The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1877-06-08
Butler and MacVeagh.
THE TRUE LOUISIANA 1NwARDNEss.

THE TRUE LOUISIANA 1NwARDNEss.
General Benjamin F. Butler has given the
following letter, reviewing the policy of the
administration in scathing terms, to the
press;
WASHINGTON, d. C., May 20.
My DEAR PiTKIN | have yours of the
10Th inst, informing me that when you were
in Washington both the President and Mr..
Dcvcus, the Attorney General, gave you sub
stantial assurance that you would not be dis
turbcd in your office as United States Mar
shal, being u native of the State of Louisiana
and Il good Republican, and against whom no
official mallcasance or personal dereliction
from the path Of right had been shown, and
who, therefore came eminently within the
provisions of civil service reform, which is the
cornerstone, as | understand it, Of our Re-
publican administration. | am certain there
fore that the President and the Attorney
General would never have asked your resig-
nation of the office Of Marshal, as you say
they have done, in contravention of their as
surancos and in disregard of the principles of
civil service reform. | am bound, therefore,
from what | know of both these gentlemen,
to believe they intend in good faith to carry
out their assurances and preserve their prn-
ciplcs One fault which find with your letter
is that you do not make sufficient allowance for
political necessities and entanglcments, by
which good men are compelled to do that
which they would rather not do 1t is an open
secret here, as | am informed that Colonel
Wharton, your competitor, aided Wayne
Mac Vcagh, one of the Commissioners at New
| Orleans, very largely in getting portion OF
| the members Of the Republican Legislature
| to desert from Packard and 90 over to Mich
| oils, by which Returning Board Legislature
| was put under the control of Nichols, and
that Legislature erabled the commission to
advise that, as the Legislature had recognized
| the Nichols Government, the President was
| bound to withdraw the troops. 1t is also as.
serted that $4,000 was to be paid to the lead
| ing desertng legislators and only 5000 to 9TH
| ers, disguised in the latter case in the shape
Of mileage, so that Mr.. johnson, colored
man, speaking ont of the innocence of hi,
| heart, said on the floor of the House that all
he wanted was to get his mileage and go home
| 1t is also asserted here that Colonel Wharton
being the instrument selected by Mr. Mae
| Veagh--to do this piece of business, had the
promise of being made Marshal if he success
fully accomplished it. Now, Wharton per
formed his side of the bargain, and think
you are very unreasonable in ohiecting that
the administration should carry out their side
of it, or, at least, do the best they can so t.
do. 1t ought to satisfy Wharton that they
have asked you to resign and you won't, ant
therefore they have done the best they coult
to make good MacVeagh's bargain, and a,
they can't, Wharton ought to be satisfied, pre-
cisely like my friend General Garfield, who
having done his best, and succeeded in elect
h,t, ,1,.,S Al
request Of the President, as it is said, on tn,
agreement that the President would max,
him Speaker of the House Of Representatives
will have to be, and ought to be, satisfied witt
a fair, honest and hearty endeavor on tn,
part of the President to do all he can to max,
him Speaker, and if he fails Garfield will have
nobody to blame but himself for not rcmem-
bering that "a birdiin the hand is worth two
in the bush"
Now, my dear Mr.. Pitkin, | call upon you
by the love you bear to the Republican part,
and its principles in memory of the many
sacrifices you have made during and since tn,
war as Union man in Louisiana for tn,
safety of the country, and not for the sake O
holding office under the United States. no
to throw any impediment in the way o
the President fulfilling all the bargains
which his subordinates made, as neces
sary steps in inaugurating his Southern poll
cy which is to be of so great and incalculabl,
advantage not only to the party which yol
love so well, but also to the country, for the
unity and pacitcation of which you have Civ
en- the best days Of your manhood. | write
thus to you because thought detected il
your note to me what seemed to be an unrea.
sonabe tone of complaint that you are thu.
to be sacrificed. Remember that Abraham
was about to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, tn,
child of his age, to what he believed to be tn,
will of God and the necessities of his people
and the Good Book does; not mention an,
unreasonable complaints or outcres of Isaa
on that occasion, and so when you find tha
the President, in obedience to the call of hi
country and the public exigency for its paci
lication, deems it necessary to sacrifice yor
and take away your office and give it to on
who wore the gray when you stood in th
blue, you ought not to kick and squirm an,
more than Isaac did when he lay upon the
altar under the knife of his father Abraham
| am sorry that | cannot write you any othe
words of comfort and consolation but such a
have give unto you, | am yours truly,
BENJAMIN F. BUTLER.
j. r. G. Pitkin, ESD, United States Mar
shal, New Orleans La,