Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1886-02-25
FITz JOHN PORTER INDICATED
Sixteen Republicans Vote With Demo-
Gratis to Reinstate Him.

sixteen Republicans Vote With Demo-
Gratis to Reinstate Him.
WASHINGTON, Feb. lS.-The closing
scenes in the Fitz John Porter debate
in the House were dramatic. The
feature of greatest interest was the
speech of Governor Curtin for Porter.
The venerable war Governor spoke as
the personal friend of the famous Jer-
seyman. His speech was pathetic,
stirring and aggressive. He declared
Porter's cause to be his cause. "If
Fitz John PorLer was traitor I was,n
said he, with telling emphasis which
recalled the Curtin of younger and
more vigorous days; land" he added,
to the great delectation of members of
both sides of the House, '.if any man
wants to call me traitor, let him go
out into the corridor with me and do
it,"
The intense nature of the old gentle
man became reused to pitch as he
proceeded to argue for his friends vim
dicatiOn. 1t was with glow of pride
that he spoke of his great feat of enlist
ing and equipping thirty-two regiments
of Pennsylvanians within sixteen days
after the second Bull Run. He regret
ted the war for many reasons. One-a
selfish one-was that had it not oc-
CURED he, with his Irish ancestry,
would have lived to be 100 years old.
AS it was, his time had been cut short
by years of tension in watching the for
tunes of war and i'm helping the cause of
the Union armies. Still, he said. he did
not intend to die for sometime vet. The
pathetic part 0fthe old gentleman's ap-
peal for his friend was principally per-
s0nal to himself. Particularly when he
sought again to round the periods OF
great Columbian elequence of which he
was once a recognized master, he ex-
hibited rather sadly the effects of ad-
vanclng years upon his once robust
frame and incisive mind. While he
made bis points clearly, his method
was broken at times, the emphasis did
hot hit at the right place every time
and he lapsed in moments of confusion
into husky whisper inaudible to the
galleries. Taken as whole, however,
Governor Curtin's speech was the most
striking feature of the Fitz John Porter
case.
Mr.. Phelps of New Jersey said that for
twenty years he had believed General
Porter was traitor and deserved to be
hanged. That was the popular opinion
of the loyal North, and his heart had
been with it.
He had changed his opinion and be-
lieved that Porter was an honest man
and loyal soldier when, as his repre-
sentative, he had been obliged to exam
Inc the evidence and learn the facts.
The sneaks of the Republican party, he
said, dared not face the truth and de-
eide upon it as men, but they ran be-
hind Mr.. Lincoln, they ran behind the
the court, they ran behind the Secreta-
~ Of War? Because they were afraid
that investigation would rustic some of
draperies that enwraped some of their
self-canonized saints, and fine heaps of
mortal corruption underneath that
canopy. The bill was passed by vote
of III to lib. The Democrats present
all voted for the bill. The Republicans
who voted yea, sixteen in number, were:
Messrs. Baker, Bayne, Burleigh, Ely,
Hahn, Hariner, Hayden, Haynes,
James, Laird, O'Hara, Phelps, Rock
well, Swinburne, Wadsworth and Web
or. z. -s s