lb76. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 343

Born and reared under the most a.dver e circumstances, it was not He was combative and always armed and equipped for the fray. He possible that the features and geneml ·contonr of his mind should did not wait to be assailed, but was usually the first to enter the be shaped in complete harmony or perfect regularity. Something lists, and no matter bow great the odds against him, or how formid­ of ruggedne and angularity of mental, moral, and social charac­ able the ::mtagonist, he was eager for the contest. He was also teristics must result from such surroundings a~ encompas ed his aggres ive. He cho e to carry the war into the enemy's territory, early life. His poverty and want of education fettered a bold and and it wa hard to drive him to a def~nsive attitude; nor would he ambitious spirit, capable of the highest aspirations. The very un­ leave the field 1mtil he had won a complete victory or had suffered a equal distribution of a{ivantages doubtless appeared to him in the decisive defeat. His life was a contest, and his love of fight some­ aspect of a wrong. A restless and longing mind, shackled and im­ times precipitated him into controversies which had been better prisoned, is not apt to be always reasonable and just when it di cov­ avoided. He was feade , self-reliant, and bold, and never bent "the ers, in the pathway through which its aspirations lead, obstacles pregnant hinges of the knee where thrift may follow fawning." whic:P. seem to be insurmountable, and beholds beyond them t,hose Mr. J OH...~SON wa an honest man. He was never accused of du­ who hav-e been favored by fortune. plicity or unfair dealing. His errors resulted from his convictions of Mr. JoHNSON's associations from his birth to his manhood were right. Though for forty years he wa~ in the public service, anu often with the poor and unlearned. Rising thence by his unaided exertions, in situations in which gratuities and bribes might have been accepted he was under no obligation to those who had moved in a sphere supe.­ or public funds appropriated with little fear of detection, yet no stain rior to his, and felt none. His sympathies were and they remained of official corruption had soiled his hands or life.- Frugality was a with the class of society in which he had been trained. He ha{} not habit with him, and yet out of his salaries in public life he aved only in youth fallen under the refining influences which do so much to a fair competence. soften, enlarge, and diversify man's habitudes and tendencies, His There were two central ideas around which all his political views prejudices in favor of the feebler rauks of population became a men­ revolved and to which hi actions were subordinated. He r garded tal habit before he wa~ able to raise himself into more liberal and the Constitution, State and Federal, with a veneration and dev-otion enlightened companionship. Of this kinship with the humble be wa~ of kin to fanaticism. H e appealed to the Constitution on all o ·ca­ never ashamed, but it produced in him a. -uistrust of the leaders of sions and under all circum tanceR, was constantly in apprehension of society and parties, and led him to the utterance of sentiments on its violation, and everywhere held it up before the assemblies and some occasions which were charged to be agrarian in tendency and tribunals of the nation and, demanded that every jot and tittle of it caused many to allege that he was a demagogue. · 1\fr. J OHNSO~ was be observed. With him it was the ark of our safety, a acreu and neither an agrarian nor a demagogue. He never put his trnst in privileged as was that ark of Israel which could not be tonched by princes or courted the favor of party leaders, nor was he loved by profane hands. No mea ure, howsoever great in its expediency or them. His whole life was a scene of conflict and his triumphs ·were utility, could receive his suppod or sanction lmles it had certain in spite of leaders. His faith was in the people. Them he loved and warr.ant in the Constitution. His other grand idea was confidence in trusted. He reposed upon their honor, honesty, patriotism, and vir­ the people and a str~ct regard for the protection and ccnrity of their tue. His tribunal of last resort was the people, and to them he interest and the pre ervation of their libertie . Amplify hi · theory appealed. When parties and platforms displeased him he turned his as he might, t.he e ideas composed its sub tanco. He feared the en­ back upon them and raJlied his countrymen around him. They loved croachments of the Government upon the rights of the people. The him, and whether he followed party or not they followed him in mul­ times of the Cresars, when the Republic of Rome was tran ·formed into titudes. an empire, and of the Charleses of England, when the prerogatives of On the day of his funeral, if one ha.dstood by the grave of our late the crown were extended and enlarged at the expense of the libertie President, and had seen the procession which came to it with the · of the people, were with him favorite fields of history, which he care­ body of the dead statesman, among the thousanus there he would fully explored and often referred to a~ exhibiting the dangers which have discovered not many of earth's great ones ; not many in office; threaten a civilized free gqvernment. no display of "pomp and circumstance." A plain hearse carried the Mr. J Olli....,SON'S skill was not so mnch in construction as in resistance remains of the great dead. Two or three carriages held the members to the schemes and measures of others. His great desire and aim of his family. In that vast procession there was no other vehicle. were t.o maintain and preserve what our fathers had hamled down to But the people whom Mr. JOHNSON ba{} loved were there. They had us. He was ~aid that change might mar their work. gathered from the fields and workshops, from the mountains and the Mr. JOHNSON will be a marvel m history. His ascent from the valleys, their faces browned by the sun and their hands hardened by lowest station in society, without adventitiou aids or fortunate acci­ toil. They had all come ; the old, tho e of middle age, the youthful, dents, and 'vith surrounding the mo t unpromising, to the grand ele­ and the children. There was none of the pageantry and display which vation he attained, cannot be understood and appr ciated in any land usually follow earth's great ones to sepulture, but in their stead were bnt ours, and it is au a~tonishing consummation in it, furnishing sad faces and tears, such as go only with loved ones to the tomb. In splendid evidence of the value, power, and glory of our institutions. the solemnity of that hour tbemountains, which had stood the senti­ He will be held up to the ages to dome a~ an illustrious example of nels of Mr. JOHNSON'S home and now look down upon his sepulcher, what the poorest and ob curest boy may accomplish if he but have seemed to join in the general sorrow. perseverance, pluck, and capacity. Another shining example of this In the beginning of our recent civil struggle 1\Ir. JOHNSON's infl.n­ class is found in him who so lately, 1\Ir. President, filled with so much ence, coura.!!e, and activity contributed most powerfully to carry with distinction the chair in which you sit to-day. him a majority of the people of his section of the State in favor of 1\Ir. JOHNSON has gone from this presence and this Chamber, and the Fede!al Union. The authorities of his State, with armies to en­ will return no more. The" insatiate archer" has no respect for per­ force obedience, were against him, and be had no support at hand but sons, station, or mnk. The king and the peasant, the Pre ideut ancl his unarmed and undiscjpline(l multitude; till, unintimidated by the beggar alike... become his victims; but, among all the country's threats and unaweu by danger, be held aloft the banner of the Union dead, this Government ha~ never lost, and never will lose, a more loyal and appealed to the people to uphold it. We know something of the and fearless defender or its people a more devoted friend than fearful animosities engendered in a community divided in civil war; ANDREW JOHNSO~. how the passions are turned loo e to deeds of horror at which the blood freezes. Power is used with a remorseless h and, and be who stands The resolutions were adopted unanimously, and the Senate (at two in its way is in constant peril. o'clock and thirty-eight minutes p . m.) adjourned. · It was from such a condition of affairs as this, with its hate, re­ venge, and scenes of blood fresh in his mind, that 1\Ir. JOHNSON en­ tered tho presidential chair. I remember well the alarm of the people of the South when the sad news was borne to them of President Lin­ coln's assassination. Mr. JOHNSON'S denunciations of those who bad HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. opposed the Federal Government, and the punishment and penalties he had invoked and threatened, justified the gravest apprehensions. TUESDAY, January 11, 1876. But when he came to be President; when his enemies had laid down their arms and furled their :Bag, and after the power to pardon as The House met at twelve o'clock m. Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. well as to punish had passecl into his hands, satisfied, as he must I. L. TOWNSEND. have been, that the great mass of the southern people had been hon­ The Journal of yesterday wa~ read and approved. est, though mistaken, as he believed, in the motives which had im­ ADMISSION TO THE FLOOR. pelled their action, all his bitterness and acrimony toward them 1\fr. HOLMAN. I rise to a question of order. I ask that rule 134 were dissipated. The man sank himself out of sight, and the Presi­ be read. dent of a po~erful na~on shielded .his late foes by his clemency, The SPEAKER. It is very desirable that this rule should be heard, though the hberal policy he exermsed toward them contributed not alone by members, but also by pe!SODB inside the Hall who are powerfully to lose him -the support of the party which had placed not members. him in office. · He who could exercise such magnanimity under such The Clerk read as follows : circumstances ha{} a great heart and unflinching fortitude. Those 134. No person except members of the Senate, their Secretary, heada of Depart­ who think Mr. JOHNSON wa~ cold ana very-selfish never understood ments, the President's private secret.1>ry, foreign ministers, the governor for the his inner nature. time being of any State, Senators and Representatives elect, judges of the Supreme In many respects he was strange and peculiar, so that it is no mat­ Oourt of the Unlted States and of the Oourt of Claims, and such persons a.<> have by name received the thanks of Congress, shall be admitted within the Hall of the ter of surprise that many who did .. not fully comprehend him had an House of Represent.ati ves, or any of the rooms upon the am.e floor or leading into the unfavorable estimate of some of the qualities of his mind and heart. same; pronded that ex-members of Congress who are not interested in any claim 344 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. JANUARY 11,

