/ 013 789 585 7 pH&S ^675 i^jjg Administration Vindicated. • W74 Copy 1 S II IE JiLi CJ! JE3I senator" riLSON, COOPER INSTITUTE, NEW YORK. Mr. President and Fellow- Citizens of New York : In obedience to your commands I am here to speak for the unity and triumph of the Re- publican party of the United States. I am a Republican ffom conviction and by associa- tion. 1 care far more for the Republican party than for the interests, aspirations, and ambitions of any thousand men in America. [Applause.] I labored from the year 183G to the year 1856 — twenty years — to create a great, patriotic, liberty-loving organization that should make the Republic of the United States a free land. [Applause.] Sixteen years ago the Republican party was brought into existence. I re'.i.^iously believe that it came into being through the prayer.=i, the labors, and noblest aspirations of the best portion of our countrymen. [Applause.] I believe, too, that it was brought into existence to meet the needs of the endangered coun- try, and to work cut in America the plans of Almighty God. [Applause.] And so believing, from the time it was created un- til this hour, I have never consciously ut- tered a word or performed an act to drive any man out of its ranks. AVhoever has left us in the past has left us against my wishes, and whoever shall leave us now, or in the future, will leave us against ray protesta- tions. I implore, in words of earnest en- treaty, every Republican who would turn his back on our grand organization, with its brilliant deeds and glorious achieve- ments, to pause, to comeback, to stand with us, to fight with us the battle of this year, and to share with us in the triumphs of the future. [Cheers.] The Republican party has in its ranks three and a half millions of mien. It has in its organization the masses of the noblest, purest, and best portions of our countrymen. [Cheers. ] Bat Republicans are not all wise, trail good. They Lave the imperfections of our common nature. Bu. I would not disrupt the Republican party because its members are not all perfect. I would hope on, toil on, make them better if I could, make them worthy of its gteat history, true exponents I of its great principles. [Applause.] i would as soon go home and disband the little church in the town in which I live, of which my de- [ parted wife was a member and I an unworthy one, because some Christian minister proved false to his God, or some poor, weak, falli- ble member did jmi live up to the profes- sion he had mailHA Men of New yWk ! I speak to you to- night from the deepest convictions of my soul. I pray you who have stood with th-- Republican party ; you who voted for and stood by the grandest character of our cen- tury, Abraham Lincoln: [great cheers ;] you who waded through four years ol blood to maintain the unity of your country and the authority of yaur Government ; you who emancipated a race ; you who repudiated Andrew Johnson and his treason, and who spurned his patronage; [applause.] I im- plore you who voted for the great soldier in 1868, [applause,] and who have put your country on the side of liberty, jiHtice» hu- manity, and Christian civilization, to stand together now, win another great victory, and rejoice again in the triumph of the good old cause. [Applause.] -Gentlemen, there was a meeting here the Qther night of those who propose to disrupt the Republican organization, which has achievea so much in the past, and in which are centered so many hopes for the future. These gentlemen propose to take a new de- parture. Forgetful of the precious memo- ries of the past, and the associations of the present, they seek to form new combina- tions and new friendships. I have no unkind or reproachfal words to utter of old com- rades. I did not come here to i'npeacii \ (ins their motives, or to traduce their characters. 1 must, however, express my utter surprise aud my profound regret at their words of condemnation of the great party with which they have act-ed, and whose principles, meas- ures, and policy they have so long sus- tained. • These honorable gentlemen tell us that the Republican party is under ihe control aud domiuatiou of office-holders. So they propose, without a struggle, to go to the Cincinnati Convention. The Republican party under the control of office-holders! A party ot three and a half millions of iy teliigent aud iudepeudent men controlled by a few thousand beggarly office-holders ! The idea is simply ridiculous. There never was a momeut in our history when office- bolders were so impotent as now. To be an office-holder jk to be a beggar. The offices of the country hardly pay a decent support to nine-tenths of those who hold them. You know it, I know it, the country knows it. Thirty years ago office- holding was something; it was a great object of ambi- tiou. If not an avenue to wealth, it was an avenue to social distinction and per- sonal iufluenje and consideration. A ■great change has taken place, and greater changes will take place. Every day otBce- holding becomes less aud lesg an avenue to wealth, social distinction, aua'tfersonal con- sideration. Everybody sees thre, everybody feels it. The professions, the great indus- trial interests of the country, yearly draw to themselves more aud more the