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The Gainesville Eagle.
Published Every Friday Morning.
BY J. 11. WINE.
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EDITORIAL ]E AG LETS.
A lobbyist is not the sort of man
to head a reform procession.
Texas estimates her cotton crop
this year at 1,250,000 bales.
At last the two wings of the de
mocracy in New York seem to be
thoroughly united.
The democrats of Kansas have
nominated Miss Sarah A. Brown for
State superintendent of public in
struction.
The British army, under General
Roberts, defeated and routed the
Afghanistan, under Ayoob Kh&n, a
few days ago.
Judge Logan E. Bleckley, one of
the ablest and purest of the public
men in Georgia, has taken the stump
for Gov. Colquitt.
In Lis speech Saturday night, Mr.
Speer did not even allude to the
appointment of Heard as mail agent
on the Northeastern railroad.
<«■»- ♦
Mr. Tilden has sent his check so.
SIOO,OOO to the national democratic
committee, and stated if more wai
needed he wished to be informed.
Gen. Gordon’s speech at Columbus
has come very near giving some of
the Norwood folks the nightmare,
or hysteric, or some other malady.
—->> ,
Associate Justice James Jackson
has been appointed Chief Justice o!
the Supreme court, to till the vacancy
caused by the resignation of Judgi
W arner.
The congressional convention foi
the third Georgia district nominates
Gen, Phil Cook by acclamation. Thii
is but a deserved tribute to a faithful
representative.
Gen. Toombs fully endorses Gov.
Colquitt in all things except the ap
pointment of ex-Gov. Brown to th<
U. S. senate. A very large majority
of the people approve that.
It is stated from Washington tha'
the demand for siiver dollars it
rapidly growing, and it is believe;:
that during the fall the circulatio?
of coin will be largely increased.
It would not take many sucl
speeches as the one delivered by Mr
Norwood at that rati&ca’ iua meeting,
and the one made by Wofford
last Saturday night, 0 defeat any
man for office.
A few nights ago a crowd serena
ded Hon. B. H. Hill at his home in
Atlanta, and tried to draw him out
on the gubernatorial question, but
he persistently refused to say one
word on the subject.
The long list of distinguished
Georgians, who were to take the
stump for Mr. Norwood, has dwindled
down to about a half dozen, whosi
chronic maladies are too well known
to give them any weight.
Gen. Toombs’ Kimball house
speech had a double-back-action-war
ranted- to-cut-in the-eye-wish-we-had
not called-him-out effect on the
Norwood crowd. Instead of de
nouncing Colquitt, the general tool
up the charges one by one and eithei
denounced them as false or approved
the governor’s action in everything
except’ the appointment of ex G yv.
Brown.
At last Mr. Speer has been formal
ly recognized and endorsed by a
convention, and that two without
regard to race, color or previous con
dition. Pledger’s ninth district band
of brethren did the work. Now its
none of our business, but we ask if
some of the proceedings of the con
vention were not a little irregular ?
We noticed that there were twenty
three delegates. Os this number
Matt Davis held in his grip nine
proxies. Matt introduced the reso
lution endorsing Speer, and when he
came down on it with his own vote
and the nine proxies it was well
nigh passed? Was this regular ?
W hen Gen. Gordon, in his speech
at Columbus, mentioned the name
of Gov. Brown a portion of the au
dience hissed, which disgraceful con
duct the Telegraph & Messenger thus
appropriately rebukes: “Those who
hissed the gallant and glorious Gor
don should hang their heads with
shame. Has it come to such a pass
that any Georgian could be so blinded
by personal prejudice and partisan
fury as to insult a noble and battle
scarred soldier for standing up in
the defense of hie slandered friend ?
We cannot believe that Mr. Nor
wood, or the bulk of hie followers,
would justify such conduct. It
would raise such a storm of indigna
tion among the patriotic masses, and
the noble ex-confederates who march
ed under Gordon’s banner, that
the offenders would be forced to cry
aloud for the ‘rocks and mountains
to fall upon that they might
be concealed frdhi the wrath of an
outraged people.”
The Gainesville Eagle
VOL. XIV.
POPULAR SCIENCE NOTES.
