By Mr. Mitchell: Two petitions of citizens of Oregon. By Mr. Dorsey: A petition of citizens of the District of Columbia. By Mr. Davis, of Illinois: Several petitions of citizens of Illinois. Ordered, That they be referred to the Committee on Privileges and Elections. Memorials, remonstrating against any action concerning a revision of tariff duties until after it shall have been ascertained by official inquiry that such action would promote the restoration of general prosperity, were presented as follows: By Mr. Oglesby: Three memorials of citizens of Illinois. By Mr. Davis, of Illinois: Four memorials of citizens of Illinois. By Mr. Ferry: Seven memorials of citizens of Michigan. By Mr. Wadleigh: Two memorials of citizens of New Hampshire. By Mr. Conkling: Nineteen memorials of citizens of New York. By Mr. Kirkwood: A memorial of citizens of Iowa, and twelve memorials of citizens of Ohio. By Mr. Morgan: Two memorials of citizens of Alabama. By Mr. McPherson: Eight memorials of citizens of New Jersey. By Mr. Merrimon: Three memorials of citizens of North Carolina. On motion by Mr. Wallace, Ordered, That the memorial of W. L. Foulk, on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. On motion by Mr. Gordon, Ordered, That the memorial of Nehemiah Garrison, on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee on Claims. On motion by Mr. Harris, Ordered, That the memorial and papers of Arent B. Sorenson, on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee on Claims. On motion by Mr. Kirkwood, Ordered, That Hiram W. Love be authorized to withdraw from the files of the Senate one copy of all papers touching the claim of said Love now pending, of which duplicates are on file in the office of the Secretary, and that all other of said papers be referred to the Committee on Claims. On motion by Mr. Spencer, Ordered, That the memorial of P. P. G. Hall, on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. Mr. Hamlin, from the Committte on Foreign Relations, to whom was referred the joint resolution (S. 8) authorizing Captain Jonathan Young, of the United States Navy, to accept a betel-nut box and a silver medal from the Emperor of Siam, reported it without amendment. Mr. Paddock, from the Committee on Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (S. 373) to amend an act to provide for the sale of a portion of the reservation of the confederated Otoe and Missouria and the Sac and Fox of the Missouri tribes of Indians in the States of Kansas and Nebraska, reported it without amendment. Mr. Conover, from the Select Committee on Transportation-Routes to the Seaboard, to whom was referred the bill (S. 263) to provide for a survey of an inland water-route and canal from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean, reported it without amendment. On motion by Mr. Oglesby, Ordered, That the Committee on Public Lands be discharged from the further consideration of the bill (S. 388) for the relief of the heirs of the late William A. Burt, inventor of the solar compass adopted and used in the public surveys of the United States, and that it be referred to the Committee on Claims. Mr. Maxey, from the Committee on Military Affairs, who were instructed by the resolution of the Senate of November 14, 1877, to inquire into the expediency and propriety of a system of defensive works on the Rio Grande frontier of the United States, reported a bill (S. 414) making appropriations for the erection of suitable posts for the protection of the Rio Grande frontier; which was read the first and second times, by unanimous consent. Leave having been obtained, bills were introduced, read the first and second times by unanimous consent, and referred as follows: By Mr. Edmunds: A bill (S. 415) for the relief of Ella Long; to the Committee on the Judiciary. By Mr. Davis, of Illinois: A bill (S. 416) to establish a court of appeals; to the Committee on the Judiciary. By Mr. Mitchell: A bill (S. 417) for the establishment of certain postroutes in the State of Oregon; to the Committee on Post Offices and Post-Roads. By Mr. Spencer: A bill (S. 418) to amend section five hundred and thirty-two of the Revised Statutes of the United States, relating to the division of the State of Alabama into judicial districts; to the Committee on the Judiciary. By Mr. Spencer: A bill (S. 419) to establish a port of entry and delivery at the town of West Point, Virginia; to the Committee on Com merce. By Mr. Spencer: A bill (S. 420) for the relief of Major P. P. G. Hall; to the Committee on Military Affairs. By Mr. Garland: A bill (S. 421) to establish a post-route in Arkansas; to the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads. By Mr. Davis, of West Virginia: A bill (S. 422) to provide for a building suitable for a post office, for the accommodation of the revenue officers and the United States courts and their officers, in the city of Charleston, West