Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-04-03
A PITIABLE EXHIBITION OF

VIZ print elsewhere the report of the
Washington correspondent of the Ner
York Tribune of the interview between
a delegation of South Carohnians and
President Grant, during which the lat
ter acted in a manner that would have
been highly disgraceful in a private
citizen. Such an ebullition of temper
was never before shown by a President
TO a number Of quiet and orderly gen.
tlemen who presented themselves at the
White House to lay before him a re-
spectful statement of their grievances
and those of their fellow-citizens whom
they represented, and no President ever
embraced such an occasion to grossly
insult the men who bore to him a re-
monstrance or petition of any kind.
Even if every man of them had been his
bitter personal enemy, who h~adscrupled
at no words of detraction, the proprie-
ties of the occasion, the fact that he,
the head of the government, was re-
ceiving a delegation of citizens from "a
sovereign State" should have re-
strained his passion and forced hun to
act the gentleman, even though he were
not. According to the correspondent
of the Charleston Courier, when Gov.
Bonham inquired of Grant what was
the speech 10 which ne referred as be-
ing "worse in its personality and false
hood than anything he had ever seen
in the Ne10 York Sum-" he replied that
he did not know whose speech it was or
whether it had been correctly reported,
but he had read it recently as part Of
the proceedings of the convention of
taxpayers. Col. Simmons declared
that the gentleman who made the
speech disavowed having used the Of
fensive language to which the President
referred, and which had been attributed
to him by a local Republican paper.
Gen. Butler corrobrated this d~isavowal,
stating that he had read the speech as
published in the Edgefeld Advertiser,
and that it contained no such offensive
illusions as had been charged. To all
these disclaimers Gen. Grant only re-
piled that they might be true, but he
had seen nothing in the proceedings of
the Convention expressing any disap-
proval of what had been said in the
speech. The correspondent of the COU-
rier says:
"Mr. James G. Thompson here took
occasion to say that he was n of the
few Republicans who had taken part
In the convention; that he had heard
the speech to which reference had been
made with pain; buthe mustsay that he
and the other Republicans in the body
regarded the spirit in which the speech
was received by the convention, and the
action taken IN recommitting the re-
port by which it was accompanied, as a
plain and pointed rebuke to the senti.
ments which it contained"
But this seems to have had no effect
upon Grant The correspondent goes
on to state that some general talk fol-
lowed in regard to the obnoxiou s speech
the President manifesting great irrita-
ton whenever he alluded to 1t. Mr..
Porter suggested that it was hardly
just to hold a whole community, plead
ing for relief from intolerable oppres-
sion, responsible for the u~tterances of
a single individual, but his emon-
STRANGE seemed to be hardly noticed by
the President. Every effort 10 molIify
him failed and the delegation
withdrew utterly disguised with
''the greatest governments" Chief
Magistrate, as well they might. Was
there ever such a pitiable exhibition of
spleen by a President Of the United
States? 1t was such an exhibition of
temper and personal piIue as ought to
mortify every friend the President has,
and there can scarcely be a doubt that
every weli-meaning one among them
vas heartily ashamed Of him. THERE'S
evidence that some of them have given
him a talk upon the gross improperly
of his conduct, for the correspondent
of the Courier telegrapbs under date of
March so as follows:
''Some of the delegates received to-
day indirect but trustworthy assur-
ances that President Grant IS entirely
satisfied by what he has heard regard
ing the alleged obnoxious illusions to
himself, contained in a speech said TO
have been made in the Tax Payer
Convention; that he feels that be has
been unjust to the delegates and the
tax payers whom they represent, and
that he sincerely regrets the misunder-
standing Of the facts which caused his
harsh response to the address of the
delegation"
But the disgrace Grant has brought
upon himself by this pitiable exhibit
ton of spleen, at the time and under