An unusually large quantity of
drift ice is reported being met with
in the north Atlantic, by vessels trav
eling between England and this
country, even at this late day in the
summer.
A steam digging machine has been
invented and successfully used in
England, in breaking ground for
grain. The machine digs up the
earth at the rate of ten acres per
day, leaving the soil in a better
condition than when stirred by a
plow.
In order to enable M, Pasteur to
carry out his researches on the con
tagious diseases of animals, the
French government allotted him the
sum of 50,000 francs. A similar un
dertaking in this country would
doubtless prove of value generally,
and the subject is deserving, at least,
of being agitated.
Enormous sized, natural Cowens,
one being GOO feet long have been
discovered in the neighborhood of
Wells, in Somerset,' England. The
discoveries have excited considerable
interest among antiquaries and archae
ologists, who are making thorough
investigations of the territory therea
bouts in the interest of science.
Some of the most learned scientists
in the land are of the opinion that
the Polar regions, at one time pos
sessed a tropical temperature and
were the original home of man, and
combat the ordinary theory that the
Aryan race of mankind originated in
the Pamir highlands of central Asia,
spreading thence into Europe and
India.
J. Reiset finds in 100,000 parts if
atmospheric air 29.78 parts by vol
ume, of carbonic acid, the greatest
differences observed only reacninj
hundred thousandths. T.e air in
night contains more carbonic acid
than in the day. He has not de
tected any decrease in the proportion
of carbonic acid as a weather indica
tion however.
On the subject of “infanticidi
am mg ancient and modern nations,’’
Dr. Carl Hoberlund, an eminent
scientist, who has given much atten
tion to the matter,traces the origin oi
this custom to the difficulty of sub
sistance,the sacrifice being in the out
set urged by the male parent anc
opposed or reluctantly submitted t<
by the mother. Among lower ani
mals parallel cases are of frequent
occurrence, where the young an
often destroyed by the father and
are defended against him and con
cealed by the mother.
The severest hail storm witnessed
in the United States, if not in the
world, the present summer, tool
place July 1, in Warren county, Mis
souri. The stones were of various
sizes ranging from the size of wal
nuts up to blocks of ice 10| inches
long, 5 inches wide an inch thick,
and fell to a depth of six inches on
a level, over forty square miles of
territory. The damage was necessa
rily groat, the crops being totally
destroyed, and many fowls, sheej
and hogs were killed outright. Tin
ice smashed not only windows, but
sashes and blinds, and so injured
most of the roofs of houses in the
path of the storm, that new ones had
to be put on.
A public laboratory for the analy
sis of chemicals aud patent medicines
has been established in Japan, ano
patent medicine or mixture can not
be sold in that country until after it
has been thoroughly tested and pro
nounced of merit at such laboratory.
Should such an institution be estab
lished and a similar law enacted in
this country, no doubt but a very
large portion of the worthless and
injurious so-called remedies and
mixtures, which flood the United
States at the present time would
justly be buried so deep that they
would never again rise to the sur
face. It is to be hoped that congress
may at an early day take action in
this matter, and have excluded from
our land the thousands of worthless
and dangerous ancles that are im
posed upon our' people-
The Manufacturer and Builder, a
most excellent scientific journal pub
lished in New York, is authority for
the statement that printing was first
introduced in America Ly the Span
ish Viceroy Mendoza, at the city of
Mexico, in the year 1536; and the
first book published is believed to
have had the title, “Escala espiritnal
de San Juan Climaco.’’ No copies
of this work are known to exist at
present, and the name of the printer
is a matter of doubt. In what is
now the United States, Cambridge,
Mass., has the honor of having first
introduced the printing press. This
was about the 1638. Stephen Daye
was the first American printer, and
his book was the “Bay Psalm Book,”
issued in 1640. The first newspaper
was issued at Boston, by John Camp
bell, on Monday, April 24tb, 1704.
It was called the Boston News Letter, 1
and was regularly published for
about 72 years.
GAINESVILLE, GA., FRIDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 10, 1880.
Speech of Hon. 11. P. Beil, De
livered in the House of Rep
resentatives, Febuary 9,
1875,0 n the Bill to Pen
sion the Soldiers of
the Mexican and
Indian wars.
