The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1839-01-24
CONGRESSIONAL.
DEBATE IN THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,.
FmDAY, December 81, 1888.
kPEECIU nE MIA xuUaE
SPEECH OF MIR. WI

SPEECH OF MIR. WISE,
On The subject Of The late deIalcatons.
CONTINUED.
Where are now the defauters OF this reform admins
uauon' Where is Swartwout, after embezzling public
money lot eight years IN succession, ill he had taken
anu an carried away million and quarter! Where is
where Is Gratiotl How long since their car
rage wheels proudly hurled the Olympic dus, Of the
sshlonsbe streets and avenues of your mctropols Of
court aud Of fashion No msrshas AZ their beels-no
aisuc' attorneys prosecuting against them triple ndic
menus mey ran away, or walked away, unfoTbidden
ana none to hinder! Where is BOYD that land office
ae,au,,er' who appealed TO the msforunos OF specu
~ W eject nm TO the Senate OF his State Of Misss-
s'Pp'' ihese are all innocent and unfortunate or es
Gaping delanlters These are full handed PUBLIC Mum
pst punderers, and 60 "unwhpped Of justice "
on, 90 was obias Watkins unfortunate lie was born
ana pred gentleman; dazzed by the tinsel glare Of
inns metropolis Of splendid misery and shaby spendor
was once with equal force, TRUTH and beauty de-
scnned by that uneqnaled orator Of Virginia John Ran
doph }--oi liberal mind AID habits too, he iIayished
some three Thousand mprovidentiv thinking IN Lis
heart that he should be able replace that sum and
more ana make all straight" aud he was imprisoned
Tor his imprUdence for nearly four wears and ,.d =,
bear felon's brand! All sir hut he was g,nI,,,n
he belonged to "aH the decency," to the silk
stocking gehtry"-he was not Of your Iocofoco de-
faners--he was not unfortunate To The amount of mil
hons-he was no robher on large scae-he was NOT
one TOO in handed TO he touched by the rude hands Of
the tpstah he defaulter Of the great demo.
crazy, and, poor fellow he suffered for being peatle
man! ny the by sir, that word reminds me Of the fact
mat " was during, or not until the past summer your
party hrst discovered that your President was penis
man! Inc discovery wssmsde FIRST ! think, by granny
nitchie nat venerable gentleman took me 10 task
Tor hnding some gentlemen in Petersburg and "a a So,
OIL II seemed, boosted that President Van Buren, too
was actually gentleman! Very strange, that man
whom they made President, the successor of the ias
Hions IN 1887, they did not find out 10 he gsnt,eman
until the summer of 1888, They must surely have
been trying 10 make him out Wing For myself I
always knew he was In the ordinary sense a gentle
man aud It was morliiyng to see that the En-.
qurer by Implication, at least had supposed until lately
that the President Of the u States could he other than
gentleman-Judglng, | mean, from its boast OF the
sudden discovery but my colleague there, MIR Drom-
goole VIII not, however recognise Mr. Richie as a
genuine Loco-foco editor [Mr Dromgoole said, No,
no. he is a Conservative There is a cheering copsi
deatlon connected with this discovery though by the
Administration press; 1t is the brightest omen which
has occurred for years of Mr. Van Buren's downfall
Yes, SIR, that cry Of gentleman" upon him by his
friends Will finish him-with the party which supports
him, they nigh, well have cried mad dog !" II is
certain prognostc that he is going down, From the
hour that father Richie made that fatal discovery the
mans doom was sealed. But sir, the gentleman de-
faulter Watkins, as was saying met his fate and now
that he has been purified by the res of the law we NAV
be permitted to do him justice and make him the in
strument OF retrbution. call him up | invoke his
wrongs, his suerngs, his injuries, his expiaon to rise
in Judgment against his prosecutors to condemn them
W here Is he now In station where he is, no doubt
far happier than IL his day of prcc and terror
haunted show, when he toiled poor slave in one OF
the stalls OF yon document. actore called Departments
He is an humble apothecsry and here / will saw
for the benefit Of all who would be honest and who wish
to be Clean that he keeps for sale the very best OF
patnsoap' and chloride Of lime, and other chemical
compositions, TO take off the spots OF Loco focosm and
to cleanse from all corruption recommend to GER
tain Sub.treasury gentlemen to go and bay but what
if they be washed white as SNOW they will like
the hog, return to their wallowing in the mire
The Administration may pre,eud tha, thew wish in.
vestgation. II is full time But how is the matter
pressed Every and then the chairman OF Ways
and Means Mr. Cambreleng) comes forward and, in
solemn Tone asks you drop the subject for what he
pleased 10 term "business as if it was no, the busi
Of this House, and its chief duty now a-days to
look into abuses, Sir "the parry are in reality, a,
heart, much opposed to inquiry now as of old II
their turn at this time to pretend to be digent
and jealous for inquiry. They no more its friends
than they ever were. ...
Mr. CaMpsELESc here interposed. hope the gen.
tleman will not do me injustice. never voted against
any OF his Investigations Never
Mr. w. | said your party
Mr. C. My parry; ha +! ha That is another affair
affair" since the New York election And now that
the inqulties Of your party daily coming to light,
now that concealmen is no longer possible. every man
Of "he pary" is prompt to cxcaim. you can't say
did it the party itself must be brisk make the dis
cainer lest the people all down as rogues together
those who found ont and those who are not The
people are beginning to compare Watkins with Swart-
wout-hundreds Of cases Of dealcalion with one-thr.
teen millions Of expenditure with thirty or forty millions
and TO that the administration of Adams, howe
bad was in comparison with the inquities of thi.
dynasty about as Watkins to Swartw out-s3 $50 to
225, 900 dollars thirteen millions to forty millions
one case Of dedication severely punished, to one
hundred not only unrebuked but countenanced and con-
nved at
And this, sir, brings me 10 the Message Of this
session. Sc enormous appalling have your iniqui
ties grown that at one lime We were called 10 an ex
ira session 10 cure one system of experiments, and
again another systems blotches and blans are the
special subjects of Executive communications. The
President himself in Selfdefence and Mr.. Secreta-
~, are compelled 10 acknowledge them in order TO
account for Them Iris Message of Mr. Van Bu-
directly contradicts the letter and certificate OF
his lustrious predecessor" He conies>es that all
the Departments not, and were not sound, and is
all in hurrah for investigation. Let see:
"A change in the Office of Collector, at one of our
principal ports, has brought to light defalcation Of
the graves character the particulars of which will
be laid before YOU in special report from the Secre-
tary o. the Treasury BY his report, and the accom-
panying docun ents, it will be that The accekiy
returns of the defauing officer apparently e1hibtcd
throughout, a faithful administration Of the Affairs en-
trusted 10 his management"
Sir, querc de hocl ! will endedvor to show you
directly that this is an error; that the weekly re-
turns" if thew had been properly examined and COM
pared in the Secretary's office would have detected
and exhibited the very of +" faithful adm-
nisration" long ago. But the President proceeds:
1T however, now appears Mat he commenced ab-
after O1uf-
ment and continued 10 do so, progressively increas
ing the amount, Tor the term of than years.
embracing portion Of the period during which the
public moneys were deposited in the Bank Of the
United States the whole Of that Of the State bank de-
poSite system, and concluding only his retirement
from o6ce," sc.
Sir, this is confession which ales we'll with the
inStrionS predecessors certificate of the mabiLtkn