Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-10-26


a skunk. tHC .3'fE EHriN4 G /
Extracts from a Speech Recently
Delivered by John Van Buren, In
Philadelphia. ''.'- s1.s''i ~
THE GOVERNMENT DEBT.
The charge is now laid upon the Admin
istration that the war has been unnecessa-
rily protracted for partisan and political
purposes by the turtherance of electiOneer-
ing schemes and through gross incapacity.
+ [Applause.] When the President came in
to bower we had debt of $65,000,00O. The
Secretary of the Treasury apprizes us now
that we have debt of $2,000,000,000, and If
the facts are truly stated, and the legitimate
claims upon the Treasury recognized, and
the unpaid creditors of the Government
satisfied, the debt would probably reach
500, ,O00, 100000. Added to that in every
county and township there is an enormous
accumulation of debt, necessary, itmay be,
for bounties to volunteers and for various
expenses incident to the war, indispensa-
BILE for the purpose of county and State tax
alton. We have war raging that is cost
ing us some three and a half millions per
day; we have an army of nearly a million
of men under pay, and the people out OF
their humble means are called upon to sup
y
debt has accumulated at the rate of one
thousand millions year, and there is a
probability, unless there is change Of Ad-
ministration, that it will accumulated as rap
idly as that for the future.
Now, the people should remember that
the war has been prosecuted without abili-
ty and without vigor. They should remem-
Der that politics and not patriotism has been
the distinctive feature of the war, and we
all should remember that the prosecution Of
the war and this accumulation of debt lies
at the door of the party that has presented
itself to us for at least another four years Of
power. [Great applause.]
THE GREAT MISTAKE.
The war has been conducted with disre-
gard of advice given to the Administration
at its outset. About the first of March
Gen. Scott wrote to President Lincoln and
told him that he would require 250, men
to prosecute the war. Was the slightest at
tention paid to that? No; 10000 men were
called out. The riot act was read to the
South. TGreat laughter They were told
to disperse, go home, and keep quiet. Re-
newed laughter. The Secretary of State
said il would blow over In sixty days. The
President declared to us that nobody was
hurt [roars of laughter1, and Mr.. Seward,
on the banks of the Mississippi, comfortably
removed from danger, cried out 'sWho's
atraid?" [Great merriment.] Said Mr.. Van
Buren, / was afraid, and my worst fears have
been realized by the result. #f,
i GEN. MCCLELLAN. . t4.
At the time the war commenced there
happened to be young General named
George B. Mcclellan [great applause] who
was put at the head of our army, and who
was called upon very shortly afterward to
furnish plan Of the campaign upon which
he entered. Now, since the time of his
being placed at the head OF the army up to
this hour no effort has been spared to en-
barrass him. Had the whole object of the
war been to destroy Mcclellan, and not the
rebels, the efforts made to accomplish the
purpose reflects credit upon the prosecu-
tors. '[Cheers.l But that cannot be ac-
complished without our aid, (cheers] and it
is proper that we have little to say on
this subject. ail5ll r
When Gen. Mcclellan started for Rich
mond lie had with him three corps d'armee.
They were taken from him from time to
time during the campaign. The corps were
Wool's, Blenker's and McDowell's, and the
last was taken from him in the very act of
battle with the enemy, on the way to Rich
mond. In defiance of this, he came nearer
to Richmond, in July, 1852 than Grant is
tonight. [Cheers.l Or, to use stronger
simfle, he was as near as Lee was to WASH
ington during the summer Repeated
cheers.l Now, this was done somewhat for
a dread of the sacredness of the Presidents
own person, which he supposed to be in
some terrible jeopardy at the capital, as If
the rebels had not sense enough to never
take him while he could be useful to them
where he was, [loud laughter] and partly
because Gen. McClellan's popularity with
the people was such that Abraham's lease
for four years more was in danger.
--f SWAPPING HORSES.
The Administration has done another
thing. 1t has kept up a steady trade in
swapping horses. [Laughter.] The Presi
dent tells us that it is not good time to
swap horses. To use his own elegant Ian
guage, we are now in the stream, and we
had better hold on to him than run the risk
of getting worse-a better person by let
ting him go. [Great laughter.] He has
done nothing but swap, He swapped Nc
Clellan for Pope, and the bloody battle of
Bull Run followed. He snapped Pope for
McC Clellan, and the splendid victory Of An
tietam was the result three cheers for An
tietanl, and that was the only commenda-
BILE swap he ever made. He swapped Nc
Clellan for Burnside, and the terrible re-
verse of Fredericksburg followed. He
swapped Burnside for Hooker, and Chancel-
lorsyflle showed the wisdom of the act. He
snapped Hooker for Meade, and Meade for
Grant~e Nor has the swapping been con-
fined to the army. He has swapped away
his Administration. [Laughter.] He swap
ped Chase for Fessenden, and Blair for Dem
nison. His letter to Blair was funny one.
He said that Blair was the truest friend that
he possessed; that he was the only man in
the Cabinet against whom word Of COM
plant had never been uttered. One would
think that after this he would retain him for
ever. But he writes, "It would be relief
to me to see you ggo." [Great laughter
Public opinion says he is about to swap
Stanton for Banks, [more laughter, but mo-
body has yet been found who considers
himself small enough to be swapped for
Stanton. [Roars Of 1aughter.]