The National tribune., 1885-01-29
Chances OF Getting the General ON the Retired

|
A representative of THE NATIONAL TRIB-
| UNE called upon Gen. H. w. Slocum, the other
day, to inquire as to the prospects of the bill
for placing Gen. Grant on the Retired List.
! The General was fonnd in his study at his
pleasant home on Fifteenth street and quite
willing to communicate all the information
desired upon the subject. To the first query
"What are the prospects of the bill passing2"
he replied:
q cannot tell you positively what they are
| The situation of the bill seems to be generally
misunderstood The first bill THAT which
| speaks of him by namel passed the Senate last
session with only one dissenting vote. 1t re-
manned over and was not acted upon in the
House until this session. Two or three weeks
ago the Military Committee of the House, on
motion of Gen. Bayne, Of Pennsylvania, in
structed me to call up this bill-the only one
then pending-and press it to a vote with
view Of passing it. l was waiting for an OPP
portunity to bring it up in the House when
the second bill passed the Senate. This bill, of
course. was intended to obviate the difficulty
expressed in the veto of the Fitz- John Porter
Bill. Some of the friends of Gen. Grant wanted
me to call up the second bill instead of the
first, which, of course, could not do, as / was
acting under instructions from my Committee.
The House Committee then took up the two
bills and discussed them fully, and the ques-
ton was whether the instructions which had
already Decn gwen 10 me SnOulu De changed
and | should be instructed to bring up the sec
ond bill or not Every Democrat on the Com
mittee and One-half the Republicans who were
present voted not to change the instructions,
but have me call UP the original bill. That |
was prepared to do week ago to-day, and l
should have called it up, and l think it would
have passed. had it not been for dilatory mo-
lions which were made and sustained by both
Democrats and Republicans. These motions
were sustained by some Democrats who did not
wish to vote for either bill to retire Gen. Grant,
and they We're sustained by some Republicans
who did not wish to vote for the first bill which
contained Gen. Grants name, and which
would be subject to the Presidents objections
That is the exact situation o-day."
" Have Gen. Grants friends any program
in regard to him ?' qucried THE TRIBUNE.
Gen. Slocum-"1 do not think there is ]
am told there is q movement on foot to call up
the second bill, by Mr.. Randall if he can get
the floor The difficulty is in getting the floor
and a suspension of the rules, which requires
two-thrds vote The whole question is simply
whether Congress shall deviate from its usual
course in this bill in order to comply with the
Presidents views, or whether it should pass the
bill in the form it has always been in the habit
of doing. The question is whether the Demo-
Gratis are going to deviate from the custom of
Congress in order to accommodate themselves
to the Presidents objection, or whether they
will pass the bill in the usual FORM"
The TRIBUNE" Pass the bill in the usual
form and let the President recede from his
postion?"
Gen. Slocum-" Exactly. Some gentlemen
seem to want Congress to change its course and
adopt some different method in retiring Gen.
Grant. AS for myself, should vote for either
of the pending methods"
THE TRIBUNE" Which is your preference,
GeneralY
Gen. Slocum-" My preference is decidedly
for the bill in the usual form, but will sup
port either bill. The good feeling of the House
Committee toward Gen. Grant is shown by the
fact that it instructed me to bring up the first
bill before the second was ever introduced or
thought of. This shows the committee to be
earnestly in favor of retiring the General, and
that the present muddle is no trick to defeat
the measure, as many people seem to think"
You cannot tell anything about its pros
poets, then ?"
Nothing definitely"