Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1859-05-07
lailp Jiroiniau.
From the Richmond Whig
SPEECH OF HON. WIN c. RIVES
IN THE CITY OF RICHMOND,
MAY 3. 1889.


MAY 3, 1859.
Mr.. Rives b'gan by remarkng that the habits
and pursuits Of his life. for many years past. had
removed him entirely from scenes Of political cx-
| ctemcnt. | hnvc no desire, he said again to en-
| gage in them While had public duty To per
form, | endravorcd to discharge ii honestly. faith
fully. and To the best of my ability, -mnre nnx-
| ious to serre than merely 10 please my constiu-
enis, Chcri-hing with sincerity tho prlnci piles
brought with me into public lite. | could not MS
an honest man. change them at he bidding OF par
~. My services were no longer acceptable; n,,d |
hnve since lived II rri,n'c citizen. rontrn'cd and
ppy, with no compai, 10 r. rc,i cts in the ,ast--
no aspirations III the future.
But, fellow citizens, | should he sorry to say
that have lived an unconocrncd spectator ofpub-
lie events. la free country. every citizen, tho
humhlcst aud most obscure ns we'll ms tho highest
has patriotic duty to perform in watching oscr
aud defending. ace",ding to hS opportunities, tho
precious deposit Of tho public liberties. Candor
compcls me to declare that, from time to time,
have seen much cause Tor patriotic anxiety, hut
neve" ~ much nt tho present moment
1t is his conviction which has induced me-
may say constainc me--not without many struy.
giles ngniust the force of habit nnd that love of re-
tircmcnt which grows stronger by every days in
ducenco. Ia appear before yon, IN obelicnce to
the lnltornS call thar has been made upon me
know how incapable | am "i adding by any
',
eloquent appeals tha, have been already address.
ed I, the intelligence aud munlincss Of the coun-
Try. iat rowcrless ns my voice IL, feel that
should hc ircgchnt to the duty ot good cltizeu il
| were to raise At in such cause, while there
may be one Of my c1untrymcn willing 10 listen 10
me.
d, not appear before You to plead Cor the til
nnph of II party. No, fellow citizens; it is FAR
higher cause which now demands the cxerIons If
us all. bold aud uubushing corruption has in
ynled every department ofour national admuls-
tra'ion. which. if not promptly and vigorously
checked by the sovereign rc.mke of the people.
mast snon cngulph the public liberty, rs it israp.
idly undermining the public morals
The wisdom aud valor of our ancestors l'e-
qncahcd to ~ nole FREQ institutions, which were
Intended to place tio public liberty securely un-
der ,he guardianship of the public virtue. 1t is
those nnll" institutions which during official ahu
ses. emhlnencd by impunity, would now rerrct
to the destruction Of Liberty, hy undermining e,
cry guarantee provided for its security even the
virtue aud the patriotism Of the people themselves
Shall we not then rally To their defence one and
all of u? Shail we le told that this s the cause
Of II party? BcliescNlc. fellow citizens. it is the
vital rnu>r Of con- ttu;ioual lreedom-thc common
cause al every American citizen, Democrat, Whg
Or by whatever pnrty denomination he may hnve
been hitherto Known. who values his hilthright.
and is maniully determined to defend it.
That have presented to you no exaggerated
picture Of our public situation. is unfortunately
too well established ly inctS, now Of universal no
toricty, Eevc!alions brought out, during the late
session of Congress. hayc placed them before the
public in n form not To be questioned,
Look at the report upon public printing and You
will see there how elaboracly and ingeniously, in
that largo dopartment of thc public expenditure.
corruption has been organized into system 10
multiply brbes to the employees and supporters of
IN whether lttr
paper icr printing, Tor lithographng for engra-
wing has been managed not only to yield u
rich harvest to the contractor himself but to the
officer of the Gnycrnmcnt who awards the contract
md to the intermediate agents employed ns bro
kers to procure it. Thus is single job made by
its ramitieations t. enlist and rrmnncrac n dozen
or more political rctaners: at an enormous cost to
the Treasury; f,r the prices allowed to the con
tractor must be corrcspondlngly high, to enable
him to pay the customary tributes to his patrons
and usso iatcs
And ,hi. rank scene Of ofcorruption has been pass
ing under the very nose ofthc Government, in the
city Of Washington. One ot these levers ol 6t1ch
maI--one who received the modest sum Of S39, 900
for bis goodwill and patronage in the sale and
brokerage ol public contraets-was but the other
law owuer and conductor of the Official organ of
the Government, and is even now, we are told,
public printer in fact, though not in name
I.pok now Mt the hugo report made upon the
operations in the navy yards Of Philadelphia and
Brooklyn--a document gigantic in its proportions,
but vet more gigantic and startling in tho official
iniqniitics it reveals. have neither the time nor
the patience to enter into the disgusting details
of these revelations. But one giarng aud mon.
s,rous fact appears from them all the systematic
employment Of contracts for every variety of work
and materials in both ofthose vast establishments,
and that with the direct appreciation Of the Govern
ment itself, to reward partznn services, AMI to
debauch the snlfages Of the people.
There you will contracts involving large
amounts Of the public money, directed by tho
q vernment be given. in open violation OF law,
to the highest instead of the lowest bidder, from
the sole consideration Of the number Of subsidized
voters IN the employment OF the preferred party,
whose sufrages were required IN tho critical mo-
ment of n contested election. So minutcly and
systematically was this policy carried out in one
of these establishments that Democratic men,
hers OF Congress representing the adjoining dis
.ricts were formally constituted by the Govern
ment its author I'd agents for making an cquita-
BILE division Of the public spps among its sup
porters; and in this manner, the yard was filed to
the number Of several thousand, with worthless
and incompetent men, whose onl claim to employ
ment was founded on political service and among
whom, in the language of the report, 'idleness,
theft insub1rdination, fraud, and gross neglect Of
duty prevailed to an alarming extent"
The developments made present the Government
rs moving in n constant circle OF corruption.-
First, the Government, with the public money,
corrupts the contractors and their employees to
vote for members of Congress; then the contrac-
tors corru pit the members Of Congress. with
stipulated per cenage, to procure them other con-
tracts and finally, the members of Congress by
one species Of influence or another corrupt the Gov
ernment to bestsw the contracts which they had
stipulated Ia obtain.
Bat, fellow-citizens, | cannot follow out these
revolving details; there they are upon record,
where YOU can examine them for yourselves, and
ponder on the mournful degeneracy Of the public