THE BAKER-CUMBACK CORRESPONDENCE.
SPEECH
of
HON. JAMES HUGHES,
SENATOR FROM
THE COUNTIES OF MONROE AND LAWRENCE,
DELIVERED IN THE
Indiana Senate Chamber, Friday Afternoon, January 15th,
1869,
REPORTED BY W. H. DRAPIER,
Senate Compiler of the
"Brevier Legislative Reports."
INDIANAPOLIS:
SENTINEL PRINTING AND BINDING
ESTABLISHMENT.
1869.
SPEECH OF
HON. JAMES HUGHES.
The Senate having resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole--Mr. Bellamy in the Chair--proceeded to the further consideration of the resolutions introduced the day previous, having reference to the Baker-Cumback correspondence.
As a basis for the action of the Committee the day before, Mr. Hughes had proposed the following:
Resolved, That the message of the Governor concerning the correspondence between Lieutenant Governor Cumback and himself, with the other papers relative thereto, be reported to the Senate, with a recommendation that the following resolutions be passed by the Senate.
Resolved, That in the opinion of this body, the proposition contained in the letter of Lieutenant Governor Cumback to Governor Baker was improper and, merits condemnation.
Resolved, That in the judgment of the Senate, the conduct of His Excellency, Governor Baker, in the correspondence in question, merits approbation, and was highly creditable to the Governor.
Pending debate thereon--
Mr. Stein had offered a substitute for the resolutions submitted by Mr. Hughes, as follows:
Resolved, That the appointing power vested by the Constitution of the State in the Governor is a high and sacred trust, to be exercised exclusively for her honor and welfare of the whole people of Indiana; and that any attempt to prevent the honest discharge of this trust is in derogation of their rights, and merits the severest condemnation.
Resolved, That in the opinion of the Senate the letter of Will Cumback, the present Lieutenant Governor of this State, dated January 6,1868, and addressed to Governor Baker, proposing a personal consideration for an appointment to fill a contemplated vacancy in the United States Senatorship, embodies a corrupt and indecent attempt to tamper with the integrity and destroy the independence of the appointing power vested in the Governor.
Resolved, further, That in the opinion of the Senate in action of Governor Baker in promptly repelling the dishonorable proposition contained in said letter of Will Cumback commends itself to all good citizens as a just example of conduct which should ever characterize the repositories of the appointing power in our system of government.
Mr. Hughes, by consent of the Senate, had withdrawn his resolution and accepted the substitute in lieu.
A division of the question had been demanded and the first resolution was adopted.
The second resolution being under consideration--
Mr. Fisher moved to amend by striking out the words "corrupt and indecent," and inserting the word "improper" in lieu.
This amendment being the pending question before the committee--
Mr. Hughes said: Mr. Chairman, I suppose the question is on the amendment of the Senator from Wabash (Mr. Fisher). I do not hold the opponents of the resolution responsible for the amendment of the Senator from Wabash, for his votes heretofore show him to be one of the friends of the general proposition. After considerable delay on yesterday evening, and a great many dilatory motions, the Senate adjourned, as I understood it, upon the distinct understanding that we were to come to a direct vote upon the second resolution. Two or three attempts to adjourn were made and repeated and finally the Lieutenant Governor himself, by permission of the Senate, made an appeal for delay in the following words:
Mr. Cumback--I simply desire that when the votes are taken on those resolutions we may have a full Senate. There are now some ten Senators absent. I ask, for that reason, and that only, that the consideration of this subject may be postponed until we shall have all the Senators present, and then I desire the vote.
Mr. Hughes--Upon that appeal the Senate adjourned. Now, when we meet again and go into Committee of the Whole, the Senator from Wabash submits his proposition, for which I do not hold the friends of the Lieutenant Governor responsible, and a friend of the Lieutenant Governor, as he has shown himself heretofore, comes in with a proposition to indefinitely postpone, page: 4[View Page 4] 4which is not before the committee now because the chair has ruled it out of order. I desire to know, sir, if any good faith is to be kept in this thing by the friends of the Lieutenant Governor. I desire to know if they are bound by his speech, or if we are to have a renewal of the dilatory motions and special pleas to-day that have characterized that side of the question from the commencement to the present time. Is there no pledge that can bind these men? Is there no agreement they will live up to? When we held them yesterday evening by a positive majority upon this floor, shown by repeated test votes, and finally yielded to the personal appeal of the Lieutenant Governor to wait for a full Senate, and we have just had a call of the Senate, are we now to be met with motions to indefinitely postpone
Mr. Robinson, of Madison, interrupting--Is there a motion to indefinitely postpone before the committee?
The Chairman--There is not.
Mr. Hughes--For the simple reason that the chair ruled it out of order. The Senator from Madison will not say, I presume, he did not know before hand that it would come.
Mr. Robinson, of Madison--I do say that I did not know before hand it would come.
Mr. Church, interposing--I did not know it would come.
Mr. Hughes--I desire to state that I did know it would come. This is what I say--
Mr. Gray--I desire to say that the first I heard of it came from the gentleman's side of the house.
Mr. Hughes--You heard of it first when you heard it read, didn't you?
Mr. Gray--No, sir.
Mr. Hughes--The vote shows that the Senator who moved an indefinite postponement, voted against the passage of the general proposition. I take it that his position is shown by his vote.
Mr. Robinson, of Madison, interrupting--Didn't the Senator from Monroe, (Mr. Hughes,) vote to adjourn yesterday evening?
Mr. Hughes--The Senator from Monroe rose and said that if the friends of the Lieutenant Governor wanted delay, he would vote for adjournment. The Senator from Parke, (Mr. Rice,) said he did want delay, and when the Lieutenant Governor said what I have read, viz: "There are now some ten Senators absent. I ask, for that reason, and that only, that the consideration of this subject may be postponed until we have all the Senators present, and then I desire the vote." That is a vote on the resolution. Then I consented--
Mr. Gray, interposing--I will explain, as the Senator who made the motion to adjourn, that I made the motion for this reason; I heard it rumored that this Senate would be continued in session too late to hold the Republican caucus. It was not for the purpose of staving off the question.
Mr. Sherrod--There seems to be some misunderstanding in relation to the motion to adjourn. I voted against an adjournment, until the Lieutenant Governor made his remarks. I then stated after hearing these remarks, I felt it to be a matter of justice to him that the Senate adjourn, and made the motion myself, hoping we would come to a vote to-day.
Mr. Hughes--On that question I simply desire again to read the speech of the Lieutenant Governor upon which the adjournment was obtained, after a vote by ayes and nays almost unanimous against adjournment
"Mr. Cumback--I simply desire that when the votes are taken on those resolutions, we may have a full Senate. There are now some ten Senators absent. I ask, for that reason, and that only, that the consideration of this subject may be postponed until we shall have all the Senators present, and then I desire the vote."
Mr. Fisher (interposing)--I wish to state in behalf of Governor Cumback and his friends, that no one ever suggested this motion to me. It came from that side, and I wish the Senate to understand that they are not chargeable with this amendment.
Mr. Hughes--I understand that perfectly, Mr. Chairman, and so stated. In regard to the amendment of the Senator from Wabash [Mr. Fisher], it proposes to reduce this resolution to the form in which it was first presented. And I appreciate his motives; they are evidently those of kindness and courtesy to the friends of the Lieutenant Governor. And I may say here that this courtesy towards the Lieutenant Governor has characterized the discussion, upon which I will for the sake of the idea call this side of the House, throughout this debate; and I say further that this kindness and courtesy has not been met on the other side in the same spirit, but that the whole defense here has consisted chiefly of personal attacks and arraignment of motives, and dilatory applications, which, in my judgment, not to use a stronger word, were disingenuous.
The proposition of the Senator from Wabash is to strike out the words "corrupt and indecent"and insert in lieu thereof the word "improper." That will put the resolution in the same form in which I placed it before the committee on yesterday. As an original proposition I can appeal to the record for proof of the fact that I was content with the word "improper." I declared that all I desired this Senate to do was simply to relieve itself of all responsibility for the action of the Lieutenant Governor in making his proposition to the Governor. But the very fact that I struck out the word "corrupt" from my resolution as first drawn, stating at the time the reasons: that I wanted to put it in the least offensive form, was seized upon by the Senator from Madison [Mr. Robinson] page: 5[View Page 5] who took it as an admission that I did not consider the proposition corrupt, when I had introduced a resolution previously declaring that it was corrupt, and voted for that resolution.
