The Congressional Globe, Volume 14: Twenty-Eighth Congress, Second Session Page: 149
xv, 408, 421 p. ; 25 cm.View a full description of this legislative document.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE.
149
being decided by the Speaker not to be debatable,
(the previous question having been moved,)
Mr. I. withdrew the motion to reconsider.
The question recurred on the demand for the
previous question, and being taken, the previous
question was seconded; and the main question was
ordered.
The question was first taken on the amendment
of Mr. Adams, and it was rejected.
The question recurring on the original resolution
of Mr. Johnson,
Mr. BARNARD asked the yeas and nays there-
on; which were refused.
Mr. BjARRINGER asked if it was now in order
to move, or for the gentleman to accept, a preamble
to the resolution? ><
The SPEAKER replied in the negative.
The question then being taken, the resolution wis
agreed to.
Thus, the Sergeant-at-Arms, having been ordered
to arrest Mr. McNulty,
Mr. DROMGOOLE rose, and remarked that he
believed the order was peremptory to the Sergeant-
at-Arms to make the arrest. The only authority,
then, necessary for the Sergeant-at-Arms, was a cer-
tified copy of the resolution of the House, to be fur-
nished him by the Clerk.
Mr. ADAMS remarked that a warrant of the
House was necessary. "Whatever they might think
of it at this moment, be thought their constituents
would think of it hereafter. His desire was that
the House should proceed in such a manner as to
justify themselves; and as the personal rights and
personal liberty of the individual stood concerned,
for his part he preferred to do it in the best manner
possible. He could not conceive that the resolution
of this House authorized the Sergeant-at-Arms to ar-
rest the Clerk any otherwise than by the warrant of
the Speaker.
Mr. PAYNE inquired what was the subject pend-
ingbeforethe House.
The SPEAKER replied that there was no ques-
tion.
He further remarked that the Chair considered
that he had no authority to issue the warrant, unless
by the order of the House.
Mr. ADAMS moved that the Speaker of the
House be directed to issue his warrant for the ar-
rest of Caleb J. McNulty, in accordance with the
resolution of this day.
Mr. WETHERED moved the previous question
on this motion.
A pause of some moments ensued.
Mr. STRONG rose and inquired by whom the
warrant was to be signed?
The SPEAKER replied that the rule required
that all warrants should be signed by the Speaker
and the'clerk.
Mr. fiARALSON suggested'the propriety of pro-
viding for this case, by adding to the order of the
Speaker, that the warrant should be certified by the
acting clerk of this House.
The SPEAKER said it could only be done by a
suspension of the rules.
Mr. WETHERED withdrew his demand for the
previous question.
On motion of Mr. HARALSON, the rule hav-
ing being suspended,
The proposed amendment, viz: "and that the
chief assistant clerk certify the warrant under the
seal of the House" was accepted by Mr. Adams as
an addition to his proposition.
After some conversation as to the state of the
pending question, by Messrs. STRONG, DUN-
CAN, and HARLASON,
The question being on the modified proposition
of Mr. Adams,
Mr. DUNCAN observed that, when they under-
took anything of this character, they ought to have
some object in view; and they ought to De certain,
also, that they would be able to accomplish what
they intended. Such attempts had often been made
before, and th^y had signally failed, to the disgrace
and dishonor of the House. He wished some gen-
tleman would tell the House what object there was
in bringing the clerk before the House.
Mr. THOMPSON rose to a question of order.
The House had passed an order for the arrest of
Mr. McN ulty; and the question before it was, what
should be the form of the warrant. The gentleman
from Ohio, however, was discussing the propriety
of arresting him at all, which was not in order, as
that question was not before the House.
Mr. DUNCAN said that he would confine him-
self to the question before the House. He wanted
to know what object was to be effected by the ar-
rest of the clerk. He wanted to know what pun-
ishment the House was about to inflict, or could in-
flict on him. If the clerk was to be brought here
only to be looked at, the resolution ought not to
pass. Surely this could not be regarded as a crimi-
nal prosecution. If it was, it was a monstrous ex-
ercise of power on the part of this House.
Mr. HARALSON observed that he would state
to the gentleman the object, so far as he was con-
cerned in bringing Mr. McNulty before the House.
If (said Mr. H.) we can lay our hands on him, and
bring him here, and then find that we cann6t enter-
tain criminal jurisdiction over his case, we can turn
him over to the constituted authorities of the Dis-
trict. The clerk might by this time be borne on
the wings of the wind, or by the power of steam,
beyond the reach of the House; and his object was
to bring him here, (if not already gone,) and keep
him until the case is disposed of. He would move
the previous question, and hoped gentleman would
sustain him in it.
The previous question was then seconded by the
House, and under it operations the resolution was
adopted.
ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL.
Mr. McCLERNAND, from the Committee on
Public Lands, reported back the bill granting an ad-
ditional quantity of land in aid of the Illinois and
Michigan canal; which, on his motion, was referred
to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the
Union, and ordered to be printed.
Mr. McC. then moved that 5,000 extra copies of ,
the bill and report be printed for the use of the |
House; but objections being made, the motion lies j
over one day.
ELECTIONS FOR PRESIDENT AND VICE PRES- i
IDENT. i
Mr. DUNCAN moved that the House take up
the bill providing that the elections for electors of
President and Vice President shall be held on the
same day in all the States, as it came amended from
the Senate.
The bill and amendment being taken up,
Mr. DUNCAN observed that the bill, as passed
by the Senate, was precisely the same as that passed
by the House, with the exception of one word, in-
serted by the former to correct a verbal error, which
he supposed occurred in engrossing it. He moved
that the amendment of the Senate be concurred in.
