Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1866-09-06

OF maryland IN their Iegislature-thatt tbe]
might consistently take II end break it a
the polls--that it was not obligatory upol
them. ln other words, / suppose, tbs
loyal men had no right to bind by an oath
the conscience Of traitors. He was A
man to bear the proceedings Of the rebel
at Philadelphia to the President at Wash
ington. You have seen, doubtless, the re
sponse If the President that the Congres,
OF the United States lately assembled is bu
an assumed body-not legal Congress =
He gives as a reason for this conclusion the
very profound one that they did not choose
to admit States lately in insurrection. II
ought to have occurred to the President oil
thu, United States, i there was any, justice
in his remark-any logic 10 his conclusion
dent. Cries of"That's se."] Yes, it il
so; because the Congress that counted the
electoral vote which declared Abraham
Lincoln elected President, and Andrew
johnson Vice President, was q Congress in
which there was not single representative
from the eleven States lately in insurrec-
tion; and, therefore, being but an assumed
Congress, they were incapable of counting
or declaring the Presidential vote at all. In
addition to that, this man, who is now
President, has signed, as you all know,
hundreds of bills affecting the interests Of
the American people, passed by this same
assumed Congress-" every approval of
which bill by himself. if he is to be taken at
his word, and his word to be admitted as
the truth, was an act of usurpation on his
part, for which he should be arrigned at the
bar of public opinion and condemned at
once. Cries of THAT'S So" Yes, and
the common sense of the American people
will say so. l have yet to find in my travels
single man, since that utterance was
made, who is peer enough to do reverence
to Andrew johnson, although he is for the
time being President of the United States.
Applause.
Mr.. Bingham then discusses the Consti-
tutional Amendment at great length, al.
ludes to his efforts to get tariff law taxing
foreign wool through Congress, and con-
cludes as follows:
$l0O FOR soLDIERs-$2,000 PER ANNUM
FOR CoNGREssMEN.
There is one other question: mere side
issue, that is as nothing compared with the
great issues / have been discussing, but OF
which l ought to take some notice. That is,
that | am assailed in the Ohio Democrat, o
paper published in New Philadelphia, in
the interests of my opponent and formerly
edited by him. l am assailed for voting
against the bill known as the Soldiers Boun-
ty Bill, and in the same paper the party
with which act is condemned for having
passed that bill, because it is unjust
Laughter. Now, my fellow citizens, that
may. sound like very strong statement, but
yet it is literally and actually true, and in
II 30 a, mill I'd sfI
read from the columns of the paper the
very same words l have just recited. 1t is
the paper of date August 10, 1866. The
article is editorial, headed ~. Bingham and
the Radicals against the soldiers bounty"
1t reads thus
''Wek know of nothing in Er. Bine hams
career so cepsurable as the
course OF action on the Soldiers Bounty
Bill When the ORIGINAL bill was in the
House, giving them S. 33 per month, be
made no speech for it. "
Because none was necessary.
:" But cast silent vote in its favor.
When you know bill is certain to pass,
what Is the use in speaking for it?
{" He has been twelve years in Congress"
He is pretty good at figures, this editor,
you see.
"And is called an old member, and tell
ing speech from him in the House would
have given it such start in the Senate as
10 have carried the measure through that
body like tornado. ''.
That is a good compliment from man
who says in his circular address that he
blows his own horn, because he can find no
one to blow it for him. BE goes on:
Sand it was due from him to the soldiers
10 make that speech, for they had all voted
him into Congress. But his mouth was
shut, and he looked on at the Senate in
grim silence while that Radical body
slaughtered the bill.
"On the day before adjournment the
House again voted on bounty bill, but Mr..
Bingham then opposed it, because it was
attached to the bill increasing Congress |
mems salaries. How is this Was it more
important to the country that he should
vote against increasing his own pay, than it |
was that the soldiers should get paid. It
appears that was Bingham's idea. He |
thought more of himself than of all the |
soldiers in the world, and hence to stand on |
he record as voting against paying himself
$4,000 year was greater statesmanship |
10 him than to pay two hundred thousand
soldiers their bounty for fighting the battles
IF their country.
"We wish the soldiers to remember this, |
md another fact, the Radical Congress
could have passed a Just bounty bill-they
had the power and the time, but they frit-
+ered it away on the negro, and at the close
got scared, and run through a miserable |
bill, which gives bounty to only ene-feurth,
md cheats the other three feurths Of the sol.
liers out of any bounty at all. and Bingham
voted against even giving the one'tourth
heir bounty. When Democratic Con-
rress comes in the soldiers will get their
rights. but they need look for little justice
from Bingham and the Radicals .T
Now, what is this2 That twas an unjust
bill-that it cheated three.fourths of the
soldiers out Of any bounty at all-and yet
ought to be condemned for not voting for
Il, coupled with proposition, as he says it
was, to increase the pay Of congressman.
Don't you see that this fellow had come to
he conclusion that he must persuade the
people that if did vote fer it must be
} Tanned, and if did not vote fer it ! must
be damned anyhow. Laughter. He says
The first bill, which supported, giving the
soldiers an equal bounty, rememb berinE the
lead as we'll as the living defenders of the
Republic, was just, but conteDted myself
With giving it my silent support, and did not
make speech for it. Well, there is ne
= -IAs. II