The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-06-26
THE FORTY-NINTH CONGRESS-
The Senate Debates and Finally Passes
the Fitz John Porter Relief Bill.
The House Considers the Civil Sundry Bill,
and Mr.. Bayne Severely Criticises the
Presidents Vetoes of Pension Bills
After an Extended Debate, the Fitz conn
Porter Bill Is Finally Passed.

After an Extended Debate. the Fitz John
Porter Bill Is Finally Passed.
WASHINGTON. June 24.-The Chair laid before
She Senate Geographic memorial from the
Portland, Ore, Board of Trade in opposition to
the Van Wyck amendment to the Northern Pa
eific forfeiture bill, as passed by the Senate. The
petitioners say that with that amendment In 1t
Che bill will make it impossible for the Northern
Pacific Railroad Company to secure capital
wherewith to complete the Cascade branch, and
that that branch is necessary to the commerce of
the Northwest The amendment referred to is
that which forfeits the lands coterminous with
the completed portion of the Cascade branch
The bill having been already passed. the petit
ton was laid on the table.
The Senate then took up the Fitz John Porter
bill, and Mr. Logan addressed the Senate. He
opened with an objection to the bill on consti-
tutional point The bill, he said, provided for an
Increase in the number of persons on the retired
list of the army. provided the President aD-
pointed certain person to the place. If he did
make that special appointment the vacancy was
not to exist. Where did the Senate get tho
power to name to the President the person whom
ne S1OuaQ appoint 10 an OuiC0s w mere Oiu LIE
House of Representatives get any power to name
TO the President the person whom he
should nominate to an officeY OF course,
IL Senators were determined to ram
bill down the threats of others.
they must take the responsibility.
Suppose Congress should pass bill creating a
new postoffice in New York or Brooklyn upon
the condition that man to be named in the bill
say John Fish-should be postmaster, and
that tina O6iPQ wae ereatad f9f0r this
enly"-namely, the purpose OF securing the ap-
pOintment Of the person they named; and that
IN case such person was not appointed then that
the Office was not to be created, would any man
say that such bill was constitutional under any
fair construction of the Constitution Fits John
Porter was tried by court-nartial Mr.. Logan
had no prejudice against the man. but friends of
Porter had placed the case before the country in
q one-sided way, aad. on that, letters had been
got from distinguished men expressing views of
the case favorable to Porter.
MIR. Henderson interposed to suggest the case
of a President increasing the number of judges,
gay In New Jersey, in order to reappoint a judge
who had been impeached and dismissed for cause
Mr.. Logan said that would be case precisely
on ''ail fours" with this Mr. Logan did not ex-
pect his words to have any weight in the Senate
for he always noticed that when the Senate was
determined to do thing it turned deaf ear to
every thing else, whether law or fact, that inter
fered with its purpose. This was not the trial
OF Porter. Porter had been tried and condemned
This was trial of Abraham Lincoln, of James
A. Garfield, and of many brave and distin
guishej officers of the army. 1t had been said
that Porter had been a good soldier before the
war. That was no argument. Jefferson Davis
and Robert E. Lee had been good soldiers and
loyal men before the war. The fact was that Fitz
John Porter and others, whose names it was not
now necessary to mention conspred to make it
impossible for Western officer to command
the armies of the East The Eastern army was
never a success until Grant took hold of
1t, and at that time Porter and some of his
kind were not in 1t. It part of the
programme of Porter and his friends that no
Western man should command that army. Mr..
Logan asserted that Porter was the cause of the
first Bull Run defeat by persuadng Patterson to
retreat to Winchester with 10000 men. In sup
port of this. he had the clerk read some extracts
from his published work, 1.-THE Great Con-
spiracy' He denied that he was endeayorng to
persecute Porter, when he was only defending Lin
coin. AS God is my judge" said he, would
stand over the dust of Lincoln, and swear by all
the gods to his act being an honest and just
act You gentlemen that were down in the Con-
federacy," continued Mr.. Logan, don't know
anything about this case except what you have
fead and you come up here and vote without
reference to the facts unless you have exam
ined them out of "a sympathy for this man."
Every man restored to the army by Congress after
dismissal because of sympathy with the Rebellion,
had found Republicans in Congress to aid him.
The prophecies of a few years ago were coming
true; the legislation of the war was being re-
yised every day. and by Republican votes Por-
Ger would have been condemned to death and
would have been shot, had not the kindly Lin
coin said, For Gods sake don't require me to
kill Democrat at this time," although Lin
coin had said that the evidence warranted the
death OF Porter. Mr.. Logan ridiculed the idea of
Porter's 'martyrdom." Lincoln had ceased to
be martyr in these days, and the men who lost
their lives for the Union cause had come to be
martyrs no longer. The martyrs" now were
She men who were treacherous to the Union
This man Porter, who proved treacherous to his
command and unfaithful to his trust, was appeal
ing to the country on the ground that he had
been prosecuted by Abraham Lincoln. 1t i'll
became US to reverse the record made by
men like Lincoln, Stanton and Garfield;
yet we found men in the Senate who were
patriots, but now came in the light of day and
were trying TO reverse the rulings of these dead
patriots in order to sustain the infamy of man
whose infamy was not less than that of the man
who protracted the Rebellion. But Mr.. Logan
supposed every man had his Brutus. The Rev
olution had it's Arnold. and the civil war had
its Porter In connection with his former re-
marks about conspiracy" Mr.. Logan said the
facts showed that General Mcclellan had been
directed by Halleck to send General Frankns
corps to support Pope; that Franklin started on
one day, and that, on the second day, he was
only five miles from where he started the day
before, evidently not intending TO go to Popes
support, and he never did get there, and did not
try. Mcclellan was ordered three or four times
90 send Franklin to Pope, and to press him for
ward, bet Mcclellan gave his orders in such a
way that franklin could construe them to go or
not to GO; and he did not go. Mr.. Logan read a
telegram, which. he said, Mcclellan sent to the
President on the 10Th of August, 1862, at 2:45
p. NJ, after the battle had been raging about
seven hours. and after Mcclellan had been or.
dered, time and time again, to send Franklin to
the aid Of Pope. This telegram, among other
things, said: lone of two courses should he
adopted. First, to concentrate all available
forces to open communication with Pope; sec
Ond. to leave Pope to get out of his own scrape,
etc. Was not that beautiful telegram for q
man to send at that hour. when a battle had
been raging for seven hours, after he had been
repeatedly. for three days, ordered to send aid te
Popef That was the way Pope was treated.
Mr. Logan was justified in saying that there was
conspiracy against that man, not to allow him
to win BATTLE and Fitz John Porter was part
of ii. Mr.. Logan had pride in the army and in