The Iola register., 1879-04-11
GEMS FROM GARFIELD.

6EMS E8OA GAkflELDs
A Fitting Denupciation Of the Revelution-
AIRY Tactics Resorted to By the Demo
Gratis In Congress.
In his remarks in the House, on the a0th,
on the proposed amendments to the Army !
Appropriation bill, Mr.. Garfield said:
desire to ask the forbearance of the gen. |
l dislike to make, for they will bear witness |
that have in many ways shown my desire
that the wounds # the war shall be healed, |
and that the grass that God plants over the |
graves of our dead may signalize the return |
Of the spring of friendship and peace between
all parts of the country. But am compelled |
q moment to a chapter of history. The last
act of tine Democratic domination In this
House Is years ago was not only stirring and
dramatic, but it was heroic and high .souled.
Then the Democratic party said: II you
elect your man as President OF the United
States we will shoot your Union to death"
be coerced, but believing they had q right to
vote for Abraham Lincoln If they chose, did
elect him lawfully as President, and then
iority of the other wing Of this
Capitol, did the heroic thing of Withdrawing
from their seats, and your representatives
us the gage Of mortal battle. We called it
rebellion, but we admitted that It was honor
able, that 1t was courageous, ana thae ~ was
fi~Rt IL 10 out in the open fieid. The conflict.
and what followed, we ali know too well and
to day, after eighteen years. the book OF your
your leaves in 1850. and you are sisnalizing
your return to power by reading the second
chspter (nOt this time an heroic One) that de-
out of the book you wili-not shoot the Union
to death as in the first chspfer-but starVe It
to death by refusing the necessary approprt.
Ss it tie ie to xiii
this movement. You have it in your power,
by Withholding these two bills, to smite the
nerve center. of our Constitution to the still
ness of death; and you have declared your
purpose to do 1t If you can not break down
the elements of free consent that. up to this
time. have always ruled in the government.
cratic Convention, aud still later, In 1861, the
National Democracy In the U.fted states
affirmed the right of the veto as one OF the
sacred rights Of our Government. and de-
clal ed that any law which could not be
passed over a veto by twO-thirds vote had
no right to become law. and that the only
redress was an appeal from the veto to the
people at the next election. That has been
| the Democratic doctrine on the subject from
| the remotest day..certainly from General
,JackSOn'S time until now. What would you
| have said in 1861 if the Democratic majority
| in the Senate, instead of taking the course
which it did, had simply said, I'VE VII! put
| claring the ri ,ht of any State to secede from
| the Union at pleasure, and forbidding any
officer of the army or navy OF the Cnited
|
purpose to secede?" Suppose the Demo
cratic majority had said then, "Put that on
the appropriation bills, or we will refuse sup.
plies to the Government" Perhaps they
| could have Killed the Governments then by
| starvation. But in the madness OF that honr
| the leaders of the secession Government dld
their fight on that ground, but they walked
| out on their plan of battle and fought 1t our.
But now, in a way which the widest OF Sc
cessionists never dreamed OF taking, 1t IS
/ prnnpSal make This new aSSaule on the
| vitals Of the Nation.
| Gentlemen ito the Democratic side OF the
| House), we have tried to count the cost. We
| did try to count it in 1861, Def re we picked mp
| the gage of battle; and, although no man
| could then forecast the awful loss In blood
| and treasure, yet, having started In, we stay
peal to our sovereign-to that great omnipo-
| tent, public opinion, in America-tO deter
| mine whether the Union should be shot to
death. And now. lawfully, In our right ana
| in our place here, we pick up the gage of bat
| tie 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 support OF
one oifer Sse them in the % ordinary way. and il You
| offer these other measures as separate meas.
ures, we will meet You in the spirit OF fair and
us-you shall not coerce us-even to save this
| Cove rnment, until the question has gone to
the sovereign to determine whether 1t will
| consent to break down any of its voluntary
powers. And on that ground, gentlemen, we
| plant urselves. Loud applause on the Re
publican side and in the galleries.
| We remind you, in conclusion, that this
| great zeal of yours in regard to keeping the
| officers of the Government out of the states
has not always been yours. remember that
thotized Marshals of the United States to go
through all our households and hunt for fugi-
| tive slaves. 1t did not only that. but IL EN-
and to call upon all bystanders to Join in the
chase; and your Democratic Attorney. Cen
| eral declared, in an opinion In 1854, that q
Marshal of the United States might call to his
| aid the whole posse, including soldiers and
| sailors and marines OF the United states, to
| join in the chase, and to hunt down the fugi
| for the purpose of making slavery eternal,
you could send your Marshals and could sum
| mon posses and use the armed forces OF the
United states, by what face or grace can you
| tell us that, in order to procure freedom in
| elections and peace at the polls, you can not
| use the same Marshal with his armed posse
| But refrain from discussing the merits OF
the proposition. have tried in this hurried
ana unsatisfactory way to give my ground OF
| opposition to this legislation.
And again, on the 4th, in the closing De.
bate upon the bill, Mr.. Garfield remarked
that
During the last four days Is or 90 temoh :.
| tions of his argument of last Saturday had
been made in the presence of the Iiou. ana
l
| legged that he held it to be revolutionary TO
| place this legislation on an appropriation
| bill. If they had any particular pleasure in
| setting up man of straw TO knock him
( down again, he hoped they had enjoyed 1t.
He had never claimed that 1t was either rev.
| OlutiOnary or unconstitutional to put rider
| on an appropriation bill. No man on the
| Republican side had claimed that. The most
| that had been said was that 1t was consider
! ed bad parliamentary practice. Al parties
| in the country had repeatedly said that the
gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Blackburn)
| had thought that he was especially severe In
| showing that he (Mr. Garfield) had insisted
| on the passage of the conference report, in
1872, in an appropriation bill that had rider
| to it, and had said that It was rev
olutionary in the Democratic party to
said on that occasion. and what
| he said now, was that it was revolutionary in
| the gentlemans party to refuse to let the ap.
preparation bill be voted on. For four days
| gentlemen on that side had said that the
House should not vOtr' on the appropriation
| bill. because there was a rider on it. He had
| tried to prevent that rider being put on, but
| should never act upon IL, he had said that
| that was an unparliamentary obstruction.
| The Republicans did not fillibuster to pre-
| vent action upon the pending measure. The
| majority had q light, however Indecent 1t
| might be as q II after of parliament ary prac-
| tice, to put a rider upon an appropriation
| bill nnd pass it. When the bill wa. sent to
the Senate that body had q perfect right TO
| pass it, and when it went to the President 1t
| was the Presidents constitutional right to
| approve and sign it. If the President ttgned
| it then it would be law, but it was equally the
Presidents constitutional right to disapprOve
it. Should he do so then, unless the other