Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1859-03-15
pou.,,,. ofMr Parsons,
OF Cagakoga COnnty, IN tks HONss Of Repre-
sentGtires IN regard to Treasury detaIeation

Mr.. SPEAKER-When l arose IN my place
to answer what conceived to be a
ibel upon Gov. Chase, had no special hl-Wlll
owards the member from Van Vert, except
hat which / share in common with all VINO
nave the misfortune of his acquaintance
lave listened to his speech this mornIng, and
ais billingsgate attack upon myself, and can
still say have no other i'll feeling towards him
than that Of of intense loathing and contempt.
Sir, when the Almighty Father OF us all created
the garden of Eden, he made and placed within
il man, the nobIest of all-his works, and
stamped him with his own image. He invested
him with dignity and manly grace, and upon
his face shone goodness. greatness and genuine
nobility. When He made the mighty oak, un-
der whose grateful shade man and beast hnd
shelter and repose, He intended to stamp upon
the tree itself, its own beauty, and the uses for
which it was designed So, too, with the little
violet that springs into life uneer the first warm
rays of the summers sun-there 1t grows, al
most hidden among the green grasses around
it, humble and unpretending, yet gladdenlng
the eve and deightiDg the heart of all who be-
hold IFS delicate beauty or inhale Its fragrant
odors. Upon all the Creators works He has
stamped in significant and not to be mistaken
language, the character of the thing itself. The
loathsome snake and the poisonous reptile we
shrink from with instructive terror and alarm.
What it was designed we should admire and
love. we intuitively admire and love; and we
shrink back with horror intuitiyely and natur-
allv from those things it was designed we
should hate and avoid 1t is law written upon
our hearts by the hand of the Creator Himself
And. NJ. Speaker, It was in obedience to this
law. that when first beheld the ScGrenger coHn-
tenasce of the member from Van Vert, shrank
back from it with loathing and disgust, feeling
Here the gentleman from Cuyahoga was
cailedto order by the Speaker and the member
from Auglaize
Mr.. Speaker, 1 cheerfulIy obey the call to or
der by the chair, though no Speaker, or gentle
man called the member from Van Vert to or
der. while he poured out his attack upon me,
and thank them that they did not.
Sir, the member from Van Vert says he has
no quarrel with me, and has never thrown q
stone in my way. Sir, he cannot be in my way.
Thank God, we have nothing in Common ex'
cept we both hold seat upon this fioor-when
he and meet, give way on the same ground
that John Randolph did to the bully in Wash
ington. "Sir," said bully, who was desIr'
Gus of insulting Randolph, when he met him
upon the sidewalk, shaking his fist in the
face of the Virginian, 81 never turn out OF my
way for any d--d scouhdreI" ''Slr," says
Mr. RandOl ph, ~ Glioays do" and turning out
of the way, left the discounted bully to his OWE
reflections
Mr. Speaker, I call upon this House to beal
me out in the assertion, that this debate was
not thrust upon the House by the Republicans
or any member of their organization L sim
ply met the libel of the member from Van
Vert as it deserved, and hurled back upon
him with contempt, the charge that Governor
Chase had aided in this robbery upon the
Treasury of the State of Ohio. In that did
but what [ conceived to be my duty, and 1 am
sustained in it by many Democrats upon this
floor.
Sir, I deny that the Republicans are in favor
of suppressing this report, and avow that we
are ready and willing to vote for its printing
aud general circulation. But what we object
to, is the attempt to suppress the message ol
Governor Chase that came with this report;
and we claim that in SO suppressing it, they are
committing a contemplate act, unworthy of the
General Assembly of the State of Ohio
But, sir, gentlemen may refuse to print the
message or not, as they please, 1T will not at
feet this report in any manner The report is
made-printed and published, and is now in
the hands of the people. To that report, and
some of the charges made within it, | propose
to devote a little attention.
And first, | charge that this report is admit
ted by candid men of all parties, to be an IN
tenSely partizan warm, one-sided document.
The whole attempt of the report is to take the
odium of this Treasury Defalcati0n from tle
shoulders of Mr.. Breslin, and the Democratic
party, and place it upon the shoulders of Messrs.
pIse- ,,J EiksOp and tho PeDublicor r,arfv. Or
or least compel them to bear one half OF the
burden. Now, sir. against this 1 protest, and
shall give my reasons lohy protest against it.
The report opens with ten moral columns of
the Ohio Statesman in the vain endeavor to
fix some parts of this defalcation upon A. a.
Bliss: and / now claim that they have so far
as this Is concerned, made a most unqualified
and mortifying failure That they have shown
what every body knew before that Mr. Bliss
deposited the funds of the State with bankers
and brokers, nobody denies; that he may have
used the public funds do not deny;
but he only followed in this respect the univer-
sal custom of all the Treasurers of state before
him, relying upon his bail to make good to the
people of the State all the moneys that came
into his hands. And. sir, when Mr.. Bliss went
out of office, and Mr.. BresIin went in, Mr..
Bliss was found to owe the State the sum of
$4,000 That sum the bail Of Mr.. Bliss
promptly secured to the State, as this report is
forced to admit, and Mr. Bliss left the Treasury
of the people Icith eUeTy dollar secured to it that
belonged there Gentlemen may argue and ar
que, and ''wire in and wire OUT here is fact
and they cannot avoid it. But these commits
sioners finally conclude by course of reason
ING that no mortal man can follow, that Mr..
Bliss still owes the State the enormous sum of
S37, ,S62 so. And this is all the mouse that has
been brought forth from this mountain in Ia
Dor. / say too, gentlemen, that if Mr. Bliss
still owes the Stale dollar, it is as secure as
though it was already in the Treasury. The
bail of Mr.. Bliss is ample-tAeir responsibility
beyond all question-and his bail bond the best
that was ever filed for any Treasurer of the
State of Ohio. / call upon the gentlemen to
make proof of this defalcation of Mr.. Bliss and
compel him to pay it without delay, and pre-
vent the State from this terrible loss of S37,
900 as conjuTed up by the ingenuity of these
But I now approach the report in relation 70
Mr. Breslin And here with the overwhelm-
ing facts of Mr.. Breslin's corruption and crimes
before them-with defalcation for which he,
and he alone is anslSerabls, Of nearly $500, 600;
with full and complete knowledge of all this
before them, they attempt to break his fall by
into their report in relation to han,
two columns of closely printed matter; apollo
gizing for his conduct, and e1cusing his acts.
They say he was such promising young man
with such brilliant political future; man
who had the entire confidence of his party; had
been Speaker of the House of Representatives,
was eourted and admired by all; but alas! was
seduced from the path of duty ''fO commit errors
which have ended in his ruin and disgrace
And one of the means of his ruin was the let
ter claimed to have been written By Governor
Chase, which l will read for the benefit of the
House:
''PRIyATE." eNcISNArI, Dec. 80, 81.
"MT DEAR SIR:-I inclose Mr.. Heston's letter,
which speaks for itself take it for granted, that
so far as the Treasury makes deposits in Cincin-
1ati they will not be continued with the Trust
Company. The City Bank is, I have no doubt,