Year: 1878

Irees HOUSE.
Washington, May II. 1878. !
An event occurred yesterday In the House
which serves to show how far we are In fact
from that desideratum usually termed


THE RESTORATION OF BRoTHERLY FEELINa
BETWEEN THE SECTIONS,


and who 1t Is that Is responsible for the per-


petuation OF discord. The House was in COM


mittee OF the whole on the private calendar


and had under consideration bill granting


compensation to q citizen of Virginia for pro-


perty appropriated to the use Of the Federal


army in Maryland. 1t was really


A CURIOUS CASE,


and though the amount of the claim was very
small some $1,000 or thereabouts- cir


curnstances gave it some Importance as a


precedent. The property, as said, had been


taken possession of In Maryland. which was
| always under Federal authority, and the con-


struction OF the law always has been
| that there could be no dsloyal property
holder in loyal State. At all events, no


claimant presenting claim for property


used Or destroyed by the Federal troops In


any State which remained In the Union lis
compelled to prove his loyalty. But In this
instance the owner of the property was a
Virginian, and this fact was seized upon by


the desperate and INSCRIPTIONS Radicals as;


pretext for raising their characteristic yell


Of rebel claims! The claimant could have


proved his loyalty easily enough If he had


been asked to do so, but he never had been so


requested, for the reason above set forth.


Like all other claims from loyal States, this


one rested upon the simple proof Of the value
OF the property and the fact of it's conversion
TO the uses OF the Federal troops. But when


1t was called on the calendar, to the astonish-


ment Of everybody,


GEN. HARRY WHITE.


OF Pennsylvania, rose to denounce it as n,
'rebel claim


The member OF the War Claims COMMITTEES


who had it in charge, and who as q sub-com-


mittee of one, had reported it favorably, was
Gen. Keifer. Of Ohio q Republican of the most


radical anteeedents. When White began


Keller interrupted him and vouched for the


regularity OF the claim and the loyalty of the


claimant. But he might as we'll have tried to
stop mad Texas bull by waving red hand


kerchief In his face as try to quiet White, OF


Pennsylvania, by addressing the truth to him.
White had beed loaded to the muzzle, cooked
| and primed for months with an awful, blood
| RED, fiery, thunder and lightning speech on
| rebel claims, and he might never get another
chance to deliver ii, SO away he went. He
| was out OF order as we'll as wide of the truth.


but what difference did that make to O Union


brigadier, bursting with the parturftien OF
GREAT SPEECH ON REBEL CLAIMS,


which had been undergoing intellectual ees~
tatlOn for several months In his brain2
That speech must come out of him truth m.
no truth, rules OF the House or no rules and
out 1t came.


1t had no more to do with the bill under
consideration than this letter has to do with


contain single allusion to the bill IT Was


from flrst to last mean, bitter, malignant
TRADE OF threadbare platitudes and worn emf


epthets against the South, relieved only by


lragmentary expioitings Of the orators own
sacrifices for the cause Of the Union and
OF his heroism In battle. A stranger, or O.


man who had never read history OF the late


war, would have inferred from Whites speech


that ne White, was the only really grand and
lofty hero developed on either side, and that
such small and desultory feats as the achieves
ment5 OF Meade, Thomas, Sheridan, Sherman
and Grant were the merest incidents In the


dsyneiopment n Of eodh Strategy, whereof he


planning and the leading hero in the exee,I-
ton. AS might have been expected, the effect
OF this vapd harangue 80 out Of place, out
OF taste and out Of order In every particular
themselves, or at least the majority of them.
strong as their stomactfg are for such doses
got nauseated with this one AS for White.
he seemed more like a usadfnan than like q
rational being. To me he seemed like a man
who, struggling against consciousness that
he is making an ass OF himself, makes him
self ten times more sickening by his evident
bad opinion. OF himself. FINALLY, he made q
remark which reused the ire Of Turner of
Kentucky, and that gentleman suffered him
self to begin demonstratfon, but was speed
ily quieted by the cooler heads In his vicinity.
Then White turned on HINTON, of Virginia.
and an attempted to taunt Hunton into anger.
bors that there never was any<1anger Of per-
sonal difficulty between himself and black
guard proceeded TO reply categorically to
Wnlte 8 frenzled yells with the calmest deIib-
tnred White into such a transport Of rage
that he actually frothed at the mouth like a
mad dog Or wild boar. | have seen many
disgraeeful and disgusting scenes on the floor
OF the House, but this one beats them all.


l got copy Of the Record this morning
intending to cut out that portion embraced In
THE COLLOQUY BETWEEN WHITE AND TURNER,
and also between White and Hunton. But all
the best Of it had been cut out in the manu-
script. 1t had been my intention to use


WHITES BLACKGUARDIsM


as he uttered 1t on the floor of the House for
q Democratic campaign document, as sam
pie OF the disgusting, nauseating effects of
Radical partisanship when driven to extremi-
ties. But somebody, whether White himself.
in reading the proof, or the reporter in tran
scribing his notes, had kindly thrown the veil
OF eternal oblivion over the more disgusting
and disgraceful passages in Whites remarks.
leaving nothing but the tolerably SIN Goth and
comparatively decent text Of an evidently
prepared speech on rebel claims.


What made this exhibition doubly painfuI
to me and trebly notifying was the fact that.
personally White has hitherto shown himself
a clever fellow, as Pennsylvania Radicals 90
who wear the Cameron collar, and he was.
moreover, good soldier In small way In
theory OF mine that the Radical ranting and
hoWiing about the war was all done by the
stay y-at-home patriots, Massachusetts suffers,
contractors and that sort; but that no real
his flag IN that way. This theory is upset by
Whites foolish speech. He was certainly