At an advanced stage of this examination, because we got the correspondence, paper at a time, by piecemeal, dragging it out as though we were pulling teeth after we had got it all by orders of the Senate, after the question of etiquette had been thrown back and forth once or twice between the Governor and the Lieut. Governor, we obtained the Governor's letter, and we found there the expression characterizing this proposition as "corrupt and indecent," the Senator from Tippecanoe [Mr. Stein] embodied that language in his resolution. Upon a motion to strike out, this committee, very near the close of the discussion yesterday evening, by a test vote, decided not to strike out the words "corrupt and indecent." In other words, the committee decided they ought to remain. I doubt somewhat if we ought to press that inquiry further, the committee having so decided. I know of nothing that has transpired since last night to change my views upon this question, but I know this: something has transpired that in my opinion devolves upon this body an additional obligation to meet the issue fairly and decide which of the two is right in this matter--the committee of the whole Senate or the Republican caucus. I understand that the Governor has been in effect rebuked by the action of a caucus; but sir, I do not desire to see that action duplicated and sanctioned and repeated by this body.
Surely something is due to the integrity--something is due to the honesty--something is due to the high sense of honor that characterized the Governor's course in this transaction. And as the question is presented to me to-day, sir, although it comes from one who is the friend of the Governor, and who has with all moderation and courtesy, yet with all proper firmness, shown himself to be the friend of the resolutions here, I can not consent to abate one jot or tittle from the expression of the resolution under consideration; especially I can not consent, as one member of this Committee to stultify the Committee by going directly in a contrary direction to the last vote we took upon striking out these very identical words. They stand in that resolution as the judgment of the Committee. Now, Mr. Chairman, upon these words center the whole question in controversy in this case.
Mr. Robinson, of Madison, interrupting--I will ask the Senator if he did not make this statement in his remarks last evening. That if members were intending to fillibuster to prevent the vote upon the resolution on last evening, then he would advise the Senators supporting it to agree upon an adjournment?
Mr. Hughes--I did sir. I said that if the friends of the Lieutenant Governor--
Mr. Robinson, interposing--And I will ask in the same connection if you did not propose to strike out the words now pending?
Mr. Hughes--Certainly not. I proposed that the friends of the Lieutenant Governor should make choice between the two adjectives. The Senator had better rely on the reporter and not on his own private notes hereafter. According to parliamentary courtesy and practice, it would have been my privilege to close the discussion of this proposition yesterday afternoon; and surely every Senator will admit that unless the utterances of Senators over the way were to be passed by as the idle wind, enough has been said leveled personally at myself to justify a somewhat extended reply; but for the purpose of saving time and disposing of the question, I was inclined on yesterday Evening to waive the privilege of a general reply to the speeches made in behalf of the Lieutenant Governor. He, in person, however, and his friends desired delay, and to-day we are met with new motions for postponement. Therefore I deem it proper to review the discussion and the developments which have taken place in its progress, and attempt, as far as I am able, to lead the Committee back to the true question before it. And I say sir, that this body can have no more important business before it than the settlement of this question, and that the time spent in deciding upon the simple proposition to which it is reduceable, is time as well spent as it could possibly be by the Legislature or the Senate. And, sir, I desire to get the question again before the Senate. The question, from which I think some Senators have widely wandered in the discussion, I desire to get back before the Senate clearly and simply as it is. I ask the Secretary in the first place to read the resolution calling for the correspondence from the Governor. And I wish to say, sir, that I desire my remarks to be reported in full or not reported at all, concerning which I have spoken to the stenographer. I have to complain, as the Senator from Daviess, of being partially and incorrectly reported and I intend to protect myself from any misunderstanding of this speech by having a full report, and I intend to embody all the correspondence in it and all the issues involved.
The Secretary not being able to find the correspondence--
Mr. Hughes said: We will just consider the resolution read, as every member of the Senate knows what it is.
It is as follows:
"WHEREAS, One of the newspapers taken by this body, and daily laid upon the desks of its members, has specifically charged that some written correspondence of an improper and corrupt character has taken place between the late acting Lieutenant Governor, and now presiding officer of this body Hon. Will Cumback and His Excellency, Governor Conrad Baker, wherein it
page: 6[View Page 6]is alleged that propositions of an nature touching the appointment of Lieutenant Governor Cumback to a prospective vacancy in the Senate of the United States, were submitted to Governor Baker, and by him indignantly repelled;
"AND WHEREAS, No authorized denial of said charges has yet been made public;
"AND WHEREAS, A member of this body has declared in debate, in the presence of the Lieutenant Governor, that he was authorized by Lieutenant Governor Cumback to say that so far as he is concerned, all restraints and obligations of privacy as to said correspondence are removed and withdrawn; therefore,
"Resolved, That Governor Baker be requested to communicate to this body, for its information, all or any correspondence in writing, and the indorsements thereon, heretofore had by and between Lieutenant Governor Cumback and himself relative to the subject matter before mentioned."
Mr. Hughes--Now I call for the reading of the correspondence which we have had, piece at a time; but I want it all read together.
The Secretary commenced to read the Lieutenant Governor's letter to the Senate.
Mr. Hughes--That is not exactly the thing. I want to take things in their order.
The Secretary then read the following message from the Governor:
"GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE--In reference to the resolution of the Senate passed yesterday and communicated to me this morning, relative to a supposed correspondence between Lieutenant Governor Cumback and myself, I beg leave to say that I have not written a line to the gentleman named, or to any other person, that I am not willing to be published to the world, but I have written nothing to him, and he has written nothing to me which I feel at liberty to publish without his full authority unequivocally expressed. Your resolution declares that this authority has been given, but lest there may be a misunderstanding in relation to the matter, I have concluded that my duty under the delicate circumstance in which I am placed, would be best performed by placing copies of the correspondence at the control of Lieutenant Governor Cumback. I therefore simultaneously with the sending in of this communication, will cause to be placed in the hands of the Senator from Parke, a sealed package addressed to Lieutenant Governor Cumback, which contains copies of the correspondence. If there is no misunderstanding or mistake about the authority stated in your resolution, the copies may be laid before the Senate. If there is any misunderstanding or mistake, Lieutenant Governor Cumback will have the copies under his own control, and can do with them whatever he may judge to be proper."
CONRAD BAKER,
"Executive Chamber, January 13, 1869."
Mr. Hughes--At that point I wish to state that the Senator from Parke being called upon to say whether the papers were at the disposal of the Senate or not, made the statement that upon opening the envelope addressed to him he found an envelope addressed to the Lieutenant Governor--(the Lieutenant Governor being seated by his side)that the papers were voluminous, and that they required time for examination; and thereupon the matter was adjourned over till next day, I believe at ten o'clock; that the next morning a portion of the correspondence appeared in the State Journal by the Lieutenant Governor's request; and that that portion and that portion alone was put in possession of the Senate when the Senate met, by a communication from the Lieutenant Governor, which I ask the Secretary to read.
The Secretary commenced to read the letter from Governor Baker to Senator Fisher.
Mr. Hughes--Mr. Chairman, I want read the letter from the Lieutenant Governor communicating to the Senate his first letter to Governor Baker.
The Secretary then read as follows:
"SENATE CHAMBER, January 14, 1869.
"Gentlemen of the Senate: I herewith place at the disposal of the Senate a copy of the only letter I ever wrote Governor Baker containing any suggestion touching my appointment to a prospective vacancy in the United States Senate. While I do not deny that Governor Baker did not accede to the suggestion contained in said letter, yet I do not deem it 'proper' to lay before the Senate the private letter received from him.
"I am gentlemen, your obedient servant, "WILL CUMBACK."
[Envelope marked "Private."]
"GREENSBURG, IND., January 6, 1868.
"GOVERNOR BAKER--DEAR FRIEND--If I had not a thousand things to demand my attention this week, I would come up and see you. I will therefore venture to make this suggestion: I think Hendricks will be chosen by the Democrats, and he will, certainly, (if he intends to inspire hope among his friends,) resign his position. The person appointed by you will, other things being equal, stand the best chance to be chosen by our Legislature. If you will assure me of the appointment, I will withdraw from the contest for any position on the State ticket, and take the position of elector at the State Convention. If this proposition does not meet with your approbation, please return this letter to me. Let me have your reply at an early day. I do earnestly hope for the unity of the Republican party,
"I am, as ever, your friend, "WILL CUMBACK."
Mr. Hughes--Now, Mr. Chairman, I desire the communication given to the Senate by the Senator from Wabash (Mr. Fisher) read. I will then state the action of the Senate on that.
The Secretary then read as follows:
"INDIANAPOLIS, January 13, 1869.
"HON. STEARNS FISHER--Dear Sir: As it is possible that a part of the correspondence called for by the Senate may be produced, without producing it all, I think it due to myself that some Senator should be informed of the number of letters comprised in the entire correspondence. I, therefore, without indicating the contents of any of the letters, say to you that there were four in all, dated as follows, viz: One from Colonel Cumback to me, dated January 6, 1868; my reply thereto, dated January 8, 1868; one from Colonel Cumback to me, dated February 21, 1868, and my reply thereto, dated February 22, 1868. If Colonel Cumback's letter to me, of January 6, should be read without my reply being produced, I shall not insist (as its language might be deemed harsh) on its production; but in that case you will please say that my reply was and indignant rejection of the proposition. I inclose, in a separate envelope, copies of the letters of Feb. 21 and 22 before mentioned. This envelope you will please return to me unopened, unless a part of
page: 7[View Page 7]the correspondence is produced without producing it all. In the last named event, you will, in addition to saying for me what I have before indicated lay before the Senate the copies of the letters of February 21 and 22, 1868, inclosed in the separate envelope.
"If all the correspondence shall be produced, or if none of it shall be presented, you will have no occasion to act in the matter, and in either case will return the envelope containing the copies to me.
"If it becomes necessary for you to take any action, you can either read this communication to the Senate, or make your own statement of its contents.
"Yours truly, "CONRAD BAKER."
Mr. Hughes--Mr. Chairman, after the presentation of that letter to the Senate by the Senator from Wabash the debate went upon the first letter of Lieutenant Governor Cumback. Subsequently, upon some call, his second letter was read. I do not remember how, but it was called out in the course of debate and furnished to the Senate. The debate proceeded upon the first letter of the Lieutenant Governor, and resulted in a motion calling upon the Governor for the rest of the correspondence--that motion being made by a friend of the Lieutenant Governor as an amendment to a motion made by me and accepted by me--my original motion being that the Lieutenant Governor should produce the correspondence--and they voted against that motion, although it proceeded from the authorized friend of the Lieutenant Governor, the Lieutenant Governor sitting by his side, and the friend of the Lieutenant Governor also voting against his own motion, thus, in my opinion, seeking to suppress the correspondence. And to be just to the Lieutenant Governor on that subject, I propose to read, as part of my speech, the reasons assigned by the Lieutenant Governor himself for failing to produce the whole of the correspondence.
Mr. Hughes read as follows:
"Mr. Cumback--I rise, not with a view to make a speech on the merits of this question, but simply to respond to some misrepresentations with reference to my course in this thing--not wilfully made, I trust--to refer to what is plain history in this case, and cognizant to every Senator. As soon as the Senator from Daviess introduced the resolution, I told the Senator from Porter to proclaim that, as far as any private character of the letter was concerned--the only letter contemplated in the resolution offered by the Senator from Monroe--I was willing it should be laid before the Senate. He now insists that I kept one letter back. Sir, I respond to every point in the resolution. This one letter is the only one to which the resolution is directed. I told the Senator from Porter to say to the Senate that I removed the seals of secresy, and was willing that the Governor of Indiana should publish that letter. The Governor sent in his message yesterday, not publishing this private correspondence, but casting the responsibility upon me. I at once availed myself of what I deemed to be my right, to publish my letter in one of the morning papers, and upon the assembling of the Senate, laid it before the body. Now, I am to be told, day after day, and hour after hour, that I am trying to cover something up. I published the letter written by myself, but as far as publishing letters from others are concerned, I never will break the seal of privacy of letters directed to me, so help me God."
Mr. Hughes--I wish to remark, Mr. Chairman, as a commentary upon that statement of the Lieutenant Governor, that the resolution of the Senate did not pretend to foreshadow what particular letters were in the correspondence, but called for the correspondence--the whole of it with any indorsements thereon. I wish further to say that that correspondence was placed in the hands of the Lieutenant Governor while sitting upon the floor of the Senate, and in the presence of the Senate. 'Tis but fair to presume that the Lieutenant Governor knew long ago what was in the correspondence, especially as a newspaper article authorized by him and printed the day previously had admitted the truth of the charges made against him as to the actual contents of the letter.
Mr. Cumback, interrupting--What does the Senator mean to charge?
Mr. Hughes--I mean to charge the paternity of the article on you.
Mr. Cumback--I deny the charge.
Mr. Hughes--I can prove it.
Mr. Cumback--I demand the proof.
Mr. Hughes-I can prove it by Colonel Holloway.
Mr. Cumback--By consent of the Senate I desire to say that I did not know there was any article on the subject until that article had been written, and I never saw one word of it till it was published in print. Not a line, not an idea, not a hint, not a suggestion was made by me.
Mr. Hughes--In justice to myself I am bound to state to the Senate--and I would be glad that the Lieut. Governor should be relieved from the responsibility of it that after I had commented on the article in the last speech I made, I believe it was yesterday forenoon--the last speech but one in the session when the debate opened--after I had condemned it, that Mr. Holloway, the principal proprietor, I believe, of that establishment called upon me and expressed his regret at the appearance of the article, and stated to me that it was inserted at the instance of Mr. Cumback. That is the source of my information. It may be right or wrong. I give my authority, and upon that authority I make the charge. The Lieutenant Governor will find that I do him no harm intentionally, while at the same time I will not shrink from stating this case just as I understand it. So much for that. And in connection with it, if he wants to trace the matter up, I will say that I understand that the article was put in--perhaps written at his instance by Mr. Sulgrove. Now he has the whole story.
I say, Mr. Chairman, that, pending the adjournment of the Senate, between the time when the Lieutenant Governor received the package of papers in the presence of the Senate and the time when he furnished a portion of it to the Senate, during that intermediate period, he, in violation, as I assert, of parliamentary decorum, amounting almost to a breach of the privileges of the Senate, made a page: 8[View Page 8] 8portion of that correspondence public through the public press, as well as by reading it to numerous private individuals or members of the Senate--and I challenge a denial of that fact. After the transaction just alluded to, and after repeated reference by the friends of the Lieutenant Governor to the Governor's letter, which was not known to those advocating the resolutions, I made a motion to call upon the Lieutenant Governor for the rest of the correspondence. His friend and advocate, the Senator from Porter (Mr. Church), sitting by his side, moved to amend that motion so that we should make the call upon the Governor. I accepted the amendment. His friend and advocate then opposed his own motion, and contended that this correspondence ought not to come before the Senate. It was, in my opinion, a clear case of suppressio veri, which, in the law books, amounts to suggestio falsi. But the Senate adopted my motion, as amended, and upon that order, and only in that way, came the rest of the correspondence, being two letters from the Governor and one from the Lieutenant Governor, the reading of which I now ask for.
The Secretary commenced to read Lieutenant Governor Cumback's letter dated February 21, 1868.
Mr. Hughes--I would rather have the letters read in their order. I desire the parliamentary history of the matter on the record.
The Secretary then read as follows:
"GREENSBURG, IND., February 21, 1868.
"GOVERNOR BAKER--Sir: As we are engaged in a common cause, and on the same ticket, it is of the utmost importance that our relations should be friendly.
"If, therefore, you will return the note I wrote you January 6, and withdraw the reply you made, I will then, if you desire it, make a full explanation of the reasons that induced me to write it, that I will hope may mend the breach between us.
"No one as yet knows from me that there is any feeling of an unpleasant character between us.
"I am, your obedient servant, "WILL CUMBACK."
[COPY.]
"INDIANAPOLIS, February 22, 1868.
"Hon. Will Cumback, Greensburg, Indiana:
"SIR: Your communication of yesterday is before me. In reply I beg leave to say that the relations of the parties alluded to are not such, in my judgment, as to prevent either of them from doing his whole duty to the public in the position assigned him. If the matter proposed to be explained is believed to be susceptible of explanation, the explanation should be made without the conditions suggested. For such a purpose opportunity will be offered if desired. The return of the one paper and the withdrawal of the other could not change the facts, but would be pregnant with an implication that the party who really thinks he did no wrong, had changed his opinion.
"I have the honor to be, "Your obedient servant, " CONRAD BAKER."
[COPY.]
"EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. "INDIANAPOLIS, January 14,1869.
"Gentlemen of the Senate:
"In response to a resolution of the Senate, a copy of which has just been delivered to me, I herewith respectfully transmit a copy of the letter alluded to in that resolution.
"CONRAD BAKER."
"INDIANAPOLIS, January 8, 1868.
"Hon. Will Cumback. Greensburg, Indiana:
"SIR; Your communication of the 6th instant was received, and absence from the city prevented a reply. The proposition is corrupt and indecent, and I feel humiliated that any human being should measure me by so low a standard of common morality as to make it.
"I have the honor to be, "Your obedient servant, "CONRAD BAKER."
[COPY.]
Mr. Hughes--The next document to which I desire to call the attention of the Senate, is a publication in the State Journal, the paternity of which I have charged upon the Lieutenant Governor, upon the authority which I have given, and which he denies. The charge and the denial is before the Senate. I read from the Indiana State Journal, January 13, 1869:
"THE CORRESPONDENCE.
