Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1867-02-28
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REMARKS OF
HON. GEORGE LANDON,
SENATOR FROM BRADFORD COUNTY,


In the Senate, on Tuesday, January 20. 1867
ON the bill entitled Joint resolutions OF
the Legislature of Pennsylvania, protest,
ing against the confirmation of Edgar
Cowan as Minister to Austria
Mr.. LANDON. Mr.. Speaker, L have
observed that one of the gentlemen
who has spoken has apologized for
so doing. | shall make no apology
do not rise to make a speech. !
am sent here by men who have their
political faith, their moral sentiments
their patriotic convictions. | am
charged with duty and the re-
sponsibility, SO far as l am able, to
represent, maintain and defend their
ideas, their views, their feelings, and
their convictions. 1t is my right to
do it and my duty ); l would be recre-
ant if | failed to do it. q. | do not dis
like these discussions at all, sir;
consider them really the most import.
ant of our Senatorial proceedings
Not that the Senate chamber is to be
a political arena of party contest
not that we are to turn it into a town
meeting but in this chamber the
three millions of Pennsylvanians are
concentrated, sublimated, politically
boiled down and here, in this small
arena, we discuss and give life to
those principles that permeate the
whole body of the people. We speak
here, and the people hear we make
declarations here, and those declara-
tions are afterwards weighed by the
public principle comes into contact
with principle, and the people can
determine where the truth is and
say Of such discussions let them 90
on. AS Jefferson said, "The truth
has nothing to fear from error while
the field is left free" When the Re
publican party ON this side of the
Senate chamber, when the Republi-
can party in Congress, when the Re
publican party in the wide country,
cannot maintain itself by fair argu-
ments, then let it go down.
Mr.. Speaker, have listened with
great interest to the remarks on the
other side of the chamber, but my in
terest has been mingled with amuse-
ment. | always listen to the Senator
from Clearfield Mr.. WALLACE with
interest. am always sure to seat
myself where | can hear when he
speaks. | admire his intellect but
not his party ideas l admire his
boldness, his resoluteness, but am
sorry he is not on the side of the
country. The most lamenting thing
is to see high talents debased by CON
secrating them to vile purposes
When he took his stand this evening,
| expected something rich, expansive,
something that should partake of the
character of the avalanche but we
have found, Mr.. Speaker, that that
side of the House may do the best it
can, it may put forth it's Hercules, if
it has any, it may marshal all its tai
ents, but so miserable, so degraded,
smitten with political leanness is
their whole theory, and so damned is
their whole policy, that when they
have put forth their bravest efforts,
the result only reminds US of the old
adage, The mountain labored and
brought forth a mouse" Whenever
they eulogise modern Democracy,
their mental sunbeams fall upon
dunghill.
| want to follow that Senator
moment in his argument. He says
to you, to me, and to every Republi-
can in the country, When you took
the Government all was quiet, but in
less than one year there came blood
and war and trouble ;" we admit it
sir. Who brought the blood ? who
brought the war who brought the
debt who grasped the pillars of the
country, sir, like old, blind Sampson,
and shook the whole fabric of the ma
tion Was it the Republican party?
Was it Abraham Lincoln, who was
elected ? Does not the world know
better? Does not the world know
that the Republican party, every lead
ing man in it, absolutely humiliated
themselves by going down into the
dust before the South and praying
them to stay their vile, ambitious
proceedings We brought the blood
sir? No. sir, the world knows vino
brought it. The Senator tells us
that when we took the helm and
placed our. banner ON the outer wall,
all was peace. Does not the Sena-
tor know that the camp fires of war
were kindIed long before Abraham
Lincoln was elected ? What did the
Democratic party go to Charleston
and divide itself for? TO inaugurate
civil war. Why did they applaud in
the streets of Charleston when Lin
coin was elected? Because they
wanted pretext for war, and his
election was that pretext.
The Senator says, in the next place,
Where is your policy? We have
our trouble-we have our millions of
debt. Now, where is your policy to
rescue your country" l say to those
gentlemen and to the world, we have
a policy-a policy we'll defined, we'll
determined, square and angular. The
first idea of our policy is this that
the loyal men Of the country, the
men who stood by the stars and
stripes, shall maintain the govern
ment, while rebels shall take back
seats that is the first principle in
our policy and we learned it from