Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-02-11
Grant and Davis.

The other day the Chicago Tribune
sneered at exPresIdent Davis as an OBJ
scure mana person not only without
pension, but without friends or favor.
1t is true Mr.. Davis is without pen
sion, but it is true, too, that he has never
sought one, either from friends or gov
ernments. So far from it, he has posi-.
lively and peremptorily refused to be the
recipient of such favors from any source
whatever. He has even declined to be
considered as included in the1ist of bene
ficiaries of the proposed Mexican pension
bill; and yet the whole country at the
time accorded him, and history, whose
verdict neither calumny nor fanaticism
can ever reverse, still accords him the
high distinction of a hero without
reproach. And this in war which
brought resplendent honor upon the
American arms and untold blessings
upon the American republic. For his
valor and his skill-'tis the fadeless edict
of history-achieved world wide glory
for American proweSs-a glory whose
splendor Is as bright and enduring to-day
as it was the day the sun went down on
the victorious field of Buena Vista His
heart beats with the deep and undying
sympathy of the true soldier for his
veteran comrades in that memorable
struggle. And so he has caused it to be
proclaimed to those who are so little of
soul as to begrudge him pittance that
he claims and will claim no share in any
benefit in the long delayed recognition
of the services Of the Mexican vete-
rams"
He has never stopped to ask gifts, nor
has he suffered others to beg for him.
Jefferson Davis is a gentlemen; he is
more-the first and only President of the
dead Confederacy. is hero. Once, and
once only, did few friends who knew
of his Strengthened circumstances find a
way to contribute a mite to his necessi
ties. Said Governor Colquitt, who sent
it: "You need not seek to return it; it
has now passed irrevocably beyond re
turn to the donors" His reply was char
acteristic Of his great soul: "'This kind.
ness to me must not be repeated. can
not, and will not allow it. Let whatever
can be given 60 to our widows and or
phans. They need it far more"
Such sentiment is worthy of hero,
philanthropist and a patriot. 1t is a
sentiment that must seem strange in
deed, and unmeaning in the sight of the
most notorious gift.taker the world has
ever known. Lands, houses, horses and
money, without stint, have been greedily
gathered from every source, and yet,
like the Unsuitable horse leech, and the
graceless gourmand, Grants greediness
grows, and the cry continues to disgust
the world. "more, more, morer' Tie
government has paid him hundreds of
thousands, the rings" paid him no
body knows how much; his horrible
BLACK Friday" business brought him,
certainly, the round sum of $25, 900.
That much is known, and yet, not con-
tent with all that has been done-not
content with the 800, 600 recently raised
in Philadelphia, and the $3.50, 900 in
New York-not content with being
''dead headed" everywhere asks of
the country to give him, in addition,
$4,000 a year! And SO bold is his
greed and so brazen his effrontery, that
he seeks, as is stated, by his own per-
sonal presence and influence, to gain the
passage of the Logan" bill-a measure
which proposes to add to his princely
revenues at least 81, 900, as a gratuity
from people whose public service he
debauched by the most profligate, cor
rupt and lawless administration the
country has ever known.
Jefferson Davis and Ulysses Grant!
What contrast The one pensionless,
it is true, but still the proud hero of the
past and the dignifed, though solitary,
sage of the present. The other, the
sorry sciolist of Galena-one day the
generous defender of the South, the
next day the ignoble and maudlin de-
famer thereof. The one, if friendless
and unfavored, still honored and adj
mired by the true and the noble in all
lands, and whose name and character
history will preserve bright and I'M
spotted through all the coming centuries.
The other. the spoiled child of fortune
the great gift-taker and notorious gour-
mand of the world-for whom one of
his noted friends found, in view of his
shameless greed and peculiar habits, the
memorable distinction: The Great
National Hog"