Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1875-02-05
Senator Conkling In Defense or the
Administration.

Ol InC SJJn anu OUtn ulJ. give INC IOliOW-
| ing report of Senator Conkling's speech
in the Senate on the Louisiana question:
Mr.. Conkling began by saying that the
drama which entertains the Senate must
| have its rum and that q time had now come
| when silence only serves to prOlong the wran-
| GLE The Presidential contest for 1876 has
been opened in the Senate. The way In
which my amendment was received by the
Senator from Ohio fThurman) told us in
stantly that we were TO be charged all along the
| line. Every Administration supporter was
| ready to vote for the resolution ifmade court
| eous. The course Of the President was pre-
| judged. The Opposition had almost the en-
tire newspaper press Of the land with them
| After IL had become notorious that our ac-
| tion would be anticipated If we longer de-
layed, the resolution was passed The plain,
manly message came, and now lies upon our
| table. Then discussion should have ended,
but 1t did not. The Senator from Missouri
came forward with his resolution, and so the
machine for grinding out political capital
runs on. Senator Thurman occupied the at
tention of the Senate for hours yesterday, and
| others arc doubtless waiting TO take
J his place tomorrow. He is the recognized
/ leader of the Democratic party, but he did
not tell us what TO do with the great Louis
lana question. 1t was for the Senator from
| Ohio (rhurman), to whom the nation looked
more than to any other man, to originate the
| policy Of his party. The honorable Senator
| (Thurman), when commenting upon South
| eTn Outrages, said, in effect, II such was the
| condition OF society in the South, ii was time
that the party which had been in power
| through the war and since the war should
! give way and let another party come in.
| There was the clcw which unraveled this web.
| That had been the gospel Of the Democrats
| since the beginning: make reconstruction
| failure; make it u miscarriage; Keep up an
agitation; disturb, ferment and reyolutionize,
| and the time will come when the country,
weGried and worn with commotion, will ac-
cept anything for a change. The sole policy
| of the Democracy seems to be to oppose
measure which originates with Repub-
llcans. The honorable Senator from
Ohio, in his argument, went back to
the election Of 1872, and made that
period background for the events of three
| weeks ago. Who made the election in 1872
fraud? It was Warmoth, the leader Of the
Opposition in Louisiana, the champion of the
Democracy, who was to carry the State for
Greeley, and thus help to make him President
The election of 1872 in Louisiana was an organ
lied fraud. The testimony before the Senate
Committee showed that Warmoth's control Of
the election machinery then was equal to 20,
600 votes. In every form in which this ques
ton had been tried the decision had been
against McEnery. The courts, both houses Of
Congress and the President have decided
against McEneTy. No responsibility for the
doings in New Orleans on the 4th Of January
touches the President of the United States.
The first Information he received in regard TO
| JlcW was slInulldDCOus WIFI lHC
given TO all citizens large. The newspapers
OF the following day were his first informers.
| II there were those in Washington who knew
that a revolution was to be attempted on the
4th of January, the President Of the United
States was not one of them.
Mr.. COnkling next referred TO the reasons
which induced the President TO send Gen.
Sheridan to New Orleans. and said before this
letter of the President directing Gen. Shcri-
dan To go South the President had been com
N.I. gf UtIriN 70 Nt~hI IfIN
no man could be deaf. They did not concern
the election, but they concerned the lives,
| homes and property of those who had never
been false to their countrys flag, and, under
that flag, were hunted as If they were wild
beasts. These entreaties summoned the
Chief Magistrate to his feet One of these
entrcaties had reached him but three days be-
! fore. 1t came from one who, Tor twenty
years, had been resident OF Shreveport; o
! Judicial officer, not appointed 10y the Presi
dent but appointed .IoX SX the &c ffS9Sy9fsrahe aha
then presence there was lawful, be
cause the slender remnant oil our army
must be stationed somewhere. 1t must be
stationed in some State, and, no matter where
= found its right to be there was unquestioned
and its withdrawal from New Orleans woulC
' have been possible only with Cblef Magls
tratc i'm open cOnnivance with murdererS anC
traitors. What would Gen. Washington have
> said about ordering troops away from New
L Orleans, where the air was murky ana heaV.
t with violence, and stationing them some
: where where all was peace! Ihls questlol
v was presented to Washington when fou
counties in the western part of Pennsylvania
resisted the whisky tax. An Inspector ant
L Surveyor were resisted, and Washington or
II dered out and put on foot l5,OO0 men, ant
C went to command them himself. The revoi
l. was abandoned, but armed men trod the sol
o of Pennsylvania to preserve peace and preven
, any further outbreak.
