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diff --git a/old/orig38809-h/images/portrait.jpg b/old/orig38809-h/images/portrait.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ba82c00 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/orig38809-h/images/portrait.jpg diff --git a/old/orig38809-h/images/titlepage.jpg b/old/orig38809-h/images/titlepage.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..08c0ea2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/orig38809-h/images/titlepage.jpg diff --git a/old/orig38809-h/main.htm b/old/orig38809-h/main.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3088e01 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/orig38809-h/main.htm @@ -0,0 +1,11930 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en"> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content="HTML-Kit Tools HTML Tidy plugin" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=us-ascii" /> +<title>The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Volume 9 (of 12) by Robert +G. Ingersoll</title> + +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[*/ + <!-- + body { text-align:justify} + P { margin:15%; + margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + hr.full { width: 100%; } + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + .play { margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; text-align: justify; font-size: 100%; } + img {border: 0;} + blockquote {font-size: 97%; margin-left: 30%; margin-right: 20%;} + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 1%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: left; + color: gray; + } /* page numbers */ + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 10%; margin-left: 1%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; + margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 35%; margin-bottom: .75em; font-size: 110%;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 5%;} + .indent {font-style: italic; font-size: 100%; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + CENTER { padding: 10px;} + PRE { font-family: Times; font-style: italic; font-size: 100%; margin-left: 25%;} + --> +/*]]>*/ +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div style="height: 8em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<a name="title" id="title"></a> +<h1>THE WORKS OF ROBERT G. INGERSOLL</h1> +<br /> +<h2>By Robert G. Ingersoll</h2> +<br /> +<br /> +<center>"HE LOVES HIS COUNTRY BEST WHO STRIVES TO MAKE IT +BEST."</center> +<br /> +<br /> +<h3>IN TWELVE VOLUMES, VOLUME IX.</h3> +<br /> +<h2>POLITICAL</h2> +<h3>DRESDEN EDITION</h3> +<br /> +<center><img alt="titlepage (62K)" src="images/titlepage.jpg" +height="1116" width="680" /></center> +<br /> +<br /> +<center><img alt="portrait (64K)" src="images/portrait.jpg" height= +"1090" width="710" /></center> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h2>Contents</h2> +<p class="toc"><a href="#linkTOC">CONTENTS OF VOLUME IX.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0001">AN ADDRESS TO THE COLORED +PEOPLE.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0002">SPEECH AT INDIANAPOLIS.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0003">CENTENNIAL ORATION.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0004">BANGOR SPEECH.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0005">COOPER UNION SPEECH, NEW +YORK.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0006">INDIANAPOLIS SPEECH.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0007">CHICAGO SPEECH.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0008">EIGHT TO SEVEN ADDRESS.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0009">HARD TIMES AND THE WAY +OUT.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0010">SUFFRAGE ADDRESS.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0011">WALL STREET SPEECH.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0012">BROOKLYN SPEECH.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0013">ADDRESS TO THE 86TH ILLINOIS +REGIMENT.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0014">DECORATION DAY ORATION.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0015">DECORATION DAY ADDRESS.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0016">RATIFICATION SPEECH.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0017">REUNION ADDRESS.</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0018">THE CHICAGO AND NEW YORK GOLD +SPEECH.</a></p> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="linkTOC" id="linkTOC"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>CONTENTS OF VOLUME IX.</h2> +<blockquote> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0001">AN ADDRESS TO THE COLORED +PEOPLE.</a></p> +<br /> +(1867.)<br /> +Slavery and its Justification by Law and Religion—Its +Destructive<br /> +Influence upon Nations—Inauguration of the Modern Slave Trade +by the<br /> +Portuguese Gonzales—Planted upon American Soil—The +Abolitionists,<br /> +Clarkson, Wilberforce, and Others—The Struggle in +England—Pioneers<br /> +in San Domingo, Oge and Chevannes—Early Op-posers of Slavery +in<br /> +America—William Lloyd Garrison—Wendell Phillips, +Charles Sumner, John<br /> +Brown—The Fugitive Slave Law—The Emancipation +Proclamation—Dread of<br /> +Education in the South—Advice to the Colored People.<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0006">INDIANAPOLIS SPEECH.</a></p> +<br /> +(1868.)<br /> +Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus—Precedent Established +by the<br /> +Revolutionary Fathers—Committees of Safety appointed by +the<br /> +Continental Congress—Arrest of Disaffected Persons in +Pennsylvania<br /> +and Delaware—Interference with Elections—Resolution of +Continental<br /> +Congress with respect to Citizens who Opposed the sending of +Deputies<br /> +to the Convention of New York—Penalty for refusing to take +Continental<br /> +Money or Pray for the American Cause—Habeas Corpus Suspended +during the<br /> +Revolution—Interference with Freedom of the +Press—Negroes Freed and<br /> +allowed to Fight in the Continental Army—Crispus +Attacks—An Abolition<br /> +Document issued by Andrew Jackson—Majority rule—Slavery +and the<br /> +Rebellion—Tribute to General Grant.<br /> +SPEECH NOMINATING BLAINE.<br /> +(1876.)<br /> +Note descriptive of the Occasion—Demand of the Republicans of +the<br /> +United States—Resumption—The Plumed Knight.<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0003">CENTENNIAL ORATION.</a></p> +<br /> +(1876.)<br /> +One Hundred Years ago, our Fathers retired the Gods from +Politics—The<br /> +Declaration of Independence—Meaning of the +Declaration—The Old Idea<br /> +of the Source of Political Power—Our Fathers Educated by +their<br /> +Surroundings—The Puritans—Universal Religious +Toleration declared by<br /> +the Catholics of Maryland—Roger Williams—Not All of our +Fathers in<br /> +favor of Independence—Fortunate Difference in Religious +Views—Secular<br /> +Government—Authority derived from the People—The +Declaration and<br /> +the Beginning of the War—What they Fought +For—Slavery—Results of<br /> +a Hundred Years of Freedom—The Declaration Carried out in +Letter and<br /> +Spirit.<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0004">BANGOR SPEECH.</a></p> +<br /> +(1876.)<br /> +The Hayes Campaign—Reasons for Voting the Republican +Ticket—Abolition<br /> +of Slavery—Preservation of the Union—Reasons for Not +Trusting the<br /> +Democratic Party—Record of the Republican +Party—Democrats Assisted<br /> +the South—Paper Money—Enfranchisement of the +Negroes—Samuel J.<br /> +Tilden—His Essay on Finance.<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0005">COOPER UNION SPEECH, NEW +YORK.</a></p> +COOPER UNION SPEECH, NEW YORK.<br /> +(1876.)<br /> +All Citizens Stockholders in the United States of +America—The<br /> +Democratic Party a Hungry Organization—Political +Parties<br /> +Contrasted—The Fugitive Slave Law a Disgrace to Hell in its +Palmiest<br /> +Days—Feelings of the Democracy Hurt on the Subject of +Religion—Defence<br /> +of Slavery in a Resolution of the Presbyterians, South—State +of the<br /> +Union at the Time the Republican Party was Born—Jacob +Thompson—The<br /> +National Debt—Protection of Citizens Abroad—Tammany +Hall: Its Relation<br /> +to the Penitentiary—The Democratic Party of New York +City—"What<br /> +Hands!"—Free Schools.<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0006">INDIANAPOLIS SPEECH.</a></p> +<br /> +(1876.)<br /> +Address to the Veteran Soldiers of the Rebellion—Objections +to<br /> +the Democratic Party—The Men who have been +Democrats—Why I am a<br /> +Republican—Free Labor and Free Thought—A Vision of +War—Democratic<br /> +Slander of the Greenback—Shall the People who Saved the +Country Rule<br /> +It?—On Finance—Government Cannot Create Money—The +Greenback Dollar<br /> +a Mortgage upon the Country—Guarantees that the Debt will be +Paid-'The<br /> +Thoroughbred and the Mule—The Column of July, Paris—The +Misleading<br /> +Guide Board, the Dismantled Mill, and the Place where there had +been a<br /> +Hotel,<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0007">CHICAGO SPEECH.</a></p> +<br /> +(1876.)<br /> +The Plea of "Let Bygones be Bygones"—Passport of the +Democratic<br /> +Party—Right of the General Government to send Troops into +Southern<br /> +States for the Protection of Colored People—Abram S. +Hewitt's<br /> +Congratulatory Letter to the Negroes—The Demand for Inflation +of the<br /> +Currency—Record of Rutherford B. Hayes—Contrasted with +Samuel J.<br /> +Tilden—Merits of the Republican Party—Negro and +Southern White—The<br /> +Superior Man—"No Nation founded upon Injustice can +Permanently Stand."<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0008">EIGHT TO SEVEN ADDRESS.</a></p> +<br /> +(1877.)<br /> +On the Electoral Commission—Reminiscences of the Hayes-Tilden +Camp—<br /> +Constitution of the Electoral College—Characteristics of the +Members—<br /> +Frauds at the Ballot Box Poisoning the Fountain of +Power—Reforms<br /> +Suggested—Elections too Frequent—The Professional +Office-seeker—A<br /> +Letter on Civil Service Reform—Young Men Advised against +Government<br /> +Clerkships—Too Many Legislators and too Much +Legislation—Defect in the<br /> +Constitution as to the Mode of Electing a +President—Protection of<br /> +Citizens by State and General Governments—The Dual Government +in South<br /> +Carolina—Ex-Rebel Key in the President's +Cabinet—Implacables and<br /> +Bourbons South and North—"I extend to you each and all the +Olive Branch<br /> +of Peace."<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0009">HARD TIMES AND THE WAY +OUT.</a></p> +<br /> +(1878.)<br /> +Capital and Labor—What is a Capitalist?—The Idle and +the Industrious<br /> +Artisans—No Conflict between Capital and Labor—A Period +of Inflation<br /> +and Speculation—Life and Fire Insurance Agents—Business +done on<br /> +Credit—The Crash, Failure, and Bankruptcy—Fall in the +Price of Real<br /> +Estate a Form of Resumption—Coming back to +Reality—Definitions of<br /> +Money Examined—Not Gold and Silver but Intelligent Labor the +Measure<br /> +of Value—Government cannot by Law Create Wealth—A Bill +of Fare not<br /> +a Dinner—Fiat Money—American Honor Pledged to the +Maintenance of the<br /> +Greenbacks—The Cry against Holders of Bonds—Criminals +and Vagabonds to<br /> +be supported—Duty of Government to Facilitate +Enterprise—More Men must<br /> +Cultivate the Soil—Government Aid for the Overcoming of +Obstacles too<br /> +Great for Individual Enterprise—The Palace Builders the +Friends of<br /> +Labor—Extravagance the best Form of Charity—Useless to +Boost a Man<br /> +who is not Climbing—The Reasonable Price for Labor—The +Vagrant and his<br /> +strange and winding Path—What to tell the Working Men.<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0010">SUFFRAGE ADDRESS.</a></p> +<br /> +(1880.)<br /> +The Right to Vote—All Women who desire the Suffrage should +have<br /> +It—Shall the People of the District of Columbia Manage their +Own<br /> +Affairs—Their Right to a Representative in Congress and an +Electoral<br /> +Vote—Anomalous State of Affairs at the Capital of the +Republic—Not the<br /> +Wealthy and Educated alone should Govern—The Poor as +Trustworthy as the<br /> +Rich—Strict Registration Laws Needed.<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0011">WALL STREET SPEECH.</a></p> +<br /> +(1880.)<br /> +Obligation of New York to Protect the Best Interests of the<br /> +Country—Treason and Forgery of the Democratic Party in its +Appeal to<br /> +Sword and Pen—The One Republican in the Penitentiary of +Maine—The<br /> +Doctrine of State Sovereignty—Protection for American Brain +and<br /> +Muscle—Hancock on the Tariff—A Forgery (the Morey +letter) Committed<br /> +and upheld—The Character of James A. Garfield.<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0012">BROOKLYN SPEECH.</a></p> +<br /> +(1880.)<br /> +Introduced by Henry Ward Beecher (note)—Some Patriotic<br /> +Democrats—Freedom of Speech North and South—An Honest +Ballot—<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0013">ADDRESS TO THE 86TH ILLINOIS +REGIMENT.</a></p> +<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0014">DECORATION DAY ORATION.</a></p> +<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0015">DECORATION DAY ADDRESS.</a></p> +<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0016">RATIFICATION SPEECH.</a></p> +<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0017">REUNION ADDRESS.</a></p> +<br /> +<p class="toc"><a href="#link0018">THE CHICAGO AND NEW YORK GOLD +SPEECH.</a></p> +<br /></blockquote> +<a name="link0001" id="link0001"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>AN ADDRESS TO THE COLORED PEOPLE.</h2> +<pre> + * An address delivered to the colored people at Galesburg, + Illinois, 1867. +</pre> +<p>FELLOW-CITIZENS—Slavery has in a thousand forms existed in +all ages, and among all people. It is as old as theft and +robbery.</p> +<p>Every nation has enslaved its own people, and sold its own flesh +and blood. Most of the white race are in slavery to-day. It has +often been said that any man who ought to be free, will be. The men +who say this should remember that their own ancestors were once +cringing, frightened, helpless slaves.</p> +<p>When they became sufficiently educated to cease enslaving their +own people, they then enslaved the first race they could conquer. +If they differed in religion, they enslaved them. If they differed +in color, that was sufficient. If they differed even in language, +it was enough. If they were captured, they then pretended that +having spared their lives, they had the right to enslave them. This +argument was worthless. If they were captured, then there was no +necessity for killing them. If there was no necessity for killing +them, then they had no right to kill them. If they had no right to +kill them, then they had no right to enslave them under the +pretence that they had saved their lives.</p> +<p>Every excuse that the ingenuity of avarice could devise was +believed to be a complete justification, and the great argument of +slaveholders in all countries has been that slavery is a divine +institution, and thus stealing human beings has always been +fortified with a "Thus saith the Lord."</p> +<p>Slavery has been upheld by law and religion in every country. +The word Liberty is not in any creed in the world. Slavery is right +according to the law of man, shouted the judge. It is right +according to the law of God, shouted the priest. Thus sustained by +what they were pleased to call the law of God and man, slaveholders +never voluntarily freed the slaves, with the exception of the +Quakers. The institution has in all ages been clung to with the +tenacity of death; clung to until it sapped and destroyed the +foundations of society; clung to until all law became violence; +clung to until virtue was a thing only of history; clung to until +industry folded its arms—until commerce reefed every +sail—until the fields were desolate and the cities silent, +except where the poor free asked for bread, and the slave for +mercy; clung to until the slave forging the sword of civil war from +his fetters drenched the land in the master's blood. Civil war has +been the great liberator of the world.</p> +<p>Slavery has destroyed every nation that has gone down to death. +It caused the last vestige of Grecian civilization to disappear +forever, and it caused Rome to fall with a crash that shook the +world. After the disappearance of slavery in its grossest forms in +Europe, Gonzales pointed out to his countrymen, the Portuguese, the +immense profits that they could make by stealing Africans, and thus +commenced the modern slave-trade—that aggregation of all +horror—that infinite of all cruelty, prosecuted only by +demons, and defended only by fiends. And yet the slave-trade has +been defended and sustained by every civilized nation, and by each +and all has been baptized "Legitimate commerce," in the name of the +Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost:</p> +<p>It was even justified upon the ground that it tended to +Christianize the negro.</p> +<p>It was of the poor hypocrites who had used this argument that +Whittier said,</p> +<pre> + "They bade the slaveship speed from coast to coast, + Fanned by the wings of the Holy Ghost." +</pre> +<p>Backed and supported by such Christian and humane arguments +slavery was planted upon our soil in 1620, and from that day to +this it has been the cause of all our woes, of all the +bloodshed—of all the heart-burnings—hatred and horrors +of more than two hundred years, and yet we hated to part with the +beloved institution. Like Pharaoh we would not let the people go. +He was afflicted with vermin, with frogs—with water turned to +blood—with several kinds of lice, and yet would not let the +people go. We were afflicted with worse than all these +combined—the Northern Democracy—before we became grand +enough to say, "Slavery shall be eradicated from the soil of the +Republic." When we reached this sublime moral height we were +successful. The Rebellion was crushed and liberty established.</p> +<p>A majority of the civilized world is for freedom—nearly +all the Christian denominations are for liberty. The world has +changed—the people are nobler, better and purer than +ever.</p> +<p>Every great movement must be led by heroic and self-sacrificing +pioneers. In England, in Christian England, the soul of the +abolition cause was Thomas Clarkson. To the great cause of human +freedom he devoted his life. He won over the eloquent and glorious +Wilberforce, the great Pitt, the magnificent orator, Burke, and +that far-seeing and humane statesman, Charles James Fox.</p> +<p>In 1788 a resolution was introduced in the House of Commons +declaring that the slave trade ought to be abolished. It was +defeated. Learned lords opposed it. They said that too much capital +was invested by British merchants in the slave-trade. That if it +were abolished the ships would rot at the wharves, and that English +commerce would be swept from the seas. Sanctified +Bishops—lords spiritual—thought the scheme fanatical, +and various resolutions to the same effect were defeated.</p> +<p>The struggle lasted twenty years, and yet during all those years +in which England refused to abolish the hellish trade, that nation +had the impudence to send missionaries all over the world to make +converts to a religion that in their opinion, at least, allowed man +to steal his brother man—that allowed one Christian to rob +another of his wife, his child, and of that greatest of all +blessings—his liberty. It was not until the year 1808 that +England was grand and just enough to abolish the slave-trade, and +not until 1833 that slavery was abolished in all her colonies.</p> +<p>The name of Thomas Clarkson should be remembered and honored +through all coming time by every black man, and by every white man +who loves liberty and hates cruelty and injustice.</p> +<p>Clarkson, Wilberforce, Pitt, Fox, Burke, were the Titans that +swept the accursed slaver from that highway—the sea.</p> +<p>In St. Domingo the pioneers were Oge and Chevannes; they headed +a revolt; they were unsuccessful, but they roused the slaves to +resistance. They were captured, tried, condemned and executed. They +were made to ask forgiveness of God, and of the King, for having +attempted to give freedom to their own flesh and blood. They were +broken alive on the wheel, and left to die of hunger and pain. The +blood of these martyrs became the seed of liberty; and afterward in +the midnight assault, in the massacre and pillage, the infuriated +slaves shouted their names as their battle-cry, until Toussaint, +the greatest of the blacks, gave freedom to them all.</p> +<p>In the United States, among the Revolutionary fathers, such men +as John Adams, and his son John Quincy—such men as Franklin +and John Jay were opposed to the institution of slavery. Thomas +Jefferson said, speaking of the slaves, "When the measure of their +tears shall be full—when their groans shall have involved +heaven itself in darkness—doubtless a God of justice will +awaken to their distress, and by diffusing light and liberality +among their oppressors, or at length by his exterminating thunder +manifest his attention to the things of this world, and that they +are not left to the guidance of a blind fatality."</p> +<p>Thomas Paine said, "No man can be happy surrounded by those +whose happiness he has destroyed." And a more self-evident +proposition was never uttered.</p> +<p>These and many more Revolutionary heroes were opposed to slavery +and did what they could to prevent the establishment and spread of +this most wicked and terrible of all institutions.</p> +<p>You owe gratitude to those who were for liberty as a principle +and not from mere necessity. You should remember with more than +gratitude that firm, consistent and faithful friend of your +downtrodden race, Wm. Lloyd Garrison. He has devoted his life to +your cause. Many years ago in Boston he commenced the publication +of a paper devoted to liberty. Poor and despised—friendless +and almost alone, he persevered in that grandest and holiest of all +possible undertakings. He never stopped, or stayed, or paused until +the chain was broken and the last slave could lift his toil-worn +face to heaven with the light of freedom shining down upon him, and +say, I am a Free Man.</p> +<p>You should not forget that noble philanthropist, Wendell +Phillips, and your most learned and eloquent defender, Charles +Sumner.</p> +<p>But the real pioneer in America was old John Brown. Moved not by +prejudice, not by love of his blood, or his color, but by an +infinite love of Liberty, of Right, of Justice, almost +single-handed, he attacked the monster, with thirty million people +against him. His head was wrong. He miscalculated his forces; but +his heart was right. He struck the sublimest blow of the age for +freedom. It was said of him that, he stepped from the gallows to +the throne of God. It was said that he had made the scaffold to +Liberty what Christ had made the cross to Christianity. The sublime +Victor Hugo declared that John Brown was greater than Washington, +and that his name would live forever.</p> +<p>I say, that no man can be greater than the man who bravely and +heroically sacrifices his life for the good of others. No man can +be greater than the one who meets death face to face, and yet will +not shrink from what he believes to be his highest duty. If the +black people want a patron saint, let them take the brave old John +Brown. And as the gentleman who preceded me said, at all your +meetings, never separate until you have sung the grand song,</p> +<pre> + "John Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave, + But his soul goes marching on." +</pre> +<p>You do not, in my opinion, owe a great debt of gratitude to many +of the white people.</p> +<p>Only a few years ago both parties agreed to carry out the +Fugitive Slave Law. If a woman ninety-nine one-hundredths white had +fled from slavery—had traveled through forests, crossed +rivers, and through countless sufferings had got within one step of +Canada—of free soil—with the light of the North Star +shining in her eyes, and her babe pressed to her withered breast, +both parties agreed to clutch her and hand her back to the dominion +of the hound and lash. Both parties, as parties, were willing to do +this when the Rebellion commenced.</p> +<p>The truth is, we had to give you your liberty. There came a time +in the history of the war when, defeated at the ballot box and in +the field—driven to the shattered gates of eternal +chaos—we were forced to make you free; and on the first day +of January, 1863, the justice so long delayed was done, and four +millions of people were lifted from the condition of beasts of +burden to the sublime heights of freedom. Lincoln, the immortal, +issued, and the men of the North sustained the great +proclamation.</p> +<p>As in the war there came a time when we were forced to make you +free, so in the history of reconstruction came a time when we were +forced to make you citizens; when we were forced to say that you +should vote, and that you should have and exercise all the rights +that we claim for ourselves.</p> +<p>And to-day I am in favor of giving you every right that I claim +for myself.</p> +<p>In reconstructing the Southern States, we could take our choice, +either give the ballot to the negro, or allow the rebels to rule. +We preferred loyal blacks to disloyal whites, because we believed +liberty safer in the hands of its friends than in those of its +foes.</p> +<p>We must be for freedom everywhere. Freedom is +progress—slavery is desolation, cruelty and want.</p> +<p>Freedom invents—slavery forgets. The problem of the slave +is to do the least work in the longest space of time. The problem +of free men is to do the greatest amount of work in the shortest +space of time. The free man, working for wife and children, gets +his head and his hands in partnership.</p> +<p>Freedom has invented every useful machine, from the lowest to +the highest, from the simplest to the most complex. Freedom +believes in education—the salvation of slavery is +ignorance.</p> +<p>The South always dreaded the alphabet. They looked upon each +letter as an abolitionist, and well they might. With a scent keener +than their own bloodhounds they detected everything that could, +directly or indirectly, interfere with slavery. They knew that when +slaves begin to think, masters begin to tremble. They knew that +free thought would destroy them; that discussion could not be +endured; that a free press would liberate every slave; and so they +mobbed free thought, and put an end to free discussion and +abolished a free press, and in fact did all the mean and infamous +things they could, that slavery might live, and that liberty might +perish from among men.</p> +<p>You are now citizens of many of the States, and in time you will +be of all. I am astonished when I think how long it took to abolish +the slave-trade, how long it took to abolish slavery in this +country. I am also astonished to think that a few years ago +magnificent steamers went down the Mississippi freighted with your +fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters, and maybe some of you, +bound like criminals, separated from wives, from husbands, every +human feeling laughed at and outraged, sold like beasts, carried +away from homes to work for another, receiving for pay only the +marks of the lash upon the naked back. I am astonished at these +things. I hate to think that all this was done under the +Constitution of the United States, under the flag of my country, +under the wings of the eagle.</p> +<p>The flag was not then what it is now. It was a mere rag in +comparison. The eagle was a buzzard, and the Constitution +sanctioned the greatest crime of the world.</p> +<p>I wonder that you—the black people—have forgotten +all this. I wonder that you ask a white man to address you on this +occasion, when the history of your connection with the white race +is written in your blood and tears—is still upon your flesh, +put there by the branding-iron and the lash.</p> +<p>I feel like asking your forgiveness for the wrongs that my race +has inflicted upon yours. If, in the future, the wheel of fortune +should take a turn, and you should in any country have white men in +your power, I pray you not to execute the villainy we have taught +you.</p> +<p>One word in conclusion. You have your liberty—use it to +benefit your race. Educate yourselves, educate your children, send +teachers to the South. Let your brethren there be educated. Let +them know something of art and science. Improve yourselves, stand +by each other, and above all be in favor of liberty the world +over.</p> +<p>The time is coming when you will be' allowed to be good and +useful citizens of the Great Republic. This is your country as much +as it is mine. You have the same rights here that I have—the +same interest that I have. The avenues of distinction will be open +to you and your children. Great advances have been made. The rebels +are now opposed to slavery—the Democratic party is opposed to +slavery, <i>as they say</i>. There is going to be no war of races. +Both parties want your votes in the South, and there will be just +enough negroes without principle to join the rebels to make them +think they will get more, and so the rebels will treat the negroes +well. And the Republicans will be sure to treat them well in order +to prevent any more joining the rebels.</p> +<p>The great problem is solved. Liberty has solved it—and +there will be no more slavery. On the old flag, on every fold and +on every star will be liberty for all, equality before the law. The +grand people are marching forward, and they will not pause until +the earth is without a chain, and without a throne.</p> +<a name="link0002" id="link0002"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>SPEECH AT INDIANAPOLIS.</h2> +<pre> + * Hon. Robert G. Ingersoll, Attorney-General of Illinois, + spoke at the Rink last night to a large and appreciative + audience among whom were many ladies. The distinguished + speaker was escorted to the Rink by the battalion of the + Fighting Boys in Blue. Col. Ingersoll spoke at a great + disadvantage in having so large a hall to fill, but he has a + splendid voice and so overcame the difficulty. The audience + liberally applauded the numerous passages of eloquence and + humor in Col. Ingersoll's speeeh, and listened with the best + attention to his powerful argument, nor could they have done + otherwise, for the speaker has a national reputation and did + himself full justice last night—The Journal, Indianapolis, + Indiana, September 23, 1868. +</pre> +<center>GRANT CAMPAIGN</center> +<p>THE Democratic party, so-called, have several charges which they +make against the Republican party. They give us a variety of +reasons why the Republican party should no longer be entrusted with +the control of this country. Among other reasons they say that the +Republican party during the war was guilty of arresting citizens +without due process of law—that we arrested Democrats and put +them in jail without indictment, in Lincoln bastiles, without +making an affidavit before a Justice of the Peace—that on +some occasions we suspended the writ of <i>habeas corpus</i>, that +we put some Democrats in jail without their being indicted. I am +sorry we did not put more. I admit we arrested some of them without +an affidavit filed before a Justice of the Peace. I sincerely +regret that we did not arrest more. I admit that for a few hours on +one or two occasions we interfered with the freedom of the press; I +sincerely regret that the Government allowed a sheet to exist that +did not talk on the side of this Government.</p> +<p>I admit that we did all these things.</p> +<p>It is only proper and fair that we should answer these charges. +Unless the Republican party can show that they did these things +either according to the strict letter of law, according to the +highest precedent, or from the necessity of the case, then we must +admit that our party did wrong. You know as well as I that every +Democratic orator talks about the fathers, about Washington and +Jackson, Madison, Jefferson, and many others; they tell us about +the good old times when politicians were pure, when you could get +justice in the courts, when Congress was honest, when the political +parties differed, and differed kindly and honestly; and they are +shedding crocodile tears day after day—praying that the good +old honest times might return again. They tell you that the members +of this radical party are nothing like the men of the Revolution. +Let us see.</p> +<p>I lay this down as a proposition, that we had a right to do +anything to preserve this Government that our fathers had a right +to do to found it. If they had a right to put Tories in jail, to +suspend the writ of <i>habeas corpus</i>, and on some occasions +<i>corpus</i>, in order to found this Government, we had a right to +put rebels and Democrats in jail and to suspend the writ of +<i>habeas corpus</i> in order to preserve the Government they thus +formed. If they had a right to interfere with the freedom of the +press in order that liberty might be planted upon this soil, we had +a right to do the same thing to prevent the tree from being +destroyed. In a word, we had a right to do anything to preserve +this Government which they had a right to do to found it.</p> +<p>Did our fathers arrest Tories without writs, without +indictments—did they interfere with the personal rights of +Tories in the name of liberty—did they have Washington +bastiles, did they have Jefferson jails—did they have +dungeons in the time of the Revolution in which they put men that +dared talk against this country and the liberties of the colonies? +I propose to show that they did—that where we imprisoned one +they imprisoned a hundred—that where we interfered with +personal liberty once they did it a hundred times—that they +carried on a war that <i>was</i> a war—that they knew that +when an appeal was made to force that was the end of law—that +they did not attempt to gain their liberties through a Justice of +the Peace or through a Grand Jury; that they appealed to force and +the God of battles, and that any man who sought their protection +and at the same time was against them and their cause they took by +the nape of the neck and put in jail, where he ought to have +been.</p> +<p>The old Continental Congress in 1774 and 1776 had made up their +minds that we ought to have something like liberty in these +colonies, and the first step they took toward securing that end was +to provide for the selection of a committee in every county and +township, with a view to examining and finding out how the people +stood touching the liberty of the colonies, and if they found a man +that was not in favor of it, the people would not have anything to +do with him politically, religiously, or socially. That was the +first step they took, and a very sensible step it was.