Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-09-29
monors aud Rewards. va

Senator BUCKALEw, in an able speech
made at Bloomsburgh. argues very justly
against the plea that gratitude to General
GRANT, for military service, obliges US to
lay our liberties at his feet, and bring into
power, under his name, the unscrupulous
clique who have possession of him. That
the Republic has not been ungrateful to
GRANT. estimate him as you please, is thus
shown by Mr.. BUcKALEw: .'..,.fo.,.-
The General returned to Washington,
bearing with him, as it were, peace in his
hands. He was welcomed with the acclaim
of the country. Everybody was willing,
not merely to do him justice, but to do
him generous honor; and sometime after
ward, when it was ascertained that it was
agreeable to him and desired by him, he
was voted the rank of General instead of
Lieutenant General. A new rank was
created and conferred upon him, rank
never borne by any man in the United
States before. rank superior to that which
was borne by General Washington himself.
What next? The rich men of the coun-
try, those who had large means, manifested
their feeling with regard to the termina-
tion of the war by magnificent presents to
the principal general who had, toward the
latter part OF it, conducted it. He was
presented with purse of 100000 by the
of Gen. Butterfield (who. by the way, was
promoted shortly afterwards). He was
presented also, by the rich men of Phila-
delphia. with a valuable house thoroughly
furnished, which Is now rented and the in
come of which he r ,ceives. He was pre-
sented with properties of similar charac-
ter in otLer cities. These constituted a
princely estate of themselves. They were
bestowed by individuals out of their own
means; nobody has any right to complaint
but tie result was that, this General, who
had been given by the Congress of the Uni
ted States rank above that which had
been borne by Washington, was made,
comparatively speaking, wealthy man by
private munificence. What more happen
ed? The office assigned to him of General
of the Armies, was an office for life; he
holds it yet, and what is the compensation
attached to it by our laws? The General
commanding the army has yearly COM
pensation of $40, $50 80. besides certain al
loNances not in the fixed and. ordinary
items-longevity ratiOns. mileage upon
Journeys, &c. When off command, on
other duty, the pay is $l4,901 30. Here
then is an office for life, with compen-
sation princely in magnitude, assigned
this officer. Nobody can hold him up as
an object of eommiseration, or as an ex-
ample of Republican iBgratitude. Nobody
can ask you to vote for him as an act of
justice or generosity. because the demands
OF both in his case have been fully met.
Both by the government and by the people
he has been treated as never man was
treated by them before. He has been made
rich beyond tine limit of ordinary desire !;
he has had official honor conferred upon
him above that conferred upon Washing
ton. We do not desire to abuse General
Grant. Ordinarily our speakers even pass
by some matters which might he made sub
jects of criticism and remark. Let him
stand where he is, with all the honors and
favors that have been heaped upon him /;
but there is one thing we are not called up
on to do. We are not called upon to put
Benz. F. Wade and Chas. Sumner. and VIM.
D. Kelley and Robert G. Schenck into
power for four years to come, because the
mantle of General Grant has been loaned to
cover their detormities. [Great applause. ]
Let this candidate taken for purpose, who
has "no policy" of his own, and who is to
give no just direction to the Government of
the United States-let this candidate enjoy
his honors. and his wealth, and his office
for life, and if hereafter he do anything
worthy of public commcndation, let him
have full credit and full honor and the ap-
plause of the American people; but let us,
who are concerned In the payment of taxes
in this country; let us, who are concerned
in the preservation of our system of gov
ernment. il the purity of our elections, in
ted liberty which came to us from our an
cestors-let us see to it that by electing
proper men we all have constitutional
and honest policy in our public affairs that
we shall have men who will bring our
Government back to the ancient landmarks
of the Constitution, and to an economical
and holest administration of its powers.
The American people have never treated
the Presidency as mere reward for mill
tary service. The civil qualifications of
WASHINGTON for the Office were, not less
than his military exploits. the grounds OF
his unanimous election. General JACKSON
was not elected the first time he was a can
didate. AS his merits became known he
grew in popular favor, and he was elected,
in 1928, long after the close of the war in
which he served. If, as the Philadelphia
Age says, GRANT is to have the Presidency,
without any fitness for it, merely as a
military reward" certainly SHERMAN
ought to be made Chief Justice of the Unit
ed States upon the same principle. 1t
would only little more advance the Radi-
cal scheme for making this military gov
ernment. H#-.. .