LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 012 028 053 3 
 
 Hollinger 
 
 pH8.5 
 
 Mill Run F3.1955 
 
E 458 
 .2 
 
 \ .11169 
 ' Copy 1 
 
 IE ADMINISTRATION AND ITS ASSAILANTS. 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 HOI. EDWARD McPHERSON, 
 
 OF PENNSYLVANIA, 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JUNE 5, 1862. 
 
 The House being in Committee of the Whole on the 
 State of the Union — 
 
 Mr. Mcpherson, of Pennsylvania, said: 
 Mr. Chairman: If I know tlie chief and 
 cherished purposes of the gentleman from 
 Indiana, [Mr. Vooiihees,] and the gentleman 
 from Ohio, [Mr.VALLAXDiGHAJi,] and have dis- 
 cerned the spirit which pervades the speeches 
 of the former and the address of the caucus of 
 the unhappy fourteen,* drafted by the latter, 
 they are to undermine the confidence of the j^eo- 
 ple in the President and his administration, 
 and to persuade, or cajole, or frighten them 
 from a firm, cordial, and immovable support of 
 his coercive war policy to the suppression of 
 rebellion, the subjugation of rebels, and the 
 restoration of the authority of the Govern- 
 ment over every acre of Its soil. I understand 
 them to seek to eflFect this purpose by assail- 
 ing the general conduct of affairs ; by charging 
 extravagance, recklessness, and corruption 
 upon the administration ; by predicting the 
 early bankruptcy of the Government, and by 
 inflaming the public with unfounded aud ex- 
 aggerated assertions, and absurd and unsound 
 predictions. I understand them further, while 
 lamenting the present condition of the country, 
 and foreshadowing a darker future, to offer 
 to the people one ray of hope, assuring them 
 that the only escape from present and pros- 
 pective calamities is in the elevation to power 
 of a new political party which they are form- 
 ing, of which they are, if not the architects, 
 the master-spirits, and which they commend 
 as an infallible panacea. 
 
 THE NATURE OF THE ATTACKS. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, I accept the controversy 
 
 * Since the Address was first printed, the name of 
 Hon. A'ehemiah Perry, of Xew Jersey, has been added, 
 making the number of eigners fifteen. 
 
 tendered by these gentlemen. I defend the 
 President and his acts. I deny the charges 
 of extravagance and corruption. I repel the 
 prediction of impending or actual bankruptcy. 
 1 1 scout the ridiculous estimates upon which 
 I these charges are based; and I reprobate as 
 unwise, unnecessary, and unwarranted, the 
 [ organization of a new party, based on opposi- 
 tion to the President and his policy, while I 
 condemn the spirit of the movement, and pro- 
 nounce its declared principles enfeebling and 
 I destroying. I claim for the administration that 
 it is not only worthy of, but is justly entitled 
 to, the unreserved and generous confidence of 
 the people, and of every man of the people, 
 j who is devoted to the preservation and per- 
 I petuation of the Union as the greatest politi- 
 j ca! good, without which all other interests, 
 j rights, and possessions are comparatively 
 I valueless. 
 
 THEIR UNFITNESS AT THIS PERIOD. 
 
 [ Sir, I do not wonder that the gentlemen 
 referred to, realize that their self-appointed 
 task is as ungracious as it is hopeless. No 
 
 I rotundity of speech ; no pompous or repeated 
 protestations of pure, and lofty, and unselfish 
 
 ! purpose ; no self-delusions, can drive from 
 the public the conviction that such a work, at 
 such a time, is in the highest degree unfit, un- 
 welcome, and unworthy. They are themselvea 
 not insensible to these considerations, for, 
 feeling them, they both seek to justify their 
 course by arguing that it does not involve in- 
 fidelity to their Government, and by broadly 
 asserting that, in a certain sense, they will sus- 
 tain it against all foes at home or abroad. 
 " /;i a certain sense .'" What a world of mean- 
 ing is comprehended in this qualifying clause. 
 How suggestive of danger to those engaged — 
 of warning to those sought to be enticed. 
 Mr. Chairman, I will not trust myself to 
 

 discuss the motives of gentlemen. It does not 
 become this place to cast, or attempt to cast, 
 ft !<ll^^picion upon any one's loyalty, or a stain 
 upon any one's patriotism. Least of all should 
 I ibus assail a member of the American Con- 
 gress, of whom, the suspicion of even a ishade 
 of disloyalty, is an imputation of guiltiness 
 equal to any and every crime. But in times 
 of great public danger, vfhen savage foes have 
 banded for the overthrow of the Government, 
 the extinction of American nationality, and 
 the degradation of free .nsititutions, and when 
 armed hosts, inllamed with hate, pos.scssed 
 by demoniac passions, and brutalized by sla 
 very, are pointing their gleaming bayonets at 
 the nation's heart, and cleaving down the 
 sons of our priile, is it not, to s-ty the least, 
 inopportune, that tliose whose great, respon- 
 sibility it is to meet these grave events, and 
 save our matchless institutions, must with- 
 draw themselves from these duties to protect 
 their reputation from the fierce warfare of 
 partisan nmliguity ? Cut the friends of this 
 administration make no pleas, and seek to 
 escape no responsibility. They are willing to 
 meet its enemies, at all times, on all points, 
 and as firmly and courageously as they have 
 met the armed enemies of the country. And 
 they will bury both in the common, dishon- 
 ored grave which the people will dig. 
 Now to the charges. 
 