</p> +<p>What was the next step? They found that these men were so lost +to every principle of honor that they did not hurt them any by +disgracing them.</p> +<p>So they passed the following resolution which explains +itself:</p> +<p><i>Resolved</i>. That it be recommended to the several +provincial assemblies or conventions or councils, or committees of +safety, to arrest and secure every person in their respective +colonies whose going at large, may, in their opinion, endanger the +safety of the colony or the liberties of America.—Journal of +Congress, vol. 1, page 149.</p> +<p>What was the Committee of Safety? Was it a Justice of the Peace? +No. Was it a Grand Jury? No. It was simply a committee of five or +seven persons, more or less, appointed to watch over the town or +county and see that these Tories were attending to their business +and not interfering with the rights of the colonies. Whom were they +to thus arrest and secure? Every man that had committed +murder—that had taken up arms against America, or voted the +Democratic or Tory ticket? No. "Every person whose going at large +might in their opinion, endanger the safety of the colony or the +liberties of America." It was not necessary that they had committed +any overt act, but if in the opinion of this council of safety, it +was dangerous to let them run at large they were locked up. Suppose +that we had done that during the last war? You would have had to +build several new jails in this county. What a howl would have gone +up all over this State if we had attempted such a thing as that, +and yet we had a perfect right to do anything to preserve our +liberties, which our fathers had a right to do to obtain them.</p> +<p>What more did they do? In 1777 the same Congress that signed the +immortal Declaration of Independence (and I think they knew as much +about liberty and the rights of men as any Democrat in Marion +county) adopted another resolution:</p> +<p><i>Resolved</i>. That it be recommended to the Executive powers +of the several States, forthwith to apprehend and secure all +persons who have in their general conduct and conversation evinced +a disposition inimical to the cause of America, and that the +persons so seized be confined in such places and treated in such +manner as shall be consistent with their several characters and +security of their persons.—-Journal of Congress, vol. 2, p. +246.</p> +<p>If they had talked as the Democrats talked during the late +war—if they had called the soldiers, "Washington hirelings," +and if when they allowed a few negroes to help them fight, had +branded the struggle for liberty as an abolition war, they would be +"apprehended and confined in such places and treated in such manner +as was consistent with their characters and security of their +persons," and yet all they did was to show a disposition inimical +to the independence of America. If we had pursued a policy like +that during the late war, nine out of ten of the members of the +Democratic party would have been in jail—there would not have +been jails and prisons enough on the face of the whole earth to +hold them. .</p> +<p>Now, when a Democrat talks to you about Lincoln bastiles, just +quote this to him:</p> +<p><i>Whereas</i>, The States of Pennsylvania and Delaware are +threatened with an immediate invasion from a powerful army, who +have already landed at the head of Chesapeake Bay; and whereas, The +principles of sound policy and self-preservation require that +persons who may be reasonably suspected of aiding or abetting the +cause of the enemy may be prevented from pursuing measures +injurious to the general weal,</p> +<p><i>Resolved</i>, That the executive authorities of the States of +Pennsylvania and Delaware be requested to cause all persons within +their respective States, notoriously disaffected, to be +apprehended, disarmed and secured until such time as the respective +States think they may be released without injury to the common +cause.—-Journal of Congress, vol. 2, p. 240.</p> +<p>That is what they did with them. When there was an invasion +threatened the good State of Indiana, if we had said we will +imprison all men who by their conduct and conversation show that +they are inimical to our cause, we would have been obliged to +import jails and corral Democrats as we did mules in the army. Our +fathers knew that the flag was never intended to protect any man +who wanted to assail it.</p> +<p>What more did they do? There was a man by the name of David +Franks, who wrote a letter and wanted to send it to England. In +that letter he gave it as his opinion that the colonies were +becoming disheartened and sick of the war. The heroic and chivalric +fathers of the Revolution violated the mails, took the aforesaid +letter and then they took the aforesaid David Franks by the collar +and put him in jail. Then they passed a resolution in Congress that +inasmuch as the said letter showed a disposition inimical to the +liberties of the United States, Major General Arnold be requested +to cause the said David Franks to be forthwith arrested, put in +jail and confined till the further order of Congress. (Jour. Cong., +vol. 3, p. 96 and 97.)</p> +<p>How many Democrats wrote letters during the war declaring that +the North never could conquer the South? How many wrote letters to +the soldiers in the army telling them to shed no more fraternal +blood in that suicidal and unchristian war? It would have taken all +the provost marshals in the United States to arrest the Democrats +in Indiana who were guilty of that offence. And yet they are +talking about our fathers being such good men, while they are +cursing us fordoing precisely what they did, only to a less extent +than they did.</p> +<p>We are still on the track of the old Continental Congress. I +want you to understand the spirit that animated those men. They +passed a resolution which is particularly applicable to the +Democrats during the war:</p> +<p>With respect to all such unworthy Americans as, regardless of +their duty to their Creator, their country, and their posterity, +have taken part with our oppressors, and, influenced by the hope or +possession of ignominious rewards, strive to recommend themselves +to the bounty of the administration by misrepresenting and +traducing the conduct and principles of the friends of American +liberty, and opposing every measure formed for its preservation and +security,</p> +<p><i>Resolved</i>, That it be recommended to the different +assemblies, conventions and committees or councils of safety in the +United Colonies, by the most speedy and effectual measures, to +frustrate the mischievous machinations and restrain the wicked +practices of these men. And it is the opinion of this Congress that +they ought to be disarmed and the more dangerous among them either +kept in safe custody or bound with sufficient sureties for their +good behavior.</p> +<p>And in order that the said assemblies, conventions, committees +or councils of safety may be enabled with greater ease and facility +to carry this resolution into execution,</p> +<p><i>Resolved</i>, That they be authorized to call to their aid +whatever Continental troops stationed in or near their respective +colonies that may be conveniently spared from their more immediate +duties, and commanding officers of such troops are hereby directed +to afford the said assemblies, conventions, committees or councils +of safety, all such assistance in executing this resolution as they +may require, and which, consistent with the good of the service, +may be supplied—Journal of Congress, vol. i, p. 22,</p> +<p>Do you hear that, Democrat? The old Continental Congress said to +these committees and councils of safety: "Whenever you want to +arrest any of these scoundrels, call on the Continental troops." +And General Washington, the commander-in-chief of the army, and the +officers under him, were directed to aid in the enforcement of all +the measures adopted with reference to disaffected and dangerous +persons. And what had these persons done? Simply shown by their +conversation, and letters directed to their friends, that they were +opposed to the cause of American liberty. They did not even spare +the Governors of States. They were not appalled by any official +position that a Tory might hold. They simply said, "If you are not +in favor of American liberty, we will put you 'where the dogs won't +bite you.'" One of these men was Governor Eden of Maryland. +Congress passed a resolution requesting the Council of Safety of +Maryland to seize and secure his person and papers, and send such +of them as related to the American dispute to Congress without +delay. At the same time the person and papers of another man, one +Alexander Ross, were seized in the same manner. Ross was put in +jail, and his papers transmitted to Congress.</p> +<p>There was a fellow by the name of Parke and another by the name +of Morton, who presumed to undertake a journey from Philadelphia to +New York without getting a pass. Congress ordered them to be +arrested and imprisoned until further orders. They did not wait to +have an affidavit filed before a Justice of the Peace. They took +them by force and put them in jail, and that was the end of it. So +much for the policy of the fathers, in regard to arbitrary +arrests.</p> +<p>During the war there was a great deal said about our +occasionally interfering with the elections. Let us see how the +fathers stood upon that question.</p> +<p>They held a convention in the State of New York in Revolutionary +times, and there were some gentlemen in Queens County that were +playing the role of Kentucky—they were going to be +neutral—they refused to vote to send deputies to the +convention—they stood upon their dignity just as Kentucky +stood upon hers—a small place to stand on, the Lord knows. +What did our fathers do with them? They denounced them as unworthy +to be American citizens and hardly fit to live. Here is a +resolution adopted by the Continental Congress on the 3d of +January, 1776:</p> +<p><i>Resolved</i>, That all such persons in Queens County +aforesaid as voted against sending deputies to the present +Convention of New York, and named in a list of delinquents in +Queens County, published by the Convention of New York, be put out +of the protection of the United Colonies, and that all trade and +intercourse with them cease; that none of the inhabitants of that +county be permitted to travel or abide in any part of these United +Colonies out of their said colony without a certificate from the +Convention or Committee of Safety of the Colony of New York, +setting forth that such inhabitant is a friend of the American +cause, and not of the number of those who voted against sending +deputies to the said Convention, and that such of the inhabitants +as shall be found out of the said county without such certificate, +be apprehended and imprisoned three months.</p> +<p><i>Resolved</i>, That no attorney or lawyer ought to commence, +prosecute or defend any action at law of any kind, for any of the +said inhabitants of Queens County, who voted against sending +deputies to the Convention as aforesaid, and such attorney or +lawyer as shall countenance this revolution, are enemies to the +American cause, and shall be treated accordingly.</p> +<p>What had they done? Simply voted against sending delegates to +the convention, and yet the fathers not only put them out of the +protection of law, but prohibited any lawyer from appearing in +their behalf in a court. Democrats, don't you wish we had treated +you that way during the war?</p> +<p>What more did they do? They ordered a company of troops from +Connecticut, and two or three companies from New Jersey, to go into +the State of New York, and take away from every person who had +voted against sending deputies to the convention, all his arms, and +if anybody refused to give up his arms, they put him in jail. Don't +you wish you had lived then, my friend Democrat? Don't you wish you +had prosecuted the war as our fathers prosecuted the +Revolution?</p> +<p>I now want to show you how far they went in this direction. A +man by the name of Sutton, who lived on Long Island, had been going +around giving his constitutional opinions upon the war. They had +him arrested, and went on to resolve that he should be taken from +Philadelphia, pay the cost of transportation himself, be put in +jail there, and while in jail should board himself. Wouldn't a +Democrat have had a hard scramble for victuals if we had carried +out that idea? Just see what outrageous and terrible things the +fathers did. And why did they do it? Because they saw that in order +to establish the liberties of America it was necessary they should +take the Tory by the throat just as it was necessary for us to take +rebels by the throat during the late war.</p> +<p>They had paper money in those days—shin-plasters—and +some of the Democrats of those times had legal doubts about this +paper currency. One of these Democrats, Thomas Harriott, was called +before a Committee of Safety of New York, and there convicted of +having refused to receive in payment the Continental bills. The +committee of New York conceiving that he was a dangerous person, +informed the Provincial Congress of the facts in the case, and +inquired whether Congress thought he ought to go at large. Upon +receipt of this information by Congress an order for the +imprisonment of the offender was passed, as follows:</p> +<p><i>Resolved</i>, That the General Committee of the city of New +York be requested and authorized, and are hereby requested and +authorized to direct that Thomas Harriott be committed to close +jail in this city, there to remain until further orders of this +Congress.—Amer. Archives, 4th series, vol. 6, P. i, 344.</p> +<p>And yet all that he had done was to refuse to take Continental +money. He had simply given his opinion on the legal tender law, +just as the Democrats of Indiana did in regard to greenbacks, and +as a few circuit judges decided when they declared the Legal Tender +Act unconstitutional. It would have been perfectly proper and right +that they, every man of them, should be, like Thomas Harriott, +"committed to close jail, there to remain until further +orders."</p> +<p>Did our forefathers ever interfere with religion? Yes, they did +with a preacher by the name of Daniels, because he would not pray +for the American cause. He thought he could coax the Lord to beat +us. They said to him, "You pray on our side, sir." He would not do +it, and so they put him in jail and gave him work enough to pray +himself out, and it took him some time to do it. They interfered +with a <i>lack</i> of religion. They believed that a Tory or +traitor in the pulpit was no better than anybody else. That is the +way I have sometimes felt during the war. I have thought that I +would like to see some of those white cravatted gentlemen "snaked" +right out of the pulpits where they had dared to utter their +treason, and set to playing checkers through a grated window.</p> +<p>It is not possible that our fathers ever interfered with the +writ of <i>habeas corpus</i>, is it? Yes sir. Our fathers advocated +the doctrine that the good of the people is the supreme law of the +land. They also advocated the doctrine that in the midst of armies +law falls to the ground; the doctrine that when a country is in war +it is to be governed by the laws of war. They thought that laws +were made for the protection of good citizens, for the punishment +of citizens that were bad, when they were not too bad or too +numerous; then they threw the law-book down while they took the +cannon and whipped the badness out of them; that is the next step, +when the stones you throw, and kind words, and grass have failed. +They said, why did we not appeal to law? We did; but it did no +good. A large portion of the people were up in arms in defiance of +law, and there was only one way to put them down, and that was by +force of arms; and whenever an appeal is made to force, that force +is governed by the law of war.</p> +<p>The fathers suspended the writ in the case of a man who had +committed an offence in the State of New York. They sent him to the +State of Connecticut to be confined, just as men were sent from +Indiana to Fort Lafayette. The attorneys came before the convention +of New York to hear the matter inquired into, but the committee of +the convention to whom the matter was referred refused to inquire +into the original cause of commitment—a direct denial of the +authority of the writ. The writ of <i>habeas corpus</i> merely +brings the body before the judge that he may inquire why he is +imprisoned. They refused to make any such inquiry. Their action was +endorsed by the convention and the gentleman was sent to +Connecticut and put in jail. They not only did these things in one +instance, but in a thousand. They took men from Maryland and put +them in prison in Pennsylvania, and they took men from Pennsylvania +and confined them in Maryland, Whenever they thought the Tories +were so thick at one point that the rascals might possibly be +released, they took them somewhere else.</p> +<p>They did not interfere with the freedom of the press, did they? +Yes, sir. They found a gentleman who was speaking and writing +against the liberties of the colonies, and they just took his paper +away from him, and gave it to a man who ran it in the interest of +the colonies, using the Tory's type and press. [A voice—That +was right.] Right! of course it was right. What right has a +newspaper in Indiana to talk against the cause for which your son +is laying down his life on the field of battle? What right has any +man to make it take thousands of men more to crush a rebellion? +What right has any man protected by the American flag to do all in +his power to put it in the hands of the enemies of his country? The +same right that any man has to be a rascal, a thief and +traitor—no other right under heaven. Our fathers had sense +enough to see that, and they said, "One gentleman in the rear +printing against our noble cause, will cost us hundreds of noble +lives at the front." Why have you a right to take a rebel's horse? +Because it helps you and weakens the enemy. That is by the law of +war. That is the principle upon which they seized the Tory printing +press. They had the right to do it. And if I had had the power in +this country, no man should have said a word, or written a line, or +printed anything against the cause for which the heroic men of the +North sacrificed their lives. I would have enriched the soil of +this country with him before he should have done it. A man by the +name of James Rivington undertook to publish a paper against the +country. They would not speak to him; they denounced him, seized +his press, and made him ask forgiveness and promise to print no +more such stuff before they would let him have his sheet again. No +person but a rebel ever thought that was wrong. There is no common +sense in going to the field to fight and leaving a man at home to +undo all that you accomplish.</p> +<p>Our fathers did not like these Tories, and when the war was over +they confiscated their estates—took their land and gave it +over to good Union men.</p> +<p>How did they do it? Did they issue summons, and have a trial? +No, sir. They did it by wholesale—they did it by resolution, +and the estates of hundreds of men were taken from them without +their having a day in court or any notice or trial whatever. They +said to the Tories: "You cast your fortunes with the other side, +let them pay you. The flag you fought against protects the land you +owned and it will prevent you from having it." Nor is that all. +They ran thousands of them out of the country away up into Nova +Scotia, and the old blue-nosed Tories are there yet.</p> +<p>In his letter to Governor Cooke of Rhode Island, Washington +enumerates an act of that colony, declaring that "none should +speak, write, or act against the proceedings of Congress or their +Acts of Assembly, under penalty of being disarmed and disqualified +from holding any office, and being further punished by +imprisonment," as one that met his approbation, and which should +exist in other colonies. There is the doctrine for you Democrats. +So I could go on by the hour or by the day. I could show you how +they made domiciliary visits, interfered with travel, imprisoned +without any sort of writ or affidavit—in other words, did +whatever they thought was necessary to whip the enemy and establish +their independence.</p> +<p>What next do they charge against us? That we freed negroes. So +we did. That we allowed those negroes to fight in the army. Yes, we +did, That we allowed them to vote. We did that too. That we have +made them citizens. Yes, we have, and what are you Democrats going +to do about it?</p> +<p>Now, what did our fathers do? Did they free any of the negroes? +Yes, sir. Did they allow any of them to fight in the army? Yes, +sir. Did they permit any of them to vote? Yes, sir. Did they make +them citizens? Yes, sir. Let us see whether they did or not.</p> +<p>Before we had the present Constitution we had what were called +Articles of Confederation. The fourth of those articles provided +that every free inhabitant of the colony should be a citizen. It +did not make any difference whether he was white or black; and +negroes voted by the side of Washington and Jefferson. Just here +the question arises, if negroes were good enough in 1787 and 1790 +to vote by the side of such men, whether rebels and their +sympathizers are good enough now to vote alongside of the +negro.</p> +<p>Did they let any of these negroes fight? In 1750, when +Massachusetts had slaves, there appeared in the Boston Gazette the +following notice:</p> +<p>"Ran away from his master, Wm. Brown, of Framingham, on the 30th +September last, a mulatto fellow, about 27 years of age, named +Crispus, about 6 feet high, short curly hair, had on a light +colored bear-skin coat, brown jacket, new buckskin breeches, blue +yarn stockings and check woolen shirt," etc.</p> +<p>This "mulatto fellow" did not come back, and so they advertised +the next week and the week following, but still the toes of the +blue yarn socks pointed the other way. That was in 1750. 1760 came +and 1770, and the people of this continent began to talk about +having their liberties. And while wise and thoughtful men were +talking about it, making petitions for popular rights and laying +them at the foot of the throne, the King's troops were in Boston. +One day they marched down King street, on their way to arrest some +citizen. The soldiery were attacked by a mob, and at its head was a +"mulatto fellow" who shouted "here they are," and it was observed +that this "mulatto fellow" was about six feet high—that his +knees were nearer together than common, and that he was about 47 +years of age. The soldiers fired upon the mob and he fell, shot +through with five balls—the first man that led a charge +against British aggression—the first martyr whose blood was +shed for American liberty upon this soil. They took up that poor +corpse, and as it lay in Faneuil Hall it did more honor to the +place than did Daniel Webster defending the Fugitive Slave Law.</p> +<p>They allowed him to fight. Would our fathers have been brutal +enough, if he had not been killed, to put him back into slavery? +No! They would have said that a man who fights for liberty should +enjoy it. If a man fights for that flag it shall protect him. +Perish forever from the heavens the flag that will not defend its +defenders, be they white or black.</p> +<p>Thus our fathers felt. They raised negro troops by the company +and the regiment, and gave his liberty to every man that fought for +liberty. Not only that, but they allowed them to vote. They voted +in the Carolinas, in Tennessee, in New York, in all the New England +States. Our fathers had too much decency to act upon the Democratic +doctrine.</p> +<p>In the war of 1812, negroes fought at Lake Erie and at New +Orleans, and then the fathers, as in the Revolution, were too +magnanimous to turn them back into slavery. You need not get mad, +my Democratic friends, because you hate Ben. Butler. Let me read +you an abolition document.</p> +<p>You will all say it is right; you cannot say anything else when +you hear it. Butler, you know, was down in New Orleans, and he made +some of those rebels dance a tune that they did not know, and he +made them keep pretty good time too:</p> +<p><i>To the Free Colored Inhabitants of Louisiana:</i></p> +<p>Through a mistaken policy you have heretofore been deprived of a +participation in the glorious struggle for national rights in which +our country is engaged. This shall no longer exist. As sons of +freedom you are now called upon to defend our most inestimable +blessing. As Americans, your country looks with confidence to her +adopted children for a valorous support as a faithful return for +the advantages enjoyed under her mild and equitable government. As +fathers, husbands and brothers you are summoned to rally around the +standard of the eagle—to defend all which is dear in +existence. Your country, although calling for your exertions, does +not wish you to engage in her cause without amply remunerating you +for the services rendered. Your intelligent minds can not be led +away by false representations. Your love of honor would cause you +to despise a man who should attempt to deceive you. In the +sincerity of a soldier and the language of truth I address you. To +every noble-hearted, generous free man of color volunteering to +serve during the present contest and no longer, there will be paid +the same bounty in money and lands now received by the white +soldiers of the United States, viz: $124 in money and one hundred +and sixty acres of land. The noncommissioned officers and privates +will also be entitled to the same monthly pay and daily rations and +clothing furnished any American soldier.</p> +<p>On enrolling yourselves in companies, the Major General +commanding will select officers for your government from your white +fellow-citizens. Your non-commissioned officers will be appointed +from among yourselves. Due regard will be paid to their feelings as +freemen and soldiers. You will not by being associated with white +men in the same corps, be exposed to improper companions or unjust +sarcasm. As a distinct battalion or regiment pursuing the path of +glory, you will undivided receive the applause and gratitude of +your countrymen.</p> +<p>To assure you of the sincerity of my intentions and my anxiety +to engage your valuable services to our country, I have +communicated my wishes to the Governor of Louisiana, who is fully +informed as to the manner of enrollment, and give you every +necessary information on the subject of this address.</p> +<p>This is a terrible document to a Democrat. Let us look back over +it a little. "Through a mistaken policy." We had not sense enough +to let the negroes fight during the first part of the war. "As sons +of freedom" we had got sense by this time. "Americans." Oh! +shocking! Think of calling negroes Americans. "Your country!" Is +that not enough to make a Democrat sick? "As fathers, husbands, +brothers." Negro brothers. That is too bad. "Your intelligent +minds." Now, just think of a negro having an intelligent mind. "Are +not to be led away by false representations." Then precious few of +them will vote the Democratic ticket. "Your sense of honor will +lead you to despise the man who should attempt to deceive you." +Then how they will hate the Democratic party. Then he goes on to +say that the same bounty, money and land that the white soldiers +receive will be paid to these negroes. Not only that, but they are +to have the same pay, clothing and rations. Only think of a negro +having as much land, as much to eat and as many clothes to wear as +a white man. Is not this a vile abolition document? And yet there +is not a Democrat in Indiana that dare open his mouth against it, +full of negro equality as it is. Now, let us see when and by whom +this proclamation was issued. You will find that it is dated, +"Headquarters 7th Military District, Mobile, September 21st, 1814," +and signed "Andrew Jackson, Major General Commanding."</p> +<p>Oh, you Jackson Democrats. You gentlemen that are descended from +Washington and Jackson—great heavens, what a descent! Do you +think. Jackson was a Democrat? He generally passed for a good +Democrat; yet he issued that abominable abolition proclamation and +put negroes on an equality with white men. That is not the worst of +it, either; for after he got these negroes into the army he made a +speech to them, and what did he say in that speech? Here it is in +full:</p> +<p><i>To the Men of Color:</i></p> +<p>Soldiers—From the shores of Mobile I called you to arms. I +invited you to share in the perils and to divide the glory with +your white countrymen. I expected much from you, for I was not +uninformed of those qualities which must render you so formidable +to an invading foe. I knew that you could endure hunger, thirst, +and all the hardships of war. I knew that you loved the land of +your nativity, and that like ourselves you had to defend all that +is most dear to man. But you surpass my hopes. I have found in you +united to these qualities that noble enthusiasm which impels to +great deeds. Soldiers, the President of the United States shall be +informed of your conduct on the present occasion and the voice of +the representatives of the American nation shall applaud your valor +as your General now praises your ardor. The enemy is near. His +sails cover the lakes. But the brave are united, and if he finds' +us contending among ourselves, it will be only for the prize of +valor, its noblest reward.</p> +<p>There is negro equality for you. There is the first man since +the heroes of the Revolution died that issued a proclamation and +put negroes on an equality with white men, and he was as good a +Democrat as ever lived in Indiana. I could go on and show where +they voted, and who allowed them to vote, but I have said enough on +that question, and also upon the question of their fighting in the +army, and of their being citizens, and have established, I think +conclusively, this:</p> +<p><i>First</i>. That our fathers, in order to found this +Government, arrested men without warrant, indictment or affidavit +by the hundred and by the thousand; that we, in order to preserve +the Government that they thus founded, arrested a few people +without warrant.</p> +<p><i>Second</i>. That our fathers, for the purpose of founding the +Government, suspended the writ of <i>habeas corpus</i>; that we, +for the purpose of preserving the same Government, did the same +thing.</p> +<p><i>Third</i>. That they, for the purpose of inaugurating this +Government, interfered with the liberty of the press; that we, on +one or two occasions, for the purpose of preserving the Government, +interfered with the liberty of the press.</p> +<p><i>Fourth</i>. That our fathers allowed negroes to fight in +order that they might secure the liberties of America; that we, in +order to preserve those liberties, allow negroes to fight.</p> +<p><i>Fifth</i>. That our fathers, out of gratitude to the negroes +in the Revolutionary war, allowed them to vote; that we have done +the same. That they made them citizens, and we have followed their +example.</p> +<p>As far as I have gone, I have shown that the fathers of the +Revolution and the War of 1812 set us the example for everything we +have done. Now, Mr. Democrat, if you want to curse us, curse them +too. Either quit yawping about the fathers, or quit yawping about +us.</p> +<p>Now, then, was there any necessity, during this war, to follow +the example of our fathers? The question was put to us in 1861: +"Shall the majority rule?" and also the balance of that question: +"Shall the minority submit?" The minority said they would not. Upon +the right of the majority to rule rests the entire structure of our +Government. Had we, in 1861, given up that principle, the +foundations of our Government would have been totally destroyed. In +fact there would have been no Government, even in the North. It is +no use to say the majority shall rule if the minority consents. +Therefore, if, when a man has been duly elected President, anybody +undertakes to prevent him from being President, it is your duty to +protect him and enforce submission to the will of the majority. In +1861 we had presented to us the alternative, either to let the +great principle that lies at the foundation of our Government go by +the board, or to appeal to arms, and to the God of battles, and +fight it through.</p> +<p>The Southern people said they were going out of the Union; we +implored them to stay, by the common memories of the Revolution, by +an apparent common destiny; by the love of man, but they refused to +listen to us—rushed past us, and appealed to the arbitrament +of the sword; and now I, for one, say by the decision of the sword +let them abide.</p> +<p>Now, I want to show how mean the American people were in 1861. +The vile and abominable institution of slavery had so corrupted us +that we did not know right from wrong. It crept into the pulpit +until the sermon became the echo of the bloodhound's bark. It crept +upon the bench, and the judge could not tell whether the corn +belonged to the man that raised it, or to the fellow that did not, +but he rather thought it belonged to the latter. We had lost our +sense of justice. Even the people of Indiana were so far gone as to +agree to carry out the Fugitive Slave Law. Was it not low-lived and +contemptible? We agreed that if we found a woman ninety-nine one +hundredths white, who, inspired by the love of liberty, had run +away from her masters, and had got within one step of free soil, we +would clutch her and bring her back to the dominion of the +Democrat, the bloodhound and the lash. We were just mean enough to +do it. We used to read that some hundreds of years ago a lot of +soldiers would march into a man's house, take him out, tie him to a +stake driven into the earth, pile fagots around him, and let the +thirsty flames consume him, and all because they differed from him +about religion. We said it was horrible; it made our blood run cold +to think of it; yet at the same time many a magnificent steamboat +floated down the Mississippi with wives and husbands, fragments of +families torn asunder, doomed to a life of toil, requited only by +lashes upon the naked back, and branding irons upon the quivering +flesh, and we thought little of it. When we set out to put down the +Rebellion the Democratic party started up all at once and said, +"You are not going to interfere with slavery, are you?" Now, it is +remarkable that whenever we were going to do a good thing, we had +to let on that we were going to do a mean one. If we had said at +the outset, "We will break the shackles from four millions of +slaves" we never would have succeeded. We had to come at it by +degrees. The Democrats scented it out. They had a scent keener than +a bloodhound when anything was going to be done to affect slavery. +"Put down rebellion," they said, "but don't hurt slavery." We said, +"We will not; we will restore the Union as it was and the +Constitution as it is." We were in good faith about it. We had no +better sense then than to think that it was worth fighting for, to +preserve the cause of quarrel—the bone of contention—so +as to have war all the time. Every blow we struck for slavery was a +blow against us. The Rebellion was simply slavery with a mask on. +We never whipped anybody but once so long as we stood upon that +doctrine; that was at Donelson; and the victory there was not owing +to the policy, but to the splendid genius of the next President of +the United States. After a while it got into our heads that slavery +was the cause of the trouble, and we began to edge up slowly toward +slavery. When Mr. Lincoln said he would destroy slavery if +absolutely necessary for the suppression of the Rebellion, people +thought that was the most radical thing that ever was uttered. But +the time came when it was necessary to free the slaves, and to put +muskets into their hands. The Democratic party opposed us with all +their might until the draft came, and they wanted negroes for +substitutes; and I never heard a Democrat object to arming the +negroes after that.