Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1886-09-03
Mr.. Edmuuds aS National Lcgis-



/ lie servant, we have with the aid of the
/ journals of the United States Senate in the
University library aud our files OF the CON-
/ grcSsiOHGi Rccord prepared the follow
| ing hasty summary of some of the prlnci-
/ pal measures originated by Mr.. EdmundS
or with which he has been prominently con
nected in Congress. 1t is given, not as any
| approach to Il complete record, nor does it
/ contain references to the part, often very
/ Important, taken by our senator in minor
debates and in the daily current OF legis-
laton in the Senate. 1t gives no idea of
| the number OF useful bills and measures.
which Mr. Edmunds has aided in shaping
/ His long and large experience as is well
known, has made him the constant pri-
| vate adviser of senators as TO all matters
of legislation, rs well ~ recognized au-
| thority on parliamentary law, and the
presidents and usages of the Senate In
these respects no senator approaches him,
in usefulness, or would be so much miss
ed if he were to retire from that body.
Mr.. Edmunds came first prominently to
/ the front, in Congress, by Il very able
speech made in April, 1866, on the bill to
admit Colorado as a State with consti-
tuition restricting the right Of suffrage to
/ the whites. This feature Mr.. Edmunds
/ opposed in speech which won for him
the praise and thanks of Charles Sumner,
publicly expressed in the Senate.
About this time he was made chairman
of the important committee Oh retrench-
ment, and made a report on the various
issues of government bonds and paper
money which finally settled the question
Of the alleged frauds and over-issues of
the government during the war of the re
belliOn
From this committee he reported, ad-
vocated and sustained to It's passage the
tenure of Office law.
In 1864 he became a member of the com
mittee on the judiciary, and from that
time on he was intimately and prominent
" concerned in the framing and passage
of the reconstruction acts.
In November, 1857, when the public
credit began. to be questioned, and the
right to pay all government debts in pa
per was asserted. Mr.. + lmunIs intro
ductd the joint resolution pledging the
public faith to the payment Of the public
debt in coin, supported 1t in "A speech and
carried it. This resolution was in sub
stance, and almost in form, enacted a. Il
law, and was the first bill signed by Gen.
Grant as president of the United States.
A. part of the results of the work of the
committee on retreuchment, and largely
through Mr.. Edmunds'S efforts, about
ten mUIi0nS of dollars We're pail into the
United States treasury, as the proceeds of
captured and abandoned property, which
-
claimants under the numerous pardons
granted by Andy Johnson.
He was a member of the select commit.
tee Of the Senate to arrange the proceed
ingS on the Impeachment of President
johnson.
At the time of Gen. Grants first cleo
ton he took an active and successful part
in the very important exclusion of the
electoral votes of late rebel States not yet
readmltted.
Mr. Edmunds introduced and carried
through the bill to stop the payments,
which were going on under an old statute
10 late owners Of slaves, for their slaves
which had enlisted in the Union army or
had been drafted during the war.
Mr. Edmunds was the first to propose
from the treasury to the subsidized rail
roads for transportation, etc, until they
repaid what the treasury had paid ont for
interest on the bonds, and he persisted in
the effort to compel them TO protect the
nited States until the SInking-fund Act
was passed, which those powerful com
panies have been compelled to obey.
He reported and had charge of and car
rled through the great civil and political
rights act, of May 81, 1870, which now
forms the principal body of the law on
that subject. He did the same in respect
of the act to enforce the 14th amendment
of April. 1871. The Importance of Mr.
Edmunds's services in regard to these
measures cannot be exaggerated.
He introduced and the Senate adopted
the resolution which stopped the further
issue Of bonds or land certificates to the
Union Pacific railroad in respect of
branches and connections with its main
line.
He introduced and reported and man
aged the bill to distribute the British
Geneva award Of SIS, 800 900 among the
proper claimants and excluding the i'm
mense corporations which had made
profits on war premiums.
He was active in causing the Senate to
declare, before the election OF 1876, that
the joint rules which gave each House a
right to reject the vote of any State, and
so, If in force, gave the Democratic House
OF Representatives full negative control
of the election, were no longer in force.
He reported from the select committee
of which he was chairman, the electoral
count bill, under which Mr.. Hayes was
peacefully installed as president. Mr.. Ed
muuds's wise and statesman-like and able
leadership at this time, perhaps saved the
country from another civil war. 1t GER
tainly earned for him the cordial aulmos
ity Of all INSCRIPTIONS and Dgotcd Dem
cratic partisans.
He introduced the resolution adopted by
the Senate providing for putting in the
appropriation bills effective means for
Fastening the disposition of pension cases
in the department, and again for providing