talent, the enterprise, aud the ambition of the nation. Look at the learned professions. Lavvyers j now receive fees that Daniel Webster aud j the learned jurists of his day never dreamed ^ of receiving. Look at your railroads and your i telegraph lines, with their vast capital and patronage, your banks aud iusurauce com- panies, your mercantile associations aud [ manufacturing corporations, with their thou- j sands of mil-lious of capital, aad their billions of productioa. These professions, tues'^ in- dustrial pursuits open avenues for talent j and enterprise, and ofler rewards not to be j won ou the theatre of political acLion. They ai'e these professional men, these builders and operators of railroads aud telo- 1 graphs, these bankers and merchants,; thesa workers iu the great industries of our time, that build the hue houses and live ia thcai, j that have paintings, sLalues, and libraries, and possess all the comforts and luxuries that adora aud render attractive social life. Ofthesisty thousaudoffice-holdors more than [ forty tiioiisaad are postm'.istQrs, thsii' clerks and ecapioyees. Nearly half of these post- masters receive talarisa of less than two ; hundred dolUrs a year ; and these poor office-holders, with small salaries, hardly f large enough to feed and cloth-e them audi their families or to bury them when dead, ate said by those who ought to knoiv better, to hold the Republican party and this natiau of forty millions in thraidom. To e'^cape from the iron rule of a few thousand of illy- paid and half starved office-holders, Mr. Schurz and Mr. Trumbull aud other hoj5- orable gentlemen, with incomes and profes- sional salaries of thousands per anaum, make a journey to Cincinnati. They teM us that the National Republican Convention, which is to assemble iu Phila- delphia in June next, is to be the office- holders' con\'ention. Suppose we say that the convention which is to meet at Cincin- nati at an earlier day, is to be the office- seekers' convention. I do not say it, but you can think what you will about it. The indications are that" a great many ex-office- holders will be there ; and of those who have sought office in vain, not a few. [Laughter.] Gentlemen, I have no hesitation in saying that the Republican National Convention, which will meet in Philadelphia, will have fewer office-holders in it, and fewer mem- bers of Congress in it, than have assembled in any convention of the party, in power, for thirty years. Office-holders have had little to do with the elec:ion of delegates, and few of them have been elected as dele- gates. In looking over -the delegations of eight States I find but five office-holders among them all. That convention will act be elected or controlled by the patronage of the Government. The unity touching the choice of the candidate for the Presidency was not secured by the labors of office- holders or by the patronage of the Govern- ment. Where there are the fewest office- holders and the least patronage there is the most unity. Go to the seeti 3us of our coun- try where they have few office-holders and' little patronage, and you will flud the Re- publican party united in supporting tha measures of the Administration, and quite unanimous in favor of the re-election ^f President Grant. Patronage, not principle, breeds dissensions in the Republican ranks, in your city of New York, in Philadelphia, New Oideaiis, aud other large ci.ies, where there are raany o(H;e-holders and large pat- ronage, there arc disseasions and divisions. jl^s olllce holding aad offiee-seekii!g, this mstribution of patronage, and ihesa little per- sonal and petty acibitiocs, are alone break- ing the unity of tt\s Republircan party and iuviting disaster. ' The le-idiug ideas and priuclplis, measures and policy of the Re- publican party, are stronger to-day thj-Q the party itself. Fiieud and foe alike see this, realize it, admii it. [Applause-] Accusations are burled with unsparing hand against President Grant, Congress, and the Republican party. In this work of criti- cism, accusation, aud denunciatiou, Repub- / ^ lican voices and presses take the lead ; and >^gentlemen, bearing the Republican name, in ^^fitriking at the Administration, sometimes .seems to lose the sense of justice and the love Hof fairplay. Mr. Trumbull, with whom I have -eerved seventeen years in the Senate, and ^ /whom I have long honored and respected, vlefc his post of duty, as I have done, and (^addressed the citizens of New York in this hall the other night. I have ir, not in my heart to say an unkind -word of him, but truth compels me to declare that every man in the country, who heard or read that speech, and who is an intelligent and fair minded man, instantly pronounced it to be unfounded and disingenuous. Among the accusations brought against the Republican party, was the charge that disabilities had been kept upon certain men of the South. Did not Mr. Trumbull vpte for impeding disabilities upon that class of Southern men? On this subject of political disabilities I claim that I have a right to ppeyk ; for I stood up alone in tlie Republi can caucus, and voted against incorporating that clause in the Fourteenth Amendment. .[.\pplause.] 