The question again recurring, Will the House agree to the first division of the preamble and resolution? The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members present, Those who voted in the affirmative are MI. William B. Allison Oakes Ames Samuel M. Arnell James M. Ashley John Beatty John F. Benjamin George S. Boutwell Mr. John F. Driggs Mr. George V. Lawrence C. H. Prince Those who voted in the negative are— Mr. George M. Adams Stevenson Archer Mr. Asa P. Grover Those not voting are— Mr. George W. Anderson Mr. William Mungen Mr. Robert C. Schenck Glenni W. Scofield Row'd E. Trowbridge Henry Van Aernam Charles H. Van Wyck Cadwal'r C. Washburn Ellihu B. Washburne Mr. Lawrence S. Trimble. Mr. Charles W. Pierce Henry P. H. Bromwell Amasa Cobb J. S. Golladay David A. Nunn Samuel Shellabarger Daniel M. Van Auken So the first division of the preamble and resolution was agreed to. The question then recurring, Will the House agree to the second division of the preamble and resolution? It was put and decided in the affirmative. So the preamble and resolution were agreed to. Two messages in writing were received from the President of the United States, by Mr. Moore, his private secretary; which were handed in at the Speaker's table. Mr. S. F. Wilson, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, reported that the committee had examined and found truly enrolled the following entitled bills: S. R. 170. Joint resolution in relation to the library of the Department of Agriculture. S. 565. An act to authorize the Secretary of State to adjust the claim of Gustavus G. Cushman for office rent while commissioner under the reciprocity treaty. Whereupon the Speaker signed the same. A message from the Senate, by Mr. Hamlin, one of their clerks: Mr. Speaker: The Senate have agreed to the following resolution: Resolved, That the joint committee appointed at the first session of the present Congress, and continued at the last session, to revise and fix the pay of the officers of the two houses be, and they are hereby, reappointed. Ordered, That Mr. Fessenden, Mr. Sherman, and Mr. Buckalew, be the committee on the part of the Senate; in which I am directed to ask the concurrence of the House. The Senate have concurred in the resolution of the House providing for an adjournment of the two houses of Congress from Monday, December 21, to Tuesday, the 5th of January next. The Speaker, by unanimous consent, laid before the House the following messages, this day received from the President of the United States: To the Senate and House of Representatives : I transmit a copy of a note of the 24th of November last, addressed to the Secretary of State by the minister of Great Britain, communicating a decree of the district court of the United States for the southern district of New York, ordering the payment of certain sums to the defendants in a suit against the English schooner Sibyl, libelled as a prize of war. It is requisite for the fulfilment of the decree that an appropriation of the sums specified therein should be made by Congress. The appropriation is recommended accordingly. WASHINGTON, December 8, 1868. The same having been read, ANDREW JOHNSON. Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Appropriations. To the House of Representatives of the United States: In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 7th instant, relating to the correspondence with the American minister at London concerning the so-called Alabama claims, I transmit a report on the subject from the Secretary of State. WASHINGTON, December 11, 1868. The same having been read, ANDREW JOHNSON. Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and be printed. Mr. William Lawrence moved to suspend the rules to permit him to submit a memorial from the Union League of the city of New York, and the following resolution relative thereto : Resolved, That the memorial from the Union League Club of New York be printed, and that a select committee of seven be appointed to investigate the irregularities and frauds therein alleged to have occurred in the city and State of New York affecting the recent election for representatives to Congress and electors for President and Vice-President, and report thereon to this house; and that the said committee may hold sessions in the State of New York, and elsewhere, by a quorum or by sub-committees, of such number as the committee shall delegate; and that they have power to send for persons and papers, to administer paths to witnesses, and to employ a clerk and messenger, with such stenographic assistance as they shall find necessary. And the question being put, Will the House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution? The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members present, Those who voted in the affirmative are Mr. William B. Allison Oakes Ames John F. Benjamin George S. Boutwell John T. Deweese Mr. Oliver J. Dickey Mr. William H. Koontz Rufus Mallory Mr. C. H. Prince Green B. Raum Charles H. Van Wyck Fred'k E. Woodbridge. Mr. Frederick Stone Stephen Taber Nelson Tift Lawrence S. Trimble Mr. Lewis W. Ross John Taffe John Trimble Daniel M. Van Auken Thomas Williams William Windom. So the rules were suspended and the resolution agreed to. Mr. W. Lawrence moved to reconsider the vote agreeing to the said resolution, and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table; which latter motion was agreed to. Mr. Cook, by unanimous consent, from the Committee on Roads and Canals, reported, with amendments, the bill of the House (H. R. 621) to authorize the building of a military and postal railroad from Washington, District of