The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-05-29
ssre,saae to si.e & President and Or S,- Ill


ington serenaded the President and
the members of the Cabinet on
Wednesday evening last. The anx-
iety to learn with certainty the views
of the different members of the Cabi-
net upon the existing political issues,
attracted very large crowd.
The President made few remarks,
merely thanking the Club for the
compliment.
Mr.. Seward was not in the city.
Mr.. Fred. Seward acknowledged the
compliment, and said:
FELLow-cIrIzENs: In behalf Of the
Secretary of State, I thank YOU sin
cerely for this manifestation of Your
kindness [ regret that he is not
here tonight, for | am sure that it
would give him pleasure to witness
and share u our demonstration of
patriotic .elilg Of fidelity to the
Union, and of appreciation of the
wise and earnest efforts of the Presi-
dent for its restoration.
Secretary Wcllcs, in response to
the compliment. said:
I thank you, gentlemen, for this
compliment, which, l suppose, is to
the Administration aud its policy,
which we, one and all, approve.
Cheers. You need not expect any
remarks from me, for do not intend
to make any. You are, one and all,
[ suppose, for the Union. and for the
establishment Of the rights Of the
States. Cheers. These are my
views. Cheers
Mr.. Stanton, after Il long preface,
said the Presidents earliest recon
struction measures received the sane
ton of every member Of the Cabinet.
At first, Stanton thought Congress
onght to regulate suffrage for the
States, but he doesn't think so now.
He is for restricting the organizing
power, however, to people s'who are
loyal, and none Others" whatever
that means. He holds that Congress-
must decide for itself rs to members
who shall be admitted He had not
troubled himself about it, and knew
nothing about it, because it was none
of his business. He favored the
F'reedmen's Bureau bill He didn't
say whether he was in favor Of the
civil rights Act or not, but said that,
as 1T was law of the land. it was not
now II subject of debate. He said the
same about the Bureau bill, but added
his endorsement. He closed bv stat
ing his opposition to the proposed
measures of the Reconstruction Com
mittee.
Mr.. Dennison thought Congress
and the President were coming to-
gether. They were nearer than at
the meeting of Congress. The hope
OF the country was the Union party,
which had saved the nations life, &c.
Acknowledgement Speed wrote n
letter, req testing to be excused from
making Il speech, which letter con-
tains nothing else
Secretary Harlan also wrote Il letter
In the radical interest, declaring that
he was not going to betlav the Union
party.
The great speech Of the evening,
however, was that made by Secretary
McCulloch. We subjoin report of
it:
FELLow-cITIZENs: You are aware
that l am not in the habit of making
speeches; and I take it for granted.
therefore, that, in making the call
upon me, you intended only to pay
me passing compliment, and not to
elicit from me any extended remarks
] shall not disappoint you. shall
not be SO ungrateful for vour kind
ness as to intiict upon you a speech.
My position, gentlemen, in reference
to the issues which are now engaging
the public attention is not, I ap-
Prehend, misunderstood by YOU
Cheers. took OCCASION, last fall.
among my old friends in Indiana. to
define my position; and since that
time, [ have seen no occasion to
change, much less to abandon it.
Applause I will say, therefore, as
suppose / must say something OF this
occasion, that the general policy of
the President in reference to the
Southern States and the people re-
Gently i'll arms against the Federal
Government has commended itself to
my deliberate Judgment. IChcers.
And although it has been violently
and, III some Instances, vindictivclv
assailed, have an abiding convic-
ton that it will be approved by the
people when they shall be allowed to
pass judgment upon it ut the ballot