Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-03-29
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL.
MAHONE'S DAY IN THE SENATE.
The Spokesman of the Readj1sters
. I'm the Role of the Champion and
tha Ap0IOgist-He Reviews His
Critics and Receives the COngratu-
latIOns OF His Republican Allies.
SENATE PRoCEFpINas.

WASHINGTON, March 2S.-The announce
ment that Mr.. Malone would to day ad-
dress the Senate in vindication of his &C
tion, and in explanation of the principles Of
the Readjuster party in Virginia, had the
effect of drawing to the capitol large au-
dience. AS early as 10 o'clock the doors
leading to the gallery were surrounded by
an impatient crowd, and within ten
minutes after they were opened, at
1890, every available seat was taken,
with the exception Of those reserved for the
members of the Diplomatic Corps. These
were, however, occupied before the hour of
assembling of the Senate. On the floor in
the rear of the Senator'S desks were seated
large number of persons, many of them
Representatives elect, while in the various
corridors, those who had the misfortune to
arrive late, eongregated and bewailed their
Ill luck.
The journal of Saturday having been read,
the Vice President laid before the Senate
the resolution for the appointment of Sen
ate officers, stating that the Senator from
Virginia had the floor.
Mr. Malone promised his speech by ex-
pressing his regret that he should be COM
PEELED again to interrupt the deliberations
OF the Senate. | trust, he said, that
Senators and the country will coDcede this
seeming forwardness. / am provoked. II /
fall to challenge the generous consideration
OF those who would appear to have
found pleasure, without Justification
In their varied and ungenerous asssults,
| do not doubt that shall command the
respect of the brave and independent spirits
here, as | know shall among my people.
| shall not complain of that indirection
hoz al,a
method of Senators In their illusions to me.
l must accept that they comport entirely
with their own sense OF manly department
and Senatorial dignity, however little they
do with my own.
Virginia is accustomed to meet occasions
where the Independent spirit of the Anglo
Saxon is required to assert itself. Virginia
has ever met with fortitude and becoming
dignity every duty which destiny has Ina
posed, always, however, with much con-
tempt for small party lines when principle
was Involved in which her faith and honor
were committed. With absolute coDhdencein
my loyalty to her. and my devotion to every
interest of her people, / will not
relax my purpose here to repel every
impeachment OF the constituents who sent
me to this chamber with clearly defined
duties, which they and | comprehend. /
YVES elected to the United States Senate to
do their will, not to caucus to do its bid
ding. Virginia earned her title of 'Old
Dominion" by the broad and independent &C
tion of her own people, blythe loyalty Of her
sons, by the instinct Of independence with
out help at the hands of those
who now would interfere with her affairs.
However feebly l may express that spirit
against gratuiteus care and concern for her
at the hands OF straugers-strangers to her
trials, to her sacrifices and to her will feel
that the spirit of her people inspires me
when scornfully repel for them and for
myself the ungenerous attempts to instruct
a Virginia Senator as to his duty to them and
himself Senators should be willing
to deal with their constituents.
answer for mine to him
that would insinuate that my action in re-
gard to the organization of the committees
of this body, and the proposed cleo
tion of officers, has been controlled
by impure cons;derations-and | am
10th to believe that any Senator has 40 in
tended-in the Language of another, say:
'If thou sayest am not peer
To any Lord of Scotland here
Highland or lowland, far or near
Lord Angus, thou hast ledF
And now permit me to say that Senators
can no more realize my regret than
they can measure my amsZement that
my colleague (Mr. Johnston) should have
felt It incumbent on himself to join the
first introduces the question of my political
consistency or, If he prefers, my inconsist-
ency; and next, he would introduce me to
this honorable body, not as his colleague,
but as a repudiator of public obligations.
sense of justice to my fellow men
renders it necessary for me to apollo
gize for noticing my colleagues criti
cism on the one hand and his perver-
sions on the other. However much he
and his cohorts may endeavor, by the
cheap logic of the attorney, to demonstrate
what ought to be, am by my convictions
and sense of honor what / am. In this par
ticular have largely the advan
tage of my colleague, for II | take
him by his record, diminuttve as 1t Is,
he neither knows what he is, nor what duty
he came here to perform. [Laughter.l s=. s..-s.
Mr.. Malone then proceeded to give an
exhaustive history of the political and finan-
cial history of Virginia for the last decade.
He declared that the Readjusters had
never repealed any of the funding contracts
made by Virginia, but asserted that the bill
passed in 1871 by the Virginia Legislature,
and known as the brokers bill" which
bad been advocated by his colleague, repu-
dated, and forciblY repudated, one-third of
the debt of Virginia. The Readjusters held
that two thirds of the money which Vir-
ginia had borrowed should be paid, the
other third belonging to West Virginia,
and equity, since 1871. The readjusting
party had denied to the debtor war inter
est, and had proposed to pay the rest In full.
It's adversaries had funded that war interest
and proposed to repudiate one-half of that
which Virginia was In law and honor bound
to pay He would like the Senators from
West Virginia to tell the country what
to the payment of one-third of the
debt contracted by the commonwealth
of Virginia, whether it had ever proposed
to pay one silver to maintain the honor and
the dignity of the old commonwealth
He criticised the action of his colleague in
not defending the people OF Virginia from
the accusation that they were dishonorable,
dishonorable too, in the opinion of men who
represent States, which by arbitrary legisla-
tion had reduced their debts from $243, ,000,-
600 to $S4 000, 900.
He sent to the Clerks desk and had read
a table showing the extent to which the
debts Of the Southern States had been
scaled down. Continuing, he said: 'Repu-
diatiop, hooorablei Readjustment dishon- |
orable Virginia, it was for this you barred |
your bosom to the soldiers tread and the |
horses foot! It was for this you laid waste
your fields and displayed your |
fortitude and courage, your heroic |
suffering and sacrifice. 1t was for this you
suffered the dsmemberment of your terri I,
bOTys anu Seub fNtAI 5OAo " GA6 4ClQ W re- |
turn to the ruins that we're once their |
homes. It was for this you so reluctantly |
abandoned your allegiance to a common |
country, to be the last In war, and the last |
to go out Oh, ingratitude. thou basest
and meanest of crimes ~
He would not occupy any more of the |
time of the Senate with the subject
of Virgnia's debt, but would refer now
to an interrogatorY put last Friday
by Senator Voorhees, to Senator Logan,
as to whether the latter would in |
dorse the papers Of an applicant for the |
smallest post office, who favored repudia- |
tion either of the State or national debt. He |
would ask the gentleman (Mr.V Voorhees, how |
he found it compatible with his principles to |
associate with Senators from States which |
had "repudiated,n but had not ''readiust- |
ed" He had never heard Mr.. Rddleberger |
express a favorable opinion even OF the |
views of the Senator from Indiana on |
the national debt. Laughter. He |
also quoted from John w. Daniels,
one of the leaders of the "Bour-
bon'' party in Virginia, denouncing |
the iniquitous measures OF the Federal IL |
nances, and proposing to reverse them. He |
recommended the Senators from Indiana /
and Delaware, Messrs. Voorhees, and Bay |
ard, to try and reconcile their differences of |
views on the financial question before the |
Senator from Illinois again discussed the /
subject As to the Senator from Georgia /
(Mr. Brown, who seemed to be so much |
troubled about readjustment, he questioned
whether the world had ever produced q
man who eould so readily readiust himself |