Daily national Republican. (Washington City [D.C.]) 1870-1872, 1872-03-04
HENRY WILSON ON GRANT.
Extracts frem Speech Made By Senator Wilson
In Great Falls, New Hampshire.

1Ou WOulu suppose, TO hear our Demo-
cratic friends talk, that we never had any
corruption before; that they had always been
pure, because they never punished thief.
App lauSe and laughter.l propose, right
here, to lay down this propositions that the
reason why this Administration ls so assailed
Ia not that II has been more corrupt oras cor
rnpt as It's predecessors, but that II Ia doing
much to expose thieving and TO punish men
who steal. The Democratic party-I mean
the modern Democratic party-came Into
mower In 1890 under General jackson. One
man, Samuel SwartwOut, In General Jack
sons day, when the Government raised only
u few millions of dollars year, stole mil
lion Of dollars In the New York custom-house,
nearly as much money as has been stolen
under this Administration In three years. In
collecting and paying out nearly twenty-one
hundred millions Of dollars. The percentage
Of loss under the Administration has been
less than under any administration since
General Jackson was lnaugurated President
Of the United States. There Is not shadow
Of doubt Of II. ] assert here and now that
there has been less percentage Of loss under
General Grants Administration than any
other Administration since the days Of John
Quincy Adams John Tyler, q sou Of Pres.
dent Tyler, IN q letter recently published,
states that there were, In Van Burens admin
istratlon nlnety-eght receivers of the public
money nlnety-slE Of whom were defaulters
Nlnety-slx out Of ninety-elghl Laughter.
Il there any man here tonight who knows
that any one Of those men was ever sent TO
the penltentiaryi ! believe a Republican
thief Is worse man than a Democratic thief.
Laughter. He has not had so many bad
examples. Laughter and applause. A Re-
publican thief IL the wickedest and meanest
thief Ia the land. He Joins a great party
that was brought into being to give freedom
to the slave, maintain the unity OF the coun-
try, and preserve the life Of the nation. In
the ranks Of that party Ia large mass Of the
intelligence Of the country, OF the praying
men and women Of the country. A man who
Joins that political organization, betrays his
trust, and steals the money OF the Govern
ment, Is q base creature, and the penitentlary
Is the only place where he should 20.
The difference between Republicans and
Democrats on this question Is this
TUE REPUBLICANS TRY TO DISCOVER AND
PUNISH
their thieves; the Democrats never punish
thors. You cannot tell me tonight of man
who stole from the National Government
under Democratic administration who was
sent to the pcnltentiary Under this admins
tratlon several thieves have been sent there.
Most Of their stealing was under the late ad-
mnistratlOn, for there has been little stealing
under this. Under Andrew Johnso1's admin
lstTAtion mean men got office. He went back
on his party, on bis record, and upright
Democrats paid little attention TO him; honest
Republicans kept away from the White
House, and mean mon OF both parties sought
the benefits OF his patronage. About forty
collectors OF Internal revenue under his ad-
ministraton became defaulters, for about a
million and three quarters. Under the three
years Of General Grants administration four
collectors become defaulteTs. During the
war, we paid through the paymastcr's depart
ment OF the army, more than thousand mil
lion OF dollars. That money was paid some
times when troops were on the march, some
times when they were under FIRE, and we lost
less than a quarter Of a million Of dollars.
Never In the history Of the human family was
there any higher evidence Of integrity.
In the war OF 1879, 10 paying out tho little
money we paid during that war, we lost about
two millions Of dollars. Since General Spin
ner entered upon his Office as Treasurer Of
the United States, hfty-nve thousand millions
of dollars have passed through his Office,
counted by from three to four hundred men
and women. We have lost between fifty and
sixty thousand dollars In these eleven years
while ffty-nve thousand millions have gone
through the office. We punished one man,
fined him, and he Is now trying to get back
five thousand dollars, for he says we made
him pay back Ave thousand dollars more
than he stole. Laughter. We have sent
to prison three trusted clerks, men OF capa-
city and ability; everybody trusted aud re-
spected them. That ls the way we have
who stole under Andrew Johnson's admins
tratlon, who were prosecuted under this Ad-
mlnlstration In Baltimore, to the penltentlary.
