Oliver Otis Howard, Autobiography of Oliver Otis Howard, major general , United States army : volume 2

[443] of the testimony, were spread extensively through the country, most injurious to General Howard, and utterly without support in the evidence. It is not in the power of the committee or of the House to repair this injustice or to compensate this faithful public officer for the indignity, anxiety, and expense which his defense has entailed upon him. All that is in our power is to recommend to the House the passage of the following resolution, as expressing our opinion of the whole case, and an act of justice to a faithful and distinguished public servant:

“ Resolved, That the policy pursued by the United States toward four and a half million of its people suddenly enfranchised by the events of a great Civil War, in seeking to provide for them education, to render them independent and self-supporting, and in extending to them civil and political equality, is a source of just national pride; and that the House hereby acquits Major General Oliver O. Howard of the groundless and causeless charges lately preferred against him, and does hereby declare and record its judgment, that in successfully organizing and administering with fidelity, integrity, and ability the Freedmen's Bureau, which has contributed so much to the accomplishment of the first two of these great ends, he is deserving of the gratitude of the American people.”

March 2, 1871, the House passed this resolution by a large majority. I was often subsequently assured by men in opposition to the Republican party, that it was because the first part of the resolution claimed so much credit for Republican action, that they voted no; but that so far as I was concerned the resolution was all right.

The minority of two of the committee reported two