1 did not believe that it wxis wise, or politically expedient, to adopt a provision of that kind, and in that form. But I aequipsced in the judgment of my po- litical associates, as I haveoften done, voted | for the proposition in the Senate, and sup- ported it before the people. I have been for jears for removing these disabilities from all but the few men who left the Cabinet, the ' Senate, and the HousC; and joined the ene- mies of their country. If any of the men who left tbo?e chambers, and raised their hands against their country', but who have borne themselves, since the war, like good citi- zens, ask me to remove their disabilities I will vote most cheerfully to do so. ^Ir. Trumbull knew, when he arraigned Con- gress for illiberality, that the disabilities of hundreds of mejj who had not given in their adhesion to the Republica.n party, had been removed. He knew thut there were .«everal officers of the rebel army, colonels and generals, who were members of the House of Representatives, whose disabilities were re- moved by the Republicans, knowing that they were their political foee. In his annual message in December last, President Grant, animated by the same spirit of liberality towards his erring countrymen that he exhibited at Appomattox, when the rebel chieftain surrendertwl his army, recom- mended the removal of these political disa- bilities. The House of Representatives, by an almost unanimo'is vote, hastened to pass a bill for this removal. It came from the House to the Senate and was taken up for consideration before the holidays. Mr. Sum- ner moved to put upon the bill a provision, securing civil rights to all, so that when the nation gave amnesty, it should give protec- tion also ; a protracted debate ensued ; ac- tic^n was delayed. Some of us thought that if we were to be merciful to the rebels we should, at the same time, dem.-iad justice for the freedmen. I voted for that atnendmer*, others voted for it. It was then put nj rn the bill by the casting vote of the Vic. ^ f ,\- dent, and the amnesty bill was ther ost li/ a vote of -Vi to 1'.). Mr. Trumbuli, Mr. Schurz, and Mr. Tipton, who now propose to go to Cincinnati to get amnesty, had it in their power to pass the amnesty bill through the Senate. .Mr. Sclnirz did not vote ; and Mr. Trumbull and Mr. Tipton voted against it. If they had voted for it, it would have passed the Senate by a vote of 86 to 17 — more than the required two-thirds vote. When Mr- Trumbull arraigned us here for the defeat of .nmnesty, he knew that the bill was defeated in the Senate by his own vote and the vote of Mr. Tipton, and that the re- sponsibility for the defeat of the measure in that hody rested upon them. He knew, too, that an effort has been making for several weeks to pass a civil rights bill through the House, so that we could have before the Sen- ate, at the same time, two measures, one for civil rights, and the other for amnesty, and thus be aide to pass them both. I hojie, and I expect, that measures for civil right?, and for amnesty will be i)assed at this session,' and in that hope and expectation I shall la- bor on to accomplish those desired results. Mr. Truoibullgoesto Cincinnati to get civil service refform. But surely Mr. Trumbull could not have forgotten thm General Grant had recommended civil service reform in his anniial message of 1870, and that, upon his . own motion, an appropriation was made to begin the reform the President had so earn- estly recommended. The President ap- pointed ail r.ble commission, upon which he placed suili men as Mr. Catteli. of New .Jer- sey, Mr. Medill, of Illinois, and Mr. Elliot, of the Treasury Department, at the head of which was your accomplished fellow-citizen, George W. Curtis, [Applnuse.] Thateom- raission has beeii sitting for many months, and has given to the subject the most search- ing examination. It presented a partial plan, accompanied by an elaborate report, which the President laid before Congress. But Congress failing to act, and the plan re- ported proving, in some of its details, im- practicable, the commission, afier further consideration, agreed upon a more practical measure, which has been accepted by the President and proclaimed by him to the country this day. [Applause ] During General Grant's administration, the executive departments at Washington have been largely reorganized, systemat- ized, and improved. The employees have been reduced in number and improved in quality. 1 have no lu .■■itatioti in say- ing that tlie offices in V"'ii.sliingt(fti have not been, in many years, .so well filled as they have been uiider this Admin- istration. The Secretary ..f the Treasury said to me the other day that li^had no hes itation in saying that tlii.s dt',iartment, with its two thousand clerks and employees, would not suffer in comparison wiili the banks and great business establishmenti; of New I'ork. In .s.pite of these recommenihitions, and this action of the President and the heads of departments, in which many reforms have already been inaugurated, it is proposed by Jilr. Trumbull and Mr. Schuvz t") go to the Cincinnati convention in the pursuit of civil- service reform. Would it not be wiser in these honorable gentlemen to sustain the President and the heads of the depavtments in any practicable measure that ten Is to cor- rect abuses, and