Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1879-04-10
General Garfield.

The speech of Mr.. Garfield on Satur-
day in the House of Representatives was
mastery effort and worthy to be rank
ed with the best ever made in the halls
of Congress. 1t was calm, temperate,
logical, and unanswerable. The whole
loyal sentiment of the people of the
North spoke in that utterance. On the
line marked out by General Garfield the
free people of the North will take their
stand, no matter what may be the issue.
If our Government can be destroyed at
any moment by the hands of pardOned
rebels, if they have only to crawl back to
power and place to put in peril all our
institutions, the Government is scarcely
worth preserving, and the sooner we find
it out the better for ourselves and our
children. Mr. Garfield has fairly stated
the case asst now stands before the
American people.
Gentlemen" said he, addressing the
Democratic side of the House, "we have
tried to count the cost. We did try to
count it in 1851, before we picked up the
gage of battle, and although no man
could then forecast the awful loss in
blood aud treasure, yet having started in
we stayed there to victory. We simply
made the appeal to the sovereign, to that
great, omnipotent public opinion in
America to determine whether the Union
should be shot to death. And now law
fully in our right and in our place here,
we pick up the gage of battle which you
have thrown down, and will appeal to
our common sovereign to say whether
YOU shall break down the principle of
free consent in legislation at the price of
starving the Government to death. We
are ready to pass these bills for the sup
port of the Government at any hour
when you will offer them in the ordinary
way and if you offer these other measu"-
es we will meet you in the spirit of fair
and fraternal debate. But you shall not
compel us-you shall not coerce us-even
to save this Government, until the ques-
ton has gone to the sovereign to deter
mine whether it will consent to break
down any of its voluntary powers. And
on that ground, gentlemen, we plant our
selves" Sia
This is the exact position. The Con-
federate Congress says it will .cOerce the
Nation to orepeal certain legislation, or it
will starYe the Government to death.
The Republicans say that the Govern
ment shall be fed with supplies to main
lin its existence in the ordinary way,
and that all the political questions shall
be left to be decided after full and fair
debate upon their own merits; that all
attempts to coerce the Executive into
approving bill, against his convictions
of duty, to override the Constitution and
destroy the power of the Executive is re-
vOlution and will be so regarded. The
brave words of Gneral Garfield, so fifty
and timely spoken, will find response
in every loyal heart Let the Democrats
adjourn and go home. Let them refuse
all supplies to carry on the Government.
Let them once more endeavor to 'starve
to death" the Government they once
tried to "shOOt to DEATH" The public
will understand it all, and if they have
to fight once more for free government
and a, free country the contest will be so
settled for all time that the, most reck-
less man will tremble even in thought of
again tampering with the majesty of an
outraged and indignant people.-Cleve-
land Herald 20 1880 ..at