 THE SIZE OF THE DEBT. 
 
 Firit. It is asserted that the national debt 
 is already one thousand millions. The sub- 
 joined official statement of the Secretary of 
 the Treasury, sent to this Ifouse, eiiows that 
 it was as follows on the 29th May, 18G2: 
 
 Cntler what act. Haif i\f Amo\i\*. TSAoL 
 
 inUral. 
 
 L..BDII1S42 6 $2.RS.'?,.'?«4 n 
 
 htainx 1847 8 0.41(>,-J50 00 
 
 Loans ]S48 (i R.90S.341 80 
 
 Loans is.'.8 5 I'O.ooo.ooo 00 
 
 Loan* lb«0 6 7,o:>2,uo0 00 
 
 Loann 1861 6 ]R.41.').000 00 
 
 TeianiDdaninity. & 3,4iU,uuu 00 
 
 $70,104,0i5 91 
 
 Tre.mury noted i«- 
 
 Biii-d prior to 
 
 1S.'>', int49reflt 
 
 "toppcJ 105,111 04 
 
 rn.lcractDec.SS, 
 
 1H&7, iDtereat 
 
 dopp-vJ 17.'.,90O 00 
 
 Cn'ItT act Dec. 17, 
 
 ISOO, iDtaroR . 
 
 itoppwl 221,660 00 
 
 Undrr acta Jnoa 
 
 I'i 18»i<), i»ii.l 
 
 r-^\>. aod .Mur. 
 
 l***! 2,707,900 00 
 
 t'nilcrartiiMar. V!. 
 I July 17, niid 
 
 I Aug. b, ISf.l lll.tVH) 00 
 
 I .1,382,181 04 
 
 ■ Tlireo yaara* 73 
 
 m t-.mU 7 3-10 12U,i3;i.40O 00 
 
 ^ Twrnijr joam* 
 
 ■ lx>iula. .'in.OOO.OOO 00 
 
 ■ 170,f.23.4.SO <>() 
 
 ^B OrrKon war rfrtit. C h7K 4.'>ii 0<i , 
 
 ^H L<°.H.DOte»,iiuint. 145,8811,000 W | 
 
 I 
 
 I Cndrr what act. Jtate of 
 iulerest. 
 Certificatca of iii- 
 
 «lcl>todiie«H 6 
 
 5-20 yrg. Iwnds.... 
 
 I 4 por cent, tempo- 
 
 I rary loan 4 
 
 j 6 percent. tempo- 
 : rary loan 6 
 
 47,199,000 00 
 2,«I9,400 00 
 
 49,898,400 GO 
 
 6,913,042 21 
 44,805,524 35 
 
 Total amount of publie debt $491,448,984 11 
 
 I Avernpe ratu ot interest paid on the entire debt is 
 4 ;i54-100UthB per annum. 
 
 I Of the debt, §74,253,967 55 are a legacy 
 ' from IJuchauan ; that due to the war is 
 $41 7,1 '.'5,010 56. 
 
 The gentleman from Indiana [IMr. VooR- 
 iiEEs] fixed the sum at $l,0'.'5,00U,(i00, which 
 he arrived at in this way: Having heard the 
 chairman of the Ways and Means [Mr. Ste- 
 , VEKs] say during the winter that our daily 
 expenses were then .S3.000,00l), he afsianed 
 I that they had been !ii:),OU(),000 per day for 
 the whole of the past year, and that, hence, 
 I the debt at present is $l,0D5,()0(l,(l(){), or 365 
 I times $3,l)((i),nnu. Having by this assumptive 
 process created an immense debt, he, with 
 refreshing confidence in his arithmetic, added 
 the comprehensive remark, that "no intelli- 
 gent and candid person" will deny that our 
 indebtedness at this moment is equal'to that 
 vast sum. The gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. 
 Vai.l.\xi)ioii.\.m,] in lys addresi, contents 
 I himself with the niikcd assertion, not giving 
 i any evidence or decrying those who deny it. 
 In truth, they are both wrong on this im- 
 portant point, over five hundred millions of 
 J ilollars. The gentleman from Indiana plumes 
 himself on the discovery that the Secretary of 
 the Treasury was mistaken about $25,000,000 
 in his estimate of the revenue from duties the 
 current fiscal year. Wherein has he the ad- 
 vantage of the Secretary ? At most, the Sec- 
 retary erred twenty-five millions in nn esti- 
 mate of an uncertain trade at a most unset- 
 tled period. The gentleman from Indiana, 
 who cannot excuse this, erred to the extent 
 of five hundred millions in the statement of 
 an ascertained fact. 
 
 THE DKUT A TKAU HENCE. 
 
 Sfrond. It is further asserted that our debt 
 one year hence, if the war should continue, 
 will be two thousand millions. This estimate 
 is based upon the oilier estimate, that the 
 Governnipnt will spend, the whole of the next 
 year, at I he average rate of $:'>,(I()II,()(I0 per 
 day. This is an egregious blunder. The 
 average daily expenditure in the War and 
 N.'ivy Departments is less than one million of 
 dollars, and the averago daily expenditure in 
 all branches of the Government is a shade 
 over one million. So that, upon the basis of 
 present operations, the public debt, one year 
 licncc, will not csceod $1,000,000,000, show- 
 
^^^ 
 
 ing an error in this statement, of the gentle- 
 man from ludiaaa, of one thousand uiillious. 
 He proceeds upon the false assuuiptiou that 
 "we now are, and will henceforth spend three 
 millions daily. The gentleman from Ohio, 
 [Mr. VAl,L.\^'DIG^IASI,] in his address, says 
 the "daily expenditures are at the rate of 
 four millions of dollars." The difference be- 
 tween these two false prophets is about the 
 true sum. 
 