to purify and render more eflicient the public service ? Jlr. Trumbull arraigned the President for having at the Executive mansion two or three army otheers, and for sending his mes- sages to the Senate by one of these army oiiicers. What is General Grant's offense'.'' It is this, and no more ; that he has in the Executive mansion two army officers, trusted personal friends, who were upon his staff for live years These officers are now upoa the stafi'of General Sherman, the commanding general of the army. Gen. Babcock is Com- missioner of the Public Buildings, v/hose ofnce the law requires should be filled by an officer of the army. General Porter and Coicnol Dent are permitL^. .' to go to the Ex- ecutive mansion, not to fill any ofhce, for they fill none known to the law, but ti aid General Grant in examiniu.^ papers and in reading and answering his iuimen.se cor- respoudeiice. This labor they perform with- out any compensation whatever Do you believe, fellow-citizens, does an}' sq,ne man in America believe, that the liberties of the country are endangered by having two army officers in the \Vhite House? D.^es Mr. Trumbull, does Mr. Schurz believe, is there a man in the country so timid as to believe that General Grant raenacei the liberties of the people by having with him tvv'o young army officers? Is there anything in the world more natural than that Genoal iJrant shoul..! desire to have with him, to aid him in his immense labors, men who had been with him in the camp and on the battle field, and in the intimate and confideni,i.iI relation of staff officers? Ha,d Mr. Trumbull looked into the history of his country he would have found that General Grant is not the first President who has desired to have around hiin some one of his old CDmrades in arms. The first message ever sent to the Senate of the United 'States was borne by Major General Henry Knox, then Secretary of War, who had been Wash- ington's companion inarms during the Rev- olution, and perhaps his most intimate per- sonal friend. When General Jackson came to the Presidency he appointed his old aide. Major Donelson, his secretary. General Taylor took with him from the army to the Executive Mansion his son in law. Major Bliss, and kept him with him so long as he lived. After his death that officer returned to the army. Were Washington and Jackson enemies to their country because they sent messages to the Senate by the hands of men who had been their comrades in the field? Did the hero of Buena Vista endanger the liberties of the people by taking his son-in- lavr and chief of staff from the army and sending by him messages to the Senate? Other Presidents, who were not military men, have had persons holding military com- missions in their service. Mr. Lincoln had Major John Hay, who held a commission in the army, with him for many months'. Presi- dent Johnson crowded the Executive Man- sion with military men. He had with him Col. Moore, Col. Mo .row, Col. Long, Col. Reeves, and Col. I^IcKeever, of the army, and Gen. Muzzoy and Col. Robert Johnson, his own son, who bad served in the volunteer forces. In the face cf this v/ell-known fact Mr. Trumbull asks, by way of contrast, the question: '"Had Andy Johnson filled the White House with officers, wliat would have been sa^d about it?'' President Johnson not only had these officers with him, but he had a company of troops. He had guards posted outside of the White House, around it, and inside of it. When President Grant entered the ^''hite House as President, these guardii saluted him. The nest day he sent these guards away, and in a few days after he sent awa^' four companies of cavalry and a regiment of infantry sLa'.ioned in Washing- ton. There has not been, for more than two years, a soldier nearer than Fort Washington , away down on the Pcf;omac. [Applause.] Now, my Republican frienas, do you think you ought to run to the Cincinnati Conven- tion because Gen. Grant has with him two of his old staff officers ? But Mr. Trumbull tells us that we have a law that military men should not be appointed to civil offices, nor perform the- duty of civil offices. The accusation, there- fore, is that General Grant keeps these staff officers of the army in the Execu- tive Mansion in vioUtiou of law. I take i.ssue with Mr. Trumbull upon that allega- tion. The law does not apply to the ease of these officers and was never intended to apply to them. I know whereof I affirm. These officers were in the Execu tive Mansion when I reported the bill, and I affirm that it was not my intention, nor the intention of the military committee, nor the iutentioii of Congress, to apply this act to these off cers ; and that it does not upply to these officers. They are filling no civil of- fices known to the hiw, pert'orniing no duties of ci''il offices known to the law. They have no civil respons-ibiliiies, aie held by law to no responsibilities, and receive no compen- sation for the labor they perform for the President. Should they leave the Executive Mansion, or be sent, to their position in the army, they would resign no otHces, would he removed from no offices, and no persons could be app'^inted to take their places. This is not only the correct view of the case, but it. was the view taken by Mr. Trumbull ■when