Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-12-30
FIIZ JOHN PORTER.
The Bill for His Relief Before the
Senate Yesterday.
"'DINNA YE HEAR THIS LOGAN:''
The Illinois Senator Protests Against
the Removal Of the Stigma.:frOm
His Name.
REVIEWING BOARD REVIEWED:
Intimatisns that Gems: Terry and
Scholeld We're After NcDew.
.ell's Star:

ellis Star.
WAsaIs 1r0s, Dec. 29.-In the senate Mr..
Pendleton presented petition of the ,om-
mon council Of Cincinnati that they may
be made tho scat of the court of appeals
proposed to be established in that circuit
under the bill now pending in the house.
Referred.
After the introduction and reference of
several bills, on motion of Mr.. Groome
the bill appropriating $4,000 for erecting
a monument to Baron De Kalb, at Annap-
oils. Nd, passed. !
On motion of Mr.. Hoar the bill to pro-
vide for the performance of the duties of
president of the United States in case of
inability er removal by death or otherwise
of the president and vice president, was
then taken up.
Discussion of the bill to regulate the
presidential succession continued until
nearly 2 o'clock, when unfinished business,
the bill for the relief of Fitz John Porter,
was taken up, and Logan addressed the
Sc nate.
Mr.. Logan made an argument in oppo-
sition to the bill. He said he knew it was
hard for senators to have to listen to long
debates upon this subject, but so long as
he held place in the senate, he should
feel it his duty to oppose this measure.
The bill proposed that congress should re-
view the action Of the court martial, and
determine whether its decision was correct
upon the law and facts. If the decision of
the court martial was correct, congress
certainly ought not to put Porter back in
10 k,,a &h1 14o
congress undoubtedly had the right to re-
it still had no right to review
Mr.. Logan argued in support of his views
board which reviewed the Porter case was
without authority of law. General Pope
had been criticized Or not having appssrod
before that board. If he (Logan) had
been subp@nasd before it he would have
declined to appear, and would have lot the
president know that he had no authority
to constitute the board. In reading their
report, he found it difficult to tell whether
they were trying Porter or General Pope,
but it showed clearly they had not read
the record. They said the order Of attack
sent Porter was an order
to attack Jackson's right flank.
though the order says nothing about
jackson, but directs an attack on ''the
right flank or rear Of the enemy" which
was in fact commanded by Longstreet.
Gen. Grant had fallen into tho same error.
The board said also: ''Porter's subordinate
and wise conduct that evening saved the
Union army" That meant that when the
whole confederate force, except
few brigades, was attacking Pope's $4,000
men, Porter. lying with 1900 men with
arms stacked, saved the Union army.
Saved it from what? Not from being
beaten, for it was beaten. Upon this
prir ciple if the whole Tnion army
had stacked arms nobody would
have been hurt. Laughter. The board
went upon the theory that the reports upon
which the court martial convicted Porter
were those of the 30th of August, instead
of the 29th, and that the reports of confed-
crate generals Lee, Longstreet, Stuart and
Rosser should read the 30th and not 29th,
as they did read. In fact, no man familiar
with the case could avoid the conclusion
that the board paid no attention to the
evidence, or that they perverted and dis
torted it in every possible way. Boards,
like other people, were affected some times
by strange influences, and there was cur
ious fact that ought to be stated in con-
nection with this one.
At the time of the organization of the
board Gen. Mcdowell was of an age to re-
tire and Gen. Pope was the next ranking
officer, but two of the members of tho
board were applicants for the place. OF
course that did not affect their judgment
any, yet strange to say, up to tho time
whom Pope was nominated and confirmed,
there was constant war waged upon him,
with view to break him down so some
body else should get the place to which he
was entitled. Members of the board, being
honorable gentlemen, could not, of course,
have had anything to do with this, but -
Pope was now in place the attack would
probably cease. In the attempts to make
a case for Porter every great name, living
and dead, was ''rung in" and it had boon
stated that President Lincoln reponted of
having approved of the finding of the
court martial and intended to give Porter
new trial. Lincoln was too good law
yer not to know he had not the power to
grant new trial, and as to his alleged re-
pentance, the best evidence was the tssti-
mony of Robert Lincoln that his
father had talked with him about the
case and had said that in his opinion,
it was one which would have justified the
sentence of death. The statement has
been made that Cen. Garfield had repented
of his action as member of the court
martial, but it was untrue, for as late as
February, 1880, long after this board had
made its report, Garfield conversed with
him (Logan) about tina case, and was pre-
pairing a speech to be delivered in the
house in opposition to the relief bill. He
had also written letter to Gen. Cox, of
Ohio, which Logan had read by the clerk,
stating that he had been so stunned by the
decision of the Schoield board that he
could hardly trust himself to speak of it
as it appeared to him.
Returning from his DEPRESSION, Mr.. Lo-
gan said that the law being as he had
stated, the only question remaining was
one of fact, namely, whether Porter did
obey or try to obey the order of the com
manding general Before discussing the
action of Gen. Porter, Mr.. Logan read his
two letters to Gen. Burnside as showing
his animus toward Pope and Mcdowell
and in connection with this he intimated
that the defeat of Mcdowell at the first
battle of Bull Run was due to Porter's ac.
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