New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1872-10-10

Wood, all Democrats, recorded in the aiiirnl
a alive. (Giobc. lst ~es. 3Sth Con-, part !
page 3,26T.)
But during the discussion Of the House hi!
Mr.. Washbumc. Of Illinois, moved to >trik,
out this obnoxious clause, now part of III,
Pacific railroad law al lSGi, III these words
viz:
''SEC. ~. iaf be Il jnytle., cua,ipd. Tha
section five Of said act be 50 modified ant
amended that the Union Pacific Railroad
Company, the Central Pacific Railroad Com.
pany, and any other company authorized t.
participate i'll the construction of said road
may issue their first mortgage bonds on thcil
railroads and telegraph lines to an amount
not exceeding the amount Of the bonds OF
the United States authorized to be issued to
said railroad companies respectively. And
the lien of the United States bonds shall be
suhOrdinated to that If the bonds of any or
either Of said companies hereby authorized
to be issued on their respective roads, prop
erty, and equipments. And said section is
further amended by striking out the word
forty and inserting i'll lieu thereof the
! words on each and every section of not less
| than twenty.'''
! On the question to strike this section from
| the bill the following, who are now Liberals
and Democrats, voted in the negative, that
IS, against striking il OFT, viz: .lshlcy, Dom
nelly, D1fggs, and JaiIaa, Uiherals,) and
| Brooks, Broomall, Eldri,lgc, Fink, Griswold.
benjamin G.. Harris. Knapp, lie Bland, LONG.
James b. Morris, Noble, Samuel J. Randall.
JamcsS. Rollins, Ross, Scott. John Il. steele.
| William e. Steele, Stuart, Sweat, Ward,
Wheeler, winfield, and Ben. wood, Uemo-
crats,) i'll all twcnty-cisl. lt,|o5c, Ist scs.
| }Sth Cong, part !, page &,2ti.) And only
twenty Democrats voted in the ALTERNATIVES.
that is, 10 strike ii trcm the bill. Only thirty
eight, all told, (twcnty Democrats and eight
cen Rcpublcans,) voted 10 strike this clause
from the bill, and eighty-onc (thrty-eicht of
whom are now acting with the Democratic
party, and iorty-tlree Rcpublcans,) voted to
retain it,. Had the hiriy-eight members
above named, who are now acting with the
Democratic party, voted with Mr.. Wash
burnc'S tWcnty-eight friends, his motion
would have been carried by &c yeas to 4}
nays.
But neither Of these bill; became law in
the precise form in which they passed their
respective houses. Doth were referred to a
committee Of conference Of the two houses.
which reported back a bin made up from the
matter OF both, in some sections following the
phrascoiOGy Of the Senate bill, and in other
sections that Of the house bill, which was
adopted by both houses and approved by the
President.
can Congress cxclaim, This was The mode
adopted to conceal the cat under the meal.
This report from committee Of conference
was called up ana adopted at q late hour on
the last day of the session. the time when
rascally legislation seeks to find it's way
through Congress" But if the bill was in
fact wrong, this is not a satisfactory excuse.
IL is equivalent to an admission that these
good Democratic, and those who are now
Liberal, Senators and members. were at the
time all obliyious! But what right had they
10 be absent, asleep, or inattentivc during
what everybody seems to know is the most
critical period OF a session? If soldier sem
tincl, who sleeps at his post in time OF unll-
sllal peril, deserves to be shot for the oticnsc,
what right have these Senators and members
to plead exemption for similar oncnsc?
Unfortunately for this plea i'll abatement
iii favor of these Democrats and Liberals. the
Globe shows that this bill finally passed both
Houses on the lst Of July, and that Congress
did not adjourn until the 9Th of the same
month. The Globe also shows that, when Iut
OH its passage III the Senate, i'll compliance
with request Of Mr.. Trlimbull. the chair
man of the conference committee, stated dis
tinctly that the bill contained the clause
subordinatng the Government bonds to the
first mortgage bonds Of the company, with
all the other material features Of The bill as
reported, and that it passed Sqb SUcRcio-no
one asking for the yeas and nays, or even
for division. That when it was put on its
passage in the House Mr.. Washburne called
for vote BY yeas and nays, which was re-
fused; and then for division, which was also
refused. (G'obe, 1st scs., 3Sth Cong, part
4, pages 3,4S0-1.) That the contents of the
bill were fully known to the members of both
branches Of Congress, cannot be doubted
thprnfIrr Will
Guire here If all these Democrats and Lib
erals i'll bot! iouscs were deliberate swnd-
lers: If they were not. where were they
ensconcC !, that no one in the Senatc--ncithcr
the pa: minded Trumbuil, the immaculate
Sumnc., nor the unsullicd b. Graft Brown
raised his voice against it, and no one came
to the rescue at the cry of that old Republic
can Watchdog Of the Treasury, Washbunc?
Where were the snow white robes of Iicuben
L. Fenton, Chen member of the House :)
Where the unsullied hablimcnts Of James
Ashley? Where was the constant and viz
tuous Donnelly? Where, Oh, where WAS the
pure and incorruptiblc Julian: and whcrc-
can anybody tcll?-was that long list of
sterling Democrats of the House, who arc
so anxious to purify the Government, that
nobody could be found to indulge L. b. WASH
bilrne with the courtesy Of Il vote, either
by a division or by the yeas and nays that
no ono but Nashburne could be found willing
to record his vote, or - to stand up and be
counted" against this bill: And where
was "thc Philosopher" the " Ncstor of The
Press Horace Greeley, whose sanctilied
spirit is now so disturbed by his recollections
OF the Credit Mobilicr and the two-ycar old
avcrmcnts OF McComb in his suit against
Cakes Amcs: We answer, he was blowing
might and main through his Tibuue in favor
of the bill
After reading this record, and considering
the foregoing facts, every tair-minded man
must feel unutterable disgust in witnessing
the miserable effort on the part of the Lib
erals and Democrats to make capital out Of
them for Greeley and Brown, ana against
Grant.
The truth OF the whole matter is simply
this Under the Union Pacific Railroad aci
of 1862 capitalists declined to take hold of
the work. Its success was deemed to be of
national importance as convenience for
trade and travel, and 10 prevent n possible
severance OF the Pacific States and Terri
tories from The Union. We were in the
midst al the war. 1t was not deemed wise
to undertake its construction on Govern
ment account. Congress, therefore, made
! second effort to insure its construction Ivy
private enterprise, and passed the act OF
1864, increasing largely the original induce