"Yesterday the resolution of Mr. Turner, of Daviess, in the Senate, calling for certain alleged correspondence between Lieutenant Governor Cumback and Governor Baker, was amended by Judge Hughes, of Monroe, who, in proposing his amendment, stated what he understood to be the character of Mr. Cumback's proposition, which Governor Baker declined. Mr. Cumback's friends accept the statement as substantially correct, and thus made the adoption of the resolution in any form, unnecessary. All that it could accomplish, even in the unlikely event that Governor Baker would recognize the right of the Senate to command his private correspondence, was accomplished by the statement of Judge Hughes.
"Mr. Cumback's proposition, it appears, was one of the kind made by all men, at least by all politicians, in pursuit of office, and of which about every member of the Legislature, at every session, affords a specimen. "You vote for my man, and I'll vote for yours, or do something else that will oblige you as much as your consent will oblige me." This is the whole case. Mr. Cumback suggested to Governor Baker that, if the latter would appoint him to the vacancy which it was anticipated Mr. Hendricks would make in the United States Senate, in order to carry on the campaign for the Governship, he would withdraw from the contest for the Republican nomination for Governor. Governor Baker declined. If no politician had ever made or entertained any proposition more corrupt than this, we should have as clean a bill of political morality in Indiana as can be found in any country where offices are obtained by votes, and votes by personal influence or interest."
Mr. Hughes--It will be remembered, Mr. Chairman, that in the published facts it is distinctly stated that the consideration proposed by Mr. Cumback--and this is a friendly publication--for an appointment to the United States Senate, was that he would withdraw as a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor. In regard to the information which I have laid before the body, as to the paternity of this editorial, as it came to me after I had denounced the editorial upon the floor of the Senate, as a public man about a public matter, I regard it as public property. I gave no pledge, and consider myself under no pledge, ex page: 9[View Page 9] pressed or implied, to withhold it from the public.
This makes up the case, Mr. Chairman, upon the record.
To the issue. Is this the correspondence? As before the committee, its authenticity is not denied. Whether the Lieutenant Governor suggested or caused the publication of the article in the Journal or not, his advocates on this floor, in defending him, have assumed substantially the same ground, namely: that the proposition contained in his letter to Governor Baker was nothing more than an ordinary transaction among politicians, and that it is justifiable in morals and in law. On the other hand, the friends of the resolution stand upon the position assumed by Governor Baker, when he rejected the proposition, to-wit: That the proposition made was "corrupt and indecent." That is the issue to be tried upon this record. That is the question before the committee, and that will be the question if the committee pass the resolution and report it to the Senate. Having stated the question, sir, as I understand it, fairly and distinctly, I propose to give the reasons why the proposition assumed by the friends of the resolution is correct and ought to be adopted; and why the proposition maintained by the friends of the Lieutenant Governor, is unsound and ought to be voted down. This ground has, to a great extent, been traveled over already, and I have no desire to repeat what I have heretofore said; and, sir, I intend, and I beg the indulgence of the Senate, to place this matter so plainly before the Senate, and the world, that it will present to all parties interested, especially to my constituents, and to every member of the political organization to which I belong, a fair statement, and, as , I conceive, an ample justification of the vote that I shall give, and a full defense to every charge that has been alleged against me in the course of the debate, imputing to me a desire to hold the integrity of that political organization subordinate to my private ambition. It is simply, sir, a question between honesty on the one hand, and dishonesty on the other. It is simply a question between the purity of a high public official in the discharge of a high public duty, on the one hand, and on the other hand, the corruption of one high public functionary seeking to make a corrupt bargain with another. And we are now at the point of voting as to whether the words "corrupt and indecent" shall be struck out, and putting the standard of morality maintained by this Senate lower than the standard of morality maintained by the Governor. I say to you and to the Senate, that this is no party question. It is a question between two members of the same political party. It is a question of political morality; a question as to how the offices of the State are to be disposed of by those whose oaths of office bind them to the people to dispose of them alone from considerations of the public good, and not of filthy lucre and personal advancement. And, need this Senate long debate which side of that question to take? Are there, Republicans here, or Democrats, who are prepared to vote that it is right and proper, or not "corrupt and indecent," to approach the Governor of the State and ask him to appoint a man to a seat in the United States Senate, in consideration that the applicant will withdraw from the contest for nomination for Governor, and support him for that place?
Mr. Gray (interrupting)Does the letter from the Lieutenant Governor to the Governor promise that?
Mr. Hughes--Read the letter, Mr. Secretary, I want the question and answer taken down just as spoken.
Mr. Gray--The charge made by the Senator from Monroe is, that he (the Lieutenant Governor) promised to support the Governor.
Mr. Hughes-Yes sir, that's the charge. I didn't say it was in the letter, sir, but I make the charge.
The Secretary reads:
"GREENSBURG, IND, January 6,1868.
"GOVERNOR BAKER--DEAR FRIEND--If I had not a thousand things to demand my attention this week, I would come up and see you. I will, therefore, venture to make this suggestion: I think Hendricks will be chosen by the Democrats, and he will, certainly, (if he intends to inspire hope among his friends,) resign his position. The person appointed by you will, other things being equal, stand the best chance to be chosen by our Legislature. If you will assure me of the appointment, I will withdraw from the contest for any position on the State ticket, and take the position of elector at the State Convention. If this proposition does not meet with your approbation, please return this letter to me. Let me have your reply at an early day. I do most earnestly hope for the unity of the Republican party,
"I am, as ever, your friend, "WILL CUMBACK,"
Mr. Hughes--I desire to propound a question to the Senator from Randolph (Mr. Gray), whether that letter does not imply a pledge that he will support Governor Baker for the nomination?
Mr. Gray--I answer: Not at all. It is simply a proposition to get out of his way. And I wish the Senate to bear in mind that the Senator made the charge, that the Lieutenant Governor, Colonel Cumback, did promise to support Governor Baker.
Mr. Hughes--I did not say that the promise was contained in that letter; but I say it now. It is not there in express terms; but it is as clearly implied as any implied promise upon which an action of assumpsit is based in the courts. I would ask the Senator from Randolph, if Governor Baker had accepted of that corrupt proposition by answering, "Your proposition is received and accepted," and had found the Lieut. Governor the next week electioneering against him, and seeking to page: 10[View Page 10] prevent his nomination, whether a well founded and just charge of perfidy would not have lain against him in the judgment of all fair men? That is my construction. The Senator has put his upon it. The two can go to the committee and to the Senate, and the Senate can decide. I say further, in reference to the corrupt language of the proposition, which is the direct question before the committee now, that if the Lieutenant Governor had allied to his proposition these words: "I not only retire from the contest, but will pay you a bonus of $5,000 in cash," it would not have made it any more corrupt. The principle involved is the same.
What I was about to say, sir, was, that we have arrived, in the progress of this discussion, at a difference of opinion upon the fundamental questions involved. Some of the gentlemen who have spoken on the other side have boldly justified this as a legitimate means of obtaining office; and have virtually gone down to the standard of morality in the Journal, while the other side denounce it as a vile species of immorality, a misdemeanor at common law, utterly corrupt, and unworthy of the sanction of this body. In reference to the matter, sir, I have been taunted, that my views upon a question of this sort were learned in the Democratic party. And I have been assured by the Church to which the Lieutenant Governor always goes when he leaves the chair (referring to Senator Church, of Porter,) that the standard of morality in the Republican party is quite different. Sir, in reference to that, I have to say, that, if it is necessary, in order to learn common honesty to be a Democrat--
Mr. Robinson, of Madison,(interposing.)--Will the Senator allow me?
Mr. Hughes--You will spoil a good sentence I was about to utter.
Mr. Robinson--I want to know what church the Senator refers to?
Mr. Hughes--The Porter House Church. [Laughter.] I say, Mr. Chairman, that if I learned simply common honesty in the Democratic party, it was a good thing. It is a good thing to learn there, or anywhere else. And if I can not practice it in the Republican party, I would like to shake hands with that party and leave it as soon as possible. But, sir, I deny that the principles I advocate are the exclusive property of the Democratic party; and I deny that they are exclusively the property of the Republican party. I say they are principles of right which are not learned in parties, but they are learned at our mothers' knees, in the school-house, and in the church--not meaning the same Church I spoke of before. [Laughter.] They are principles taught by teachers of morality everywhere; and I claim, in regard to this, that they are the common property of the Democratic party, and of a great majority of the Republican party also. It is not for the purpose of the disruption of the Republican party that I am advocating these principles but to preserve its integrity. I want to see my party "first pure, and then peaceable;" but I desire to purchase no peace inside of any political organization, either Democratic or Republican, that is purchased at the sacrifice of the plainest principles of common honesty.
