The Portland daily press., 1866-03-10
The circumstances of the Presidents Late
Snoech.

Speech.
The significance OF the Presidents speech,
which we publish to-day, is largely defiVeo
from acce5sorles, which must be kept duly N
mind. The Pre5ident was irrltated ny the az
ton of the House OF Representatives ID re-
ferring the question Of reconstruction 10
snacial committee, without waiting for his
massacre. 1t is not to be denied that this irri-
tstion was exasperated by injudicious Ian
c7,aqe held both in the House and in the SEN
ale. On the evening Of the 2Sth January,
the President, with his-ewn- hand, revised q
report of a conversation held by him with a
4sdistfnguished Senator" now known to have
been Mr.. Dixon Of Connecticut, aud sent the
report to the country through the agency of
the Associated Press. The step was hasty.
He had criticised. the action of Congress as in
private conversation was his privilege; but it
was grave impropriety to authorize such
publication Of his views. 1t was in fact, IT
not in pucpose,,an attempt to dictate to Con-
gress.
When the President changed his mind re-
specting the Freedmen's bureau bill is not GER
tain. tits alleged that two weeks before tne
veto message was sent to Congress, General
Howard received from the Pres ident ample as
surancs that the provis ons OF the Dill were
entirely satisfactory In answer to a lend
who asked if he was quite sure the bill would
beapproved after its passage, Gen. Howard is
said to have replied with spirit: "My dear
"sir, that bill has been approved by the Presi-
@dent, over and over again. Whatever he may
"think expedicnt about suffrage, he is one Of
"ths warmest and truest friends of the Bureau,
sand win approve every extension of its au-
shortly which Congress viii permit. Only
"get tie bill through the Capitol, and it viii
"not be delayed twenty-four hours at the
White House" From various indications, it
appears that the President did at one time ap-
prove the BILL It's especially to be noted,
that his friends Dixon, Cowan and-Dooli5tle
voted for the bil.ggots asoap =
Acting under some untortunateo influence,
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. the temporary insanity of
anger; nobody knows just what-the President
vetoed the bill, A Virginia newspaper, the
Norfolk Post, celebrates the publication Of the
message, by saying that "the people OF the
"South have found an ally in the President
"worth more to, them than the alliance OF
France or England, and they now begin to
"see, even as they saw Ioreshad5wed at Manasf
"sas, the final tr;atnsph Of the great Southern
"cduse" At Wizards, in Washington, this
toast,was publicly offered: "The three chief #
Americans of the present day-Jefferson Da-
Wis, Andrew johnson, and Robert E. Lee! r
Throughout the land, President Johnson's
name was caught up as the watchword Of the
party which had been more than suspected OF
sympathy with the country's enemies during
a long and closely contested struggle. nj
One would have thought that such mani
festations from such quarters would have
warned the President his danger; but it
seems he needed another lesson. Three days
after the veto message had been sent to Con-
gress, the birthday of Washington offered
favorable occasion for the coup detat medi-
tated, by the Democratic managers. The
friends. of the President were invited to
meet in Growers theatre. The managers of
this movement are understood to have been
Toia Florence, OF .he Washington Union, who
the other day puhiiahed the false rumor that
Gen, Meade had accepted the Democratic
nomination., fol, Governor Of Pennsylvania;
Sunset Cox, who was not returned to Con-
gress at the last Ohio election; Mr.. Rogers, OF
New Jersey, the Laughing stock of the House
of Representatives, known also as the Repre-
sentative of the Camden and ,Amboy railroad !;
and others of like caibre and character. The
presence of Montgomery Blair, Mayor Wal
lack of Washington, and q. host of the sold
est inhabitants" who, had come TO the sur
face on no previous occasion since Washing
ton was measurablg, purified of its dregs Of
--saas;ar, - 1a.-
actor of the maating. 1t was an assemplase
of thrice whipped and dismally beaten Cop
perheads, seeking to make party capital out of
the Presidents mistakes. Green Clay Smith,
OF Kentucky, was the only man there who
should not have been found in such company
The tsExercises" at the theatre were what
might have been expected. "A procession
healed by a band Of music marched from the
theatre, and: reached the White House at
about 4oP, No with multitudinous cheering
and boandess notifications Of all kinds. Ait
President appeared on the platform, preceded
by Messrss Akin and iCiampitt. date counsel
for the assassips. MIR. Akin hoped briskly
up onIthe.w alhiseparating the portieo from
the carriage-way outside, and proposed three
cheers, which were cheerfuliy given. Among
.r.,kn ffopI a1 Mr. Iann ha
out, were. Florence, Green Clay Smith, .Ex-
Mayor Berrett, and others not SO well known.
The President was assisted to mount the
wall beside Mr.. Aiken. As he was about to
commerce speaking, he paused while an UNI
lucky negro who had come to listen to
the voice of the seiFstyled 'Moses" of his
race, was hustled through the Democratic
crowd and thrust beyond lis outskirts We
print the Presidents speech elsewhere to-day
IF ne was not excited by drink as was charita-
bly, supposed at the time, one would say he
was laboring under an excess of passion
which untitled him for the exercise of
sound Judgment. Whether he intended it Or
not, we can but regard the matter of that
speech as miscliievous For the manner we
leave our readers TO judge, lslnoa 5.lI % 10 Jal
An eye.witness, who isssupposed. to be the
editor, Of the Worcester spy aud member of
Congress from the eighth Massachusetts, dis
trict, the speech was delivered in clear,
harsh, powerful voice, and with every appear
ance OF sslfpossession. II watched him with
the awakened interest of one Who felt the mag
pifuda tJ,a