 This point is settled by the official state- 
 ment of the Secretary of the Treasury, and 
 the well-ascertained average daily expendi- 
 ture as shown oq the books of the Treasury. 
 As to the probable umoimt of debt a year 
 hence, there is another metliod of reaching it, 
 viz: by consulting the appropriations asked 
 by the various departments for the operations 
 of tbe fiscal year just closing, as well as that 
 soon to commence. These figures have been 
 furnished by the gentleman from Vermont, 
 [Mr. Morrill,] and are to this effect: 
 The appropriations for the fiscal year entl- 
 
 iag June ."0, 1862, were $586,000,000 
 
 The appropriations for the fiscal year end- 
 ing June 30, 1863 544.082,000 
 
 Total appropriations for the two fiscal year.s$l,130,OS2,OUO 
 That is, if all tlie money estimated for and 
 appropriated shall be expended, the public 
 'indebtedness will be, by June ?,'■), 18G3, 
 should the war be continued on the pre- 
 sent basis, eleven hundred and thirty mil- 
 lions ; in which event the amount will be eight 
 hundred and seventy millions less than the 
 prediction of the gentleman from Indiana. 
 In his apparent anxiety to swell the sum, and 
 sustain his estimates, he supposes that, owing 
 to the increased expenses of transportation, 
 growing out of an invasion of the enemy's 
 country, our expenditures will be propor- 
 tionately heavier next year than this, forget- 
 ting that our army is now supplied with arms, 
 equipments, tents, and all the materiel of war, 
 which need not be soon replaced, and that the 
 (Cost of recruiting, organizing, preparing, and 
 bringing this large army into the field, need 
 not be repeated, both which causes will greatly 
 diminish expenses. Besides, he is in error 
 in supposing that we cannot subsist the army 
 to any extent on the enemy. They cannot, if 
 they would, destroy everything. Already 
 we have successfully subsisted portions of the 
 army in that way, and it can be continued, at 
 least to some extent. General Scott pursued 
 a flying enemy, and from the time he left 
 Jalapa in Mexico he laid the country under 
 contribution for subsistence. Why cannot we 
 in the rebellious region? 
 
 CHARGE OF " FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT." 
 
 Third. The gentleman from Indiana creates 
 alarming figures by comparing the debt, at 
 his figures, with the assessed value of the real 
 and personal property of the country, as 
 shown by the census of 1860, forgetting that 
 
 these assessments are, on nn average, one-half 
 under the market value; that his statement of 
 the amount of the public debt is double the 
 actual indebtedness, and that our annual pro- 
 ductions would support a debt of four thou- 
 sand millions ($4,000,000,000) without invol- 
 ving as heavy taxation as exists in England. 
 Our debt a year hence will scarcely exceed 
 one-fourth of the ready capacity of the people 
 to bear. In this connection the gentleman 
 from Indiana charges that the debt is due to 
 " the financial mismanagement and fraud of 
 the party in power," and he grows pensive 
 over the minute and careful calculation that 
 every sixth ox, every sixth horse, every sixth 
 sheep, and every sixth hog, in all his district, 
 is doomed, in cold blood, to be charmed, be- 
 slimed, and swallo\^d by the horrid monster 
 begotten by this war ! 
 
 But what is meant by " financial misman- 
 agement?" AVberein has it occurred, and by 
 whom? Is it in the amount borrowed? I 
 have shown, it is one-half less than he as- 
 serted, and a mere trifle compared with the 
 re.sources of the country. Is it in the rate at 
 which it was borrowed ? Why, Buchanan bor- 
 rowed at from 12 to 36 per cent, in time of 
 peace ; this administration has not paid over 
 7.o() per cent, for any, has paid 6 for part, is 
 paying 5 and even 4, and, including the cir- 
 culation it has furnished, constituting the 
 best currency we have ever had, the average 
 rate of interest on the whole debt is a little 
 below A\ per cent. Is it in the persons from 
 whom borrowed? The patriotic banks were 
 first approached, and after them the people 
 rushed forward, and the bonds are all held at 
 home, and \^ all classes of society, and are in 
 active demand above par. Is it disagreeable 
 to the gentleman that this debt is held at 
 home, that the Government is thereby 
 strengthened, and the world convinced of our 
 ability to wage the war, and our determina- 
 tion to achieve success ? Was it " financial 
 mismanagement" in the Secretary to husband 
 the resources of the Government, uphold its 
 credit, protect its securities, and guard the 
 Treasury at every point? Or should Mr. 
 Chase have imitated the devices of Cobb, who 
 studiously depreciated the public securities, 
 undermined the public credit, and then threw 
 the bonds on the market to bring what they 
 might amid the fangs of sharpers? Unjust, 
 intolerable, and atrocious as were many parts 
 of the speech of the gentleman from Indiana, 
 that was the most inexplicable and unnatural 
 which ignored the patient care, clear intelli- 
 gence, and anxious fidelity of the able and 
 sagacious head of the Treasury, one of the 
 wise and pure men of the West. I can un- 
 derstand why the wondrously successful con- 
 duct of our finances, the sinews of our war, 
 has called forth wailing from the London 
 Times and the money-changers of England, 
 and groans from disappointed and malicious 
 haters of the Government, both in and beyond 
 