Mr. Chairman I have stated the question. If I have stated it correctly, sir, it is already argued. A mere statement of it is sufficient to carry conviction to every unprejudiced mind. And, to show that Governor Baker was right, we should support the resolutions as right; and that gentlemen who differ with us are in the wrong. They may be right from their premises, and we right from ours. Their premises are different from ours, and ours different from theirs. It is for the Committee and the Senate to judge between the premises we choose to assume. What, then, is the duty of the Committee? Will the Committee say that this conduct is to receive the indorsement of the Senate of Indiana? Will the Committee refuse to express its disapprobation, in some form, inasmuch as the Governor has been assailed upon this floor, and his character brought in question here by imputations of bad faith in the publication of private correspondence, and by the statement, that he was carried through the late canvass on the shoulders of this Ajax? Had not the Senate better err upon the side of justice and truth, and express its condemnation in the very language in which the Governor has expressed his?
Now, Mr. Chairman, what is the defense set up in behalf of the Lieutenant Governor here? In the first place, I am bound to say, that, never in the course of my limited experience have I seen a charge of this sort made in a legislative assembly, met in the manner in which these charges have been met. I have seen criminals defended in the courts of the country, I have heard motions to quash, and technicalities interposed, and special pleas, and long lectures and speeches upon the doctrine of reasonable doubts. I know that these are the resorts of criminal lawyers, in defending guilty, and, sometimes, innocent men. But I never heard, sir, in the course of my experience, of a high public functionary publicly charged with an offense like this, day after day, while professing to be ready to meet the issue, evading it in every possible form, and finally dealing out the correspondence piece-meal, and affirming that that was all that pertained to the question in the resolution, instead of giving it all to us, leaving us to decide how much was relevant, and, finally, we had to appeal the action of the Senate to get the rest of it. And now, we are told it amounts to nothing. If so, why oppose this matter in the commencement? The Senator from Madison (Mr. Robinson,) could see nothing in the letter. It was one of the most harmless things in the world. He page: 11[View Page 11] 11was one of the first gentlemen to speak in the defense, and I believe he resisted every attempt to get the correspondence. And I commiserate him for the amount of his pedestrianism in marching from the chair to his seat, and from his seat to the chair during the trial, from the commencement to this hour.
Mr. Robinson (in his seat)That is very kind in the Senator.
Mr. Hughes--In the first place, when the Lieutenant Governor was inaugurated and took his seat, he called to the chair the Senator from. Parke (Mr. Rice,) and after a whispered consultation, the Senator from Porter (Mr. Church) was interposed and took the chair, and the Senator from Parke took the floor as defender of the Lieutenant Governor, and made a speech, in which he spoke by authority.
Mr. Church, interposing--The Senator from Porter was called to the chair.
Mr. Hughes--I think the Senator from Porter went there as though he was sent by the Senator from Parke. In the mean time the Senator from Madison, who had already spoken, relieved him, and the Senator from Porter came down and made his speech. We have had three reliefs--the Senator from Parke, the Senator from Porter, and the Senator from Madison. When one was up, the others were down; and when the others were down, one was up. And so we have had it. We have had one in the chair and two on the floor, and they were conducting the defense of the Lieutenant Governor--he sitting with them and directing their efforts.
Mr. Rice--I never occupied the chair but once in my life.
Mr. Hughes--Were you not up once?
Mr. Rice--I was.
Mr. Hughes--That is what I said. I said that the multifarious duties of this defense had been devolved upon those three Senators, and I say what the Senate knows is correct. But what is the defense? In the first place, there was nothing in the letter anyhow. Then why resist it so? In the next place--and it was very hard to tell from listening to them, whether the Lieutenant Governor was on trial or myself--I had committed a high crime by being a candidate for the United State Senatorship, and therefore the Lieutenant Governor was right in writing this letter to the Governor. [Laughter.] The next defense was that a large proportion of the Senate not candidates for the United States Senatorship, were opposed to the Lieutenant Governor being elected; and therefore it was right that the Lieutenant Governor should write a corrupt proposition to the Governor. The next defense was that they were for the Lieutenant Governor right or wrong for Senator, and nobody else ought to interfere with their combination. That is about the logic of the defense. The only speeches made on that side touching the issue in question, were speeches on the construction of the letter, averring that the principle of the letter was right; and there was very little of that, for all put together would not occupy one hour; and the rest contained assaults upon those who were alleged to aspire to the United States Senatorship. I have been almost made a candidate for the United States Senate by these gentlemen. I do not know but that I have been made a Senator by them--it may result that way--I hope it may. [Laughter.] I have sufficiently adverted to their construction of the letter, and their advocacy of the correctness of the principle that it is right to buy your way through the world to office, as Philip, of Macedon, would take a town; for he said he could take any city, through the gate of which he could drive a mule laden with gold. Now, they say that I, who, they allege, am a candidate for the United States Senate, am actuated by that motive to attack the transaction, and they say that others opposed to the Lieutenant Governor are actuated by that motive to attack the transaction. Very well, we have had enough of this discussion. Let us concede for the sake of argument that it is true. What then is their position? A man in the exercise of a laudable ambition, finds an obstacle in the way--finds it corrupt, and attempts to remove it by proving its corruption--but those who attempt to put the corrupt man in place, stand up and defend the corruption and the man whose position is corrupt. If this letter is corrupt, if this proposition is to be condemned by the Senate, it matters not what may be the motives that actuate those who bring it before the public for examination, they are doing a public service. But if corrupt--those who, for the purpose of putting this man into the highest public office within the gift of the State of Indiana, seek to accept him and his corruption together--where do they stand? Speeches were made upon this floor by gentlemen turning sideways, ignoring the Chair, and addressing themselves to a packed lobby, eliciting applause which came. Speeches were made outside of the record and issues, and addressed to the lowest instincts of a mob. These gentlemen, avow the principle that all trading is fair in politics. I want to make a commentary upon that portion which has taken place in the Senate, and that commentary is this: It relates to the appointment of the standing committees in this body. The position assigned in the standing committees to myself and certain other Senators on this floor, was not the result of the part we have taken in the discussion of this question; because I had never opened my mouth upon this subject until the Lieutenant Governor walked in and took his seat, and sat in full view of us all--and having no time to make these committees--it was at a period before the resolution authorizing the committees had been passed page: 12[View Page 12] --and when the discussion was over for the time being he took the chair, and drew out the paper and announced the committees. It is a plain fact, that the committees were made before the office was committed to him. How does it happen, that some men who have committed the crime of being mentioned as candidates for United States Senator, are to be ignored, and their constituents punished, because they stand in the way of this aspiring Lieutenant Governor? I maintained the principle at the commencement of the session--and experience will prove that it was right--that the organization of the standing committees of a legislative body ought not to be sought after or exercised by a candidate for the highest office before that body. It ought to be taken into the hands of the body itself. Let me say to you, Mr. Chairman, that before the session is over, in my opinion, this body will all be of the same opinion on that question, and hereafter the Senate of the State will not require those whose ambition permits them to overleap the provision in the Constitution (which I do not pretend is technically binding) to cast the committees of this body. The principle avowed by the Senator from Porter and the Senator from Madison--the principle contained in the Lieutenant Governor's letter, the whole principle underlying the whole defense in this case, would justify the making merchandise of the chairmanships and places on the committees, and permit the presiding officer to procure an office and promote his private ambition thereby.
A great many side issues have been made, sir. The great trouble with the Senator from Randolph [Mr. Gray] has been: "How did this matter get in here?" He has made a few speeches--and very elegant speeches they were. His delivery is pleasant--very agreeable. I like to hear him speak. He is a courteous gentleman. But he never can get this trouble out of his mind--how came this matter in here, and how came the Democrats to have a finger in this pie? I suppose these Democrats are people that we will have to be troubled with. I have been fighting that party for seven years, and I now propose to capture the whole camp with one stroke of strategy. Here they are; and it is a secret I would whisper in the ear of the Senator from Randolph, that every Democratic Senator on thisfloor has every right that he has; and they will introduce resolutions, and will talk. He says this thing originated in the Republican party. He did not know anything about that until I told him, and I wish I were able to tell him the exact Senator. I have called for him, but he would not come out. The reasons why sire multifarious. A little personal hostility and a good deal of patriotism--may be. What difference does it make, if the proposition is right? Some of the most mischievous gangs of counterfeiters have been broken up because some fellow among them did not get his share; and would you turn your attention from the public crime, and institute an inquiry into the motives of the malefactor that told on his associates, whatever his motives might be? The motives have nothing to do with the question. But I have spent too much time on this subject.
In regard to the Senatorship. We are now in committee of the whole, where, by the rules of debate, a large latitude is allowed,and the Chairman has announced that he will not be strict. I may be excused, if, after repeated thrusts have been made at me in connection with th the Senatorship; and after repeated charges and imputations of bidding for the office, and using the public newspapers and churches--I do not know whether any Sunday Schools or not--after all these charges, I may be permitted to say a word or two in my own defense.