penuing before Congress, and sha.ll so register themselves, may also be aeen allowed to M.r. WILLIAMS, o~ Indiana. I present g. report from the Commit­ the Committee on E~penditures in the Post-Office Depa1tment. I du tee on Accounts on a subject referred to that committee. I ask that not know of any clerk ever being alloweu to any of these committees the report may be considered at this -ti:ne and adopted. on expenditures in the various Executive Depn.rtments. The Clerk read a-s follows: Mr. WILLIAMS, of Indiana. I can say to the gentleman from Iowa The Committee on Accounts, to whom was referred the following resolution­ that this clerk was allowed '4.80 a day last year. Resolved, That the Committee on Accounts report at an early day what commit- Mr. KASSON. Does not the gentleman from Indiana confuse the tees o~ tho Ho.use shall have authority to employ clerks­ -havmg considered the same, make the following report : Committee on Expenditures in the Post-Oftice Department with the That the Commi~ on Revolutionary Pensions and War of 1812 and Invalid Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads Pensions be allowed one clerk .jointly ; Committee on Agriculture and. t,be Com­ Mr. WILLIAMS, of Indiana. I do not. mittee on Manufactures one jointly; Committee on Elections one, Committee on Mr. KASSON. I think, if the record were examined, it would be Accounta one: Committee on Territories one; Committee on Commerce one; Com­ mittee on the District of Columbia one; Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads found that none of these committees on expenditures in the several one; Committee on E!'Jlenditures in the Post-Office Department one; Committee Department.s were ever allowed elerks. on Indian .Affairs and Mines ancl Mining one; Committee on Military .Affairs one; Mr. CANNON, of Illinois. I wish to ask the gentleman from Incli· Committee on Education and Labor and Committee on Private Lands Claims one ana a question. jointly ; Committee on the Revision of the Laws of the United States one ; Com· mittee on Banking and Currency one; Committee on P atents ono; Committee on M.r. WILLIAMS, of Indiana. I yield to a question. Judiciary one; Committee on Foreign .Affairs one; Committee on Pacific Railroad Mr. CANNON, of illinois. I should like to know' what propriety and Railways and Canals one jointly; Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds there is in only allowing to the clerk to the Committee on the Post.. · and Expenditures of the Treasury and War Departments one jointly. Office and Post-Roads $4 a day, while the same report allows to the' And the compensation shall be fixe

Mr. STARKWEATHER. The Committee on the Revision of the Mr. WILLIAMS, of lndia~a. If otl10r committees express a desire Laws has no business. The Committee on the Judiciary is full of to have clerks, I 8hall be willing tha,t action shall be taken upon that business. Yet the clerk of the Committee on the Hevision of t h e Laws at another time and by another report. I call th e previous question. is to have $5 a day, and the clerk of the Committee on the Judiciary Mr. KELLEY. Before the gentleman calls the previous question, on1y 4 a day. I ask him to allow an amendment to move to strike out the Commit­ Mr. JONES, of Kentucky. l do not object to a reduction in the tee on the Revision of the Laws. It is a palpable mistake. Tha t com­ expenses for clerks of committees, because I am for economy in all re­ mittee has done its work. It is a merely nominal committee now. spects. But I do object to giving but one clerk to two very important The laws have been revised, a report· has been mac!e, and there is committees. ·1 understand that the number of clerks, as compared nothing for the committee to do, and yet it is given a clerk, at the with t he number during last Congress, has been cut down ten; that pay of $3 a day, when the place must be an ab olnte sinecure. I there­ wherea-s the number was then thirty-five, it is now only twenty-five. I fore hope that the gentleman will admit an amendment to strike out desire to say for my own committee, that of Rail ways and Canals, that the clerk for that committee. we object to being put with the Committee on the Pacific RailToad, The SPEAKER. Does t.he gentleman from Indiana [Mr . WILLIAMS] so as to have but one clerk for the two committees. We have already yield for any amendment f conceded to the suggestion of the Spealrer that the two committees 1\h. WILLIAMS, of Indiana. I do not. I ask the previous question. should occupy but one room. This is as far, I think) as concession The previous question was seconded and the main question orderecl; ought to go, because even to that extent it will involve serious in­ and under the operation thereof the report of the Connuittee on convenience as regards the transaction of the business of these com­ Accounts was agreed to. · . mittees. But to give one clerk to these two very important committees Mr. WILLIAMS, of Im.liana, moved to reconsider the vote by which is, I think, very unjust, and I hope the chairman of the Committee on the report wa.s adoptecl; an the unfinished bnsi­ for temporary service, but not to the number which the gentleman ness of yesterday, which is the motion to reconsider the vote by which has stated. But the number authorizetatement of the not ought this di cussion. Nothing can be farther from our clcsire facts which he made to t.he Honse. and purpose than to raise such discussion. · Mr. FORT. I desire to state in explanation of this matter that in Mr. ATKINS. I rise to a point of order. The whole Honse desires the last Congress there were clerks employed by t.lte committees tlmt to hear the gentleman from Georgia,, but it is impossible for them to were charged with investigating the expenditures of tho Departments. do so unless gentlemen retain their seats. It is true that they were not employed during the entire session. I The SPEAKER. The point of order is well taken, and geutlemen have here, and, if any gentleman desires it, will send to the Clerk's will retain their seat ; and order mul't. be preserved not only within desk to have read, the names of those clerks, and tbe amounts they the bar but outside the bar, and the Chair directs t.he Doorkeeper to received, that the House may know what clerks were appointed dur­ give especial attention to the maintenance of order ontsicle the bar. ing a portion of the time for those committees. Mr. HILL. I say, Mr. Speaker, that nothing could have been far­ Let me say further that it was deemed proper by t.be Committ.ee ther from the desires aJld purposes of those who with me represeut on Accounts that when a committee is charged with investiga.tin~ immediately the section of country which on yesterday was put npon. the affairs of the Post-Office Department they shonld have a clerk of trial, than to re-open this discussion of the events of om unhappy past. their own. Formerly those committees were in the habit of asking We had well hoped that the country liad suffered long enough from the Department to furnish them a clerk. Then the elerk so assigned feuds, from stl:ife, and from inflamed passions, ancl we came her', :-~ir, wa~:~ supposed to be in accorcl with the committee; but it is mani­ with a patriotic purpose, to remember nothing but tho couutry awl festly improper now that a committee about to investigate a Depart­ the whole country, and, tm·ning our backs upon all tho horrors of tho ment on charges of corruption should go to a Department and ask past, to look with all earnestness to find glories for the fntnre. that Department to furnish them a clerk to investigate their own The gentleman who is the a~knowledged leader of tho repuLlican affairs. A clerk so appointed might reasonably be expected to side party on this floor, who is the aspiring leader of the republican party with the Department, and to cover up anything wrong, if wrong of this country, representing most manifestly the wishes of mauy there be there. For my part. sir, as one member of the Committee of his associates- not all-bas willed otherwise. They seem 'lcter­ on Accounts, I deem it proper that t ho Committee on Expemlitures minucl that the wounds which were healing shall be re-op cw~ d, that in the Post-Office Department should bo authorized to employ their the passions which werehu bin~ shalll.Je re-inflame1L Sir, I \Yi::;h this own clerk, and not have to go to the Post-Office Department and ask Hon e to understand that wo dn not reciprocate either the purpose or that one be detailed from that Department to serve on this com­ the manifest desire of the gentlemen on the other side, an1l while we mittee. If there be wrong in that Department , I bi

magnanimity, ·may God save the future 'of our country from grace an

under the cover of the prejudice and passion against Jefferson Davis, horroi:.S, at Andersonville. What were the causes of tho e horrors 1 seeking· to assault President Grant Y If Jefferson Davis sent General The first was want of medicine. That is given a a cause by Dr. Jones Winder to Andersonville, why President Grant sent McDonald and in his testimony; that is given by this very Father Hamilton, from Joyce to Saint Louis. [Laughter.] Nay, more, sir; is not the very sec­ whom the gentleman from Maine read. In the very same testimony retary of the• White House, 1he private confidentti.al secretary, indicted which the gentleman read Father Hamilton says: to-day for complicity in these frauus 'I Does the gentleman want to I conversed with Dr. Whit~ with_regard to tho condition of the men, and hetolcl establish a rule of construction by which he can authorize the country me it was not in his power to do anything fur them· that he had no medicine, and to arraign General Grant for complicity in the whisky frauds Y could not get any, and that he was tloing e>erything in his power to he!p them. [Laughter.] . Now, how was it that medicines an but I know it is." to organize a den of horrors;" my friend answered from his seat "a thonsand witnesses to the con­ but I am sure I cannot use any langmbge more bitter than the traJ.'Y in Georgia alone," the gentleman from Maine joined issue~ but gentleman used himself. Therefore the next thing I will read is the as usual produced no t-estimony in support of his issue. I think the order given for the purpose of locating this prison at Andersonvil.le, gentleman from .Maine is to be excused. For ten years unfortunat.ely or wherever it should be properly located. The official order for the he and his have been reviling the people who were not allowed to come location of the stockade enjoins that it should be in a" healthy locality, here to meet the reviling. Now, sir, we are face to face, and when 'vith plenty of pure water, with a running stream, and, if possible, you make a charge you must bring your proof. The time has passed with shade trees, and in the immediate neighborhood of grist and saw when the country can accept the impudence of assertion for the force mills." That does not look like the organization of a den of horrors to of argument or recklessness of statement for the truth of history. commit murder. That was the official order. That was not all. These Now, sir: I do not wish to unfold the chapter on the other side. _I prisoners at Andersonville were not only allowed the rations meas­ am :tn American. I honor my country, a,nd my whole country, and 1t ured out to confederate soldiers both in quantity and q nality in could be no pleasure to me to bring forward proof that any portion of every respect, but they were allowed also to buy as much outside as my countrymen have been guilty of willful murder or of cruel treat­ they desired; a privilege, I am reliably informed, wbich wa-s not ex­ ment to poor manacled pdsoners. Nor will I make any such charge. • tendecl to many of the confederate prisoners. I tlo not know how These horrors are inseparable, many of them and most of them from that is. a stZ~Jte of war. I hold in my hand a letter written by one who was a I do not wish to charge it if the facts were otherwise. But in the !Surgeon at the prison at Elmira, and he says : book which the ge tleman from Maine himself produces we find this The winter of 1 64,1865 Wall an unusually sevQre and rigid one, and the prisoners testimony, given by a Union soldier. He says : aiTiving from the Sonthern States during this season wer·e mo tly old men andlaus, We never had any difficulty in getting vegetables; we useh els of sweet potatoes a week, at the rate of $15 confederate money per bushel. And Andersonville, sir, embraced twenty-seven acres- They got $20 of confederate money for $1 of greenbacks in those and through which slowly flowed a turuid stream of water, carrying along with it all the excremental filth and debris of the camp; this stream of water, horrible days. to relate, was the only source of supply, for an extended period, that the prisoners Turnips· we bought at $20 a bushel. W e had to buy our own soap for washing could possibly use for the purpose of ablution and to sl.aportunities were ample to obset'Ve the effects of spulious and Now, sir, Mr: Davis himself