the loyal States, j-ct 1 cannot hut think that, 
 while in this protjlem lay the (pie^tion of the 
 determination of the contest, its happy solu- 
 tion deserveil to he, as it w:is, the occasion 
 of heartfelt and Rcneral rejoicing and con- 
 Ifraiulation among the earnest men of the 
 country. The two leaders of the proposed 
 new party, raising a disconlant sound, call 
 even tiiis great success mitmanigemfnt. Surely 
 their perceptions ar* wholly perverted, though 
 their hearts may he devoted to the Govern- 
 ment, as they claim, "in a certain sense." 
 
 COMP.\niSOS OF EXI'EXSES WITH MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Fourth. The gentleman from Indiana fur- 
 ther declares — with emphabis and particular- 
 ity, that— • 
 
 "The Mexican war, though » foreittn ftDil distant one- 
 in which wo paid the .«ohlier subAtaDtially the Fame that 
 we pay liiin now, cost tliin Government, under the wise 
 and hone.«t admini^traliou of Jaiuen K. I'olk, in propor- 
 tion to the number ■.I' men eii^aj;el, man for man, but 
 little more tlmn one fourth the amount now being ex- 
 pended on a war wa^ei at our very door-steps." 
 
 This is a most extraordinary statement, and I 
 as indefensible as extraordinary. Leaving i 
 out of view the uiiquiilitied endorsement of i 
 Mr. Polk's adaiiaistration, who.se policy, to ' 
 eay the least, initiated the pres^^nt complica- 1 
 tions of the country, and witiiout which it i 
 might have for many years avoided, if not I 
 wholly escape'], the present rebellion; and 
 overlooking the allusiou to the .Mexican war, ! 
 the waging of whicli I have for years believed, 
 and now more firmly than ever, was prompted 
 hy men who then had in view the develO[)inent, ' 
 t/iroufh it, of the infernal conspu-acy which 
 has lately burst upon us, and whose cold sa- [ 
 gacity but too accurately measured the influ- 
 ences then and thus made active, I meet the 
 substantive assertions of the proposition with 
 a flat denial. 
 
 Let ua see how the case stands. 
 
 niFFEKEN-CIC OF T.VY. 
 
 In comparing the two wars, the gentleman 
 from Indiana states that "we then paid the 
 soldier substautialiy the same that we now 
 pay him." This is matter of history, and 
 easily tested. What is the fact? Th^n we 
 pail infantry seven dollars per month, and 
 cavalry eight. X',w we pay infantry thirteen 
 dollars per month, and cavalry fourteen. Since 
 that time, the pay of commiHsioncdofllcers has 
 been increaseii twenty dollars per month, and 
 ten cents lias^ been addcl to the commutation- 
 value of the ration — making an avoruge in- 
 crease of the compensation of otncers, of be- 
 tween twenty and twenty five per cent. We 
 also, at the extra session of July last, changed 
 the soldier's ration, and increased its ost 
 about one fourth. When, in view of such facts, 
 the gentleman from Indiana said the pay now 
 in tu'iilaitlt'jlly vhiil it was then, did he merely 
 illuBlrato his idea of <' •ii>„i,niii.il samrnns," 
 
 of which we have had several like illustrations, 
 and will have more, or did he speak rashly, 
 Hweepingly, and, as in other cases, in ignorance 
 or disregard of the truth ? 
 
 ! OTHER IMPOnTA.VT CONSIDllEATIOXS. 
 
 There are several other manifest considera- 
 tions which enter into this comparison made 
 by the gentleman from Indiana, but to which 
 I he has wholly neglected to allude or give men- 
 ' tion. When the Mexican war broke out, the 
 I Governmt'nt had ou hand immense supplies of 
 ' guns, small arms, and all muiritions of war — 
 ' the accumulation of years of peace. When 
 ' this rebellion broke out, the Government was 
 bare of everything necessary to make war. 
 In the Pensacola and Norfolk Navy Yards it 
 lost its largest collections of heavy guns. In 
 the arsenals and forts located in the disloyal 
 States, to which Floyd had removed many 
 thousands of the best patterns of muskets and 
 rifles, the rebels found, whilst the Government 
 lost, vast stores of the greatest value; and 
 Government was compelled to abandon and 
 destroy its largest armory to prevent its fall- 
 ing into the hands of the enemy. As a conse- 
 quence. Government was wholly unprepared 
 to fill the demands of the occasion. It could 
 not quickly equip and arm the hundreds of 
 thousands who were ready to flock to it.s stand- 
 ards; and itwas forced into European markets 
 to supply itself with articles of prime necessity. 
 Foreign manufacturers, taking advantage of 
 our necessities, controlled prices to their great 
 benefit; and, further to cripple, unfriendly 
 governments interposed to embarrass and delay 
 the shipment of our purchases. This great 
 Army was literally created, and the urgency 
 of the circumstances and our defenceless con- 
 dition subjected us to every sort of annoyance 
 and imposition. But for all this, the admin- 
 istration of President Lincoln is in no wise 
 responsible. And it lies not in the mouth of 
 the gentleman from Indiana to rebuke it, if in 
 recovering itself from the slough in which 
 Buchanan's base administration left the Gov- 
 <5rnment, heavy expenses were incurred, mis- 
 takes maile, or even frauds committed. All 
 these things were more or less inevitable from 
 the condition of the country. The gentleman 
 from Indianaintimates that his political friends 
 would have conducted the Government more 
 honestly and economically. 1 think their past 
 history does not at all justify this flattering 
 opinion: ami I know that some of the frauds 
 of which the gentleman has complained, and 
 some smaller ones of which he does not par- 
 ticularly speak, were perpetrated, or attempted 
 to Vie perpetrated, by persons of his political 
 faith. Those who remember the Buchanan 
 administration and its horrid malpractices, will 
 not regret that its friends are now out of 
 power — whether reference be had to the safety 
 of the treasury, or, what is even more impor- 
 tant, their doubtful and halting fidelity to tho 
 great duties of the hour. But, in addition to 
 
