Mr.  President,  I  listened  with  a  great  deal  of  interest  to  the
remarks  of  the  member  of  the  committee  in  making  his  report
to-night;  but  I  have  not  arisen  in  my  place  to  argue  this  case  on
the  merits.  I  am  not  here  to-night  for  the  purpose  of  creating
factional  feeling;  I  am  not  here  to-night  for  the  purpose  of  injecting
political  spleen  and  ill-will  into  the  affairs  of  this  body,  which,  I
believe,  in  the  language  used  by  yourself,  Mr.  President,  in  the
opening  of  this  body,  "  should  be  above  party  sentiment  and  feeling
as  a  body,"  and  I  fully  believe  that  it  is.  But,  Mr.  President,  on
behalf  of  my  associates  and  myself,  1  desire  to  say  —  and  I  say  it
with  the  utmost  regret  and  the  utmost  respect  —  that  we,  the  sitting
members  from  the  Sixth  Senatorial  District,  cannot  concur  in  the
conclusion  arrived  at  by  the  committee  in  this  matter.  We  feel
that  the  case  is  one  in  which  inferences  have  been  drawn  by  them,
and  that  from  those  inferences  they  have  arrived  at  conclusions  of
law  instead  of  arriving  at  the  conclusion  of  law  from  the  facts  of
the  case.  But,  nevertheless,  Mr.  President,  there  has  been  a  unani-
mous report  of  this  committee.  I  feel,  and  my  colleagues  feel,  that
we  are  blameless  in  this  matter;  that,  if  any  wrong  has  been  done,
we  are  the  victims  of  circumstances  and  not  participators  in  any
wrong;  and  we  feel,  inasmuch  as  this  committee  speaks  for  the
whole  body  of  the  House,  that  we  will  bow  to  the  decision  rendered
by  this  committee.
