Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1886-07-08
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From our regular correspondent.

lock there and the Presidents whole
sale bombardment of pension bills
are features of the work on Capitol
Hill. The bill for the re.instate-
ment of Fitz John Porter passed
safety through the Senate again
with majority of thirteen, after a
warm debate spiced with PERSONAL
ties.
Gen. Logan opened the debate in
opposition to Gen. Porter. Wheth-
er he is an orator or not may be an
open question, but one fact is indis-
putable: Whenever it is known that
the Senator from Ill. is going to
make speech, the Senate galleries
fill up and he holds their close at
tention from the beginning to the
end of a speech of almost any
length
Gen. Logan has opposed the re-
lief Of Fitz John Porter ia every
Congress for the last twenty years,
and it would be strange if, under
the circumstances, he could say any
thing totally new on the subject.
He did present the matter in a new
light, however, beginning with an
objection to the bill on a constitu-
tional point, the effect that the bill
provided for an increase on the re-
tired list Of the army, provided The
President appointed a certain per
son to the place. If he did not
make that special appointment the
vacancy was not to exist. "Where, "
asked did the Senate get the power
10 name to the President the person
whom he should appoint to an
Officer"
The Senator said he did not ex-
pect his words to have any weight
in the Senate, for he always noticed
that when the Senate determined to
do a thing, it turned a deaf ear to
everything else, whether law or fact
interferred with its purpose. lie
did not consider this case a trial Of
Porter. Porter had been tried and
condemned. This was trial Of
Abraham Lincoln, Of James A. Gar
field and Of many brave and dis
tinguished officers Of the Army. I'll
had been said that Porter had been
a good soldier before the war. Gen.
Logan thought that was no argu-
ment. Jefferson Davis and Robert
f. Lee had been good soldiers and
loyal men before the war Gas God
is my Judge" said he, 81 would
stand over the dust of Abraham
Lincoln and swear by all the gods
to his act being an honest and a
just one"
"You gentlemen who were down
in the Confederacy" continued Gen
Logan, "know nothing about this
case except what you have read, and
you come up here and vote for this
man out Of sympathy. Porter would
have been condemned to death and
would have been shot had not the
kindly Lincoln said, For God is
sake don't require me to shoot a
Democrat at this time although
Lincoln had said that the evidence
warranted the death of Porter. =
This so-caIled vindlcation of Porter
was Il stab at Abraham Lincoln.
Senator Voorhees, of Ind, asked
if Gen. Grant had also stabbed Alb
raham Lincoln? holding thatno man
had said as much as Gen. Grant had
said in yindication Of Porter.
Whereupon Senator Plumb, Of
Kans, mentioned that this new
reverence for Gen. Grant was as
marvellous as the conversion of Paul.
He dad not think it would do for the
friends Of Porter to use Grants
name. They had long held him up
as everything that was base.
Mr.. Plumb conceded that there
was division among northern pco-
pie about The matter, but it was
division like that occurring in The
Mississippi, the cddy gong one way
and the ,reatful-hyaded stream the
other. He spoke Of the significance