The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-04-03

leader of the delegation, the great patriot
par excellence, was proved in his own
neighborhood to have been man Of vii
famous character, who carried away the
wife Of his host while he was staying with
him as q guest! ~
There 1t stands, Mr.. Speaker, as the re-
cord Of seven Republican members from the
State was in revolution, and ought to be
reconstructed. They asked the recon-
struction Of their State upon the evil
dence Of men who were Enthusiastically
stamped as peUured scoundrels. / will
ask to have it published if gentlemen on
the other side do not object. There will be
no objection to It's publication on this side
OF the House. think its publication was
withheld because it shows, what the gen.
Iieman from Massachusetts, mir. Butler1
knew TO be the tact, that any investigation
would develop what was developed in the
case OF Georgia, what was developed in the
c cm OF mississippi, what was developed in
Ml Tue other States, as / could show If had
time to 60 over them; and what was de-
veloped in the case of Tennessee, and what
WIN ne always developed under any sort of
Ioinni,ttee which you may get up here.
anu he ud not care to make the Tennessee
lallure public; 1t was filed away hpcanse
Tue lacts are against them and all their
, 9Mtrases are disproved whenever probed.
Inc truth Is, that while there NAV be isola-
leu eases OF wrong, there is not throughout
tbe whole South any organized resisfanne
To the law. There may be in North ' Caroo
lima, but l believe not now. There WAC
understand, at one time. We want fbo
truth. say here that I will 60 as far az be
VINO goes farthest to protect all men every.
Wnere without regard to race. color or
previous condition, in all their rights
privileges, and immunitics and the Dem.
ocratic party are ready to do ca IN
the South and throughout the whole
country. Whenever they fail to do it
will no longer belong to that party.
But ! will not consent to subvert the
Constitution OF the country will not nro-
claim the President military dictator in or
der to do it. / have more regard for civil
liberty than for the private rights of anv
one man. The one is evanescent the other
is forever, or 1T least we hope to make it 80.
And while SC. king to do away with little
wrong, he will never consent to sap the
foundation of the Government itself, and
lean back thousand years, sweeping away
Magma Charta, the Bill Of Rights, ha6eds
corpus, as well as the Constitution and all
its glorious principles.
Sir, ] repeat. the only reason why this
bill is to be rushed through in hot haste
now is because the truth, when developed
By the proposed investigation, would have
crushed it out. The President knew it,
Dir. Butler knew it, Mr.. Morton knew it,
the fu.lemcn both in this and in the other
House knew it; and hence this House had
to be la>hed into fury in the hope that the
bill would be pushed through under Pres.
idential dictation. Now or never was the
time. The truth would destroy it, as will
l. ,.-ba ho tufa IF hn &c
investigated.
Why, sir, there are hundreds of men con.
nected with this Government in high places
who dare not let the people know what they
| have been doing. We are approprating
now $500, 200, 900 Il year out of the Wrea.
sury directly for the purpose of carrying
on this Government, and expenditures
are increasing in spite Of all that can
| be done. Hundreds OF millions of dollars
worth of property, in the shape Of ships,
arms, munitions of war, horses, mules,
wagons, all that was laid in for war
purposes, have been sold by Government
officials and spent besides in ways Congress
knows nothing Of and can get no account
of. No man i'll this House can guess within
! so, 600, 900 of what ha, been so sold and
spent without our knowledge IN the last
| few years, and the information cannot be
lie i
| twenty million dollars is reported rs owing
| BIZ defau!tng revenue officers, only fifty ont
! Of over three hundred Of whom have ever
| been sued.
Fifteen million dollars worth of arms
alone have been sold in the last nine
months, but it does not diminish appropri.
ations cent. You have given away prin-
| cipality alter principalitv. You have cor
ruption fostering everywhere. You have
! lcgslated to make Bes>cmer steel and pig
; iron, bunting, coal, and salt, and every
thing in which a few men in the eastern
! States and in Pennsylvania are interested,
pay so high duty that these things and
others of that class cost the people hun
dreGs of millions Of dollars more than they
would under Il just Government. | might
90 OH and show the corruption Of the Post
office Department--the Ticc metre and
other like SWindles i'll the internal revenue,
aud a thousand other things which it is very
Important to divert the attention of the pco-
pie from; and the cry of kukluX is us good
Il way to do it as any other.
You know that whenever wei mean by
that the Democratic party-get possession
oil the Government, as We will unless pre-
vented by the bayOnet; whenever we get
hold OF the books of the War Department,
of the Navy Department, of the Treasury
Department. of the Interior Department,
of the Post-otfice, and the others, and de-
yclop them to the country, the men who
have been prominent in the legislation and
administration Of affairs in this country for
the last ten years will stink in the nostrils
OF Ill the world. Then we may be able to
understand how men on q salary of but
81 800 year have been able to build pala-
tial residences and anass colossal fortunes.
h1, l,n .ll Ia FL
Chorpcnning and other cases. Many OF
you dare not allow Us to do it if it can be
prevented in any way, fair or foul. 1t is to
prevent that, to delude and deceive the PEG.
pie, that you now propose TO change the
issue, and, il necessary, make Gen. Grant
emperor rather than suffer the exposure TO
be made.
We have shown. and the people are
fast getting to understand, that there i:
hardly Department Of the Govern
ment that is not rotten to the core
And nobody seems to care. 1t Is looked
upon as !; matter Of course. For exam
pie, Il report was made upon the Indian
department by Mr.. Sargent of California,
Gir. Lawrence OF Ohio, and myself ut the
last session, charging that the department,
by neglect and incompetency Of the Com
missioner-by reason of vicious contracts,
at least-had last year cost the people hun
dreds of thousands Of dollars. But 10
man has said word against these contracts
in this House or elsewhere the Indian
Commissioner has never been censured by
the President for that charge made against
him 10y two prominent members Of his OWL
party in an official report to Congress fully
! sustained by published proofs.
| And so with the Departments. You dare
not allow an investigation. You want tc
change the issue. You know the southern
States are going Democratic is well as tho
northern. You want to stuff the ballot
boxes of the North by the ballots OF the
South, obtained by the bayonet, and thu: