THE
BREVIER LEGISLATIVE REPORTS.
VOLUME TWENTY-ONE.
INDIANA LEGISLATURE.
IN SENATE.
FRIDAY, March 2, 1883-9 a. m.The Senate met at 9 o'clock, Lieutenant Governor Hanna in the Chair.
Prayer by S. T Gillett. D. D.
On motion of Mr. CAMPBELL the reading of the Secretary's minutes of yesterday's proceedings was dispensed with.
ENDOWMENT FUND FOR THE STATE UNIVERSITY
On motion of Mr. DUNCAN the bill [H. R. 256] to provide a fund for the permanent endowment of the State University, under a setting aside of the Constitutional restriction, by a two-thirds vote was read the second time by title, the third time by sections.
Mr. DUNCAN explained: It authorizes a levy of one-half cent on each $100 valuation for twelve years. It passed the House by a vote of 70 to 21. The bill, as a matter of economy and good mannagement of the State's indebtedness, and put into a non-negotiable 5 per cent University endowment fund bond. We appropriate annually $23,000 for the management of the University, and at the end of twelve years this plan would amount to but $4,000 more than under the present plan. By the levy of this tax the annual appropriation would be done away with, thus, making a large saving. This would place the University on a firm foundation, so it will not hereafter be the creature of every Legislature. It would have an annual revenue derived from interest on this non-negotiable bond. Such an interest should be kept free from sectarian basis. We owe a duty to the people of the State to place that Institution on a permanent foundation. The bill provides the fund shall follow the Institution should it be consolidated with another or removed from the present location.
Mr. HENRY moved to amend so that the fund would be held for a consolidated institution should the University ever be consolidated with another. He was a friend of the Institution. The word "thereafter," an indefinite term, is probably wrongly used, and this amendment proposes to make that word "hereafter," thus making it definite. The time will come when the Educational Institutions of the State should be consolidated. This is a way to prevent the constant changes made by every Legislature.
Mr. BROWN said there was no better friend on the floor to this Institution than himself. He favored the amendment and hoped it would be adopted, with the assurance from the author of the amendment, if the House refuses to concur, he was willing to have the Senate recede therefrom.
The bill,as amended, passed by yeas, 37; nays, 4.
On motion by Mr. COMPTON the bill [H. R. 224] to legalize the incorporation of Carbon, Clay County was read twice by title, the third time by sections, under a setting aside of the Constitutional rule by a two-thirds vote, and passed by yeas, 40; nays, 0.
JOHNSON VS OVERSTREET CONTEST
Mr. McCULLOUGH called up the special order, being the consideration of the majority and minority report of the Committee on Elections in the matter of the contest for the seat of the Counties of Johnson and Morgan-see pages 63, 66, 214 and 221 of the Brevier Reports.
Mr. VOYLES in view of all the evidence he had heard believes this seat in all justice and right belongs to the contestor in this case, and the conduct of the sitting member has been such as should deprive him of his seat as Senator. There were thirty-two illegal votes cast for Overstreet in Morgan County, and some seventeen or twenty-one in Johnson County. Then there was a corrupt bargain by which the contestor was defeated made with a man by the name of William Rude. He claimed that Richard M. Johnson was elected, but is barred out by eighty-five votes resting upon fraud and illegality. There were at least fifty votes illegally cast for Overstreet through fraud and intimidation, which are twin brothers. He hoped Richard M. Johnson would be seated. He spoke with considerable difficulty on account of not feeling well.
