226 



CONGKESS. (GENEBAL GEANT.) 



Sewell, Sheffield, Sherman, Voorhees, Williams, Wil- 

 son 49. 



NAYS Beck, Cockrell, Coke, Harris, Pendleton, 

 Saulsbury, Slater, Vance, Walker 9. 



ABSENT Bayard, Bowen, Butler ? Call, Cameron 

 of Pennsylvania, Farley. Groome, Hill, Jones of Ne- 

 vada, Lamar, Logan, Mahone, Miller of New York, 

 Pike, Plumb, Ransom, Van Wyck, Vest 18. 



Feb. 3, the President sent to the House of 

 Representatives the following message : 



To the House of Representatives : 



I take espec'ial pleasure in laying before Congress 

 the generous oifer made by Mrs. Grant to give to the 

 Government, in perpetual trust, the swords and mili- 

 tary (and civil) testimonials lately belonging to Gen. 

 Grant. A copy of the deed of trust, and of a let- 

 ter addressed to me by Mr. William H. Vanderbilt, 

 which 1 transmit herewith, will explain the nature and 

 motives of this offer. 



Appreciation of Gen. Grant's achievements and 

 recognition of his just fame have in part taken the 

 shape of numerous mementos and gifts, which, while 

 dear to him, possess for the nation an exceptional in- 

 terest. These relics, of great historical value, have 

 passed into the hands of another whose considerate 

 action has restored the collection to Mrs. Grant as a 

 lite-trust, on the condition that at the death of Gen. 

 Grant, or sooner at Mrs. Grant's option, it should be- 

 come the property of the Government, as set forth in 

 the accompanying papers. In the exercise of the op- 

 tion thus given her Mrs. Grant elects that the trust 

 shall forthwith determine, and asks that the Govern- 

 ment designate a suitable place of deposit and a re- 

 sponsible custodian for the collection. 



The nature of this gift and the value of the relics 

 which the generosity of a private citizen, joined to the 

 high sense of public regard which animates Mrs. 

 Grant, have thus placed at the disposal of the Govern- 

 ment, demand full and signal recognition on behalf of 

 the nation at the hands of its representatives. I there- 

 fore ask Congress to take suitable action to accept the 

 trust and to provide for its secure custody, at the same 

 time recording the appreciative gratitude of the people 

 of the United States to the donors. 



In this connection I may pertinently advert to the 

 pending legislation of the Senate and House of Rep- 

 resentatives looking to a national recognition of Gen. 

 Grant's eminent services by providing the means for 

 his restoration to the army on the retired list. That 

 Congress, by taking such action, will give expression 

 to the almost universal desire of the people of this na- 

 tion is evident ; and I earnestly urge the passage of 

 an act similar to Senate bill No. 2530, which, while 

 not interfering with the constitutional prerogative ot 

 appointment, will enable the President in his discre- 

 tion to nominate Gen. Grant as General upon the re- 

 tired list. CHESTER A. AETHUK. 



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Feb. 3, 1885. 



February 16, in the House, Mr. Slocum, of 

 New York, under instructions from the Com- 

 mittee on Military Affairs, moved to suspend 

 the rules, take from the Speaker's table and put 

 upon its passage the hill for the retirement of 

 Gen. Grant passed by the Senate in the first 

 session of the Forty-eighth Congress. Debate 

 was limited to half an hour, but it was bitter 

 if brief. Mr. Rosecrans, of California, opposed 

 the measure on its merits. He said : 



" It is my duty to say that in reality the bill 

 is a plain proposition to reward Gen. Grant for 

 his distinguished military services, and it is my 

 duty to say that I can not vote for that bill. 

 It is not my intention, sir, to recount any of 

 the historical reasons why I think that military 

 reputation has been exaggerated and misrepre- 



sented under the exigencies of party interest 

 and power ; and can only suggest that, when 

 true history comes to be written, it will be 

 pared down to very different dimensions. I do 

 not propose to go into that subject, sir, although 

 I am one of the four living army commanders 

 contemporary with him, and would feel quite 

 qualified to express opinions of my own on that 

 subject. But, Mr. Speaker, this House by the 

 passage of this bill is called upon by solemn 

 act to renew and reaffirm all the exaggerations 

 and misstatements of fact which have been 

 popularly impressed on the public mind under 

 the circumstances to which I have alluded. It 

 was the interest of a great political party of 

 this country to make the services of Gen. 

 Grant appear as large and important as possible, 

 for he was their servant and tool to secure 

 power. He himself kept an aide-de-camp in 

 his back office, and there prepared the first two 

 volumes of Badeau's ' Life of Grant,' upon 

 which the students of history have put the 

 stamp of unworthiness to be trusted." 



But the chief opposition was due to the com- 

 plication arising out of the Fitz-John Porter 

 veto. Mr. Horr, of Michigan, in voicing that 

 opposition, said : 



u There now lies on our table another bill 

 drawn by- Senator Edmunds, when that Senator 

 learned that this bill was open to objections 

 conscientiously held by the President winch 

 might prevent him from signing it. This latter 

 bill, drawn to obviate that difficulty, was passed 

 by the Senate and sent to this House, was be- 

 fore the committee now reporting this bill, and 

 they purposely refused to substitute that in 

 place of this measure, and reported this bill, 

 which they must have known was liable to 

 prevent Gen. Grant from being put on the re- 

 tired list. The last bill of Senator Edmunds 

 was before that committee, and an attempt was 

 made in that committee to substitute that bill 

 for this one upon the very ground that the posi- 

 tion of the President, conscientiously taken in 

 the Fitz-John Porter case, might prevent him 

 from signing this bill, and therefore prevent it 

 from ever becoming a law. But that commit- 

 tee, knowing and fully understanding this diffi- 

 culty, refused to make the change. 



" Mr. Speaker, I have spent twenty-two years 

 of my life standing by Gen. Grant and his char- 

 acter when lie has been vilified by men in this 

 nation as no other man ever was who breathed 

 the breath of life in the United States. And now 

 I say you attempt to force us here into a false 

 position, to force us to vote for a bill purposely 

 I say it advisedly purposely brought in here 

 to put the Executive of the nation, as one of 

 the gentlemen of the committee said, into a 

 tight place, knowing that his decision, conscien- 

 tiously made in another case, might, perhaps, 

 prevent him from signing this bill. Now, then, 

 gentlemen, if you will substitute the Edmunds 

 bill, which is not open to this objection, we will 

 vote for it unanimously on this side of the 

 House, and, if you want to place Gen. Grant on 