^<^7 
 
 the facts previously mentioned, it must bo re- 
 membered that many of the oldest and most 
 skillful and valuable heads of bureaus resigned 
 and went South, and new men occupied their 
 places, to struggle with all the rii^ks accruing 
 upon heavy responsibility suddenly devolved. 
 If the country sutfered from this cause, this 
 Administration is not respon-iible — rather 
 those Administrations which nursed traitors 
 in high places, which systematically excluded 
 true men from posts of honor and importance, 
 and which thus trained men under the Gov- 
 ernment, into an efficiency which fitted them 
 to strike the heaviest blows and intlict the 
 deepest wounds. 
 
 THE ACTUAL FIGURES. 
 
 But, coming to the distinct allegation, I deny 
 that the proportionate expenses per man were, i 
 during the Mexican war, little more than one- [ 
 fourth the amount now expended per man. I ! 
 can find no warrant for this statement, but the j 
 reverse. I take as the test, the year of greatest 
 activity — that which witnessed the capture of! 
 the' city of Mexico, and all its antecedent vic- 
 tories. If the gentleman will examine the 
 war report of Mr. Marcy, dated December '2, 
 1847, (Ex. Doc, 1st sess., 30th Cong., 2d vol., 
 p. 45), he will find the strength of the Army 
 thus stated : 
 
 I^egulars 21,509 
 
 Volunteers 22,027 
 
 The expenditures for the year ending June 
 30, 1847, are stated in the documents accom- 
 panying the President's Message of December, 
 1847, to have been 
 
 Army proper ! $17,880,842 91 
 
 Mexican hostilities 16,01)1,226 42 
 
 Armories, Arsenals, and Jlunitions of war, 1,617,216 28 
 
 $35,499,285 61 
 Or, to state it differently, the expenses of the 
 Army from April 1, 1847, to April 1, 1848, j 
 as subsequently shown by Secretary of the 
 Treasury Meredith, {Ex. Doc, 1st sess., 31st 
 Congress, 2d vol.,) were $34,981,160 55; 
 
 The average annual expense per man was 
 thus $815 40, although General Scott sub- 
 sisted on the enemy beyond Jajapa. The 
 average monthly expense per man was $G7 95. 
 From October 1, 1861, to May 22, 1862, a 
 period of about eight months, the expendi- 
 tures of the AVar Department, as shown by the 
 gentleman from Massachusetts, (Mr. Dawes), 
 were .$305,118,208, at the average rate of 
 $38,114,776 per month. Upon the basis of 
 having had 575,000 men under pay for that 
 entire period, the average monthly expense per 
 man has been $66 28. If we estimate the 
 number at 500,000, the average monthly ex- 
 pense per man rises to $76 23. Instead of 
 the comparison being favorable to our Mexi- 
 can experience, it is the reverse ; and we have 
 a general result which, notwithstanding the 
 
 peculiar embarrassments of the Government 
 and the unprecedented nakedness of every 
 form of supplies, is the best and most satisfac- 
 tory evidence of the fidelity, integrity, and 
 prudence with which the public interests have 
 I been guarded. All this, too, although the 
 i wider field of our operations and greater ac- 
 1 tivity of our armies add to the necessary ex- 
 penditures an indefinite but considerable per- 
 > centage. War is, of course, expensive ; and 
 j in the multiplicity of officials and tOe nature 
 of their business, there will doubtless be some 
 infidelity ; but 1 believe the present manage- 
 ment is securing as rigid accountability and 
 faithtul expenditure as can be expected or la 
 usually secured by governments. 
 
 chaeges of "fkaud." 
 
 I know, Mr. Chairman, we have had a great 
 
 outcry about immense frauds; but if all be 
 true as asserted, they bear a very feeble rela- 
 tion to the entire operations, and they are, and 
 have been, most grossly exaggerated. The 
 gentleman from Indiana declaims as loudly ou 
 this subject as any one I have heard ; and yet 
 he points out very little. I will enumerate hia 
 specifications. 
 
 He complains of the purchase of stores in 
 New York by Alex. Cummings, and says that 
 a " larffe sum was lost." I doubt whether in 
 the worst view, $5,000 were lost by Govern- 
 ment in that affair, and not a cent by the 
 fraud of any one. A few inferior articles 
 were bought, which are not serviceable, but 
 this is perfectly consistent with the integrity 
 of the parties, as the investigating committee 
 say, and is d^e to the haste with which, under 
 pressure of peril to the Capitol, the commis- 
 sions were executed. 
 
