The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1884-01-23
CONGRESSIONAL,
HOUSE

!. certOd of profound peace, ar
the further it got aw,
from the period Of war the strong
became the sway of sympathy III
j. weaker the dictates Of reason.
4 was not for the House, sitting as .
' august tribunal, to be swayed by
, feeling Of sympathy. Referring
, the denial In Grants letter, he q
serted that no one would 70 farth,
/ than himself in admiration of h,
, e eat soldier, but he could not forg
. the eight long years If General Ora,
IN the Presidential chair, when Fl
. John Porter stO0d knocking in seasn
and out of season at the joor of tn
White House asking Grant to perm
him new hearing He could M
forget what Grant said tn 1873 an
TIA. H. had examined the papel
submitted and was not prepared t
grant the review asked, but in 1881
when both houses Of Congress wer
in the hands of the opposition. an
when the bill WAS pending h-fOr
Congress to reappoint Gen. Gran
general Of the army, and place hiu
on the retired list, there came sun
l
which struck down Paul at Damas
cu@, and ut once the light broke OF
his mind and he found that f,r l
long years he had been doing Fit
John Porter injustice. lAppiause ol
the Republican side
The opinion of General Gran,
could not have the influence on hin
| It other wise would have.
CutcheOn, in eplying to Genera
Slcum's speech Of yesterday, briefly
outl' led the events which led t. Fitl
John P"r,er's dismissal, and said P"r.
ter's action could only be explained
hy his hatred Of General Pope. When
his country cried, 'fitz JHhH Porter,
this way" he thought 1t was the
voice of POlse, and not his country,
end refused to 60. If there ever was
time when mans country called
him, when the destiny of the country
hung trembling in the bal .nce,
that time was the 9th Of August,
1852; if ever there was time when u
military leader had need t" feel the
pulse of his subordinate officer beat
in unison with his, it was on the 9th
Of Augu-t-when Porter di.obey-d
orders. Two reasons were assigned
f,r not doing &c. The night wa4
dark and the road bad. Porter cOu'd
not march that night, hut StonewalI
Jackson marched with his entire
corps, and Lee m .rched that nigh.
hut this brilliant leadec If the
army could not march, he
cause, fOrs0oth, 1t was dark.
I am no defender of Grant. For the
first time in nv life I stand ON the
floor to hear Republicans attack the
military reputation Of General Grant.
(Shouts Of "Oh, no." on the Repub.
lican side.)
The gentleman who has just t,ken
his e It has done 1t in IN at violent
manner. If I understood the gentle
mans language correctly, it was an
either IF his integrity
or his military reputation. The point
I make ia this: In the Forty-third
Congress General Garfield intro
duc-d a resolution asking the ap-
pointment of a board t. lnvestigat.
this case, and a hoard was appointed.
The one, sided resolution was never
agreed to He ridiculed the idea that
\ court could have been appointed
Ia pursuance Of 1t
Slocum-What I say Is that Gen.
One-sided resolution ask.
IHg that such board he appointed
bv the President and that it -heuld
make report to Congress must eth
Pr he accepted by the friend. Of Gar
field or they must repudiate the
whcle.
CaIkins, of Kentucky-On the con-
trary, he hid such confidence
in the Judgment Of the |
court martial that he ha!
no idea but the commission would |
sustain 1t, a. 1t would have done if |
p p'0perly constituted.
Grsenleaf spoke in support Of the
ill. claiming that under the circum
'tan"es Of the case, P.,rter was NOT
,nly justified IN disreg .rding Pope's
,rders. nut he would hive been liable
J" cen-ura If he had obeyed them.
Brow ne. Of Indiana. opposed tho
ill and went into the history Of the
:sse, quo'ing evidence aud d .ducing
herefrOm.
Slocum said there never was such
m absurdity perpetrated u. on anv
representative bodv a. has been en-
Icted here. For three hundred gen.
Iemen knowing nothing about mill
ary matters, to discuss gravely a
uhjsct 'bOut which thew know moth
ng whatever. and never would know
Invthing. Lsugater. H. moved the
would rise.
This last remark vt Slocum was re-
etved with indignation by the Re-
and ~ tn Y were in the
majority they voted down the mo-
ion to rise.
Cutcheon went on describing the
attle of the Goth of August, and
Porter lying under the
hade Of trees. He said cowardice
vas no excuse for Porter, as he had
hOwn he was brave man. Igno-
ance was no excuse, for he was
rained soldier. He bad no excuse
"r not knowing we'll his sc0mmander,
or the order was explicit. Already
lemenoy mad been exercised toward
~" 'Slu IOTVSC. II - III aAOlllJy llal |
'een rem wed. and be stood = free
American c1tizan. Wee General
}srfield alive this bill would not be
lere. 1t would never receive his sig
!ature. But Garfield wa dead and
he hill was here. He ex ,ec.ed it
'"uld be passed bv the aid o. the
otes of men who fought against the
!nion. He protested against the
i'll. Aoplause on the Republican
ide. He honored the gentleman
'oin Nav York for his devotion tn a
fe-long friend. but this honor should
q given to law and justice. not to
Tears expect to ara. Brave
len had perished through Purter's
Standardization.
(Applause from the Republican
|de
SIOcum-I understand the gentle
ian said II G .rfield was living this
III would not be here. II he will re-
r to the House report at the second
'saion Of the Forty.third Congress