National Republican., 1876-08-15
FORTY-F0URTH CONGRESS.
IContinued from First Page.l

| late war and the expenses attending it. Their
| cry of reform and their practice was well
| illustrated at the beginning of the session,
when they turned out the old and experienced
| employees and the whole South almost came
| up for office. All sections were represented,
! and even Texas came here with a 'biger" man
| than old Grant. 1t was the first time that the
| Confederacy had captured Washington with an
| organized force. If Tiden should be elected
! President Virginia would be depopulated, and
men would claim recognition for their Democ-
| racy on the ground that they had served for
| four years in the Confederate army. This
| House had been q mistake in the matter of Ie-
| form.
Besides turning out all the experienced Off
GERS it had sent all over the country to get the
| dead beats who would testify against an Off
cial, and no mans reputation was safe. They
took good care, however, not to push the in
vestigations where they affected Democrats.
| Two members Of the House had been charged
| with msdemeanors in connection with the
J Pacific Mail He referred to Mr.. KING and
| Mr.. ,SCHUMAKER. If Mr.. KING had been
| alone, or if Democrat had not been coupled
| with him, he would have been expelled long
ago.
THE ONLY REFORM
| he could perceive was the reform that was af-
| fected in the person of the chairman of the
Committee on Appropriations, who up to the
very close of the Forty-third Congress was an
advocate of high salaries, and who had de-
clared that a man who thought Congress
| mans salary should be less than 81, 500 was
not fit to he a Congressman. As for the Re-
| publican party, it had not only crushed the
rebellion and saved the country, but it had re-
duced taxation; 1t had paid hundreds of mil
| lions of the national debt, and had pensioned
| the soldiers. 1t may not have acted wisely at
all times, but it had done the best for the good
| of the country. To replace that party with
the Democratic party of reform would be alb
surd. The people were not yet prepared to
| yield to the party that had trailed the Stars
and Stripes in the dust and had raised in its
place to Stars and Bars. They were not pre-
pared to turn the destinies of the country over
to those who had been its enemies.
The SPEAKER laid before the House
message from the President of the United
States, stating that in affixing his signature to
the river aud harbor appropriation bill he
deemed it his duty to announce his objections
to some features of the bill and to give the
reasons why he had signed it. If it was OBJ
ligatory upon him to spend all the money ap-
propriated by the bill he should have re-
turned it with his objections, even at the risk
of stopping certain work that was required to
be done. He saw that many of the appropri
ations in the bill were for private or local
works, rather than for works of a public and
national character, and he should see that no
money was expended on those private and
local works. He believed that the action of
districts and the number of revenue officers
would result in great falling Off in the rev.
enue and would not enable him to pay for all
the work. He would, therefore, not allow
any money appropriated by the bill'to be ex-
pended on any work which had not been
already commenced or which was not of a
purely national character.
Mr.. REAGAN, Of Texas, moved to refer the
message to the Committee on Commerce. He
said the Presidents assumption that it was
not obligatory upon him to spend all :he
money appropriated by the bill was based upon
the first clause, which allowed the money to
be expended in the discretion of the Secretary
of War. The objects appropriated for by the
bill were believed to be proper by the Congress.
The President might have vetoed the BILL but
instead he assumes that he can exercise his
personal judgment as to the several items.
This is an assumption of personal government,
and is not in obedience to law. The bill gives
the President no discretion, and is not under
the control of any one except the Secretary of
War. He has no more right to assume that
he will not carry out the law of Congress than
he has to assume that he need not carry out
any other appropriation act or any other law
of Congress.
Mr.. HEREFORD, of W. Va, said he was
surprised at the message, but perhaps not so
much so as some other members now here.
Mr.. CONGER, of Mich, was surprised at
the remarks of the gentleman. All that the
President had said was that there were some
defects in the bill as it passed, and that he will
exercise discretion in relation to the expendi-
ture. He will not permit the money of the
country to be squandered unnecessarily, but
will only use it for works of national benefit.
He will only see that the money of the Repub-
lie is not expended for trivial or unworthy
purposes. viii gentlemen who oppose this
message designate the items in the bill of
works that are not national and for public
haDpfty Can IL he that the typntlpmpD Uh
have come up here from their wanderings in
the wilderness, and who have come up here to
stay in their fathers house, have deceived the
chairman of the committee and have got him
to put in works that are not of national i'm
portaIce.
These gentlemen have come up here glitter
ing all over with retrenchment. Their whole
souls are glowing and burning and yearning
for reform and retrenchment, and when they
want all the laws strictly enforced, why blame
the President in his determination to scan this
law and to aid in reform and to prevent ex-
Penditure of money uselesslyi The gentlemen
on the other side were all for reform when it
did not affect themselves or their own inter-
ests, but they were not SO much for reform
when their own interests were affected.
Mr.. RANDALL said he had the highest re-
spect for the President of the United States
but he had intimated in the message that Con-
gress had crippled the revenues, and that had
not been done, nor had there been any inten-
tion to embarrass the Government. He re-
GREETED that the President should have made
that intimation.
Mr.. PIERCE, of Mass, approved of the
Presidents message, and thought money would
be saved if he would carry out the purpose he
had iLdicated.
Mr.. KASSON argued that the President had
done nothing unconstitutional in this message.
He had discretion in the matter, and there
was nothing that could compel him to spend
all the money.
Mr.. HOLMAN, of Ind, said he protested
against the assumption of gentlemen that the
President was compelled to spend all this
money, and that he could not exercise a sound
discretion.
Mr. KASSON. Then you stand by the Presi-
dent
Mr.. HOLMAN. stand by the doctrine he
enunciated in the message.
Mr.. REAGAN's motion to refer was then
adopted, and at u. m. the House took re-
cess until O'Clock p. IN.
Evening Session.
Upon reassembling no quorum appeared ,and
a call of the House followed, which continued
until O'Clock, when a quorum appeared.
Mr.. BANKS, of Mass, addressed the House
in favor of the bill to utilize the product of the
gold and silver mines of the country. He said
he had offered the bill early in this session, ,and
it only had one idea, and that was to issue
bonds for the deposit of gold and silver bull
lion. That bill would restore gold and silver
as basis of the currency of the country.
Heeontended that something of this kind
was necessary, because there was not enough
gold to pay the debts of the world, and there
fore no one ever expected that it would be
thus paid. These coin notes, based upon de-
posils of gold and silver, would be the best
currency. As result of such bill as this we
would have in three or five years from three to
five hundred millions Of gold and silver in the
vaults of the country, and the people will
have in their pockets like amount of gold
and silver notes.
1t would also give a security which could
not so readily be taken out of the country.
In his opinion, the bill was one of the most i'm
portant of the session, and he, therefore,
thought it was discreditable that the oppo-
nents of the bill should have resorted to revo-
lutionary expedients to defeat the measure.
Mr.. KASSON, of Iowa, obtained the floor
and said that in his speech this morning on
the appropriation bills Mr.. RANDALL had pre-
sented an array of figures to prove the reform
Of this House and he was haDDV in the thought