This amendment was agreed to; and the bill only
wants the signature of the President to become a
law.
Mr. BRODHEAD moved that the House resolve
itself into a Committee of the Whole on the State of
the Union.
Mr. J. W. DAVIS asked if there was not a ques-
tion pending when the House adjourned yesterday,
viz: the reconsideration of the resolution in relation
to publishing the maps of the exploring expedition,
on which the previous question had been moved
and seconded. When that question was pending,
the House adjourned without a quorum.
The CHAlR said that the gentleman was correct,
except so far as to the state the question was in
when the House adjourned. It was on the ques-
tion of the adoption of the resolution that the House
found itself without a quorum; and that question
was the one now before the House.
The question was put on the reconsideration of
the resolution, and it was carried—ayes 78, noes 51.
The question recurring on the adoption of the
resolution,
Mr. J. W. DAVIS offered the following substi-
stute as an amendment:
Resolvtd, That a select committee of five be appointed to
inquire as to the best mode of disposing of the maps, charts,
plates, and other materials belonging to the United States,
connected wi& the late exploring expedition, with refer-
ence to the publication of such work upon the subject as
may be the cheapest and best for the country; and that
saia committee inquire further whether any private use has
been made of any of these maps, plates, charts, &c., not au-
thorized by Congress; and inquire, also, whether any sale
or grant of copyright has been made to any person; and if
so, under what law such sale or grant has been made.
This amendment being agreed to,
Mr. J. W. DAVIS moved the previous question;
which was seconded by the House; and, under its
operations, the resolution, as amended, was adopted.
Mr. PATERSON offered the following resolu-
tion:
Retolved, That the Select Committee, to which the subject
is referred, be instructed to inquire and report to this House,
at their earliest convenience, what are the best terms on
which a copy of the history of the exploring expedition, with
the atlas, may be obtained for each congressional district and
Territory of the United States, with the view of depositing
the same in some public library, or other literary or scien-
tific institution, withito each district or Territory; and if
there are more than one edition of the work, what will be
the cost of each, and what the difference (if any) in them;
also what will be the cost without the atlas, and at how ear-
ly a day the same may be had.
Mr. BURKE moved to lay the resolution on the
table; which motion was not agreed to.
Mr. McDOWELL asked leave to report a joint
resolution from the Committee on Military Affairs;
but objections being made, it was not received.
Mr. SAUNDERS moved that the House re-
solve itself into a Committee of the Whole on the
State of the Union.
Mr. THOMPSON asked if the hour had not ex-
pired to which the report of the Committee on Ac-
counts was postponed. He was unwilling to go into
Committee of the Whole, until this report was dis-
posed of
ACCOUNTS OF THE CLERK OF THE HOUSE.
The SPEAKER said that the hour had expired,
and that the report was then before the House.
The question would be on the adoption of the reso-
lutions reported by that committee.
Mr. C. J. INGERSOLL observed that, as he
understood the matter, it was a very simple one,
and he begged leave to paomise that, what he should
say on the subject, was not the result of a consulta-
tion with any person whatever. As he understood
it, the Committee on Accounts had made a report
stating that the clerk was a delinquent—infidelity
was the word used by them; and had recommend-
ed a certain course of proceedings to be had by the
House in relation to him. The gentleman from
Tennessee [Mr. C. Johnson] had moved that the
clerk be sent for, and informed of the charges
against him, and allowed to answer them. Now, if
the clerk was a delinquent, he ought not to be in
office. He understood the gentleman from Ohio,
[Mr. Weller,] who said a few words in extenua-
tion, to say that money taken by him would be re-
imbursed.
Mr. WELLER interposed, and said that the gen-
tleman misunderstood him. He did not know that
the public money had been misapplied; and, there-
fore, could not speak of its_ reimbursement. What
he did say, was, he understood that the money had
been deposited in New York.
Mr. C. J. INGERSOLL continued. The Com-
mittee on Accounts said that the money had been
misapplied. He trusted the money would be reim-
bursed; but was there any question whether the
clerk should not be dismissed for refusing to appear
before the committee and explain his conduct' Was
it not the indispensable duty of the House to act on
the resolution, which he understood had been re-
ported after the most careful examination the com-
mittee was able to make? He moved that there be
a division of the question, so as to take it on each
resolution separately. He called for the yeas and
nays, as he wished to record his vote on the sub-
ject.
Mr. SUMMERS inquired if there had been any
return made by its executive officer with the war-
rant.
The SPEAKER replied that there had not.
Mr. SUMMERS said he was desirous to ascer-
tain the fact.
Mr. BIDLACK said it seemed to him that, hav-
ing issued their warrant for the arrest of the clerk
of the House, that he might be brought before them
to answer the charges made against him, they
should not proceed to pronounce judgment until a
return had been made to the warrant. He expressed
no opinion on the merits of the case itself, but he
thought the House would see the propriety of post-
poning its action for the present; and, if it were ne-
cessary, he would make such motion. He should
not have done this if the House had not issued its
warrant to bring the clerk up to answer; but he did
not wish to punish first and examine after.
Mr. HARDIN said he was one of those who
voted for the resolution authorizing the arrest of the
clerk, believing that the House had power to do so.
A committee had investigated this subject, and
had found that the clerk had misappropriated the
public money in his charge. That was a contempt
of his duty to the House, and he had acted in viola-
tion of law. The report of the committee was
made to the House, and it was as competent for the
House te act upon it as if the clerk was here pres-
ent and acknowledged the deed. The committee
had' twice summoned him to come before them.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This document can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Legislative Document.
United States. Congress. The Congressional Globe, Volume 14: Twenty-Eighth Congress, Second Session, legislative document, 1845; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth2366/m1/165/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.