Now, Mr. Chairman, the fact that my name has been used in connection with the candidacy for the Senatorship, is not to be denied. It is certainly true; however, that it was no act of mine. It has proceeded from the public newspapers on both sides of the question, and it has been more or less a matter in the public prints for the last two or three years. The first instance that came to my own immediate knowledge was a public meeting in my own county, where a resolution was unanimously passed. I thought it ill-timed; and said so; and suppressed the publication of the resolution for the reason, that it was long before the State election; and I thought we had better all go into the ranks and do duty for the common good, and have our competition for the Senatorship afterwards. Upon that principle I acted. And while I was laboring in that cause, in the two counties which I have the honor to represent, and which were Democratic counties when the war opened, and which I have been incessantly canvassing for seven years; holding a life office when the war opened, resigning t for my profession; asking nothing of the Republican party, but consenting upon one occasion to lead a forlorn hope and be a candidate for the Legislature, and sacrificing my wishes; I got through with that. In those two counties the voice of faction never was heard till the Lieutenant Governor came along, seeking the nomination for Senator. Those two counties got together, and, without my knowledge, unanimously requested me to be their candidate for Senator. I aspired to another office. It was my ambition and purpose to put my services at the command of the State Central Committee, and go abroad defending the principles of the Union Republican party in this campaign, leaving it with the people, when the great battle was over, to distribute their rewards as representatives might see proper. But I considered the nomination made in those two counties as a call to duty. It page: 13[View Page 13] has always been my pride to fight the battles of the people of my neighborhood, and I sacrificed all personal motives and went into that field; and, in excursions in the congressional district, spent as laborious and dangerous a period as the Lieutenant Governor or any other man, although he may have traveled over a greater territory. Before the State election, I found a faction had been formed in one of those counties. Promises for little offices were made in direct application of the principle involved in this contest, to oppose me for United States Senator, which I was not talking to them about at all, but which the public press announced that I aspired to. A schism was created among my own constitutents--from whom and from where a report never reached me. Whoever got it up I know not; but it was in the interest of the Lieutenant Governor for Senator. Since I knew of it, and after the election, I was invited to a ratification meeting, and, fearing that my usefulness would be impaired by going, I wrote a letter declining to go there, and I have not been there since. I am in the locality where the State University is situated--a large interest--and, as I have said, whenever I consider my claims or anxiety for an United States Senatorship paramount, I will resign my seat here. I want to do my duty here. I state here to-day that I, a student of that University--a citizen of that county for over thirty years--and once a professor in that institution, am excluded from the Committee on Education by the malice of that man (pointing to the Lieutenant Governor.) When, sir, I found myself pursued even to this city--when I found myself hunted down in this matter--my influence weakened and almost destroyed, I made up my mind, that under no circumstances would I vote for him. Because I believed that he would subordinate the interests of great questions and the public good to his own private ambition.
In the discharge of my duty as a Senator, I heard the subject matter of this resolution discussed. It interested me. I inquired into it and found there was truth in it. The second day when it was up I came in here and made a charge which the correspondence has fully sustained. It only remains for the Senate to act upon it. The public press has assailed me, and I have been denounced by the Senator from Porter, and the Cincinnati newspapers. Some one has set the Cincinnati Gazette upon me in connection with this matter, and some one has furnished the Cincinnati Commercial with a communication on the same subject. And some one has caused the State Journal to come out and defend this corruption on the part of the Lieutenant Governor; and some one has caused the columns of that paper to be opened to a communication opposing the recommendation of the Governor, and the granting of the fund for an Agricultural College to the State University, situated in the county of Monroe. Not only am I to be punished in this way, my influence in this body impaired, and my character and standing in the Republican party assailed, but my constituents are to be punished, the press is to be opened upon me, and a great champion of the Republican party born in it, also rebukes me for assailing Republican newspapers and Republican churches.
Now, sir, I will endeavor to draw my remarks to a conclusion, by a practical statement of the case in hand. I have been challenged, repeatedly challenged, to go out of the line of legitimate discussion here, and discuss the question of the senatorship. I have said a good deal on the main question, and, I think, quite enough. I have been repeatedly challenged to go into that question by remarks that have been made. I shall now say something on that subject. Since this committee adjourned, or the Senate adjourned, last evening, at the urgent solicitation of the friends of the Lieutenant Governor, after an ineffectual attempt to adjourn, in which the laborious chairman from Madison county failed--after that, when we adjourned, after the urgent appeal of the Lieutenant Governor, something else took place. The ten Senators who were absent, and upon whose absence that appeal was based, all of them, who were friends of the Lieutenant Governor, I suppose, turned up in the other end of the capitol and were not very far off at the time that appeal was made. The Republican party, in caucus, notwithstanding the enormity of these charges and the plain proofs in the handwriting of the Lieutenant Governor himself, nominated him to the high office of Senator of the United States. When we meet here to-day, he comes before us not only as Lieutenant Governor, but as prospective United States Senator, his nomination being assumed by himself and his friends as amounting to an election. By this act a caucus of the Republican party, as far as its action could go--for the facts were before them--have forestalled the action of the Senate which was postponed only at his instance. Had he been innocent his innocence might have been made manifest by the action of this body before he went into that caucus, and he might have gone there a vindicated man, but he feared to have a vote taken in this body and asked for a postponement, pending the charges, and pending at his own instance, to procure the nomination, and he obtained it. By that act the caucus absolved him from all blame in this matter, and took upon themselves the responsibility. And by that act the caucus cast implied censure upon the Governor and rebuked him for what he had done. The question is, shall this matter now be indefinitely postponed or smothered up, or these resolutions emasculated and their force destroyed because page: 14[View Page 14] by his own act the Lieut. Governor has now interposed the action of a political caucus between himself and the judgment of this Senate.
I say to you, Mr. Chairman, that he has placed the Republican Senators upon this floor in a very delicate position; and if even before this thing took place I had hesitated how I should vote in a case of this sort, I should hesitate no longer. I would not sit here and subject myself to the imputation of delivering up my convictions of impartial justice at the dictates of a caucus not to shrink from the responsibility of a party nomination, no more than the clamor of a mob could influence me in the discharge of my duty in the jury box or on the bench. No sir, we owe it to ourselves to pronounce judgment. Let us take the responsibility. If we think this is a harmless thing, an innocent thing, let us come up like men and say so. It we think it was wrong, to be just and to do the fair thing, let us say so, it matters not if the judgment strikes the Lieutenant Governor of the State and the caucus nominee of the party. And let me say to gentlemen of the minority here that they have their share of the responsibility. The Republican party in my humble opinion--and I have never made any secret of that matter--will not be responsible alone for the election of the Lieutenant Governor. If enough independent men shall be found within its ranks to repudiate that nomination and vote against it, then that election can not take place without the aid of Democratic votes. You, gentlemen of the minority have to look to your own responsibilities. I have been compelled by taunts, and questions, and insinuations here, I have been driven to declare upon this floor that I would consent to be the instrument to avert such a calamity from this State. And I will take this occasion to define my position upon the question of bolting. I have never made any secret of it, and I make none now. There has never been a period since the State election when the action of a caucus could bind me to vote for the Lieutenant Governor simply on account of what occurred in my own District, and under my own observation. Of course the addition of this correspondence makes it stronger. With that single exception I was ready to go into the caucus and vote for any member of the Union party that the caucus might nominate, notwithstanding my provocation was sufficient. After the Lieutenant Governor was made subject to these grave charges of corruption I took the position that I neither would vote for him nor for the Governor in order to put him in that place, but I would vote for some Union Republican of high character and unquestioned integrity,and there the matter rests. I considered myself entirely out of the contest. That was my position then, and it is my position now; and I trust in the providence of God that some man may be found, other than myself, who will concentrate enough votes upon him to thus save the State of Indiana from the odium of having a man walk into the Senate of the United States with credentials to which the broad seal of this State is attached, who is convicted of the charge of having tendered improper considerations to the Governor of the State to promote his advancement to office. And if all parties are true to themselves, they can perform an act, not of hostility to the Republican organization, but an act of friendship to it; and if no other can be found--though I think some other can be, and after the prominent part I have been compelled to take in this matter, I would rather labor for some other man--but if no other candidate can be found, I tell you, gentlemen, that taunts and imputations of motives will no deter me, and I am at the service of the Legislature, if the members of either party choose to vote for me. The Senate will recollect that this declaration is dragged out of me by the assaults of these gentlemen. I have not obtruded my name in connection with this matter upon the Legislature. And I want to ask the attention of those Senators who stand upon conscientious scruples in regard to a provision in the State Constitution, affecting the high responsibilities that rest upon them in the matter of voting for a United States Senator; and I will illustrate what I have to say upon that subject by referring to a matter of history.