The Hoose being as in Committee of the
Whole on the state of the Union, upon the
subject of the bill (H. K. No. 257) reported
Mr. Hewitt, oi Alabama, from the Commit
tee on Invalid Pensions, (at the first session
of the Forty-fifth Congress,) granting pen
sions to the soldiers of the Mexican, Semi
nole, Creek, and Black Hawk Indian wars—
Mr. Bell eaid:
Mr. Speaker: Governments, under
all forms, in all ages and every type
of civilization, have manifested in
some way their appreciation of the
public service of their citizens or sub
jects. The achievements of statesmen
and the triumphs of warriors are
carved in bronze, chiseled in marble,
or colored on canvass, and thus dis
tinguished virtues and great deeds
are preserved to history and trans
mitted to posterity. This tribute of
admiration to greatness is creditable
to human nature, although its ex
pression is often long delayed and
frequently partial when bestowed.
The highest evidence of right to
public gratitude which the citizen oi
this or any country can give is the
offering of his blood and his life tc
the Government in the defense of its
liberty, the vindication of its rights,
and the honor of its flag.
The Government of the United
States has evinced its appreciation of
he service of its citizen soldiery in
providing by law, in the form of pen
sions, a support for them when dis
ease contracted in camp or wounds
received in battle or advanced age 01
physical infirmity rendered them un
able to secure it for themselves. This
may be regarded as the settled policy
of the Government, the only excep
tion to it being in the case of the
soldiers of the Mexican war and the
Seminole, Creek, and Black Hawk
Indians wars. Whether the support
is always commensurate with the
merits or necessities of each particu
lar case, or whether the pension in
some particular instance may not be
fraudulently obtained, are questions
that I do not now propose to consid
er. There is no American citizen
who does not now feel that the pit
tance granted to the heroes of the
Revolution of 1776 was a poor return
for the heritage of freedom won bj
their valor on the field and embodied
by their wisdom in the Constitution.
And there is no American citizen, I
apprehend, who does not regret,since
the death of the last of that band of
heroes, thatmore liberal and just pro
vision was not made by the Govern
ment for their comfort and support
while living. But the opportunity
to cancel that high obligation is now
gone, and those who had it in their
power to discharge it and failed to
do so are left to the reflections which
remorse alone can suggest, the never
failing penalty of neglected duty.
The soldiers of the Mexican war,
and of the Seminole, Creek, and
Black Hawk Indian wars, after wait
ing thirty jeai-s for the Government
to do them the same measure of jus
tice it has its soldiers in other wars,
in conformity with its established
policy, and waited in vain, have at
length appealed to that Goverment
which they so faithfully served for
that right which has been so long
deferred and so persistently refused.
These veterans pay without com
plaint their proportion of twenty
eight millions annually in pensions to
the soldiers of the Union Army in
the late war between the States
They likewise pay their part of thirty
eight millions annually to support a
skeleton army of commissioned of
ficers to guard the Texas border from
incursions from the banditti whose
country the Mexican soldiers con
quered. They pay taxes also to sup
port the establishment at West Point
for the education, at public expense,
of future officers of the Army of the
United States, to be maintained, at
the public expense, in peace as well
as in war.
They do not understand how the
Government can deny their claim and
at the same time exhibit such prince
ly liberality injgranting, in subsidies,
$4,500,000 to the Pacific Mail Steam
ship Company to transport Chinese
into California to bo sold into slavery,
and $1,387,500, to the United States
and Brazil Steamship Company, and
$64,623,512 in bonds and thirty-one
millions of acres of the public lands
to the Pacific Railroad,and yet be un
able to pay a pension of $8 per month
to a few hundred old men whose
valor won an empire from a foreign
foe, and cast it, glittering with gold,
at our feet. There is no difficulty in
unnerstanding how the Government
became able to give so much land
and money away; the soldiers recov
ered it for the Government from
Mexico, But the difficulty consists
in reconciling the conduct of the
Government, according to the stand
ard of any nation, civilized or savage
with right of justice, in giving the
domain and treasure bought with the
blood of the brave, to soulless corpo
rations, and refusing to pay to the
soldiers that which in all other in
stances the Government itself has
recognized, to be the highest obliga-
tion. If the wish of the people oi
this country could have found ex
pression through the forms of law,
justice to these men would not havt
’ been denied in the past; and if it is
now permitted to have utterance, it
will not be delayed fox- a day in the
future,
To subject them to the humilia
tion of asking for a right so manifest
ly clear, is itself an act of gross in
justice. A government inspired with
gratitude for distinguished public
service would have magnanimously
shown it when the first occasion was
presented. Ido not propose to dis
cuss the details of the bill reported
to the House by the committee. I
shall certainly give it a most cheer
ful support, and would prefer it if it
were even more liberal in its provi
sions for the widows and orphans of
the dead soldiers, What I propose
is to examine the ground upon which
the claim for pensions is based, and
to insist, with all possible earnest
ness, upon its earliest recognition
Who are these men ? What service
have they rendered to the Republic ?
