Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-07-16
"Fatuous and Insolent Chatter. -

The fatuous and insolcut chatter that he
Grant had no ideas as Il statesman, that,
for instance. he changed his mind when
writing the initiation veto, as We have seen it
asserted in Journal OF the ostcnsible iniclli
gcncc of the Springfield RepuJEcaa. is akin
10 that which, after Nicksburgh and Chat
tanooSa and Appomattox, asserted that he
was mere butcher PFOgid,hce JOarhGl.
The rebukc thus administered touched the
RepHblicaH on the raw, and in reioindcr it
quoted, as sustaining its assertion about
Grant, the following from one Of the Gen
erals conversations, reported by John Rus
sell Young in his book, Around the World
with Gen. Grant" As >, reported Gen.
Grant said:
The only time ever deliberately resolved
to do an eXpcdient thing for party reasons,
against my own judgment, was on the oC-
casion of the expansion or initiation bill.
never was 60 pressed in my life To do any
thing rs TO sign that bill, never. 1t was
represented 10 me that the veto would de
| stroy the Republican party in the West
that the West and South would combine and
take the country, and agree upon some even
worse plan of tnance-sOme plan that would
mean reputation. Morton, Logan and
other men-friends whom respected
eloquent in presenting this view. | thought
at last would try and save the party and
at the the same time the credit of the Nation,
/ from the evils OF the bill. | resolved to
write a message, embodying my own reason
| ing and some of the arguments that had been
| given to me, to show that the bill, as passed,
| did not mean expansion or imitation, and that
it need not affect the country's credit The
message was intended to soo,hc the East,
and satisfy the foreign holders of
the bonds ! wrote the message
with great care, and put in every
argument | could call up TO show that the
bill was harmless and would not accomplish
what its friends expected from it. Well,
when | finished my wonderful message,
which was TO do so much good to the party
and country, read it over, and said TO my
| self: What is the good of all this: You do
not believe it, You know it is not true
Throwing it aside, | resolved to do what
! believed to be right-vcto the bill, | could
not stand my own arguments While was in
this mood (and it was an anxious time with
me,-so anxious that | could not sleep at
night-with me most unusual circumstance
the 10 days were passing in which the Pres-
dent must sign or veto Il bill. On the ninth
day resolved infleXibly TO veto the bill and
iet tne STORM conc; gave orders that l
,rr;,o ~, r,oss,,r, S"na,.,r Etn,,nJ, 1.:,,,.
to the White House and said he only wanted
to say one word lie came IN looking very
nI anu ,h nnn,;o IL In I III ;r,,i'r 49, nv.
not TO sirn il. | fold him / was lust writing
IL message vctoing 1t. lie rose happy man,
anu saiu tia' was al ne Waite" 10 say' anu
~, ,
f'YS,'
a" f''7 '''
10" III s'''es''i'ns'''P anu ih'''iii Vi purpose
almost VICTIM 10 the sho:t-sisiteu anu
timid politicians VII" were blnuIy running
thcir parry.
10 our h'ihd' II "'tS MOI HEINZ "ut SUI"
eaSe' no e''''io' Scc 'iia' "'''- "''ii' was
vi one judgment AM" rca''S at o"'''', VI
one ''i'n"' 'h'o"s"'"' ''''s "i'''. VI
oi'e' anu NV '''''9 '''''' 1t was .", ''"S
'''',e lit e'e' ''u 81 ioi " S''o'' ''''''' ''""
uiiucr S''o's p'eS'u'c "o'" i''n
"hoii' hc ic'Pec'e'i' nc s""na ih '"'"s'
a""y iioi'i MS "o''o' Ju's''''"' anu pun l''''
10 permit hiiiiseii 10 argue inc case ass''''s'