alluded to that privilege which was · eased matter, and there is no doubt in my mind but that syphilis was ingraftcd allowed to the Federal solcliers. The confederate authorities not only manv instances ; ugly and horrible ulcers and eruptions of a characteristic na­ allowed them to purchase supplies as they pleased outside, in acldi­ ture were, alas! too fi·equent and obvious to be mistaken. Small-pox cases were crowded in such a. manner that it was a matter of imJ!OSsibility for the surgeon to tion to the rations allowed them by law- the same rations allowed to treat his patient individually; they actually laid so adJacent that the simple move­ confederate soldiers-but he says: ment of 'Ono would cause his neighbor to cry out in an aa-ony of pain. The con­ By an indulgence perhaps unprecedented, we have even allowed the p1isoners in fluent and malignant typo prevaileu to such an extent and of such a. nature t.l.Jat our hands to be supplied by their friends at home with comforts not enjoyed by the body would frequently be found one uontinuous scab. tho men who captured them in battle. The diet and other allowances by the GoYernment for the use of the prisoners were ample, yet the poor unfortunates were ~Jlowed to starve. The confederate government gave Feueral prisoners the same rations that confederate soldiers in the field received. Fcllera.l prisoners had Now, sir, the confederate regulations authorized ample provi:.;ion permission to buy. whatever else they pleased, and the confederates for Federal pri.sop.ers, the same that was macle for confederate sol­ gave their friends at home permission to furnish them the means to diers, and you cha.Fge that .Mr. Davis is responsible for uot h:wi.ng do so. And yet, 1\!r. Speaker, it is true that, iu spite of all these all­ those allowances honestly supplied. The Uuiteu St-ates wade provis­ vantages enjoyeu by the.se prisoners, there were horrors, and great ion for confederate prisoners, so far as ratious wore concorne

feeding those in Federal hands; and yet what says the smgeon f the gentlemen on the other side, was in truth one of the severest "They were allowed to starve." blows stricken at the confederacy, "this refusal to exchange prisoners But ''why 'J" is a query which I will allow your readers to infer a.nd to draw con­ in 1 63 ancl continued through 1 64. The confederates made every clusions therefrom. Out of the number of prisoners, as before mentioned, over effort to renew the cartel. Among other things, on tht' 2d of July, three thousand of them now lay buried in tllo cemetery located near the c 1mp for 1863, the vice-president of the confederacy, the gentleman to whom that purpos~a. mortality equal if not greater tban that of any pri~on in the South. At Andersonville, as I am well informed by brother-officer who endured confine­ the gentleman from Maine [Mr. BLAINE] alluded the other day in so ment there, as well as by tbe records at Washington, the mortality wa~ twelve complimentary terms, Mr. Alexander H. Stephens, was ab olntely thousand out of, say, forty thousand prisoners. Hl3nce it is r eadily to be seen that commissioned by President Da' is to cross the liues and come to 'V ash­ the range of mortality WM no less at Elmira than at Andersonville. ington to consult with the }'eroad commis-­ Mr. PLATT. Will the gentleman tLllow me to interrupt him a mo­ sion to agree upon any cartel sati factory to the other side for the ment to ask him where he gets that statement 7 exchange of prisoners. Mr. Davis said to him, "Your mi sion is im­ Mr. HILL. It is the statement of a Federal surgeon published in ply one of humanity, and bas no political aspect." 1\h. Stephens the New York World. undertook that work. ' Vhat was the re ult f I wish to be careful, Mr. PLATT. I desire to say that I live within thirty-six miles of and I will state this exactly correctly. Here is his letter : Elmira, and that those statements are unqualifiedly false. CONFEDERATE STATES S TE.UffiR TORPEDO, 1\Ir. HILL. Yes, and I suppose if one rose from the dead the gen­ In James River, July 1, 1863 tleman would not believe him. SIR: A.s military commissioner, I am the hearer of a communication in writing Mr. PLATT. Does the gentleman say that tho e statements are from J ffernon Ua.vi!i. commander-in-chief of tbe land anrl naval force of the Con­ federate States, to .A. braham Lincoln, Commander-in-Chief of tlte laml and nava.l truef force of the United States. Ron. Robert Ould, Confctlerate States agent of ex­ Mr. H ILL. Certainly I do not say that they are true, but I do say change, accompanip,s me aR secretary, for the purpose of dolivering the communi­ t;hat I believe the statement of the surgeon in charge l>efore that of cation in person and conferrin~ upon t he subject to which it relates. I desire to a politician thirty-six miles away. Now will the gentleman believe proceed to Washington in the steamer Torpedo, commande1l by Lieutenant Hnntet· 'f Davidson, of tbe Coni 1lerate States na,·y, no person being on board but Hon. Mr. testimony from the dead The llible says, "Tbe tree is known by its Ould, myself, and the boat's officers and crew. fruits." And, after all, what is the test of suffering of these prisoners Yom·s, most respectfully, North and Smith 'f The te tis the result. Now I call the atteutiou .ALEX. H . STEPIIENS. of gentlemen to this fact, that the report of 1\fr. Stanton, the Secre­ To S. H. LEE, 1ldmiral. tary of War-you will believe him, will you uotf- ou the 19th of This was directed to S. H . Lee, admiral. Here is the answer: July, 1866- send to the Library and get it-exhibits the fa-ct that of Acting Rear-Admiral S. H . LEE, Hampton Roads: the Federal prisoners in confederat-e hands during the war only The request of Alexander R. Stepllens is inadmissible. * * * 22,576 uied, while of the confederat,c prisoners in Feder11J bauds 26,436 GIDEON WELLES, died. And S'urgeon-General BarDcs repo ·ts in au official report-I Secretary of the Navy suppose you will believe llim- tbat in rouud numl>ers the confeder­ You will acknowledge that Mr. Stephens's humane mission failed. ate prisoners in Federal hands amounted to 220,000, wllilc the Federal The confederate authorities gave to t.bat mi&>ion as much dignit.y prisoners in confederate hands amounted to 270,000. Out of the a.ncl character as po ible. They supposed that of all men in the South 270,000 in confederate bands 22,000 dierl, while of the 220,000 con­ 1\Ir. Stephens most. nearly bad your confidence. They selected him federates in Federal bands over 26,000 died. The ratio is this: More to l>e the bearer of messages for the sake of buma.nity in behalf of the than 12 per cent. of the confederates in Federal bauds died, anrave l!~ederal soldiers who were unfortunately prisoners of war. The t han 9 per cent. of the E"ederals in confederate llands died. What is Federal Government would not e \'en receive him ; the l<'ecleral author ­ the logic of these fa-cts according to the gentleman from Maine J I ities would not hear him. scorn to charge murder upon the officials of northern prisoJJs, as the What was the next effort' After Mr. Stephens's mission failed, and gentleman has done upon confederate prison officials. I lal>or to after the commissioner for the exchange of prisoners, Colonel Onlcl, demonstrate that such miseries are iuevitable iu prison life, no mat­ having exhausted all his efforts to get the cartel renewed, on the 24th ter bow humane the regulations. I wonld scorn, too, to use a news­ J anuary, 1 64, wrote the following letter to Major-General E. A. paper art.icle, unless it were sigued by one who gave his own name Hitchcock, agent of exchange on the Federal side : and whose statement, if not true, can be disproved, a.nd I would l>e­ UO::OiFEDERATE STA'P'CS OF AMERICA, WAR DEPARTMENT, lieve such a one in preference to any politician over there who wa.s RichmmuL, , JantUJir'IJ 24, 1 64 . thirty- ix miles away from Elmira. That geutleman, so prompt to Sm: In view of the present (lifficultie. attemling the exchan<>·e aml release of coutradict a surgeon, might perllaps have smelled tile small-pox prisoners, I propose that all such on either side shall be attended 'by a. proper num­ l>ut. be could not see it, anu I venture to say that if he knew the ber of their own surf!eons, who, under rules to be established, hall be permitted small-pox was there he would have taken very good. care to keep to take charge of tb ir health untl comfort. I also propose that the.~e surgeons shall act as commissaries, with power to receive anrl distribute suc11 contributions thirty-six miles away. He is a wonderful witness. He is not even of money, food, clothing, and medicines as may be foi"wartled for the reliPf of the equal to the mutilated evidence l>rougbt in yesterday. But, sir, it prisoner:;. I further propose that th08e surt;eous shall bo aelectcd by their own a-ppAars from the official record that the confederates came from government, a.nd that they shall have full lioerty, at ~ny and all times, through Elmira, from l!.... ort Delaware, and from Rock Island and. other place the agents of exchange, to make r eports not only of thell' own acts, but of any ma,t;. tern relating to the welfare of the prisoners. with their fingers frozen off, with t heir toes frozen off, and with their Respectfully, your obedient servant, teeth dropped out. • ROBERT OULD, But the great question is behind. Every American, North or Agent of Exchange. Sou.th, must lament that our couutry has ever impeached its civiliza- Major-General E. A. HITCHCOCK, • tion by such an exhibition of horrors on any side, and I speak of these Agent of Exchanye. things with no degree of pleasure. God knows if I could hide them The SPEAKER. The Lour of the gentleman has expired. from t.he view of the world I would gladly do it. But the great ques­ Mr. RA.ND.A.LL. I move the gentleman from Georgia be allowed to tion h;, at last, who was responsible for this state of things' .A.nut l>efore the gentleman from should deal. Sir, it is well known that, when the war opened, at first Georgia passes from the sul>ject upon which he is now speaking, I the authorities of the United States determined that they would not would IJe glad to know-- exchange prisoners. The first prisoners captured by the Federal The SPEAKER. If there be no ol>jection the gentleman from forces woce the crew of the Savannah, and they were put in chains Georgia will have leave to proceed. and sentenced to be executed. Jefferson Davis hearing of this, com­ There was no objection. municated throngh the lines,' and the confederates having meanwhile 1\Ir. BLAINE. I believe the gentleman from Georgia. [~1r . HILLJ also captured prisoners, be threatened retaliation in case those men wa.s a member of the confederate senate. I find in a historical IJook suffered, and the sentences against the crew of the Savannah were of ~:>orne authenticity of character that j n the confederate ...,ongre Sen­ not executed. Subsequently our friends from this way- I believe my ator Hill, of Georgia, introduced the following resolution, relating to friend before me from New York [l\1r. Cox] was one-insi ted that prisoners--· there sh ould be a cartel for the exchange of prisoners. In 1862 that Mr. :SILL. You are putting me on trial now, are you f Go ahead. cartel was agreed upon. In substance and briefly it was that there Mr. BLAINE. This is the resolution: should be an exchange of man for man and officer for officer, and 1.'hat every person pretendin .