On the record
We decline to pledge ourselves that the debts incurred in aid of the Rebellion shall not in the future be paid by our States.
Source
gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Blaine articulates his position against paying debts incurred during the Rebellion, emphasizing his views on accountability.
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It is to the eminent credit of the Republican members of Congress that they stood in a crisis of this magnitude true to principle, firm against all the power and all the patronage of the Administration.
In turn, the course of the National Administration would certainly be influenced, and its fate in large degree determined, by the conduct of the Southern men, in whom the President was placing unbounded trust.
Crises often arise in the conduct of National affairs when cherished opinions must be sacrificed and new departures taken.
With whatever strength or prestige the President left Washington, he certainly returned to the Capital personally discredited and politically ruined.
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