The New International Encyclopædia/Covode Investigation

COVODE INVESTIGATION. An investigation (1860) by a Congressional committee of five, headed by Covode of Pennsylvania, into the charge made by two anti-Lecompton Democrats that the Administration had endeavored to persuade them corruptly to support the Lecompton Bill. (See Lecompton Constitution.) President Buchanan vigorously protested against the appointment of a committee for such a purpose, on the ground that it would detract from the dignity and independence of the executive office, but his protests were unheeded, and in June the committee made its report, the Republican majority supporting the charge and the Democratic minority denouncing it. The committee, however, was considered to have brought forward sufficient evidence to prove Buchanan's favoritism and his questionable use of patronage. The report was printed in a bulky volume. For a defense of Buchanan, consult Curtis, Life of Buchanan (New York, 1883).