~ to be a. soldier or officer of the Uu'\t~cl States who whichever held an excess at the tim.e of exchange should parole the shall bt> captnred on the soil of the Confederate tates after the 1st day of Janu­ excess. This worked very well until 1863. I am going over the facts ary, 1863, shall b e- presmned to ha>e entered the territory of the Confedemte States with the intent to incite insurrection aml abet murder; and, unless satisfactor.v very briefly. proof be adduc6fl to the contra1·y hefore the military comt before which the trial !Ir. STARKWEATHER. I do not wish, and none on this side shall be had, shall suffer death. This section shall continne in force until the p•·oc• wishes to interrupt the gentleman. I believe he has spoken· over his lamation issued by Ab• aham Lincoln, dated at Wasllington on tlte 22d clay of Sep­ hour. We desire that bo shall speak as long as he chooses, but \Ye tember, 1 62, shall be rescinded, and the policy therein announced shall be abandonod, wish to have a free discussion and want a little time on this side. and no longer. The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Georgia has not exhausted Mr. HILL. I will say to the gentleman from Maine very fi·ankly his honr vet. that I have not the slightest recollection of ever hearing that resolu­ :Mr. H ILL. I was reciting briefly the facts. In 1863 this cartel tion before. was interrupted; the Fedeml authorities refu~ed to continue the Mr. BLAINE. The gentlemen does not deny, however, that be was exch:1nge. Now commenced a history which the world ought to tho author of it f know, and which I hope the House will grant me the p rivilo~e of Mr. HILL. I d.o not kno.w. My own impresHion is that I was not stating, and I shall do it from official recorlls. This, I say frankly to the author; l>ut I do not pretend to recolleut the circlllllStances. If 1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 349 the gentleman can give me the circumstances under which the reso­ confederacy; fiuding that it would not let medicines be sent into the lution was introduced, they might recall the matter to my mind. confederacy; meanwhile the ravages of war continuing and depleting Mr. BLAINE. Allow me to read further: the scant supplies of the South, which was already nn~ble to feed ade­ October 1, 1862.-The judiciary committee of the confederate conl!l'ess made a quately its own defenders, and much less able to properly feed and clothe report and ofl"ered a set of resolutions upon the subject of President Lincoln's proc­ the thousands of prisoners in confederate prisons, what did theconfeu­ lamation, from which the following are extracts: 2. Every white person who shall act as a commissioned or non-commissioned erates propose! They propo ed to send the Federal sick and wounded officer commanding negroes or mulattoes against the Confederate Sta,tes, or who prisoners without equivalent. Now, sir, I want the House anu the shall arm, organize. tram, or prepare negroes or mulattoes for military service. or country to understand this: that in August, 1 64, the confeclerate gov­ aiel them in :.my military enterprise againf!t the Confederate States, shall, if cap­ ernment officially proposed to the Federal authorities that if tlley tureu. suffer death. 3. Every commissioned or non.commissioned officer of the enemy who shall in­ would send. steamships or transportation in any form to Savannah, cite slaves to rebellion, or pretcnu to give t-hem freedom ll.llder the aforementioned they should have their sick and wounded prisoners without equivalent. act of Congre s ancl procl:l.mation, by abllncting or causing them to be abducted or That proposition, communicated to the Federal authorities in August, inducing them to abscond, shall, if captured, sufl'er clea.th. • 1864, was not answered until December, 1864. In December, 1864, the Therenpon Senator Hill, of Guorgia, is recorded as having offered Federal Government sent ships to Savannah. Now, the records will thA resolntion I have read. show that the chief suffering at Andersonville was between August, :Mr. HILL. I wa chairman of the judiciary committee of the and December. The confederate authorities sought to avert it by senate. asking the Federal Government to come and take its prisoners with­ Mr. BLAINE. And this resolution came directly from that com­ out equivalent, without retmn, and it refused to uo that until four or mittee¥ five months had elapsed. Mr. HILL. It is very probable that, like the chairman of the Com­ That is not the only appeal which was made to the Federal Gov­ mittee on the Rules at the last session, I may have consented to that ernment. I now call the attention of the House to another appeal. report. .[Laughter.] It was from the Federal prisoners themselves. They knew as well as Mr. BLAINE. The gentleman then admits that he ·did make that the southern people did the mission of l\Ir. Stephens. They knew the report Y offer of Jan nary 24, for surgeons, for medicine and clothing, for com­ .Mr. HILL. I really do not remember it. I think it very likely. fol'ts and food, and for provisions of every sort. They-knew that the A MEMBER, (to Mr. BLAINE.) Wllat is the bookY confederate authorities had oftered to let these be sent to them by Mr. BLAINE. The book from which I have read is entitled "Re­ their own Government. They knew that had been rejected. They publicanism in America," by R. Guy McClellan. It appea.rs to be a knew of the oft'er of August 10, 1864. They knew of the other offer, to book of good credit and authenticity. I merely want it settleu return sick and wounded without an equivalent. 'l'hey knew all these whether the gentleman from Georgia was or was not the author of offers had been rejected. 'fherefore they held a meeting and passed that resolution. the following resolutions; and I call the attention of the gentlemen Mr. HILL. I say to the gentleman frankly that I really do not on the other side to these resolutions. I ask if they will not be­ remember. lieve the surgeons of their hospitals; if they will not believe Mr. 1\fr. BLAINE. The gentleman does not say he was not t.he author. Stanton's report, if they will not believe Surgeon-General Barnes's re­ Mr. HILL. I do not. I will say this : I think I was not the author. port, I beg from them to know if they will not believe the earnest, Possibly I reported the resolution. It refers in terms to " pretended," heart-rending appeal of those starving, suffering heroe '? Here are not real soldiers. the resolutions passed by the Federal prisoners the 28th of Septem­ Mr. BLAINE. I thought that inasmuch as thegentleman's line of ber, 1864 : argument was to show the character of the confederate policy, this Resolved, That while allowing the confederate authorities all due praise for the might aid him a little in calling up the facts pertinent thereto. attention paid to our prisoners, numbers of our men are daily consigned to early [Laughter and applause.] graves, in the prime of manhood, far from home and kindred, ancl thiB is not causetl Mr. HILL. With all clue deference to the gentleman, I reply he did intentionally by the confederate government, but by the force of circumstances. 110t think any such thing. He thought he would divert me from the Brave men are always hone t, and true soldiers never slander. purpose of my argument and break its force by-- They say the horrors they suffered were not intentiona.l, that the con­ 1\Ir. BLAINE. 0 no. federate government hadd.one all it could t.o avert them. Sir, I be­ J.Ir. HILL. He thought he would get up a discussion about certain lieve this testimony of gallant men as being of the highest character, mea ·m·es presented in the confederate cougres having no relation coming from the sufferers themselves. to the subject now under discussion, but which grew out of the peen­ They further resolved: liar relation of the Southern States to a population then in servitude­ The prisoner is obliged to go without shelter, and in a great portion of caset a population-which the confederate government feared might be in­ without medicine. cited to insurrection-and measures were doubtless proposed which Resolved, That whereas in the fortune of war it was our lot to become prisoners, we have suffered patiently, and are still willing to suff~r, if by so doing we can bene. the confederate government may have thoucrht it proper to take to fit tho country; but we would most respectfully beg to say that we are not willing protect helpless women and chihlren in the South from insurrection. to s1.1ffer to further the ends of any party or clique to the detriment of our own But I shall not allow"myself to be iliverted by the gentleman to go honor, our fa.milies, and our country. .A.n(l we would beg this affair be explain~d either into the history of slavery or of domestic insurrection, or, as a t<> us, that we may continue to hold the Government in the respect which iB nee- · friend near me suggests, "John Brown's raid." I know tllis, that essary to make a good citizen and soldier. · if I or any gentleman on the committee was the author of that reso­ Was this touching appeal heeded'? Let any gentleman who be­ lution, which I think more than probable, our purpose was not to

Here is General Grant's testimony before the committee on the ex­ Now, what is the answer to all this 'I Against whom does the charge change of prisoners, February 11,1865. You believe him, do you noU lie, if there are to lleaccnsations of any, for the horrors of Andersonville Y Question. It has been said that we refused tQ exchange prisoners because we Mr. BRIGHT. 'Vhat was tho percentage of deaths iu the prisonst found ours starved, diseased, and unserviceable when we received them, and did Mr. HILL. I have already given it. I have proved also that, with not like to exchange sound men for such men. all the horrors at Andersonville, the gentleman from Maine has so That was the question propounded to him. llis answer was : ostentatiously paraded, and for an obvious partisan purpose of ex­ Answer. There never bas been any such reason as that. That has been n. reason citing upon this tloor a bitter sectional discu ion, from whlch his for making exchanges. I will confess that if our men who a.re 1Jrisoncrs in the party, anrl. perhaps himsel£ may be the beneficiary, greater sufferings South were really well tak~ care of, suffering nothing except a little privation of 1 liberty, then, in a milit.'U'Y point of Yiew, it would not be good policy for us to occurred in the prisons where confederate soldiers were confined, and exchange, because every man they get back is forced right into the army a.t once, that the percentage of death was 3 per cent. greater among confeder­ while that is not the case with our prisoners when we rcceh·e them; in fa{)t, the ate troops in Federal hands than among Federal soldiers held by the half of our returned pri oncrs will n11ver go into the Army a:rain, :md none of them confederates. Anu I neeu not state the contrast between the needy will until after they have hacl a furlough of thirty or sixty days. Still, the fact of their suffering as they do is a reason for makin~ this exchange as rapidly as pos­ confederacy antl the abundance of Feueral supplies and resources. sible. Now, sir, when the gentleman rises again to give breath to that Q. And never has been a reason for not making the exchange 7 effusion of unmitigateu genius without fact to sustain it, in which he .A. It never has. Exchanaes havinu been suspended by rea on of disagreement says- on the part of agents of oxc'hange on both sides before I came in command of the armies of the United States; and it then being near the opening of the spring cam­ And I here, before God, measuring my words, knowing their full extent and im­ paign I did not deem it advisable or just to the men who had to fight our battles to port, declare that neither the deeds of the Duke of ..Alva in the Low Countrie , nor r -enforce the enemy with tllirty or forty thousand disciplined troops at that tinle. the mas-acre of Saint Bartholomew, nor the thumb-screws and engine of torture An immediate resumption of exchange. would have bad that effect 'vithout givi~~ of the Spanish inquisition, begin to compare in atrocity with the hideous orime of us corresponding benefits. The suffering said to o_xist a.mon"'i our J?risoners Sontu Antlerson ville, was a powerful argument against the course pursued, and so felt 1t. let him add that the mortality at Andersonville and other cq;nfeder­ There is no disputing the fact that, with the knowledge that his ate prisons falls short by more than 3 per cent. the mortality in Fed­ prisoners were suffering in the South, he insisted that the exchange eral prisons. should not be renewed, IJecausc it would increase the military power Sir, if any man will reflect a moment he will see that there was rea­ of the