 He next- complains of General Cameron's 
 contracts for guns, all of which a commission, 
 composed of Hon. Joseph Holt of Kentucky, 
 David Davis of Illinois, and Hon. R. Dale 
 Owen of Indiana, have revised. An abstract 
 of their report has been given to the public. 
 iVot a zvord goes to dhow that the Government 
 has lost a ce7it by them. 
 
 He next complains of General Fremont's 
 extravagance, by which he says $550,000 
 were spent in the erection .of forts at St. 
 Louis, the building of a pontoon bridge at 
 Paducah, the construction of railroad cars, 
 the purchase of forage, and the like. Most 
 of tnese were legitimate objects of expendi- 
 ture. It is not stated what proportion of 
 the whole sum was wasted, for we have only 
 general allegations, which are usually safe, 
 besides being convenient. It is certain, the 
 charge carries less thun it appears. 
 
 His last specification is the connection of 
 Geo.D. Morgan with the purchase of vessels for 
 the navy, in which his commissions reached 
 $70,000. 1 disapproved of the act of the 
 Secretary in employing a civilian on such 
 duty, at that time, and with that form of com- 
 
6 
 
 pensntion, and I voteJ for the resolution of 
 ccu<iire on that proumi. 1 ilo not know tlmt 
 excessive prices were piiid for the vessels. nmJ 
 I believe that the purchases were more fairly 
 find honestly niude than were those under 
 Buchanan for the I'arapuay expedition. 
 
 These are the only items on which the 
 mountain of declamation is based. Analyzed, 
 they sink to insignificance. To be sure, he 
 quotes vnguo opinions and rivsh tiecliirations 
 from two or three Senators and Representa- 
 tives ; but they are worth noihiiifj, are not 
 based upon evidence, and represent nothinp 
 but the excited fancies of their authors. 1 
 wish it understood that the fustian of the 
 gentleman from Indiana about the corruption 
 of the Administration re.«ts on a few petty 
 items, all occurring near the outbreak of the 
 rebellion, and in a period of alarm and ex- 
 citement such as has never been witnessed in 
 this country ; that not one of them has been 
 clearly proved fraudulent; and that all of 
 them can be explained as, for the most part, 
 occurring through the error, inexperience, or 
 ignorance of new employes or agents. What 
 else could be expected, under the tremendous 
 pressure of the great events whicii transpired 
 in April, Muy, and the early summer of 1801, 
 ■when the very life of the nation was in ia- 
 Ptant peril, and the most prodigious efforts 
 were put forth to save it? Whoever expects 
 the accuracy, method, and security of ordi- 
 nary transactions amid such scenes and in 
 the presence of such daii;j;er.s, is either fear- 
 fully ignorant of practical affiiirs, orunreason- 
 ingly exacting. Whatever frauds arp now 
 attempted, the Administration and its friends 
 •will use every ellort lo prevent OBCorrect, and 
 they will do .ill in their power to punish the 
 fraudulent, iudill'oreiit whether the blows fall 
 upon friends or foes. Upon this, all good 
 men arc united. 
 
 PHKUICTIONS OF FUTtRB ASSU.\L KXPEXDITUKE. 
 
 Here ends thn chapter of fact, as painted 
 by the gentleman from Indiana; leaving 
 which, he disports with even greater fresh- 
 ness in the domains ol fancy. We have seen 
 }iow disguising an<i distorting have been his 
 versiouH of past events. How much richer 
 and rosier are his fervid ipventious, we will 
 Hce hereafter. 
 
 Having shown how largo the debt is and 
 will be, lie proceeds to narrate what sums the 
 people will nunualh/ pay, making it up iu four 
 grand iienis; 
 Jiit<Ti'<it on publl'- il-M, (which hteooiitdeni 
 
 "a very loir ••mtniHt.i") $100,000,000 
 
 Ordlniiry fxin-ncm uf <iuTfrnairnt 160,000,000 
 
 I'oniiioriN, (wliirh, hu MT«, "no woll-ln- 
 
 furnusl per«<iri will protcoil will bo Imd" 
 
 thnii) 100.000,000 
 
 MiirKlu f"r clnlriin, couUngeDt eipADioa, &c. .Vi,0OO,otK) 
 
 arand total $4oo,000,000 
 
 Of course this is fabulous and preposterous. 
 The gcntleuiaQ from iMnssaobutietlB (Mr. 
 
