Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-09-22

moved from office by President Cleve-
land, and Gilbert II. Barger appointed
in his place.
l will state but one more case illustra-
tive Of the glaring inconsistency of this
| executive. 1t is that of man who was
born in Putnam county, Georgia, Sep
| TENDER II, 1926. He had the benefit OF
a collegiate education, studied law and
was admitted TO the bar in 1S47. He
removed to Oxford, Mississippi, in 1919,
and was elected professor Of mathe-
MATES in the university of that state.
He was elected as a representative from
Mississippi to the Thirty-ifth and
Thirty sixth CONGRESS. He took upon
himself the following solemn oath OF
office:
Il do solemnly swear that 1 will support
and defend the constitution of the United
States against all enemies, foreign or
domestic; that / will bear true faith and
allegiance to the same; that l take this
obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose, and that Will
well and faithfully discharge the duties OF
the office which | am about to enter: SO
help me God"
After having taken upon himself this
solemn oath in 1860 he took seat in a
secession convention of his state In
1861 he entered the Confederate army.
In 1863 he was entrusted by President
Davis with an important diplomatic mis-
sion to Russia. He not only failed to
support and defend the constitution of
the United States against all enemies,
foreign and domestic, but he became a
domestic enemy of the country which he
had sworn to support. After the war he
was again elected from his state to the
Forty-third and Forty fourth congresses,
and was chairman of the Democratic
caucus which nominated II. C.. Kerr for
the speakership in 1875. He took his
seat in the United states senate on the
4th day of March, 1877, and while
member of that body publicly defended
the treason, the character, and the repu-
tation of Jefferson Davis. In March,
1855, Grover Cleveland nominated him
to the senate of the United States TO be
the secretary of the interior, thus giving
to him salary of eight thousand dollars
per annum. AS secretary he lowered
the flag of the interior department, sus-
pending the work Of 1866 officials nd
clerks, interrupting business a whole
day, in honor of Jacob Thompson, who
was suspected of conspiracy to assassin
ate Abraham Lincoln, and for
whose arrest twenty-five thou
thousand dollars was offered in procla-
nation: who was disgraced by the re-
moval of $500, 900 of Indian trust funds
when he left the interior department; who
acted as a spy for rebels while in the
cabinet; who from Canada, during the
war, tried to send small pox and yellow
fever into the northern cities.
But this is not all the honors and emOl-
umen s that were granted TO this man.
His position as secretary Of the interior
was only temporary in its nature. He
could not expect TO retain that position
when there was no Democratic admins
ton. The great and good Grover Cleve-
land, therefore, determined to provide
for this man a life position, and give to
him a life pension. In December of 1887
he appointed him an associate Justice of
the supreme court of the United States,
the highest judicial tribunal in the world.
assuring to him during the remainder of
his life an annual salary of $4,000.
Il will take no part in putting upon
our pension roll name which represents
a Union soldier fighting against the cause
he swore he would uphold" is the
language of the president when he is re-
plying, by veto, to the petition of the
poor widow woman to be granted pit
lance of $l44 per year. II will give you
So. 900 per annum and 50 per day for
travelling expenses was the re-
ply of the president to the
petition of f. c. Armstrong, who had
deserted our army after the battle of
Bull Run and fought on the Confederate
side during the remainder Of the war
u will give you $4,000 per annum,'
was his reply to the petition of Gilbert
Ii. Barger, ''albeit you deserted your
regiment upon the field of battle, just as
the action was beginning" Il will give
you $4,000 per annum for life," was his
reply to petition of l.. O. c. Lamar, to be
made associate justice of the supreme
court of the United States, "notwith-
standing you deserted your country in
its hour of need" Il will give you
veto," which means not one farthing,
was the reply to the poor widow of the
New York soldier, who died that his
country might live, and that it might be
possible for man like Grover Cleveland
to be president of $4,000, 600 people.
/ do not believe, | will not believe that
i
main. For some inscrutable reason our
country has been
DISGRACED AND OUTRAGED,
and we have been punished by the ca
reer of the great reformer But the
swelling tide of indignation III the
breasts of the American people is now
rising, and will give such expression at
the polls in November next as WILL after
the 4th of March, 1899, pIace..a man in the
white house, who will give ear TO the APP
peal and the petition of the widow of
loyal soldier, and that man will be Ben
jamin Harrison, now Of the state of In
diana.
Is it any wonder now. in the light of
these examples, that Grover Cleveland
does not care to attend the services of
the loyal people on Decoration Day:
What cared he for the ashes Of our loyal
dead? His heart did not beat in sympa-
thy with them and their cause during
the war. When they were fighting at
the front he was carousing i'll the beer
dens of Buffalo. When they were
starving atSaulsbury hewas supping from
choice vIands near the Canadian line.
When they were dying far from home
he was the boon companion of those who
excited the draft riot in New York.
When the great loyal heart of Amer
lea gathers round the grave of our loyal
dead on Decoration Day and strews them
o er with the flowers of spring. COM
their valor, their fidelity
and death. with song, with defamation
and Grafton, he prefers to HE himself
away to some fishing nook, in some Sc
Questered place, and there. hidden from
the rest of civilization, spend his hours
in dissipation and piscatorial exercise.
We have heard something