Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-02-02

l kuo nOU0Es n III COHNIu1IS8c vi vbl4 w u0P' nHv
ing under consideration the bill (H r. 5l4y relas
Ing 70 the centeuniai celebration Of America
Independeacs--
Mr.. Townsend, Of New York, said
Mr.. Chairman: / use the languag,
slightly modified, that John Adami
used hundred years ago, when HI
said: 81 am for the Declaration"
am for the Celebration. A hundred
years ago we were q feeble folk, scat
tered over n vast extent of country
and with a population of less thar
three millions. A hundred years havt
made us q nation Of more than forty
millions; a nation made up of mater
rial second to no nation now on the
face Of the earth, and second to no ma.
ton that ever existed. If there be a ma.
ton among the dominiOns OF the earth
that has hitherto been proud of its
achievements, that nation is the Unit.
cd States of America. We have just
expended more than $4,000, ,O00 900 to
render it certain that this nation shall
exist. We have spent 5000, ,OOO, ,OO(
to have centennial. That money il
expended, and I put it to my side OF
the House to say whether we should
grudge million and a half Of dollars
to show to the nations Of the earth
the quality of our people and their
progress in arts, agriculture, and
manufactures. That Is the way feel
in regard this question. And when
you come to the constitutional ques-
tiOn, the question of right, I say, sir
that If nation has a right to exist il
has right to show to the world that
1t docs exist. That is the whole con-
stitutional question that troubles me
fLaughter.
Now, sir, we have had an appeal to
us in behalf of the poor. What has
this nation as nation to do with that
question: Our strict construction
friends on the other side of the House
tell us that that belongs to the States.
l join hands with them on that SUBJ
ject; it belongs to the States. 1t does
not belong here. Gentlemen on the
other side of the Hall are eternally
quoting the scriptures. My cmaciatcd
friend from New York Mr.. Willis, ]
who has appealed so eloquently in
behalf of the poor, is a good Christian
man have known him long time.
And / want to call his attention to
the fact that two thousand years ago,
a woman was wild enough to go and
waste box of ointment on the feet of
q most eminent individual One Of
those looking on, whose name was
lscariOt, said that the ointment might
have been sold for three hundred
pence and the money given to the
poor. Laughter There Is another
verse which refers to this interference
in behalf of the poor which I will not
read. My friend may read it at his
leisure.
Now, sir, I sympathize with the
poor, and it is because I sympathize
with the poor that l want this nation
to flourish and be honored at home
and abroad. The poor of this coun-
try occupy a position which the poor
OF no country before ours ever occu-
pied since Adam and Eve, going on a
farming expedition, emigrated from
Eden. Laughter.] am for this APP
preparation for the benefit of the poor.
But | must refer to the gentleman
from Texas. Mr.. Rcagan.l He is on
my side on thissquestion. In the most
kindly and becoming manner he
talked about the poor, as ifTexas was
poor. Texas poor? Good God !
Laughter. There is not o gentleman
on this floor who has not been asleep
for the last fifteen years who does not
know that Texas to-day has fOnr times
the material wealth that she had i'm
1850, and was assured by a worthy
gentleman on this floor from that
State whose word I take as law that
the population of the State was actu-
ally doubled since 1870.
Mr.. Reagan. Let me say TO the gen
tlcman that his information is not cor.
rect. There is now in Texas degree
Of adversely and poverty rarely wit
messed in the civilized world.
Mr.. Townsend, Of New York. The
gentleman has the misfortune to sup.
pose thatI am nothing but wild
Yankee but | can assure that gentle
man that a large family. dear to me.
nursed in my very bosom are not only
residents of Texas, but We're there be-
fore the revolution from Mexico, and
that their large landed property has
more than quadrupled in value since
1850. understand all about the pres.
ent condition of Texas. lam a breed.
er of cattle i'm Iowa for the market
and when go West to look after my
flocks find the Texas cattle which
were rendered numerous by the
events of the war, now sent to feed
and fatten in the parks of Colorado
on the plains of Laramie, and on the
prairies of Kansas and Nebraska and
when go there, the broad horns Of
those cattle are shaken in my face as
a good strict c0nstructionist some
times shakes his head across this floor
at us poor unhappy republicans
Laughter. And when the gentle.
man from Georgia Mr.. Hill shook
his clenched hand at me l felt as do
when meet a Texas steer.
The gentleman Mr.. Reaganl want:
to show how Texas is suffering. Sir
Texas has sent us one representative
apparently for the very purpose oi
showing her famishcd condition. She
could not have shown her suffering
condition better by sending sack oil
three hundred and fifty pounds ol
sweet cream, and the Speaker has
never done more graceful or proper
act than he did when he made that
gentleman chairman of the committee
on the sufierings of Texas. laugh.
ter. And now am going further in
this thing of talking about suffering
! know our southern friends are sui.
fering awfully. They suffer as oui
northern financiers suffer. The suf.
fering of the democracy Of Pennsyl.
vania and Ohio is for more money
The financiers of the cities are suffer.
ing from too much money. Laugh
ter But through our broad country
except in some branches of manutac.
lures, there is very little suffering a,
compared with the catastrophies oI
other days.
And, sir, the cotton States are nc
exception to the general condition OF
the country. Sir, the production OF
cotton last year was within one fif
tcenth of the largest in the history oi
our country. The largest production
was in 1860, when God was good ID
us all and gave to the South its larg.
est crop of cotton and TO the natior
Father Abraham. Laughter. II
we can rely upon the reports of thu
production Of cotton this year the pro
duction will be equal To the best veal
in the history Of the Republic. Blu
that is not all. The production O
bread-stufs in the cotton States i
so much greater than 1t formerly wa
that I may safely say that last yeal
the cotton States raised more what i
for the comfort of man than ever be
fore. I acknowledge that it was NO
divided as it used to be before tn,
last war. When we started with thi
Republic We disregarded Gods law
which He laid down for His owl
people, the children of Israel, "Cho,
shalt not muzzle the OK that treadetl
out the corn" We left the muzzl,
on. But during the war the mnzzl,
has dropped from the OK and neve
can be put on again. Now, in the di
vision of the products of the cotton
States the OK, that Is, he that does IN,
work shares little in the proceeds
And let me say to our strict-con
structiOnist friends on the other sid,
that, if it should be the case in th,
cotton States that there is more attcn
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