Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1886-04-02
81 New But Effective Mode OF Treat
ing Bloody Shirt Waivers
sPEEOH OF HON. T. II, NORWOOD, OF
0E0RGIA

The House being In Committee Of the Whole
on the State Of the Union, and having under
consideration the bill III. X. sod making appro.
pElatlOns Tor The payment OF invalid ana other
pensions for the rs al year ending June 30,
1887, AMI for other purposes
Mr.. Norwood said Mr.. Chairman,
the. valuable time Of this House has
been wasted for four days In the con-
sideration Of a bill to which / presume
not one member has any objection.
But this arrest Of the public business
has occurred in consequence Of an as
sault which was made without pro-
vocation on the South and on the Com
missioner Of Pensions by the gentle.
man from Iowa NJ. Henderson |.
Being from that section, l desire TO
:, submit a few remarks in reply to that
gentleman. His speech on that oc-
casion, if successful in no other respect,
was successful in one. so far as l am
concerned, for l never before realized
any truth in the cynic's witticism,
Beware Of a Scotchman when he
smiles" The gentleman must have
been exceedingly eager to deliver him
self Of that piece Of defamation, which
is as familiar to this House and this
country, where it has been delivered a
thousand times, as 1.-THE boy stood on
the burning deck" or "Mary had a
little lamb" Laughter. But l do
not mean to dlscredit the styls of the
g~entleman's defamation, for 1 say here
and now, as an acknowledgment in the
presence of the House. that his decla-
nation Of that aged piece Of classic
fustian was one of the finest physical
efforts / ever saw or heard. laughter.
But say, the gentleman was ex.
ceedingly eager to declaim that piece
Of antiquity on that occasion, when we
consider the circumstances and the
moment of time which he seized upon
to enforce our attention. The House
was considering the general invalid
pension bill. Democrats and Republi-
cans, ex-Federal and ex-Confederate
soldiers were moving abreast in solid
column, without a single straggler, to
do an act of mercy and Of justice to the
survivors Of the Union Army and to
the widows and orphans, when the
gentleman from Iowa, stepping for
ward, arrested the column, and smiling
upon the Confederates in that line as
gently as Brutus smiled upon Caesar
in the capitol on 1.-THE ides Of March,"
when he invited him to lie down and
take a rest at the base of PompeY's
statue, commenced to address those
C~ontederates in about the following
delicate and persuasive strain:
II now approach this subject with
great hesitation and delicacy. The
weak spot in my nature is, | have not.
got a hating heart. l can knock a fell
low down when l am mad and the next
minute pick him up and help him and
be his friend. The tendency of my
mind is for fraternity. Therefore, |
beg to say, you have no right to be
here. You got here by stuting ballot.
foxes and by killing negroes with shot
guns. Laughter Do not misinter-
pref my motives or sentiments. The
tendency of my mind is to fraternity.
You gave an almost solid vote three
weeks ago against Ethe bill to give a
pension of twelve dollars to Union
soldiers widows There are mi hun
dred and Eve Of you and sixty.four Of
you voted against that bill-almost a
solid vote from the South. Let no gen
tleman who was in the Confederate
ranks against me i speak not OF the
Union, but against me, misinterpret
my feelings. l approach the subject
with hesitation and with delicacy.
You are a band Of criminals. Laugh
ter.
"Ihere is hardly a Constitution Of
the United States to be found in the
Southern States, Mr.. Oates. l
feel in the kindest and sin
cerest spirit imaginable, and just now
l am feeling my own oats. Laugh
ter. You criminals boast that you
will control this Government in spite
of the Constitution, and, feeling 10
ire kindest spirit Imaginable, 1 charge
Ec5u with as great crimes under the
4orms Of law as when Sumter was
fred on. Laughter. You pretend
that you voted against $l2 a month
because you thought So enough. 1
wish l could feel that to be true; but
/ do not, because you smoke $24 worth
Of cigars a month. Laughter. BY
POUR almost solid vote you unturled
the bloody shirt in my face, notwitb-
standing l fought for both sides during
the war" Laughter.
Mr.. HENDERSON, Of lowa-Will the
gentleman kindly allow me a word?
Does he intend to have that go to his
constituents as the speech made by
me?
MI. Norwood intend this, as the
substance Of what you said as report
ed in the Record, to go to my constit-
usnts.
Mr.. Henderson, Of Iowa-f you in
tend to quote that as an original speech
made BY me, there is not a word Of
truth In 1t.
The Chairman-Does the gentleman
from Georgia Mr.. Norwood yield to
The gentleman from Iowa. /.
Mr.. Norwood cannot yield fur
Their.
"But, gentlemen, to sun up: AS |
am at this moment speaking with un-
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