Year: 1879

president had no right to indicate that 1t was i'm
pertinence to him TO say that he had indicated his
preference and his opinion In regard TO the mode
Of doing business In the House. It was none OF
his business. The gentleman from Ohio (GaIfeld)
had said that the mode Of procedure was insult
ing, that 1 had been done by caucus, which had
said I'VE will starVe the government to death II
the President does not YIELD" The Democratic
caucus had done nothing at all except to determ'
Inc whether to put the repeal through as q sepa'
rate bill or place 1t on an appropriation bill. 1t
did not go one step further than that Prior to
that caucus, the Republican caucus had assem-.
bled, and had given notice that II this repeal was
to be passed at all, it would have to be placed up
on the appropriation bills. The concurrence Of
action on the Republican side was to hold club
over the President, and continue the policy Of the
past two years of prescription and denuncauOn
because he had been patriot and man ofsense
enough to desire to have sectional agitation
cease, Gentlemen nm the other side, as they looked
inlo the faces Of the Confederate Brigadiers, men
OF education and purity OF personal and public
life, with hands unsmirched by public plunder
knew they were their peers in intelligence,
ability and in devotion to our common country
and Its laws applause on the Democratic side)
Gentlemen on the other side did injustice to their
own hearts If they said anything different, They
knew there was not a latent purpose Of disloYalty
in the hearts Of those Confederate soldiers or in
the masses they represented and if the honor Of
this country was assailed anywhere or In any way,
they would fly to its support with an ardor as
strong as ever burned in any breast. The coun.
try, North and South, wanted peace, The Re
publican party knew, moreover, that II 1t met the
real issue presented in a square fight 1t would 90
under Demo9ra asked this repeal solely to
bring the government back to It's true system, to
the theory of local selfgoVernment, that the peo
pie were pure. These laws were in violation Of
all traditions Of the country and were dangerous
for the purity of elections and the liberty of the
people. Therefore their repeal was demanded
(Applsuse)


Mr. Garfield followed. He declared that 1t had
been in the power of the humblest or greatest OF
Democrats to have ruined him and proved him to
be a tTsducer and slanderer by simply rising and
saying lin contravention of his assertion as to It's
being the purpose of the Democratic party to
starVe the governmenty: 1--WE do not refuse to vote
supplies to the government. We wish to get our
legislation through In reference to elections, and
everything else, If we can constitutiOnally. But
II we cannot get 1t through under all constitu-
tonal sanctions, we will pass appropriation bills
like loyal Representatives and go home" But
though As Democrats had spoken that sentence
had not been uttered by single Democrat. On
the contrary, Democrats by their silence as well
as by their affirmation, his accusation bad been
made overwhelmingly true. Democrats had gone
before the country on pleas like this (Which stood
as the heading Of the speech Of the gentleman
| from Virginia. Mr.. Tucker: Election by the peo.
pie must be free from the power and presence of
| the standing army" They had gone before the
country on the plea that they wanted to get bay.
Onets away from the breasts OF voters. and that
| Republicans wanted to keep soldiers at the polls
| "To show how plain tale would put that down."
| Mr. Garfield recalled that every Republican had
| voted for COnger's motion ION the army bill) to
| repeal in toto the law of '65, which Democrats
complained Of as putting bayOnet at the breast
of voter, and that every DemOcrrt voted mo"
on that motion. The vote on that motion had put
beyond all Cavil the Republican side OF the House
on high and unassailaole grounds Republicans
had voted to repeal the whole of that law and
| Democrats voted against it, Democrats should
| therefore never again go to the people and say
| that they had tried to repeal the Odous law. and
that Republicans would not let them He re-
minded the other side Of the law of Congress
| which dictates to State Legislatures what they



| tor; how they shall not adjourn on certain Tues
| DAYS; how they shall not fix their own time of
adjournment; how they shall not vote by ballot


but viUd U0Ce, and how, II there be no election on
| the second day, the two Houses shall meet in


joint convention; how the distinction between
| State Senators and Representatives Is abolished


etc; ; and yet no Democrat has made any raid
against that law, no State Legislature had made
any opposition to ii, and every one of the 76 Sen.


ators held his seat in pursuance of that law. He
| q ked In the name of all that is reasonable, why


If Congress could do this in regard 10 State Legis
| latures 1t could not provide for supervisors Of
| members of Congress- In conclusion, he said the
great danger to this country is that our sovereign


ty may be corrupted. In any other land, If q
! sovereign be killed, it Is easy to put another In
his place, but II you corrupt or kill or render lu


natic our sovereign, there is no successor, no
Prince TO take his place, and the way of his being
| corrupted is at the ballot box where his will is
| given forth. If we may not go there and star
around the cradle OF our sovereign's heir appar
ent while ballots are being given, we have no
| government and no protection for the future
| Applause on the Republican side)


HUMOROUS CONGRESSMAN.


Mr.. Stevenson (Rep. Ills.) having made FIVE
minute speech on the Democratic side of the
| question,


Mr.. Horr (Rep. Mich.) made his Congressional
debut in speech which kept the House in con
tinuous ripple of laughter. He took his position
| In the area in front of the Speakers chair, and
kept moving with earnest gesticulatton, now to-
wards the Greenbaek Representatives and now
towards the Democratic side of the House, accord
| ing as his remarks were addressed to one or the
other, He paid his attention first to the Green.
hackers treating their peculiar views as a malady
Of symptoms, Of which he drew an amusing
sketch Among these symptoms, he said, were
"bowels of compassion" for the poor, and yet said
he, never knew one Of them to give poor man
a cent or do single days work. Laughter J
He ridculed the bill Of De la Matyr for the issue
of billion Of greenbacks.


Mr.. De la Matyr MAT Ind I simply presented
that bill at the request Of another man. 1t is not
nv own bill, and do not endorse 1t.


Mr.. Horr-I am glad Of it. The bill would make
horse laugh, If he had any sense of the ludic-
rous. What the country needs Is rest and quiet.
Business interests demand that we should pass
approprlstlon bills and go about our business.
Whv do we not? The Greenback party is uniting
with the Democrats, so they may food the coun.
trv with mass of trash. How long (moving up
| towards Greenbackers and addressing the ques
jon IN them) do you suppose 1t would take the
treasury to print the money these fellows want?
7 figured 1t up. 1t would require ten steam
presses day and night for the next six
months, Some fellow has figured up statistics
| sbout the food and has discovered 1t must have
Tsined 800 feet of solid rain every day. Now, in
order to meet the requirements Of these gentle.
men they would have to get their clergyman
Imeaning De la Matyr) to ask our Father
| above 10 open again the doors and windows Of
| Hesven and have 1t rain greenbacks instead OF
water for 40 days (Laughter) The eloquent and
| elegant gentleman from Iowa (Weaver) had the
temerity TO intimate, the other day, that God was
able to raise up new David for President in 1880
meaning. / suppose, he was able to advance the
interests OF the gentleman on the other side Ofhe
hall islludiDg to Wright Of Pa, who had always
written after his name the word independent"
| I am NOT here to c0ntend that God Almighty can
NOT do that for have too much confidence In
| him 10 dispute it; but ask the gentleman from
| Iowa II he is not asking too much Of Providence2
Who are these "Independent' menP As rule,
thew are good for nothing, always on both sides Of
every question and on neither side Of any, They