this act v/as pending in the Senate on the 12ch of May, 1870. in that debate Mr. Trumbull said, to fulfill the functions of a civil office, an officer "must be the officer;" he must have the power of the office if he performs the functions of the office. I do not understand that a person can fulfill the functions of a civil office, unless he hold the ; ivil office. lie must be the officer. T&at is the meaning of the section as I under; tan J it. The offices of p'^^ivate secretaiy and as- sistant secretary ar6'' filled by civilians who are' on duty at the White House. These military officers do not fill the offices of pri- vate aocretary and assistant secretary, nor perform their duties. These military offi- cers iiold no Civil office known to tlie law, u'-id. accordii'g to Mr. Trumbull's definition of the act, they canuot fulfill the luuctious of civil offices unless they are the officers. in iiati'jg the aid of thesze officers at the Uhite House the President his violated no iaw : Eor can the people be made to believe that the detail of a couple of army officers — cid members of h'n staff during the war — to aid him in opening and reading his letters, &ni in his other multifanous labors endau- gc-.g their liberties. The Republican party has been f>r years :'Ccused of violating the Constitution ; of ■lisumptious of power ; of centralizing ten- ioacies; and of encroachments upon the ights of the States. These accusations were :aa-dc dRring the war, and since the war. J:s measures for the det'ense of the country, and for the suppression of the rebellion, for the emancipation of the slaves, and for their enfranchisement, were b;tte,i-ly denounced as palpable violations of the Constitution. Its jraud series of acts for patriotism and liberty, that history will record and the ";^'orId will remember, have been denounced is assumptions of power, and arbitrary en- croachments upon the rights of the States and the liijcrties of the people. The men who propose to go to Cincinnati join in this ■work of denunciation. Mr. Trumbull comes here and makes those accu.sations aguinst |* the Republican party, and especially against the Administration. But if Congress has as- I sumed unw.arrauted powers, if it has en- j croached on the reserved rights of th« States, if its legislation has tended to centralization, ; Mr. Trumbull mu.-,t share with us the rospon- sibilityfortheseassumpticns, encroachments, aid tendencies. Surely it does not be;ome the author of the civil rights act. that goes i farther, in the direction he now condemns, j than all other measures we have ever pas.sed, j to reproach those of us who followed his lead. ! Mr. Truml)ull join', too, in the outcry, ! now so rife, about the corruption of the Ad- ' mini.-tration. I have no apologies to maUtj for the corrupt practices nf any set of men, whether they be political friends or foe.i. If there is a man on the face of the globe that despises a thief I am the man. [Applause.] If there is a man that loathes a liej)ublicaQ thief more than any other, I am the man. [Applause.] In my conception, the bos3 jthi^f of the universe. Bill Tweed, in view of j his surroundings, associations, and opportu- I nities, is quite an innocent person, in com- I parison with that giOfH who joiua the great ; Uepublican party ^-iij^he Un'tHl Slates, with !it;«Tioly mission alTa work, ar.d then betrays I high trusts, violates the Divine command, .steals from the country that honored him, and disgraces ths party that trusted him. ! [Applause.] j \Vhen Andrew Johnson was in powrr, you I know, and I know, the demoralized coudi- tion of the public service. Fairhlesa public men held office, the whisky ling rioted in corruption. The liepublican party, i.i Na- Itional Convention, pbdged its'Jf to check, j and, if possible, to extir- a:e this corrup:ion. I General Grant heartily joined in that great I work. What ii the reiiuU? The whisky j ring is dead. The revenues from whieky I have been increased every year fourfold I over the last year of Johnson's administra- tion. General Grant's admmis' ration has arrested, tried, and convicted more thieves than all the Administrations from 178?. There have been, in thirty-five mcnths, ar- rested, tried, convicted, at»d puniehcd b/ fine or imprisonment, two handred and seven ^y■ eight men, not in office, for robbing and cheating the Government, or aittmpting to rob and cheat the Governmeut. Several faithless office-holders have been arrested, tried, convicted, fined, or imprisoned ; and some of them are sleeping in petiicntiaries to night. [Applause.] Every department of the Government has been, during the past three years, hone.''tly, persistently, and' effectively en- gaged in detecting, exposing, and pun- ishing office-holders and others, who have cheatpd the Goverument, or stolen the public moneys. The resulr^s have beeo that less than oue-fifecnth part of one per cent, of the coUcciions and ex- penditures of the Government has boea stolen ; a less percentage, I believe, than has been stolen under any Administration for forty years. I have undoubting faith that President Grant and the heads of depart- ments will continue their reformatory work, and tliat thieves, defaulters, and smugglers •will be hunted down, and punished when- ever