The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1876-01-21

is 10 auu our pOlltlcal power TO the patrlOuc
Union men of the north in order to compel
fanaticism to obey the laws and to live in
the Union according to the Constitution.
The South did the Union one great wrong,
and VIC come as far as we can to repair 1t.
We wropged the Union grievously when we
left it," We ask you, gentlemen Of the
Republican party, to rise above all your
animosites, to forget your old sins. Let us
unite to repair the wrongs that detract and
oppress the country. Let us turn our backs
on the past. And let it be said in the future
that he shall be the greatest patriot, the
truest patriot, the noblest patriot, shall do
the most to repair the wrongs of the past
and to promote the glories of the future.
Loud and sustained applause in the House
and in the crswded galleries.
The crowning speech of the debate was
that of General Banks, on Thursday II @
made an eloquent appeal for peace, which
alone could restore prosperity, in place of
| the depression which rests upon the country,
taking from men their property, from labor
ers their employment. From women and
children their bread which is destroying
not only the welfare of the present, but i'm
periling the hopes of the future. / must
take space to quote this paragraph
Iprefer as guide for myself in my action
here as a member of this House to leave the
past and look to the future. If ! should
follow the counsel of the gentleman from
Maine and his friends, could change moth
| ing of the past; not one of the dead could
be raised to life; not one would be assuaged;
not one sorrow or one sign be diminished by
anything that can now be done. Let that
which is past and gone, not to be changed
and affected by anything within the scope
of human power, remain for the impartial
investigation which is to come hereafter
which must come hereafter let it stand for
those who will be able and capable of as
certaining and pronouncing that judg-
ment.
Ispeak in part for New England, rath-
er in part for Massachusetts,. Lexington and
Bunker Hill are in the district / represent.
believe | can truthfully say land would
say nothing except what l can say with
truth according to my judgment) that the
whole people of Massachusetts desire that
this measure-the first step necessary to
peace--shall be adopted. They exhibited
this desire at Lexington and Concord on the
one-hudredth anniversary of the first battles
of the Revolution, and at Bunker Hill on
the hundredth anniversary of the battle of
the 18th of June, 1875. Those who had
been the enemies of the country, who came
| there with the'uniforms of their respective
States, and with arms in their hands, were
welcomed by the whole people with the
same greetings, the same acclamations, the
same joy with which they welcomed the sons
of Massachusetts who had been fighting the
| battles of the country in arms against them.
Applause. This was no pre-arranged
demonstration for private or public purposes.
1t was notmade by committees or candidates
for office, nor by men who had any political
| aspirations whatever; but it CAME from the
hearts of the people-men, women and
childrcn-representiug all classes, all inter-
ests, all opinions. Individually and sep
arately they might have hesitated, as we do
here, to express our honest feelings but
when they found themselves together, and
all animated by the same thought and the
same aspiratons-that of reconciliation and
peace-they gave such an utterance to their
universal joy as the world never witnessed
before. 1t was an inspiration gathered from
the amicable union of hitherto hostile men,
bers of the same family, the day that brought
| and the great events that It co mmemorated.
The men from South Carolina or Virginia
or Maryland could no. have been more sur
prised at this universal demonstration of
| joy and welcome in the streets of Boston
than>were the people Of Massachusetts,. 1t
was an honest sentiment. A purer exhala-
tion never rose from the human race than
that which ascended to heaven from the
hearts of the people on that day. APP
plause.
The act of amnesty is not mere congress
ional act 1t is not the act of Congress
| alone; it is the act of a great people. No
record, no declaration on the part of any
| Government from the creation of the world
will compare in majesty and sublimity with
this act if it shall be passed To take this
majestic declaration of the people, demand
ed by them and believed by them to be just,
and plaster it with citations and proofs more
or less conclusive of crimes that may be
charged against any individual is to
Blur the grace and glow
Of clemency; to take the rose
From the fair forehead of Godlike act
And stick blister there.
Profound attention was given the speech
| throughout A whisper might have been
heard in the galleries during its delivery
and when concluded buzz of approval
filled the vast assembly. The universal
are out of sympathy with the people and the
times. They have staked all on a desperate
card and lost.
have already exceeded my allotted space
in attempting to give an adequate idea o
this discussion in which everything else has
been lost sight of here. The senate 'ha'
been mostly occupied with the president pr
tempOre discussion. and has finally settled
by retaining Mr.. Ferry. President Grant
has sent in his appointment of Billings t.
succeed the scoundrel Durell as judge il
Louisiana. 1t is putting one rascal in tn
place Of another, and he will not be con
iirmed. Several financial measures hav'
been introduced in both houses, the point
of which will shortly be discussed. 1t i
more than likely, however, that the resump
ton act of 1875 will be repealed and some
thing better substituted in its place. Th'
| Republican Committee have called thei
| National Convention to meet at CinciHnat
June IA. This is a preliminary victory fo
| Rrigtnw and Morton