Mr. LOCKRIDGE, a member of the Committee to whom the contest was referred, declared that simplifying the grounds of contest, they are but two-the first and fourth clauses under Section 4,756 R. S. 1881. But at the eleventh hour of this page: 280[View Page 280] proceeding, when the Senate had been in session several days, and on the very day the Senate met to consider this case, a new ground of contest is filed, under the guise of an amendment, and is admitted by a majority vote of the Committee, and thus we have a third cause of contest, in direct violation of the statute providing for the manner of proccedure in contested cases in Section 4,747 R. S. And what is the nature of this amendment? That the contestee bribed or offered to bribe, on the 7th of November last. There are no specifications, but only a vague and indefinite charge. A cloud of witnesses are subpenaed at the expense of the State, and all this time the contestee is denied his right to have his specifications of the charge against him made known - a right that is denied to no defendant, in any Court of Justice in Christendom outside of an autocratic form of Government. He asked whether such a proceeding is in the interest of justice and fair play. Whether the admission of the amendment to the grounds of contest at the late hour it was done, and in the face of the statute which prescribes that it shall be done within ten days after the election, and the refusal of the contestor to furnish specifications of his charge against the contestee, is in accord with the spirit of the Constitution, which says that "justice shall be administered freely and without purchase; completely and without, denial; speedily and without delay," and that the accused shall have the right "to demand the nature and cause of the accusation against him, and to have a copy thereof " Under the sanctity of his oath he bad reached the conclusions embodied in the majority report, that the charge is not sustained by sufficient evidence to entitle the contestor to a seat in the Senate.
Mr. McCULLOUGH confined his remarks more particularly 10 the charge of bribery. Were he sitting as a Juror to try the question he would hare to conclude that the contestee had violated the law of the State in that particular and should suffer for the crime. He regarded the testimony of the contestee as a sham, and the testimony of a guilty man-having no mild words for a man who will use such means to secure an election, for if there is one danger above another that threatens our institutions, it is the danger that threatens the corruption of the ballot-box. Before he concluded-
The Senate took a recess till 2 o'clock
AFTERNOON SESSION.
Mr. FOULKE, rising to a question of privilege, said he had the authority of the Senator from Crawford [Mr. Benz] for the statement that he was approached by a party asking him how much he would take to vote for the metropolitan police bill. Therefore Mr. F. moved that a Committee of Three be appointed to inquire into it, with power to send for persons and papers.
The motion was agreed, to, and subsequently the Lieutenant Governor made the Committee to consist of Messrs. Foulke, McIntosh and Youche
JOHNSON AND OVERSTREET CONTENT.
Mr. McCULLOUGH resumed his speech interrupted by the noon recess. He quoted very largely from the testimony taken before the Committee, and favored the adoption of the minority report submitted by himself, declaring that the charge of bribery is fully made out and sustained by evidence.
Mr. FOULKE spoke in favor of the majority report. His remarks will be printed hereafter.
Mr. SAYRE contended that the action of the sitting member was not bribery, even if taken in the sense the Senator from Gibson [Mr. McCullough] wants to give it. Instead of there being testimony that would convict Senator Overstreet of the charge. It is not even a contract that could be enforced in a Court of Justice, where the plaintiff is required only to establish his case by a preponderance of testimony. So far as illegal votes are concerned there were just as many on one side as on the other, and neither will exceed a half dozen or ten when the proof comes to be examined closely. But even if there were forty or fifty illegal votes as the Senator from Washington [Mr. Voyles] has said, Mr. Johnson would not be entitled to the seat, for Mr. Overstreet's majority was eighty-five, and if even fifty votes were taken therefrom there would still be left a clear majority of thirty-five. His judgment was that neither of these majority reports should be sustained by the Senate, but that the majority report should. The three Republican members of the Committee, and the Senator from Allen and Whitly [Mr. Bell] and the Senator from Marion [Mr. Fletcher], who signed that report after listening patiently to the testimony and able argument, have submitted it to the Senate, as their judgment justified by the facts in the case.
Mr. WILLARD spoke in favor of the substitute report [Mr. Voyles']. His remarks will be printed hereafter.