enemy. Now, that may have been a good military reason. I son why the confederate goverument sbonld de ire exchange of pris­ do not qnote it for the purpo e of reflecting npon General Grant in oners. It was scarce of food, pinched for clothing, clo eu up \nth a the sligbte t. I am giving the facts of history. I iusist that the con­ blockade of its ports; it needed troops; its ranks were thinning. federacy shall not be held responsible for the results of the war policy Now, !tlr. Speaker, it is proper that I should read one or two sen­ of the Federal Government, especially when the record proves .that tences from the man who bas been arraigned as the vilest murefore, be is unquestionably the The gentleman from Maine yesterday introuuced th Richwond digger of the unnamed graves that crowd the \icinity of e~ery southern prison Examiner as a witness in his behalf. Now it is a rule of law that a with historic and never-to-be-forgotten horrors. man cannot impeach his own witne s. It is true the Examiner hated That is the testimony of a northern m:111 against Mr. Stanton. And Mr. D;tvis with a cordial hatred. The gentleman could not have he goes on: introdnc d the testimony of perhaps a IJittorer foe to Mr. Davis. Why did it hate him' Here are its rea ons: "The chivalry and I regret the revival of this painful subject, but the gratuitous effort of Mr. Dana to relieve the Secretary of \Var from a responsibility he seems willing to bear, humanity of Jefferson Davis will inevitably rpin the coilfederacy. ' and which merely as a question of policy independent of all consideration of hu­ That i your witness, aud tue witness is worthy of your canso. Yon manity must be regarded. of great weight, bas compelled me to vindicate myself introduced the witne s to prove Mr. Davis guilty of inhumanity, and from the charge of making grave stat-ements without due consi4leration. he tells yon that the humanity of :M:r. Davis will ruin the confederacy. Once for all, let me dechu·e that I have ne\er found fault with any one because I was detained in prison, for I am well aware that that was a matter in which no one Thatisnotall. In the same paper its:1ys: "'Ihe enemy have gone from but myself and possibly a few personal friends woulU feel any interest; that my one unmanly cruelty to another." Recollect, thi ·is your witnes . "Tbe sole motive for impeaching the Secretary of War was that tho people of the loyal enemy have gone from one unmanly cruelty to another. Encouraged North might know to whom they were indebted for the cold-blooded and needless by their impunity till they are uow and have for some time been sacrifice of their fathers and brothers, their husbands and their sons. . inflicting Qn the people of this country the worst horrors of barbarous I understand that Mr. Browne is a contributor to Harper's Monthly, and uncivilized war." Yet in spite of all this the Examiner alleged and was then. The man, so he tells yon, who was responsible for "Mr. Davis in his deaJing with the enemy was a gentle as a sucking these atrocities at .Andersonville was the late Secretary of 'Var, Mr. dove." Stanton. Mr. GARFIELD. What >olume is that f Now, Mr. Speaker, what have I proven 'I I have proven that the !tlr. IDLL. The same volume, page 531, and is taken from the Federal authorities broke the cartel for the exchange of prisoners Richmond Examiner-the paper the gentleman qnotecl from yester­ deliberately; I have proven that they refused to re-open that cartel day. And that is the ruth., Those of us who were there at the time when it was proposed by Mr. Stephens, as a commissioner, solely on know it to be the fact. One of the pe1·sistent ch:1rges brought by that the ground of-humanity; I have proven that they made medicine paper and some othei against }.Ir. Davis was his hum.anity. Over contraband of war, and thereby left the South to the dreadful neces­ and over again Mr. Davis has been heard to say, and I u e his very lan­ sity of treating their own prisoners with such medicines as could be guage, when applied to to retaliate for the horrors inflicted npon our improvised in the confederacy; I have proven that they refu ed to prisoners, "The' inhumanity of the enemy to our prisoners cah be no allow surgeons of their own appointment, of their own Army, to ac­ justification for a disregard by us of tho rnles of civilized war and of company their prisoners in the South, with full licen e and liberty to Christianity." Therefore he persisted in it, and this paper cried out carry food, medicine, and raiment, and every comfort that the pris­ against him th:.tt it would ruin the coufederacy. · oners might need; I ha_ve proven that when the Federal Government I am sure I owe this Honse an a.poJ.ogy for having detf!>inod it so made the 11retext for interrupting the cartel for the e:s:c.!:iapge of pris­ long · I shall detain it bnt a fuw moments longer. Mter all, what oners, the confederates yielded every point anrl propo ed to exchange shouid men do who really desire the restoration of peace and to pre­ prisoners ou the terms of the Federal Governlhent, and that the latter vent the recurrence of the horror~::~ of war ' How ought they to look refuseu it; I have proven that the confederates then propo eel to re­ at this question' Sir, war is always horrible; war alwa-ys brings turn the Federal sick and wounded without equivalent in August, hardships; it brings death, it brings sorrow, it brings ruin, it bring' 1864, and never got a reply until December, 1864; I have proven that devastation. A11d he is unworthy to be called a statesman, looking high Federal officers gave as the reason why they wonld not exchange to the pacification of this countJ.'y, who will parade the horrors in­ prisoners that it would be humanity to the prisoners 1Jnt cruelty to sepa.rable from war for the purpose of keeping up the strife that pro­ the soluiers in the field, and therefore it was a part of the Federal duced the war. military policy to let Federal prisoners suffer rather than that the I do not doubt t.hat I am the bea,rer of unwelcome messages to the coniederacy should have an increase of its military force, and the gentleman from Maine and his party. He·says that there are confed­ Federal Government refused it, when by such exchange it would have erates in this body, and that they are going to combine with a few received mo1·e prisoners than it returned to the confederates. from the North for the purpose of controlling this Government. If 1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 351 one were to listen to the gentlemen on the other side he would be in most to repair the wrongs of the past and promote the -glories of the doubt whether they rejoiced moro when the South left the Union, or future. [Applause on the floor and in the galleries. regretted most when the South came back to the Union that their :Mr. GARFIELD took the floor. fathers helped to form, and to which they will forever hereafter con­ MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE. tribute as much of patriotic aruor, of noble devotion, and of willing sacrifice as the constitmmts of the gentleman from Maine. 0, Mr. .A message was rec; i ved from the Senate, by Mr. McDONALD, its Speaker, why cannot gentlemen on the other siue rise to the height Chief Clerk, which informecl the House of the proceedings in that of this great argument of patriotism 1 Is the bo om of the country body upon the announcement of the death of Hon. ANDREW JoHN­ always to be torn with this misera.blc sect ional debate whenever a SON, late a Senator from the State of Tennessee. presidential election is pending? To that great debate of half a cen­ DEATH OF . tury before secession there were left J?.O adjourned questio~s.. The victory of the North wa absolute, anu Got! knows the submisswn of The SPEAKER. The Clerk will· read the resolutions just received the South was complete. Brrt, sir, we have recovei·ed from the hu­ from the Senate. miliation of defeat, and we come here among you an•l we ask you to The Clerk read as follows: give us the greetings accorded to brothers by brothers. We propose Resolved, unanimously, That the Senate has received with profound soiTOw the to join you iu every patriotic enueavor and to un ito with you in every announcement of the death of Ron. ANDREW Joa..--;soN, late a Senato1· of the United States from the State of Tennessee. patriotic aspiration that looks to the benefit, the advancement, aml Resolved, unanimously, That as a. mark of respect for the memory of :Mr. JoHN­ the honor of every part of our common country. Let us, gentlemen so~ the men::.bers of the Senate will go inw mourning by wearing crape upon the of all parties, in this centeunial year iudeed have a jnbilee of free­ left arm for thirty days. dom. We ilivide with you the glories of the Revolution and of the Resolved, unanimously, That as an atlditional mark of respect for the memory of Mr. Jou~so~ the Senate do now adjourn. succeeding years of our national life before that unhappy division­ P.esolvcd, That the Secretary communicate these resolutions to the Honse of Rep· that four years' night of gloom and despa,ir-and so we shall divide resen tati ves. with you the glories of all the future. Sir, my message is this: There are no confederates in this House; 1\fr. McFARLAND. Mr. Speaker, the duty devolves on me, as the there are now no confeuerates anywhere; there are no confederate Representative of the first congressional district of Tonne see, to an­ schemes, ambitions, hopes, desires, or p1uposes here. But the South is nounce to the House the death of a distin~ished citizen of Tennes­ here, and here she int enus to remain. [Euthusiastic applause.] Go on see, whose home, from his first appearance m that State in 1826 to the and pass your qualifying acts, trample upon the Constitution you have day of his death, was in the congressional district I have the honor sworn to support, abnegate the pleuges of your fathers, incite rage upon to represent in this House. I allude to the death of Hon. ANDREW our people, and multiply your inlidelties until they shall b~ like the JoiL~so~, late a Senator from Tennessee, Ex-President of the United stars of heaven orthesanus of tile seashore, without number; but know States, and -for ten years a member of this House, which occurred this, for all yom iniquities t he South will never again seek a remedy in at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Brown, in Carter County, the madness of another secession. [Continue i applause.] We are Tennessee, on the morning of the 31st of July last. here·; we are in the house of otu fathers, oar brothers are our compan­ 1\fr. J O~SON was called to his final account and closed his connec­ ions, and we are at home to stay, thank God. [Much applause.] tion with time and earthly things without that protracted sickness We come to gratify no revenges, to retaliate no wrongs, to resent and suffering which gives premonition of approaching clissolntion. no past insults, to re-open no strife. We come with a pn.triotic pur­ He was stricken with pa1·alysis a day or two previous to his death, pose to do whatever in our political power shall lie to restore an hon­ and almost as soon as his sickness was known the melancholy tidings est, economical, and constitutional administration of the Govern­ were flashed to the most distant part~ of our country that ANDREW ment. We come charging upon th~ Union no wrongs to us. The Jo~SON was dead. Not to our country only, but to the whole civil­ Union never wronged us. The Union has been an unmixed blessing ized world abroad, was the sad iutelligence carried with lightning to every section, to every State, to every man of every color in Amer­ speed that the "Gren.t Comm(')nei·" was no more. ica. 