156 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



Mr. Van Wyck : " The Senator from Iowa 

 has not exactly answered the question, but the 

 point is, the circulars which go to the em- 

 ployes of the Government designate how much 

 they are expected to pay. Am I right in that ? " 



Mr. Allison : "I think that is true in part, 

 and in part not true." 



Mr. Van Wyck: "Precisely. It has been 

 said that the circulars are sent to those out of 

 Government employ as well as those in the 

 employ of the Government. Then I want to 

 know why a distinction is made between the 

 circulars sent to employes of the Government 

 and those sent to private citizens, if it is pure- 

 ly voluntary. Will the Senator explain that ? " 



Mr. Allison : u Am I to be catechised now 

 by the Senator from Nebraska ? If we sent a 

 circular, for example, to a rich man like the 

 Senator from Ohio our circulars, of course, 

 do not go to him but if we sent circulars to 

 leading Republicans in the country, I do not 

 suppose that we should fix a sum. If we send 

 circulars, however, to men who are in public 

 employment, the circular names a minimum 

 sum, as was stated by the Senator from Maine. 

 The Senator from Nebraska asks me why that 

 is done. It is done simply because we only 

 expect to receive a small sum. Did the Sena- 

 tor from Nebraska hear me when I stated in 

 his presence, or in the presence of the Senate, 

 that in the last campaign of all the employes 

 less than one tenth have contributed one dol- 

 lar ? I ask him to name a man in public em- 

 ployment who has ever been disturbed in the 

 slightest degree because he did not contribute 

 to a campaign fund? " 



Mr. Van Wyck: "I agree with my friend, 

 but I am endeavoring to see how far this mat- 

 ter is voluntary. That is what I was proceed- 

 ing to find out. 



" I think I shall be excused for saying this 

 much or a little more on this line. I think I 

 have a right to say that it is not prudent for 

 the Republican party to adopt that policy 

 which largely contributed to the destruction of 

 the Democracy. I claim the right to occupy 

 that ground as a Republican to-day. I choose 

 as a Republican here, differing with my associ- 

 ates, to take warning from the past. If the 

 party of the gentlemen on the other side has 

 gone to decay, and that too by the voice of the 

 American people, I think it behooves the or- 

 ganization with which I am connected to at 

 least take warning from the lights, the false 

 lights, if you please, which brought them to 

 ruin and destruction. I desire to be excused 

 from any such fatality, or at least from the tol- 

 eration of any such evil." 



Mr. Hale : " I said that no reasonable man 

 if he examines faithfully and fairly into the 

 matter will object to it ; that it is purely and 

 essentially voluntary ; that no man, woman, 

 or child is harmed, or has been or will be, if 

 he or she declines to pay. I said that the Sen- 

 ator from Ohio had challenged me to show in 

 regard to the Democratic party any course 



tending to what he called the degradation of 

 political assessments; and, not as an excuse, 

 for I do not ask for any excuse for the Repub- 

 lican committee I stated in terms that it was 

 not to excuse it, but to show that the Demo- 

 cratic party of the olden time did a thousand- 

 fold worse I pointed out the fact that they 

 ran in paths where we would not pretend to 

 penetrate. I quoted the examples that I cited 

 from the " Record," and I did it for that pur- 

 pose. I say to the Senator from Nebraska, 

 and not as an excuse for what we are^ doing 

 now, for I ask no excuse ' 



Mr. Van Wyck : " The Senator read -the ex- 

 tracts to condemn the practice of the Demo- 

 cratic party." 



Mr. Hale : " Certainly I did, and I do con- 

 demn that method." 



Mr. Van Wyck : " That is just what I mean." 



Mr. Hale: "Those were different methods 

 from ours." 



Mr. Van Wyck : " The only difference was 

 that the Democratic party was bolder than we 

 are. They always have been in such things. 

 They went further than your circular says, but 

 you were more shrewd than they, probably. 

 Either the Senator from Maine or the Senator 

 from Iowa said that they were careful of what 

 they did; that they were prudent; that they 

 had eminent counsel to examine this question 

 to see how near they could go to the felon line. 

 They wanted to see just how far they could go 

 and be safe in this matter; that was all. I do 

 not want to force my Republican brethren, 

 only I beg to be excused from following the 

 methods which the Democratic party pursued. 

 It was a 'thorny road for them, and I propose 

 not to wear that kind of stones in my shoes. 



"At the commencement of this session we 

 had thousands upon thousands of petitions 

 praying us to regulate interstate commerce. 

 Those petitions were referred to the appropri- 

 ate committee, and there they have slumbered. 

 Just a little healthy legislation in that direc- 

 tion would have helped the Republican party 

 more than the few thousand dollars which we 

 collect in that way." 



This debate was terminated by adjourn- 

 ment, and not resumed. 



PROPOSAL TO PLACE GENERAL GRANT ON THE 

 RETIRED LIST. In the Senate, on December 

 5th, a bill was introduced to place General 

 Ulysses S. Grant on the retired list of the army, 

 with the rank and grade of general, and pay 

 accordingly. 



Mr. Vest, of Missouri : " Mr. President, this 

 bill is an innovation upon the established prac- 

 tice and principles of the Government in regard 

 to the retired list of the army. This bill is 

 utterly without precedent in the legislation of 

 Congress. It takes General Grant from civil 

 life, after he had voluntarily left the military 

 service, and places him upon the retired list in 

 utter disregard of the requirements and pro- 

 visions of existing law. 



