CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



149 



beyond the praise or the censure, the reward 

 or the punishment of the House. 



" His aged widow is now here asking for the 

 payment of the sum of $136 which the Gov- 

 ernment owed her husband for services he had 

 rendered. That is the question. This House 

 can refuse to pay this claim. The claim is 

 seized upon by the gentleman from Michigan 

 [Mr. Conger] as an occasion for delivering to 

 this side of the House a lecture, and to vent 

 what seems to be his inexhaustible spleen 

 against the South and the cause of the South 

 upon this side of the House, which has South- 

 ern Representatives. This claim is made the 

 occasion of the long speech which he has de- 

 livered here the claim of the old widow of an 

 officer who reflected credit upon his country ; 

 the widow now coming here and asking the 

 Government to pay the small debt that it owed 

 to her dead husband. 



" It does seem to me that there could not be 

 a more meritorious claim presented to Con- 

 gress than the claim of this old widow. I 

 have nothing more to say about it." 



Mr. S. S. Cox, of New York : " When, sir, 

 are we to have peace? Just after the war, as 

 we all know, General Grant reported that the 

 Southern States were anxious for contentment 

 and deserved confidence and amnesty. He was 

 solicitous, willing to be at peace and amity 

 with them, and they with the rest of the Union. 

 They needed peace to give to their toil its re- 

 ward, and our good-will to give them those 

 interchanges which build up a common pros- 

 perity. Have fifteen years made no difference 

 with you of the other side? Are you jealous 

 because the South is growing in population and 

 prosperity, in planting, manufacturing, and 

 commerce; that her cattle, cotton, and corn 

 are enriching her abundantly ? Surely not. 

 Why, then, this continual debate, as if their in- 

 terests and ours were not one ? 



" What is the object of opposing this bill ? 

 The debt is not disputed. What can be the 

 object in trying to cut down or deny this little 

 claim of an old widow, a claim of $136.85 ? Is 

 it only a pretext to display old animosities? 

 Was there ever such monstrosity built on so 

 small a foundation? Is it not time to have a 

 better spirit in reference to the relations be- 

 tween North and South ? 



" When General Butler was in our midst on 

 the other side, and we debated a bill to restore 

 to men who had been in the rebel army the 

 old swords which they had worn gallantly in 

 the battle of New Orleans, he favored the 

 measure with touching and patriotic eloquence. 

 He had the spirit of true soldierly chivalry. 

 He said, ' Give back to the old soldiers the 

 swords they wore in the war of 1812 '; and 

 men on both sides applauded the patriotic sen- 

 timent. What would he say were he here to- 

 day? " 



Mr. Chittenden, of New York : " I know a 

 little historic incident connected with the out- 

 break of the rebellion which has some perti- 



nency and a lesson for my friend from Michi- 

 gan [Mr. Conger]. I knew a merchant in New 

 York who sat by the side of an old commer- 

 cial correspondent as the wires were about to 

 tick that Virginia had seceded from the Union. 

 The Virginian said, 'What shall I do if my 

 State secedes? ' The merchant said: 'If you 

 have purchased your goods, take them and do 

 the best you can ; no man who knows you will 

 refuse to deliver them even after Virginia has 

 seceded.' Within half an hour the news came 

 that Virginia had seceded. The Virginian 

 then said to the merchant, ' You of course will 

 not trust me now.' The merchant said to him : 

 ' You purchased the goods fairly on yesterday. 

 I will send them, and I will take all the risks. 

 I have known you for ten years, and know that 

 you will pay tor them if you can ; let the con- 

 sequences be what they may, every dollar of 

 the merchandise shall go if you want it.' It 

 did go. 



" Five years after the war was over, or per- 

 haps three, this merchant of Richmond, Vir- 

 ginia, Breeden by name, a thorough rebel who 

 gave his all for the success of the Confederate 

 cause, returned to the merchant in New York 

 and paid for the goods, every dollar, principal 

 and interest. 



"Now, it seems to me that if there be a 

 widow asking for $136 honestly due her hus- 

 band who was an officer of the United States 

 Navy, a debt for services which preceded 

 the rebellion if this Congress refuses to pay 

 the debt, they, in my judgment, do an act 

 which appeals to the manhood outside of Con- 

 gress to see that another Congress shall find a 

 way to pay it with double interest." [Ap- 

 plause on the Democratic side.] 



Mr. Bragg, of Wisconsin: "This is a ques- 

 tion, Mr. Chairman, in my judgment, which 

 is, as I have said, a question involving a prin- 

 ciple. It is a bill which involves, it is true, a 

 very trifling amount. 



" It was not the stamp-tax that brought on 

 the Revolution. It is the principle involved 

 and underlying this thing. Shall we wipe out 

 all legislation which prevents men once in the 

 service of the United States, and who aban- 

 doned their duties, from coming back again as 

 claimants upon the public Treasury, because, 

 forsooth, the leader of the claimants is a lady, 

 old and gray, whose husband, in his youthful 

 days, did serve his country with honor and 

 distinction? If we do away with the princi- 

 ple here, where shall we end ? If we pay this 

 woman because she is old, if we pay her be- 

 cause she is needy, that is one thing. But if 

 we pay her because she was the wife of an offi- 

 cer who resigned, and under whose resignation 

 there comes up this bill and penalty which de- 

 prived him of his pay, he having placed him- 

 self in the position of suffering the penalty, 

 that is another thing." 



Mr. Davis, of North Carolina: "Was there 

 any such law in existence at that time ; any law 

 that would deprive him of his pay?" 