Mr. OVERSTREET spoke in his own behalf. His remark i will be printed hereafter. The question being on the report submitted by Mr. Voyles-see page 221 of the Brevier Reports as a substitute for the majority and minority reports from the Committee on Elections-see page 2[?]4 of these Reports-it was rejected by yeas, 22; nays, 24, as follows:
Yeas-Messrs. Benz, Brown, Compton, Davidson, Duncan, Ernest, Faulkner, Hilligass, Hoover, Howard, Hutchinson, Johnston of Dearborn, Johnson of Tippecanoe, Marvin, May, McClure, McIntosh, Null, Richardson, Smith of Jay, Voyles and Willard-21.
Nays-Messrs. Adkinson, Bichowski, Bundy, Campbell, Fleming, Foulke, Graham, Henry, Hill, Keiser, Lockridge, Lindley, Macartney, Magee, McCullogh. Rahm, Ristine, Sayre, Smith of Delaware, Spann, Van Vorhis, White, Yancy and Youche-24.
So the substitute report was rejected.
The minority report was also rejected by yeas, 2; nays 40.
The report of the majority of the Committee was concurred In by yeas, 24; nays, 22, as follows:
Yeas-Messrs. Adkinson, Bichowski, Bandy, Campbell, Fleming, Foulke, Graham, Henry, Hill, Keiser, Lockridge, Lindley, Macartney, Magee, May, Rahm, Ristine, Sayre, Smith of Delaware, Spann, Van Vorhis, White, Yancy and Youche-24.
Nays-Messrs. Benz, Brown, Compton, Davidson, Duncan, Ernest, Faulkner, Hilligass, Hoover, Howard, Hutchinson, Johnston of Dearborn, Johnson of Tippecanoe, Marvin, McClure, McCullough, McIntosh, Null, Richardson, Smith of Jay, Voyles and Willard-22.
So the majority report was concurred in.
PAY TO PAGE AND SECRETARIES.
Mr. SPANN offered a resolution which was adopted allowing the pay of a page for twenty-eight days to Arthur Moody.
Mr. VOYLES offered a resolution authorizing to pay Albert J. Kelley and Harry Huffstetter-$300 each for preparing an index and calender for the journals, when the work is completed.
On motion by Mr. McCULLOUGH the resolution was referred to the Committee on Claims
HYDRAULIC COMPANIES.
On motion by Mr. Campbell, the Constitutional rule having been heretofore suspended for that purpose by a two-thirds vote of the Senate and the bill [H. R. 286] to empower manufacturing companies to take and hold stock in corporations furnishing water power, was read the third time and passed by yeas, 85; nays, 2,
page: 281[View Page 281]SPECIFIC APPROPRIATION BILL.
On motion by Mr. VAN VORHIS the specific appropriation bill [H. R. 460] was taken up, read twice by title, under a suspension of the Constitutional rule by a two-thirds vote, and referred to a Committee of the Whole of the Senate to-night at 7:30 o'clock, with instructions to report at 9 o'clock to-morrow.
On motion by Mr. RISTINE the Senate refused to concur in the House amendments to his bill [S. 88] to amend the Horse-thief Detective Company Organization act, and asked for a Committee of Conference thereon.
Then the Senate took a recess till 7:30 o'clock.
NIGHT SESSION.
Mr. FOULKE moved to take up the prohibition amendment joint resolution [H. R. 1].
Mr. JOHNSON moved to lay the resolution on the table.
This motion was agreed to by yeas, 22; nays, 15.
Mr. VAN VORHIS, by consent, introduced a bill [S. 293] to repeal a act concerning legal advertising in certain cases requiring publication to be made for twenty-one consecutive days, approved yesterday, was read the first time and referred to a Select Committee of Three-Messrs. Van Vorhis, Fletcher and Bell.
RELOCATION OF COUNTY SEATS.
Mr. BROWN moved that the relocation of County seats bill [S. 9] be taken up.
Mr. MAY made an ineffectual motion-yeas, 11; nays, 26-to lay this motion on the table.
The motion was agreed to and the bill was read the second time.
On motion by Mr. JOHNSON the further consideration of the bill was postponed till to-morrow.