We had a paymaster ln the army; he was not
Republican; his father was not Repub-
lican but an old Wing, and Assistant ssers-
tary OF the Treasury under Thomas Corwln.
This young man was q college graduate, In
herited sl00, 900, was member of Chris.
tlan church, had wife and three beautiful
children, lived within bis income, got o pas
sion for stock gambling, lost his Sl0O, 900
and thon took 1900 900 Of the money Of the
Government. He was arrested when he
might have run away. lie was sent to the
penltentlary at Albany for ten years.
About the same time, the discovery was
made OF the boldest and most gigantic rob-
berry OF the people ever perpetrated In an
Client or modern times. Bill Tweed-"BOss
Tweed"-a man who, few years ago, went
through bankruptcy, and who Is said To have
bpasted, within year, that he had els, 00O,-
900, aud with him, the tribe OF TammAny
Hall, have been discovered and exposed.
Some OF them have gone TO Europe, some Of
them are enjoying the pleasures Of the health
full breezes and snow-drlfts OF Canada, some
Of them arc In one part OF the country and
some in another. While we were trying
Major Hodge, and sending him to the penl-
Tertiary at Albany for ten years, with the
approval Of the entire Republican party Of
the country, Bill Tweed, the greatest thief In
all the history Of the human family, the boss
thief Of the world loud laughter and APP
plause was sent to Albany, not TO the penl-
tenIary, but to the State house Us State
Senator by l2,OOO Democratic majority.
Applause. The two cases Illustrate exactly
the difference between the two parties; the
one denounciug thieves and arreSting aud
and Furnishing thum when II can, the other
never Furnishing any OF them. ] am told by
leading Democratic, some Of them members
Of the committee OF seventy, men who have
done all they could TO expose and break these
men down, that they do not believe one OF these
thieves will ever go TO the penitentiary.
They stole the Erie railroad; they stole the
State Of New York from Gen. Grant in 1883;
they have since stolen their millions from the
city; they have stolen judges and stolen
jurles; and they get elected TO the Leglsla-
ture; they do not get sent TO the State prison.
And the men who denied this stealing, who
denied that they stole the State Of New York,
when they knew that they did It, who denied
the stealing Of these TGmmAny Hall men,
until 1t was finally brought out and estab-
llshed so clearly that nobody should have do
nied it-these very men are accusing the Ad-
minlstratlon Of stealing. | have heard Of
Batans rebuking sin but | never saw any
thing 80 brazen as thls before. Loud APP
plause.
There has been collected undor General
Grants administration In three years nearly
TWELVE HUNDRED MILLIONS or DOLLARS,
nearly four hundred millions q year; there
has been paid out nearly thousand millions
Of dollars, making about twenty-one hundred
millions Of dollars. We have lost out Of this
immense sum, In all the departments OF the
Government, million and Quarter-less
than q fifteenth part Of one per ceut,l
Look at the Post Office Department. With
forty.nye thousand postmaster, clerks and
mall carriers, the loss has been less than one
tenth OF one per cent. In three years. In no
part OF the world has such integrity been
shown under like circumstances, We have
paid out during these three years ninety mil
lions OF dollars In pensions, and We have had
five defalcatlons, all OF them soldiers, and
four OF them shed their blood for the country
But the Government has not lost dollar, for
the agents made good their accounts, or their
bondsmen did II for them. RerybOdy knows
that the Indians have been cheated and
wronRed for many years, and that many OF
our Indian wars have grown out OF our ylO-
lations OF treaty obligations, our bad con.
ducts, and the stealing from the appropria-
tons for the Indians, General Grant, know
Ing the Indians and their wrongs two years
before he came Into the Presidency tried 10
devise plan by which the Indians should
receive what the Government appropriated
for them.