The Portland daily press., 1875-12-24
THE PRESS.
FRIDAY MORNING. DEC. "a, 1875
A Reconnaissance.

weeks since to determine upon policy for
that party in Congress, that Mr.. Lamar of
Mississippi would present resolution declar-
ing that the Southern or Confederate men,
bers of the party would never ask the United
States to reimburse the owners of emanci-
pated slaves, grant pensions to Confederate
soldiers or assume any portion of the rebel
debt. We have not been able to find any
resolution in the proceedings of that eau
Gus which would afford the remotest init
nation of such declaration. On the other
hand the Democratic members of Congress
did confess that they were unable to deal
with this subject by adopting resolution re-
mittng the entire one hundred and ninety
odd of them in both branches to the guardi-
anship of Mr.. Lamar, with such star cham
Der of thirteen members as it pleased him to
select out of or in Congress. 1t would have
been an excellent stroke of party policy for
some leader of the Southern Democracy to
have introduced resolution in the House
declaring ohce for all against such scheme.
Such action would better befit the House
than wasting time in voting down the third
term spook.
We are aware that in the recent canvass
several Democratic speakers, both OF the Con-
federate and Northern wings of the party,
repudiated any such action in the event of
Democratic administration and congress,
We also remember that within two weeks
nearly every Democrat in the House voted
against railroad subsidies in the abstract.
Nevertheless Mr.. Speaker Kerr in less than
two weeks after such declaration, appointed
a railroad committee so much in favor of
subsidies that it has been christened 'Mr.
Scett's Committee" But while the Demo-
cratic House has thus far failed to relieve
the public mind of its doubts on this mat
ter by a positive declaration, certain men,
bers from that section have introduced
bills which naturally arouse all the appre-
tensions ever existing respecting the fu-
ture action of the Southern Democracy.
Among these are Senator Merrrimon and
Representative Vance of North Carolina.
The former introduced bill to re.confer the
pensions of the war of 1872 and the Mexican
war upon such recipients as had been en-
gagged in the rebellion and had forfeited them
by becoming rebels. The Senator said he
did not mean that his bill should pension
Confederate soldiers. 1t is one of those dis
tinctions that make but little difference. Mr..
Merrimon's bill is only declaration that the
highest crime against a government-trea-
son-should be no bar to the favors of that
government, and the Senator only means
that the soldier who deserts the flag he has
fought under, forswears his allegiance and
unites with traitors to destroy his govern
ment, when beaten shall be restored to the
same pensions previously possessed, on an
equality with those who remained true TO
the country. We doubt not but that Mr..
Merrimon's bill places these men who have
forfeited their pensions in position where
they may actually claim pensions for the time
during which they were doing their utmost
to destroy the nation!
Representative Vance's bill goes further in
that it places no Limitation whatever upon
the privileges which he desires to open to his
fellow ex-Confederates. He has proposed
bill to repeal all the statutes which prohibit
payments of claims to ex-rebels, their aiders
and abettors. He not only wants the for
feited pensions restored, but he wants the
government to pay for taking the CELSIUS of
1860 in the South He desires that the post
masters who went into the rebellion shall be
reimbursed for the stamps they had on hand
when they went into the rebel army or tore
up their commissions from the United States
to take those of Mr.. Davis's government
He further desires that all prohibition shall
be removed from former rebels for losses or
alleged losses of any nature whatever Incl
dent to the invasion of the South. Let Mr..
Vance's bill pass and the claims for other
property than emancipated slaves, if allowed,
would cover all losses which could be charged
to that head. At best, it would be but
natural step from rcimbursing claims of every
natule to paying for emancipated slaves.
Next comes Mr.. Cook, a Georgia Demo-
crat, who has introduced bill to refund the
cotton tax and reimburse those who have
claims for cotton seized by federal authori-
ties after May 20, 1865. This was about all
the special tax that the South paid to meet
the expenses of quelling their rebellion, and
now Mr.. Cook desires that Congress shall
take the sum (about $4,000, ,O0O) olt of the
pockets of Northern men.
Thus early in the season-before Congress
is fairly at work, Confederate Democrats have
introduced bills which, if passed, would not
only bankrupt the national treasury but
would facilitate The payment of all sorts of
claims. Pending presidential election, these
Confederate readers will not be allowed to en-
force their measures, but let there be in the
White House a President chosen by nearly
every electoral vote south of the Mason and
Dixon line, Democratic Senate in which
every seat from the states south of that line
is filled BY men who have participated in the
rebellion and a House with sufficient Nor
thern Democrats 20 make majority when
added to an entire Confederate delegation
from the South, and the country will see all
of the above measures carried through. The
present exhibition is only a reconnaissance.
The next general election will decide wheth-
er or notIthe reconnaissance will be followed
by an assault