Engaged in the peaceful pursuits of
civil life, surrounded with domestic
joys in the charmed circle of home,
unused to the discipline of the camp,
and untrained in the art of war, when
their country became involved in the
war with Mexico, without a regular
army, upon its call for volunteers
they came from the field, the counter,
the office,and the shop, unallured by
the phantom of glory and uninspired
by the god of ambition to respond
to that call. The ardor of their pa
triotism superseded the training oi
discipline, and their first field devel
oped volunteers into veterans —a
community of citizens at home into
an army of conquerors in Mexico.
Their example taught the world
that large standing armies, the in
struments with which tyrants destroy
liberty, are not necessary to the se
curity of free States; that while the
genius of our system vests or acknowl
edges power in the people, it rests
for its support upon their affection.
It demonstrated that the United
States could improvise an army ol
citizen soldiers equal to any emergen
cy of defense or conquest, of which
truth the war with Mexico was at
once the illustration and the evi
dence, and that while with the mer
cenary it was is a trade,with the vol
unteer citizen right is the object and
patriotism the inspiration. Upon the
close of the war, reversing the ordei
of transformation of citizen to soldier,
from soldier back to citizen, and
equally a patriot as citizen or soldier,
they resumed their places in civil lift
without a ripple upon the surface of
society, the pride of the country and
the admiration of the world. In all
the world none could be found who
failed to appreciate their patrioism
and the trophies|of their valor, eave
the Government they so faithfully
served, whose honor they so signally
vindicated, whose prowers they so
gloriously illustrated, and to whose
domain their heroism added an em
pire richer than ail the Orient.
If these men have accomplished
nothing more than the demonstration
of a military prowess that placed the
United States in the van of the great
est powers of the earth, they would
have been entitled to the gratitude
of their country and their kind. The
war with Mexico showed the posses
sion by the Government of military
resources that straightened the laby
rinthean mazes and smoothed the
rugged pathways of diplomacy, dis
covering to the great powers of Eu
rope other modes of settling national
controversies with us than the last
resort of kings—the sword. In con
sidering this claim of the Mexican
soldiers upon their Government,
their hardships and sufferings are
not to be ignored. They were such
as are incident to all wars, intensified
by an unhealthy climate, Subjected
to the restraints of a rigorous disci
pline, the weary march, the fearful
contagion, the dreaded hospital, the
anxious uncertainties of life in the
hour of battle, the absence of all com
fort in the bivouac, and unremitting
toil, taxing every resource of physical
endurance, and an absence that any
hour might make final from loved
ones at home —these were all borne
with a resignation that never mur
mured and a courage that never
faltered.
The uniform that distinguishes the
soldier is the garland that festoons
him for the altar. Heroism is exhib
ited in suffwriag as well as in doing;
as well iu the disease of the hospital
as in the struggle of the field. Nor
should we forget the claims of those
stricken ones, whose husbands and
fathers fell either by disease or in
battle, who were denied the sad solace
of dropping on unmarked graves in a
foreign land affections’s last offering
—the tribute'of a tear. Their claim
is sealed in blood and sanctified by
the sorrows of widowhood and or
phanage. Can any appeal to the jus
tice or gratitude of their Government
be stronger than that which they
urge ? But let ub put this claim on
another what the lawyers
: would call a., quantum valebant count
! —and see hefw the questions stand in
that light. What has the service of
these soldiers availed the Govern
ment in the increase of its wealth,
the expaneion of its domain, and the
augmentation of its power? What
are the results of their triumph ?