 [ Dawks) has shown its utter groundlessness. 
 I The estimite of interest is thrice as large as 
 , it will be, if the debt be not swelled much 
 i beyond present size. It is twice as large as 
 I it will be, if the debt should reach one thou- 
 I eand millions, for he calculates upon a much 
 ' higher rate of interest than Government is 
 I paying or will pay, and a much larger debt 
 I than it has or will have. As to his estimate 
 I of ordinary expenses, it is one-third too high. 
 I There is no reason why they should exceed 
 I one hundred millions, upon the cessation of 
 i hostilities. They are more likely to be less 
 I than greater. His estimate for pensions 
 , ($l(Hl.<tU(),0()0) is absurd beyond all compari- 
 I son. He says he meant to include the bounty 
 ; of $100 to soldiers in it; but that is not 
 I part of our annual payment, for Govern- 
 ment does not propose to give the bounty 
 more thau once. The gentleman from Massa- 
 , chusetts allowed §24,000,000 for pensions 
 per annum. The pension bureau estimate 
 I the sum at ^G.OOO.OOO, and our pension com- 
 mittee at $8,000,000, per annum. The gen- 
 tleman from Indiana is sixteen times beyond 
 I the one, and twelve beyond the other. 
 j A margin of $50,000,000 per annum, for 
 I claims, contingents, and unforeseen expenses, 
 \ is five times what will be needed. 
 I The gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
 1 Dawks) estimates the annual expenses, upon 
 I the basis of present debt, at $:i01,()78,053. 
 ! Some of his figures are too liberal ; but this 
 sutn will allow the creation of a considerable 
 sinking fund to pay the debt. Yet his calcu- 
 lations reduce tho.se of the gentleman from 
 Indiana.///?// per cent..' At most, our expenses 
 , will not be over one-half the estimate of the 
 gentlemen on the other side.* Our tariff will 
 yield an average of $jO, 000,000 per annum,* 
 "thus further reducing the direct burthens of 
 the people. Sir, I know that taxes are un- 
 welcome, and tax-gatherers rarely received 
 with pleasure. But when the people of the 
 loyal States remember that this is the pur- 
 chase-money for their freedom, the security 
 of their property, the safety of themselves 
 au'l families, and the preservation of the 
 unity of this people and the vigor of this Gov- 
 ernment; when they further remember that 
 all these precious rights and interests have 
 been put in jeopardy by a base and wicked 
 band of conspirators, who have long plotted 
 and labored, with infernal hate and supernal 
 , skill ; that whilst plotting against the Gov- 
 j eminent, they were, by the connivance of 
 ' deceitful I'residents and treacherous Secre- 
 taries, actually filling its high offices ; that by 
 these agencies they organized a most formid- 
 able rebellion, having meanwhile strength- 
 ened themselves to resist every form of attack, 
 and weakened the power of the Government 
 to protect itself and suppress them ; that, by 
 
 •In llluntrntlon of thw ri>vcii<ie fniin this 80urce upon 
 the r.TlviiI (if liiiKiiicK.s it iii«y be xtatpd that tho receipts 
 from dutlM on Imports, iu May, were $0,222,406 68. 
 
herculean efforts, all these devices and pre- 
 parations have been reduced to naught; and 
 that, by the overwhelming: power of an aroused 
 free people, their country has been saved — 
 they will, disregarding the alarms ol' the 
 timid, the predictions of the croaking, the 
 machinations of the unworthy, and the blan- 
 dishments of the ambitious, manfully meet all 
 the responsibilities which these events may 
 cast upon them. Not only will they, as good 
 citizens, sustain their Government by the 
 prompt payment of their taxes, but they will 
 Buspioiously watch every man who suggests 
 reasons why they should shirk their duties, 
 avoid their obligations, and bring discredit on 
 the nation. Sir, who anticipates the reverse 
 result, knows nothing of the American char- 
 acter. Let caucuses meet, addresses be writ- 
 ten, speeches be made, and intrigues be begun 
 and carried on. They will not avail to seduce 
 our citizens from their fidelity. They will do 
 no more than separate the true men from the 
 false, and will knit the former into a firmer 
 and more invincible phalanx. 
 
 J HEAVY FKEIGHTS. 
 
 I might stop here ; but the gentleman from 
 Indiana makes other complaints which, though 
 not 'germane, demand notice. One is, that 
 "it costs sixty cents to freight a bushel of 
 corn from the Wabash river to New York, and 
 leaves from seven to fourteen cents to the far- 
 mer" — a terrible extortion, which the Adminis- 
 tration did not commit, and for the correction 
 of which I respectfully refer the gentleman to 
 his two distinguished political friends from 
 New York, members of this House, who are 
 believed to be closely connected with the 
 management of railroads which compose part 
 of the lino from the Wabash to New York. 
 I do not know through what other hgency he 
 will as speedily liberate his constituents from 
 this oppression. 
 
 THE MORRILL TARIFF. 
 
 Respecting the other complaint, referring 
 to the Morrill tariff, wherein he denounces it 
 as interfering with his right to buy where he 
 can buy cheapest, and as benefiting only the 
 manufacturers of New England and the iron- 
 mongers of Pennsylvania, I desire to ask him 
 what would be the present condition of the 
 country, if, carrying out his theory, turning 
 ourselves into producers of raw materials, 
 and opening our markets to unrestricted or 
 scarcely restricted trade with the immense, 
 concentrated, ever-aggrandizing capital ofj 
 Eurooe, we had become, as we inevitably | 
 would have become, as dependent upon 
 Europe as the South has been upon the North 
 — as little self-sustaining and self-reliant. — 
 Would we have esca]fed insult, injury, inter- 
 vention ? Let the gentleman consider the 
 position of Mexico, and answer. 
 
 What is so powerful a protection as power? 
 Would the gentleman have his country safe ? 
 
