Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1879-04-19
DAILY krnnfber Journal.
Speech OF Senator Blaine,

No military or naval officer, other person On
gagged In the civil, military, naval service of III,
nitcd States, shall order bring, keep or have undt
his authority or control, any troops armed men n
the place where any general or special election l.
held in any State unless it be 10 repe tn,
armed enemies of the United States, 10 Keep n,
pedre at the potts."
The object of the proposed section which
has just been read at the Clerks desk. is ia
get rid of the eight closing words. namely,
''or to keep the peace at the polls" and
therefore the mode of legislation proposed in
the Army bill now before the Senate, is an
unusual mode; it is an extraordinary mode.
If you want to take off a single sentence at
the end of a section in the Revised Statutes
the ordinary way is to strike off those words.
but the mode chosen in this bill is to repeat
and re-enact the whole section leaving those
few words out While do not wish to be
necdlesslv suspicious on small point | am
quite persuaded that this did not happen by
accident, but that it came by design. If |
may so speak it came of cunning. the intent
being to create the impression that whereas
the republicans in the administration of the
General Government had been using troops
righ, and left, hither and thther in every
direction, as soon as the democrats got power
they enacted this section. | can imagine
democratic candidates for Congress. all over
VIC 'ohhtiN tHlS stttiOH ~ gaping
and listening audiences as one of the first off
springs of democratic reform, whereas every
word of it, every syllable of it, from its first
to its last is the enactment of republican
Congress.
| repeat that this unusual form presents a
dishonest issue, whether so intended or not. 1t
presents the issue that as soon as the democrats
get possession ofthc Federal government they
intended to enact the clanse which is thus
embraced. The law was passed by a repub-
lican Congress in 1865. There were forty
six Senators sitting in this chamber at the
time. of whom only ten or at the most eleven
were democrats. The House of Represents
tives was overwhelmingly republican. We
were in the midst of a war. The republican
administration had million or possibly
twelve hundred thousand bayonets at its com
mand. Thus circumstanccd and thus sur
rounded. with the amplest possible power to
interfere with elections, had they so designed
with soldiers in every hamlet and county of
the United States. the republican party them
selves placed that provision on the statue
book. and Abraham Lincoln, their President
signed it.
beg you to observe. Mr.. President. that
this is the first instance in the legislation of
the United States in which any restrictive
clause whatever was put upon the statute book
The republican Marty did II With ,ha Spna.a
and House in their controI Abraham in.
coin signed il when he was Commandor.;n
Chief Of an army larger than ever Napoleon
Bonaparte had at his command. So much by
way of correcting an ingenious and studied
attempt at misrepresentation.
The alleged object is to strike out the few
words that authorize the use of troops to keep
alarmed I rather tbinl indeoJ ar,,sad =, ~"
great effort made to create a wiJesnrcad i'm
pression tha, fine renuhlian nartv ral;os Co..
its popular strength unon tbe usn of ,hc bay.
onet This Lomncr,t;c Copur.ss los a,,oun,.,
cd to give had name IN his cour,ry ,brnn,l
ont tho civil;zcd world and IA .iyo !, ~, :,
false issue Tbev have r.;.aJ on ;ss,o ,h.,
has no foundation in fact that il f.Iso IN
whole and detail. false in the charge. false in
all the specifications. That impression sought
to be created. as | say, not only throughout
the North American continent but in Europc
to-day, is that elections are attempted in this
country to be controlled by the bayonet,
| denouncc it here AS a false issue. | am
not at liberty to say that any gentleman max
ing the issue knows il to be false: | hone he
does not but am going to prove to him that
it is false, and that there is not a solitary
inch of solid earth on which to rest the foot Of
any man that makes that issue | have in my
hand an official transcript of the location and
the number of all the troops of the United
States east of Omaha BY least of Omaha"
mean all the United States east of the Mis-
sissippi River and that belt of State. that bor-
der the Mississippi River on the west includ-
ing forty million at least out of the forty
five million people that this country is sun
posed to contain to-day. In that magnificent
area. will not pretend to state its extent
but with forty-one million people. how many
troops of the United States are there to-day?
Would any Senator on the opposite side like
to guess or would he like to state how many
men with muskets in their hands there are in
the vast area have nam.d? There are two
thousand seven hundred and ninety-seyen,
And not one more
From tho bead,ro,crs NJ ,,o >,..;.s;,,;
River IN tho ,ates and down tha ,....,, XII.
of Lakes and dawn the Sain, Io,sr.noa a,,h
Ja,., H. Ill, as NJ -: anu
tho saint Croix s,r;L in, ,hn ,,ian.;'s c.,
and fnlInw;ng i, down to Eo, w. -
the Cuif nm r. ,bo n,o,,b ~ ;,a M;..;.;'; ''ou,,
aa.;n frnn,;.r ~ ai'rh, ~, ~ o ..'ur .Ip
horderng on tho ocaam ,r ,',nn s,'1, ".'i.s ~
,orv il o1ar,i.J hr thnso ,r, ap' WIZ, ~
dnna;n fnrtw.evo far,,f;no,,lfm' w ''",n 1 .n1
and eleven srsara,. aro ,'r"ton,',a 's ,r.n man.u