'Ve charge all our wrongs upon that" higher law" fanaticism, His remains were interred on a lofty eminence west of the town of that never kept a pledge nor obeyed a law. The South did seek to Greeneville, a spot selected by himself, commanding an extended view leave the association of those who, she believed, would not keep fidel­ of the surrounding country, and tl;lere amid those mountain heights ity to their covenn.nts; the South sought to go to herself; but, so far all that is mortal of ANDREW JoiL~SON is crumbling into dust. The from having lost our fidelity for the Constitution which our fathers voice tha,t bas lleen so often heard in this Chamber is silenced for­ made, when we sought to go we hugged that Constitution to our ever. The form that was so familiar in these Halls has disa.ppeared, uo oms and carried it with us. and will be seen no more. Shrouded in the flag of his country, be­ Brave Union men of the North, followers of 'Vebster and Fillmore, neath the shadow of which he fought the great political battles of of Clay and Cass, and Douglas-you who fought for the Union for the his life, and whose triumphant folds were ever to him an object of sake of the Union; you who ceased to fight when the battle euded alloration which he worshiped with an unswerving devotion, far and the sword was sheathed-we have no quanel with you, whether from the diu and strife and tmmoil of the outer world he quietly republicans or democrats. We felt yonr heavy arm in the carnage of sleeps that lust, long, peaceful sleep which knows no waking. battle; but above the roar of the cannon we hearu your voice of kind­ ANDREW Jo~so:N's career as a public man is the most remarkable ness, calling,'' Brothers, come back!" .And we bear witness to you and wonderful in all our history, and ·is perhaps unprecedented. in this day that that voice of kindness did more to thin th11 confederate mouern times. It cannot be expected in the few brief remarks we ranks and weaken the confederate arm than did all the artillery em­ are to submit to the House now that justice can be done to ?!Ir. J OII:N­ ployecl in the struggle. 'Ve are here to co-operate with you; to do SO:N'S public life, or that we can take more than a glance at a few of whatever we can, in spite of all our sorrows, t-o rebuilcl the Union; the prominent facts in his history. to restore peace; to be a blessing to the country, and to make the Mr. JOHNSON wa-s born in Raleigh, North Carolina, on the 29th day .American Union what om fathers intended it to be: the glory of of December, 1808. His father died when he wa-s a child, leaving the .America and a blessing to humanity. future statesman to the care of a widowed mother in poverty and But to you, gentlemen, who seek still to continue strife, and who, obscurity. .At ten years of age he was apprenticed to a tailor in his not satisfied With the sufferings already endured, the blood already native town. He was then unable to read, and his first efforts to shed, the waste already committed, insist that we shall be treated as learn were made during this apprenticeship. .A gentleman read to him criminals and oppressed as victims, only because we defended our some sketches from an old book known as "The American Speaker." convictions-to you we make no concessions. To you who follo,..,-ed These extracts aroused the attention of the poor apprentice and first up the war after the brave soldiers t,hat fought it had made peace fired hiR ambition. He determined. and did learn to read them for and gone to their homes-to you we have no concession to ofier. Mar­ himself. That book was presented to him, and is still preserved in tyrs owe no apologies to tyrauts. .And while we are ready to make the library of Mr. JoiL~so~. . • every sacrifice for the Union, even secession, however defeated and In the fall of the year 1826, on the evening of a dark, gloomy day, humbled, will confess no sin to fanaticism, however bigoted and ex- a two-wheeled cart, drawn by a blind pony, was driven into the vil­ acting. . . lage of Greeneville, East_Tennessee, from the direction of the mount­ Yet, while we make t,o you no concession, we come even to you in ains of North Carolina. Witli it were two men and a woman. The no spirit of revenge. We would multiply blessings in common for younger of the two, who clrove the pony, stopped at the house of a you and for us. We have one ambition, and that is to add our polit­ citizen whose sons are now living in that town, and asked for forage ical power to the patriotic Union men of the ·North in order to com­ to feed his horse, which he procured, and then inquiJ:ed for suitable pel fana_ticism to obey the law anu live in the Union according to the camping-ground for the night to which he drove and encamped, near , Constitutio~. We do not propose to compel you by oaths, for you where now stands the man~:;ion of the Johnson family. In a little less who breed strife only to get office and power will not keep oaths. than forty years from that night that homeless wanderer, then about Sir, we did the Union one great wrong. The Union never wronged eighteen years of age, shrouded in obscurity and poverty, a stranger the South; but we of the South did to the Union one great wrong; in a strange land, without the rudiments of a common education, and we come, as far as we ean, to repair it. We wronged the Uniou camping out nuder the broad canopy of the h eave us in the villa~ e of grievously when we left it to be seized aml rent and torn by the men Greeoeville, becn,me the occupant of the builuing at the far end of this who hall denounced it as "a covenant with hell and a league-with the avenue, ancl the chief executive officer of_a great confederacy of States devil." We ask yQu, gentlemen of the republican party, to rise above numbering 40,000,000 of people! That youth was ANDREW JOHNSO~. all your animosities. Forget your own sins. Let us unite to repair Suc11 was his first appen.r::tllce in Tennessee, aud thus the firi:!t night the evils that distract anu oppress the country. Let us turn Olll' backs Al\TDREW Jou:s-so~ passeuinGreenc ville, which becamehisfuturehome. upon the past, and let it be said in the future that he shall be the Mr. Joasso~ estn.blishcd himself in business as a tailor. By his greatest patriot, t:b ~ truP-st patriot, the noblest patriot who shall do industry, energy, unswerving integrity, a.nd promptness he was sue· 352 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. JANUARY 11,

cessful. As a mechanic, that fitorm lashed into strnggle, and in less than fifty years matured a characwr the highest fury unprecedented in the hlst.ory of our country by the angry pas­ exhibit ions of which were destined to mark eras in his country's sions, the bitterness, and strife of a long and b .oouy civil couftict. history. Beginning in the mountains of East Tennessee in 1 26, To say that he committed no errol's would be to say that he was more brought into antagonism with the power, influence, and wealth of old than human. Now that be has passed away none can gainsay the citizens of the country, supported by the consciousness of his own honesty and integrity of ANDREW Jorr..~sox, or doubt his unfaltering powers and blf the confidence of tho people, he surmounted all the fidelity to the great principle of constitutional liberty. barriers of ad verse fortune and won a glorious name in the annals of After the close of ills term as President, in 1860, Mr. JOIL.~SO~ re­ his country. turned to his home iu Tennessee. Ho became a candidate for Sen­ Let the generous youth fired with an honora.ble ambition remem­ :ator, but was defeated. In 1872, at t.he clema.nd of a large number of ber that our American system of government ofters on every ha.nd his people, he ·became a candidate for Congress from the State at large, auu opens wide the doors to the most exalted position and the grand­ but was for the third time in tl1e whole course of his public life est reward to merit. If, like ANDREW JOHNSON; orphanage, obscu­ again defeated. In January, 1875, at the demand of the people, he rity, and poverty shall oppress him; yet, if like him, he feels the Pro­ was elected by the Legislature of Tennes ·ee a Senator in Congress methean spark within, let him remember that his country, like a for six years. His last and only appearance in that body after his generous mother, opens wiue her arms to welcome every one of her election was at the ext1·a session in March, 1875, and with the clof?e children whose genius may promote her pro perity or add to her of that session terminated Al..'DlillW J oiiNsox's public services. renown. :M.r. Speaker, I offer the following resolutions: Such is a brief statement of the public positions held by Mr. JOHN­ The Clerk read as follows: SON. He was continuously in the public service for almost forty ye:1rs. Resolved, That the House of Representatives of the United States has r eceived It may be well said that hi career was the mo t wonuerfnl in our with the deepest sensibility and profound sorrow the intelligence of the death of history. Who, indeed, was ever like him 't Who ever, as he did, lion. A 'DREW .JoaxsoN, late a Senator from the State of Tennessee, ex-President proved his honesty, his aims, and his ambitions by conquering for of t.he United States and long a member of this House. them their indisputable vindication Y Taking the history of the Resolved, That the proceedings of this House in relation to the death of lion. ~TDc?e~~~~1~::mmunicated _ to the widow and family of the deceased by three-score aud seven years of A.l.~REW JOIL.~sox, the poverty of his childhood, the neglect of his youth, his hnmble origin, his growth to Resolved, That as a further IIIa.rk of respect for the memory of the deceased this manhood without even the rudiments of educat ion, his hUlllble me­ House do now adjourn. chanical purRuit, and then looking to his subsequent remarkable career, and we have the outlines of a great man struggling against :Mr. WADDELL. I have been struck since these proceedings com­ misfortune, battling against fate, with bitter opposition at every step menced with the peculiar circumstances of this occasion. There is of his progress, finaUy conquering every auverse element, and at last to a man who believes in special providences food for reflection iu the ·elevating himself to the highest position in the Republic. fact that. just as we have reached the climacteric of a debate upon The poor, uneducated youth became a Senator in Congress, the gov­ the question whether the American people shall live together as broth­ ernor of a great State, and the Chief Executive of a proud nation; ers whether there sha.ll be a Government of love or hate, we are and, dying, has embalmed his memory in the grateful hem-ts of mill­ suddenly arrested by the remembrance that there is a time appointed ions of his countrymen; and, though his form has disappeared, for ,1111 men once to die. Mr. Speaker, when that supreme hour comes ANDREW JOHNSON lives :111d will ever ·live in the affections of the for yon and me and for each of us, I know nothing will give us more people while the principles of constitutional liberty a.re che.rished, consolation than the memory of deeds of charity and good-will. anil honesty, integrity, and pat-riotism,., aud abilities of the highest The very remarkable man whose dea.th ha,s just been formally an­ order are venerated by men. Of him it may be said nouncecl to this House was, like many other men who obtained emi­ These shall r esist the empire of decay nence in other States, a native and, until his early manhood, a resi­ ~en Time is o'er and worlds have passed away; dent of North Carolina. It is therefore meet, sir, that in this hour Cold in tho dust the perish'd heart may lie, dedicated to his memory the vo1ce of that State should be heard, and But that which warmed it once can never die. the duty of uttering it has been assigned to me. ANDREW JOHNSON was bnt a man; he had his faults; he commit­ 1\Iy personal aequaintance \vith 1\ir. JoH "SON was very limited and ted errors; but, looking to t h e unfavorable c:imumstances by which merely formal. I willuot therefore undertake to portray his charac­ his youth was surrounded, the bitter and continuous political battles ter a.g a private citizen , nor shall I attempt any sketch of his public in which h e was engageJ from early life down to his ueath, the won­ life and his varied and distingnished public services, because.that has der is that ho committed so few. been already done by my friend who has just taken hifS sea.t, and is He had ills enemies, and his life and history furnish most striking familiar to all more or less. evidence of tho truth of the I oet's sentiment: nut he exhibited throughout his pnblic ·career some qualities upon which brief colllllient may justly be made and perhaps not unprofit­ H e who a:>cends to mountain tops shall find The loftiest peaks most wrapt in clouds and snow; ably at this time. His education, socially and politically, differeu in He who surpasses or sulJdues mankind almost every respect from my own. Indeed I might say they were Must look dowu on the hate of those below. almost antipodal, and never until his memorable litruggle when Pres­ Though high abovo the sun of glor.v glow, ident, for tbe pre~;ervation of constitutional liberty, as I believe, had And far lJcneath the earth ami ocean spread, Round him are icy rocks, and louilly ulow any portion of his career attracted my sympathy. But asiue from Cot1temling t{llli)Jf':>ts un llil:l na.keil head, the characteristic whiell lle developed in that Htl'llggle be e~biLite tl And thus reward the t

