Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1863-08-05
M0KNING I.EADKR.
WEDNESDAY 1IORNING. AUGUST 5, '63



John Brough, in his late speech at Gin
cinnsti, whistles the brakes down on the
railroad story as follows;
"There is another point Of personal
character upon which wish to say a word.
I say it not out of any particular regard
or desire on my part to justify myself, out
I wish TO speak in behalf Of the rallroad
that have presided over for great ma
nv years. aud in whose reputation have
a decided interest It has been uttered
from one end Of the State to the other
whether it has been published in your city
Democratic paper or not, l am not prepar-
ed to say, for have not seen it-but IN
other parts Of the State it has been given
out by the Democratic press, that the rail
road compsny over which I preside refused
10 carry the sick and wounded soldiers Of
Ohio returning to their homes in different
parts Of the State, for half-fare when the
other roads did SO. Now, in one particu-
lar, in the abstract sense, they might claim
It to be true. But it is not true in this /;
that it does not state the whole truth. The
facts are these The military authorities
Of the State made proposition to US that
we should carry the sick end wounded sol
diers at halls the regular fare on the road /;
that halffare should be paid by the State
Of Ohio; that the railroad company should
contribute the other half as their share Of
the public burden. To that request we re-
sponded; we weIe ready to do it.
"But in that connection they were to
have certain red tape vouchers They re-
quired US to take from every sick and
wounded soldier we carried, receipt,
showing his name, residence, company and
regiment, together with the distance we
carried him, and the amount We collected
These vouchers were to be returned to the
Quartermaster Of the State, and from him
to the Paymaster, that the soldier should
have the amount checked against his pay
roll. We said, we thank you, we will do
so much work as that. We wanted the
soldier to have the full benefit Of the re-
duced rates. Cheers
These men did not 60 to the sanguinary
battlefield for the pitiful compensation al
lowed them by the Government. They
went to sustain the cause Of our country
and the hoRor Of our flag. They went to
protect corporations ct home in the enjoy
ment of their rights and their property,
and it is a pitiful thing if We, who have
staid at home to enjoy the protection OF
gallant men, cannot afford to pay the
amount required to carry them home, per-
haps to die Of sickness or wounds received
in our defense. They argued that We we're
wrong We responded that we we're right.
We cut the Gordon knot by getting them
to take back their vouchers and papers
We did not want them. We passed over
five hundred men on our road afterward.
But we did more than that, but do not
speak Of this as having merit in it, be-
cause it was no more than we should have
done. We carried hundreds and thousands
Of tons land SO do other railroads) Of the
collections that were made by the soldiers
societies and sanitary commissions. We
carried them free, and more than that, we
negotiated at the end of our road for their
conveyance to Cairo, st. Louis, and other
points Of destination. They we're carried
free, and there was no merit in 1t, because
the men to whom the contributions were
intended were protecting our property
from the inroads Of Vandals, who would
have destroyed it if permitted to invade
u.s." Applause.