Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1872-01-17

Speech Of Senator Wilson,
At rHH SEw uAMPsnfRs REPUBLICAN, srirH
CONVENTION.

IT rHH SEw nAMPsufRs REPUBLICAN, srirH
CONVENTION
Senator WILSON said Il was hardly nece..
ary that he should speak Of the record of
he Republican party Of the country. II had
mancipated race Of men from bondage,
nd in putting down treason had saved the
ife Of the nation. Calhoun, McDufhe and 9th.
RS Of their class no longer stand up and say
hat slavery is the normal condition Of 4 race.
In other countries emancipation is going on
md let us hope that the great work Is in
ONE measure at least, being stimulated by
,ur example. Brazil is undergoing gradual
and President Grant, as you
expressed the hope in his recent
message that that country would hasten the
imo when freedom should reign within all
Ter borders. The President also recommends
hat no American citizen be allowed to hold
,laves in foreign land. Some papers and
few prominent men are endeavorng to dispar.
lge the administration Of President Grant,
but il stands higher before the world and
mankind than any other since 1850. With
such an administration it is not surprising
that our country is looked up to throughout
the world. The Republicans of New Hamp.
shire, according to their number, have done
as much toward giving our country its pres
ent honor aud standing as their brethren in
other States You sent Hon. John p. Hale
TO the United States Senate, and you will al.
ways be honored for that. (Applause.) You
won the FIRST great victory at the polls.
Since then we have always had true Republi.
can members from New Hampshire in the
National Congress
In the late war New Hampshire was second
to no other State in her loyalty to the nation.
lie had just visited the Doric Hall Of the
State House, and his heart throbbed with
emotion as he looked upon the torn aud stain
ed Gags that Regiments from the old Granite
State had borne in triumph on many hotly
contested battlefield lie would not, how.
ever, take much time from the Convention.
He did not come to make speech He had
come to New Hampshire to visit old friends
and schoolmates, some Of whom he had not
seen for tbirty-fve years. But there was
another thing that he wished to say about the
administration 1t is asserted by some that
that it is not an economical one. He had
a letter from Mr.. Spinner, which he would
read
" Treasury or THK UNITED SrArEs,
" WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 1871.
Ny Dear General AS you asked me in re-
gard to losses in this office, and as | have Just
mnde statement Of the money transactions and
the comparative losses in eleven years, tako tho
liberty to enclose you, herewith, copy of the
former, by which it will be seen that the cash
entries both sides Of the books amount to
$50, 1855, 1893 i62 IS. There have been five losses
during that time-four by employees aud one by
an outsider. Nearly half Of the amount of these
losses has been recovered. The amount now un-
recovered is 500, ,l23.47. This, you will see, is
hut one dollar on every $77l 1913 AZ Of the money
transactions of this office in eleven years
81 1t is doubted whether any money transacs
tions, where hundreds of persons were employed
daily in the handling Of such immense amounts
OF money, were ever transacted with 50 little
comparative loss. | claim no particular merit for
this, az it is perhaps almost entirely due to good
luck.
g am, very truly your friend,
f. E. SrIYsIR.
" Hon. Henry Wilson, Natick, Mass"
In the war of 1872 when military prep.
aratons and expenses were insignificant com.
pared with the last war, the government lost
in various ways nearly two millions of dol.
lars. As a general rule, honesty pervades
every department of the present government.
When dishonesty has been found it has been
thoroughly weeded out. Where there have
been suspicious of dishonesty, the most thor.
ourgh and searching investigations have been
made. In several Of the departments there
has not been loss of single dollar report.
ed. The President desires every wrong to
Z bo farrot,d out. II has been asserted in
some quarters that there is disposition on
the part of the administration and Congress
to evade investigation. Such is not the case.
la 1866, a Joint Committee of Retrench.
ment and Investigation was appointed, which
was in force up to the present Congress. One
Of its members was your own honored Sen.
ator, Patterson. On account Of there being
a question as to the power of such commit.
tee to administer punishment for malfeasance
ia Office there was at the commencement Of
the present session of Congress Senate Com.
mittee Of investigation appointed, clothed
with full power to send for persons and pa
pers and to rigidly examine every subject dc.
manding their attention. The President
wants honesty in the public service, but the
people must help him keep the officials honest.
There are now fifty thousand men in the ser.
vice of the government, and who can be sur.
prised that there is now aud then an instance
Of dishonesty 2 1t has been so in all past
times with every government, and will be 80
in the future unless great change comes
over the spirit and dreams of men. There
never was a more honest or unpretending man
than President Grant. Having been without
much experience in public matters hsm may have
committed some errors in few appointments.
But the great bulk of his appointments have
been as a general rule better than We have
seen for the last forty years. Some are in
office who ought not to be there and he hoped
they would not be there long.
Some say the President accepts presents,
but he has not done so since taking the oath
of office, except in some triling cases. An
old lady out West, eighty.two years old, re-
Gently sent him pair Of stockings, which
she had knitted with her own hands She
wrote to the President that she had four sons
who were 10 his command in the great rebel.
lion lie brought none Of them back to her,
but he had brought her a country, and she
thanked God for it, There are some persons
nowadays who endeayor to beittle many if
not all persons in public stations. They re-
yiled the lamented Lincoln when he was re-
nominated and wanted him withdraw. But
they did not succeed. Lincoln was triumph
antly reelected, aud in his own personal char
|
acter and in the honor and integrity OF his
administration he now stands beside the peer
less Washington. Office holders were never
so powerless as at the present time. Espe.
cially on account Of the Presidents honesty
did the speaker believe the people liked him
and would want to re-elect him and would
do it, 1t was interesting to review the his
tory Of General Grant at the opening of the
war. A quiet unprstending man, he went
down to Springfield, ILL.,, to assist in raising
and disciplining regiments After twenty
organizations had been perfected, MIR. Grant
was given the command of the Twenty First.
and was commissioned colonel He hadn't
money enough to get him sword, and he
borrowed some to buy one with. But what
record he soon made for himself The ink
upon his commission had hardly got dry be-
fore under his direction, signal victory was
won over an army Of thirty thousand men.