 Then must she be strong. How can she be 
 
 strong without the exercise which comes from 
 the development of all the elements of strength 
 within her? The narrow theory of the gen- 
 tleman looks not bejond to-day — anticipates 
 not the contingencies which affect national 
 existence, and provides not for them. It 
 would provincialize his country ; repress 
 ambition, invention, and progress; crush out 
 every distinctive feature of the American 
 character, paralyze energy, and fit us for the 
 yoke which our masters, the capitalists of 
 Europe, would quickly prepare for us. Call 
 you this statesmanship? God forbid that an 
 American legislature should ever so think, 
 
 THE IRON INTEREST. 
 
 Not only does the gentleman oppose this 
 self-protecting and self-progressing system, 
 but he flings especially at the *' iron-mongers 
 of Pennsylvania." Sir, this is the very mad- 
 ness of the moon. 
 
 What is iron, that the gentleman reprobates 
 the growth of its manufacture ? It is a na- 
 tional necessity. Without it, we cannot defend 
 our harbors from a foe, our commercial cities 
 from bombardment, or our long sea-coast from 
 ravages at every point. Without it, we can- 
 not hold the forts upon which millions have 
 been spent, or protect our commerce, whiten- 
 ing every se^. Without it, this Capitol is in- 
 secure, and untenable against easy attack. 
 Without it, we cannot maintain our position 
 among the Powers of the world, much less 
 grow in influence and importance. It is as 
 completely essential to national life, as is the 
 bread we eat to our physical life. It is not 
 enough that we have inexhaustible supplies of 
 the ore, limestone, and coal. We must have 
 the product in the highest form of manufacture 
 — in the most advanced condition in which in- 
 genuity and skill, mind and machinery, capi- 
 tal and labor, have been able to place it. We 
 cannot have these necessary conditions fulfilled 
 unless the Government, by legislation, fosters 
 and leads it up to the highest point required, 
 at least, as generously, steadily, and appreci- 
 atively as rival Governments have fostered 
 and are fostering theirs. Had the theory of 
 the gentleman from Indiana prevailed in for- 
 mer years, when advocated with persistence, 
 if not with wisdom, we would this day be at 
 the mercy of our enemies. Containing within 
 ourselves everything necessary to protect us 
 from a world in arms, we would be in the hu- 
 miliating position of inability to defend our 
 institutions, assert our rights, and save the 
 continent from being parceled out among the 
 monarchs of Europe, or reduced to colonial 
 subjection. Piccent events have betrayed the 
 real feeling of Europe towards us. He who 
 in the light of them, recommends a policy 
 whose effect would be to place us in its 
 gripe, carries his theories to the very verge of 
 treason. For no truly patriotic person would 
 have this country dependent upon Europe for 
 
8 
 
 any essential of ilefenBC or any means of of- of our resources, I repudiate them, and call 
 fense. upon the jieople to disown and trown upon 
 
 both as iniuiical to their prosperity, inde- 
 EFFKCTS OF THE UEBKLLiox. pcndenco, uud frcedoui. 
 
 This rebellion, atrocious as it is, will bear 
 many good fruits. One will be to forever dis- 
 pose of those specious theories which have 
 •weakened the Govtrnuicnt, and were the foun- 
 dation on wliich Seceasion rests. Another, to 
 explode those tal^e doctrines of political econ- 
 omy, which, forfjettinj; the nature of man, and 
 ijinoring the ambition of nations, the clashing 
 of interests, the temptations of power, and the 
 ftlluremonis of weakness, would regulate our 
 legishitiou by delusive notions of the benefits 
 of unrestricted trade among all nations, rather 
 than by the safer standard of regard for our 
 own interests, and self-protoction as well 
 against the covert assaults of foreign trade as 
 tlie open assaults of foreign enmity. 
 
 Hecause the address of the caucus of (he un- 
 happy fourteen, pnictically adopts the specious 
 theories which are the life's breath of Secession, 
 and places its signers upon the high road to 
 deniitionaliztttion and disutuon, 1 reprobate 
 them as enfeebling iind destroying, liecause 
 the doctrines of the speeches of the gentle- 
 n>an from Indiana would chain the country to 
 European aristocracy and wealth, would keep 
 it chained, and shut it out from 4he magnifi- 
 cent destiny which awaits us, if we be true to 
 ourselves, mindful of our powers, and careful , 
 
 I'OSITION OF THE rEESIDEXT. 
 
 Least of all will the attacks of these gen- 
 tlemen impair the position of the President, 
 whu, beginning his administration in the 
 darkest and most troublous period of our his- 
 tory, has overcome prejudices, won respect, 
 ami secured admiration, at home and abroad, 
 by unfaltering and single-minded devotion to 
 duty. The cares of his great office have not 
 confused him : its patronage has not corrupted 
 him; its brilliancy has not dazzled him. 
 Self-poised, he has steadily controlled the 
 cur- . ,^ with fortitude bearing i-e- 
 
 terscs, -A-Lii calmness enjoying successes, with 
 manliness meeting all. Pure in heart, no one 
 can assail his integrity, and the people love 
 him. Great in mind, he grasps, in all its 
 parts, the momentous present, and the people 
 admire him. Brave in spirit, he advances to 
 great deeds, and the people applaud him. 
 Rarely are so great and fitting qualities com- 
 bined. They who seek to uuderminef and 
 overthrow him, will themselves be crushed. 
 Kather let them cease their needless warfare, 
 become useful instead of mischievous, patrio- 
 tic instead of factious. 
 
 SIcQlLL, Wirneeow & Co., Steam Book und Job PrluterH, 271 rcnnsylvauiii avenue. 
 
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