found. [Anplause.] It is a singular fact that, while General Grant is bitterly as- sailed and his administration denounced as corrupt, for personal ends and partisan pur poses, there is no question of the fact that he isthebestabusedand hated man in Amer- ica by these same defaulters, thieves, smug- glers, and defrauders of the revenue, as also by the dishonored, corrupt, and tainted pol- iticians of the land. Accusations have been recently made against the Secretary of the Navy. Mr. Trumbull joins in those accusations. He ac- cused the Secretary here the other nigtt with having violated the law in the examination and payment of a claim of Secor & Co. for $93,000. He gave i^'o be distinctly under- stood that Secor & J5. had claims sfgainst the Government; that they had been submit- ted to a board ; that the board had reported upon these claims the sum of $115,000 as foil payment for these claimants ; that the case had been reopened, referred to another board, and $93,000 had been paid by the Secretary in violation of law; paid out of ap- propriatioas, too, in violation of law ; and that his action had been sustained by the Second Comptroller of the Treasury. This is the substance of the accusation. Gentlemen, this is one of the most ground- less — and unjust, too — accusations ever made against a public man in America. It is based upon the merest technicalities, and has not the element of justice or fair play in it. The Secretary has lav/ on his side, and equity on his side. Gentlemen, whenever I hear that there is any misconduct in any of the De- partments, I feel it my duty immediately to communicate the fact to the pi'oper officers. Whenever accusations are made that have the semblance of truth, I believe it my duty to go to the proper officers and ascertain the facts. I believe it not only wrong to steal and apologize for or justify theft, but I be- lieve it quite as wrong to make false accusa- tions, or to sustain others in making false accusations. I have examined this case. I know Mr. Robeson, the Secretary of the Navy. I believe him to be a man of capacity and lideiity — of individual honor and per- Bonal character. I went to him for an ex- planation. His explanation satisfied me that he had violated no law and sanctioned no corruption. I went to Mr. Brodhead, the Second Comptroller. I knew his capacity, his long and large experience, and his purity and. integrity. I knew that this inflexible iLtegiity, this large experience, and great knowledge had saved millions of dollars to- the United States. To my question he re- plied that he had given the subject the most careful consideration, and that the Secretary had acted strictly according to law, and that he had justice and equity on his side. This claim was not considered by the. board appointed by the act of 1867. It was a claim for mattrial and labor, not a claim for damages. The Secretary of the Navy had full, complete, and ample power to set- tle all claims for material or labor. He had no authority, however, to settle claims for damages occasioned by the delays of the Government. The act of 1867 was intended u to 'Cover that class of claims for damages, and not claims for material and labor ; and the board of officers so construed it and acted upon it. That board reported $115,- 000 for claims for damages ; but it never considered the claims for labor and material at all, knowing that the Secretary had ful!, complete, and ample power to settle that class of claims. The law of 1868 authorized the payment of th^tsum of §115,000, re- ported by the board. The receipt in full was not to be for all claims, but for all claims passed upon by that board ; not for all claims on account of the vessels, as is asserted, but for all claims on account of the vessels upon which the board made its al- lowance, as per report. This claim for $93,000 for material and labor — which kad not been paid or allowed — had been re- served for further consideration. Its various items were examined by a board of officers, and were reported to be "correct and jnst charges." They were ordered to be- paid and were paid from money in the Treasury for purposes of construction, out of which like claims had been paid by the former Secretary. This claim for $93,000, allowed by the board and paid by the Secretary, w;. a claim for material and labor, and not . claim for damages. It is admitted that was not considered by the board appointc according to the act of 18G7, nor was it r< jected by it. It was a debt, not barn either by the letter or by the spirit of tl\ law. Tins was the view of the Secretary t the Navy and the final decision of the Secon-. Comptroller of the Treasury ; and they acted, jj 1 conscientiously believe, in obedience to I law and according to the claims of justic; and equity. Gentlemen, I tell you what I know to t < true, that under this Administration li i revenues have been annually increased 1'2 . tens of millions under the same revenue? laws, simply by their more faithful enforce- ' ment. The expenses of the nation havi been annually diminished through me." vigilance and economy by tens of in''.- lions annually. All the departments of the Government at Washington have been jir- ■ v.