California, Calorado, Nevada, Ari
zona. Utah, New Mexico, and Wyom
ing were conquered from Mexico.
Look at California alone! That
State now has a- population of 800,-
000, with an area of 188,981 equate
miles, or 120,947,840 acres, more than
the combined area of New England,
New York and Pennsylvania. In
1872, 3,670 vessels bore to the great
commercial emporium of San Fran
cisco 1,237,227 tons of commerce.
The State paid into the Federal
Treasury in customs duties alone,
$8,184,481. The same year she
shipped in coin, bullion, gold dust,
and the precious metals $19,049,048,
and paid in taxes $9,500,000. The
production of gold in that single
State for a period of twenty-five years
ending in 1872. amounted to the
enormous sum of $990,600,000. With
commercial advantages unsurpassed,
agricultural resources sufficient when
fully developed to supply her own
people and feed the famine-stricken
countries of the East, unrivaled in
the salubrity of her climate, the fer
tility of her soil, the richness of her
mines,the magnificence of her scene
ry, and the activity and enterprise of
her people,she stands,if not the envy,
the admiration of her older sisters in
the Union.
But the wealth and greatness of
this State does not exclusively consist
in the richness of her mines, the ex
tent of her commerce, or the value of
her agricultural products. Twenty
colleges and universities adorn her
hills and valleys, affording superior
advantages for the higher cultivation
of the arts and sciences. Two hun
dred and one newspapers and peri
odicals, with a circulation of 94,100,
enlighten the public mind upon all
questions affecting their political, so
cial, and material interests. Sixteen
hundred and twelve schools invite her
children to the fountain of knowledge
and nearly one hundred
numbering over two hundred thou
sand volumes, supply the means of
continuing an intellectual cultivation
begun in the schools. Religious in
struction is received at five hundred
and thirty-two churches, accommo
dating 195,585 persons, and how
much these elements and instruments
of progress and greatness have been
increased since 1872 I have no means
of ascertaining.
If we add to California the area,
population, and wealth of Colorado,
Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico,
and Wyoming, we have an area of
over 937,875 square miles —an empire
in extent, wealth, and population in
a high state of Christian civilization,
added to the Republic. These are
the material results of the war with
Mexico, wrung by the valor of the
men whose claim I urge, from a for
eign foe, on foreign soil, and cast at
the feet of a hitherto ungrateful Gov"
ernment: Statesmanship had but
little agency in this grand acquisi
tion. Diplomacy only formulated at
Guadalupe Hidalgo what blood had
purchased at Buena Vista and Cerro
Gordo. What the future of this em
pire will be, time alone will reveal.
Three States are already admitted,
and Arizona, Utah, New Mexico,
and Wyoming will soon add four
more to the circle of the sisterhood,
with undefined resources of wealth
and elements of development, supply
ing a home for unnumbered millions
of free, active,enterprising, and happy
people.
These treasures eclipse the trophies
of the famous legions of Caesar. Tho
Mexican veterans secured them from
the public enemy and presented them
to their Government, and ask in re
turn a compensation in the form of a
pension which one-sixth of the cus
toms duties paid by California alone
into the Federal Treasury would an
nually discharge. And they present
as an indorsement of this claim the
action of the legislatures of fourteen
States of the Union instructing their
Senators and Representatives to sup
port it. That patriotism is intense,
indeed, that is not chilled by ingrati
tude so flagrant, If their claim rest
ed on no other ground than the value
of their acquisitions it would be in
disputable upon that alone; and
posterity will be astonished that a
right so clear and a claim so just was
not conceded without dispute and
paid without delay. But the service
rendered by the Mexican soldiers
does not consist exclusively nor even
mainly in the extent and value of
material acquisitions • National great
ness does not depend entirely upon
area of territory nor richness of re
sources. The type of civilization,the
character of the people, their respect
for the rights of others and the
courage with which they maintained
their own, the institutions which re
concile the largest liberty of the citi
zen with the most absolute obedience
to law, the affection of the people
for the Government while it exacts
their money for its support and their
* blood for its defense are far greater
elements of power than mere extent
of dominion or numbers of popula
tion. Greece achieved more glory
in the defense of Thermopylae than
Rome won in the conquest of Gaul
The most important service those
veterans rendered to their govern
ment is found in the position their
valor achieved for it among the great
powers of the world. It is true that
American patiotism and prowess were
tested and vindicated in the war for
independence and in the war of 1812.