Virginia; to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. By Mr. Davis, of West Virginia: A bill (S. 423) making an appropri ation to improve the Little Kanawha River, in the State of West Virginia; and A bill (S. 424) making an appropriation for continuing the improvement of the Monongahela River in the States of West Virginia and Pennsylvania; to the Committee on Commerce. By Mr. Whyte: A bill (S. 425) granting a site for a dry dock in the city of Baltimore upon certain conditions; to the Committee on Commerce. By Mr. Gordon: A bill (S. 426) for the relief of the Masonic Hall Company of Atlanta, Georgia; to the Committee on Claims. By Mr. Eaton: A bill (S. 427) authorizing the issue of registers and enrollments to certain vessels when repaired; to the Committee on Com merce. My Mr. Maxey: A bill (S. 428) to establish certain post-routes in Texas; to the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads. By Mr. Conover: A bill (S. 429) for the relief of Isabella R. McGunnigle, widow of Lieutenant-Commander Wilson McGunnigle, United States Navy: and A bill (S. 430) authorizing the appointment of Acting Passed Assistant Surgeon Francis V. Greene as surgeon in the United States Navy; to the Committee on Naval Affairs. By Mr. Hereford: A bill (S. 431) making an appropriation for continning the improvement of the Great Kanawha River in the State of West Virginia; A bill (S. 432) making an appropriation for continuing the improvement of the New River, in the State of West Virginia; A bill (S. 433) making an appropriation for the improvement of Elk River, in the State of West Virginia; and A bill (S. 434) making an appropriation for the improvement of the Big Sandy River, in the State of West Virginia; to the Committee on Commerce. By Mr. McMillan: A bill (S. 435) to establish a board of local inspectors of steam-vessels for the collection-district of Minnesota and Dalath; to the Committee on Commerce. By Mr. Paddock: A bill (S. 436) to provide for ascertaining losses sustained by citizens of the United States by reason of Indian depredations, and providing for payment thereof; to the Committee on Indiau Affairs. By Mr. Kirkwood: A bill (S. 437) to establish certain post-routes in the State of Iowa; to the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads. By Mr. Kirkwood: A bill (S. 438) to refer the claim of Hiram W. Love, of the State of Iowa, to the Court of Claims; to the Committee on Claims. By Mr. Dorsey: A bill (S. 439) for the establishment of certain mailroutes; to the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads. By Mr. Dorsey: A bill (S. 440) amendatory of and supplementary to the act entitled "An act to incorporate the Texas Pacific Railroad Company, and to aid in the construction of its road, and for other purposes," approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, and the sev eral acts amendatory and supplementary thereto; to the Committee on Railroads. By Mr. Christiancy: A bill (S. 441) releasing to certain States any title or right of the United States to lands under the beds of the rivers, lakes, and natural ponds within their limits, not surveyed as public lands; to the Committee on Public Lands. By Mr. Kellogg: A bill (S. 442) authorizing mail steamship service between New Orleans, Louisiana, and certain foreign ports therein named; to the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads. By Mr. Cameron, of Wisconsin: A bill (S. 443) for the relief of John Cummins, late collector and disbursing-agent of the United States internal revenue for the district of Idaho; to the Committee on Claims. By Mr. Merrimon: A bill (S. 444) to establish a post-road in North Carolina; to the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads. By Mr. Eustis: A bill (S. 445) appropriating money to open and keep unobstructed the navigation of Red River, and to take care of property of the United States; to the Committee on Commerce. Mr. Whyte submitted the following resolution; which was considered, by unanimous consent, and agreed to: Resolved, That the Secretary of War be directed to communicate to the Senate any information he may have in regard to an application of citizens of Baltimore for the grant of a portion of the property at Fort McHenry, in the city of Baltimore, for the construction of a dry-dock, upon terms and conditions beneficial to the government, as set forth in a communication to the Secretary of War on the 20th of May, 1877. Mr. Dorsey submitted the following resolution; which was considered, by unanimous consent, and agreed to: Resolved, That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, directed to report to the Senate by what authority the bands of Ute and Apache Indians are located, and an agency established, at Cimarron, New Mexico, and also to transmit copies of all letters, telegrams, or other documents on file in his department calling attention to the depredations of these Indians, and asking for their