-ed, matle more efficient, and their forces aii.i expenses reduced. Much has been Jo;;;'. Mure should be done, and, f am conQdc'at, more will be done- Bit Mr. Trumbull tellrf you, here in New York, that we cannot reduce expenses be- cause the office-holders are so powerful, rio tiil!i.s about reducing the e.vpenses of the )vornraent fifty millions annually. _ Mr. •;:nbull has been seventeen years in the Senate of the Uiii'ied States. He is a man of capacity and e.xperlenoe. He knows how to do public business. Has he devised or proposed auy plan by which the expenses of the Crovernment shall be annually reduced fift;y millions of dollars, ten millions of dol- lars, five millions of dollars, or even one million of dollars? I am ready, 1 am sure the Senate is reaJy, I believe the Adminis- tration is ready, to follow the lead of Mr. Ti-umbull, or aiiy other Senator, in any pnic- tical measure that proposes or that tends to reduce the expendiiurcs of the Government- [Applause.] Sixty- one per cent, of the annual expen- ditures grew out of the war. Take out those iacri-ased expenditures, and the ex- penses of th-^ Government, measure! by the ;old standard, have not kept pace wilh the i;icreased population and wealth of the na- tion. Mr. Trumbull was wide of the mark, )0, in his statements concerning the ex- penses and debts of the reconstructed States. Great mistakes have been honestly made in those States, especially in regard to the con- struction of railroads, and great corrupLion has disgraced both the legislation and ad miuiitratiou of some of those governments. The corrupt practices have received, and , should ever receive, the reprobation and sternest condemnation of the country. But it 13 a violation of truth and justice to hold the National Government responsible, or that class of men, so flippantly denounced as carpet-baggers, wholly responsible for these corrupt practices. While many of these denounced carpet baggers have been dere- lict to the duties imposed upon them, and the opportu.';ity opened to them, to serve the State and win honored names, the gre it body of them, men, and women too, have advocated measures and labored with earn estaess and self sacrifice f-T their promo- tica, for the goneral improvement of those States, and especially for the elevation of the freedmea. These g.^ntlemen, who are running away from the people, chide the rank and file of the party f )r sending delegates to the na- tional convention to favor the nomination of General Grant. They :iay that the per pie are for Grant because they are led by oihce holders. New York, they tell us, is gov- erned by office-holders ; Massachusetts is governed by office holders ; other States are governed by oflBce-holders ; the East, the West, and the South are all governed by office-holders. These poor, deluded fellows, who have such exalted iQ of the credulity and imbecility of the masses, should realize that the people of thU great country now number forty millions. They .should remember tb.at they have passed through one of the greatest wars in the his- tory of the world ; that, when leaders and presses faltered, they said, '• We will tight it ouf to the end; take our money, take our sons, take our blood, we will fight and we will die for the country, b>it the nation shall live." Gentlemen, the mafses of the people are now •'somebody"' in this country. They have held conventions in fourteen States. There is no evidence that a single delegate w,>s elected who is against the renomination of General Grant. ! here is no evidence that there was a single delegate in any one of the:e conven- tions opposed to the President. There is uo evidence that there is a school di~trict,_not one, which has an anti-Grant Republican majority in it. In spite of the opposition of leading papers, and the known opinion cf eminent public men, the people have ex- pressed themselves wi:h unparalleled public unanimity. [Applause.] The conductors of great journals who boast of their inde- pamience, but who forget tha*. they have been teaching the people to be quite as independent as themselves, acd politicians, who have the idea that poUlioal affairs are always to be managed, forgetful of the great truth that the true way to manage is to let management alone, to keep Oianaging hands off, and to let things move right along in their natural channel, do not comprehend this action of the people. Gentlemen, I will teil you why it is that these edit-jrs. Senators, and politicians, who assume to direct public opinion, do not un- derstand the action of the people, and why Aey ascribe (hat action to the dominating %fl"uence and control of the office-holders. They forget that in the civil war Gen. Grant commanded more than a million of men. They forget that the fathers and mothers, brothers and sist-:>r3, wives and children, kindred and friends of these hero«3 in the field who were Gjhting, bleeding, and dying for their country, recugniaed Gen.. Grant as the g!