Bat these were defensive wars, where
heroism caught inspiration from the
spirit of liberty in the defense of
homes, firesides and altars. The
great captains of Europe, affecting
contempt for free institutions main
tained by the affections of the people
and defended by a soldiery, predict
ad disaster to our arms in the inva
sionpf Mexico. The strength of our
republican sjstem was on trial. The
interested monarchies of Europe and
the East were tha anxious specta
tors. The men who now appeal to
you for justice, led by Scott and
Taylor, were the arbiters of this great
question. How gloriously they de
cided it, history has recorded. Victo
ry mingled its light with the stars
that deck the flag on every field,
from the firing of the first gun at
Palo Alto until it floated in triumph
from the capital of the Aztecs. In
vading a foreign country more than
a thousand miles from the capital of
their own, they were met upon its
border by a force four times their
strength in numbers, under the lead
ership of a chieftain already famous
in history, aroused by the incentive
which the consciousness of defend
ing home and country can alone in
spire. With natural advantages for
defense seldom found, and obstruc
tions to aggressive advancement
rarely met, these heroic men with
knightly crests vindicated their coun
try’s chivalry, avenged its wrongs
and bore its flag in triumph in every
fight and on every field from Vera
Cruz to the City of Mexico.
Invincible alike in the skirmish of
the chaparrel, the charge of the plain,
and the assault upon the fort, the
graves of more than ten thousand
who fell by disease consecrate the
lino of march with monumental patri
otism. In a glorious army like this,
where every officer and every soldier
was equally a hero, comparison is
inadmissible. But even at this dis
taut day the names of Clay, Harden
McKee, Yell, Ringgold, and Butler,
excite a pride, kindle an enthusiasm,
and challenge an admiration consti
tuting a heritage of national fame
far more valuable than the pension
sought by their survivors or the em
pire won by their blood. Os each one
of these it may be truly said—
His was the hero's soul o f fire,
And his the martyr's deathless name,
And his was love exalted higher
By all the glow of chivalry.
So profoundly impressed were the
people of Mexico with the prowess of
our army, that they proposed to in
vest its commander with the chief
magistracy of their republic. These
men were as much distinguished for
their moderation in victory as their
courage in battle. They were at
once the finest type and truest expo
nents of American citizens and
American soldiers. Since the war
with Mexico the military capacity of
the United States for any emergency
arising from foreign or domestic
complications has ceased to be a
question. If this war had been fruit
less in other results, the imperisha
ble luster it shed upon our arms
would compensate its cost of blood
and treasure, and entitle its soldiers
to the justice they seek. Much that
has been said in favor of the claims
of the Mexican veterans applies with
equal force to the brave men who
served in the various Indian wars
mentioned in the bill of the commit
tee. Their military services may
not have been distinguished by as
many battles nor as brilliant victo
ries, with as large numbers, as that
of the army in Mexico. The results
in wealth and domain may have been
far less, yet their patriotism was
identical, their sacrifices and suffer
ings were equal, and their title to a
pension rests upon precisely the same
foundation of faithful military ser
vice rendered to their country in the
hour of its necessity. Military merit,
in the subaltern or the superior, is
not always to be measured by the
standard of success. The mode of
Indian warfare is not governed by
the code which controls the warfare
of civilized nations. Its very nature
imposes all the burdens, inconven
iences, dangers and sufferings inci
dent to all wars, without its “pride,
pomp, and circumstances.” There is
something thrilling in the grand ar
ray of opposing forces upon the
same plane of civilization, where the
destinies of empires are to be deter
mined by a single field and the current
of history changed from the event.
The very fact of opposing a foe of
equal skill and upon equal terms ap
peals to soldierly pride for the ut-
1 most display of skill and courage,
and stimulates the ardor of patr ot
ism by adding the incentive of am
bition.
