Pine to Potomac

by E. K. Cressey

Mr. Blaine insisted that to the secretary of war and the president be restored the power that was taken from them at the last session,—to pardon any cadet discharged for any of these offences.

General Schenck joined him, and the amendment was adopted.

There is a little section of his speech on the Military Academy bill which shows his admiration for the telling power of manhood, and his utter scorn of sacrificing great ability, for which the nation was so loudly calling then, to little, simple things, good in themselves, but not of first importance, that we cannot forbear to give it. Here it is, verbatim, as he delivered it in congress:—

“Many of the cadets, sir, who have been very precise and decorous in their conduct in matters of petty discipline at the academy, and manage to pass through smoothly, often graduating with high rank obtained by very strict attention to ‘folding beds by 10 A. M.,’ and ‘drawing curtains by at precisely 6.45 A. M.’ (academy rules), are unfortunately never heard from afterwards. Their names do not always figure in the record of our bloody battles, and they have achieved no distinction in this war, with all its thousand opportunities, while on the other hand not a few of the graduates at the academy who at the Point had the ‘odor of tobacco in their rooms,’ and whose ‘floors were out of order near the wash-stand,’ have blazoned their names high on the roll of fame for conduct as gallant and skill as great as ever graced the battle-fields of any age country.”

Efficiency has ever been the test with him in his own work, and this he applies to others; as one has said, “We measure others in our own half-bushel; of course we do, we have no other.”

Early in the session he had a running debate which tried his metal, with Thayer, of Pennsylvania; Justin S. Morrill, of Vermont; James S. Wilson, of Iowa; General Schenck, of Ohio, and S. S. Cox, of Ohio yielding the floor for the purpose.

It was not only a proof of his knowledge, but also of his ability to use it on demand, and he showed himself equal to the exigency, and showed that he was generally found away on the lead in his discussion of constitutional measures and application of principles.

It is possible for a man to go over, in a long-winded speech, a vast amount of ground, which has been tramped as bare as the camp-ground of a brigade of soldiers, by a multitude of debaters; ground which has been surveyed, and staked out, and pre-empted, and owned for a century or more, and concerning which, as concerning the constitution there is no question. Such speeches as these wearied the progressive spirit of advanced ones, and made them restless when the fate of great interests hung on the decision of a few hours’ discussion. No one watched more closely the utterances of men upon the floor, or held them to a stricter account.

In presenting a minority report on amendment of rules for the government of the House, Mr. Morrill had placed some undue restriction upon the powers of congress, and courteously waiting until he had finished a long speech of ten or eleven columns, Mr. Blaine asked him whether the power of impeachment would not extend to cabinet officers, and so their attendance upon the sittings of the House be compelled, a point Mr. Morrill had denied.

There had been little demand for this power slumbering in the constitution,—power which was used upon a president shortly afterward,—but brought prominently to the attention of the House, and much light thrown on it by the answers tersely given to near a score of questions, members were pleased to ask Mr. Blaine, and while he was ready with abundant answers; clear and strong, and packed with knowledge of the highest legal type, he was ready as well if there was hint of an assailant in manner or tone, to thrust out a sharp, rising question which would almost take the breath of the man who might be after him. When General Schenck asked him if the secretary of war was a civil officer, his quick reply was, “I do not think that a ‘civil’ question.” Neither was it, for as member of the cabinet of course he was a civil officer, as much so as the president himself, who was by virtue of his office “Commander-in-chief of the armies of the Union.”