</p> +<pre> + [The speaker from this point presented the history of the + Republican policy of reconstruction, and touched lightly on + the subject of the national debt. He glanced at the + finances, reviewing in the most scathing manner the history + and character of Seymour, paid a most eloquent tribute to + the character and public services of General Grant, and + closed with the following words: ] +</pre> +<p>The hero of the Rebellion, who accomplished at Shiloh what +Napoleon endeavored at Waterloo; who captured Vicksburg by a series +of victories unsurpassed, taking the keystone from the rebel arch; +who achieved at Missionary Ridge a success as grand as it was +unexpected to the country; who, having been summoned from the +death-bed of rebellion in the West, marched like an athlete from +the Potomac to the James, the grandest march in the history of the +world. This was all done without the least flourish upon his part. +No talk about destiny—without faith in a star—with the +simple remark that he would "fight it out on that line," without a +boast, modest to bashfulness, yet brave to audacity, simple as +duty, firm as war, direct as truth—this hero, with so much +common sense that he is the most uncommon man of his time, will be, +in spite of Executive snares and Cabinet entanglements, of +competent false witnesses of the Democratic party, the next +President of the United States. He will be trusted with the +Government his genius saved.</p> +<center>SPEECH AT CINCINNATI.*</center> +<pre> + * The nomination of Blaine was the passionately dramatic + scene of the day. Robert G. Ingersoll had been fixed upon to + present Blaine's name to the Convention, and, as the result + proved, a more effective champion could not have been + selected in the whole party conclave. + + As the clerk, running down the list, reached Maine, an + extraordinary event happened. The applause and cheers which + had heretofore broken out in desultory patches of the + galleries and platform, broke in a simultaneous, thunderous + outburst from every part of the house. + + Ingersoll moved out from the obscure corner and advanced to + the central stage. As he walked forward the thundering + cheers, sustained and swelling, never ceased. As he reached + the platform they took on an increased volume of sound, and + for ten minutes the surging fury of acclamation, the wild + waving of fans, hats, and handkerchiefs transformed the + scene from one of deliberation to that of a bedlam of + rapturous delirium. Ingersoll waited with unimpaired + serenity, until he should get a chance to be heard. * * * + And then began an appeal, impassioned, artful, brilliant, + and persuasive. * * * + + Possessed of a fine figure, a face of winning, cordial + frankness, Ingersoll had half won his audience before he + spoke a word. It is the attestation of every man that heard + him, that so brilliant a master stroke was never uttered + before a political Convention. Its effect was indescribable. + The coolest-headed in the hall were stirred to the wildest + expression. The adversaries of Blaine, as well as his + friends, listened with unswerving, absorbed attention. + Curtis sat spell-bound, his eyes and mouth wide open, his + figure moving in unison to the tremendous periods that fell + in a measured, exquisitely graduated flow from the + Illinoisan's smiling lips. The matchless method and manner + of the man can never be imagined from the report in type. To + realize the prodigious force, the inexpressible power, the + irrestrainable fervor of the audience requires actual sight. + + Words can do but meagre justice to the wizard power of this + extraordinary man. He swayed and moved and impelled and + restrained and worked in all ways with the mass before him + as if he possessed some key to the innermost mechanism that + moves the human heart, and when he finished, his fine, frank + face as calm as when he began, the overwrought thousands + sank back in an exhaustion of unspeakable wonder and + delight.—Chicago Times, June 16, 1876. +</pre> +<center>SPEECH NOMINATING BLAINE.</center> +<p>June 75, 1876.</p> +<p>MASSACHUSETTS may be satisfied with the loyalty of Benjamin H. +Bristow; so am I; but if any man nominated by this convention can +not carry the State of Massachusetts, I am not satisfied with the +loyalty of that State. If the nominee of this convention cannot +carry the grand old Commonwealth of Massachusetts by seventy-five +thousand majority, I would advise them to sell out Faneuil Hall as +a Democratic headquarters. I would advise them to take from Bunker +Hill that old monument of glory.</p> +<p>The Republicans of the United States demand as their leader in +the great contest of 1876 a man of intelligence, a man of +integrity, a man of well-known and approved political opinions. +They demand a statesman; they demand a reformer after as well as +before the election. They demand a politician in the highest, +broadest and best sense—a man of superb moral courage. They +demand a man acquainted with public affairs—with the wants of +the people; with not only the requirements of the hour, but with +the demands of the future. They demand a man broad enough to +comprehend the relations of this Government to the other nations of +the earth. They demand a man well versed in the powers, duties and +prerogatives of each and every department of this Government. They +demand a man who will sacredly preserve the financial honor of the +United States; one who knows enough to know that the national debt +must be paid through the prosperity of this people; one who knows +enough to know that all the financial theories in the world cannot +redeem a single dollar; one who knows enough to know that all the +money must be made, not by law, but by labor; one who knows enough +to know that the people of the United States have the industry to +make the money, and the honor to pay it over just as fast as they +make it.</p> +<p>The Republicans of the United States demand a man who knows that +prosperity and resumption, when they come, must come together; that +when they come, they will come hand in hand through the golden +harvest fields; hand in hand by the whirling spindles and the +turning wheels; hand in hand past the open furnace doors; hand in +hand by the flaming forges; hand in hand by the chimneys filled +with eager fire, greeted and grasped by the countless sons of +toil.</p> +<p>This money has to be dug out of the earth. You cannot make it by +passing resolutions in a political convention.</p> +<p>The Republicans of the United States want a man who knows that +this Government should protect every citizen, at home and abroad; +who knows that any government that will not defend its defenders, +and protect its protectors, is a disgrace to the map of the world. +They demand a man who believes in the eternal separation and +divorcement of church and school. They demand a man whose political +reputation is spotless as a star; but they do not demand that their +candidate shall have a certificate of moral character signed by a +Confederate congress. The man who has, in full, heaped and rounded +measure, all these splendid qualifications, is the present grand +and gallant leader of the Republican party—James G. +Blaine.</p> +<p>Our country, crowned with the vast and marvelous achievements of +its first century, asks for a man worthy of the past, and prophetic +of her future; asks for a man who has the audacity of genius; asks +for a man who is the grandest combination of heart, conscience and +brain beneath her flag—such a man is James G. Blaine.</p> +<p>For the Republican host, led by this intrepid man, there can be +no defeat.</p> +<p>This is a grand year—a year filled with recollections of +the Revolution; filled with proud and tender memories of the past; +with the sacred legends of liberty—a year in which the sons +of freedom will drink from the fountains of enthusiasm; a year in +which the people call for the man who has preserved in Congress +what our soldiers won upon the field; a year in which they call for +the man who has torn from the throat of treason the tongue of +slander—for the man who has snatched the mask of Democracy +from the hideous face of rebellion; for the man who, like an +intellectual athlete, has stood in the arena of debate and +challenged all comers, and who is still a total stranger to +defeat.</p> +<p>Like an armed warrior, like a plumed knight, James G. Blaine +marched down the halls of the American Congress and threw his +shining lance full and fair against the brazen foreheads of the +defamers of his country and the maligners of his honor. For the +Republican party to desert this gallant leader now, is as though an +army should desert their general upon the field of battle.</p> +<p>James G. Blaine is now and has been for years the bearer of the +sacred standard of the Republican party. I call it sacred, because +no human being can stand beneath its folds without becoming and +without remaining free.</p> +<p>Gentlemen of the convention, in the name of the great Republic, +the only republic that ever existed upon this earth; in the name of +all her defenders and of all her supporters; in the name of all her +soldiers living; in the name of all her soldiers dead upon the +field of battle, and in the name of those who perished in the +skeleton clutch of famine at Andersonville and Libby, whose +sufferings he so vividly remembers, Illinois—Illinois +nominates for the next President of this country, that prince of +parliamentarians—that leader of leaders—James G. +Blaine.</p> +<a name="link0003" id="link0003"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>CENTENNIAL ORATION.</h2> +<pre> + * Delivered on the one hundredth Anniversary of the + Declaration of Independence, at Peoria, Ill., July 4, 1876. +</pre> +<p>July 4, 1876.</p> +<p>THE Declaration of Independence is the grandest, the bravest, +and the profoundest political document that was ever signed by the +representatives of a people. It is the embodiment of physical and +moral courage and of political wisdom.</p> +<p>I say of physical courage, because it was a declaration of war +against the most powerful nation then on the globe; a declaration +of war by thirteen weak, unorganized colonies; a declaration of war +by a few people, without military stores, without wealth, without +strength, against the most powerful kingdom on the earth; a +declaration of war made when the British navy, at that day the +mistress of every sea, was hovering along the coast of America, +looking after defenceless towns and villages to ravage and destroy. +It was made when thousands of English soldiers were upon our soil, +and when the principal cities of America were in the substantial +possession of the enemy. And so, I say, all things considered, it +was the bravest political document ever signed by man. And if it +was physically brave, the moral courage of the document is almost +infinitely beyond the physical. They had the courage not only, but +they had the almost infinite wisdom, to declare that all men are +created equal.</p> +<p>Such things had occasionally been said by some political +enthusiast in the olden time, but, for the first time in the +history of the world, the representatives of a nation, the +representatives of a real, living, breathing, hoping people, +declared that all men are created equal. With one blow, with one +stroke of the pen, they struck down all the cruel, heartless +barriers that aristocracy, that priestcraft, that kingcraft had +raised between man and man. They struck down with one immortal blow +that infamous spirit of caste that makes a god almost a beast, and +a beast almost a god. With one word, with one blow, they wiped away +and utterly destroyed, all that had been done by centuries of +war—centuries of hypocrisy—centuries of injustice.</p> +<p>One hundred years ago our fathers retired the gods from +politics.</p> +<p>What more did they do? They then declared that each man has a +right to live. And what does that mean? It means that he has the +right to make his living. It means that he has the right to breathe +the air, to work the land, that he stands the equal of every other +human being beneath the shining stars; entitled to the product of +his labor—the labor of his hand and of his brain.</p> +<p>What more? That every man has the right to pursue his own +happiness in his own way. Grander words than these have never been +spoken by man.</p> +<p>And what more did these men say? They laid down the doctrine +that governments were instituted among men for the purpose of +preserving the rights of the people. The old idea was that people +existed solely for the benefit of the state—that is to say, +for kings and nobles.</p> +<p>The old idea was that the people were the wards of king and +priest—that their bodies belonged to one and their souls to +the other.</p> +<p>And what more? That the people are the source of political +power. That was not only a revelation, but it was a revolution. It +changed the ideas of people with regard to the source of political +power. For the first time it made human beings men. What was the +old idea? The old idea was that no political power came from, or in +any manner belonged to, the people. The old idea was that the +political power came from the clouds; that the political power came +in some miraculous way from heaven; that it came down to kings, and +queens, and robbers. That was the old idea. The nobles lived upon +the labor of the people; the people had no rights; the nobles stole +what they had and divided with the kings, and the kings pretended +to divide what they stole with God Almighty. The source, then, of +political power was from above. The people were responsible to the +nobles, the nobles to the king, and the people had no political +rights whatever, no more than the wild beasts of the forest. The +kings were responsible to God; not to the people. The kings were +responsible to the clouds; not to the toiling millions they robbed +and plundered.</p> +<p>And our forefathers, in this Declaration of Independence, +reversed this thing, and said: No; the people, they are the source +of political power, and their rulers, these presidents, these kings +are but the agents and servants of the great sublime people. For +the first time, really, in the history of the world, the king was +made to get off the throne and the people were royally seated +thereon. The people became the sovereigns, and the old sovereigns +became the servants and the agents of the people. It is hard for +you and me now to even imagine the immense results of that change. +It is hard for you and for me, at this day, to understand how +thoroughly it had been ingrained in the brain of almost every man, +that the king had some wonderful right over him; that in some +strange way the king owned him; that in some miraculous manner he +belonged, body and soul, to somebody who rode on a horse—to +somebody with epaulettes on his shoulders and a tinsel crown upon +his brainless head.</p> +<p>Our forefathers had been educated in that idea, and when they +first landed on American shores they believed it. They thought they +belonged to somebody, and that they must be loyal to some thief who +could trace his pedigree back to antiquity's most successful +robber.</p> +<p>It took a long time for them to get that idea out of their heads +and hearts. They were three thousand miles away from the despotisms +of the old world, and every wave of the sea was an assistant to +them. The distance helped to disenchant their minds of that +infamous belief, and every mile between them and the pomp and glory +of monarchy helped to put republican ideas and thoughts into their +minds. Besides that, when they came to this country, when the +savage was in the forest and three thousand miles of waves on the +other side, menaced by barbarians on the one hand and famine on the +other, they learned that a man who had courage, a man who had +thought, was as good as any other man in the world, and they built +up, as it were, in spite of themselves, little republics. And the +man that had the most nerve and heart was the best man, whether he +had any noble blood in his veins or not.</p> +<p>It has been a favorite idea with me that our forefathers were +educated by Nature, that they grew grand as the continent upon +which they landed; that the great rivers—the wide +plains—the splendid lakes—the lonely forests—the +sublime mountains—that all these things stole into and became +a part of their being, and they grew great as the country in which +they lived. They began to hate the narrow, contracted views of +Europe. They were educated by their surroundings, and every little +colony had to be to a certain extent a republic. The kings of the +old world endeavored to parcel out this land to their favorites. +But there were too many Indians. There was too much courage +required for them to take and keep it, and so men had to come here +who were dissatisfied with the old country—who were +dissatisfied with England, dissatisfied with France, with Germany, +with Ireland and Holland. The kings' favorites stayed at home. Men +came here for liberty, and on account of certain principles they +entertained and held dearer than life. And they were willing to +work, willing to fell the forests, to fight the savages, willing to +go through all the hardships, perils and dangers of a new country, +of a new land; and the consequence was that our country was settled +by brave and adventurous spirits, by men who had opinions of their +own and were willing to live in the wild forests for the sake of +expressing those opinions, even if they expressed them only to +trees, rocks, and savage men. The best blood of the old world came +to the new.</p> +<p>When they first came over they did not have a great deal of +political philosophy, nor the best ideas of liberty. We might as +well tell the truth. When the Puritans first came, they were +narrow. They did not understand what liberty meant—what +religious liberty, what political liberty, was; but they found out +in a few years. There was one feeling among them that rises to +their eternal honor like a white shaft to the clouds—they +were in favor of universal education. Wherever they went they built +schoolhouses, introduced books and ideas of literature. They +believed that every man should know how to read and how to write, +and should find out all that his capacity allowed him to +comprehend. That is the glory of the Puritan fathers.</p> +<p>They forgot in a little while what they had suffered, and they +forgot to apply the principle of universal liberty—of +toleration. Some of the colonies did not forget it, and I want to +give credit where credit should be given. The Catholics of Maryland +were the first people on the new continent to declare universal +religious toleration. Let this be remembered to their eternal +honor. Let it be remembered to the disgrace of the Protestant +government of England, that it caused this grand law to be +repealed. And to the honor and credit of the Catholics of Maryland +let it be remembered that the moment they got back into power they +re-enacted the old law. The Baptists of Rhode Island also, led by +Roger Williams, were in favor of universal religious liberty.</p> +<p>No American should fail to honor Roger Williams. He was the +first grand advocate of the liberty of the soul. He was in favor of +the eternal divorce of church and state. So far as I know, he was +the only man at that time in this country who was in favor of real +religious liberty. While the Catholics of Maryland declared in +favor of religious <i>toleration</i>, they had no idea of religious +liberty. They would not allow anyone to call in question the +doctrine of the Trinity, or the inspiration of the Scriptures. They +stood ready with branding-iron and gallows to burn and choke out of +man the idea that he had a right to think and to express his +thoughts.</p> +<p>So many religions met in our country—so many theories and +dogmas came in contact—so many follies, mistakes, and +stupidities became acquainted with each other, that religion began +to fall somewhat into disrepute. Besides this, the question of a +new nation began to take precedence of all others.</p> +<p>The people were too much interested in this world to quarrel +about the next. The preacher was lost in the patriot. The Bible was +read to find passages against kings.</p> +<p>Everybody was discussing the rights of man. Farmers and +mechanics suddenly became statesmen, and in every shop and cabin +nearly every question was asked and answered.</p> +<p>During these years of political excitement the interest in +religion abated to that degree that a common purpose animated men +of all sects and creeds.</p> +<p>At last our fathers became tired of being colonists—tired +of writing and reading and signing petitions, and presenting them +on their bended knees to an idiot king. They began to have an +aspiration to form a new nation, to be citizens of a new republic +instead of subjects of an old monarchy. They had the idea—the +Puritans, the Catholics, the Episcopalians, the Baptists, the +Quakers, and a few Freethinkers, all had the idea—that they +would like to form a new nation.</p> +<p>Now, do not understand that all of our fathers were in favor of +independence. Do not understand that they were all like Jefferson; +that they were all like Adams or Lee; that they were all like +Thomas Paine or John Hancock. There were thousands and thousands of +them who were opposed to American independence. There were +thousands and thousands who said: "When you say men are created +equal, it is a lie; when you say the political power resides in the +great body of the people, it is false." Thousands and thousands of +them said: "We prefer Great Britain." But the men who were in favor +of independence, the men who knew that a new nation must be born, +went on full of hope and courage, and nothing could daunt or stop +or stay the heroic, fearless few.</p> +<p>They met in Philadelphia; and the resolution was moved by Lee of +Virginia, that the colonies ought to be independent states, and +ought to dissolve their political connection with Great +Britain.</p> +<p>They made up their minds that a new nation must be formed. All +nations had been, so to speak, the wards of some church. The +religious idea as to the source of power had been at the foundation +of all governments, and had been the bane and curse of man.</p> +<p>Happily for us, there was no church strong enough to dictate to +the rest. Fortunately for us, the colonists not only, but the +colonies differed widely in their religious views. There were the +Puritans who hated the Episcopalians, and Episcopalians who hated +the Catholics, and the Catholics who hated both, while the Quakers +held them all in contempt. There they were, of every sort, and +color and kind, and how was it that they came together? They had a +common aspiration. They wanted to form a new nation. More than +that, most of them cordially hated Great Britain; and they pledged +each other to forget these religious prejudices, for a time at +least, and agreed that there should be only one religion until they +got through, and that was the religion of patriotism. They solemnly +agreed that the new nation should not belong to any particular +church, but that it should secure the rights of all.</p> +<p>Our fathers founded the first secular government that was ever +founded in this world. Recollect that. The first secular +government; the first government that said every church has exactly +the same rights and no more; every religion has the same rights, +and no more. In other words, our fathers were the first men who had +the sense, had the genius, to know that no church should be allowed +to have a sword; that it should be allowed only to exert its moral +influence.</p> +<p>You might as well have a government united by force with Art, or +with Poetry, or with Oratory, as with Religion. Religion should +have the influence upon mankind that its goodness, that its +morality, its justice, its charity, its reason, and its argument +give it, and no more. Religion should have the effect upon mankind +that it necessarily has, and no more. The religion that has to be +supported by law is without value, not only, but a fraud and curse. +The religious argument that has to be supported by a musket, is +hardly worth making. A prayer that must have a cannon behind it, +better never be uttered. Forgiveness ought not to go in partnership +with shot and shell. Love need not carry knives and revolvers.</p> +<p>So our fathers said: "We will form a secular government, and +under the flag with which we are going to enrich the air, we will +allow every man to worship God as he thinks best." They said: +"Religion is an individual thing between each man and his creator, +and he can worship as he pleases and as he desires." And why did +they do this? The history of the world warned them that the liberty +of man was not safe in the clutch and grasp of any church. They had +read of and seen the thumbscrews, the racks, and the dungeons of +the Inquisition. They knew all about the hypocrisy of the olden +time. They knew that the church had stood side by side with the +throne; that the high priests were hypocrites, and that the kings +were robbers. They also knew that if they gave power to any church, +it would corrupt the best church in the world. And so they said +that power must not reside in a church, or in a sect, but power +must be wherever humanity is—in the great body of the people. +And the officers and servants of the people must be responsible to +them. And so I say again, as I said in the commencement, this is +the wisest, the pro-foundest, the bravest political document that +ever was written and signed by man.</p> +<p>They turned, as I tell you, everything squarely about. They +derived all their authority from the people. They did away forever +with the theological idea of government.</p> +<p>And what more did they say? They said that whenever the rulers +abused this authority, this power, incapable of destruction, +returned to the people. How did they come to say this? I will tell +you. They were pushed into it. How? They felt that they were +oppressed; and whenever a man feels that he is the subject of +injustice, his perception of right and wrong is wonderfully +quickened.</p> +<p>Nobody was ever in prison wrongfully who did not believe in the +writ of <i>habeas corpus</i>. Nobody ever suffered wrongfully +without instantly having ideas of justice.</p> +<p>And they began to inquire what rights the king of Great Britain +had. They began to search for the charter of his authority. They +began to investigate and dig down to the bed-rock upon which +society must be founded, and when they got down there, forced +there, too, by their oppressors, forced against their own +prejudices and education, they found at' the bottom of things, not +lords, not nobles, not pulpits, not thrones, but humanity and the +rights of men.</p> +<p>And so they said, We are men; we are men. They found out they +were men. And the next thing they said, was, "We will be free men; +we are weary of being colonists; we are tired of being subjects; we +are men; and these colonies ought to be states; and these states +ought to be a nation; and that nation ought to drive the last +British soldier into the sea." And so they signed that brave +Declaration of Independence.</p> +<p>I thank every one of them from the bottom of my heart for +signing that sublime declaration. I thank them for their +courage—for their patriotism—for their wisdom—for +the splendid confidence in themselves and in the human race. I +thank them for what they were, and for what we are—for what +they did, and for what we have received—for what they +suffered, and for what we enjoy.</p> +<p>What would we have been if we had remained colonists and +subjects? What would we have been to-day? Nobodies—ready to +get down on our knees and crawl in the very dust at the sight of +somebody that was supposed to have in him some drop of blood that +flowed in the veins of that mailed marauder—that royal +robber, William the Conqueror.</p> +<p>They signed that Declaration of Independence, although they knew +that it would produce a long, terrible, and bloody war. They looked +forward and saw poverty, deprivation, gloom, and death. But they +also saw, on the wrecked clouds of war, the beautiful bow of +freedom.</p> +<p>These grand men were enthusiasts; and the world has been raised +only by enthusiasts. In every country there have been a few who +have given a national aspiration to the people. The enthusiasts of +1776 were the builders and framers of this great and splendid +Government; and they were the men who saw, although others did not, +the golden fringe of the mantle of glory that will finally cover +this world. They knew, they felt, they believed that they would +give a new constellation to the political heavens—that they +would make the Americans a grand people—grand as the +continent upon which they lived.</p> +<p>The war commenced. There was little money, and less credit. The +new nation had but few friends. To a great extent each soldier of +freedom had to clothe and feed himself. He was poor and pure, brave +and good, and so he went to the fields of death to fight for the +rights of man.</p> +<p>What did the soldier leave when he went?</p> +<p>He left his wife and children.</p> +<p>Did he leave them in a beautiful home, surrounded by +civilization, in the repose of law, in the security of a great and +powerful republic?</p> +<p>No. He left his wife and children on the edge, on the fringe of +the boundless forest, in which crouched and crept the red savage, +who was at that time the ally of the still more savage Briton. He +left his wife to defend herself, and he left the prattling babes to +be defended by their mother and by nature. The mother made the +living; she planted the corn and the potatoes, and hoed them in the +sun, raised the children, and, in the darkness of night, told them +about their brave father and the "sacred cause." She told them that +in a little while the war would be over and father would come back +covered with honor and glory.</p> +<p>Think of the women, of the sweet children who listened for the +footsteps of the dead—who waited through the sad and desolate +years for the dear ones who never came.</p> +<p>The soldiers of 1776 did not march away with music and banners. +They went in silence, looked at and gazed after by eyes filled with +tears. They went to meet, not an equal, but a superior—to +fight five times their number—to make a desperate stand to +stop the advance of the enemy, and then, when their ammunition gave +out, seek the protection of rocks, of rivers, and of hills.</p> +<p>Let me say here: The greatest test of courage on the earth is to +bear defeat without losing heart. That army is the bravest that can +be whipped the greatest number of times and fight again.</p> +<p>Over the entire territory, so to speak, then settled by our +forefathers, they were driven again and again. Now and then they +would meet the English with something like equal numbers, and then +the eagle of victory would proudly perch upon the stripes and +stars. And so they went on as best they could, hoping and fighting +until they came to the dark and somber gloom of Valley Forge.</p> +<p>There were very few hearts then beneath that flag that did not +begin to think that the struggle was useless; that all the blood +and treasure had been shed and spent in vain. But there were some +men gifted with that wonderful prophecy that fulfills itself, and +with that wonderful magnetic power that makes heroes of everybody +they come in contact with.</p> +<p>And so our fathers went through the gloom of that terrible time, +and still fought on. Brave men wrote grand words, cheering the +despondent; brave men did brave deeds, the rich man gave his +wealth, the poor man gave his life, until at last, by the victory +of Yorktown, the old banner won its place in the air, and became +glorious forever.</p> +<p>Seven long years of war—fighting for what? For the +principle that all men are created equal—a truth that nobody +ever disputed except a scoundrel; nobody, nobody in the entire +history of this world. No man ever denied that truth who was not a +rascal, and at heart a thief; never, never, and never will. What +else were they fighting for? Simply that in America every man +should have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. +Nobody ever denied that except a villain; never, never. It has been +denied by kings—they were thieves. It has been denied by +statesmen—they were liars. It has been denied by priests, by +clergymen, by cardinals, by bishops, and by popes—they were +hypocrites.</p> +<p>What else were they fighting for? For the idea that all +political power is vested in the great body of the people. The +great body of the people make all the money; do all the work. They +plow the land, cut down the forests; they produce everything that +is produced. Then who shall say what shall be done with what is +produced except the producer?</p> +<p>Is it the non-producing thief, sitting on a throne, surrounded +by vermin?</p> +<p>Those were the things they were fighting for; and that is all +they were fighting for. They fought to build up a new, a great +nation; to establish an asylum for the oppressed of the world +everywhere. They knew the history of this world. They knew the +history of human slavery.</p> +<p>The history of civilization is the history of the slow and +painful enfranchisement of the human race. In the olden times the +family was a monarchy, the father being the monarch. The mother and +children were the veriest slaves. The will of the father was the +supreme law. He had the power of life and death. It took thousands +of years to civilize this father, thousands of years to make the +condition of wife and mother and child even tolerable. A few +families constituted a tribe; the tribe had a chief; the chief was +a tyrant; a few tribes formed a nation; the nation was governed by +a king, who was also a tyrant. A strong nation robbed, plundered, +and took captive the weaker ones. This was the commencement of +human slavery.