St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-02-18
IN THE HOUSE.
Several More Speeches on FiIz-JOhn
Porter.

FOEtcT.
WASHINGTON, Feb. l7.-In the house,
the bill granting Mrs. Grant the franking
privilege was put on the calendar. The
bill to make the allowances for clerk hire 10
postmasters at first and second class post
offices cover the cost of clerical labor in the
money order business was passed. The
bill reducing from 5 to cents the charge
for money orders not exceeding So was also
passed. Mr.. McRae of Arkansas,
from the committee on public
lands. called up and the house
passed the bill 10 protect homestead settlers
within railway limits. 1t provides that all
such settlers restricted to less that 100 acres
who make an additional entry under the
acts of March and July, 1879. shall be en-
titled to have the lands covered by the adj
ditiOnal entry patented without any further
cost or proof of settlement and cultivation.
Mr.. Cobb of Indiana, on behalf of the same
committee, called up the bill fOrielting the
Atlantic 81 Pacific land grants. The bill
fOrfeits only the lands adjacent 10 the in
completed portions of the road. Mr.. Nc
Rae of Arkansas offered as substitute the
bill of the minority of the committee for
feitIng the entire land grant. Pending dis
cuSsion the morning hour expired and the
house went into committee of the whole
| (Mr. Springer of Illinois in the chair on
the FitZ-John Porter bill. Mr.. Laird of
Nebraska delivered a carefully prepared
argument in support of the bill.
PORTER WAS INNOCENT
of any disoyalty, either TO Pope or TO his
! country, and Porter's enemies created mount
! aims of disobedience out Of molc-hills OF dis
/ erection, and the trial and conviction Of Porter
] has been farce. The opponents OF the bill
make the customary appeal 10 the dead Has
J the house abdicated in favor of the grave!
Why pirate about the deeds of the dead, who
sustained the sentencel Why this strut about
the almil hty deadg Is not this memory the
common heritage Of all? Act upon the i'm
pious and untimely raising of the dead, less
defensible in debate than body-snatching is
in practice. An argument which depends on
ghost for its validity is already undone. If
the gentlemen will not permit Gods peaceful
rest TO the dead. then there is one from all
that host whose name / viii honor. do not
need to name him, for on the rolls of Ameri-
! can Immortality there is but one, Grant.
! When the rolls shall be called, trust will
be found still following the lead of my old
! commander and seeking TO do what if living,
| Grant would do, by voting for the restora-
ton of Fitz-John Porter (applause).
Mr.. Kelly of Pennsylvania opposed the
! bill, characteriZing Porter as a great soldier,
who, forgetting country and patriotism had
sunk himself in infamy. by regarding office
and military duty as a mere personal trust
for himself and his cOtere.
Think" he asked in conclusion, "of Phil
! Sheridan being where Porter was. Think of
Hancock. Think of any soldier that you and
/ and all of us are ready TO honor living
through the 9th, 2Sth. 18th and Both OF that
month of August and then appearing to the
country TO obliterate the finding of a court
which Abraham Lincoln in his humanity was
contrained TO approve" Applause.
AN OBJECTION INTERPoSED.
Mr.. Kelley asked leave to have printed
with his speech the review of the evidence
given before the cOurt-martial, prepared by
Judge Advocate Holt, but MI Bragg OBJ
jected.
Mr.. Thomas of Illinois believed that the
bill was wholly unconstitutional and that
its passage would be an insult to the living
and an outrage to the dead.
Mr.. Oates of Alabama made speech i'm
support of the bill, and he was listened TO
with great attention, as he based his argu-
ment upon his personal knowledge of the
incidents of the Goth of August. In a
quiet deliberate manner he described the
assaults made upon that day.
There had been a good deal of fighting. but
there had been no general engagement in the
sense which the term was usually employed.
1t was insisted that Porter had been in fault
for not making an attack on that day. The
opportunity of victory had been lost when,
early on the morning of the 18th, Gems. Nc
Dowell and Porter, with their united forces
did not interpose in front of Longstreet al
GAINESVILLE. They had together greater
number of men than Longstreet, and by in
terposing they would have delayed his unioI
with Jackson. But he did not think thai
even that interposition could have given the
victory to Pope, for jackson had a strong 20
sition from which he could not have beer
driven. Porter was not to blame for failing
TO interpose, for Mcdowell ranked him, anC
if anyone was to blame it was Mcdowell. He
admitted that. in strict sense of military
discipline. Porter had disobeyed orders, bu
the punishment had been too severe.
The committee then rose and the houSt
adjourned.