The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-01-16

Door lnul3Ds, WilIo0hDsiooS l1AASS
instead of paying them the. specie wnicn
the Government confded 10 him lot tuas
purpose, he retained il, and gave them tne
notes of the Middletown Bank, OF winch
he was an owner. At their encampmen',
in the remote wilderness, these notes were
utterly worthless. The Indians could not
use them for any purpose there, nor carry
them to Middletown for redemption. BUT
what was that to Simon Cameron was
not their loss his gain, and was he not so
much the richer by every note that falied
70 come home for redemption, though they
did suffer and starve? And those OF you
who are not old enough to remember al
this now, know why this bold, bad man ID
sometimes spoken Of by your seniors as
the Great Winnebago,' ana sonic'inae'
as "Old Kickapoo." 4,.y horo
vo,cbed the tortuous career Of this man,
and have never seen reason to abandon my
first impressions of his character. W.
Their acting with the Democratic, the Know
Nothing, or the Republican partyItor ne
has in turn disgraced them all-hc mas
never been false to his animal instincts.
He has endeavored to turn them all 10 pro,
fltable account. His ambition IS sordld
and panders to his avarice, and measures
honors by the perquisites they expose 70
his grasp. He has no confidence In the
people. and is aware that they distrust
him. His speech of Thursday evening was
not characteristic of him, for he is prone
to the use of instruments. His habit is to
point to the stiletto, but to employ another
hand 10 drive il home. Though an active
participant in the politics OF his county
and State for more than half century,
during which long period he has pursued
the profits of office Of jobs, of contracts,
with eager and ceaseless assiduity, he has
never dared to permit his name to be pre-
sented to the people of the county or State
as candidate for an elective Office. he
crawls to the feet of the appointing power.
He cares not who may be King SO that ne
may "still be Vicar of Bray" and to that
end he Charters with and cOrrupts weak
and needy members of conventions ana
the Legislature of both parties. !.
need not recite the disgraceful facts
attending his several canvasses for the
United States Senate. Their nauseous
odor fingers in your nostrils to this hour.
In the first, he bought the votes OF three
Democratic members, and in the last, bid
$40 200 for the one vote which would have
elected him. This last transaction was so
fragrant that the Legislature was compelled
to take cognizance Of it, and if justice be
not lame as we'll as blind, the law and
honor of our State will be indicated. 80
The evil report of his deeds pervades the
country as a reproach to our State. Yes,
| r.. "a no
| interests, the buzzard-winged fame OIL
Simon Cameron is national. BY months OF
abiect solicitation and corrupt bargaining
| he procured mass of letters, certilcates,
and recantations that imposed him upon
President Lincoln as the representative
man of the keystone State. That was an
evil hour for Pennsylvania. Yon will re-
member how he organized the navy agency
| in this city, and feel the inetfable reproach
| he thus brought on our navy-yard and COM
mercal and other business men. In the
course Of his impudent and ill.judged ha-
rangue he said SIN the olden time a
member of Congress from Philadelphia
| would have had sufficient interest to carry
his point (the establishment Of naval sta
ton at League Island) without dissent
ing voice." Is that the assertion of a
sober man? And did he who made it for
get that our congressman in the olden time,
in proposing to locate Government work
shop at Philadelphia, had not the terrible
reputation of Simon Cameron, the Pagan
of the Harrisburg lobby, and ex-Sccretary
of. War to contend with, and therefore,
| had some chance for success Ny col
leagues aud | were less happy than they
in this respect.
As I have said, he begged and bargaincd
for the influence which induced Mr.. Lin
coin to invite him to seat in his Cabinet.
1t was now fondly hoped by those who had
not sounded the depth OF his depravity
that being old and rich he would take ad-
vantage Of so distinguished an opportunity
to prove that he could be honest, and could
administer trust without turning 1t to his
profit, or handing the fund over to his
creatures, to be used on joint account.
How sadly these hopes were disappointed
is atteSted by the brevity Of his term OF
office, and the circumstances under which
it closed.
In less than one year from the day on
which Simon Cameron was installed as Sc
crctary OF War, Congress, though at that
early day it had before it but partial evil
dence Of his crimes, indignantly drove him
from that high Office. Two-thrds Of the
members of the lower House were friends
of the Administration, and would gladly
have sustained each member of it, as they
did its distinguished head. ss-
You can imagine how painfulOit must
have been to them to find themselves con.
strained by duty to proclaim the fact that
the first man the head Of their party had
been induced to appoint as the successor Of
John B. Floyd had exhibited greater apti
tude than he for his worst tricks. But il
became inevitable for this old man, not
withStanding his boosted and reputed mil.
lions, believes that one of his name isnevel
rich enough until he has little more, and
to save their party and the country, the
friends of the Administration in the House
had to proclaim his infamy and denounce
his crimes. Nor was the vote by which
they did it meagre one. His friends, and
those who would most gladly have averted
this disgrace from our State, could rally
but about one-third Of the House against
the resolution of condemnation. The vote
was about two to one against him, although
| |, as Pennsylvania, not willing to bear
witness against the representative OF our
State, but too well satisfied Of his guilt to
vote against the resolution, failed to record
my vote.
In this fact, gentlemen, you have the Sc
crct of this distinguished statesman's ="
hostility to me and my friends. Mr.. Wal
born, the postmaster Of Philadelphia, and
other OF his creatures, have offered me his
friendship and support if would endeavor
to have that resolution expunged. My re-
ply has invariably been, that to stir foul
matter would be to produce stencil.