</p> +<p>It is not possible for the human imagination to conceive of the +horrors of slavery. It has left no possible crime uncommitted, no +possible cruelty unperpetrated. It has been practiced and defended +by all nations in some form. It has been upheld by all religions. +It has been defended by nearly every pulpit. From the profits +derived from the slave trade churches have been built, cathedrals +reared and priests paid. Slavery has been blessed by bishop, by +cardinal, and by pope. It has received the sanction of statesmen, +of kings, and of queens. It has been defended by the throne, the +pulpit and the bench. Monarchs have shared in the profits. +Clergymen have taken their part of the spoils, reciting passages of +Scripture in its defence at the same time, and judges have taken +their portion in the name of equity and law.</p> +<p>Only a few years ago our ancestors were slaves. Only a few years +ago they passed with and belonged to the soil, like the coal under +it and rocks on it.</p> +<p>Only a few years ago they were treated like beasts of burden, +worse far than we treat our animals at the present day. Only a few +years ago it was a crime in England for a man to have a Bible in +his house, a crime for which men were hanged, and their bodies +afterward burned. Only a few years ago fathers could and did sell +their children. Only a few years ago our ancestors were not allowed +to speak or write their thoughts—that being a crime. Only a +few years ago to be honest, at least in the expression of your +ideas, was a felony. To do right was a capital offence; and in +those days chains and whips were the incentives to labor, and the +preventives of thought. Honesty was a vagrant, justice a fugitive, +and liberty in chains. Only a few years ago men were denounced +because they doubted the inspiration of the Bible—because +they denied miracles, and laughed at the wonders recounted by the +ancient Jews.</p> +<p>Only a few years ago a man had to believe in the total depravity +of the human heart in order to be respectable. Only a few years +ago, people who thought God too good to punish in eternal flames an +unbaptized child were considered infamous.</p> +<p>As soon as our ancestors began to get free they began to enslave +others. With an inconsistency that defies explanation, they +practiced upon others the same outrages that had been perpetrated +upon them. As soon as white slavery began to be abolished, black +slavery commenced. In this infamous traffic nearly every nation of +Europe embarked. Fortunes were quickly realized; the avarice and +cupidity of Europe were excited; all ideas of justice were +discarded; pity fled from the human breast; a few good, brave men +recited the horrors of the trade; avarice was deaf; religion +refused to hear; the trade went on; the governments of Europe +upheld it in the name of commerce—in the name of civilization +and religion.</p> +<p>Our fathers knew the history of caste. They knew that in the +despotisms of the Old World it was a disgrace to be useful. They +knew that a mechanic was esteemed as hardly the equal of a hound, +and far below a blooded horse. They knew that a nobleman held a son +of labor in contempt—that he had no rights the royal loafers +were bound to respect.</p> +<p>The world has changed.</p> +<p>The other day there came shoemakers, potters, workers in wood +and iron, from Europe, and they were received in the city of New +York as though they had been princes. They had been sent by the +great republic of France to examine into the arts and manufactures +of the great republic of America. They looked a thousand times +better to me than the Edward Alberts and Albert Edwards—the +royal vermin, that live on the body politic. And I would think much +more of our Government if it would fete and feast them, instead of +wining and dining the imbeciles of a royal line.</p> +<p>Our fathers devoted their lives and fortunes to the grand work +of founding a government for the protection of the rights of man. +The theological idea as to the source of political power had +poisoned the web and woof of every government in the world, and our +fathers banished it from this continent forever.</p> +<p>What we want to-day is what our fathers wrote down. They did not +attain to their ideal; we approach it nearer, but have not reached +it yet. We want, not only the independence of a State, not only the +independence of a nation, but something far more glorious—the +absolute independence of the individual. That is what we want. I +want it so that I, one of the children of Nature, can stand on an +equality with the rest; that I can say this is my air, my sunshine, +my earth, and I have a right to live, and hope, and aspire, and +labor, and enjoy the fruit of that labor, as much as any individual +or any nation on the face of the globe.</p> +<p>We want every American to make to-day, on this hundredth +anniversary, a declaration of individual independence. Let each man +enjoy his liberty to the utmost—enjoy all he can; but be sure +it is not at the expense of another. The French Convention gave the +best definition of liberty I have ever read: "The liberty of one +citizen ceases only where the liberty of another citizen +commences." I know of no better definition. I ask you to-day to +make a declaration of individual independence. And if you are +independent be just. Allow everybody else to make his declaration +of individual independence. Allow your wife, allow your husband, +allow your children to make theirs. Let everybody be absolutely +free and independent, knowing only the sacred obligations of +honesty and affection. Let us be independent of party, independent +of everybody and everything except our own consciences and our own +brains. Do not belong to any clique. Have the clear title-deeds in +fee simple to yourselves, without any mortgage on the premises to +anybody in the world.</p> +<p>It is a grand thing to be the owner of yourself. It is a grand +thing to protect the rights of others. It is a sublime thing to be +free and just.</p> +<p>Only a few days ago I stood in Independence Hall—in that +little room where was signed the immortal paper. A little room, +like any other; and it did not seem possible that from that room +went forth ideas, like cherubim and seraphim, spreading their wings +over a continent, and touching, as with holy fire, the hearts of +men.</p> +<p>In a few moments I was in the park, where are gathered the +accomplishments of a century. Our fathers never dreamed of the +things I saw. There were hundreds of locomotives, with their nerves +of steel and breath of flame—every kind of machine, with +whirling wheels and curious cogs and cranks, and the myriad +thoughts of men that have been wrought in iron, brass and steel. +And going out from one little building were wires in the air, +stretching to every civilized nation, and they could send a shining +messenger in a moment to any part of the world, and it would go +sweeping under the waves of the sea with thoughts and words within +its glowing heart. I saw all that had been achieved by this nation, +and I wished that the signers of the Declaration—the soldiers +of the Revolution—could see what a century of freedom has +produced. I wished they could see the fields we cultivate—the +rivers we navigate—the railroads running over the +Alleghanies, far into what was then the unknown forest—on +over the broad prairies—on over the vast plains—away +over the mountains of the West, to the Golden Gate of the Pacific. +All this is the result of a hundred years of freedom.</p> +<p>Are you not more than glad that in 1776 was announced the +sublime principle that political power resides with the people? +That our fathers then made up their minds nevermore to be colonists +and subjects, but that they would be free and independent citizens +of America?</p> +<p>I will not name any of the grand men who fought for liberty. All +should be named, or none. I feel that the unknown soldier who was +shot down without even his name being remembered—who was +included only in a report of "a hundred killed," or "a hundred +missing," nobody knowing even the number that attached to his +august corpse—is entitled to as deep and heartfelt thanks as +the titled leader who fell at the head of the host.</p> +<p>Standing here amid the sacred memories of the first, on the +golden threshold of the second, I ask, Will the second century be +as grand as the first? I believe it will, because we are growing +more and more humane. I believe there is more human kindness, more +real, sweet human sympathy, a greater desire to help one another, +in the United States, than in all the world besides.</p> +<p>We must progress. We are just at the commencement of invention. +The steam engine—the telegraph—these are but the toys +with which science has been amused. Wait; there will be grander +things, there will be wider and higher culture—a grander +standard of character, of literature and art.</p> +<p>We have now half as many millions of people as we have years, +and many of us will live until a hundred millions stand beneath the +flag. We are getting more real solid sense. The schoolhouse is the +finest building in the village. We are writing and reading more +books; we are painting and buying more pictures; we are struggling +more and more to get at the philosophy of life, of +things—trying more and more to answer the questions of the +eternal Sphinx. We are looking in every +direction—investigating; in short, we are thinking and +working. Besides all this, I believe the people are nearer honest +than ever before. A few years ago we were willing to live upon the +labor of four million slaves. Was that honest? At last, we have a +national conscience. At last, we have carried out the Declaration +of Independence. Our fathers wrote it—we have accomplished +it. The black man was a slave—we made him a citizen. We found +four million human beings in manacles, and now the hands of a race +are held up in the free air without a chain.</p> +<p>I have had the supreme pleasure of seeing a man—once a +slave—sitting in the seat of his former master in the +Congress of the United States. I have had that pleasure, and when I +saw it my eyes were filled with tears. I felt that we had carried, +out the Declaration of Independence—that we had given reality +to it, and breathed the breath of life into its every word. I felt +that our flag would float over and protect the colored man and his +little children, standing straight in the sun, just the same as +though he were white and worth a million. I would protect him more, +because the rich white man could protect himself.</p> +<p>All who stand beneath our banner are free. Ours is the only flag +that has in reality written upon it: Liberty, Fraternity, +Equality—the three grandest words in all the languages of +men.</p> +<p>Liberty: Give to every man the fruit of his own labor—the +labor of his hands and of his brain.</p> +<p>Fraternity: Every man in the right is my brother.</p> +<p>Equality: The rights of all are equal: Justice, poised and +balanced in eternal calm, will shake from the golden scales in +which are weighed the acts of men, the very dust of prejudice and +caste: No race, no color, no previous condition, can change the +rights of men.</p> +<p>The Declaration of Independence has at last been carried out in +letter and in spirit.</p> +<p>The second century will be grander than the first.</p> +<p>Fifty millions of people are celebrating this day. To-day, the +black man looks upon his child and says: The avenues to distinction +are open to you—upon your brow may fall the civic +wreath—this day belongs to you.</p> +<p>We are celebrating the courage and wisdom of our fathers, and +the glad shout of a free people the anthem of a grand nation, +commencing at the Atlantic, is following the sun to the Pacific, +across a continent of happy homes.</p> +<p>We are a great people. Three millions have increased to +fifty—thirteen States to thirty-eight. We have better homes, +better clothes, better food and more of it, and more of the +conveniences of life, than any other people upon the globe.</p> +<p>The farmers of our country live better than did the kings and +princes two hundred years ago—and they have twice as much +sense and heart. Liberty and labor have given us all. I want every +person here to believe in the dignity of labor—to know that +the respectable man is the useful man—the man who produces or +helps others to produce something of value, whether thought of the +brain or work of the hand.</p> +<p>I want you to go away with an eternal hatred in your breast of +injustice, of aristocracy, of caste, of the idea that one man has +more rights than another because he has better clothes, more land, +more money, because he owns a railroad, or is famous and in high +position. Remember that all men have equal rights. Remember that +the man who acts best his part—who loves his friends the +best—is most willing to help others—truest to the +discharge of obligation—who has the best heart—the most +feeling—the deepest sympathies—and who freely gives to +others the rights that he claims for himself is the best man. I am +willing to swear to this.</p> +<p>What has made this country? I say again, liberty and labor. What +would we be without labor? I want every farmer when plowing the +rustling corn of June—while mowing in the perfumed +fields—to feel that he is adding to the wealth and glory of +the United States. I want every mechanic—every man of toil, +to know and feel that he is keeping the cars running, the telegraph +wires in the air; that he is making the statues and painting the +pictures; that he is writing and printing the books; that he is +helping to fill the world with honor, with happiness, with love and +law.</p> +<p>Our country is founded upon the dignity of labor—upon the +equality of man. Ours is the first real Republic in the history of +the world. Beneath our flag the people are free. We have retired +the gods from politics. We have found that man is the only source +of political power, and that the governed should govern. We have +disfranchised the aristocrats of the air and have given one country +to mankind.</p> +<a name="link0004" id="link0004"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>BANGOR SPEECH.</h2> +<pre> + * Yesterday was a glorious day for the Republicans of + Bangor. The weather was delightful and all the imposing + exercises of the day were conducted with a gratifying and + even inspiring success. + + The noon train from Waterville brought Gov. Connor, Col. + Ingersoll and Senator Blaine. + + At 3 p. m. the speakers arrived at the grounds and were + received with applause as they ascended the platform, where + a number of the most prominent citizens of Bangor and + vicinity were assembled. At this time the platform was + surrounded by a dense mass of people, numbering thousands. + The meeting was called to order by C. A. Boutelle, in behalf + of the Republican State Committee. As Col. Ingersoll was + introduced by Gov. Connor he was welcomed by tumultuous + cheers, which he gracefully acknowledged. + + As we said before, no report could do justice to such a + masterly effort as that of the great Western Orator, and we + have not attempted to convey any adequate impression of an + address which is conceded on all hands to be the most + remarkable for originality, power and eloquence ever heard + in this section. + + Such a speech by such a man—if there is another—must be + heard; the magnetism of the speaker must be felt; the + indescribable influence must be experienced, in order to + appreciate his wonderful power. The vast audience was + alternately swayed from enthusiasm for the grand principles + advocated, to indignation at the crimes of Democracy, as the + record of that party was scorched with his invective; from + laughter at the ludicrous presentment of Democratic + inconsistencies, to tears brought forth by the pathos and + eloquence of his appeals for justice and humanity. During + portions of his address there was moisture in the eyes of + every person in the audience, and from opening to close he + held the assemblage by a spell more potent than that of any + man we have ever heard speak. It was one of the grandest, + most cogent and thrilling appeals in behalf of the great + principles of liberty, loyalty and justice to all men, ever + delivered, and we wish it might have been heard by every + citizen of our beloved Republic. The Colonel was repeatedly + urged by the audience to go on, and he spoke for about two + hours with undiminished fervor. His hearers would gladly + have given him audience for two hours longer, but with a + splendid tribute to Mr. Blaine as the strongest tie between + New England and the West, he took his seat amid the ringing + cheers and plaudits of the assemblage.—The Whig and + Courier, Bangor, Maine, August 25,1876. +</pre> +<center>HAYES CAMPAIGN</center> +<center>1876.</center> +<p>I HAVE the honor to belong to the Republican party; the +grandest, the sublimest party in the history of the world. This +grand party is not only in favor of the liberty of the body, but +also the liberty of the soul. This sublime party gives to all the +labor of their hands and of their brains. This party allows every +person to think for himself and to express his thoughts. The +Republican party forges no chains for the mind, no fetters for the +souls of men. It declares that the intellectual domain shall be +forever free. In the free air there is room for every wing. The +Republican party endeavors to remove all obstructions on the +highway of progress. In this sublime undertaking it asks the +assistance of all. Its platform is Continental. Upon it there is +room for the Methodist, the Baptist, the Catholic, the +Universalist, the Presbyterian, and the Freethinker. There is room +for all who are in favor of the preservation of the sacred rights +of men.</p> +<p>I am going to give you a few reasons for voting the Republican +ticket. The Republican party depends upon reason, upon argument, +upon education, upon intelligence and upon patriotism. The +Republican party makes no appeal to ignorance and prejudice. It +wishes to destroy both.</p> +<p>It is the party of humanity, the party that hates caste, that +honors labor, that rewards toil, that believes in justice. It +appeals to all that is elevated and noble in man, to the higher +instincts, to the nobler aspirations. It has accomplished grand +things.</p> +<p>The horizon of the past is filled with the glory of Republican +achievement. The monuments of its wisdom, its power and patriotism +crowd all the fields of conflict. Upon the Constitution this party +wrote equal rights for all; upon every statute book, humanity; upon +the flag, liberty. The Republican party of the United States is the +conscience of the nineteenth century. It is the justice of this +age, the embodiment of social progress and honor. It has no knee +for the past. Its face is toward the future. It is the party of +advancement, of the dawn, of the sunrise.</p> +<p>The Republican party commenced its grand career by saying that +the institution of human slavery had cursed enough American soil; +that the territories should not be damned with that most infamous +thing; that this country was sacred to freedom; that slavery had +gone far enough. Upon that issue the great campaign of 1860 was +fought and won. The Republican party was born of wisdom and +conscience.</p> +<p>The people of the South claimed that slavery should be +protected; that the doors of the territories should be thrown open +to them and to their institutions. They not only claimed this, but +they also insisted that the Constitution of the United States +protected slave property, the same as other property everywhere. +The South was defeated, and then appealed to arms. In a moment all +their energies were directed toward the destruction of this +Government. They commenced the war—they fired upon the flag +that had protected them for nearly a century.</p> +<p>The North was compelled to decide instantly between the +destruction of the nation and civil war.</p> +<p>The division between the friends and enemies of the Union at +once took place. The Government began to defend itself. To carry on +the war money was necessary. The Government borrowed, and finally +issued its notes and bonds. The Democratic party in the North +sympathized with the Rebellion. Everything was done to hinder, +embarrass, obstruct and delay. They endeavored to make a rebel +breastwork of the Constitution; to create a fire in the rear. They +denounced the Government; resisted the draft; shot United States +officers; declared the war a failure and an outrage; rejoiced over +our defeats, and wept and cursed at our victories.</p> +<p>To crush the Rebellion in the South and keep in subjection the +Democratic party at the North, thousands of millions of money were +expended—the nation burdened with a fearful debt, and the +best blood of the country poured out upon the fields of battle.</p> +<p>In order to destroy the Rebellion it became necessary to destroy +slavery. As a matter of fact, slavery was the Rebellion. As soon as +this truth forced itself upon the Government—thrust as it +were into the brain of the North upon the point of a rebel +bayonet—the Republican party resolved to destroy forever the +last vestige of that savage and cruel institution; an institution +that made white men devils and black men beasts.</p> +<p>The Republican party put down the Rebellion; saved the nation; +destroyed slavery; made the slave a citizen; put the ballot in the +hands of the black man; forgave the assassins of the Government; +restored nearly every rebel to citizenship, and proclaimed peace +to, and for each and all.</p> +<p>For sixteen years the country has been in the hands of that +great party. For sixteen years that grand party, in spite of rebels +in arms—in spite of the Democratic party of the North, has +preserved the territorial integrity, and the financial honor of the +country. It has endeavored to enforce the laws; it has tried to +protect loyal men at the South; it has labored to bring murderers +and assassins to justice, and it is working now to preserve the +priceless fruits of its great victory.</p> +<p>The present question is, whom shall we trust? To whom shall we +give the reins of power? What party will best preserve the rights +of the people?</p> +<p>What party is most deserving of our confidence? There is but one +way to determine the character of a party, and that is, by +ascertaining its history.</p> +<p>Could we have safely trusted the Democratic party in 1860? No. +And why not? Because it was a believer in the right of +secession—a believer in the sacredness of human slavery. The +Democratic party then solemnly declared—speaking through its +most honored and trusted leaders—that each State had the +right to secede. This made the Constitution a <i>nudum pactum</i>, +a contract without a consideration, a Democratic promise, a wall of +mist, and left every State free to destroy at will the fabric of +American Government—the fabric reared by our fathers through +years of toil and blood.</p> +<p>Could we have safely trusted that party in 1864, when, in +convention assembled, it declared the war a failure, and wished to +give up the contest at a moment when universal victory was within +the grasp of the Republic? Had the people put that party in power +then, there would have been a Southern Confederacy to-day, and upon +the limbs of four million people the chains of slavery would still +have clanked. Is there one man present who, to-day, regrets that +the Vallandigham Democracy of 1864 was spurned and beaten by the +American people? Is there one man present who, to-day, regrets the +utter defeat of that mixture of slavery, malice and meanness, +called the Democratic party, in 1864?</p> +<p>Could we have safely trusted that party in 1868?</p> +<p>At that time the Democracy of the South was trying to humble and +frighten the colored people or exterminate them. These inoffensive +colored people were shot down without provocation, without mercy. +The white Democrats were as relentless as fiends. They killed +simply to kill. They murdered these helpless people, thinking that +they were in some blind way getting their revenge upon the people +of the North. No tongue can exaggerate the cruelties practiced upon +the helpless freedmen of the South. These white Democrats had been +reared amid and by slavery. Slavery knows no such thing as justice, +no such thing as mercy. Slavery does not dream of governing by +reason, by argument or persuasion. Slavery depends upon force, upon +the bowie-knife, the revolver, the whip, the chain and the +bloodhound. The white Democrats of the South had been reared amid +slavery; they cared nothing for reason; they knew of but one thing +to be used when there was a difference of opinion or a conflict of +interest, and that was brute force. It never occurred to them to +educate, to inform, and to reason. It was easier to shoot than to +reason; it was quicker to stab than to argue; cheaper to kill than +to educate. A grave costs less than a schoolhouse; bullets were +cheaper than books; and one knife could stab more than forty +schools could convert.</p> +<p>They could not bear to see the negro free—to see the +former slave trampling on his old chains, holding a ballot in his +hand. They could not endure the sight of a negro in office. It was +gall and wormwood to think of a slave occupying a seat in Congress; +to think of a negro giving his ideas about the political questions +of the day. And so these white Democrats made up their minds that +by a reign of terrorism they would drive the negro from the polls, +drive him from all official positions, and put him back in reality +in the old condition. To accomplish this they commenced a system of +murder, of assassination, of robbery, theft, and plunder, never +before equaled in extent and atrocity. All this was in its height +when in 1868 the Democracy asked the control of this +Government.</p> +<p>Is there a man here who in his heart regrets that the Democrats +failed in 1868? Do you wish that the masked murderers who rode in +the darkness of night to the hut of the freedman and shot him down +like a wild beast, regardless of the prayers and tears of wife and +children, were now holding positions of honor and trust in this +Government? Are you sorry that these assassins were defeated in +1868?</p> +<p>In 1872 the Democratic party, bent upon victory, greedy for +office, with itching palms and empty pockets, threw away all +principle—if Democratic doctrines can be called +principles—and nominated a life-long enemy of their party for +President. No one doubted or doubts the loyalty and integrity of +Horace Greeley. But all knew that if elected he would belong to the +party electing him; that he would have to use Democrats as his +agents, and all knew, or at least feared, that the agents would own +and use the principal. All believed that in the malicious clutch of +the Democratic party Horace Greeley would be not a President, but a +prisoner—not a ruler, but a victim. Against that grand man I +have nothing to say. I simply congratulate him upon his escape from +being used as a false key by the Democratic party.</p> +<p>During all these years the Democratic party prophesied the +destruction of the Government, the destruction of the Constitution, +and the banishment of liberty from American soil.</p> +<p>In 1864 that party declared that after four years of failure to +restore the Union by the experiment of war, there should be a +cessation of hostilities. They then declared "that the Constitution +had been violated in every part, and that public liberty and +private rights had been trodden down."</p> +<p>And yet the Constitution remained and still remains; public +liberty still exists, and private rights are still respected.</p> +<p>In 1868, growing more desperate, and being still filled with the +spirit of prophecy, this same party in its platform said: "Under +the repeated assaults of the Republican party, the pillars of the +Government are rocking on their base, and should it succeed in +November next, and inaugurate its President, we will meet as a +subjected and conquered people, amid the ruins of liberty and the +scattered fragments of the Constitution."</p> +<p>The Republican party did succeed in November, 1868, and did +inaugurate its President, and we did not meet as a subjected and +conquered people amid the ruins of liberty and the scattered +fragments of the Constitution. We met as a victorious people, amid +the proudest achievements of liberty, protected by a Constitution +spotless and stainless—pure as the Alpine snow thrice sifted +by the northern blast.</p> +<p>You must not forget the condition of the Government when it came +into the hands of the Republican party. Its treasury was empty, its +means squandered, its navy dispersed, its army unreliable, the +offices filled with rebels and rebel spies; the Democratic party of +the North rubbing its hands in a kind of hellish glee and shouting, +"I told you so."</p> +<p>When the Republican party came into power in 1861, it found the +Southern States in arms; it came into power when human beings were +chained hand to hand and driven like cattle to market; when white +men were engaged in the ennobling business of raising dogs to +pursue and catch men and women; when the bay of the bloodhound was +considered as the music of the Union. It came into power when, from +thousands of pulpits, slavery was declared to be a divine +institution. It took the reins of Government when education was an +offence, when mercy, humanity and justice were political +crimes.</p> +<p>The Republican party came into power when the Constitution of +the United States upheld the crime of crimes, a Constitution that +gave the lie direct to the Declaration of Independence, and, as I +said before, when the Southern States were in arms.</p> +<p>To the fulfillment of its great destiny it gave all its +energies. To the almost superhuman task, it gave its every thought +and power. For four long and terrible years, with vast armies in +the field against it; beset by false friends; in constant peril; +betrayed again and again; stabbed by the Democratic party, in the +name of the Constitution; reviled and slandered beyond conception; +attacked in every conceivable manner—the Republican party +never faltered for an instant. Its courage increased with the +difficulties to be overcome. Hopeful in defeat, confident in +disaster, merciful in victory; sustained by high aims and noble +aspirations, it marched forward, through storms of shot and +shell—on to the last fortification of treason and +rebellion—forward to the shining goal of victory, lasting and +universal.</p> +<p>During these savage and glorious years, the Democratic party of +the North, as a party, assisted the South. Democrats formed secret +societies to burn cities—to release rebel prisoners. They +shot down officers who were enforcing the draft; they declared the +war unconstitutional; they left nothing undone to injure the credit +of the Government; they persuaded soldiers to desert; they went +into partnership with rebels for the purpose of spreading +contagious diseases through the North. They were the friends and +allies of persons who regarded yellow fever and smallpox as weapons +of civilized warfare. In spite of all this, the Republicans +succeeded.</p> +<p>The Democrats declared slavery to be a divine institution; The +Republican party abolished it. The Constitution of the United +States was changed from a sword that stabbed the rights of four +million people to a shield for every human being beneath our +flag.</p> +<p>The Democrats of New York burned orphan asylums and inaugurated +a reign of terror in order to co-operate with the raid of John +Morgan. Remember, my friends, that all this was done when the fate +of our country trembled in the balance of war; that all this was +done when the great heart of the North was filled with agony and +courage; when the question was, "Shall Liberty or Slavery +triumph?"</p> +<p>No words have ever passed the human lips strong enough to curse +the Northern allies of the South.</p> +<p>The United States wanted money. It wanted money to buy muskets +and cannon and shot and shell, it wanted money to pay soldiers, to +buy horses, wagons, ambulances, clothing and food. Like an +individual, it had to borrow this money; and, like an honest +individual, it must pay this money. Clothed with sovereignty, it +had, or at least exercised, the power to make its notes a legal +tender. This quality of being a legal tender was the only respect +in which these notes differ from those signed by an individual. As +a matter of fact, every note issued was a forced loan from the +people, a forced loan from the soldiers in the field—in +short, a forced loan from every person that took a single dollar. +Upon every one of these notes is printed a promise. The belief that +this promise will be made good gives every particle of value to +each note that it has. Although each note, by law, is a legal +tender, yet if the Government declared that it never would redeem +these notes, the people would not take them if revolution could +hurl such a Government from power. So that the belief that these +notes will finally be paid, added to the fact that in the meantime +they are a legal tender, gives them all the value they have. And, +although all are substantially satisfied that they will be paid, +none know at what time. This uncertainty as to the time, as to +when, affects the value of these notes.</p> +<p>They must be paid, unless a promise can be delayed so long as to +amount to a fulfillment. They must be paid. The question is, "How?" +The answer is, "By the industry and prosperity of the people." They +cannot be paid by law. Law made them; labor must pay them; and they +must be paid out of the profits of the people. We must pay the debt +with eggs, not with goose. In a terrible war we spent thousands of +millions; all the bullets thrown; all the powder burned; all the +property destroyed, of every sort, kind, and character; all the +time of the people engaged—all these things were a dead loss. +The debt represents the loss. Paying the debt is simply repairing +the loss. When we, as a people, shall have made a net amount, equal +to the amount thrown, as it were, away in war, or somewhere near +that amount, we will resume specie payment; we will redeem our +promises. We promised on paper, we shall pay in gold and silver. We +asked the people to hold this paper until we got the money, and +they are holding the paper and we are getting the money.