Indian warfare includes all the
hideous horrors of war without ary
of its compensating mitigations.
The stealthy approach with uplifted
tomahawk to the bivouac, the deadly
shot from the secret covert upon the
unsuspecting victim upon the march,
the blazing house consuming the re
mains of slaughtered women and
children, degenerate Indian warfare
into horrible massacre or bloody as
sassination. It was this kind of
warfare in which the courage and
patriotism of the gc.ldiers were tested
in the Seminole, Creek and Black
Hawk wars. They accomplished all
that was attanable. They conquered
peace; they secured protection to the
people; and they vindicated the au
thority of the Government. They
did more: they discharged with fi
delity the highest duty they owed to
their Government; they have waited
forty years for the Government to
discharge its duty to them. How
much longer shall they wait ? How
many more in advanced ago and
extreme poverty will we allow io go
down to their graves stung with in
gratitude, disappointed in theii
hopes, and suffering for bread ? Il
the name of the American people,
whose sense of justice is outraged at
the delay, let us gladden the hearts
of these gallant old soldiers as they
stand on the confines of the grave by
according to them that which
they should have had a quarter of a
century before.
It seems to me that the Interior
Department Las put itself to much
trouble to show, upon a basis of cal
culation utterly fallacious, that there
was a great number of these soldiers,
and that therefore it would require
a large amount to pay the pensions.
This logic (hat a debt should not be
discharged because it is large, the
country is too dull to app- eciate,
even if the fact assumed were really
true. But it is not true that the
number is as large as it is supposed
to be. After the most thorough in
vestigation of the question by the
Mexican Veterans' Association, cov
ering a period of several years and
every State in the Union, the actual
number of the survivors of the Mexi
can, Seminole, Creek, and Black
Hawk wars amounts to about thir
teen thousand and four hundred,
including all that would be entitled
to pensions under the provisions of
this bill.
The committee in its very able
report submits this number as the
nearest possible approximation to
the truth. The committee shows
that $1,286,400 per annum would
pay the pensions, and that this
amount would constantly decrease
as the average age of the benefi
claries is about sixty years. Com
pared with the resources of the
Government and the merit of the
claim, the amount dwarfs into a
trifle. If it were impossible to pay
this amount, could we not retrench
some extravagant apd useless ex
penditure—some subsidy—and save
enongh from prodigal waste to dis
charge an honest obligation? But such
retrenchment, even where retrench
ment ought to be had, is not nec
essary for this purpose These aged
si Idiersof the republic have presented
their claim. They put it upon the
ground—
Fisrt. That it is the established
policy of the Government to reward
in this way the service which they
rendered.
Second. They put it upon the
ground of the value of these services
in the expansion of domain and the
acquisition of material wealth.
Third. They put it upon the
ground of the sacrifices they made
and the sufferings they end and for
the public welfare.
And, last, they put it upon the
ground of the imperishable luster
shed upon our arms by their valor.
And standing upon this foundation
of truth and justice they appeal to
the American people, through their
Representatives in Congress assem
bled, for justice long delayed but
never controverted. Shall they ap
peal in vain ? Will no remorse
linger in the consciences of men who
refuse this claim complaint
cannot come from of the
grave? Can some mHb Congress
relieve the present one hmm respon
sibility by granting tW pensions
when the beneficiaries are dead?
Can the Government hope to do
justice by granting the pension and
at the same time save t!\c money by
waiting until nobody is left alive to
accept it? Let us suv» the Govern
ment from injustice so monstrous
and reproach so shameful.
Dr. Vogel, of Berlin, says that old
faded daguerreotypes will often be
come brights as new if placed in a
soluti on of cyanide of potassium.
In the making and distributing of
clothing in this country New York
ranks first, Chicago second and Bos
ton third.
The successful politician, like the
skillful hotel clerk, can always call
i you by name.
Advortl*!. 131 * Rate«•
Legal tdrerttaements charged aarenty-fije oente
per hundred words or fraction thereof each Ineer
tion for the first four insertion!, and thirty-five
cents for each insertion.
Transient advertising wdl be charged JI per inch
for the first, and fifty cents for each Hnbw-ji.cn t
insertion. Advertisers desiring larger space ior a
longer time th*S;Ogy mouth will receive a liberal
deduction from regular rates.
