of northern newspapers, and it has been stated by them that there was no intimidation or threat, or violence of any kind for the purpose of deterring or influencing voters at such election, and it has been charged by them that said troops were sent to Alabama to intimidate and overawe electors, and prevent the free exercise of suffrage by such at said election: Therefore,

Be it resolved, That a committee of five members of this House be appointed by the Speaker to go to Alabama to take testimony and investigate said charges and counter-charges, and to report the same to the House of Representatives; and that said committee be empowered to inquire into all the facts relative thereto, and particularly to investigate and inquire whether any murders or assassinations or any other acts of violence were committed in said State at said election or while the contest for the same was pending; if so, by whom and upon whom committed, where and at what time; what were the known or supposed political sentiments of the parties respectively, and the motives which influenced them; to ascertain whether any means or efforts were used to constrain suffrage, or whether peaceable and legal assemblies were interrupted or disturbed by armed forces or by violence in said State, and to inquire and ascertain whether the Federal soldiers interfered with or in any manner whatever attempted to interfere with the free exercise of suffrage during said election, and to report the same to the House of Representatives.

Resolved, That said committee shall have power to send for and enforce the attendance of persons and compel the production of papers, and tender oaths to any one examined before or by them, to employ a clerk and stenographer, and to report at any time.

The same having been read,

Mr. Hays demanded the previous question; which was seconded and the main question ordered, and under the operation thereof the preamble and resolution were severally agreed to.

Mr. Hays moved that the vote last taken be reconsidered, and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; which latter motion was agreed to.

Mr. White submitted the following resolution; which was read, considered, and agreed to, viz:

Resolved, That the Committee on Elections have leave to report upon the joint resolution amending the Constitution in respect of the election of President and Vice-President and the return and counting of the electoral vote at any time.

Mr. Sloss submitted the following resolution, viz:

Resolved, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, directed to inform the House whether any commissioned officer of the United States Army, while on duty in any of the Southern States, has received or attempted to procure payment of any money or other valuable consideration from the legislatures of any of said States, or endeavored to procure legislation to that effect as a compensation or reward to him for services performed in the line of his duty as an officer of the Army or otherwise; and whether any such officer, while so stationed and on duty, has been admitted to practice at the bar of any of said States, and has actually practiced thereat for his personal emolument while receiving pay as an officer of the Army, and whether such officer is now an offi cer of the Army.

The same having been read,

Mr. Sloss demanded the previous question; and the House refused to second the same.

Debate arising thereon,

The resolution went over under the rule.

The morning hour having expired,

By unanimous consent, bills were introduced, read a first and second time, ordered to be printed, and severally referred as follows, viz:

By Mr. Stanard: A bill (H. R. 4120) for the relief of John Kiernan, to the Committee on Claims.

By Mr. Packer: A bill (H. R. 4121) for the relief of William J. Martin, to the Committee on Military Affairs.

By Mr. Phelps: A bill (H. R. 4122) for the relief of Eliza Howard Powers;

By Mr. Cason: A bill (H. R. 4123) granting a pension to John Dalton;

By Mr. Clements: A bill (H. R. 4124) for a pension to M. F. Smith; to the Committee on Invalid Pensions.

By Mr. Duell: A joint resolution (H. Res. 132) to authorize the purchase of Carpenter's painting known as the Proclamation of Emanci pation, to the Joint Committee on the Library.

By Mr. Creamer: A bill (H. R. 4125) to repeal an act entitled "An act conferring jurisdiction on the criminal court of the District of Columbia, aud for other purposes, approved June 22, 1874," to the Committee on the Judiciary.

By Mr. Pike: A bill (H. R. 4126) authorizing the Citizens' National Bank of Sanbornton, New Hampshire, to change its name, to the Committee on Banking and Currency.

By Mr. Bass: A bill (H. R. 4127) for the relief of Charles O. Shepard, as chargé d'affaires ad interim of the United States in Japan, to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

By Mr. Pierce: A bill (H. R. 4128) to authorize the Commissioner of Patents to extend the patent granted to Luther Hall and S. S. Hemmenway, to the Committee on Patents.

By Mr. Crittenden: A bill (H. R. 4129) for the relief of Alexander Barclay, of Benton County, Missouri, to the Committee on Claims. Also, a bill (H. R. 4130) for the relief of Reinhart Breinneiss, John H. Moas, Henry W. Kolkmeyer, Frank Breinneiss, Louis Hopkins, to the Committee on Military Affairs.

By Mr. Chipman: A bill (H. R. 4131) to amend an act for the government of the District of Columbia, and for other purposes, approved June 20, 1874, to the Committee on the District of Columbia.

Also, a bill (H. R. 4132) to preserve original evidences and to prevent or detect fraudulent conveyances of titles to real estate situate in the District of Columbia;

Also, a bill (H. R. 4133) to provide a cure for clouded titles to lands in possession in the District of Columbia;

By Mr. Benjamin F. Butler: A bill (H. R. 4134) to amend an act entitled "An act to amend an act to establish a court for the investigation of claims against the United States, approved February 24, 1855," approved March 3, 1863;

to the Committee on the Judiciary.

By Mr. Lamison: A bill (H. R. 4135) to amend the act entitled "An act supplementary to the act for the relief of certain officers or soldiers of the Revolution," approved June 7, 1832, to the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions and War of 1812.

