Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1884-09-24
BLACKBOARD AND SLANDERER,
BEN Buffers Opinion of Hen
bricks.

In 1876 Gen. Butler, at North Vernon, Ind, de-
ivered the following scathing speech in reply to
a remark made by Hendricks in a speech at
North Vernon. Butler followed Hendricks, and,
from the same platform, said:
Il had come into the State; I had made some
seven or eight speeches; had never mentioned
the name of mortal man in the State; I had
apOlogized, as l did here, to every audi
ence that I add essed for appearing before the
people of Indiana in connection with State
election, and l had done nothing of which I
should complain at the hands of any gentle
man, and yet Mr.: Hendricks degrades the posi-
ton he seeks and the one he has held so much
as to say to the people Of North Vernon: Gen.
Butler is coming over here, and you must look
out for your spoons Now, that is SANDER; the
to use in the way Of argument. My record has
been closely examined for the last ten years,
and this-this is the elimination!
! have been the personal friend and hOnOred
guest of every Democratic President since 1845
may, was the friend, neighbor and family guest
of President Pierce, who appointed Thomas A.
Hendricks to a subordinate Office to pay for his
vote. [AppIause.l If Mr.. Hendricks wants any
more of that can tell good deal more about
that transaction. Tremendous cheering and
cries go on. Give it to him. Tell it all" etc. ]
/ do not come here to bear false witness against
my neighbors, or true witness about transactions
that should be confidential and ought not be
told / am not here for that purpose; l only say
that Mr.. Hendricks makes a very large draught
on my gentlemanly instincts. Loud applause,
and cries of go on
zone word about this, aud let's have done
with it and go on to something that may be of
some profit to mortal man or woman. Every
creature on earth judges according to the
standard which he has, which is his own capa-
bility, his own sense of proprety, or his own
powers. The fly that lights on the dome of ST.
Pauls Cathedral looks around him to the dis
lance of eight feet, the extent of his vision and
thinks it fair, slightly piece of work. The pig
that feeds out of the trough thinks it a very ex-
cellent piece OF architecture. That is the best
he can do with his Instincts; that is as much as
he can understand. He does not understand
that mansion at the back of whose barn his
trough is, at all Every man, therefore.
judges every other man by himself and
whoever believes that ], Major General OF
the United States, with life and death at nv
fingers ends, exercising that unlimited and
despot1c power given me by the war, went
round picking up spoons, knows that he would
have done it if he had Deen in my place. TIRE
mendous applause] That is his conception of
the office of major general. That is his idea of
what man should do, and what he would do if
he had the courage to go where he could do it,
as have. [CheersJ
But Mr. Hendricks said in his speech made
against the acknowledgements of the black men
that he had never volunteered himself nor en-
couraged anybody else to volunteer, and, there
fore he can be excused. But what must be the
depth of mans heart who can belittle and de-
mean himself so far as to utter this sort OF
thing? If some drunken whisky-soak some
loafing rascal should say it, L could pardon him.
God knows he does the best he knows how:
but here is a man who lived awhile with
gentlemen, man who has been in the Senate
of the United States, and a man who, since my
hand in friendship, the hand he knows to be
the hand of greed, or else he lies [Cries of " He
does lie; of course he does. Cheersl
It have done with this once and forever: but
L want to lay two or three facts before you for
the use of your Se1ltineIs and your Hendricks
They say l took $3,500.O0O from the people OF
New Orleans. There my accounts at the
War Department; they have been examined by
every rebel and every rebel sympathizer from
that day to this, and no hole has been found in
the account, .[Great cheering.l Go through and
look, and when you have looked through, tell the
other side of the story. Don't put down part and
leave out the rest, lest God treat you as He did
Ananias and Sapphire. ted 80 900 starving men
and children. most of them the wives of rebels
in the army. From the 9th day of June to the
9Th day of September, 1862, employed 100
men in cleaning up the streets, in cleaning the
canals, and making it healthy for the widows,
children and wives of the Confederate soldiers.
/ gave them 400 feet square of land at the Gus
tom House that since has sold for $3.50 a foot,
amounting to quite million of dollars. Imam
tanned the hospital of the Sisters of Charity at
an expense Of $4,000 a month, and another
CathGiis hospital at an expense of $1,000 q
month made their children go to school, and