, 1880-03-07

Of thirteen officers having po" e, r,
proyai by the President, TO confirm, mtheate, or
pnn,,i ne former sentence, is still more remark
able Porter. having been pI1Vate cauzSn cstod ~
more than seventeen years canot " e1on Sr;th
his CONSENT The whole proceeding ~oulo pe
A FARCE AND a SCLl1IY. 49,.
CONGRESS has no more right 70 Hy foreer eo-unJ ~
b. court-martial than It mas 70 II Suu; ,.1i 3.I;
Porter % and drove him in disgrace from the TIE
service was clothed with the majesty OF tho
Constitution aqd st,se laws ,non hs iIitar adi
se,nce. a,alTs It was composed OF men Of
emincnce in their profession. authorized 70 TO can cal
witnesses from all points OF me uh'tea 1an.
oaths, and any man who sworc falsely before u
cominlt1ed perjury. and must atone Tor his OF, Of
tSre tf,dividuais that passed upon this subject,
as We are told, in review of the action OF the
co1,rf-martial? They had no power whatever.
they could not send for w;itness.-that is'
compel his attendanee'-cou'a noA suop>'n6''
COULD NOT ADMINISTER An OATH
am told they pretended to Do # .',n undertake 46e
administration of an extrajudicial oath
taat IS without lawful authority to administer
it's crime punishable at common
who told d false story there could be indicted
for perjury. The Board was not even cuuFt
Of inquiry; it was not military proceeding:
pardoufnc ts not the exercise OF the military
power; the President, acting IN his civil capaci-
" rs Chief Civil Magistrate OF the land, might
pardon this man, and he wanted to know
he requests, he cannot order, requests three in
diyidllais to advise him. Now, hope those on
the other side in this debate will tell us what
clause Of the Constitution gaye this Board any
The Senator, after further argument IN sup
port Of his position, said the decision of courts
martial is as final that of civil courts, just as
the English ecclesiastical courts decision Is as
tiual as that Of the Lord Chancellor, and for the
reason that obtains In all courts, that where
there ie no appeal authorized from the tribunal
authorized to hear the case its decision
ACsr be FINAL
The President can pardon Porter, continued
Nr. Carpenter, and the pardon would wipe out
give him the same legal standing he would
have tad before he Was sentenced am told
Porter has never applied for pardon. SUD
case Porter is not at liberty 70 set his
d"t der The Constitution. can relieve I'M: and
denies Is It any humiliation for him to apply
to that ultimate power which may still reach 9is
case, which IL ample and copious, Which 'talis
reach his case and violate no principle of the
Constitution? We cannot touch the case with
out violating our oaths to support the Constltu-
ton for the paydoning power belongs 70 the
EIecuti;e, and, no muttcr what It is called, the
aunuiment Of this sentence would operate as q
pardon.
tended to review the testimony on the qnesuon
Of fact, Was Mr. Porter guilty? There are TWO
reasons why do not In the first place. tnlnk AZ
constitutional power to pardon him. or, what Is
the same thing, relieve him from that Judgment
in any form OF proceeding whatever, 1t Is IN
the next place, that part Of the task has been
performed by the Senator from Illinois ltognnl
much better than could DO It; NOW, nave
had no feeling against Fitz John Porter: on any
account WIS with him a year at the Academy
at West Point, and always esteemed him gen
tleIaaE until this affair occurred me tesllmony,
which have examined pretty fully, conv7nces
me- not that Fitz John Porter was disloyal TO the
Uuiou,-nott that he meant that the South should
succeed in breaking up the GoFernmentr-nut
he IVES
DEVOTED 10 MCCLELLAN.
Mcclellan was the idol of his heart and star Of
his hope. He wanted to see Mcclellan succeed
first He wanted to see cur cause prosper, put
be wanted Mcclellan 10 lead us to victory he
was the man to whom Porter was attached,
around whom all the affections OF his heart
seemed to have entwined themselves, and 1T was
planted in command and succeeded BY man
Tor whom he seems to have had great contempt.
that Was the fault and fall OF F1tz john Porter. G
friend, Ike the ambition that drew Satan down.
That drew Porter down. and, 80 far as our power
is concerned. the analogy proceeds a.; step fur
never to rise again Look at the facts on
which he was convicted, and I think
the testi mony sustains the findings ct the Court
There was battle raging upon which the fate
Of this Nation might depend; Orders we're
issued to him again and again which
HA F14AmY DISCOUNTED.
Wden, finally, In obedience to q positive order to
person, be did come, it WIS without one Of his
brigndes, and 50 tardfly as to show he had no
heart in the cause, no wish to obey the order.
tic. Not merely that Of the individual, but the
life Of an army, the life Of Nation, perhaps
If Porter should go down the avenue and kill q
for Efe. Upon this adnleasurement Of justice,
what shall ne do with the man who by
his criminal conduct, sacrificed the lives Of $4,000
sequence Of his neglect Of duty cost US 1900
lives. Upon this admeasurement II Porter had
1000 lives they we're al forfeited to The state
The loss fell heavily upon u.s. What was called
the Iron Brigade in the Army Of the Poto-
mac, made up Of three Wisconsin regiments and
one Indiana regiment, as brave body Of men
as ever were on the battlefield, q body OF men
who, for bravery and soldierly bearing and con-
no1 81 n 81
in that neighborhood lost In one hour and nVe
minutes
NINETEEN HUNDRED AND TEN MEN
killed and wounded. Every train of cars that
penetrated the interior Stntes for months after
wards came freighted with the sacred remains
Of our slaughtered soldiers. They were piled up
in pine boxes around our dopots like mer-
every hill and every green valley in Wisconsin
Our people will not soon forget Fitz John Porter.
They will never forgive him. They would not
soon forget me. and never forgive me-. It /
should stand as their representative and vote to
put Fitz John Porter back where he would have
been II he had not fallen, and pay him all that
he would hnve had II he had remained In the
service and served his country faithfully Queer
things are being done these days This thing
may be done b. tho Senate. It will not be done
By my vote l should regard it as dsgracefui
act for Congress to do. Nevertheless, Mr.
President, Gods will be done. It may be that
even this last tavesty upon justice Is nee
essay. They tell Us that whom the gods would
destroy they first make mad 1t may be, al
though 1t seems impossible, that the Democrats
are not mad enough yet to insure their total
destruction. This last act may he needed to con-
vince the American people that to insure proper
proper punishment upon disioy.alty, and hold
the rebellion In check. we need In the White
House once more the steady hand, cool head,
and the patriotic heart Of y. s. Grapt. lGreat
Mr Bayard obtained the floor, but yielded to a
motion for executive session, and when the
doors were reoponed the Sennte adjourned until
Monday.
THE CANAL PROJECT.
WORKING IN HARMONY.
Special Dt<patch to The Chicago 1r1hua&.