The laws of Sparta provided that whenever a member of that community turned his back upon an enemy in battle, he was degraded, his property confiscated, he was deprived of the privileges of citizenship, and I believe forbidden to marry among the free citizens of Sparta; but upon a certain occasion the whole military force fled before an army of its enemies. When the authorities were called together to see who could enforce the law, they found that the offenders were in such a majority that there was not force enough to execute it. In that great emergency, endeavoring to preserve the spirit rather than the letter of the law, the great King Agesilaus cut the knot by proclaiming "Let the laws sleep for this day, and forever after be in full force."
And I have a remark to make in reference to the Lieutenant Governor's preferences in the cast of the standing committees of the Senate--not intending to compare myself to the man of ancient times referred to, Epaminondas, who by way of insult was appointed to the office of Commissioner of Sewers, as we often in derision elect some man supervisor of roads. He maintained his gravity and accepted the office, remarking that he would teach those who put the insult upon him that it was not the office that lent dignity to the man but the man to the office, and he so discharged his duties that ever after the office of Commissioner of Sewers was the most honorable office page: 15[View Page 15] in the State. Seeking at an humble distance to emulate his great example, I will endeavor to faithfully discharge the duties of Chairman of the Committee on Expenditures. [Laughter.] And I will remark that there is not a man perhaps in this body that knows how to spend money better than I. [Renewed laughter.]
But Mr. Chairman, I have already detained the committee too long. I only wish sir, to conciliate or mollify some of the advocates of the principle that it is right to trade for office, by making a few promises of what I would do if elected Senator, and surely gentlemen who avow the doctrine that it is right to trade, won't take any offense if I tell what I propose to do. I will say to the gentleman from Madison, to commence with, that owing to his exceeding great skill in adjourning the Senate when there were but three votes for it and thirty-seven against it, I should use my influence to secure him the position of President pro tem of the Senate upon the first vacancy that should occur. [Laughter.] And to my friend who has taken so much interest in my candidacy, the Senator from Porter, I would try to have him made the head of the bureau of red tape, [renewed laughter,] and if he has any young friends or dependents, I would endeavor to secure for them places as pages in the United States Senate. Now I don't know what I can say for the Senator from Parke. I have taken a sort liking to him. [Continued laughter.] He has been a sturdy opponent of these resolutions from the beginning to the end, but he seems to have fought in such a way that I think he is above any bribe. And so, gentlemen of the Senate, I leave the subject.
NOTE--The discussion resulted in the Committee reporting to the Senate the following resolutions, with a recomendation that they be adopted:
Resolved, That the appointing power vested by the Constitution of the State in the Governor is a high and sacred trust, to be exercised exclusively for the honor and welfare of the whole people of Indiana; and that any attempt to prevent the honest discharge of this trust is in derogation of their rights, and merits the severest condemnation.
Resolved, That in the opinion of the Senate the letter of Will Cumback, the present Lieutenant Governor of this State, dated January 6, 1868, and addressed to Governor Baker, proposing a personal consideration for an appointment to till a contemplated vacancy in the United States Senatorship, embodies an improper attempt to tamper with the integrity and destroy the independence of the appointing power vested in the Governor.
Resolved, further, That in the opinion of the Senate the action of Governor Baker, in promptly repelling the dishonorable proposition contained in said letter of Will Cumback, commends itself to all good citizens as a just example of the conduct which should ever characterise the repositories of the appointing power in our system of government.
And afterward, on the 18th day of January, the resolutions were adopted by the Senate by the following vote:
Ayes--Messrs. Andrews, Beardsley, Bird, Bradley, Carson, Cravens, Denbo, Fisher, Fosdick, Gifford, Green, Hanna, Henderson, Hess, Hooper, Howk, Huey, Hughes, Humphreys, Johnson of Montgomery, Kinley, Lasselle, Lee, Morgan, Reynolds, Sherrod, Stein and Turner--28.
Nays--Messrs. Bellamy, Case, Caven, Church, Eliott, Gray, Hadley, Hamilton, Houghton, Jaquess, Johnson of Spencer, Rice, Robinson of Madison, Robinson of Decatur, Scott, Wolcott and Wood--17.
page: [16][View Page [16]] page: [17][View Page [17]]SPEECH OF
HON. JOHN CAVEN.
IN SENATE.
THURSDAY, April 29, 1869.Mr. Caven's bill [S. 53] to authorize the formation of Co-operative Societies for the purchase and erection of dwellings and other building, being on the third reading--
Mr. CAVEN said: Mr. President: The title of the bill under consideration is: "An Act to authorise the formation of Co-operative Societies for the purchase or erection of dwellings and other buildings." And its object is to enable poor and laboring men to build or purchase dwellings for their own. The great body of our laboring men are living in rented houses for the simple reason that they are unable to purchase one for themselves.
A comfortable little home in a place like Indianapolis cannot be bought for less than one thousand five hundred dollars, and a sale for one third cash in hand, and one third in one, and one third in two years, is regarded as very favorable terms to the purchaser; but there are many laboring men with families to support, who cannot pay five hundred dollars down, and a like amount for one and two years. It is also true that property rented at the rate usually received for it will pay for itself in eight to ten years, and if the profit is estimated for the reinvestment of the rent received, will repay itself in six to seven years.
If then some plan can be devised by which the monthly payments instead of being paid as rent, and forever gone from the renter, will be buying and paying for the home he lives in, and making it his own, a very important benfit for the laboring man will have been gained.
The plan herein proposed, is by uniting the small means of many and thus aggregating sums that would have been paid in rents, in small monthly payments to accumulate a sum that would at the end of each month be sufficient to purchase one or more houses and put the purchasers into them, and the amounts they would have been compelled to pay as rent, will instead, go as payments in purchase of the property.
No doubt most industrious laboring men at the end of the month have usually a small surplus of money, but not enough to be available for the purpose of buying a home.
The first section authorizes the formation of Co-operative Associations for the purchase or erection of dwellings by the adoption and filing of articles similar to the law authorizing the formation of Manufacturing and Mining Companies.
The second section provides for the number and appointment of Directors, and the fourth section permits any person to subscribe for any number of shares not exceeding the one twentieth of the capital stock, and section five requires each stockholder to pay in each and every month not less that one per cent of the capital stock subscribed for.
Section six is as follows: "Whenever there is sufficient money in the treasury for the purpose, any stockholder may borrow from the Association any sum of money by the surrender to the Association of any share or shares of stock he may own, but the amount he shall receive shall not exceed the par value of the shares for the surrender of which such loan was made and such loan shall be made upon the following terms and conditions, to-wit:
"Sec. 7. He may contract for the purchase of real estate or convey real estate he may already own to said Association, provided the same, in the opinion of the directors is a sufficient security for the amount borrowed, and when such borrower shall have bargained for page: 18[View Page 18] the purchase of real estate with the amount of such loan, the Association shall pay said amount to the vendor and take from him a conveyance to said Association and execute to such borrower a writing agreeing to convey said real estate to him, upon performance of the necessary conditions on his part.
"Sec. 8. When such loan is made the borrower shall first be credited with all the money he may have paid into said Association, less his equitable proportion of losses and expenses, and the remaining sums with interest at such rate as may be fixed in the By-Laws not exceeding ten per cent. he shall repay to said Association, as follows:
"Sec. 9. To such sum shall be added interest at the rate fixed in the By-Laws for the unexpired portion of the time such Association has to run and in order to equalize the monthly payments such interest shall be calculated at one half such rate on the whole sum for the whole unexpired time; and such aggregate of principal and interest shall be payable in equal monthly instalments for the unexpired number of months such Association has yet to run, and for such instalments the borrower shall execute his notes payable in such equal monthly installments and waiving all relief whatever from valuation and appraisement laws.
"Sec. 10. Any member desiring to procure a loan shall file with the Association a written application describing the property proposed to be purchased or deeded to the Association and should there be more than one application, and for more money than there is in the Treasury, the preference shall be decided by lot to be cast by the Directors in the presence of those interested.
"Section eleven requires the title to be carefully examined by an attorney elected by the Association.
"Sec. 12. All real estate shall be conveyed to the Association, and shall be held in their name until the conditions on the part of the borrower, shall have been complied with."
Section thirteen provides for the payment of taxes and that the property shall be kept safely insured, and should the borrower fail to pay the same, the Association shall pay the same, and collect from the borrower by sale of the property, and the surplus shall be paid to the borrowers.
Section fifteen provides that when the borrower shall have paid all sums due, the Association shall convey the property to the party entitled to it.
