The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-02-07

the army and made him leper whom
his own Government could not touch
with an Office of profit or trust. This
verdict awarded him such infan:y that,
for time, Iscariot and Arnold were bis
only competitors.
Boutelle, of Maine, protested against
the passage of the bill and denied that
it was the unanimous desire of the men
who fought under Porter to have him
reinstated into the army.
Then q number of short speeches were
made, all but two being in opposition to
the bill-the exceptions being Laird, of
Nebraska, who served under Porter, and
who made an eloquent appeal for his old
commander, and Henley, of California,
who criticised the action of Cutcheon, OF
Michigan, in casting imputations upon
General Grant and then striking them
out of the record.
In reply Cutcheon expressed his high
appreciation for the high military abili.
ties of General Grant; but being pressed
by Henley with the question, "Why did
you strike out your remarks 2" he was
compelled to admit that he left them out
because he wanled to-an admission
which caused much merriment.
The committee then rose and the bill
was ordered to be engrossed and read a
third time.
Curtain, of Pennsylvania, then took
the floor to close the debate in favor of
the bill. He knew Fitz John Porter
we'll, and in the beginning of the war
the General was most enlightened and
ardent advocate IF military discipline.
The record would show one significant
fact, coming not SO much from the living
as from the graves of the dead. The
first citizens who asked for redress of his
wrongs were Horace Greeley, Henry
Wilson and himself. Certainly, the
fidelity of those persons to the Union
could not be questioned. Porter had
never approached him 10 ask him to be
his advocate. He was panied 10 hear a
distinguished member of the House
(Keifer), over and over again, say that
Porter was a coward. Before God, he
never knew a Porter who was fool or q
coward. [Applause.] BE had never
before come across man who had the
temerity to say that Porter was coward,
and he never would hear it again. He
gave an interesting history of the move
ments of the army of the Potomac in
the beginning of the war, and nearly
every member in the House stood in q
circle around him and frequently ap-
plauded his remarks. He dwelt upon
the services rendered to his country by
Fitz John Porter and ridiculed General
Pope's proclamation, which, he declared
ratified and glittered with generalities:
If General Porter had violated orders, if
he had treated his superior officers with
disrespect or contempt, it was the duty
of that superior to have taken away hil
ensign of rank Immediately and put
him under arrest. Referring to the fact
that Cutcheon, Of Michigan, had elimina'
ted from the record his imputation upon
General Grant, he congratulated that
gentleman upon the good taste which he
had exhibited, and that between the
time of the delivery of the speech and
the publication of it he had time to re-
pent.- he criticised the speech of Horr,
of Michigan, for its expression Of opin.
ion that no ex.Confederate should vote
upon this bill, and he took it for granted
that men who, in error, but in the belief
that they were right, had fought in q
great mar, were better men than quarter
masters, paymasters, suffers and contrac'
tors. Laughter. In brilliant pero'
ration, which was warmly applauded, he
appealed to the House to do justice to
the wronged man, and at the conclusion
of his speech he was heartily congratu,
lated by his party friends,
The bill was then passed-yeas 1874,
nays 78.
Of the South Carolina delegation,
Messrs. Dargsn, Evins, Hemphill and
Tillman voted in the affirmative. Messrs.
Aiken and Dibble are neither recorded
as having voted nor as being paired.