The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-07-15
.TELEGRAPa IC
THOSE EXPENSES.
Blackburn Warns the Doctors
Up,
And says the Treatment Of the
President was BIunder1ng
throughout.

Washington, 14.-Representative
Blackburn, to-day, supplemented
Senator Vests attack upon the late
President Garfeld's physicians by a
speech in much the same style, on
the question of cOncurring in the
Senate amendment to the deficiency
bill apprOpriating $4,000 for the
payment Of those physicians. Mr..
Blackburn's speech had been looked
for with interest, because it was ex-
pected that when he made it he
would devote some attention to the
expenses of the funeral train to
Cleveland, for which he held the
vouchers. Those who expected to
see this matter thoroughly venti-
lated were disappointed, as the
member from Kentucky made no
allusion to it, combining him
self to discussing the action of
the Senate in denOuncing the doctors
and eriticising the service they ren-
dered. He approached the subject
of paying the physicians with a
statement that he entertained no
unkindly feeling toward either the
living or the dead. His feelings for
the dead were those of respect and
honor, and as far as paying for SER
vices rendered him in his illness
were concerned. he declared he
would, at any time during that ILL
ness, have voted to employ the
federal treasury had he thought it
was in the power of medical skill to
save him, but he denied that any ex-
traordinary services had been rem
dered by the physicians in attend
ance upon the President. The
wound Of the President, he said,
was never treated from the day it was
received till the day of his death, by
a single doctor, and it took an
autopsy to discover the ball, and
even then it was only discovered by
accident in a Washbowl. The
wound, he said, need not have been
mortal to have produced death with
such medical treatment as the Pres
ident had received and added: "The
history of medicel science never
furnished such an instance of blum
dering as the treatment of this
cose." He bitterly assailed the
greedy crowd of cormorants that
had swarmed down upon Congress
with bills ranging from sos. and
75c. to $25,O0O
Judge Taylor of Ohio, Garfeld's
successor in Congress, who, as
chairman of the select committee on
the expense of the illness and death
of the President, reported a bill to-
the House some months ago provid-
ing for their payment, replied to
Mr.. Blackburn. He thought the
proper thing for Congress to do was
to relieve the estate of the dead Pres
ident from these claims. He could
state, however. he said, that the
members of the Garfield family
would never allow the payment of
the physicians to become a matter
of litigation.
Mr.. Springer, of Ills, followed on
the line Of Blackburn's denuncia-
tiOns of the doctors, and with. some
sarcasm stated, as a proof Of the
extraordinary service they Tendt rcd,
that for seventy days they treated
a pus cavity for gunshot wound,
this cavity having been made by
their own malpractice in the begin
ming of the case. A number of
amendments were offered to the
amendment, some to increase and
some to reduce the amount appTO-
priated, and were all voted down.
Finally theHouse voted against con-
curing in theSenate amendment, en-
bodying a proposition to appropriate
money for the payment of expenses
from 1873 to 1883. This action
means that The House will pass its
own bill for the payment of these
expenses.
After the vote of inconvenience,
Judge Taylor introduced and had
passed, without division, bill to-
give Mrs. Garfield S50,OOO-one
years salary of the President, less
any sum paid him up to the time OF
his death.