Section eitghteen provides for the annual election of Directors and officers and for the execution of bonds by the officers; and section twenty one, that the Directors shall hold monthly meetings to award loans, &c.; and section twenty-two, that at any time within one year that new stockholders may be admitted upon such terms as will make them equal to the original.
Section twenty-three provides, that should any member die and his widow or heirs be unable to continue the payments, if no loan has been made the Association may refund the amount paid in, less an equitable share of the losses and plus an equitable share of the earnings if any.
The bill is founded upon the old maxim "That in union there is strength." That many combined, can accomplish easily what all operating singly could not. That one hundred men by combining, and by a small monthly contribution from each, not greater than the rent each one is paying, could buy a dwelling for one or more of their number, at the end of the first month, and for others at the end of the second, and so until each one would possess a dwelling of his own and hence it provides that any number may unite and determine the amount of the capital stock and divide it into shares and each one may take as many shares as he choses, and must pay not less than one per cent a month of his subscription.
Thus, if the shares were five hundred dollars the subscriber for one share would pay five dollars per month. Suppose the capital stock is fixed at six hundred thousand dollars, and divided into twelve hundred shares of five hundred dollars each, the payment the first month would be six thousand dollars and this is loaned to members to purchase or build, and if four men took fifteen hundred dollars each, they would each execute one hundred notes, one payable each month for one hundred months to which interest should be added, but as they are paying a portion of the principal each month, half interest only should be charged. For the first month each one would owe fifteen hundred dollars, and the last month only fifteen dollars, and at the middle of the time he would owe seven hundred and fifty dollars, which would be the average sum for the whole time, and on that sum interest should be calculated for the whole time, and the sum total of such interest divided into one hundred parts and one part added to the principal of each note, and thus making the payments for each and every month the same amount, that for the last month being the same as the first, and at the same time being an exactly equitable adjustment of the interest.
The bill provides, however, that no one can take out more than the amount he has subscribed for, so that one who borrowed out fifteen hundred dollars must be a subscriber to that amount and his monthly payments before he borrowed would be fifteen dollars per month, and after a loan the payments would be increased by the amount of the interest and page: 19[View Page 19] this in one hundred months, or eight and one third years would pay back the full amount.
It provides further that when a party makes a loan, if no losses have accrued he shall first be credited with all he has paid; as for instance, the subscriber for one thousand dollars, at the end of fifty months will have paid in five hundred dollars and when he receives a loan of one thousand dollars he is first credited with the five hundred dollars he has paid and also with the equitable interest earned and he would only give his notes for the remainder with interest and surrender his certificates of stock.
The bill permits no speculation of the members upon each other for no one can take out more than he puts in, except the interest which his money may have earned at a fixed rate for all, and each one will take out all he may have had to pay; and this is equitable, for the parties who obtain the earliest loans will the soonest buy their own dwellings and stop paying rent, and as they are thus profitably using the money of others, of course, they should pay interest; and those who do not at once obtain loans have their money at interest and an equal chance with all others to obtain a loan; for the bill provides that should the applications for loans exceed the sum in the treasury, who shall have it shall be decided by a lot cast by disinterested parties in the presence of all the applicants.
The bill also prevents a fund accumulating for the benefit of those who do not sell their stock, for it provides that when each member shall have borrowed out a sum equal to his subscription, and there shall have accumulated in the treasury a sum sufficient to pay those who have not sold the amount of their subscription the Board of Directors shall officially declare the fact and that all notes falling due after that date shall be null and void.
As the design of the bill is to aid those of small means, the bill provides that should any member die and his widow or heirs be unable to continue payments their money already paid in shall be refunded less their equitable share of the losses, and together with their equitable share of earnings if any.
The merits of the bill are these: That it enables men of small means to buy a home by paying about the usual monthly rent and enables him to borrow money, and at the same time enables him to make the lender perfectly secure, for the property purchased by him is to be deeded to the Association and they execure to the borrower an agreement to convey to him when he shall have made the payments agreed upon.
It enables poor men to buy who otherwise could not. It enables him to make available his small means and those who are postponed for a time in obtaining a loan (for of course, all cannot be supplied at once) are placing their money in a savings bank where it is realizing compound interest.
Instead then of paying rent his monthly payments are making the home he lives in his own; and also go immediately to purchase dwellings for other of his fellow laborers, and in addition, every dollar he pays instead of going into the pockets of his landlord is put upon interest for his own benefit, for as we have seen, he agrees to pay a given sum if needed, and a certain sum is required to be raised, and the money he pays in, interest and all is immediately placed upon interest and that interest goes to make up the agreed sum, and when that sum is raised his payments are to cease, and of course, the sooner it is raised the sooner his payments will cease.
And this matter of the accumulation of interest is important for each ones small, and perhaps unemployed means, becomes immediately active and useful to him, and placed upon interest, and that too compounding every month, for the interest that is paid in this month, is loaned out as principal next month and draws interest.
A dwelling property in Indianapolis worth fifteen hundred dollars will rent for twenty dollar per month, and suppose a member subscribes for three shares of five hundred dollars each, before he made a loan he would pay fifteen dollars per month, or one hundred and eighty dollars per year, and at the end of three years he will have paid five hundred and forty dollars, and at ten per centum interest his money will have earned eighty-one dollars and if he then makes a loan of fifteen hundred dollars he will receive that amount and will be credited with six hundred and twenty-one dollars and will execute to the society his notes for the remainder of eight hundred and seventy-nine dollars, with interest, and he will have five years and four months in which to pay it, or sixty-four payments and suppose the Society charges ten per cent, interest and the principal and interest shall be paid in equal monthly enstallments, running through that period, and hence he should be charged with only half interest on the whole amount for the whole time and to pay the principal in five years and four months would require monthly payments of thirteen dollars and seventy-three cents, and the interest three dollars sixty-six and one fourth cents, or a total of seventeen dollars and forty cents. So that by paying fifteen dollars per month for three years, and seventeen dollars and forty cents for five years and four months, the borrower would have paid for the property bought one thousand seven hundred and thirty-four dollars and forty cents, and the question then is, what did his dwelling cost him? He has lived in it five years and a third rent free, but suppose he had page: 20[View Page 20] had to pay rent for a dwelling for that length of time at twenty dollars per month, he would have paid one thousand two hundred and eighty dollars, for which he would have nothing left, and the difference between that and one thousand seven hundred and thirty-four dollars and forty cents is four hundred and fifty-four dollars and forty cents, together with say thirty dollars per year for insurance and taxes, making in all six hundred dollars, and if the purchaser did not wish to live in the property himself he could rent it for twenty dollars per month being fully equal to his monthly payments in the purchase and in this easy way he will have bought and paid for property worth fifteen hundred dollars in eight years costing him but six hundred dollars and which will yield him a rental of two hundred and forty dollars per year, and in all probability the property will have doubled in value. In a growing city like Indianapolis it certainly would; so that at the end of eight years he could sell a property for three thousand dollars which cost him only about two thousand dollars; and having lived in it for five years rent free, so that his actual gain in the transaction is over two thousand dollars. And this can be done by a saving and investment of fifty-seven cents per day for eight years, and hence the plan opens up a means of making a small monthly saving available and important in its results which could not be arrived at in any other manner.
Its merits then are that it enables the poor man to make available his small means which he could not otherwise have done at all. It enables him to procure a home which he could not otherwise have done at all. It enables him to invest profitably in the lapse of time--in the growth and progress of the city and country about him, which he could not otherwise have done at all. How often we hear the remark: "If I had only had a few hundred dollars to have invested in real estate in Indianapolis, twenty--fifteenten--ten, or even five years ago it would have been a fortune to me now." Instead then of paying rents, which are gone forever, let it be expended in the actual purchase of homes in payments but little if any greater than the rents, and the property rapidly increasing in value.
Its moral effect will also be valuable for it affords a stimulus to industry and economy--it inspires the laboring man with the hope of becoming a property holder. At present most of them feel themselves hopelessly bound for life to the galley oar of a relentless necessity, toiling for their daily bread without hoping to accumulate. We cannot escape from labor. The great fiat long since went forth "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." We should not seek to escape from labor but should plan to realize as great results, as much comfort and happiness from labor as possible. It will make the laborer more hopeful and a better citizen to know that from day to day, the roof over the head of his wife and little ones and the earth beneath his feet is becoming his own, and that in the event of death he has a home to leave them; and hence the moral effect upon himself will be valuable and will make him a happier and more contended man, and a better and more apt to be a permanent citizen with stronger local attachments to the houses and home he owns, than to the hired premises. And if all citizens owned their own houses, more attention would, no doubt, be given to their care and ornament, to the flowers and trees, than when rented; and after each member has purchased a home, the same process might be continued to acquire other property to buy or build his shop or business rooms, and in this easy manner enable the laborers of the country by a combination of their small means to become owners of the real estate needed for their homes or business purposes.