removal to their respective reservations. Mr. Conkling submitted the following resolution; which was considered, by unanimous consent, and agreed to: Resolved, That a committee of seven Senators be appointed by the Chair to inquire and report whether any, and, if so, what, measures can be devised to promote commercial intercourse with Mexico and to establish a just and peaceful condition of affairs on the borders of this country and Mexico, and also to ascertain and report the facts touching the present government of Mexico; and that said committee have power to send for persons and papers, to confer with the executive branch of the Government of the United States, to sit during the recess of the Senate, and to proceed to any point deemed necessary in the prosecution of its inquiries. Mr. Anthony submitted the following resolution; which was considered, by unanimous consent, and agreed to: Resolved, That the Committee on the Library be instructed to consider the expediency of purchasing the papers of the Count de Rochambeau, commander of the allied forces of France in the war of the Revolution, and now in possession of his grandson, the Marquis de Rochambeau. The Vice-President announced that the morning hour bad expired, and called up the unfinished business of the Senate at its adjournment yesterday, viz, the resolution submitted by Mr. Matthews, declaring how certain bonds of the United States may be paid; and The Senate resumed the consideration of the said resolution; and, The question being on the motion of Mr. Morrill to refer the resolution to the Committee on the Judiciary, After debate, On motion by Mr. Allison to postpone the further consideration of the resolution to to-morrow, (Yeas... It was determined in the negative, Nays... On motion by Mr. Matthews, 18 43 The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the Senators present, Those who voted in the affirmative are, Messrs. Allison, Blaine, Booth, Burnside, Chaffee, Christianey, Conk ling, Dawes, Dorsey, Hamlin, Kellogg, Kirkwood, Mitchell, Morrill, Paddock, Patterson, Rollins, Saunders. Those who voted in the negative are, Messrs. Bailey, Barnum, Bayard, Beck, Bruce, Cameron of Pennsyl vania, Cameron of Wisconsin, Cockrell, Coke, Davis of Illinois, Davis of West Virginia, Eaton, Eustis, Garland, Gordon, Grover, Harris, Hereford, Hill, Howe, Ingalls, Johnston, Jones of Florida, Jones of Nevada, Kernan, Lamar, McCreery, McDonald, McMillan, McPherson, Matthews, Maxey, Merrimon, Morgan, Oglesby, Plumb, Saulsbury, Spencer, Thurman, Voorhees, Wadleigh, Wallace, Whyte. So the motion was not agreed to. On motion by Mr. Hamlin that the Senate proceed to the consideration of executive business, It was determined in the affirmative, Yeas.. Nays... On motion by Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania, 34 26 The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the Senators present, Those who voted in the affirmative are; Messrs. Anthony, Bailey, Bayard, Beck, Blaine, Booth, Burnside, Cameron of Wisconsin, Coke, Conkling, Davis of West Virginia, Dawes, Dennis, Dorsey, Eustis, Garland, Hamlin, Harris, Howe, Johnston, Jones of Florida, Kellogg, Kernan, McMillan, Mitchell, Morgan, Morrill, Paddock, Randolph, Rollins, Saulsbury, Saunders, Wadleigh, Whyte. Those who voted in the negative are, Messrs. Allison, Barnum, Bruce, Cameron of Pennsylvania, Chaffee, Christiancy, Cockrell, Davis of Illinois, Eaton, Ferry, Grover, Hereford, Jones of Nevada, Lamar, McCreery, McDonald, Matthews, Maxey, Oglesby, Patterson, Plumb, Spencer, Teller, Thurman, Voorhees, Wallace. So the motion was agreed to; and The Senate proceeded to the consideration of executive business; and After the consideration of executive business the doors were opened, and, Ou motion by Mr. Whyte, at 4 o'clock and 3 minutes p. m., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1877. Mr. George F. Hoar, from the State of Massachusetts, attended. The Vice President laid before the Senate a letter of the Secretary of the Interior, communicating, in auswer to a resolution of the Senate of the 10th instant, a copy of a report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office in relation to the number of miles completed by the Oregon Central Railroad Company, the number of miles uncompleted, and the number of acres of land patented to said company; which was referred to the Committee on Railroads and ordered to be printed. Mr. Cockrell presented papers in relation to the application of Stephen C. Herndon, of Ozark, Missouri, for a pension; which were referred to the Committee on Pensions. Petitions, praying the appointment of a commission to inquire into the traffic in intoxicating liquors, were presented as follows: By Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania: A petition of the Grand Lodge of Good Templars of Pennsylvania. By Mr. Hamlin: A petition of the Grand Division of Sons of Temperance of Maine. |