:, The Senator then referred to the seizure q
y arms in New Orleans in September last D.
u the White League, and said they had neve
e been given up, although the PRESIDENT, .
II his proclamation, called upon the insurgent
II to lay down their arms and repair peaeeabl
n to their homes. Yet, after more than tire
months had elapsed, they stood defying tn
Federal Government. The arms not n
u turned consisted of two mountain howitzer
n 624 Springfield breech. loading rifles 81
Of Winchester rifles, 66i Enfield rifles, ninety
lie three Spencer carbines, and 1,54 bayonet
q. These arms were carried by these men L
,d day, and they were in rebellion against III
proclamation commanding them to lay thel
down. The Chief Magistrate required no d
l feHse for allowing soldiers of the Union
rs remain in the State of Louisiana after Il
q, 14th Of September, when they had been sun
to moned there 10 arrest business SO BLOOD
a Fortv-eight hours before the message OF u
y President was sent to the Senate Il
u honorable Senator from Missouri (Schur1
. declaring he intended to speak wi
calmness and impartiality, told u
at country he was then in possessi'
"a of all the information necessary to form
n Judgment, and proceeded to arraign the Pre-
- ident rs the doer of the deeds in Louisla
-, - on the 4th Of January.
.lii m Mr.. Conkling here read from the remar
lo' of Mr.. Schurz in reference to the Presidel
IN and said that was the language OF the Sci
tor from Missouri, who, standing rs IL We
yo upon the ashes of human ambition, assum
,re to weigh in his hand the motives and acts
no one charged with the administration OF lay
~ ~ The meanest culprit is entitled to be heard
'ee his own defense, and there was an assun
'er ton of his innocence until he was prov
an guilty; but for an American President in
nd American Senate there was neither hear
nor assumption. Such Is passion; suCh
90 the hot breath Of party feeling! Gen. sh'
10 dan was equally undeserving oil praise
re- blame for the doings in New Orleans on
is 4th of January, as he was not IN comma
gh- when the Legislature met,
Iho Mr.. Conkling here sent to the Clerks q,
ing and had read Sheridan's dispatch TO the
tn retary of War; saying | see my way elea s
upon this dispatch, he said Gen. Sheridan,
ike A seething caldron OF corruption, lea
ith that rumors might cause his superiors here
it's feel distrust in him, and sent this dlspa
ay to the Secretary It Tas then nrSSe InS SeereS
@ elio course,n Later in the day he sent him
uS other dispatch to the effect that the Presld
Ieu' and Cabinet were firm In the belief that
acts OF his in New Orleans had been
in would be judicious. ,,,,. ,,Lt.L,.
mid Referring to the banditu Dispatch
Sar Conkling said Sheridan did suggest impo
~ nen y bic and violent modes Of procedure. II 81
ID; idan called the murderers banditti what
llch had he offended? He applied term TO
his notorious malefaetOrs, those who robbed
With plundered, and such as he has offended
him jected to Il. The right OF sherldan mas .S !
,nlvl Challenged in this chamber TO breathe
'' free air Of the Republic, but should the
come when degenerate apestate w
tes judge him unfit to breathe the free air Of Of
y ot kepubl1c then We nau Dettef Durn ths
old MORALS of our forefathers, dance on the u
l by at Mount Vernon, and ding down
aves obelisk on Bunker HILL Sheridan's sv
II1es was not the stained sword of an assassin.
os ,roo blood upon It was of those who tried tC
hort sba{ the world has ever seen. Il was
rom 'h"' - -,a ~, -, had haan Ho,htina