Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-03-15
AiebmonS Enquirer.
nv RITcuIE, D~USNAvANT, 4 WISE.
T1IVsDNY MORNING. MARCH Is, 1859,
a.,rrcH OF THE HON. JOHN n. Bolts,

n,J;vsred before the Order Of United Americans, Il
the Academy Of Music, New York, February 22d
1852"
Erich aud rare were the gems she wore"
When we hear Of the great effort Of n grea
mind, We are attracted to it by an Irresistible
desire to see how the great mind works, ant
how its powers are brought to bear upon thu
minds that applaud and are led captive by III
reasoning. When we hear Of the effect pro
duccd upon the masses, and learn that they arr
>wayed to and fro by the orator, like the waves
of the ocean, by the swecpings OF a tornado
we desire to sec the influences which are exert
cd to produce the mighty effect. We under
stand that the great crowd that listened, 1t no.
IN New York. at least at the African Church, II
Richmond, did toss themselves about in evident
delight, did applaud to the top Of the echo die
rejoice at the shaking Of hands, then and there
exhibited, and did give in their fealty to the
principles announced and to the denunclations
indulged in. But after calmly peruSinS the
great effort, we are forced to say, it is as DIFF
ticnlt to see the cause which produced the CT
feet, as TO see the wind which pro luces the
tornado. AS the effect was produced, We have
vcntured to analysc the speech and give ON
views to our readers currsnte calamo.
Mr.. Bolts proceeds: THAT there has been
congressional corruption, purchased legislation,
insuEerable extravaganza and public plumber,
to an extent unknown and unparalleled before,
under Democratic example and misrule, the
numerous committees that have been appoint
ed to investigate congressional abuses and cor
r~uptions, and the records Of Congress will
prove"
Here again. Mr.. Bolts INDUCES in an admix.
ture Of truth, and charges unsustained, except
by assumption, which appear to give strength
TO the point he makes, but which. when reduced
| to the component elements, d~evelope We lkness,
and turn the point Of his weapon directly into
his own flesh.
That there may have. been congressional cor
ruption, perhaps purchased legislation, extra
| vagancc and plumber, to an extent unknown
and unparalleled before, Mnder Democratic et-
! ample and misrule. may be true. In the long
period that the government has been under De.
| m~ocra,ic authority, it is not unreasonable to
suppose that there have been sometimes, bad
and corrupt men in office, who may have set
bad examples. But that the examples are rare
in comparison with those set by Wings, under
Wing misrule, The records of Congress will
prove" We have been inveighing with all our
might, against the extravaganza and prOfigacy
by which public mcn Of all parties seemed to
be actuated at the present day, but the
conclusion Of Mr.. Bolts crushing sem
,encc, turns against himsclf--for 'the nu-
merous committees that have been ap-
pointed to investigate congressional abuses
and corruptions, only so to show thatthe Dem
. o~cratic Congress has been wide awake to ferret
out and detect these abuses, or they would not
have appointed numerous committees for any
| such purpose, and that the Democrats have not
| folded their arms in unconcern, or even wink
ed at corrup,ions, while with the power in their
hands, they might have shielded, but hat they
arc ueltl Inc " 'hN tbthSA ~"
But that Mr.. Bolts, with the full knowledge
| of the Galphin and Gardner corruptions, and
trumped up claims allowed by a glorious Wing
administration, should have alluded to corrup-
ton and plumber, is as bad as it would be for
one to alludc to a rope, in the presence Of an
other whose father had been hanged. Has he
forgotten the Galphin outrage? He, who rang
the changes upon it under the Van Buren, all.
ministration as an attempt at plumber "un-
known and unparallcledg lie, who used it
then, as his best trump, to recover a hopeless
game for power. Has he forgotten, that after
the claim had been rejected by the Senate Of
the United States and expunsed from the trea-
tv with the Cherokecs-had been rejected by
the State of Gcorgia-had been reported upon
by u committee, as one of the charges OF cor
ruption against Mr.. Forsyth, the then Secreta-
nv Of State, because he had cxerted his Official
influence TO have the treaty negotiated and
sent to the Senate, when he had q personal in
tcrest in the claim to the amount Of a fee Of
$50. O00-aner Mr.. Forsyth had explained, that
the treaty was not made IN conneXion
with the Office Of Secretary Of State, but
IN that of the Secretary Of War, whose
official connection with the Indians made
it the duty Of that officer to originate the trea'
ty, and, therefore, Mr.. Forsyth claimed to have
the individual right to be interested in the
claim without ccnSure; and, Notwithstanding
This explanation, the Wing party urged it as a
glaring case of corruption in lS40-'ii and IS:
Has Mr.. Bolts forgotten that, after all this,
when Mr.. Fillmore came into Office, with n
Georgia Wing Secretary Of War in his Cabinet,
his Wing Administration, after this claim had
been stigmatizcd by Wings as a Democratic
fraud, did. without treaty. without authority
| of law, with the report Of the investigating
committee Of 1867 staring them in the face,
and without other investigation, allow the
claim, and pay it by Executive order: And
though Mr.. Crawford, the agent for the claim,
was then Secretary Of War-at the head of that
Department whose acknowledged duty it was
to treat with the Indians-yet that Wing Ad-
miniStratlon allowed him to pocket upwards OF
$50, 000-ncarly double what would have been
Mr.. Forsyth's fee, had the claim been allowed
in Van Burcn's time-and then set up for pu-
rists, who cannot tolerate corruption, and are
nauscatcd at the idea of public plumber! If
time would allow, we would reproduce the
iniquities Of their short Wing Administrations,
which, in truth, might be characterised as hav-
ing existed ITO an extent unknown and I'M
paralleled before"
We sincerely hope 1.-The numerous commit
tees that have been appointed to investigate
Congressional abuses and corruptions," will
make their investigations so searching that the
odium attaching, whether upon Democrat ke'
n,,b,;c,n Know Nothing or Whig, will be