Mr. BELL, under a suspension of the Constitutional rule by a two-thirds vote, introduced a bill [S. 294] to make the general index of a deed or mortgage prima facie evidence of the record to which it refers, when the destruction of the record by fire and loss of the original instrument is made to appear, which was read twice by title only, the third time by sections, and passed by yeas, 40; nays, 0.
On motion by Mr. VOYLES the bill [H. R. 464] supplemental to an act relating to the disposal of estates of persons who have absented themselves from their usual places of residence and gone to parts unknown, under a dispensation of the Constitutional restriction by a two-thirds vote, was read twice by title only, the third time by sections and passed by yeas, 41; nays, 1.
On motion by Mr. SMITH of Delaware, the bill [H. R. 380 ] to legalize the Daleville and Bell Creek Turnpike Company, in the County of Delaware, under a suspension of the Constitutional rule, was read twice by title only, the third time by sections and passed by yeas, 34; nays, 0.
THE SPECIFIC APPROPRIATION BILL.
On motion by Mr. MAGEE the Senate resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole [Mr. Spann in the Chair.]
Mr. VOYLES moved to add to item 157 $2,000 for gas, replacing wornout fixtures for the Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children.
The amendment was agreed to.
When the $16,000 deficiency in the public printing was read-
Mr. MAGEE complained of the padding out practiced in the public printing. The Bureau of Public Printing should not overdraw by issuing vouchers in advance of the appropriation. He protested against this, and if there is any way to prevent this growing abuse it should be adopted.
Mr. BELL called the of the Printing Committee to these abuses at the beginning of the session.
Mr. VAN VORHIS moved to add Section 25, to David V. Burns, $400; and to Caleb S. Denney, $200, in full for services rendered in the case of the State vs. the County of Johnson.
The amendment was adopted.
Mr. BUNDY moved to add, to Samuel A. Bowen, $129 96; and to James Y. Allison, $120, for services as special Judges.
It was rejected.
Mr. SAYRE moved to allow $360 for similar services to the estate of John U. Pettit.
It was agreed to.
Mr. BELL moved to add $46,736 46 to John Martin.
Mr. McINTOSH opposed the amendment, and read an objection made to it as printed in the Brevier Reports, volume xx, page 180, by a member of the last House of Representatives.
Mr. WILLARD said this claim was founded on a technicality of measurement.
Mr. Voyles also opposed it.
Mr. Graham, Mr. Bundy, Mr. Van Vorhis, Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Foulke regarded it as a just claim.
It was agreed to upon a division-affirmative, 20; negative, 14.
Mr. RICHARDSON moved to add $5,152 69 for lightning rods place don the Insane Asylum by David R. Munson.
It was rejected.
Mr. MAGEE moved to strike out $1,200 for clerk hire in the Adjutant General's office.
Mr. VOYLES offered a substitute for the item and the assessment $[?],000 to buy records, books and muster in rods.
The substitute was adopted.
Mr. OVERSTREET moved to add $1,300 to M. M. Campbell for extra services as teacher in the State University.
It was agreed to.
Mr. FOULKE moved to amend by allowing William H. Shclater for preparing a list of bills for the last Senate Journal.
It was adopted.
Mr. YOUCHE moved to add $250 to the J. H. Warden for measuring wall for the Insane Hospital in the John Martin claim.
The amendment was agreed to by affirmative, 17; negative, 10.
Mr. McCLURE moved to amend by adding $38,333 for buying three and one-third acres of ground and building a wall along side of it.
Mr. BENZ said the fence was rotten, it is twelve years old; more ground is needed, and it is offered cheap.
It was adopted upon a division-affirmative, 22; negative, none.
Mr. BUNDY offered an amendment allowing $500 for extra pay to Clerk of the Committee on Revision.
It was adopted.
On motion by Mr. Magee, the Committee rose, reported progress and instructed the Chairman to report the bill to the Senate at 10 to-morrow.
The report was concurred in.
The Senate adjourned till 10 a. m. to-morrow.