AU bills due upon the first appearance of the ad
vertisement, and will be presented at the pleasure
of the proprietor. Transient advertisements from
unknown parties must be paid for in advance.
SMALL BITS’
Os Varloas Kiud* carelessly Thrown
Together.
Wind lifted all the tents off Bar
num’s show, at St. Louis, and tore
them into pieces too small for patch
ing.
One hundred and forty duels have
been fought in France since January
Ist. There were no deaths out of a
possible 280.
Son- Lyman Trumbull, Gov. John
M. Palm'* and Hon. James C, Rob
ertson have entered actively into the
Illinois canvass.
General B. F. Butler has been in
vited to address a Democratic mass
meeting in New York next week, and
will probably accept
The Montgomery Advertiser .pre
dicts only a third of a crop of cotton
in that part of Alabama. The worms
have played havoc with the bolls.
feThree children of Charles Wilson,
a wealthy farmer of Surrey county,
Virginia, were fatally poisoned last
week by eating berries of the deadly
n’ght shade.
A Commercial Traveller’s Oar Com
pany will be organized in Detroit to
build cars with restaurant and sleep
ing accommodations, and spacious
compartments for the display of
samples.
The congregation of the Rev. John
Jasper, at Richmond, has grown so
large that a division is to be amica
bly made. Brother Jasper is the
reasoner who maintains tuat “the
sun do move.”
A new telepoone manufacturing
company has been started in New
York, with a capital of $5,000,000.
They propose to make what is claim
ed to be an instrument much superior
to any now in use.
The latest convert to the Democra
cy is ex-Treasurer Spinner. The
Republicans will now doubtless at
tempt to prove that his signature on
the greenbacks was treasonable. It
was certainly a remarkable signa
ture.
The present house of commons con
tains 241 men who had no seat in the
last. The merchants and manufac
turers have increased from 91 to 199,
and the country gentlemen and aris
tocrats have diminished from 200 to
126.
The daughters of present European
rulers do not support the common
theory of the novel and the stage,
that aristocratic blood causes delicacy
and refinement of face They are, as
a rule, rather coarse and common as
to features.
The wedding of U. S. Grant, Jr.,
and Miss Flood, of San Francisco,
will not take place until after the
Christmas holidays. Mr. Grant is
now visiting General Miller, one of
the candidates for United States
Senator from Calif rnia.
The Radical organs lay great stress
upon the alleged circumstance that
the government made Hancock,while
Garfield made himself. Were this an
issue in the canvass, it would not be
hard to demonstrate that the govern
ment did much the better job.
Dr. Charles T. Jackson, who died
the other day, claimed the discovery
of ether as an anaesthetic, against
Morton and Wells. The death of the
latter occurred soon after, and the
French Academy divided the honor
between Jackson and Morton.
A Newport woman at a prayer
meeting turned to her husband and
whispered: “Father is very sick, and
we must go home.” Though they
had left him well, it was only by the
most active exertions that he was
kept from dying of cholera morbus.
At Madrid, a prisoner recently sen
tenced by court martial to be shot
for participation in the attack on a
train by brigands, before his execu
tion made revelations inculpating
several families of high position. He
accused them of not only protecting
brigandage, but of sharing in the
proceeds.
An astrologist of Kingston, Jam
aica, will find in the hurricane at
that place a confirmation of his the
ories. About a year ago he made a
direful prophecy of earthquakes, hur
ricanes, famines, plagues, and wars,
that were to begin in 1880 and last
seven years. Even this prophet,
however, has some good in store for
us. Those who survive 1887 are to
live “twice as long as they ever did.’
An old man who lived in the Rue
Vercingetorix, Paris, and who was
noticeable only by the poverty of his
appearance, died recently, and some
time elapsed before an heir presented
himself to claim the fortune of the
deceased, which he estimated at be
tween $250 and S3OO. When the
legatee took possession of the old
man’s apartment, no less a sum than
$160,000 was discovered in a cup
board* It was ascertained subse
quently that the miser had been in
the habit of frequenting the Bourse,
where he had evidently been favored
by fortune.
NO. 40