Columbia, to the city of New York. Ordered, That the said bill, with the amendments, be printed and recommitted to the said committee. Mr. Orth, by unanimous consent, introduced a joint resolution (H. Res. 385) tendering the thanks of Congress to Brevet Major General Joseph J. Reynolds; which was read a first and second time and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. Mr. B. F. Butler, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 1546) to enforce the laws of the United States in the State of Georgia; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Reconstruction, and ordered to be printed. Mr. Ferry, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 1547) to establish the rank of pay officers in the navy; which was read a first and second time, referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs, and ordered to be printed. Mr. Randall, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 1548) to regulate the refunding of taxes paid into the treasury of the United States; which was read a first and second time and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Mr. Upson moved to reconsider the votes on the reference of the last five named bills, and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table; which latter motion was agreed to. Mr. Holman, by unanimous consent, submitted the following resolution; which was read, considered, and agreed to: Resolved, That the Secretary of State, if not incompatible with the public interest, communicate to this house all the correspondence in his department between Hon. J. Watson Webb, American minister at Brazil, and Rear-Admiral Davis touching the disposition of the American squadron at Rio Janeiro and the Paraguay difficulties. Mr. Lynch moved to suspend the rules in order to postpone the bill of the House (H. R. 1364) "to provide for the gradual resumption of specie payments" to the first Wednesday of January next, and to make the same a special order for that day, after the morning hour, and from day to day until disposed of; which motion was agreed to, two-thirds of the members voting in favor thereof. Mr. Wood moved to suspend the rules to permit him to introduce, and the House to agree to, the following resolution: Whereas the Worcester Spy, edited and conducted by a member of this house, recently published the following statement: "Of the $7,200,000 in gold voted for Alaska, the amount it is now reported Russia actually got was $5,000,000 in gold, about one million pounds sterling. This leaves $2,200,000 to be accounted for. But with regard to the outside ring, the third house-the press, editors, and correspondents -it is reported that above three hundred thousand dollars in greenbacks was spent among them. Mr. Riggs, a banker here, is said to have obtained from the Secretary of the Treasury, just at the close of the debates, &c., which terminated by the purchase of Alaska, a loan of the amount just specified. That loan was-if it had any real existence-for obvious reasons, never made public. Immediately on the receipt by Mr. Riggs, 96 newspaper men and others known as lobbyists were the owners of drafts of various amounts on the Treasurer of the United States, which it is declared General Spinner's books will show were cashed. Among the sums specified in these reports are such items as 'New York Tribune, $20,000;' 'manager of its Washington bureau, $5,000; publisher of Washington Chronicle, $25,000. The correspondents of the Times, World, Boston Journal, Philadelphia Press, Chicago Tribune, Boston Advertiser, Evening Post, and others are all put down as having been paid various sums each, from $2,500 upward. Some of them are anxiously inquiring what has become of the money, as it has never been paid to them. The daughters of a member from Ohio got $10,000 each; but this it is affirmed was immediately sent back. Robert J. Walker got $25,000 in gold. The certificates for this amount were, I believe, stolen from him in Boston or New York. He says it was a professional retainer from the Russian government. He appears also to have been acting professionally for his own government, as some part of the Riggs' $300,000 appears to have passed into his hands;" and whereas these declarations, if true, seriously affect the character of our government; and if not true, the parties accused should have an opportunity to prove their innocence: Therefore, Be it resolved, That the Committee on Public Expenditures be directed to institute a full investigation into the truth of these allegations, with power to send for persons and papers, and to report at any time. And the question being put, was decided in the affirmative, two-thirds of the members voting in favor thereof. So the resolution was agreed to. Mr. Burt Van Horn moved to suspend the rules to permit him to introduce, and the House to agree to, the following resolution: Resolved, That the Committee of the Whole be discharged from the further consideration of the House bill No. 1202, to provide for the construction of a ship-canal around the Falls of Niagara, and that the same be made the special order for consideration in the House on the second Tuesday of January next after the morning hour, and so continued until disposed of. And the question being put, It was decided in the affirmative,Nays.. Yeas. Not voting.. Two-thirds of the members voting in favor thereof. 109 41 71 The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members present, Those who voted in the affirmative are— Mr. George M. Adams Nathaniel P. Banks Fernando C. Beaman Mr. John Coburn Burton C. Cook Mr. Julius Hotchkiss Chester D. Hubbard Mr. Daniel J. Morrell |