By Mr. MacDougall: A bill (H. R. 4136) to re-imburse the State Lunatic Asylum for insane convicts at Auburn, New York, for the keeping of

insane United States convicts after terms of sentence have expired, to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. Lawrence, by unanimous consent, submitted the following resolutions; which were severally read and referred as follows, viz:

Resolved, That the documents transmitted by the Secretary of State to the Committee on War-Claims of the House of Representatives relative to the mode of examining and allowing claims by foreign governments be, and are hereby, ordered to be printed under direction of the Clerk of the House, who is hereby directed to cause translations to be made into the English language of so much of said documents as are in foreign languages, and that copies of said documents be, and are, ordered to be printed;

Resolved, That there be printed for the use of the Committee on WarClaims of this House and the Commissioners of Claims four thousand copies of the fourth annual report of the Commissioners of Claims; severally to the Committee on Printing.

Resolved, That the following amendment be made to the Rules: Whenever a claim is presented to the House of Representatives and referred to a committee, and the committee report that the claim ought not to be allowed, it shall not be in order to move to take the papers from the files for the purpose of presenting the claim to any of the oftcers or Bureaus of the Executive Departments, except upon the recommendation of the committee making the adverse report; nor shall such papers be withdrawn for the purpose of referring them to the same or any other committee of a succeeding Congress, unless the claimant shall present a memorial stating in what respect the committee has erred in their report, or that new evidence has been discovered since the report, such new evidence to be set forth in the memorial;

And whenever leave is given to withdraw papers from the files of the House, copies thereof shall be made and certified to by the Clerk of the House, and the originals shall remain upon the files of the House; to the Committee on the Rules and ordered to be printed.

Mr. Smart, by unanimous consent, introduced a bill (H. R. 4137) changing the name of the tug boat William S. Earl to that of Stephen Miles; which was read a first and second time, ordered to be printed, and referred to the Committee on Commerce.

Mr. Hereford, by unanimous consent, submitted the following resolution; which was read and referred to the Committee on the Rules, viz: Resolved, That the Doorkeeper of this House be directed to furnish to each member and Delegate, as soon as practicable, one copy of every report or communication made to the House and by the House ordered to be printed.

Mr. Conger, by unanimous consent, submitted the following resolution; which was read, considered, and agreed to, viz:

Resolved, That the special committee appointed to investigate the troubles, &c., in Mississippi be authorized to have the attendance of a stenographer and deputy sergeant-at-arms, and the expense of said investigation be provided for out of the contingent fund of the House.

The House then resumed, as the regular order of business, the consideration of the motion of Mr. Holman to suspend the rules so as to enable him to introduce, and the House to agree to, the following resolution, which was pending when the House adjourned on Monday last, viz:

Resolved, That in the judgment of this House, in the present condition of the financial affairs of the Government, no subsidies in money, bonds, public lands, or by pledge of the public credit should be granted

by Congress to associations or corporations engaged or proposing to engage in public or private enterprises, and that all appropriations from the public Treasury ought to be limited at this time to such amounts only as shall be imperatively required by the public service.

The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members present, Those who voted in the affirmative are

Mr. John R. Lynch
John A. Magee
Samuel S. Marshall
James S. Martin
George W. McCrary
James W. McDill
Clint'n D.MacDougall
John McNulta
Clinton L. Merriam
Charles W. Milliken
Alexander Mitchell
James Monroe
William R. Morrison
Lawrence T. Neal
William E. Niblack
William J. O'Brien
Jackson Orr
Godlove S. Orth

A message was received from the President of the United States, by Mr. Babcock, his private secretary, announcing that he did on the 15th instant approve and sign bills of the foowlling titles, viz:

H. R. 2104. An act to confirm an agreement made with the Shoshone Indians (eastern band) for the purchase of the south part of their reservation in Wyoming Territory.

H. R. 3822. An act making an appropriation to enable the PostmasterGeneral to carry into effect the law requiring the prepayment of postage on newspapers, approved June 25, 1874.

And that he did on the 19th instant approve and sign a bill of the following title, viz:

H. R. 3743. An act to re-imburse the city of Boston for certain expenses incurred in the improvement of Chelsea street (formerly Charlestown) in connection with the United States navy-yard.

A message from the Senate, by Mr. Sympson, one of their clerks: Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed bills of the following titles, viz: S. 1054. An act reserving for the use of Congress one hundred and fifty copies of the Revised Statutes, authorized to be printed by the act of June 20, 1874;

S. 1043. An act repealing so much of the act entitled "An act re-organizing the several staff corps of the Army," approved June 23, 1874, as applies to contract-surgeons;

in which I am directed to ask the concurrence of the House.

The President of the United States has notified the Senate that he did, on the 18th instant, approve and sign a joint resolution and bill of the following titles, viz:

S. R. 11. Joint resolution filling an existing vacancy in the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.

S. 781. An act for the relief of James L. Pugh.

Mr. Dawes, from the Committee on Ways and Means, reported the following resolution; which was read, considered, and agreed to, viz: Resolved, That Richard B. Irwin be discharged from the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms on the warrant of the Speaker of this House, he having given satisfactory reasons for having neglected to appear before the Committee on Ways and Means in answer to the summons of this House.

Subsequently,

Mr. Dawes, from the said committee, to which was referred the subjectmatter of the employment of money to procure legislation by Congress in aid of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, submitted a report in writing thereon; which was ordered to be laid upon the table.

Mr. Dawes, from the said committee, reported the following resolution, viz:

Resolved, That the Speaker issue his warrant, directed to the Sergeantat-Arms attending this House, or his deputy, commanding him to take into custody forthwith, wherever to be found, the body of Richard B. Irwin, and him bring to the bar of the House, to show cause why he should not be punished for contempt, and in the mean time keep the said Irwin in custody to await the further order of the House.