-(fat leader in the war. They forget thit these heroic men and their kladredand friends were grateful to Lim for aervic.iS he then rendered the country, and that they have not forgotten those services at ihe bid- ding of aspiiing and disappointed ambition. [Applause.] The Ame.ican niBeses remombor that Gen- eral Grant enteredlhe war a poor, unknown man, and that, against the eharp competition of two millions cf brave men who went into the army, he came to the head, won an il- lustrious name, and has a glorious military record behind him. They see that he has reduced the expenses of the Government by tens of millions annually, and that he has made our paper currency and bonds worth twenty per cent, more than they were when he came into power. [Ap- plause.] They see that he hsis paid in thirty-seven months three hundred and fif- teen million dollars of the national debt, and they believe he will pay ten or twelve millions more the present month. [Ap- plause. ] They see that he has raised the national credit so that we can borrow money at five per cent, in the markets of the world. They see that his firmness and adherence to the plighted faith of the nation has made a public sentiment so strong, for maintaining, unsullied, the good faith of the nation, that no Democratic National Convention dare go into Tammany hall, or any other hall, and proclaim the wicked financial theories an- nounced here four years ago. [Applause.] They see that he has adopted a humane and Christian Indian policy — a policy worthy of a Christian and Republican Government. [Applause.] They see, too, that he has oised his great influence, the authority of his high position, and the power of the Govern- ment to protect the poor freedman against the murderous blows of the Ku-Klux Klans. [Applause. ] Seeing these things the masses of the people who have no personal favors to ask and no grievances to avenge have come to believe that General Grant's adminis- tration, with all its faults, is conducted on a higher plane, in both its foreign and do- mestic policy, than the nation has seen for forty years. So believing they reject the counsels of disappointed ambition, of per- sonal passion, prejudice, and interest, while they still give their confidence, with their abiding faith, to him on whom they learned to lean so trustingly in the dark night of war, and of the nation's peril. I call upon gentlemen to give up this chaf- fering with the Democratic leaders, and this managing to baffle the purposes of the Re- publican masses. Come back, I pray you, to ourHMmks. They are open to receive you. Go with us to the Philadelphia Convention. You have the unquestionable right to advo- cate and vote for the candidate of your choice. No one has the right to question you, or criticise you, or to denounce you, for SD doing. Give to the Republican party, in National Convention assembled, your opin- ions, your advice, and your influence. L^t the popular will govern. Bow to it. Help lis carry the country, make secure the work of the past, complete what remains to be done for the rights of man and the interests of the nation. I say to those Republicans who are turning their backs upon us, in all the sincerity of my heart, that it is a painful thing to break up old associations, to sepa- rate from old friends, with whom we have sorrowed in defeat and rejoiced in victory. Come back to us, let us go unitedly into the impending conflict, resolved to have fall pos- session of the Democratic banners before we furl forever the Republican flag. Mr. Schurz, the other night, closed his elo- quent speech which had in it more asser- tion than logic, more rhetoric than fact, with the prediction that their banners within a twelve-month would float over the dome of the capitol. I will follow his example and make my prediction. He predicted that the banners of the nominees of the Cincinnati Convention would float over the capitol. I predict that the nominees of that conven- tion, if not supported by the Democratic party, will not receive an electoral vote in the United States, [applause;] that, if eap- ported by the Democratic party, the Repub- licans will carry from twenty-five to thirty States for the nominees of the Philadelphia Convention. Mr. Schurz refers to his obser- vation and experiences, as assurances of the accuracy of his calculations. I, too, will refer to my observation and experiences, although it may not be an evidence of my modesty to do so. I have looked into the faces of more men in political assemblages than any public man in America. [Applause.] I think I have some little knowledge of public men, of political organizations, and cf the sentiments and feelings of masses. I was not mistaken in the votes of 1850 nor of 1880. In 1864 I stated before the election how the votes would stand, and I did cot miscalculate the vote of a single State. In 18G8 I stated before the election how each State would vote, but I was mistaken in the vote of New York. I did not then fully comprehend the counting powers of Tam- many hall. [Laughter and applause.] V predict here to-night that the nomi- nee of the Philadelphia Convention will be elected President of the Dnited States. Re- p*ublicans of the great commercial capital of the Republic ! Let us be kind and concilia- tory, and treat our erring friends, not as ene- mies, but as temporarily estranged com- rades. If they, against our remonstrances, protests, and entreaties, turn away from ns and bid us farewell, they will then have proved false to political associations and friendships, and recreant to their own past acts and recorded opinions. [Loud applause.] LIBRARY OF CONGRESS