How long it would take a mob to disperse and melt away of its own accord, which on Thursday numbered from fifty to two hundred men, on Friday from five hundred to fifteen hundred, and on Saturday from two thousand in the morning to seven or eight thousand in the afternoon, and which was growing all the time more turbulent and excited, we leave for the advocates of the do nothing policy to determine if they can. The firing on the mob by the troops, and the subsequent inaction precipitated and aggravated its action, but did not create the riots. When a great line of public travel and traffic like the Pennsylvania railroad is blockaded by a mob, the public interests suffer more than the railroad interests, and every day that it is allowed to continue, damages the community to the extent of thousands of dollars, and it was the duty of the local civil authorities to adopt the most vigorous measures to break the blockade, but if instead of doing this, they temporize with the mob until, in consequence thereof, it becomes too strong to be suppressed by them, and the troops of the State are called on for assistance, the latter cannot be said to have caused the riots, or held responsible for the consequences of an honest effort to enforce the law. If the rioting was caused by the calling out of the troops, and their subsequent actions, then the claim that that was an insurrection falls to the ground, and if there was an insurrection, then the troops cannot have been the cause of the rioting, as the two positions are inconsistent, although held and advocated by a number of prominent men. All of which is respectfully submitted. JOHN E. REYBURN, _Chairman_. E. D. YUTZY, W. L. TORBERT, _Committee of the Senate_. W. M. LINDSEY, _Chairman Joint Committee_. D. C. LARRABEE, A. F. ENGELBERT, SAMU'L W. MEANS, P. P. DEWEES, _Committee of the House_. Laid on the table. PROCEEDINGS AND TESTIMONY. SENATE COMMITTEE ROOM, HARRISBURG, _February 4, 1878_. The committee met and organized by the election of the following officers: W. M. Lindsey, _Chairman_. Samuel B. Collins, _Clerk and Stenographer_. J. J. Cromer, _Sergeant-at-Arms_. ---- ----, _Messenger_. Adjourned to meet in Pittsburgh, an the 6th instant. ORPHANS' COURT ROOM, PITTSBURGH, _Wednesday, February 6, 1878_. The committee met at half past ten o'clock, A.M., this day, in the orphans' court room, city of Pittsburgh. The roll of members being called, it was found that all the members were present. The committee engaged in a consultation as to the mode of procedure in taking testimony--as to whether the sessions of the committee should be public, and as to whether counsel should be admitted to represent parties who might be summoned as witnesses.