October, 1881,. and December, 1881, and all the papers filed with the Judiciary Committee and all the proceedings had before the committee in the case of the nomination of Duskin, shall be made public, so that the country can judge whether what I say is true or not. If I have falsified anything I'will take it back, and if I have not I want a chance to prove it, since comparisons are made between the oath and the honor of the Senator from Vermont and myself. I make that motion now and will let it lie over until tomorrow morning, or I will do it in the first executive session if it is not in order to do it now.” The Chair decided that the motion was not in order now.

Mr. Edmunds—l shall undoubtedly agree with the Senator from Kentucky as Ido in a large part of what he has said. When he at least Bays that- he is not better than other men, I am bound to agree with him. When he tells us that he compares honor, I agree with him about that. He has his, own views of what is honorable, imd I have mine. I suppose both being Democrats [laughter], we are both entitled to opinions as to what is honorable. I supposed that all I said was in reference to a plain, manifested—l will not say intended—violation of the rules and orders of the Senate in the Senator’s references to reports of committees in executive session. Perhaps the Senator is not yet conscious that he has violated the rule about that. I doubt if he is, because I believe the Senator to be a man who means to do the right thing in the right way. But he did that, and it was in respect to that that I called the attention of the Chair to his remarks. Mr. Beck inquired where Mr. Edmunds had got the Thurman matter that he read the other day. Mr. Edmunds replied: “From the committee minute-book, upon an order of the Senate withdrawing secrecy from it. Perhaps the Senator from Kentucky can see the distinction.” “I can see a bam," replied Mr. Beck, “but I can not see a fly on the barn-door without seeing the bam.” Mr. Edmunds—Undoubtedly; and ths Ben-

ator has seen a good many barns undoubtedly. I am inclined to think he has not seen much of anything else. (Laughter.] Mr. Beck—l have not seen the fly. Mr. Edmunds—No, the Senator never takes anything on the fly. IRenowe I laughter ] Mr. Beck—Nor on the lie. either (Uproarious laughter on the floor and in the galleries.] Mr. Edmunds admitted this. No Senator from Kentucky, he said, regarded the rt solution, a< he had now discovered, as a device to entrap the President and tha Attorney General into reporting the official facts on file, v Inch showed Duskin to be an improper officer, in order that they might be compelled to report in other cases where they had slaughtered a man upon charges, on the invitation of the Postmaster General or somebody else, that were false and fabricated. The point was, therefore, th it the administration was going to be unveiled before the people by being entrapped into telling the truth about a bad officer, and so be led to toll the truth about a good officer. That certainly, Mr.. Edmunds said, was an amazing attitude for the administration to occupy—and he took it that the Senator from Kentucky represented the administration in the matter. * We were asked to assist in removing an officer, and because we asked for official information in order to be able to act in that matter, we were not to get the information for fear that in another instance where an accused officer had been accused falsely, and by invited perjury, of offenses that he had never committed, the conduct of the administration had been brought into reproach. “I will leave the position just there," concluded Mr. Edmunds, who then moved an executive session. When the galleries had been cleared and the doors closed Mr. Beck offered the resolution which he gave notice of. He said that he did not wish to rest under the imputation passed upon his honor bv the Senator from Vermont, and wished to show the public that he had good grounds for all he had asserted. Mr. Edmunds disavowed all intention to cast any aspersions upon the honor cf the Senator from Kentucky, whom he held in the highest esteem. Mr. Conger proposed an amendment to the resolution of the Senator from Kentucky, providing that the resolution should not take effect until the Attorney General or the President should have sent in the papers in the case. Thereupon the resolution and the amendment were referred to the Committee on ths Judiciary.