The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1866-01-03

President, and profess no exclusive or pecu-
liar friendship for him, cannot sit quietly
and listen In silence to such charges. l sus-
tain the policy of the President, as / under
stand it, not because it is the Presidents
policy, but because it is right. l believe in
the truth of the statements he has made, and,
although he needs no defence, cannot suffer
such charges to go to the country without
protest.
Mr.. Doolittle-Whether the Presidents
policy be right or not, the charge of the
Senator from Massachusetts does not go to
that question at all. If the Senator from
Massachusetts differs from him, and believes
him to be wrong, that is one thing. He has
a perfect right to do so. But, Mr.. President,
he goes further. He charges upon the Presi-
dent of the United States talsehOod IN substance,
by saying his message is withdrawing re-
port. He charges him with want of truth,
a want of patriotism. What else can we in
fer from his remarks 2 1t is that which
panied me. was not panied because the
honorable Senator differed from the Presi-
dent l knew he differed from the President
on this question. But was very much cha
grined to hear that Senator, as I should to
hear any other Senator on the floor of the
Senate, question the truth, the integrity, and
the patriotism of the President, however
much he might disagree in opinion. had
supposed that we all-every member of this
body-had full faith in the good intentions
of the President, in his integrity and his love
of truth. If he specially displayed any char
acter in this struggle it is that uncompro-
missing love of truth, love of country, and
love of Union, which has made him sacrifice
and endanger all he had during the struggle
in the South, and which has always charac-
terized him as man, 1t was not that the
honorable Senator questioned the propriety
of the policy recommended by him, but be-
cause he made use of that remark that it was
whitewashing message, intended to cover
up some infamy behind; that, confess, sir,
panied me exceedingly. And 1 was none
the less panied, that, after having called his
attention to it, he should rise and say that
he has nothing to modify, nothing to quail
fly, nothing to retraet. have said all-per-
haps more than l ought to have said. 1
shall not go into any discussion OF these
matters at the present time.
Mr.. SUMNER am sorry that have given
pain to my honorable friends. certainly
did not intend to do so. They suggest that
the question has been raised as to the policy
of the President. l have raised no such
question, and have expressed no opinion in
regard to it. The Senator from Wisconsin
dwells on that point, and reminds the Senate
that the policy of the President was not in
question. I knew it was not in question,
and therefore expressed no opinion on it,
for when I speak in this body try to speak
directly to the question. There was then no
question directly before the Senate on the
policy of the President. Had there been, l
should have been ready to meet it, as at the
proper time l shall meet it, fully, frankly,
and unequivocally, trust as becomes men,
Der of this body The only question was in
the character of the document read, and that
1 characterized compendiously as white
washing document Then my honorable
friends rose, one after the other, and, like two
photographers, proceeded to give definition
of the word ,whitewash l do not accept
their definition intended no such mean
ing as either the Senator from Connecticut
or the Senator from Wisconsin has attempted
to give l have no reflection to make on
the patriotism or the truth of the President
of the United States Never in public or in
private have I made any such reflection, and
l do not begin now. WhenI spoke, spoke
of document that had been read at the
desk, and characterized it as thought it
ought to be characterized. My memory goes
back in this Chamber further than that of
many see about me- remember mat other
scene when whitewashing message did
come into this body from Franklin Pierce.
We all at that time called it withdrawing
report, and am not aware that any one then
on the other side undertook what my honor
able friends from Wisconsin and from Con-
necticut have undertaken here to-day. We
all felt then that Mr. Pierce's message was a
whitewashing document I simply under
took to-day, after hearing the document read
at the desk, to characterize it as the patriotic
party of 1856 characterized the message of
Franklin Pierce
Mr.. Dixon-I am glad to hear the dis
claimer now made by the Senator from Mas
sachusetts, although he declared he had no
explanation to make, and nothing TO retract.
He now says he did not use the word in the
sense in which it is always understood. Very
well. If he thinks the word withdrawing
a proper term to apply to the message of the
President, and means nothing by it, lam
content to allow him to give his own defni-
ton. had understood the word to mean
what have indicated, and what the COM
mon sense of most men understand by it.
But as the Senator is skilled in photography,
1 will not object to his applying his own de-
finition to the term, generally considered SO
offensive.