Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-02-20

THE GRANT BILL IN THE HOUSE.

1t Meets with Opposition from Both Dem
ocrHts aud Republicans Alike, and
Fails to Pass the House by IA vote
of los to 1870.
WASliNGrcN. "eb. Is The House met
at lOO'clocf in continuation of SATURDAYS
session and inW"'liatc,y went into com
mittCe of the whole ON tn" legislative pro
vision bill. Considerable progress was
made and al 1885 the committee rose.
The House adjourned and at II o'clock
the session Of Monday began. The Sen
ate amendments to tine army appropria.
tion bill were uon-coucurred in and con
fcrces appointed. The House under spc-
cial rule passed the bIll extending the
privileges of bOadcd express companies as
to the character of packages and per-
uniting them to carry passengers and bag
gage to interior ports of entry. After
the call of States for the introduction of
the bill had been concludcd Mr. SlUcum of
New York, under Instructions from the
military committee, moved to suspend
the rules and pass the Senate bill for re-
trcmrnt of Gen Grant. cribs is the first
bill passed by the Senate and specifically
names the officers To be RETIRED Mr.
ohio demanded Il second The motion to
suspend the rules was seconded 40 to r.
The thirty minute debate allowed under
the rules WAS opened 10y Gen. Slucum in
behalf of the hin.
This bill Inc said proposes to place Gen.
Grant in tn" same position which he
would have occupied had he not Gin aC-
cordancc with the will Of the people of the
country accepted the Office of chief mag
iNlrate. When a man had performed such
services FOR such a country as Gen. Grant
had performed, it was right and proper
that in his old age he should not he left to
Grapple with poverty Gen. Grant had
not been free from mistakes in his career
either as Il soldier or civilian but in "A
few years his late companion in Wall
street would he forgotten. Every error
of his would be forgotten, as it ought to
be, and the campaign which would he
remembered was the campaign from
that day when he sent the tidingS which
revived the hopes of the North to that
other day when he sent the news
which carried joy to every Northern heart
MI the good would he remembered and
all the mistakes would and ought to be
forgotten. He MIR. SlucumI believed that
to-day il was the wis. of the people of the
South Is well II the North that the Gov
eminent should take care of Gen Grant.
and provide for him literally. The honor
ol me government was It stake and he
trusted that the bill would pass the House
with the same unauimlty as 1t had the
senate.
Mr.. Horr Of Michigan ana Mr. Thomas
of Illinois opposed the bill, because they
Thought 1t WAS Il trap To catch Republican
votes and put the President in tight
place. The President, Mr.. Thomas said,
could not sign the bill and the Demo
Gratis know that fact. Mr.. Rose
Grams of California regarded the
bill Is plain proposition to reward Grant
4 4
was his duty to say that Ee could not vote
for 1t. II had been the interest of the
great political party to make Gen. Grant :
services appear as large aS possible. if he
was their servant. Gen. Grant himself
had prepared the first two volumes Of
l}adchu'S Life of Grant, upon which the
students of history had placed the stamp
of worthincSs. 1t had been said
that Gen. Grant was poor, that there was
nothing between him and the poorhouse,
. except the income from $!jO, 900 and ii had
been circulated around by his family that
that H21OOOO was substantially lost. That
was not trrle. There wa, another critical
circumstance to which he called
attention. Congress, by Il solemn
act, was asked to arrest the
progress of public opinion for an investi-
CATION into that confidence mill, called
Grant * Ward. If gentlemen could at
fora to put cloak around that investga-
ton and to deceive the public mind he
could not. Mr. Ilorr called attention to
the fact that the President had sent a
message To the liOuse-a message in
which he asked that body to act upon "A
measure which would place Grant on the
retired list and urged the passage of the
second Senate bill. Mr.. SloCum iutimat
ed the grntlrmau's opposition to the bill
was due To the fact that Gen. Grant had
tried /" do justice To Gen. Porter Even
were the pending bill vetoed 1t could he
mn -nI N,4fn l,n IDr.,- il