</p> +<p>As soon as the slaves were free, the Republican party said, +"They must be citizens, not vagrants." The Democratic party opposed +this just, this generous measure. The freedmen were made citizens. +The Republican party then said, "These citizens must vote; they +must have the ballot, to keep what the bullet has won." The +Democratic party said "No." The negroes received the ballot. The +Republican party then said, "These voters must be educated, so that +the ballot shall be the weapon of intelligence, not of ignorance." +The Democratic party objected. But schools were founded, and books +were put in the hands of the colored people, instead of whips upon +their backs. We said to the Southern people, "The colored men are +citizens; their rights must be respected; they are voters, they +must be allowed to vote; they were and are our friends, and we are +their protectors."</p> +<p>All this was accomplished by the Republican party.</p> +<p>It changed the organic law of the land, so that it is now a +proper foundation for a free government; it struck the cruel +shackles from four million human beings; it put down the most +gigantic rebellion in the history of the world; it expunged from +the statute books of every State, and of the Nation, all the cruel +and savage laws that Slavery had enacted; it took whips from the +backs, and chains from the limbs, of men; it dispensed with +bloodhounds as the instruments of civilization; it banished to the +memory of barbarism the slave-pen, the auction block, and the +whipping-post; it purified a Nation; it elevated the human +race.</p> +<p>All this was opposed by the Democratic party; opposed with a +bitterness, compared to which ordinary malice is sweet. I say the +Democratic party, because I consider those who fought against the +Government, in the fields of the South, and those who opposed in +the North, as Democrats—one and all. The Democratic party has +been, during all these years, the enemy of civilization, the hater +of liberty, the despiser of justice.</p> +<p>When I say the Democratic party sympathized with the Rebellion, +I mean a majority of that party. I know there are in the Democratic +party, soldiers who fought for the Union. I do not know why they +are there, but I have nothing to say against them. I will never +utter a word against any man who bared his breast to a storm of +shot and shell, for the preservation of the Republic. When I use +the term Democratic party, I do not mean those soldiers.</p> +<p>There are others in the Democratic party who are there just +because their fathers were Democrats. They do not mean any +particular harm. Others are there because they could not amount to +anything in the Republican party. A man only fit for a corporal in +the Republican ranks, will make a leader in the Democratic party. +By the Democratic party, I mean that party that sided with the +South—that believed in secession—that loved +slavery—that hated liberty—that denounced Lincoln as a +tyrant—that burned orphan asylums—that gloried in our +disasters—that denounced every effort to save the +nation—they are the gentlemen I mean, and they constitute a +large majority of the Democratic party.</p> +<p>The Democrats hate the negro to-day, with a hatred begotten of a +well-grounded fear that the colored people are rapidly becoming +their superiors in industry, intellect and character.</p> +<p>The colored people have suffered enough. They were and are our +friends. They are the friends of this country, and cost what it may +they must be protected. The white loyal man must be protected. They +have been ostracized, slandered, mobbed, and murdered. Their very +blood cries from the ground.</p> +<p>These two things—payment of the debt and protection of +loyal citizens, are the things to be done. Which party can be +trusted?</p> +<p>Which will be the more apt to pay the debt?</p> +<p>Which will be the more apt to protect the colored and white +loyalist at the South?</p> +<p>Who is Samuel J. Tilden?</p> +<p>Samuel J. Tilden is an attorney. He never gave birth to an +elevated, noble sentiment in his life. He is a kind of legal +spider, watching in a web of technicalities for victims. He is a +compound of cunning and heartlessness—of beak and claw and +fang. He is one of the few men who can grab a railroad and hide the +deep cuts, tunnels and culverts in a single night. He is a +corporation wrecker. He is a demurrer filed by the Confederate +congress. He waits on the shores of bankruptcy to clutch the +drowning by the throat. He was never married. The Democratic party +has satisfied the longings of his heart. He has looked upon love as +weakness. He has courted men because women cannot vote. He has +contented himself by adopting a rag-baby, that really belongs to +Mr. Hendricks, and his principal business at present is explaining +how he came to adopt this child.</p> +<p>Samuel J. Tilden has been for years without number a New York +Democrat.</p> +<p>New York has been, and still is, the worst governed city in the +world. Political influence is bought and sold like stocks and +bonds. Nearly every contract is larceny in disguise—nearly +every appointment is a reward for crime, and every election is a +fraud. Among such men Samuel J. Tilden has lived; with such men he +has acted; by such men he has been educated; such men have been his +scholars, and such men are his friends. These men resisted the +draft, but Samuel J. Tilden remained their friend. They burned +orphan asylums, but Tilden's friendship never cooled. They +inaugurated riot and murder, but Tilden wavered not. They stole a +hundred millions, and when no more was left to steal—when the +people could not even pay the interest on the amount +stolen—then these Democrats, clapping their hands over their +bursting pockets, began shouting for reform. Mr. Tilden has been a +reformer for years, especially of railroads. The vital issue with +him has been the issue of bogus stock. Although a life-long +Democrat, he has been an amalgamationist—of corporations. +While amassing millions, he has occasionally turned his attention +to national affairs. He left his private affairs (and his +reputation depends upon these affairs being kept private) long +enough to assist the Democracy to declare the war for the +restoration of the Union a failure; long enough to denounce Lincoln +as a tyrant and usurper. He was generally too busy to denounce the +political murders and assassinations in the South—too busy to +say a word in favor of justice and liberty; but he found time to +declare the war for the preservation of the country an outrage. He +managed to spare time enough to revile the Proclamation of +Emancipation—time enough to shed a few tears over the corpse +of slavery; time enough to oppose the enfranchisement of the +colored man; time enough to raise his voice against the injustice +of putting a loyal negro on a political level with a pardoned +rebel; time enough to oppose every forward movement of the +nation.</p> +<p>No man should ever be elected President of this country who +raised his hand to dismember and destroy it. No man should be +elected President who sympathized with those who were endeavoring +to destroy it. No man should be elected President of this great +nation who, when it was in deadly peril, did not endeavor to save +it by act and word. No man should be elected President who does not +believe that every negro should be free—that the colored +people should be allowed to vote. No man should be placed at the +head of the nation—in command of the army and navy—who +does not believe that the Constitution, with all its amendments, +should be sacredly enforced. No man should be elected President of +this nation who believes in the Democratic doctrine of "States +Rights;" who believes that this Government is only a federation of +States. No man should be elected President of our great country who +aided and abetted her enemies in war—who advised or +countenanced resistance to a draft in time of war, who by slander +impaired her credit, sneered at her heroes, and laughed at her +martyrs. Samuel J. Tilden is the possessor of nearly every +disqualification mentioned.</p> +<p>Mr. Tilden is the author of an essay on finance, commonly called +a letter of acceptance, in which his ideas upon the great subject +are given in the plainest and most direct manner imaginable. All +through this letter or essay there runs a vein of honest bluntness +really refreshing. As a specimen of bluntness and clearness, take +the following extracts:</p> +<p>How shall the Government make these notes at all times as good +as specie? It has to provide in reference to the mass which would +be kept in use by the wants of business a central reservoir of +coin, adequate to the adjustment of the temporary fluctuations of +the international balance, and as a guaranty against transient +drains, artificially created by panic or by speculation. It has +also to provide for the payment in coin of such fractional currency +as may be presented for redemption, and such inconsiderable portion +of legal tenders as individuals may from time to time desire to +convert for special use, or in order to lay by in coin their little +store of money. To make the coin now in the treasury available for +the objects of this reserve, to gradually strengthen and enlarge +that reserve, and to provide for such other exceptional demands for +coin as may arise, does not seem to me a work of difficulty. If +wisely planned and discreetly pursued, it ought not to cost any +sacrifice to the business of the country. It should tend, on the +contrary, to the revival of hope and confidence.</p> +<p>In other words, the way to pay the debt is to get the money, and +the way to get the money is to provide a central reservoir of coin +to adjust fluctuations. As to the resumption he gives us this:</p> +<p>The proper time for the resumption is the time when wise +preparation shall have ripened into perfect ability to accomplish +the object with a certainty and ease that will inspire confidence +and encourage the reviving of business.</p> +<p>The earliest time in which such a result can be brought about is +best. Even when preparations shall have been matured, the exact +date would have to be chosen with reference to the then existing +state of trade and credit operations in our own country, and the +course of foreign commerce and condition of exchanges with other +nations. The specific measure and actual date are matters of +details, having reference to ever-changing conditions. They belong +to the domain of practical, administrative statesmanship. The +captain of a steamer, about starting from New York to Liverpool, +does not assemble a council over his ocean craft, and fix an angle +by which to lash the rudder for the whole voyage. A human +intelligence must be at the helm to discern the shifting forces of +water and winds. A human mind must be at the helm to feel the +elements day by day, and guide to a mastery over them. Such +preparations are everything. Without them a legislative command +fixing a day—an official promise fixing a day, are shams. +They are worse. They are a snare and a delusion to all who trust +them. They destroy all confidence among thoughtful men whose +judgment will at last sway public opinion. An attempt to act on +such a command, or such a promise without preparation, would end in +a new suspension. It would be a fresh calamity, prolific of +confusion, distrust, and distress.</p> +<p>That is to say, Congress has not sufficient intelligence to fix +the date of resumption. They cannot fix the proper time. But a +Democratic convention has human intelligence enough to know that +the first day of January, 1879, is not the proper date. That +convention knew what the state of trade and credit in our country +and the course of foreign commerce and the condition of exchanges +with other nations would be on the first day of January, 1879. Of +course they did, or else they never would have had the impudence to +declare that resumption would be impossible at that date.</p> +<p>The next extract is more luminous still:</p> +<p>The Government of the United States, in my opinion, can advance +to a resumption of specie payments on its legal tender notes by +gradual and safe processes tending to relieve the present business +distress. If charged by the people with the administration of the +executive office, I should deem it a duty so to exercise the powers +with which it has or may be invested by Congress, as the best and +soonest to conduct the country to that beneficent result.</p> +<p>Why did not this great statesman tell us of some "gradual and +safe process"? He promises, if elected, to so administer the +Government that it will soon reach a beneficent result. How is this +to be done? What is his plan? Will he rely on "a human intelligence +at the helm," or on "the central reservoir," or on some "gradual +and safe process"?</p> +<p>I defy any man to read this letter and tell me what Mr. Tilden +really proposes to do. There is nothing definite said. He uses such +general terms, such vague and misty expressions, such unmeaning +platitudes, that the real idea, if he had one, is lost in fog and +mist.</p> +<p>Suppose I should, in the most solemn and impressive manner, tell +you that the fluctuations caused in the vital stability of shifting +financial operations, not to say speculations of the wildest +character, cannot be rendered instantly accountable to a true +financial theory based upon the great law that the superfluous is +not a necessity, except in vague thoughts of persons unacquainted +with the exigencies of the hour, and cannot, in the absence of a +central reservoir of coin with a human intelligence at the head, +hasten by any system of convertible bonds the expectation of public +distrust, no matter how wisely planned and discreetly pursued, +failure is assured whatever the real result may be.</p> +<p>Must we wage this war for the right forever? Is there no time +when the soldiers of progress can rest? Will the bugles of the +great army of civilization never sound even a halt? It does seem as +though there can be no stop, no rest. It is in the world of mind as +in the physical world. Every plant of value has to be cultivated. +The land must be plowed, the seeds must be planted and watered. It +must be guarded every moment. Its enemies crawl in the earth and +fly in the air. The sun scorches it, the rain drowns it, the dew +rusts it. He who wins it must fight. But the weeds they grow in +spite of all. Nobody plows for them except accident. The winds sow +the seeds, chance covers them, and they flourish and multiply. The +sun cannot burn them—they laugh at rain and frost—they +care not for birds and beasts. In spite of all they grow. It is the +same in politics. A true Republican must continue to grow, must +work, must think, must advance. The Republican party is the party +of progress, of ideas, of work. To make a Republican you must have +schools, books, papers. To make a Democrat, take all these away. +Republicans are the useful; Democrats the noxious—corn and +wheat against the dog fennel and Canada thistles.</p> +<p>Republicans of Maine, do not forget that each of you has two +votes in this election—one in Maine and one in Indiana.</p> +<p>Remember that we are relying on you. There is no stronger tie +between the prairies of Illinois and the pines of +Maine—between the Western States and New England, than James +G. Blaine.</p> +<p>We are relying on Maine for from twelve to fifteen thousand on +the 12th of September, and Indiana will answer with from fifteen to +twenty thousand, and hearing these two votes the Nation in November +will declare for Hayes and Wheeler.*</p> +<pre> + * This being a newspaper report, and never revised by the + author, is of necessity incomplete, but the publisher feels + that it should not be lost +</pre> +<a name="link0005" id="link0005"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>COOPER UNION SPEECH, NEW YORK.</h2> +<pre> + *Col. Robert G. Ingersoll of Illinois last night, at Cooper + Union, spoke on the political issues of the day, at unusual + length, to the largest and most enthusiastic audience which, + during the last ten years, any single speaker has attracted. + His address was in his happiest epigrammatic style, and was + interrupted every few moments either by the most uproarious + laughter or enthusiastic cheering. It is no exaggeration to + say that the meeting was the largest Cooper Institute has + seen since the war. Not merely the main hall was filled, but + the wide corridor in Third Avenue, the entrance hall in + Eighth Street, and every Committee-room to which his voice + could reach, though the speaker was unseen, were crowded—in + fact, literally packed. Half an hour before the hour named + for the organization of the meeting, admission to the body + of the hall was almost impossible; and selected officers, + and the speaker of the evening himself had to beg their way + to the platform. The latter was as painfully crowded with + invited guests as the body of the hall; and ingress was + impossible after the speaker began, and egress was almost as + difficult owing to the pressure in the committee-room + through which the platform is approached. + + Not only in numbers alone, but in the prominence of the + persons present, was the meeting impressive. Besides the + usual large quota of active politicians always seen at such + meetings, there were seen numbers of leading merchants, + financiers, and lawyers of New York, prominent officials not + only of the City but the State and National Government. + + The speech was nearly two hours In length, but as the + interruptions were frequent, indeed almost continuous, it + seemed very short, and when Mr. Ingersoll concluded his fire + of epigrams, there were loud calls and appeals to him to go + on. There were suggestions by some of the managers, of other + speakers who might follow him, but the presiding officer + wisely decided to submit no other speaker to the too severe + test of speaking on the same occasion with Mr. Ingersoll. + + Chauncey M. Depew, on leaving the hall, remarked that it was + the greatest speech he ever heard, and numbers of old + campaigners were equally enthusiastic. At its conclusion, + the reception which Mr. Ingersoll held on the platform + lasted over half-an-hour, and when finally Commissioner + Wheeler piloted him through the crowd to his coach, three or + four hundred of the audience followed and gave him lusty + cheers as he drove off.—New York Tribune, September + 11,1876. +</pre> +<center>HAYES CAMPAIGN.</center> +<center>1876.</center> +<p>I AM just on my way home from the grand old State of Maine, and +there has followed me a telegraphic dispatch which I will read to +you. If it were not good, you may swear I would not read it: "Every +Congressional district, every county in Maine, Republican by a +large majority. The victory is overwhelming, and the majority will +exceed 15,000." That dispatch is signed by that knight-errant of +political chivalry, James G. Blaine.</p> +<p>I suppose we are all stockholders in the great corporation known +as the United States of America, and as such stockholders we have a +right to vote the way we think will best subserve our own +interests. Each one has certain stock in this Government, whether +he is rich, or whether he is poor, and the poor man has the same +interest in the United States of America that the richest man in it +has. It is our duty, conscientiously and honestly, to hear the +argument upon both sides of the political question, and then go and +vote conscientiously for the side that we believe will best +preserve our interest in the United States of America. Two great +parties are before you now asking your support—the Democratic +party and the Republican party. One wishes to be kept in power, the +other wishes to have a chance once more at the Treasury of the +United States. The Democratic party is probably the hungriest +organization that ever wandered over the desert of political +disaster in the history of the world. There never was, in all +probability, a political stomach so thoroughly empty, or an +appetite so outrageously keen as the one possessed by the +Democratic party. The Democratic party has been howling like a pack +of wolves looking in with hungry and staring eyes at the windows of +the National Capitol, and scratching at the doors of the White +House. They have been engaged in these elegant pursuits for sixteen +long, weary years. Occasionally they have retired to some +convenient eminence and lugubriously howled about the Constitution. +The Democratic party comes and asks for your vote, not on account +of anything it has done, not on account of anything it has +accomplished, but on account of what it promises to do; the +Democratic party can make just as good a promise as any other party +in the world, and it will come farther from fulfilling it than any +other party on this globe. The Republican party having held this +Government for sixteen years, proposes to hold it for four years +more. The Republican party comes to you with its record open, and +asks every man, woman and child in this broad country to read its +every word. And I say to you, that there is not a line, a +paragraph, or a page of that record that is not only an honor to +the Republican party, but to the human race. On every page of that +record is written some great and glorious action, done either for +the liberty of man, or the preservation of our common country. We +ask every body to read its every word. The Democratic party comes +before you with its record closed, recording every blot and blur, +and stain and treason, and slander and malignity, and asks you not +to read a single word, but to be kind enough to take its infamous +promises for the future.</p> +<p>Now, my friends, I propose to tell you, to-night, something that +has been done by the Democratic party, and then allow you to judge +for yourselves. Now, if a man came to you, you owning a steamboat +on the Hudson River, and he wished to hire out to you as an +engineer, and you inquired about him, and found he had blown up and +destroyed and wrecked every steamboat he had ever been engineer on, +and you should tell him: "I can't hire you; you blew up such an +engine, you wrecked such a ship," he would say to you, "My Lord! +Mister, you must let bygones be bygones." If a man came to your +bank, or came to a solitary individual here to borrow a hundred +dollars, and you went and inquired about him and found he never +paid a note in his life, found he was a dead-beat, and you say to +him, "I cannot loan you money." "Why?" "Because, I have ascertained +you never pay your debts." "Ah, yes," he says, "you are no +gentleman going prying into a man's record," I tell you, my good +friends, a good character rests upon a record, and not upon a +prospectus, a good record rests upon a deed accomplished, and not +upon a promise, a good character rests upon something really done, +and not upon a good resolution, and you cannot make a good +character in a day. If you could, Tilden would have one to-morrow +night.</p> +<p>I propose now to tell you, my friends, a little of the history +of the Republican party, also a little of the history of the +Democratic party.</p> +<p>And first, the Republican party. The United States of America is +a free country, it is the only free country upon this earth; it is +the only republic that was ever established among men. We have +read, we have heard, of the republics of Greece, of Egypt, of +Venice; we have heard of the free cities of Europe. There never was +a republic of Venice; there never was a republic of Rome; there +never was a republic of Athens; there never was a free city in +Europe; there never was a government not cursed with caste; there +never was a government not cursed with slavery; there never was a +country not cursed with almost every infamy, until the Republican +party of the United States made this a free country. It is the +first party in the world that contended that the respectable man +was the useful man; it is the first party in the world that said, +without regard to previous conditions, without regard to race, +every human being is entitled to life, to liberty, and the pursuit +of happiness, and it is the only party in the world that has +endeavored to carry those sublime principles into actual effect. +Every other party has been allied to some piece of rascality; every +other party has been patched up with some thieving, larcenous, +leprous compromise. The Republican party keeps its forehead in the +grand dawn of perpetual advancement; the Republican party is the +party of reason; it is the party of argument; it is the party of +education; it believes in free schools, it believes in scientific +schools; it believes that the schools are for the public and all +the public; it believes that science never should be interfered +with by any sectarian influence whatever.</p> +<p>The Republican party is in favor of science; the Republican +party, as I said before, is the party of reason; it argues; it does +not mob; it reasons; it does not murder; it persuades you, not with +the shot gun, not with tar and feathers, but with good sound +reason, and argument.</p> +<p>In order for you to ascertain what the Republican party has done +for us, let us refresh ourselves a little; we all know it, but it +is well enough to hear it now and then. Let us then refresh our +recollection a little, in order to understand what the grand and +great Republican party has accomplished in the land.</p> +<p>We will consider, in the first place, the condition of the +country when the Republican party was born. When this Republican +party was born there was upon the statute books of the United +States of America a law known as the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, by +which every man in the State of New York was made by law a +bloodhound, and could be set and hissed upon a negro, who was +simply attempting to obtain his birthright of freedom, just as you +would set a dog upon a wolf. That was the Fugitive Slave Law of +1850. Around the neck of every man it put a collar as on a dog, but +it had not the decency to put the man's name on the collar. I said +in the State of Maine, and several other States, and expect to say +it again although I hurt the religious sentiment of the Democratic +party, and shocked the piety of that organization by saying it, but +I did say then, and now say, that the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850 +would have disgraced hell in its palmiest days.</p> +<p>I tell you, my friends, you do not know how easy it is to shock +the religious sentiments of the Democratic party; there is a deep +and pure vein of piety running through that organization; it has +been for years spiritually inclined; there is probably no +organization in the world that really will stand by any thing of a +spiritual character, at least until it is gone, as that Democratic +party will. Everywhere I have been I have crushed their religious +hopes. You have no idea how sorry I am that I hurt their feelings +so upon the subject of religion. Why, I did not suppose that they +cared anything about Christianity, but I have been deceived. I now +find that they do, and I have done what no other man in the United +States ever did—I have made the Democratic party come to the +defence of Christianity. I have made the Democratic party use what +time they could spare between drinks in quoting Scripture. But +notwithstanding the fact that I have shocked the religious +sentiment of that party, I do not want them to defend Christianity +any more; they will bring it into universal contempt if they do. +Yes, yes, they will make the words honesty and reform a stench in +the nostrils of honest men. They made the words of the Constitution +stand almost for treason, during the entire war, and every decent +word that passes the ignorant, leprous, malignant lips of the +Democratic party, becomes dishonored from that day forth.</p> +<p>At the same time, in 1850, when the Fugitive Slave Law was +passed, in nearly all of the Western States, there was a law by +which the virtues of pity and hospitality became indictable +offences. There was a law by which the virtue of charity became a +crime, and the man who performed a kindness could be indicted, +imprisoned, and fined. It was the law of Illinois—of my own +State—that if one gave a drop of cold water, or a crust of +bread, to a fugitive from slavery, he could be indicted, fined and +imprisoned, under the infamous slave law of 1850, under the +infamous black laws of the Western States.</p> +<p>At the time the Republican party was born, (and I have told this +many times) if a woman ninety-nine one-hundredths white had escaped +from slavery, carrying her child on her bosom, having gone through +morass and brush and thorns and thickets, had crossed creeks and +rivers, and had finally got within one step of freedom, with the +light of the North star shining in her tear-filled eyes—with +her child upon her withered breast—it would have been an +indictable offence to have given her a drop of water or a crust of +bread; not only that, but under the slave law of 1850, it was the +duty of every Northern citizen claiming to be a free man, to clutch +that woman and hand her back to the dominion of her master and to +the Democratic lash. The Democrats are sorry that those laws have +been repealed. The Republican party with the mailed hand of war +tore from the statute books of the United States, and from the +statute books of each State, every one of those infamous, hellish +laws, and trampled them beneath her glorious feet.</p> +<p>Such laws are infamous beyond expression; one would suppose they +had been passed by a Legislature, the lower house of which were +hyenas, the upper house snakes, and the executive a cannibal king. +The institution of slavery had polluted, had corrupted the church, +not only in the South, but a large proportion of the church in the +North; so that ministers stood up in their pulpits here in New York +and defended the very infamy that I have mentioned. Not only that, +but the Presbyterians, South, in 1863, met in General Synod, and +passed two resolutions.</p> +<p>The first resolution read, "Resolved, that slavery is a divine +institution" (and as the boy said, "so is hell").</p> +<p><i>Second</i>, "Resolved, that God raised up the Presbyterian +Church, South, to protect and perpetuate that institution."</p> +<p>Well, all I have to say is that, if God did this, he never chose +a more infamous instrument to carry out a more diabolical object. +What more had slavery done? At that time it had corrupted the very +courts, so that in nearly every State in this Union if a Democrat +had gone to the hut of a poor negro, and had shot down his wife and +children before his very eyes, had strangled the little dimpled +babe in the cradle, there was no court before which this negro +could come to give testimony. He was not allowed to go before a +magistrate and indict the murderer; he was not allowed to go before +a grand jury and swear an indictment against the wretch. Justice +was not only blind, but deaf; and that was the idea of justice in +the South, when the Republican party was born. When the Republican +party was born the bay of the bloodhound was the music of the +Union; when this party was born the dome of our Capitol at +Washington cast its shadow upon slave-pens in which crouched and +shuddered women from whose breasts their babes had been torn by +wretches who are now crying for honesty and reform. When the +Republican party was born, a bloodhound was considered as one of +the instrumentalities of republicanism. When the Republican party +was born, the church had made the cross of Christ a whipping-post. +When the Republican party was born, courts of the United States had +not the slightest idea of justice, provided a black man was on the +other side. When this party came into existence, if a negro had a +plot of ground and planted corn in it, and the rain had fallen upon +it, and the dew had lain lovingly upon it, and the arrows of light +shot from the exhaustless quiver of the sun, had quickened the +blade, and the leaves waved in the perfumed air of June, and it +finally ripened into the full ear in the golden air of autumn, the +courts of the United States did not know to whom the corn belonged, +and if a Democrat had driven the negro off and shucked the corn, +and that case had been left to the Supreme Court of many of the +States in this Union, they would have read all the authorities, +they would have heard all the arguments, they would have heard all +the speeches, then pushed their spectacles back on their bald and +brainless heads and decided, all things considered, the Democrat +was entitled to that corn. We pretended at that time to be a free +country; it was a lie. We pretended at that time to do justice in +our courts; it was a lie, and above all our pretence and hypocrisy +rose the curse of slavery, like Chimborazo above the clouds.</p> +<p>Now, my friends, what is there about this great Republican +party? It is the party of intellectual freedom. It is one thing to +bind the hands of men; it is one thing to steal the results of +physical labor of men, but it is a greater crime to forge fetters +for the souls of men. I am a free man; I will do my own thinking or +die; I give a mortgage on my soul to nobody; I give a deed of trust +on my soul to nobody; no matter whether I think well or I think +ill; whatever thought I have shall be my thought, and shall be a +free thought, and I am going to give cheerfully, gladly, the same +right to thus think to every other human being.</p> +<p>I despise any man who does not own himself. I despise any man +who does not possess his own spirit. I would rather die a beggar, +covered with rags, with my soul erect, fearless and free, than to +live a king in a palace of gold, clothed with the purple of power, +with my soul slimy with hypocrisy, crawling in the dust of fear. I +will do my own thinking, and when I get it thought, I will say it. +These are the splendid things, my friends, about the Republican +party; intellectual and physical liberty for all.</p> +<p>Now, my friends, I have told you a little about the Republican +party. Now, I will tell you a little more about the Republican +party. When that party came into power it elected Abraham Lincoln +President of the United States. I live in the State that holds +within its tender embrace the sacred ashes of Abraham Lincoln, the +best, the purest man that was ever President of the United States. +I except none. When he was elected President of the United States, +the Democratic party said: "We will not stand it;" the Democratic +party South said: "We will not bear it;" and the Democratic party +North said: "You ought not to bear it."</p> +<p>James Buchanan was then President. James Buchanan read the +Constitution of the United States, or a part of it, and read +several platforms made by the Democratic party, and gave it as his +deliberate opinion that a State had a right to go out of the Union. +He gave it as his deliberate opinion that this was a Confederacy +and not a Nation, and when he said that, there was another little, +dried up, old bachelor sitting over in the amen corner of the +political meeting and he squeaked out: "That is my opinion too," +and the name of that man was Samuel J. Tilden.