Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1888-03-07
Ingalls, and Blackburn.


address The Senate. He said that consid-
eraticns of deco,um aud propriety had de-
TERED him from, participation in debate thus
fer Of this session of the Senate. He was
surprised. therefore, oDe dag last week,
upon returning 10 the chamber after brlet
absence TO learn that the Senator from Mis-
souri, iVest) had taken occasion when he
was not present 10 alude to him in terms
the reverse, to say the least, CT compliment
tary ia a discussion in which he bad taken
no part, and including BOT him alone, out,
in his combined and concentrated ana
cosgulatei cynicism, the inhaoliauts OF tne
District Of Columbus sud all the comrades
of the Grand Army O. the Republic, lntl-
mating that they were incapable OF d!sin-
terested patriotism, and that the surviving
veterans of the Union army were moo OF
scrid mercenaries, organized Tor plunder
and for sale to the highest political bidder.
The personal aliusicn 10 himself be would
pass by with the single observation That the
nomination and election OF Grover CleVe'
land haG made the pieten'loEs OF any
American citizen TO the presidency reepecta
his There was 70 usn iii this country
whose ignorance was so profound, whose
ohscurity 80 jmpeneIrahie, whose antece-
dents so degraded that ne had not the right
TO asuire 10 the presidential nomination Us
the democratic party.
Ee had never beard in any quarter OF the
democratic party, daring the fifteen years
he had been III no Senate, any Reputation
of sentiments like those avowed by the
Senator from missouri and thel Senator
from Kentucky. Ifthey were obnoxious to
any sentiment in he Southern States, why
should not some disavowal be heard? And
vet, The moment any honorable Senator on
! the republican side, on any editor OF any
| Northern papei, or any organ OF the Granu
Army. talked about the Union armies, the
grandeur of their achievements, the ooll-
| cations of the nation, they were tainted
! with waving the ensanguned Enlargement,
raking up the ashes of sectional strife, ap-
pealipg to partisan hatred and malice. Ii
was time that the twenty four Confederates
on that side of the chamber were informed
that The Northern people were not Had
vised about this matter.
Mr.. Morgan dem, Ala. said the only
thing the democrats had asked was that
the Mexican soldiers be pensioned.
Dir. Ingalls, said he would come to that
shortly. He wanted democratic Senators
who were opposing This bill on the grouno
that it was an attempt 10 dispose of the sur
plus. to understand that tie disguise was so
exceedingly thin that nobody was deceived
by it The South didn't like the Union SOL
diers. 1t never cid. These pretepses were
altogether too diaphanous In 1886 there
was in Atlanta great historical occasion,
when a statue TO the memory of an hon6red
Senator was 10 be unveiled, a man whom he
| Tncalls) hoaored and respected, and on that
| occasion the ex-President ofthe Confederacy
was Invited to be present Men hocked to
that city as they go to banquet-as waves
come when navies are stranded, and the city
was decorated with the Confederate emblem
10 make Confederate holiday.
Coming back 10 the opposition CT Southern
Senator'S TO pension bills, he said be did not
blame them for il. He often wondered
! how rs would have acted if the relations
had been reversed, an,i if the federal gov
ernmert had been o9erthrown. He did not
believe no would have felt comlorted IN vot.
! ing pensions to Confederate sodiers. He be.
lieved be should have bsen conspirator
against Tho ConiedeTecy to the end OF his
days. But he should have regarded as the
climax Of effrontery, SIS the very apex and
summit Of hardibood aud audecity-he would
not say OF pusilapimity and dishonor-if.
aft be,hsd accepted pardon and had had
| HE disabilities removed, and had taken the
oath If nileaiance TO the successful Southern
Confedaracy, lie had denounced, day after
day, The efforts which those Contederates
made to reward their own soldiers. As the
comrades OF the Grand Army of the Republic
had been sligma;ized in the Senate Chamber
as q bacd of scrdid merauoer5, organized for
the purpose Of piundering the public treas
ury, he would take the trouble OF reading q
paragraph or two from the journal of the
twenty lirst annual session OF tho National
Encampmert of the G. a. r., beld in st.
Louis last September, aud in The name of
that organization he repudiated and denied
the assertion OF Senator Vest 10 regard to
threats of violence and disbonor against the
President CT the United States. They were
organized, he said, for charity. They had ex
pended for charity during the year 1867
$3.50, 954, relieving $4,000 persons. Il was to
supplement this CHARITY that that orgsniza-
ton had asked from Congress that this bill
should pass. "And we propose, Mr. Presi.
dent" be said, in conclusion, ito pass it. In
itating the language which has been used on
the other side of the chamber, l hope that
it will pass the other house of Congress, and
if it does, let the President OF the United
States veto it at bis peril"
On the whole, the speech was failure,
80 far as argument goes, indeed, he made
no attempt ct anything beyond personal
abuse of almost everybody. AT times his
sarcasm were sharp and cutting, but bis
remarks were generally regarded as undig-
nifed, and unworthy the attention and
amusement they created.
Mr.. Blackburn, Of Kentucky, 10 reply to
MIR. ingalls,, said 81 am at a loss to account
for the courage of the Senator from Kansas
in dragging me into the strange TRADE in
which he has just INDUCED. 1 sm sure shat
I have never boasted my Identification with
the military service, and have never referred
to the fact of having been Confederate SOL
dier. Unlike the Senator from Kansas, 1
thought my military service too modest and
too humble to prove q subject of interest to
the galleries. did not need to be told by
the Senator that Kentucky had always been
loyal. That Senator knew that represent