.and admiration-virtues which, if they are not rare nowadays, are Yet an expression of sorrow for his loss, and appreciation for the great certainly not the commonest attributes of those who occupy distin­ virtues he, as a man and a statesman, possessed, cannot be i.J1appro~ guished station. priate, coming from one who, though differing upon political questions, Mr. JOHNSON was an honest man, a truthful man, and incorrupt­ enjoyed his friendship from childhood. ible. He ob tinately adhered to the opinion which ought to be, but My earliest recollection of political contests and public discussions is not, univer ally accepted and acted upon, that personal integrity is connected with tile conflicts and triumphs which so characterized and political dishonesty are absolutely irreconcilable in the same per­ his history. There was a period of his life when I had almost daily son. In all the bitter contests through which he passed, (and his opportunities to study his character and observe the manner in which career in this respect is almost without a parallel,) his worst enemy, he performed important. and arduous duties that devolved upon him. so far as I know, never attempted to prove, if he ever charged, that This was when :Mr. JOHNSON was military governor of Tennessee. It ANDREW JOHNSON was a corrupt man. was the stormiest day of our national llistory. The country was in Whatever his faults, or vices, if you please-,-and, I presume, like the midst of civil war, and there are few of us here who have for~otten all other men, he had his full share of them-he unquestionably had what civil war means. In this important and responsible positiOn he intense convictions, to which he clung with fearless devotion and for exhibited many of those great qualities which made him a fit ruler in which he battled with manly courage. Among these, sir, none were times of disorder and turbulence. He was fertile in resources, zeal more conspicuous than his faith in the doctrines of the fathers touch­ ous, earnest, and faithful. There were no precedents to guide him in ing the limitations of the Constitution and his firm belief in the the arduous duties of his office. His vigorous mind, resolute pur­ maxim that purity of administration is essential to the life of free pose, strong will, were necessary iu the work required, while that government. work itself illustrated his love of justice, his courage, energy, and If his almost fanatical love of the Union caused him at times to patriotism. ·war had almost obliterated all traces of government iu a-ssent to the use of arbitrary power, he still always proclaimed the Tennessee. The State was a chaos, out of which he was to bring supremacy of the Constitution. If corruption in administration oc­ order:. The desolatiQn of contending armies made it necessary for him curred during his presidency, no one ever accused him of being even to create supplies, house the homeless, clothe the naked, feed the poor. remotely connected with it. He at least nnderatood the principles The courts were closed t,o the redress of grievances, and justice was to and sympathized with. the spirit of republican institutions. He be administered by him. Thousands of Union people.fl.ocked to him, did not think that personal comfort aml pecuniary benefit were the begging for supplies and arms. And yet he proved equal to the task chief ends to be aimed at in seeking public offices. He did not accept before him. He was civil chief magistrate, ageneral,judge,andquar­ them at the hands of his countrymen as a debt clue to him and did termaster, and a benefactor of the poor. · He worked with constant, not administer them, as small men always do, in accordance with his tireless energy, bringing order out of confusion, re-instating the courts personal feelings and interests. He considered himself the servant of justice, redressed grievances, and fed, sheltered, and clothed the of the people, bound by his oath to be careful and diligent in looking homeless poor, without regard to the Army in which their natural pro­ out, not for hiA own, but for their interests. He never was one of tectors might be found. From the Union men around him he raised those who were called, and aptly called in the civil-service commis­ an army and sent them to the field, where they did gallant service for sion report, "the banditti of politics and the pawnbrokers of patron­ the Government; and when the capture of his capital was threatened,

aO'e."0 he refu eel to abandon it with our retrea,ting Army, but, stern and He may not have been a broad-minded statesman, in the ordinary unfaltering, stood a bulwark for its defense. acceptation of that term, but it in to be remembered that in his youth But all this has become a part of the history of the country. AN­ tllere was no opportunity afforded him for broad culture, and that he DREW JOHNSON never faltered in his devotion to the Union. With did not even have a patron to secure for him education at the public unsurpassed earnestness be devoted every faculty of body and mind expense. He certainly was not a classical scholar. It would seem to a successful re-establisb'ment of a united republic, looking forward that he did not even 1..rnow what nepos meant and was utt-erly insen­ anxiously to the hour when he could bring his State back into the sible to the charm that lies hidden behind the words dona fn·entes. Union and could see her sta.r once more emblazoned on his country's But in practical ability, in power as a debater, whether befor4? popu­ banner. The most notable features in ANDREW JOHNSON'S life and lar assemblies or legislative assemblies, and in extensive information character were his bumble origin, his utter want of early education, in the domain of politics, he was by no means deficient. His long and his faithful devotion to the principles be espoused, his great courage active pub1ic service in association with some of the wisest and ablest and indomitable wilL To these circumstances in his history and these statesmen of this land, improved, enlarged, and liberalized his natu­ traits in his character can be traced, in my opinion, the two most im­ rally powerful intellect to a degree which may perhaps justify his portant events in his life. WitQ.out these characteristics he might assignment to a place among the ablest of our Chief Magistrates, and not have stood on the floor of the Sen~te the solitary representative certainly to one very far above some of tbe.m. from the seceding States, and have 10~de th;tt memorable speech on After his death some pious investigator, I believe, claimed to have the 27t.h of July, 186l, wb.icQ. w;ts so full of the deepest political discovered that he was an infideL I have very good evidence to dis­ research and the most thorough and nnsel$.ah patriotism. Starting prove that ; but while personally I know not how that may have been, with the maxim that "Salus ?'espttbz.icm sup1'ema lex," he said: I do know that while he was alive and in office he was too good a The time has come whe:q tile Govemment should put fQrth its entire power aml patriot to seek to excite a religious persecution against any portion of sustain·the supremacy of the Cous~tutioq and laws ml!-de ii) pm·suance thereof. his fellow-citizens. If be ha{l religious views of any kind, it is safe If we have no govel'l1ment, let t.be delusion be dispellell, let tQe dream pass awa.v, to sa.y that they were his own, and were arrived at after mature de­ flolld let the people of the United States and the nations of the earth know at once we have no government. If we hllove llo government b~ed on the intelligence and liberation and reflection; but whatever they were, sir, he never sought virtue of the American people, let that gr,ea,t fact bo now established; and when to make political capital out of them. once established, this Govern went will be on a more endnrlug and permanent ba-sis Mr. Speaker, ANDREW JOHNSON has gone to his long rest, as sooner than it ever was before. I still have confidence in the interrrity, the virtue, the or later each and all of us must go. After a long and laborious career, intelligence, and the patriotism of the great mass of the peopYe; and so believing, begun in poverty, ignorance, and friendlessness, but crowned-through­ I intend to stand by the Gove~e:qt of my fathers '!iQ t4e 4-st extremity. · out its course with earthly honors, he now confronts the mysteries s ·entiments li~e these, coming at that pecul.jar crisis in the conn­ of eternity. It may po sibly be some consolation to his friends to try's history from a Sol:!t4ern Senator, re-echoecl through the lancl, believe that if for his deeds done in the body he be impeached in and gave rehq.ke to those who could find no power in the Constitu­ his new·state of existence, he will at least have angels for his prose­ tion for nation~l ~elf-preservation, ~nd iqfnsecl new confidence and cutors; and the Merciful One for his judge. That is the only consola­ courage to those preparing for the grea~ confl..ic~ t4~t was so soon to tion that is left to any of us in contemplating the evep.ts of a future follow, . life. :&qt while A..,."TD~W JQifliSO?f Wflr& :resoh~te in war, no sooner had I do not hold up Mr. JOHNSON as an exemplar either in•mora.ls or the echoes of the last battle died away than he became an earnest in politics. Very few are the men to whom I could pay that tribute. p,dvoc~te of a re-unit~cl people. I.J:e songbt to bury all past animosi­ But, sir, -the qualities which I have ascribed to him, and which be ties, apd to culttvate tqe noblerfeelings of JPndne s, forgiveness, and pos essed, may well be emulated by some of his contemporaries upon frate~nal love. Few men ln h~tory conlcl have held the reigns of w i1om fortune or an inscrutable Providence has devolved the duties governiDent ;tS ita chief e~ecutjve at tbq,t time, when htrnan passions and responsibilities of public office. Upon many of them have more h;td become inflameq by the memories of this recent terrible war, and brilliant gifts been bestowed. They llave been more learned, more have determineq tlw novel ancl anomalous questions presented with­ eloquent, more popular, than he. But not of every one of them can it out encol:!nterlng the antagonism of some leading statesmen, aud in­ bo said, as of him, he was honest, he was truthful, he was incorrupt­ ~ting tl!.a.t bitter denllllciation of calumny and villification which now ible. These are traits, sir, which his native State of North Carolina se~m& to be vtsiteQ. upon all who have attained to exalted position, will never cease to honor in any American statesman, whether born ancl who have rep.defed great services to their country and to man­ within her borders or not. And therefore, as a tribute to them1 as Iq.nd, l!is m~rkecl individuality, great tenacity of purpose, and iron developed in ANDREW JOHNSON, she now lays her wreath upon his w:j.ll, brot1ght hl.m his full measure of honest oppositi'ln and malig­ tomb. n!lnt a-spersion. But even the genius of slander itself had not tbe audf}rCity to charge ANDREW JoHNSON with disbon sty in any act of Mr. THORNBURGH. Mr. Speaker, representing in part that sec­ his long and eventful public life. tion of the State of Teunes ee which was the home of .ANDRll~W I shall leave it for others, his contemporaries and associates, to speak JoHNSON, I desire to express my respect for his character and venera­ more in detail of his career wllile in the two Houses of Congre sand tion for his memory. My colJeague has mentioned the incidents of the while President of the nation. early life and the long public career of ANDREW JOHNSON with an A great leader of the people, an orator possessing peculiar power interesting completeness that renders unnecessary further recital. to inspire, persuade, convince, a.nu control the honest musses of the I'V-23 354 CONGRESSIONAL .RECORD. JANUARY ·11,