</p> +<p>The Democratic party then and now says that the Union is simply +a Confederacy; but I want this country to be a Nation. I want to +live in a great and splendid country. A great nation makes a great +people. Your surroundings have something to do with it. Great +plains, magnificent rivers, great ranges of mountains, a country +washed by two oceans—all these things make us great and grand +as the continent on which we live. The war commenced, and the +moment the war commenced the whole country was divided into two +parties. No matter what they had been before, whether Democrats, +Freesoilers, Republicans, old Whigs, or Abolitionists—the +whole country divided into two parties—the friends and +enemies of the country—patriots and traitors, and they so +continued until the Rebellion was put down. I cheerfully admit that +thousands of Democrats went into the army, and that thousands of +Democrats were patriotic men. I cheerfully admit that thousands of +them thought more of their country than they did of the Democratic +party, and they came with us to fight for the country, and I honor +every one of them from the bottom of my heart, and nineteen out of +twenty of them have voted the Republican ticket from that day to +this. Some of them came back and went to the Democratic party again +and are still in that party; I have not a word to say against them, +only this: They are swapping off respectability for disgrace. They +give to the Democratic party all the respectability it has, and the +Democratic party gives to them all the disgrace they have.</p> +<p>Democratic soldier, come out of the Democratic party. There was +a man in my State got mad at the railroad and would not ship his +hogs on it, so he drove them to Chicago, and it took him so long to +get them there that the price had fallen; when he came back, they +laughed at him, and said to him, "You didn't make much, did you, +driving your hogs to Chicago?" "No," he said, "I didn't make +anything except the company of the hogs on the way." Soldier of the +Republic, I say, with the Democratic party all you can make is the +company of the hogs on the way down. Come out, come out and leave +them alone in their putridity—in their rottenness. Leave them +alone. Do not try to put a new patch on an old garment. Leave them +alone. I tell you the Democratic party must be left alone; it must +be left to enjoy the primal curse, "On thy belly shalt thou crawl +and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life," O Democratic +party.</p> +<p>Now, my friends, I need not tell you how we put down the +Rebellion. You all know. I need not describe to you the battles you +fought. I need not tell you of the men who sacrificed their lives. +I need not tell you of the old men who are still waiting for +footsteps that never will return. I need not tell you of the women +who are waiting for the return of their loved ones. I need not tell +you of all these things. You know we put down the Rebellion; we +fought until the old flag triumphed over every inch of American +soil redeemed from the clutch of treason.</p> +<p>Now, my friends, what was the Democratic party doing when the +Republican party was doing these splendid things? When, the +Republican party said this was a nation; when the Republican party +said we shall be free; when the Republican party said slavery shall +be extirpated from American soil; when the Republican party said +the negro shall be a citizen, and the citizen shall have the +ballot, and the citizen shall have the right to cast that ballot +for the government of his choice peaceably—what was the +Democratic party doing?</p> +<p>I will tell you a few things that the Democratic party has done +within the last sixteen years. In the first place, they were not +willing that this country should be saved unless slavery could be +saved with it. There never was a Democrat, North or South—and +by Democrat I mean the fellows who stuck to the party all during +the war, the ones that stuck to the party after it was a disgrace; +the ones that stuck to the party from simple, pure +cussedness—there never was one who did not think more of the +institution of slavery than he did of the Government of the United +States; not one that I ever saw or read of. And so they said to us +for all those years: "If you can save the Union with slavery, and +without any help from us, we are willing you should do it; but we +do not propose that this shall be an abolition war." So the +Democratic party from the first said, "An effort to preserve this +Union is unconstitutional," and they made a breastwork of the +Constitution for rebels to get behind and shoot down loyal men, so +that the first charge I lay at the feet of the Democratic party, +the first charge I make in the indictment, is that they thought +more of slavery than of liberty and of this Union, and in my +judgment they are in the same condition this moment. The next thing +they did was to discourage enlistments in the North. They did all +in their power to prevent any man's going into the army to assist +in putting down the Rebellion. And that grand reformer and +statesman, Samuel J. Tilden, gave it as his opinion that the South +could sue, and that every soldier who put his foot on sacred +Southern soil would be a trespasser, and could be sued before a +Justice of the Peace. The Democratic party met in their conventions +in every State North, and denounced the war as an abolition war, +and Abraham Lincoln as a tyrant. What more did they do? They went +into partnership with the rebels. They said to the rebels just as +plainly as though they had spoken it: "Hold on, hold out, hold +hard, fight hard, until we get the political possession of the +North, and then you can go in peace."</p> +<p>What more? A man by the name of Jacob Thompson—a nice man +and a good Democrat, who thinks that of all the men to reform the +Government Samuel J. Tilden is the best man—Jacob Thompson +had the misfortune to be a very vigorous Democrat, and I will show +you what I mean by that. A Democrat during the war who had a +musket—you understand, a musket—he was a rebel, and +during the war a rebel that did not have a musket was a Democrat. I +call Mr. Thompson a vigorous Democrat, because he had a musket. +Jacob Thompson was the rebel agent in Canada, and when he went +there he took between six and seven hundred thousand dollars for +the purpose of co-operating with the Northern Democracy. He got +himself acquainted with and in connection with the Democratic party +in Ohio, in Indiana, and in Illinois. The vigorous Democrats, the +real Democrats, in these States had organized themselves under the +heads of "Sons of Liberty," "Knights of the Golden Circle," "Order +of the Star," and various other beautiful names, and their object +was to release rebel prisoners from Camp Chase, Camp Douglass in +Chicago, and from one camp in Indianapolis and another camp at Rock +Island. Their object was to raise a fire in the rear, as they +called it—in other words, to burn down the homes of Union +soldiers while they were in the front fighting for the honor of +their country. That was their object, and they put themselves in +connection with Jacob Thompson. They were to have an uprising on +the 16th of August, 1864. It was thought best to hold a few public +meetings for the purpose of arousing the public mind. They held the +first meeting in the city of Peoria, where I live. That was August +3rd, 1864. Here they came from every part of the State, and were +addressed by the principal Democratic politicians in Illinois.</p> +<p>To that meeting Fernando Wood addressed a letter, in which he +said that although absent in body he should be present in spirit. +George Pendleton of Ohio, George Pugh of the same State, Seymour of +Connecticut, and various other Democratic gentlemen, sent +acknowledgments and expressions of regret to this Democratic +meeting that met at this time for the purpose of organizing an +uprising among the Democratic party. I saw that meeting, and heard +some of their speeches. They denounced the war as an abolition +nigger war. They denounced Abraham Lincoln as a tyrant. They +carried transparencies that said, "Is there money enough in the +land to pay this nigger debt? Arouse, brothers, and hurl the tyrant +Lincoln from the throne." And the men that promulgated that very +thing are running for the most important political offices in the +country, on the ground of honesty and reform. And Jacob Thompson +says that he furnished the money to pay the expenses of that +Democratic meeting. They were all paid by rebel gold, by Jacob +Thompson. He has on file the voucher from these Democratic +gentlemen in favor of Tilden and Hendricks. The next meetings were +held in Springfield, Illinois, and Indianapolis, Indiana, the +expenses of which were paid in the same way. They shipped to one +town these weapons of our destruction in boxes labeled Sunday +school books!</p> +<p>That same rebel agent, Jacob Thompson, hired a Democrat by the +name of Churchill to burn the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, and +Thompson coolly remarked: "I don't think he has had much luck, as I +have only heard of a <i>few</i> fires."</p> +<p>In Indianapolis a man named Dodds was arrested—a sound +Democrat—so sound that the Government had to take him by the +nape of the neck and put him in Fort Lafayette. The convention of +Democrats then met in the city of Chicago, and declared the war a +failure. There never was a more infamous lie on this earth than +when the Democratic convention declared in 1864 that the war was a +failure. It was but a few days afterward that the roar of Grants +cannon announced that a lie. Rise from your graves, Union soldiers, +one and all, that fell in support of your country—rise from +your graves, and lift your skeleton hands on high, and swear that +when the Democratic party resolved that the war for the +preservation of your country was a failure, that the Democratic +party was a vast aggregated liar. Well, we grew magnanimous, and +let Dodds out of Fort Lafayette; and where do you suppose Dodds is +now? He is in Wisconsin. What do you suppose Dodds is doing? Making +speeches. Whom for? Tilden and Hendricks—"Honesty and +reform!" This same Jacob Thompson, Democrat, hired men to burn New +York, and they did set fire in some twenty places, and they used +Greek fire, as he said in his letter, and ingenuously adds: "I +shall never hereafter advise the use of Greek fire." They knew that +in the smoke and ruins would be found the charred remains of +mothers and children, and that the flames leaping like serpents +would take the child from the mothers arms, and they were ready to +do it to preserve the infamous institution of slavery; and the +Democratic party has never objected to it from that day to this. +They burned steamboats, and many men with them, and the hounds that +did it are skulking in the woods of Missouri. While these things +were going on, Democrats in the highest positions said: "Not one +cent to prosecute the war."</p> +<p>The next question we have to consider is about paying the debt. +This is the first question. The second question is the protection +of the citizen, whether he is white or black. We owe a large debt. +Two-thirds of that debt was incurred in consequence of the action +and the meanness of the Democrats. There are some people who think +that you can defer the payment of a promise so long that the +postponement of the debt will serve in lieu of its +liquidation—that you pay your debts by putting off your +creditors.</p> +<p>The people have to support the Government; the Government cannot +support the people. The Government has no money but what it +received from the people. It had therefore to borrow money to carry +on the war. Every greenback that it issued was a forced loan. My +notes are not a legal tender, though if I had the power I might +possibly make them so. We borrowed money and we have to pay the +debt. That debt represents the expenses of war. The horses and the +gunpowder and the rifles and the artillery are represented in that +debt—it represents all the munitions of war. Until we pay +that debt we can never be a solvent nation. Until our net profits +amount to as much as we lost during the war we can never be a +solvent people. If a man cannot understand that, there is no use in +talking to him on the subject. The alchemists in olden times who +fancied that they could make gold out of nothing were not more +absurd than the American advocates of soft money. They resemble the +early explorers of our continent who lost years in searching for +the fountain of eternal youth, but the ear of age never caught the +gurgle of that spring. We all have heard of men who spent years of +labor in endeavoring to produce perpetual motion. They produced +machines of the most ingenious character with cogs and wheels, and +pulleys without number, but these ingenious machines had one fault, +they would not go. You will never find a way to make money out of +nothing. It is as great nonsense as the fountain of perpetual +youth. You cannot do it.</p> +<p>Gold is the best material which labor has yet found as a measure +of value. That measure of value must be as valuable as the object +it measures.</p> +<p>The value of gold arises from the amount of labor expended in +producing it. A gold dollar will buy as much labor as produced that +dollar.</p> +<pre> + [Here the speaker opened a telegram from Maine, which he + read to the audience amid a perfect tempest of applause. It + contained the following words:] "We have triumphed by an + immense majority, something we have not achieved since + 1868." [The speaker resumed.] And this despatch is signed by + the man who clutched the throats of the Democrats and held + them until they grew black in the face, James G. Blaine. *** +</pre> +<p>Now, gentlemen, to pass from the financial part of this, and I +will say one word before I do it. The Republican party intends to +pay its debts in coin on the 1st of January, 1879. Paper money +means probably the payment of the Confederate debt; a metallic +currency, the discharge of honest obligations. We have touched +hard-pan prices in this country, and we want to do a hard-pan +business with hard money.</p> +<p>We now come to the protection of our citizens. A government that +cannot protect its citizens, at home and abroad, ought to be swept +from the map of the world. The Democrats tell you that they will +protect any citizen if he is only away from home, but if he is in +Louisiana or any other State in the Union, the Government is +powerless to protect him. I say a government has a right to protect +every citizen at home as well as abroad, and the Government has the +right to take its soldiers across the State line, to take its +soldiers into any State, for the purpose of protecting even one +man. That is my doctrine with regard to the power of the +Government. But here comes a Democrat to-day and tells me, (and it +is the old doctrine of secession in disguise), that the State of +Louisiana must protect its own citizens, and that if it does not, +the General Government has nothing to do unless the Governor of +that State asks assistance, no matter whether anarchy prevails or +not. That is infamous. The United States has the right to draft you +and me into the army and compel us to serve there, if its powers +are being usurped. It is the duty of this Government to see to it +that every citizen has all his rights in every State in this Union, +and to protect him in the enjoyment of those rights, peaceably if +it can, forcibly if it must.</p> +<p>Democrats tell us that they treat the colored man very well. I +have frequently read stories relating how two white men were +passing along the road when suddenly they were set upon by ten or +twelve negroes, who sought their lives; but in the fight which +ensued, the ten or twelve negroes were killed, and not a white man +hurt. I tell you it is infamous, and the Democratic press of the +North laughs at it, and Mr. Samuel J. Tilden does not care. He +knows that many of the Southern States are to be carried by +assassination and murder, and he knows that if he is elected it +will be by assassination and murder. It is infamous beyond the +expression of language. Now, I ask you which party will be the most +likely to preserve the liberty of the negro—the party who +fought for slavery, or the men who gave them freedom? These are the +two great questions—the payment of the debt, and the +protection of our citizens. My friends, we have to pay the debt, as +I told you, but it is of greater importance to make sacred American +citizenship.</p> +<p>Now, these two parties have a couple of candidates. The +Democratic party has put forward Mr. Samuel J. Tilden. Mr. Tilden +is a Democrat who belongs to the Democratic party of the city of +New York; the worst party ever organized in any civilized country. +I wish you could see it. The pugilists, the prizefighters, the +plug-uglies, the fellows that run with the "masheen;" nearly every +nose is mashed, about half the ears have been chawed off; and of +whatever complexion they are, their eyes are nearly always black. +They have fists like tea-kettles and heads like bullets. I wish you +could see them. I have been in New York every few weeks for fifteen +years; and whenever I am here I see the old banner of Tammany Hall, +"Tammany Hall and Reform;" "John Morrissey and Reform;" "John +Kelley and Reform;" "William M. Tweed and Reform;" and the other +day I saw the same old flag; "Samuel J. Tilden and Reform." The +Democratic party of the city of New York never had but two +objects—grand and petit larceny. Tammany Hall bears the same +relation to the penitentiary that the Sunday school does to the +church.</p> +<p>I have heard that the Democratic party got control of the city +when it did not owe a dollar, and have stolen and stolen until it +owes a hundred and sixty millions, and I understand that every +election they have had was a fraud, every one. I understand that +they stole everything they could lay their hands on; and what +hands! Grasped and grasped and clutched, until they stole all it +was possible for the people to pay, and now they are all yelling +for "Honesty and Reform."</p> +<p>I understand that Samuel J. Tilden was a pupil in that school, +and that now he is the head teacher. I understand that when the war +commenced he said he would never aid in the prosecution of that old +outrage. I understand that he said in 1860 and in 1861 that the +Southern States could snap the tie of confederation as a nation +would break a treaty, and that they could repel coercion as a +nation would repel invasion. I understand that during the entire +war he was opposed to its prosecution, and that he was opposed to +the Proclamation of Emancipation, and demanded that the document be +taken back. I understand that he regretted to see the chains fall +from the limbs of the colored man. I understand that he regretted +when the Constitution of the United States was elevated and +purified, pure as the driven snow. I understand that he regretted +when the stain was wiped from our flag and we stood before the +world the only pure Republic that ever existed. This is enough for +me to say about him, and since the news from Maine you need not +waste your time in talking about him.</p> +<pre> + [A voice: "How about free schools?"] +</pre> +<p>I want every schoolhouse to be a temple of science in which +shall be taught the laws of nature, in which the children shall be +taught actual facts, and I do not want that schoolhouse touched, or +that institution of science touched, by any superstition whatever. +Leave religion with the church, with the family, and more than all, +leave religion with each individual heart and man.</p> +<p>Let every man be his own bishop, let every man be his own pope, +let every man do his own thinking, let every man have a brain of +his own. Let every man have a heart and conscience of his own.</p> +<p>We are growing better, and truer, and grander. And let me say, +Mr. Democrat, we are keeping the country for your children. We are +keeping education for your children. We are keeping the old flag +floating for your children; and let me say, as a prediction, there +is only air enough on this continent to float that one flag.</p> +<pre> + Note.—This address was not revised by the author for + publication. +</pre> +<a name="link0006" id="link0006"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>INDIANAPOLIS SPEECH.</h2> +<pre> + * Col. Ingersoll was introduced by Gen'l Noyes, who said: "I + have now the exquisite pleasure of introducing to you that + dashing cavalry officer, that thunderbolt of war, that + silver tongued orator, Col. Robert G. Ingersoll of Illinois." + The Journal, Indianapolis, Indiana. September 2lst, 1876. +</pre> +<center>HAYES CAMPAIGN.</center> +<center>1876</center> +<p>Delivered to the Veteran Soldiers of the Rebellion.</p> +<p>LADIES and Gentlemen, Fellow Citizens and Citizen +Soldiers:—I am opposed to the Democratic party, and I will +tell you why. Every State that seceded from the United States was a +Democratic State. Every ordinance of secession that was drawn was +drawn by a Democrat. Every man that endeavored to tear the old flag +from the heaven that it enriches was a Democrat. Every man that +tried to destroy this nation was a Democrat. Every enemy this great +Republic has had for twenty years has been a Democrat. Every man +that shot Union soldiers was a Democrat. Every man that denied to +the Union prisoners even the worm-eaten crust of famine, and when +some poor, emaciated Union patriot, driven to insanity by famine, +saw in an insane dream the face of his mother, and she beckoned him +and he followed, hoping to press her lips once again against his +fevered face, and when he stepped one step beyond the dead line the +wretch that put the bullet through his loving, throbbing heart was +and is a Democrat.</p> +<p>Every man that loved slavery better than liberty was a Democrat. +The man that assassinated Abraham Lincoln was a Democrat. Every man +that sympathized with the assassin—every man glad that the +noblest President ever elected was assassinated, was a Democrat. +Every man that wanted the privilege of whipping another man to make +him work for him for nothing and pay him with lashes on his naked +back, was a Democrat. Every man that raised bloodhounds to pursue +human beings was a Democrat. Every man that clutched from +shrieking, shuddering, crouching mothers, babes from their breasts, +and sold them into slavery, was a Democrat. Every man that impaired +the credit of the United States, every man that swore we would +never pay the bonds, every man that swore we would never redeem the +greenbacks, every maligner of his country's credit, every +calumniator of his country's honor, was a Democrat. Every man that +resisted the draft, every man that hid in the bushes and shot at +Union men simply because they were endeavoring to enforce the laws +of their country, was a Democrat. Every man that wept over the +corpse of slavery was a Democrat. Every man that cursed Abraham +Lincoln because he issued the Proclamation of +Emancipation—the grandest paper since the Declaration of +Independence—every one of them was a Democrat. Every man that +denounced the soldiers that bared their breasts to the storms of +shot and shell for the honor of America and for the sacred rights +of man; was a Democrat. Every man that wanted an uprising in the +North, that wanted to release the rebel prisoners that they might +burn down the homes of Union soldiers above the heads of their +wives and children, while the brave husbands, the heroic fathers, +were in the front fighting for the honor of the old flag, every one +of them was a Democrat. I am not through yet. Every man that +believed this glorious nation of ours is a confederacy, every man +that believed the old banner carried by our fathers over the fields +of the Revolution; the old flag carried by our fathers over the +fields of 1812; the glorious old banner carried by our brothers +over the plains of Mexico; the sacred banner carried by our +brothers over the cruel fields of the South, simply stood for a +contract, simply stood for an agreement, was a Democrat. Every man +who believed that any State could go out of the Union at its +pleasure, every man that believed the grand fabric of the American +Government could be made to crumble instantly into dust at the +touch of treason, was a Democrat. Every man that helped to burn +orphan asylums in New York, was a Democrat; every man that tried to +fire the city of New York, although he knew that thousands would +perish, and knew that the great serpent of flame leaping from +buildings would clutch children from their mothers' +arms—every wretch that did it was a Democrat. Recollect it! +Every man that tried to spread smallpox and yellow fever in the +North, as the instrumentalities of civilized war, was a Democrat. +Soldiers, every scar you have on your heroic bodies was given you +by a Democrat. Every scar, every arm that is lacking, every limb +that is gone, is a souvenir of a Democrat. I want you to recollect +it. Every man that was the enemy of human liberty in this country +was a Democrat. Every man that wanted the fruit of all the heroism +of all the ages to turn to ashes upon the lips—every one was +a Democrat.</p> +<p>I am a Republican. I will tell you why: This is the only free +Government in the world. The Republican party made it so. The +Republican party took the chains from four millions of people. The +Republican party, with the wand of progress, touched the +auction-block and it became a schoolhouse. The Republican party put +down the Rebellion, saved the nation, kept the old banner afloat in +the air, and declared that slavery of every kind should be +extirpated from the face of this continent. What more? I am a +Republican because it is the only free party that ever existed. It +is a party that has a platform as broad as humanity, a platform as +broad as the human race, a party that says you shall have all the +fruit of the labor of your hands, a party that says you may think +for yourself, a party that says, no chains for the hands, no +fetters for the soul.*</p> +<pre> + * At this point the rain began to descend, and it looked as + if a heavy shower was impending. Several umbrellas were put + up. Gov. Noyes—"God bless you! What is rain to soldiers" + Voice—"Go ahead; we don't mind the rain." It was proposed + to adjourn the meeting to Masonic Hall, but the motion was + voted down by an overwhelming majority, and Mr. Ingersoll + proceeded. +</pre> +<p>I am a Republican because the Republican party says this country +is a Nation, and not a confederacy. I am here in Indiana to speak, +and I have as good a right to speak here as though I had been born +on this stand—not because the State flag of Indiana waves +over me—I would not know it if I should see it. You have the +same right to speak in Illinois, not because the State flag of +Illinois waves over you, but because that banner, rendered sacred +by the blood of all the heroes, waves over you and me. I am in +favor of this being a Nation. Think of a man gratifying his entire +ambition in the State of Rhode Island. We want this to be a Nation, +and you cannot have a great, grand, splendid people without a +great, grand, splendid country. The great plains, the sublime +mountains, the great rushing, roaring rivers, shores lashed by two +oceans, and the grand anthem of Niagara, mingle and enter, into the +character of every American citizen, and make him or tend to make +him a great and grand character. I am for the Republican party +because it says the Government has as much right, as much power, to +protect its citizens at home as abroad. The Republican party does +not say that you have to go away from home to get the protection of +the Government. The Democratic party says the Government cannot +march its troops into the South to protect the rights of the +citizens. It is a lie. The Government claims the right, and it is +conceded that the Government has the right, to go to your house, +while you are sitting by your fireside with your wife and children +about you, and the old lady knitting, and the cat playing with the +yarn, and everybody happy and serene—the Government claims +the right to go to your fireside and take you by force and put you +into the army; take you down to the valley of the shadow of hell, +put you by the ruddy, roaring guns, and make you fight for your +flag. Now, that being so, when the war is over and your country is +victorious, and you go back to your home, and a lot of Democrats +want to trample upon your rights, I want to know if the Government +that took you from your fireside and made you fight for it, I want +to know if it is not bound to fight for you. The flag that will not +protect its protectors is a dirty rag that contaminates the air in +which it waves. The government that will not defend its defenders +is a disgrace to the nations of the world. I am a Republican +because the Republican party says, "We will protect the rights of +American citizens at home, and if necessary we will march an army +into any State to protect the rights of the humblest American +citizen in that State." I am a Republican because that party allows +me to be free—allows me to do my own thinking in my own way. +I am a Republican because it is a party grand enough and splendid +enough and sublime enough to invite every human being in favor of +liberty and progress to fight shoulder to shoulder for the +advancement of mankind. It invites the Methodist, it invites the +Catholic, it invites the Presbyterian and every kind of sectarian; +it invites the Freethinker; it invites the infidel, provided he is +in favor of giving to every other human being every chance and +every right that he claims for himself. I am a Republican, I tell +you. There is room in the Republican air for every wing; there is +room on the Republican sea for every sail. Republicanism says to +every man: "Let your soul be like an eagle; fly out in the great +dome of thought, and question the stars for yourself." But the +Democratic party says; "Be blind owls, sit on the dry limb of a +dead tree, and hoot only when that party says hoot."</p> +<p>In the Republican party there are no followers. We are all +leaders. There is not a party chain. There is not a party lash. Any +man that does not love this country, any man that does not love +liberty, any man that is not in favor of human progress, that is +not in favor of giving to others all he claims for himself; we do +not ask him to vote the Republican ticket. You can vote it if you +please, and if there is any Democrat within hearing who expects to +die before another election, we are willing that he should vote one +Republican ticket, simply as a consolation upon his death-bed. What +more? I am a Republican because that party believes in free labor. +It believes that free labor will give us wealth. It believes in +free thought, because it believes that free thought will give us +truth. You do not know what a grand party you belong to. I never +want any holier or grander title of nobility than that I belong to +the Republican party, and have fought for the liberty of man. The +Republican party, I say, believes in free labor. The Republican +party also believes in slavery. What kind of slavery? In enslaving +the forces of nature.</p> +<p>We believe that free labor, that free thought, have enslaved the +forces of nature, and made them work for man. We make old +attraction of gravitation work for us; we make the lightning do our +errands; we make steam hammer and fashion what we need. The forces +of nature are the slaves of the Republican party. They have no +backs to be whipped, they have no hearts to be torn—no hearts +to be broken; they cannot be separated from their wives; they +cannot be dragged from the bosoms of their husbands; they work +night and day and they never tire. You cannot whip them, you cannot +starve them, and a Democrat even can be trusted with one of them. I +tell you I am a Republican. I believe, as I told you, that free +labor will give us these slaves. Free labor will produce all these +things, and everything you have to-day has been produced by free +labor, nothing by slave labor.</p> +<p>Slavery never invented but one machine, and that was a threshing +machine in the shape of a whip. Free labor has invented all the +machines. We want to come down to the philosophy of these things. +The problem of free labor, when a man works for the wife he loves, +when he works for the little children he adores—the problem +is to do the most work in the shortest space of time. The problem +of slavery is to do the least work in the longest space of time. +That is the difference. Free labor, love, affection—they have +invented everything of use in this world. I am a Republican.</p> +<p>I tell you, my friends, this world is getting better every day, +and the Democratic party is getting smaller every day. See the +advancement we have made in a few years, see what we have done. We +have covered this nation with wealth, with glory and with liberty. +This is the first free Government in the world. The Republican +party is the first party that was not founded on some compromise +with the devil. It is the first party of pure, square, honest +principle; the first one. And we have the first free country that +ever existed.</p> +<p>And right here I want to thank every soldier that fought to make +it free, every one living and dead. I thank you again and again and +again. You made the first free Government in the world, and we must +not forget the dead heroes. If they were here they would vote the +Republican ticket, every one of them. I tell you we must not forget +them.</p> +<p>* The past rises before me like a dream. Again we are in the +great struggle for national life. We hear the sounds of +preparation—the music of boisterous drums—the silver +voices of heroic bugles. We see thousands of assemblages, and hear +the appeals of orators. We see the pale cheeks of women, and the +flushed faces of men; and in those assemblages we see all the dead +whose dust we have covered with flowers. We lose sight of them no +more. We are with them when they enlist in the great army of +freedom. We see them part with those they love. Some are walking +for the last time in quiet, woody places, with the maidens they +adore. We hear the whisperings and the sweet vows of eternal love +as they lingeringly part forever. Others are bending over cradles, +kissing babes that are asleep. Some are receiving the blessings of +old men. Some are parting with mothers who hold them and press them +to their hearts again and again, and say nothing. Kisses and tears, +tears and kisses—divine mingling of agony and love! And some +are talking with wives, and endeavoring with brave words, spoken in +the old tones, to drive from their hearts the awful fear. We see +them part. We see the wife standing in the door with the babe in +her arms—standing in the sunlight sobbing. At the turn of the +road a hand waves—she answers by holding high in her loving +arms the child. He is gone, and forever.