Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-05-16
THE ARMY NH.

last Friday by a vote of 81 to %. senator
Edmunds made the principal speech against
it. He was listened to intently by Secretary
Evarts among others. Mr.. Blaine and Mr.
Chandler also spoke against the bill. Tho
Tribune correspondent has the following ac-
count Of Mr. Edmundss speech which is re-
gardod as being one of the most complete
and forcible presentations of case ever
heard at the Capitol
senator Edmunds is not an orator.
Doubtless he might be, but he never tries to
be. No throng of pleasure-seekors crowds
the galleries and stand around in the corri-
doris when he is announced for a speech and
nothing save the close attention of the most
thoughtful men in the Senate marks such nm
occasion as an unusual event If, however,
one familiar with public affairs, whatever
might be his political opinions, were asked
which of all the men in public life could 10y
the mere weight of his expressed opinion cx-
ert more influence for or against any new po-
litical measure which might be attracting
! public attention than any other man, the an
swer would certainly be George +. Edmunds
The speech of Mr. Edmunds will not be
the material from which will be drawn the
| texts for the speeches of less studious men
whenever the present political issues are
made the subject Of public discussion.
The first hour in the Senate on Friday
was taken up by the reading from the clerks
desk of passages from the constitution and
from the published opinions of its trainers.
from the statutes enacted to give il effect,
and from the opinions of eminent statesmen
of later times bearing upon the question at is
sue in the present discussion. The books
containing these passages, many of which
were only sentence or two in length, were
sent one after another TO the desk by Mr.. Ed
munds who designated the passages. and
with few words Of pertinent comment at
the end of each connected the whole into
broad and solid foundation for the super
structure of his speech. The speech was en-
inently legal in its character, and fair and
courteous in its tone. No one interrupted
and no one replied to it, The peroration of
the Senator was forciblc and eloquent. lie
said:
Is there any one of the three amendments
that these men rs body did not oppose
Has not the same body of men in and out Of
Congress, in and out Of season, denounced
the assertion of the power of Congress to
enforce any of these amendments: Now for
the first time you donouuce the authority Of
Congress under the Constitution to r,guMlp
the election Of its members, and 10y the re.
hnements of sophistries you seek to friti,r
away the words Of the Constitution, and this
in the name OF the liberties of the p,uulc.
Is there not now before US IL scheme to take
away the jurisdiction of Federal courts in re-
spect to appeals from State Courts. and an
other TO take away the right to remove cases
wherein the rights Of citizens Of the United
States are involved from State to Federal
Courts ? Where, he asked, are you going to
stop: have faith, Mr.. President, that some
where in spite of threats and me- uacts, there
will still be found the supreme power Of the
Constitution that will stand like a hulwark
against the waves of excitement and nmh-
ton i'll the direction of overthrowng this
government; and when at last you cover
from these emotions, that hope are Temporal
ry, you will then have peace at the polls:
but you will have that peace only when you
shall have recognized by deeds as well a,
words the political equality of every one of
your fellow citizens, and the free right of free
speech and n free vote everywhere
After the Senator had concluded his speech.
hthAAOl DAtbihG Hlbht bIltlN. anu NClulOr
Zach Chandler then took the floor to fgura-
lively toss up the Northern Democrats on
his oratorical horns" He told them that of
forty -four Democrats who were Senators
when he took his seat, sixteen were from the
Northern States. When the war which they
had hoped TO bring about came on, not a SOL |
itary one of these sixteen came up from the
waters of oblivion. They were crowded off |
the bridge when they were compelled to vote
for matter obnoxious to their people. And |
now, he said,
History is today repeating itself, and you
are repeating to-day what you did in 1867 |
you are crowding your men off the bridge, !
and the men of to-day, as the men of 1851, |
will sink into the waters of oblivion to rise 10
more forever. Look at the change that has |
taken place since that time. Sir, the people |
are more thoroughly aroused to-day against |
this doctrine this heresy of State rights, than |
they were from 1851 to 1861. You proposed |
TO pension Jefferson Davis, and every single |
one of your Northern allies voted to pension |
him you eulogized him as a patriot to be |
compared side by side with Washington and |
all patriots of the Revolution, and every one |
of your Northern allies voted aye After the |
close of the rebellion you claimed that you |
were poor and suffering, and We found you |
poor and suflering We found you ragged and |
poor, and We clothed you We put upon YOU |
the robe of American citizenship which you |
had forfeited, and We killed for you the fat
ted calf and invited you to the feast suppos-
ing that you, after being clothed, were in
your right minds and when we invited you
to the feast you said We have always owned |
that calf and we are not grateful for the
feast
"And now you inform us that you are going
to repeal all that the Republican party has
done. What is this job that you have under
taken! You are going to undo all that the
Republican party has done. Where will you
begin? Will you begin at Appomatox or be
fore? II is yfI-gOi.s, excepting in tire :k.s- i
OF alcohol IN &portant to know water
you viii commence and then to know where
you propose to stop You have undertaken a
very large job for party of Your size, and
what will the people ray who are to sit as
judges upon your acts? You have undertaken
TO unseat man in this body, but you will
deny that you have undertaken the job. Nou
say that you have simply undertaken TO IN
Vestigate the case Of a Senator on this floor,
that has been decided by the highest tribun-
al. Sir there are twelve Senators on that
side of the House that every man on this side
believes has poorer title to his seat than the
honorable Senator from Louisiana. We be-
your seats in this body. Now show us the
road to vacate seats by bare majority in
this body if you dare"
At this point signs of intense excitement
and anger were manifest on the Democratic
side, and Senator Eaton called Chandler to
order for having asserted that Senators had
obtained their seats by fraud and violence,
but Thurman, who was in the chair, declared
that the remark was not out of order. Chand-
Ter concluded by defantly saying to the Dem
ocrats on the other side of the chamber:
You have your day in court, make the most
of it. Your time is short. The people have
taken this question in hand Already the
handwriting is visible ON the wall"
"Perley," Of the Boston journal, affirms
that while Mr. Chandler was speaking the
Northern Democrats looked as though they