The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-12-14
SENATE.

SENATE.
| WASHINGTON, December 13.
In the Senate, a bill was introduced rerivlnS
the land grants TO the Selma, Rome and Dalton
Railroads.
McCreery asked leave to introduce resolution,
of which lie gave notice yesterday, proposing an
| investigation with view to the restoration oil
| the Arlington estate 70 the widow OF General
Robert f. Lee the removal OF the Graveyards on
the premises, and general restitution for any in
cumbrance placed therein in the interest Of the
government.
Edmunds hoped the leave would not be grant
ed, the propo ,iton TO dig NJ the bones OF our
dead soldiers In order that certain property might
he given back to ita rebel owners, was 10 his mind
perfectly monstrous. While entertaining the
highest respect for his fGienl McCreery, he hoped
the Senate would never entertain the proposal.
| McCreery then occupied twenty minutes on the
subject He referred to the circumstances at
| tending the recent d,ath OF Two Of tile foremost
| generals on either side IN the late war Lee and
Thomas He spoke of the friendly intimacy eX'
| listing between these generals un TO the
| commencement of the rebellion, when
Thomas followed the starry emblem OF the
~
or fall by the State that had given him birth; or
The general sorrow and respect which manifested
itself in either section succeeding the mournfui
intelligence CT their decease. He proceeded to
euloglze the innexlble virtue military genius aud
valor of General Lee, remarking that the Amerl-
can people would never relinquish the property
which they mold In the name and fame OF the
great Vlrginian. He then referred to the princl'
pal historic features Of Lees campaigns, to show
that with the means ut his command, possibly
no other man could have accomplished re-.
suits so great While possessing great ab
ty, he was devoid of ostentatlon, and from
the testimony ofhis most intimate acquaintances
he was singularly exempt from the faults anu
roilies OF other men. His life was that Of hero
n Christian and gentlemen. There might oe
those In the Senate who woulh derive comfort
from casting asperslons upon General Lees
character. but all sections OF the country would
eventually accord to his merits their just deserts.
The loved partner OF Ills bosom sill lived, and in
her behalf justice was now implore,l. Size belong
ell. to race fond OF bestswlng charity, but pow
eriy could not force her to accept 1t. Would the
Senate now remove the barrier that excludes her
from Arlington?
During his remarks McCreery reviewed, in de-
TAIL the salient features Of General Lees civil and
military services particularly his recent efforts
in connection with Jefferson College, his revolu-
tionary ancestry, and sincere devotion to duty.
Referring to the sword as The least capable OF all
tribunals to decide cause upon Its merits, the
speaker went on to argue that the judgments OF
the sword had not always commanded that uni
rersal respect Which would have been expected
from court Of so large jurisdiction, and that
history had enrolled the names OF Hampden and
sydney upon the list OF martyrs in the sacred
cause Of right.
In response TO Senator McCreery, Edmunds
said that instead Of being welded TO the institu-
tions Of Virginia. General Lee was the ward OF the
nation-a nation which had fed, clothed and
educated him. That he lived ut the capital, but
when the capital called upon him to defend the
nag under which he had been born, protected
and honored, he deliberately turned Ills back
upon it and planted his cannon inside the capital
he had sworn to protect and defend. He led.
munds) would not dignity such proposition by
discussing 1t. General Lee was now dead. The
only regret he thought that any right.minded
man, who believed In the war, would have, was
that General Lee had not died either In his youth
or In his patriotic manhood, or even that he had
not died earlier than he did by the hand OF the
law which would have atoned In some measure
Tor his crime.
Senator Trumbull, Willie dscalmins sympathy
with the apparent object of the resolution, which
was 10 surrender and mutilate the last res Ing
MACE OF thousands O, the Union dc I'd, held that it
would be- If not unprece dented, at least unparlia
mentary, 10 deny to a member ut least 8 simple
reoue t for leave 10 Introduce any legislation not
in itsei Insulting to the Sen ate.
Senator Carpcntc; impaired whether MI Trum-
bull could stare proposition more nagrantly in-
sultiug TO the Senate than to remove the slaugi''
tered deal Of the Union army from Arlington, for
the purpose Of returning the farm to its renel pos
SCISSORS?
Mr.. Truu,',ull replied that while the res olution
was without doubt repugnant to the sense oil
the nation, it was MT in personal zen Sc insult
inr TO the Senate. lIc was ayersc TO the adoption
OF any precedent, the effect Of which would be 10
prevent free exercise OF right guaranteed TO
member Of the Senate.
E,lmpn,ls and Samner citel two in5tances-tie
former tile case OF the proposed annexation ol
Texas: the latter the bill for the repeal oil the
fugitive slave oct, when requests for leave TO
bring In bills were refused.
Five additional Instances were enumerated by
the vicc.president.
Senator Morton protested against the conside-
ration of tile resolution. He had heard what he
never expected TO hear, euogy upon the charac
ter of General Lee In the Senate OF the United
States, and that too, within sight OF the graves OF
the victims OF his rebellion. Hampden and sgd
new died not for human slavery, but for liberty.
This nan, General Lee, was OF all others
the great sinner. He had sinned against
light and knowledge. His revolutionary an
cestry, his oath OF fealty as an officer OF the
Cnitel States, his finished education and high
abilities, all forbade him thus to sin. and the
enormity of his crime could not be concealed by
decorating his grave with flowers of rhetoric. IN
word, it was now proposed that the Senate
should gravcly consiler proposition to degrade
the memories OF the patriotic dead OF Arlington,
by removing til Ir bones to less hallowca ground,
in tender consideration Of The rights OF the widow
of The arch rebel OF The most wicked rebellion in
history:
Senator Scott said that the COUPLING together
the name; O. Thomas and Lee recalled the inter-
ance uf Stephen A. Douglas, made at the TIME
these Two generals resolved TO tread IN opposite
paths That 1T that time there were but two
classes in the nation-patriots and traitors. The
patience with which the Senate OF the United