Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1884-09-18


Washington. perhaps he will strike that out,
especially if it is to be circulated among his
Democratic friends.
But when called his attention to the
Constitution of the United States and to the
laws of Congress which ne had violated in
rebbing the government of the postage
which he ought to have paid, he turned
away, and does not want the lsw nor the
Constitution, which is in the book printed
by Congress. If he printed as many copie'.
on the tariff question as printed-and /
printed 10000 at the Government Printing
Ofice-he saved 500 in postage, but |
don't know how much he saved in the print
ing. l think he ought to answer my ques-
ton, and not try to divert me.
He says that anybody who says that he
didn't do az much as anybody else, in and
out of committee, for the Union soldiers,
tells falsebood. / want to know if l have not
demanded of him here to tell these people
what he has been doing. That is what the
Union soldiers came here to know. He
should render an account of his stewardship
before these people. He has been in Con-
gress before. He was in the 46th Congress
two long years. He has been in the 4Sth
Congress, and chairman of the only commit
tee that had this class of legislation in
charge. ! have here all the volumes of the
Congressional Record of the 10th and 4Sth
Congresses. There were three sessions of the
18th Congress 1 demanded here that he
turn to the pages and show where ne ever
made a speech for the Union soldiers;
where he ever pleaded their cause; where he
ever voted, or worked, or did anything to
advance their interests. Here are the vol
umes "a cart-load Of them l brought
here for this purpose-and he does not look
into them; he does not turn to the pages.
Here is his name in the index. | see he
spoke several hundred times. He is like
trip-hammer He gets the floor often, and
talks great deal. He is great statesman,
you know. He is up to tricks, which | do
not propose to learn. He spoke on all sorts
of subjects, but he spoke very little on this,
except as against the Union soldier. He
said. gentlemen, that falsiied in one thing
That is the only thing he has got down TO.
He has given up everything else. He has
utterly and signally failed in everything
else except one thing, and that is, that | said
that his committee never reported but one
bill, and that bill was worthless This, 1 re-
peat, is true Warmers bill is the only bill
that was ever reported for passage from that
committee. The other bill that the gentle
man refers to was never reported for passage,
was never meant to be put on its passage,
but was purposely placed on the calendar
where it was impossible for it to he reached
by the House; and this was not done until
after Warmers bill was condemned by the
country.
1 want to say, however, that that reference
was to himself. l speak of the bill he re-
ported as the only one that he would permit
to be put on its passage. find by turning
to the Record that said: He never re-
ported but one bill, and that was SO OBJ
jectionable to the soldiers that the Senate
never gave it any consideration" Perhaps
that language, taken by itself, is little too
broad. But you can see from the tenor of
this speech that | am talking about his bill
and what he did in representing that COM
mittee. l say, greatly to the credit of that
committee that it was far in advance of him
in regard to pensions. | know that from the
highest authority in this country.
But will go further on this question, and
will say something that is still more start
ling than all that. He says my speech was
made for buncombe. All, if you will ask
the widows who have received pensions in
the last eighteen or twenty months, in this
district, they will not say it was buncombel
| have the names of more than thousand
applicants for PENSIONS with whom | have
been in correspondence. | have ascertained
what was wanting, and, in many instances,
removed the difficulty.
/ have helped to complete the records of
these claimants; have helped to ferret
them out, and l have helped to get scores of
pensions, in this way, by calling them up
and by giving them such attention as
could l am not afraid of those services be-
ing considered buncombe. You ask the SOL
diers of this district don't care to which
party they belong; l have not inquired;
that is not my business. Suppose what the
gentleman says is true? Suppose did go
too far in my rema arks, which | deny; but
suppose l did? Will these Union soldiers
here, these friends of the soldiers here, who
knew what it was to bear the burden OF the
war-will yon blame me if, in my zeal for
you, went little too far? [''No, no"l If
1 presented The facts little more forcibly
in the Record, where they would be Rad by
the country, than | was able to do in short
speech in the House, will you blame me for
that? All, | know you won't. But did not
do anything more than was my duty. If l
had dcne less / would have failed of my
duty But lie says that is buncombe. / say,
gentlemen, that is absolutely untrue.
/ hold in my hand two other reports |
=
tional bill, on which spent weeks of labor
1t covers eighteen pages. presume the
gentleman never read il, because he does not
think that anything | write is worth read
ing-that it is ali stuff, and of no account
But | say that have in my hand a letter
from the Hon. T. w. Bicknell, of Boston,
the President of the National Educational
Association of the United States, and the
editor and publisher of the National Edu-
catiohal Journal and one or two other maga-
zines, commencing my report. He also
commends the bill which prepared and in
serted therein, which proposed as a substi-
tuie for the one before the committee, and
SAYS in his letter that it is the best bill ever
introduced by any member of Congress, in
either House; and the letter is open to your
perusal if you will cali and see me. The
compliment is all the greater because MIR.
Bicknell himself was one of committee of
thirteen distinguished educators who were
appointed at Louisville last year to prepare
bill on this subject, and yet he compli-
ments my bill as being better one than
that prepared by his committee of thirteen.
Other people will sometimes read what /
write.
have here another report which didn't
prepare for buncombe; we never reached
illls 4utotiOu III the HOUSE. HOlO IN my
hand report which I also prepared, cover
ing SO pages. spent weeks and weeks on
this. 1t is on the Mormon question, on the
question OF polygamy. 1t is on plan ad-
vocate in this report, plan to annihilate
the aecursed institution of polygamy in this
country. presented all the proof and all
the facts and all the arguments / could
gather. Although the committee voted it
down, yet made it as minority report, and
all the Republican members signed it. And
l want to say word as to this report, be-
cause am on trial to-day, and it is charged
that whatever did in Congress was done for
buncombe; otherwise / would not allude to
this fact. have in my hand letter signed
by all the leading men of Salt Lake City,
Utah, lawyers, doctors, preachers, educators
and business men, including the editor of
the Salt Lake Tribune, complimenting this
report, and saying that although it seemed
to be an extraordinary measure, yet, in their
judgment, it was the only measure that
would destroy polygamy in Utah. have
never exhibited that except to one or two
persons, among others to Gov. Long, of
Massachusetts, and he said / could afford to
be proud of it, and TO hand it down to nv
children. Could have any motive behind
that? Could l expect the vote of Utah?
/ can live whether go to Congress or
not. l have lived here fifty odd years, and
| don't EXPECT TO live that long in the future