</p> +<p>We see them all as they march proudly away under the flaunting +flags, keeping time to the grand, wild music of war—marching +down the streets of the great cities—through the towns and +across the prairies—down to the fields of glory, to do and to +die for the eternal right.</p> +<p>We go with them, one and all. We are by their side on all the +gory fields—in all the hospitals of pain—on all the +weary marches. We stand guard with them in the wild storm and under +the quiet stars. We are with them in ravines running with +blood—in the furrows of old fields. We are with them between +contending hosts, unable to move, wild with thirst, the life ebbing +slowly away among the withered leaves. We see them pierced by balls +and torn with shells, in the trenches, by forts, and in the +whirlwind of the charge, where men become iron, with nerves of +steel.</p> +<p>We are with them in the prisons of hatred and famine; but human +speech can never tell what they endured.</p> +<p>We are at home when the news comes that they are dead. We see +the maiden in the shadow of her first sorrow. We see the silvered +head of the old man bowed with the last grief.</p> +<p>The past rises before us, and we see four millions of human +beings governed by the lash—we see them bound hand and +foot—we hear the strokes of cruel whips—we see the +hounds tracking women through tangled swamps. We see babes sold +from the breasts of mothers. Cruelty unspeakable! Outrage +infinite!</p> +<p>Four million bodies in chains—four million souls in +fetters. All the sacred relations of wife, mother, father and child +trampled beneath the brutal feet of might. And all this was done +under our own beautiful banner of the free.</p> +<p>The past rises before us. We hear the roar and shriek of the +bursting shell. The broken fetters fall. These heroes died. We +look. Instead of slaves we see men and women and children. The wand +of progress touches the auction-block, the slave-pen, the +whipping-post, and we see homes and firesides and schoolhouses and +books, and where all was want and crime and cruelty and fear, we +see the faces of the free.</p> +<p>These heroes are dead. They died for liberty—they died for +us. They are at rest. They sleep in the land they made free, under +the flag they rendered stainless, under the solemn pines, the sad +hemlocks, the tearful willows, and the embracing vines. They, sleep +beneath the shadows of the clouds, careless alike of sunshine or of +storm, each in the windowless Palace of Rest. Earth may run red +with other wars—they are at peace. In the midst of battle, in +the roar of conflict, they found the serenity of death. I have one +sentiment for soldiers living and dead: cheers for the living; +tears for the dead.</p> +<pre> + * This poetic flight of oratory has since become universally + known as "A. Vision of War." +</pre> +<p>Now, my friends, I have given you a few reasons why I am a +Republican. I have given you a few reasons why I am not a Democrat. +Let me say another thing. The Democratic party opposed every +forward movement of the army of the Republic, every one. Do not be +fooled. Imagine the meanest resolution that you can think +of—that is the resolution the Democratic party passed. +Imagine the meanest thing you can think of—that is what they +did; and I want you to recollect that the Democratic party did +these devilish things when the fate of this nation was trembling in +the balance of war. I want you to recollect another thing; when +they tell you about hard times, that the Democratic party made the +hard times; that every dollar we owe to-day was made by the +Southern and Northern Democracy.</p> +<p>When we commenced to put down the Rebellion we had to borrow +money, and the Democratic party went into the markets of the world +and impaired the credit of the United States. They slandered, they +lied, they maligned the credit of the United States, and to such an +extent did they do this, that at one time during the war paper was +only worth about thirty-four cents on the dollar. Gold went up to +$2.90. What did that mean? It meant that greenbacks were worth +thirty-four cents on the dollar. What became of the other sixty-six +cents? They were lied out of the greenback, they were slandered out +of the greenback, they were maligned out of the greenback, they +were calumniated out of the greenback, by the Democratic party of +the North. Two-thirds of the debt, two-thirds of the burden now +upon the shoulders of American industry, were placed there by the +slanders of the Democratic party of the North, and the other third +by the Democratic party of the South. And when you pay your taxes +keep an account and charge two-thirds to the Northern Democracy and +one-third to the Southern Democracy, and whenever you have to earn +the money to pay the taxes, when you have to blister your hands to +earn that money, pull off the blisters, and under each one, as the +foundation, you will find a Democratic lie.</p> +<p>Recollect that the Democratic party did all the things of which +I have told you, when the fate of our nation was submitted to the +arbitrament of the sword. Recollect that the Democratic party did +these things when your brothers, your fathers, and your chivalric +sons were fighting, bleeding, suffering, and dying upon the +battle-fields of the South; when shot and shell were crashing +through their sacred flesh. Recollect that this Democratic party +was false to the Union when your husbands, your fathers, and your +brothers, and your chivalric sons were lying in the hospitals of +pain, dreaming broken dreams of home, and seeing fever pictures of +the ones they loved; recollect that the Democratic party was false +to the nation when your husbands, your fathers, and your brothers +were lying alone upon the field of battle at night, the life-blood +slowly oozing from the mangled and pallid lips of death; recollect +that the Democratic party was false to your country when your +husbands, your brothers, your fathers, and your sons were lying in +the prison pens of the South, with no covering but the clouds, with +no bed but the frozen earth, with no food except such as worms had +re-p fused to eat, and with no friends except Insanity and Death. +Recollect it, and spurn that party forever.</p> +<p>I have sometimes wished that there were words of pure hatred out +of which I might construct sentences like snakes; out of which I +might construct sentences that had fanged mouths, and that had +forked tongues; out of which I might construct sentences that would +writhe and hiss; and then I could give my opinion of the Northern +allies of the Southern rebels during the great struggle for the +preservation of the country.</p> +<p>There are three questions now submitted to the American people. +The first is, Shall the people that saved this country rule it? +Shall the men who saved the old flag hold it? Shall the men who +saved the ship of State sail it, or shall the rebels walk her +quarter-deck, give the orders and sink it? That is the question. +Shall a solid South, a united South, united by assassination and +murder, a South solidified by the shot-gun; shall a united South, +with the aid of a divided North, shall they control this great and +splendid country? We are right back where we were in 1861. This is +simply a prolongation of the war. This is the war of the idea, the +other was the war of the musket. The other was the war of cannon, +this is the war of thought; and we have to beat them in this war of +thought, recollect that. The question is, Shall the men who +endeavored to destroy this country rule it? Shall the men that +said, This is not a Nation, have charge of the Nation?</p> +<p>The next question is, Shall we pay our debts? We had to borrow +some money to pay for shot and shell to shoot Democrats with. We +found that we could get along with a few less Democrats, but not +with any less country, and so we borrowed the money, and the +question now is, will we pay it? And which party is the more apt to +pay it, the Republican party that made the debt—the party +that swore it was constitutional, or the party that said it was +unconstitutional?</p> +<p>Every time a Democrat sees a greenback, it says to him, "I +vanquished you." Every time a Republican sees a greenback, it says, +"You and I put down the Rebellion and saved the country."</p> +<p>Now, my friends, you have heard a great deal about finance. +Nearly everybody that talks about it gets as dry—as dry as if +they had been in the final home of the Democratic party for forty +years.</p> +<p>I will now give you my ideas about finance. In the first place +the Government does not support the people, the people support the +Government.</p> +<p>The Government is a perpetual pauper. It passes round the hat, +and solicits contributions; but then you must remember that the +Government has a musket behind the hat. The Government produces +nothing. It does not plow the land, it does not sow corn, it does +not grow trees. The Government is a perpetual consumer. We support +the Government. Now, the idea that the Government can make money +for you and me to live on—why, it is the same as though my +hired man should issue certificates of my indebtedness to him for +me to live on.</p> +<p>Some people tell me that the Government can impress its +sovereignty on a piece of paper, and that is money. Well, if it is, +what's the use of wasting it making one dollar bills? It takes no +more ink and no more paper—why not make one thousand dollar +bills? Why not make a hundred million dollar bills and all be +billionaires?</p> +<p>If the Government can make money, what on earth does it collect +taxes from you and me for? Why does it not make what money it +wants, take the taxes out, and give the balance to us? Mr. +Greenbacker, suppose the Government issued a billion dollars +to-morrow, how would you get any of it? [A voice, "Steal it."] I +was not speaking to the Democrats. You would not get any of it +unless you had something to exchange for it. The Government would +not go around and give you your aver-: age. You have to have some +corn, or wheat, or pork to give for it.</p> +<p>How do you get your money? By work. Where from? You have to dig +it out of the ground. That is where it comes from. Men have always +had a kind of hope that something could be made out of nothing. The +old alchemists sought, with dim eyes, for something that could +change the baser metals to gold. With tottering steps, they +searched for the spring of Eternal Youth. Holding in trembling +hands retort and crucible, they dreamed of the Elixir of Life. The +baser metals are not gold. No human ear has ever heard the silver +gurgle of the spring of Immortal Youth. The wrinkles upon the brow +of Age are still waiting for the Elixir of Life.</p> +<p>Inspired by the same idea, mechanics have endeavored, by curious +combinations of levers and inclined planes, of wheels and cranks +and shifting weights, to produce perpetual motion; but the wheels +and levers wait for force. And, in the financial world, there are +thousands now trying to find some way for promises to take the +place of performance; for some way to make the word dollar as good +as the dollar itself; for some way to make the promise to pay a +dollar take the dollar's place. This financial alchemy, this +pecuniary perpetual motion, this fountain of eternal wealth, are +the same old failures with new names. Something cannot be made out +of nothing. Nothing is a poor capital to, carry on business with, +and makes a very unsatisfactory balance at your bankers.</p> +<p>Let me tell you another thing. The Democrats seem to think that +you can fail to keep a promise so long that it is as good as though +you had kept it. They say you can stamp the sovereignty of the +Government upon paper.</p> +<p>I saw not long ago a piece of gold bearing the stamp of the +Roman Empire. That Empire is dust, and over it has been thrown the +mantle of oblivion, but that piece of gold is as good as though +Julius Cæsar were still riding at the head of the Roman +Legions.</p> +<p>Was it his sovereignty that made it valuable? Suppose he had put +it upon a piece of paper—it would have been of no more value +than a Democratic promise.</p> +<p>Another thing, my friends: this debt will be paid; you need not +worry about that. The Democrats ought to pay it. They lost the +suit, and they ought to pay the costs. But we in our patriotism are +willing to pay our share.</p> +<p>Every man that has a bond, every man that has a greenback dollar +has a mortgage upon the best continent of land on earth. Every one +has a mortgage on the honor of the Republican party, and it is on +record. Every spear of grass; every bearded head of golden wheat +that grows upon this continent is a guarantee that the debt will be +paid; every field of bannered corn in the great, glorious West is a +guarantee that the debt will be paid; every particle of coal laid +away by that old miser the sun, millions-of years ago, is a +guarantee that every dollar will be paid; all the iron ore, all the +gold and silver under the snow-capped Sierra Nevadas, waiting for +the miners pick to give back the flash of the sun, every ounce is a +guarantee that this debt will be paid; and all the cattle on the +prairies, pastures and plains which adorn our broad land are +guarantees that this debt will be paid; every pine standing in the +sombre forests of the North, waiting for the woodman's axe, is a +guarantee that this debt will be paid; every locomotive with its +muscles of iron and breath of flame, and all the boys and girls +bending over their books at school, every dimpled babe in the +cradle, every honest man, every noble woman, and every man that +votes the Republican ticket is a guarantee that the debt will be +paid—these, all these, each and all, are the guarantees that +every promise of the United States will be sacredly fulfilled.</p> +<p>What is the next question? The next question is, will we protect +the Union men in the South? I tell you the white Union men have +suffered enough. It is a crime in the Southern States to be a +Republican. It is a crime in every Southern State to love this +country, to believe in the sacred rights of men.</p> +<p>The colored people have suffered enough. For more than two +hundred years they have suffered the fabled torments of the damned; +for more than two hundred years they worked and toiled without +reward, bending, in the burning sun, their bleeding backs; for more +than two hundred years, babes were torn from the breasts of +mothers, wives from husbands, and every human tie broken by the +cruel hand of greed; for more than two hundred years they were +pursued by hounds, beaten with clubs, burned with fire, bound with +chains; two hundred years of toil, of agony, of tears; two hundred +years of hope deferred; two hundred years of gloom and shadow and +darkness and blackness; two hundred years of supplication, of +entreaty; two hundred years of infinite outrage, without a moment +of revenge.</p> +<p>The colored people have suffered enough. They were and are our +friends. They are the friends of this country, and, cost what it +may, they must be protected.</p> +<p>There was not during the whole Rebellion a single negro that was +not our friend. We are willing to be reconciled to our Southern +brethren when they will treat our friends as men. When they will be +just to the friends of this country; when they are in favor of +allowing every American citizen to have his rights—then we +are their friends. We are willing to trust them with the Nation +when they are the friends of the Nation. We are willing to trust +them with liberty when they believe in liberty. We are willing to +trust them with the black man when they cease riding in the +darkness of night, (those masked wretches,) to the hut of the +freedman, and notwithstanding the prayers and supplications of his +family, shoot him down; when they cease to consider the massacre of +Hamburg as a Democratic triumph, then, I say, we will be their +friends, and not before.</p> +<p>Now, my friends, thousands of the Southern people and thousands +of the Northern Democrats are afraid that the negroes are going to +pass them in the race of life. And, Mr. Democrat, he will do it +unless you attend to your business. The simple fact that you are +white cannot save you always. You have to be industrious, honest, +to cultivate a sense of justice. If you do not the colored race +will pass you, as sure as you live. I am for giving every man a +chance. Anybody that can pass me is welcome.</p> +<p>I believe, my friends, that the intellectual domain of the +future, as the land used to be in the State of Illinois, is open to +pre-emption. The fellow that gets a fact first, that is his; that +gets an idea first, that is his. Every round in the ladder of fame, +from the one that touches the ground to the last one that leans +against the shining summit of human ambition, belongs to the foot +that gets upon it first.</p> +<p>Mr. Democrat, (I point down because they are nearly all on the +first round of the ladder) if you can not climb, stand one side and +let the deserving negro pass.</p> +<p>I must tell you one thing. I have told it so much, and you have +all heard it fifty times, but I am going to tell it again because I +like it. Suppose there was a great horse race here to-day, free to +every horse in the world, and to all the mules, and all the scrubs* +and all the donkeys.</p> +<p>At the tap of the drum they come to the line, and the judges say +"it is a go." Let me ask you, what does the blooded horse, rushing +ahead, with nostrils distended, drinking in the breath of his own +swiftness, with his mane flying like a banner of victory, with his +veins standing out all over him, as if a network of life had been +cast upon him—with his thin neck, his high withers, his +tremulous flanks—what does he care how many mules and donkeys +run on that track? But the Democratic scrub, with his chuckle-head +and lop-ears, with his tail full of cockle-burrs, jumping high and +short, and digging in the ground when he feels the breath of the +coming mule on his cockle-burr tail, he is the chap that jumps the +track and says, "I am down on mule equality."</p> +<p>I stood, a little while ago, in the city of Paris, where stood +the Bastile, where now stands the Column of July, surmounted by a +figure of liberty. In its right hand is a broken chain, in its left +hand a banner; upon its glorious forehead the glittering and +shining star of progress—and as I looked upon it I said: +"Such is the Republican party of my country."</p> +<p>The other day going along the road I came to a place where the +road had been changed, but the guide-board did not know it. It had +stood there for twenty years pointing deliberately and solemnly in +the direction of a desolate field; nobody ever went that way, but +the guide-board thought the next man would. Thousands passed, but +nobody heeded the hand on the guide-post, and through sunshine and +storm it pointed diligently into the old field and swore to it the +road went that way; and I said to myself: "Such is the Democratic +party of the United States."</p> +<p>The other day I came to a river where there had been a mill; a +part of it was there still. An old sign said: "Cash for wheat." The +old water-wheel was broken; it had been warped by the sun, cracked +and split by many winds and storms. There had not been a grain of +wheat ground there for twenty years.</p> +<p>The door was gone, nobody had built a new dam, the mill was not +worth a dam; and I said to myself: "Such is the Democratic +party."</p> +<p>I saw a little while ago a place on the road where there had +once been an hotel. But the hotel and barn had burned down and +there was nothing standing but two desolate chimneys, up the flues +of which the fires of hospitality had not roared for thirty years. +The fence was gone, and the post-holes even were obliterated, but +in the road there was an old sign upon which were these words: +"Entertainment for man and beast." The old sign swung and creaked +in the winter wind, the snow fell upon it, the sleet clung to it, +and in the summer the birds sang and twittered and made love upon +it. Nobody ever stopped there, but the sign swore to it, the sign +certified to it! "Entertainment for man and beast," and I said to +myself: "Such is the Democratic party of the United States," and I +further said, "one chimney ought to be called Tilden and the other +Hendricks."</p> +<p>Now, my friends, I want you to vote the Republican ticket. I +want you to swear you will not vote for a man who opposed putting +down the Rebellion. I want you to swear that you will not vote for +a man opposed to the Proclamation of Emancipation. I want you to +swear that you will not vote for a man opposed to the utter +abolition of slavery.</p> +<p>I want you to swear that you will not vote for a man who called +the soldiers in the field, Lincoln hirelings. I want you to swear +that you will not vote for a man who denounced Lincoln as a tyrant. +I want you to swear that you will not vote for any enemy of human +progress. Go and talk to every Democrat that you can see; get him +by the coatcollar, talk to him, and hold him like Coleridge's +Ancient Mariner, with your glittering eye; hold him, tell him all +the mean things his party ever did; tell him kindly; tell him in a +Christian spirit, as I do, but tell him. Recollect, there never was +a more important election than the one you are going to hold in +Indiana. I tell you we must stand by the country. It is a glorious +country. It permits you and me to be free. It is the only country +in the world where labor is respected. Let us support it. It is the +only country in the world where the useful man is the only +aristocrat. The man that works for a dollar a day, goes home at +night to his little ones, takes his little boy on his knee, and he +thinks that boy can achieve anything that the sons of the wealthy +man can achieve. The free schools are open to him; he may be the +richest, the greatest, and the grandest, and that thought sweetens +every drop of sweat that rolls down the honest face of toil. Vote +to save that country.</p> +<p>My friends, this country is getting better every day. Samuel J. +Tilden says we are a nation of thieves and rascals. If that is so +he ought to be the President. But I denounce him as a calumniator +of my country; a maligner of this nation. It is not so. This +country is covered with asylums for the aged, the helpless, the +insane, the orphans and wounded soldiers. Thieves and rascals do +not build such things. In the cities of the Atlantic coast this +summer, they built floating hospitals, great ships, and took the +little children from the sub-cellars and narrow, dirty streets of +New York City, where the Democratic party is the +strongest—took these poor waifs and put them in these great +hospitals out at sea, and let the breezes of ocean kiss the roses +of health back to their pallid cheeks. Rascals and thieves do not +so. When Chicago burned, railroads were blocked with the charity of +the American people. Thieves and rascals do not so.</p> +<p>I am a Republican. The world is getting better. Husbands are +treating their wives better than they used to; wives are treating +their husbands better. Children are better treated than they used +to be; the old whips and clubs are out of the schools, and they are +governing children by love and by sense. The world is getting +better; it is getting better in Maine, in Vermont. It is getting +better in every State of the North, and I tell you we are going to +elect Hayes and Wheeler and the world will then be better still. I +have a dream that this world is growing better and better every day +and every year; that there is more charity, more justice, more love +every day. I have a dream that prisons will not always curse the +land; that the shadow of the gallows will not always fall upon the +earth; that the withered hand of want will not always be stretched +out for charity; that finally wisdom will sit in the legislatures, +justice in the courts, charity will occupy all the pulpits, and +that finally the world will be governed by justice and charity, and +by the splendid light of liberty. That is my dream, and if it does +not come true, it shall not be my fault. I am going to do my level +best to give others the same chance I ask for myself. Free thought +will give us truth; Free labor will give us wealth.</p> +<a name="link0007" id="link0007"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>CHICAGO SPEECH.</h2> +<pre> + * Col. Robert G. Ingersoll spoke last night at the + Exposition Building to the largest audience ever drawn by + one man In Chicago. From 6.30 o'clock the sidewalks fronting + along the building were jammed. At every entrance there were + hundreds, and half-an-hour later thousands were clamoring + for admittance. So great was the pressure the doors were + finally closed, and the entrances at either end cautiously + opened to admit the select who knew enough to apply In those + directions. Occasionally a rush was made for the main door, + and as the crowd came up against the huge barricade they + were swept back only for another effort. Wabash Avenue, + Monroe, Adams, Jackson, and Van Buren Streets were jammed + with ladies and gentlemen who swept into Michigan Avenue and + swelled the sea that surged around the building. + + At 7.30 the doors were flung open and the people rushed in. + Seating accommodations supposed to be adequate to all + demands, had been provided, but in an Instant they were + filled, the aisles were jammed and around the sides of the + building poured a steady stream of humanity, Intent only + upon some coign of vantage, some place, where they could see + and where they could hear. Prom the fountain, beyond which + the building lay in shadow to the northern end, was a + swaying, surging mass of people. + + Such another attendance of ladies has never been known at a + political meeting in Chicago. They came by the hundreds, and + the speaker looked down from his perch upon thousands of + fair upturned faces, stamped with the most intense interest + in his remarks. + + The galleries were packed. The frame of the huge elevator + creaked, groaned, and swayed with the crowd roosting upon + it. The trusses bore their living weight. The gallery + railings bent and cracked. The roof was crowded, and the sky + lights teemed with heads. Here and there an adventurous + youth crept out on the girders and braces. Towards the + northern end of the building, on the west side, is a smaller + gallery, dark, and not particularly strong-looking. It was + fairly packed—packed like a sardine-box—with men and boys. + Up in the organ-loft around the sides of the organ, + everywhere that a human being could sit, stand or hang, was + pre-empted and filled. + + It was a magnificent, outpouring, at east 50,000 In number, + a compliment alike to the principle it represented, and the + orator.—Chicago Tribune., October 21st, 1876. +</pre> +<center>HAYES CAMPAIGN.</center> +<center>1876.</center> +<p>LADIES and Gentlemen:—Democrats and Republicans have a +common interest in the United States. We have a common interest in +the preservation of good order. We have a common interest in the +preservation of a common country. And I appeal to all, Democrats +and Republicans, to endeavor to make a conscientious choice; to +endeavor to select as President and Vice-President of the United +States the men and the parties, which, in your judgment, will best +preserve this nation, and preserve all that is dear to us either as +Republicans or Democrats.</p> +<p>The Democratic party comes before you and asks that you will +give this Government into its hands; and you have a right to +investigate as to the reputation and character of the Democratic +organization. The Democratic party says, "Let bygones be bygones." +I never knew a man who did a decent action that wanted it +forgotten. I never knew a man who did some great and shining act of +self-sacrifice and heroic devotion who did not wish that act +remembered. Not only so, but he expected his loving children would +chisel the remembrance of it upon the marble that marked his last +resting place. But whenever a man does an infamous thing; whenever +a man commits some crime; whenever a man does that which mantles +the cheeks of his children with shame; he is the man that says, +"Let bygones be bygones." The Democratic party admits that it has a +record, but it says that any man that will look into it, any man +that will tell it, is not a gentleman. I do not know whether, +according to the Democratic standard, I am a gentleman or not; but +I do say that in a certain sense I am one of the historians of the +Democratic party.</p> +<p>I do not know that it is true that a man cannot give this record +and be a gentleman, but I admit that a gentleman hates to read this +record; a gentleman hates to give this record to the world; but I +do it, not because I like to do it, but because I believe the best +interests of this country demand that there shall be a history +given of the Democratic party.</p> +<p>In the first place, I claim that the Democratic party embraces +within its filthy arms the worst elements in American society. I +claim that every enemy that this Government has had for twenty +years has been and is a Democrat; every man in the Dominion of +Canada that hates the great Republic, would like to see Tilden and +Hendricks successful. Every titled thief in Great Britain would +like to see Tilden and Hendricks the next President and +Vice-President of the United States.</p> +<p>I say more; every State that seceded from this Union was a +Democratic State. Every man who hated to see bloodhounds cease to +be the instrumentalities of a free government—every one was a +Democrat. In short, every enemy that this Government has had for +twenty years, every enemy that liberty and progress has had in the +United States for twenty years, every hater of our flag, every +despiser of our Nation, every man who has been a disgrace to the +great Republic for twenty years, has been a Democrat. I do not say +that they are all that way; but nearly all who are that way are +Democrats.</p> +<p>The Democratic party is a political tramp with a yellow +passport. This political tramp begs food and he carries in his +pocket old dirty scraps of paper as a kind of certificate of +character. On one of these papers he will show you the ordinance of +1789; on another one of those papers he will have a part of the +Fugitive Slave Law; on another one some of the black laws that used +to disgrace Illinois; on another Governor Tilden's Letter to Kent; +on another a certificate signed by Lyman Trumbull that the +Republican party is not fit to associate with—that +certificate will be endorsed by Governor John M. Palmer and my +friend Judge Doolittle. He will also have in his pocket an old +wood-cut, somewhat torn, representing Abraham Lincoln falling upon +the neck of S. Corning Judd, and thanking him for saving the Union +as Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Liberty. This political tramp +will also have a letter dated Boston, Mass., saying: "I hereby +certify that for fifty years I have regarded the bearer as a thief +and robber, but I now look upon him as a reformer. Signed, Charles +Francis Adams." Following this tramp will be a bloodhound; and when +he asks for food, the bloodhound will crouch for employment on his +haunches, and the drool of anticipation will run from his loose and +hanging lips. Study the expression of that dog.</p> +<p>Translate it into English and it means "Oh! I want to bite a +nigger!" And when the dog has that expression he bears a striking +likeness to his master. The question is, Shall that tramp and that +dog gain possession of the White House?</p> +<p>The Democratic party learns nothing; the Democratic party +forgets nothing. The Democratic party does not know that the world +has advanced a solitary inch since 1860. Time is a Democratic dumb +watch. It has not given a tick for sixteen years. The Democratic +party does not know that we, upon the great glittering highway of +progress, have passed a single mile-stone for twenty years. The +Democratic party is incapable of learning. The Democratic party is +incapable of anything but prejudice and hatred. Every man that is a +Democrat is a Democrat because he hates something; every man that +is a Republican is a Republican because he loves something.</p> +<p>The Democratic party is incapable of advancement; the only stock +that it has in trade to-day is the old infamous doctrine of +Democratic State Rights. There never was a more infamous doctrine +advanced on this earth, than the Democratic idea of State Rights. +What is it? It has its foundation in the idea that this is not a +Nation; it has its foundation in the idea that this is simply a +confederacy, that this great Government is simply a bargain, that +this great splendid people have simply made a trade, that the +people of any one of the States are sovereign to the extent that +they have the right to trample upon the rights of their +fellow-citizens, and that the General Government cannot interfere. +The great Democratic heart is fired to-day, the Democratic bosom is +bloated with indignation because of an order made by General Grant +sending troops into the Southern States to defend the rights of +American citizens! Who objects to a soldier going? Nobody except a +man who wants to carry an election by fraud, by violence, by +intimidation, by assassination, and by murder.</p> +<p>The Democratic party is willing to-day that Tilden and Hendricks +should be elected by violence; they are willing to-day to go into +partnership with assassination and murder; they are willing to-day +that every man in the Southern States, who is a friend of this +Union, and who fought for our flag—that the rights of every +one of these men should be trampled in the dust, provided that +Tilden and Hendricks be elected President and Vice-President of +this country. They tell us that a State line is sacred; that you +never can cross it unless you want to do a mean thing; that if you +want to catch a fugitive slave you have the right to cross it; but +if you wish to defend the rights of men, then it is a sacred line, +and you cannot cross it. Such is the infamous doctrine of the +Democratic party. Who, I say, will be injured by sending soldiers +into the Southern States? No one in the world except the man who +wants to prevent an honest citizen from casting a legal vote for +the Government of his choice. For my part, I think more of the +colored Union men of the South than I do of the white disunion men +of the South. For my part, I think more of a black friend than I do +of a white enemy. For my part, I think more of a friend black +outside, and white in, than I do of a man who is white outside and +black inside. For my part, I think more of black justice, of black +charity, and of black patriotism, than I do of white cruelty, than +I do of white treachery and treason. As a matter of fact, all that +is done in the South to-day, of use, is done by the colored man. +The colored man raises everything that is raised in the South, +except hell. And I say here to-night that I think one hundred times +more of the good, honest, industrious black man of the South than I +do of all the white men together that do not love this Government, +and I think more of the black man of the South than I do of the +white man of the North who sympathizes with the white wretch that +wishes to trample upon the rights of that black man.