Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-02-24
THE FENIANS.
Proceedings of the Pittsburgh Congress
From the Pittsburgh Commercial, Feb. FL
THIRD nay

THIRD DAY.
The Congress assembled at 10 o'clock
A. N. President Roberts and General
Sweeney were introduced and received
with long continued cheering. President
Roberts then proceeded to deliver his an
nnal message. lie regarded the present
session as the most important one since
the formation of the Fenian Brotherhood
The Congress which met at Philadelphia
demonstrated the incapacity and unwill-
ingness Of certain leaders to carry out the
desires of the bro~therherhood. A consti-
tuition wa adopted, modelled after the
Constitution of the United States, bnt this
was t%rampled under foot by O'Mahony
lie then reviews the action of that head
center and his party, denouneing him
without stint, and states that there was AN
imperative necessity that the present Con-
ress should be called. Having rescued
the organization from unworthy hands
and purified it, the brotherhood must now
devote their energies to the work of free
ing Ireland, and givs u hearty support tc
the plan of General Sweeny, the Secretary
of War.
at is" he says, "the first time in the
history of the Fenian Brotherhood that a
military plan has been submitted to o
Congress, or, in fact, that one was known
to exist, or was even conceived of. Ii
marks an era in our history; and it is for
Gou to determine whether that history
shall contain records of brave deeds, noble
actions, battles fought, and campaigns sue
cessfully terminated on Irish soil no mat
ter where they may begin"
OF the plan itself he says: ats details
are clear and explicit; and the estimates
required for carrying them out will be
submitted with them to a committee of ex-
perienced soldiers to be appointed byyour
honorable body, for their inspection and
approval. They are of so important a
nature that it would be in udieious to re-
fer to them more fully here. Your COM
mittee, | have no doubt, will see the neces-
sity of the s~trictest secrecy in relation to
the important features of that plan, while
at the same time communicating TO the
Congress so much of the details as will
enable them to form a correct judgment Of
its merits, and satisfy its constituents of its
feasibility, wisdom and thorough accord
ance with the aims and principles of the
Brotherhood.
ain consequence of the Illegal assumpt-
ion of power by my predecessor, the bonds,
which were to furnish the sinews of war
for the Brotherhood, were rendered val
ueless, and the plates, with all other prop
erty of the Brotherhood with the execp-
ton of some ten thousand dollars, which
the Treasurer, Mr.. O'Rourke, saved from
the general wreck are held by the late ex-
and his officials.
81 recommend to this Congress that,
before they adjourn, they disclaim in the
most solemn manner, any intention, desire
inclination to use the power of this or
g%anization for the purpose of influencing
n any form, party politics in America;
t is entirely foreign to our aims and re-
ougnant to our patriotism and those who
would attempt to traffic on the sacred i'm
of Irish hearts deserve, and should
the scorn and detestatioA of all
rue men. Assure the press and people of
America that We repudiate such an idea,
or at any future time.
President Roberts announced his inten-
lion of resigning his Office, and recon-
nended Gen. Sweeny as his successor.
The reading of the message occupied
bout an hour, and was frequently inter-
upted by tumultuous applause, especially
hat passage in which he says that no
where the campaign is begun. It
hall be ended in Ireland. The report of
he Secretary of War, General Sweeney,
vas made the special order for to-day.
Senators Dunno, of Illinois, aud Carey,
f New York, offered their designations
which were accepted.
Previous to the adjournment of the
the Vice President, Colonel
Iurphy, announced that he had learned
bat b. Doran Killian, accompanied by
lme of the salaried officials of John
Mahony, had arrived in Pittsburgh
nd he warned the members to be on their
u~rd against any attempts that might be
lade TO disturb their public meetings.
good deal of indignation was mani
.stad by some of the delegates against
[r. hillian, as it was generally believed
lat he came to the city to endeavor to
rculate some of his bonds, which had
zen declared Illegal and fraudulent by the
mate, or raise funds to keep up their
.gime. None of Killian's party, how
appeared ut any of the meetings.
The Springfield Republican states that a
girl, while skating upon the ice was
ught by a revolving shaft, extending l
pm a machine shop to another building, (
d whirled round one hundred and fifty 7
before she was rescued. Portions of {
r body struck the ice every revolution Of .
G shaft, and she is suffering very much [
in bruises and injuries.