country, ]Ja.s pa sed the opening portals of the grave, and none feel exhibits a greater variety of the pbases of character tl).a.t sprearl all bis lo s mort' l{eenly or lament his death more sineerely than the the way from nuworthy littleness to moml gmndenr than that of auy r bumbler classes, from whose ranks be sprang and whose peculiar other sta.tesman whose nn.me illustrates American bistorv. champion he never ceased to be. His dust now mingles with that of He was consiclerate in his frienclships, -vindictive in his enmities, J ackeon aml Polk in the bosom of Tennessee. Peace to his a-shes, unforgiving of injury, hut moderate in victory. 'Vfth a blunt hon­ honor to his memory. esty of purpose and acknowledged integrity of eharacter, he mar­ shaled his forces, ani!. controlled the sitnation moro through an in­ Let him rest; it is not oft.en Tllat his soul hath kuowu repose; voluntary respect and an undefined fear than from personal favor Let. him rest: they rest but seltlom aurl affection. Whose successes challenge foPs. m~mem bering his early life, he was ever the friend of the poor, from He was weary, woru with watching, whose ranks he had risen, yet lacked the loftiness of son] which would His life-crown of powet· hatb. pressed Oft on temples sadly aching- have prevented his taking an unworthy pritle in humbling the pre­ He was wear•y, let him rest. t.ensions of wealth and the ostentation o:· birth. His zeal for the homeless a,ndlanh-ong intellect, untiring intlust.ry, an inc\oruit~ul~ will, a,nd an am- they ha\e struggled iu life. • bitiou that gathered intensity alike from defeat ant1 ~uccess; with Of great meu, whether living or rlead, the truth may be fitly spoken. little of that personal sympathy which could control the nmltitnde I The scales in wLich tLeir charact.er is weighed ma.y be h eld wit-h au l1y its electric iutlnenct, and with a directness and obstiuacy arising impartial hand, no rua.tter whether good or evil disturb the equal poise. iu part from physir:al orgauizat.ion, hut more from the mental hab- A.XDREW JonxsoN when living was not wont to shrink from any ituc.les peculiar to the varied circumsr.an.ccs of his condition, his lif~ po~bat, nor quail before u.ny foe; and now that he is dead, and the 1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 355 story of his checkered life is passing into history, there is perhaps but making the character of tlJeir religion, and the place of their birth little cause to invoke the eulogy of his friends or to supplica.te the the te 't of political preferment. Gathering strength by the novelty of forbearance of his enemies. To say tlmt he was a perfect ma.n, tha.t its teachings, anti. crossing t.he border of surrounding States, it was no fault marred the symmetry of his character, that no error of action, spreading over Tennes~ee like a rnshing wave, sweeping awa.y all op­ no weaknes or vice of nature dimmed the lustre of his bme, would position, until i met in ANDREw JOHNSON a. stern, relentless foe, un­ be to raise him above the level of hnma.nity and clothe him with at­ uer whose stalwart blows it was shattered to atom , and it now only tributes not found in the hi tory of mankind. But as tho purest gold lives in the lJistory of tho past. is alloyed with baser metal, as some iugrain fla'Y dims tlle sparkling No marvel, then, that every man of foreign birth, who has found light of the rare t jewel, o the famo of the most exalted human a home upon American soil, shelter and protection under the broa-d character is shadowed by some hnman frailty. banner of our free government, honors and reveres the name and The page np6n which the future historian shall record the career memory of the enlightened statesman, the bold aml generons cham­ and achievement of AJ..'DREW JOUNSON will be fraught with deeper pion who ba,tt.leu so gallantly to maintain for them the rights of interest to the thoughtful mind than almo t any other in the great American citizenship. volume of American history. The story of his life from the time he Identified with the people in a,ll their feelings and sympathies, hav­ laid aside the implements of the humble artisan through all the gra­ ing an intuiti vc percep.,ion of their wants ancl interests, he was ever dations of political preferment until the day, onl,v a little while ago, active in the fortp.erance of those measnres of legislation peculial'ly when he was laid in the grave, is a record of bold conception, high calculated for the protection of their rights and the advaucement of aims, grand struggles and marvelous triumphs. their happiness. To relate his strugg)es a.nd his successes, his combats and his vic­ Wbile his unbendinc.,. will and strong combat.ive nature mad~ him tories, would fill the pages of many volumes; to even group together smite rudely and wrestle fiercely with rival leaders whom he encoun­ without comment the grander and more dramatic events of his won­ tered, sometimes briugiug upon him the enmity of the great and the derful career, from the humble ·work-shop of the country village to powerful, yet the weak and defenceless were always hi'3 friends. the stately mansion of t.he nation's rulers, would extenll my remarks Studying profoundly om· theory of government, o congenial to beyond the limits fixed by the proprieties of this occasion. his nature and inst.inct,ive conviction '1 he became one among the Reach in~ the period of mauho_od and entering upon the journey of ablest expounders of that palladium of our liberties, the safeguard of life u ithout fortune m: friends, unlearned in the lore of books, not our rights, the Constitution of our country. To this, as he con­ even acquainted wHh th simple characters which make their silent struege rates on third-class mail matter, to the Committee By Mr. SMITH, of Pennsylvania: The petition of Catharine Barnes, on the Post-Office and Post~Roads. for a pension, to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. By Mr. FRANKLIN: Papers relating to claim of James Brice for· Also, the petition of Thomas McBride, for compen ation for a barge damages sustained by Indian depreclations, to the Committee on lost while in the United States service, to the Committee on War Claims. Claims. By Mr. GARFIELD: The petition of W. W. ~urns, for pay due By 1\fr. SWANN:· The petition of John T. Bristow, f<;>rtheremis~ion him as royalty on tents of Sibley's patent, to the Committee on War of a fine imposed by United States courts, to the Comlllittee on Clatms. Claims. , Also, the petition of J. E. Montell & Brother, for a refund of stan1p By l\Ir. GIBSON: The petition of Peter F. Kindale, for pay for ta~ on snuff declared to be free of tax, to the Committee on Ways and raising steamship Porter in Mobile Bay, &c., to the same committee. Means. •

358 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. JANUARY 12,

Bv 1\Ir. THORNBURGH: The petition .of William ~orner, for a 1\fr. WHYTE presented the petition of Julius S. Bohrer, late mn ter, pension, to the Committ-ee on Invalid P ensions. United States Navy, pra.ying to be re ·tored to his po ition in theNa\·y By Mr. VANCE, of North Carolina: The petition of 1\irs . •J. Elder, a master as of January, 1866; which was refened to the Committee for arrears of pension, to tho same committee. ou Naval Affairs. Also, the petition of A. M. Gt~ dger, for pay for property taken by REPORTS OF CO:\Il\U'ITEES. the United States, to tile Committee on \Var Claims. Also, the petition of Stephen M. Honeycnt~, for relief, to the Com­ Ur. \VRIGFIT. The Commit.t.ee on Cla.ims, to whom w:ts referretl mit.t.ee on Militarv Affairs. the petition of George R. Humphries, praying compensation for prop­ Al o, the petition of \V. H. Moore, for pay for property taken by erty seized bythe United States during the la.te war of the rebellion, the United States, to the Committee on War Claims. have had the same under consitleration, and instructed rue to report Also, "the petition of Wiley G. Woody, for a pension, to the Com­ adver ely thereon, anu ask to be di charged from its further cou ·id- mittee on Invalid Pen ·ions. eration. • Also, a paper relative to a post-ront-e in Buncombe Connty, North I will state in this connection that I report back this ca e, as nlso Carolina, to the Committ.ee on the Post-Office and PosL-Roads. the petition of Sylv~mn Humpbrie prayin~ compensation for like By Mr. WADDELL: The petitions of W. 'l'. At.kinson, Kinchen property, and also the petition of William J .. Porter praying compen­ Britt, Penelope Ham, James Deans, Stephen Howell, E . D. Robinson, sat.ion, the petition of William Jackson, jr., praying coru1>ensation, anfl Needham Smith, for a rehearing of their cases rejected by the the petition of John Tynes praying compensation, the petil ion of Court of Claims, to tho Committee on War Cl:.tims. . Atkinson W. Turner p1·aying compen 'ation, tho petition of Meritt By :Mr. WALLS: The petition of Lewis Goodwin, for pay for serv­ Alma,n praying compensation, the petition of Nancy Bo\>Ser praying ices in Government ligiJt-Ilonse, to tho Committee on Claims. compensation, tho petition of Mile Holley, the petition of Sarah E. Al o, a petition for the relief of J . 1\f. Micou, to the Committee on Wf'delstellt, and the petition of George Hollow~ty; and I wish to say Claims. with reference to all the e claims that they seem to be of the sarue By 11-Ir. WARREN : The petition of Samuel U. Bla.ir, for a rehearing character, the petitions evidently clra' n by the same person. In in the case of his chum against the United States, to tile Committee many instances hey are signed by the petitioner, with t-heir mark. on War Claims. There is no te,·hmony wha.tever in support o-f the petition , anu, tile By :Mr. WILLI.Al"'S, of Wisconsin: The petition of W . P. Stow, for claims originating some t.en years since, many, if not all, of tbem wen~ relief, to the Committee on Claims. cog::lizable by the ~on! · hern cbims coUJmi.ssion. There i.t; nor a ·on By 1\Ir. \VILLIAMS, of .Michigan: The petition of Henry A. Sangar, .shown why the petitioner difl not apply before this to Con~ress, nor for relief, to the same committee. yot any rea.son why they did not go before the southern chnms com­ By Mr. ·wiLSHIRE: Papers relating to the claim of Wail Grayson, missioners. Under these circumstances I a k that the report of the to the Committee on Indian ..c\ffairs. committee adverse to the e claims be concurred in by the Senate by a vote that the report be adopte(l. Mr. WlTHERS. I could not hear the Senator over the way. \Vltat is the character of tho e claims exactly Y Mr. WRIGHT. The pet.itioners all ask compensation for property IN SENATE. destroyed by the United States troops in 18G2 a,nd 18G:t There is uo evidence whatever in support of tile petitions. Many, if not all, of WEDNESDAY, Januat·y 12, 1876. t.hem conld have gone to the southern claims commi ·sion. There is no rea on shown why they did not go there, nor i tilere any reason Prayer by the Cha,plain, Rev. BYRO~ SuNDERLA:ND, D. D. shown why they h~we not applied to Congress before this; the claims The Journal of yesterday' proceedings was read and approved. dating nearly fonrteen years since. The PRESIDENT pro tempore.. The question is on concnrring in PETITIOKS A.!.~D l\IE~10RIALS. the report that the prayer of these petitions be not granted. - Mr. WINDOM presented the petition of J . A. \Vilcoxa.nd 164 otl1er The report W!ls-agree