</p> +<p>I believe that this is a Government, first, not only of power, +but that it is the right of this Government to march all the +soldiers in the United States into any sovereign State of this +Union to defend the rights of every American citizen in that State. +If it is the duty of the Government to defend you in time of war, +when you were compelled to go into the army, how much more is it +the duty of the Government to defend in time of peace the man who, +in time of war, voluntarily and gladly rushed to the rescue and +defence of his country; and yet the Democratic doctrine is that you +are to answer the call of the Nation, but the Nation will be deaf +to your cry, unless the Governor of your State makes request of +your Government. Suppose the Governors and every man trample upon +your rights, is the Nation then to let you be trampled upon? Will +the Nation hear only the cry of the oppressor, or will it heed the +cry of the oppressed? I believe we should have a Government that +can hear the faintest wail, the faintest cry for justice from the +lips of the humblest citizen beneath the flag. But the Democratic +doctrine is that this Government can protect its citizens only when +they are away from home. This may account for so many Democrats +going to Canada during the war. I believe that the Government must +protect you, not only abroad but must protect you at home; and that +is the greatest question before the American people to-day.</p> +<p>I had thought that human impudence had reached its limit ages +and ages ago. I had believed that some time in the history of the +world impudence had reached its height, and so believed until I +read the congratulatory address of Abram S. Hewitt, Chairman of the +National Executive Democratic Committee, wherein he congratulates +the negroes of the South on what he calls a Democratic victory in +the State of Indiana. If human impudence can go beyond this, all I +have to say is, it never has. What does he say to the Southern +people, to the colored people? He says to them in substance: "The +reason the white people trample upon you is because the white +people are weak. Give the white people more strength, put the white +people in authority, and, although they murder you now when they +are weak, when they are strong they will let you alone. Yes; the +only trouble with our Southern white brethren is that they are in +the minority, and they kill you now, and the only way to save your +lives is to put your enemy in the majority." That is the doctrine +of Abram S. Hewitt, and he congratulates the colored people of the +South upon the Democratic victory in Indiana. There is going to be +a great crop of hawks next season—let us congratulate the +doves. That is it. The burglars have whipped the police—let +us congratulate the bank. That is it. The wolves have killed off +almost all the shepherds—let us congratulate the sheep.</p> +<p>In my judgment, the black people have suffered enough. They have +been slaves for two hundred years, and more than all, they have +been compelled to keep the company of the men that owned them. +Think of that! Think of being compelled to keep the society of the +man who is stealing from you! Think of being compelled to live with +the man that sold your wife! Think of being compelled to live with +the man that stole your child from the cradle before your very +eyes! Think of being compelled to live with the thief of your life, +and spend your days with the white robber, and be under his +control! The black people have suffered enough. For two hundred +years they were owned and bought and sold and branded like cattle. +For two hundred years every human tie was rent and torn asunder by +the bloody, brutal hands of avarice and might. They have suffered +enough. During the war the black people were our friends not only, +but whenever they were entrusted with the family, with the wives +and children of their masters, they were true to them. They stayed +at home and protected the wife and child of the master while he +went into the field and fought for the right to sell the wife and +the right to whip and steal the child of the very black man that +was protecting him. The black people, I say, have suffered enough, +and for that reason I am in favor of the Government protecting them +in every Southern State, if it takes another war to do it. We can +never compromise with the South at the expense of our friends. We +never can be friends with the men that starved and shot our +brothers. We can never be friends with the men that waged the most +cruel war in the world; not for liberty, but for the right to +deprive other men of their liberty. We never can be their friends +until they are the friends of our friends, until they treat the +black man justly; until they treat the white Union man +respectfully; until Republicanism ceases to be a crime; until to +vote the Republican ticket ceases to make you a political and +social outcast. We want no friendship with the enemies of our +country. The next question is, who shall have possession of this +country—the men that saved it,—or the men that sought +to destroy it? The Southern people lit the fires of civil war. They +who set the conflagration must be satisfied with the ashes left. +The men that saved this country must rule it. The men that saved +the flag must carry it. This Government is not far from destruction +when it crowns with its highest honor in time of peace, the man +that was false to it in time of war. This Nation is not far from +the precipice of annihilation and destruction when it gives its +highest honor to a man false, false to the country when everything +we held dear trembled in the balance of war, when everything was +left to the arbitrament of the sword.</p> +<p>The next question prominently before the people—though I +think the great question is, whether citizens shall be protected at +home—the next question I say, is the financial question. With +that there is no trouble. We had to borrow money, and we have to +pay it. That is all there is of that, and we are going to pay it +just as soon as we make the money to pay it with, and we are going +to make the money out of prosperity.</p> +<p>We have to dig it out of the earth. You cannot make a dollar by +law. You cannot redeem a cent by statute. You cannot pay one +solitary farthing by all the resolutions, by all the speeches ever +made beneath the sun.</p> +<p>If the greenback doctrine is right, that evidence of national +indebtedness is wealth, if that is their idea, why not go another +step and make every individual note a legal tender? Why not pass a +law that every man shall take every other man's note? Then I swear +we would have money in plenty. No, my friends, a promise to pay a +dollar is not a dollar, no matter if that promise is made by the +greatest and most powerful nation on the globe. A promise is not a +performance. An agreement is not an accomplishment and there never +will come a time when a promise to pay a dollar is as good as the +dollar, unless everybody knows that you have the dollar and will +pay it whenever they ask for it. We want no more inflation. We want +simply to pay our debts as fast as the prosperity of the country +allows it and no faster. Every speculator that was caught with +property on his hands upon which he owed more than the property was +worth, wanted the game to go on a little longer. Whoever heard of a +man playing poker that wanted to quit when he was a loser? He wants +to have a fresh deal. He wants another hand, and he don't want any +man that is ahead to jump the game. It is so with the speculators +in this country. They bought land, they bought houses, they bought +goods, and when the crisis and crash came, they were caught with +the property on their hands, and they want another inflation, they +want another tide to rise that will again sweep this driftwood into +the middle of the great financial stream. That is all. Every lot in +this city that was worth five thousand and that is now worth two +thousand—do you know what is the matter with that lot? It has +been redeeming. It has been resuming. That is what is the matter +with that lot. Every man that owned property that has now fallen +fifty per cent., that property has been resuming; and if you could +have another inflation to-morrow, the day that the bubble burst +would find thousands of speculators who paid as much for property +as property was worth, and they would ask for another tide of +affairs in men. They would ask for another inflation. What for? To +let them out and put somebody else in.</p> +<p>We want no more inflation. We want the simple honest payment of +the debt, and to pay out of the prosperity of this country. But, +says the greenback man, "We never had as good times as when we had +plenty of greenbacks."</p> +<p>Suppose a farmer would buy a farm for ten thousand dollars and +give his note. He would buy carriages, horses, wagons and +agricultural implements, and give his note. He would send Mary, +Jane and Lucy to school. He would buy them pianos, and send them to +college, and would give his note, and the next year he would again +give his note for the interest, and the next year again his note, +and finally they would come to him and say, "We must settle up; we +have taken your notes as long as we can; we want money." "Why," he +would say to the gentleman, "I never had as good a time in my life +as while I have been giving those notes. I never had a farm until +the man gave it to me for my note. My children have been clothed as +well as anybody's. We have had carriages; we have had fine horses; +and our house has been filled with music, and laughter, and +dancing; and why not keep on taking those notes?" So it is with the +greenback man; he says, "When we were running in debt we had a +jolly time—let us keep it up." But, my friends, there must +come a time when inflation would reach that point when all the +Goverment notes in the world would not buy a pin; when all the +Government notes in the world would not be worth as much as the +last year's Democratic platform. I have no fear that these debts +will not be paid. I have no fear that every solitary greenback +dollar will not be redeemed; but, my friends, we shall have some +trouble doing it. Why? Because the debt is a great deal larger than +it should have been. In the first place, there should have been po +debt. If it had not been for the Southern Democracy there would +have been no war. If it had not been for the Northern Democracy the +war would not have lasted one year.</p> +<p>There was a man tried in court for having murdered his father +and mother. He was found guilty, and the judge asked him, "What +have you to say that sentence of death shall not be pronounced on +you?" "Nothing in the world Judge," said he, "only I hope your +Honor will take pity on me and remember that I am a poor +orphan."</p> +<p>I have no doubt that this debt will be paid. We have the honor +to pay it, and we do not pay it on account of the avarice or greed +of the bondholder. An honest man does not pay money to a creditor +simply because the creditor wants it. The honest man pays at the +command of his honor and not at the demand of the creditor.</p> +<p>The United States will pay its debts, not because the creditor +demands, but because we owe it.</p> +<p>The United States will liquidate every debt at the command of +its honor, and every cent will be paid. War is destruction, war is +loss, and all the property destroyed, and the time that is lost, +put together, amount to what we call a national debt. When in peace +we shall have made as much net profit as there was wealth lost in +the war, then we shall be a solvent people. The greenback will be +redeemed, we expect to redeem it on the first day of January, 1879. +We may fail; we will fail if the prosperity of the country fails; +but we intend to try to do it, and if we fail, we will fail as a +soldier fails to take a fort, high upon the rampart, with the flag +of resumption in our hands. We will not say that we cannot pay the +debt because there is a date fixed when the debt is to be paid. I +have had to borrow money myself; I have had to give my note, and I +recollect distinctly that every man I ever did give my note to +insisted that somewhere in that note there should be some vague +hint as to the cycle, as to the geological period, as to the time, +as to the century and date when I expected to pay those little +notes. I never understood that having a time fixed would prevent my +being industrious; that it would interfere with my honesty; or with +my activity, or with my desire to discharge that debt. And if any +man in this great country owed you one thousand dollars, due you +the first day of next January, and he should come to you and say: +"I want to pay you that debt, but you must take that date out of +that note." "Why?" you would say. "Why," he would reply in the +language of Tilden, "I have to make wise preparation." "Well," you +would say, "why don't you do it?" "Oh," he says, "I cannot do it +while you have that date in that note." "Another thing," he says, +"I have to get me a central reservoir of coin." And do you know I +have always thought I would like to see the Democratic party around +a central reservoir of coin.</p> +<p>Suppose this debtor would also tell you, "I want the date out of +that note, because I have to come at it by a very slow and gradual +process." "Well," you would say, "I do not care how slow or how +gradual you are, provided that you get around by the time the note +is due."</p> +<p>What would you think of a man that wanted the date out of the +note? You would think he was a mixture of rascal and Democrat. That +is what you would think.</p> +<p>Now, my friends, the Democratic party (if you may call it a +party) brings forward as its candidate Samuel J. Tilden, of New +York. I am opposed to him, first, because he is an old bachelor. In +a country like ours, depending for its prosperity and glory upon an +increase of the population, to elect an old bachelor is a suicidal +policy. Any man that will live in this country for sixty years, +surrounded by beautiful women with rosy lips and dimpled cheeks, in +every dimple lurking a Cupid, with pearly teeth and sparkling +eyes—any man that will push them all aside and be satisfied +with the embraces of the Democratic party, does not even know the +value of time. I am opposed to Samuel J. Tilden, because he is a +Democrat; because he belongs to the Democratic party of the city of +New York; the worst party ever organized in any civilized +country.</p> +<p>No man should be President of this Nation who denies that it is +a Nation. Samuel J. Tilden denounced the war as an outrage. No man +should be President of this country that denounced a war waged in +its defence as an outrage. To elect such a man would be an +outrage.</p> +<p>Samuel J. Tilden said that the flag stands for a contract; that +it stands for a confederation; that it stands for a bargain. But +the great, splendid Republican party says, "No! That flag stands +for a great, hoping, aspiring, sublime Nation, not for a +confederacy."</p> +<p>I am opposed, I say, to the election of Samuel J. Tilden for +another reason. If he is elected he will be controlled by his +party, and his party will be controlled by the Southern +stockholders in that party. They own nineteen-twentieths of the +stock, and they will dictate the policy of the Democratic +Corporation.</p> +<p>No Northern Democrat has the manliness to stand up before a +Southern Democrat. Every Democrat, nearly, has a face of dough, and +the Southern Democrat will swap his ears, change his nose, cut his +mouth the other way of the leather, so that his own mother would +not know him, in fifteen minutes. If Samuel J. Tilden is elected +President of the United States, he will be controlled by the +Democratic party, and the Democratic party will be controlled by +the Southern Democracy—that is to say, the late rebels; that +is to say, the men that tried to destroy the Government; that is to +say, the men who are sorry they did not destroy the Government; +that is to say, the enemies of every friend of this Union; that is +to say, the murderers and the assassins of Union men living in the +Southern country.</p> +<p>Let me say another thing. If Mr. Tilden does not act in +accordance with the Southern Democratic command, the Southern +Democracy will not allow a single life to stand between them and +the absolute control of this country. Hendricks will then be their +man. I say that it would be an outrage to give this country into +the control of men who endeavored to destroy it, to give this +country into the control of the Southern rebels and haters of Union +men.</p> +<p>And on the other hand, the Republican party has put forward +Rutherford B. Hayes. He is an honest man. The Democrats will say, +"That is nothing." Well, let them try it. Rutherford B. Hayes has a +good character.</p> +<p>Rutherford B. Hayes, when this war commenced, did not say with +Tilden, "It is an outrage." He did not say with Tilden, "I never +will contribute to the prosecution of this war." But he did say +this, "I would go into this war if I knew I would be killed in the +course of it, rather than to live through it and take no part in +it." During the war Rutherford B. Hayes received many wounds in his +flesh, but not one scratch upon his honor. Samuel J. Tilden +received many wounds upon his honor, but not one scratch on his +flesh. Rutherford B. Hayes is a firm man; not an obstinate man, but +a firm man; and I draw this distinction: A firm man will do what he +believes to be right, because he wants to do right. He will stand +firm because he believes it to be right; but an obstinate man wants +his own way, whether it is right or whether it is wrong. Rutherford +B. Hayes is firm in the right, and obstinate only when he knows he +is in the right. If you want to vote for a man who fought for you, +vote for Rutherford B. Hayes. If you want to vote for a man that +carried our flag through the storm of shot and shell, vote for +Rutherford B. Hayes. If you believe patriotism to be a virtue, vote +for Rutherford B. Hayes. If you believe this country wants heroes, +vote for Rutherford B. Hayes. If you want a man who turned against +his country in time of war, vote for Samuel J. Tilden. If you +believe the war waged for the salvation of our Nation was an +outrage, vote for Samuel J. Tilden. If you believe it is better to +stay at home and curse the brave men in the field, fighting for the +sacred rights of man, vote for Samuel J. Tilden. If you want to pay +a premium upon treason, if you want to pay a premium upon +hypocrisy, if you want to pay a premium upon chicanery, if you want +to pay a premium upon sympathizing with the enemies of your +country, vote for Samuel J. Tilden.</p> +<p>If you believe that patriotism is right, if you believe the +brave defender of liberty is better than the assassin of freedom, +vote for Rutherford B. Hayes.</p> +<p>I am proud that I belong to the Republican party. It is the only +party that has not begged pardon for doing right. It is the only +party that has said: "There shall be no distinction on account of +race, on account of color, on account of previous condition." It is +the only party that ever had a platform broad enough for all +humanity to stand upon.</p> +<p>It is the first decent party that ever lived. The Republican +party made the first free government that was ever made. The +Republican party made the first decent constitution that any nation +ever had. The Republican party gave to the sky the first pure flag +that was ever kissed by the waves of air. The Republican party is +the first party that ever said: "Every man is entitled to liberty," +not because he is white, not because he is black, not because he is +rich, not because he is poor, but because he is a man.</p> +<p>The Republican party is the first party that knew enough to know +that humanity is more than skin deep. It is the first party that +said, "Government should be for all, as the light, as the air, is +for all."</p> +<p>And it is the first party that had the sense to say, "What air +is to the lungs, what light is to the eyes, what love is to the +heart, liberty is to the soul of man." The Republican party is the +first party that ever was in favor of absolute free labor, the +first party in favor of giving to every man, without distinction of +race or color, the fruits of the labor of his hands. The Republican +party said, "Free labor will give us wealth, free thought will give +us truth." The Republican party is the first party that said to +every man, "Think for yourself, and express that thought." I am a +free man. I belong to the Republican party. This is a free country. +I will think my thought. I will speak my thought or die. I say the +Republican party is for free labor.</p> +<p>Free labor has invented all the machines that ever added to the +power, added to the wealth, added to the leisure, added to the +civilization of mankind. Every convenience, everything of use, +everything of beauty in the world, we owe to free labor and to free +thought. Free labor, free thought!</p> +<p>Science took the thunderbolt from the gods, and in the electric +spark, freedom, with thought, with intelligence and with love, +sweeps under all the waves of the sea; science, free thought, took +a tear from the cheek of unpaid labor, converted it into steam, and +created the giant that turns, with tireless arms, the countless +wheels of toil.</p> +<p>The Republican party, I say, believes in free labor. Every +solitary thing, every solitary improvement made in the United +States has been made by the Republican party. Every reform +accomplished was inaugurated, and was accomplished by the great, +grand, glorious Republican party.</p> +<p>The Republican party does not say: "Let bygones be bygones." The +Republican party is proud of the past and confident of the future. +The Republican party brings its record before you and implores you +to read every page, every paragraph, every line and every shining +word. On the first page you will find it written: "Slavery has +cursed American soil long enough;" on the same page you will find +it written: "Slavery shall go no farther." On the same page you +will find it written: "The bloodhounds shall not drip their gore +upon another inch of American soil." On the second page you will +find it written: "This is a Nation, not a Confederacy; every State +belongs to every citizen, and no State has a right to take +territory belonging to any citizens in the United States and set up +a separate Government." On the third page you will find the +grandest declaration ever made in this country: "Slavery shall be +extirpated from the American soil." On the next page: "The +Rebellion shall be put down." On the next page: "The Rebellion has +been put down." On the next page: "Slavery has been extirpated from +the American soil." On the next page: "The freedmen shall not be +vagrants; they shall be citizens." On the next page: "They are +citizens." On the next page: "The ballot shall be put in their +hands;" and now we will write on the next page: "Every citizen that +has a ballot in his hand, by the gods! shall have a right to cast +that ballot." That in short, that in brief, is the history of the +Republican party. The Republican party says, and it means what it +says: "This shall be a free country forever; every man in it +twenty-one years of age shall have the right to vote for the +Government of his choice, and if any man endeavors to interfere +with that right, the Government of the United States will see to it +that the right of every American citizen is protected at the +polls."</p> +<p>Now, my friends, there is one thing that troubles the average +Democrat, and that is the idea that somehow, in some way, the negro +will get to be the better man. It is the trouble in the South +to-day. And I say to my Southern friends (and I admit that there +are a great many good men in the South, but the bad men are in an +overwhelming majority; the great mass of the population is vicious, +violent, virulent and malignant; the great mass of the population +is cruel, revengeful, idle, hateful,) and I tell that population: +"If you do not go to work, the negro, by his patient industry, will +pass you." In the long run, the nation that is honest, the people +who are industrious, will pass the people who are dishonest, and +the people who are idle, no matter how grand an ancestry they may +have had, and so I say, Mr. Northern Democrat, look out!</p> +<p>The superior man is the man that loves his fellow-man; the +superior man is the useful man; the superior man is the kind man, +the man who lifts up his down-trodden brothers; and the greater the +load of human sorrow and human want you can get in your arms, the +easier you can climb the great hill of fame. The superior man is +the man who loves his fellow-man. And let me say right here, the +good men, the superior men, the grand men are brothers the world +over, no matter what their complexion may be; centuries may +separate them, yet they are hand in hand; and all the good, and all +the grand, and all the superior men, shoulder to shoulder, heart to +heart, are fighting the great battle for the progress of +mankind.</p> +<p>I pity the man, I execrate and hate the man who has only to +boast that he is white. Whenever I am reduced to that necessity, I +believe shame will make me red instead of white. I believe another +thing. If I cannot hoe my row, I will not steal corn from the +fellow that hoes his row. If I belong to the superior race, I will +be so superior that I can make my living without stealing from the +inferior. I am perfectly willing that any Democrat in the world +that can, shall pass me. I have never seen one yet, except when I +looked over my shoulder. But if they can pass I shall be +delighted.</p> +<p>Whenever we stand in the presence of genius, we take off our +hats. Whenever we stand in the presence of the great, we do +involuntary homage in spite of ourselves. Any one who can go by is +welcome, any one in the world; but until somebody does go by, of +the Democratic persuasion, I shall not trouble myself about the +fact that may be, in some future time, they may get by. The +Democrats are afraid of being passed, because they are being +passed.</p> +<p>No man ever was, no man ever will be, the superior of the man +whom he robs. No man ever was, no man ever will be, the superior of +the man he steals from. I had rather be a slave than a +slave-master. I had rather be stolen from than be a thief. I had +rather be the wronged than the wrong-doer. And allow me to say +again to impress it forever upon every man that hears me, you will +always be the inferior of the man you wrong. Every race is inferior +to the race it tramples upon and robs. There never was a man that +could trample upon human rights and be superior to the man upon +whom he trampled. And let me say another thing: No government can +stand upon the crushed rights of one single human being; and any +compromise that we make with the South, if we make it at the +expense of our friends, will carry in its own bosom the seeds of +its own death and destruction, and cannot stand. A government +founded upon anything except liberty and justice cannot and ought +not to stand. All the wrecks on either side of the stream of time, +all the wrecks of the great cities and nations that have passed +away—all are a warning that no nation founded upon injustice +can stand. From sand-enshrouded Egypt, from the marble wilderness +of Athens, from every fallen, crumbling stone of the once mighty +Rome, comes as it were a wail, comes as it were the cry, "No nation +founded upon injustice can permanently stand." We must found this +Nation anew. We must fight our fight. We must cling to our old +party until there is freedom of speech in every part of the United +States. We must cling to the old party until I can speak in every +State of the South as every Southerner can speak in every State of +the North. We must vote the grand old Republican ticket until there +is the same liberty in every Southern State that there is in every +Northern, Eastern and Western State. We must stand by the party +until every Southern man will admit that this country belongs to +every citizen of the United States as much as to the man that is +born in that country. One more thing. I do not want any man that +ever fought for this country to vote the Democratic ticket. You +will swap your respectability for disgrace. There are thousands of +you—great, grand, splendid men—that have fought grandly +for this Union, and now I beseech of you, I beg of you, do not give +respectability to the enemies and haters of your country. Do not do +it. Do not vote with the Democratic party, of the North. Sometimes +I think a rebel sympathizer in the North worse than a rebel, and I +will tell you why. The rebel was carried into the rebellion by +public opinion at home,—his father, his mother, his +sweetheart, his brother, and everybody he knew; and there was a +kind of wind, a kind of tornado, a kind of whirlwind that took him +into the army. He went on the rebel side with his State. The +Northern Democrat went against his own State; went against his own +Government; and went against public opinion at home. The Northern +Democrat rowed up stream against wind and tide. The Southern rebel +went with the current; the Northern rebel rowed against the current +from pure, simple cussedness.</p> +<p>And I beg every man that ever fought for the Union, every man +that ever bared his breast to a storm of shot and shell, that the +old flag might float over every inch of American soil redeemed from +the clutch of treason; I beg him, I implore him, do not go with the +Democratic party. And to every young man within the sound of my +voice I say, do not tie your bright and shining prospects to that +old corpse of Democracy. You will get tired of dragging it around. +Do not cast your first vote with the enemies of your country. Do +not cast your first vote with the Democratic party that was glad +when the Union army was defeated. Do not cast your vote with that +party whose cheeks flushed with the roses of joy when the old flag +was trailed in disaster upon the field of battle. Remember, my +friends, that that party did every mean thing it could, every +dishonest and treasonable thing it could. Recollect that that party +did all it could to divide this Nation, and destroy this +country.</p> +<p>For myself I have no fear; Hayes and Wheeler will be the next +President and Vice-President of the United States of America. Let +me beg of you—let me implore you—let me beseech you, +every man, to come out on election day. Every man, do your duty; +every man do his duty with regard to the State ticket of the great +and glorious State of Illinois.</p> +<p>This year we need Republicans; this year we need men that will +vote for the party; and I tell you that a Republican this year, no +matter what you have against him, no matter whether you like him or +do not like him, is better for the country, no matter how much you +hate him, he is better for the country than any Democrat Nature can +make, or ever has made.</p> +<p>We must, in this supreme election, we must at this supreme +moment, vote only for the men who are in favor of keeping this +Government in the power, in the custody, in the control of the +great, the sublime Republican party.</p> +<p>Ladies and gentlemen, if I were insensible to the honor you have +done me by this magnificent meeting—the most magnificent I +ever saw on earth—a meeting such as only the marvelous City +of Pluck could produce; if I were insensible of the honor, I would +be made of stone. I shall remember it with delight; I shall +remember it with thankfulness all the days of my life. And I ask in +return of every Republican here to remember all the days of his +life, every sacrifice made by this nation for liberty; every +sacrifice made by every private soldier, every sacrifice made by +every patriotic man and patriotic woman.</p> +<p>I do not ask you to remember in revenge, but I ask you never, +never to forget. As the world swings through the constellations +year after year, I want the memory, I want the patriotic memory of +this country to sit by the grave of every Union soldier, and, while +her eyes are filled with tears, to crown him again and again with +the crown of everlasting honor. I thank you, I thank you, ladies +and gentlemen, a thousand times. Good-night.</p> +<pre> + Note:—There was no full report made of this speech, the + above are simply extracts. +</pre> +<a name="link0008" id="link0008"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>EIGHT TO SEVEN ADDRESS.</h2> +<h3>(On the Electoral Commission.)</h3> +<pre> + * The reputation of Col. Robert G. Ingersoll had taken + possession of the Boston mind to such an extent that his + expected address was spoken of as "The Lecture." People + talked about going to it, as If on that night all other + places were to be closed, and the whole population of the + City turned into Tremont Temple. Long before the appointed + hour a rare audience, for even lecture loving Boston, had + assembled. Col. Ingersoll stepped upon the platform preceded + by Governor Rice, and followed by William Lloyd Garrison, + James T. Fields and others. After the presentation of two + large and exquisite bouquets Governor Rice introduced + Colonel Ingersoll, and the audience, the most acute and + determined looking I ever saw In Boston, poured out their + welcome! It seemed as if all the cheers that had been + suppressed between the first of November and the decision of + the Electoral Commission, found vent at that moment and the + vigorous clapping was renewed and prolonged until it became + an unmistakable salute to the recent brilliant campaigning + of the great Western orator. It is hardly possible to speak + in too high terms of the lecture which, under the title of + "8 to 7," contained a witty, philosophical and intensely + patriotic review of the political contest preceding and + following the recent election, with wise and timely + suggestions for preventing similar perils in the future.— + Boston, October 22nd,1877. +</pre> +<center>1877.</center> +<p>I HAVE sometimes wondered whether our country was to be forever +governed by parties full of hatred, full of malice, full of +slander. I have sometimes wondered whether or not in the future +there would not be discovered such a science as the science of +government. I do not know what you think, but what little I do +know, and what little experience has been mine, is, I must admit, +against it. We have passed through the most remarkable campaign of +our history—a campaign remarkable in every respect.</p> +<p>It was bitter, passionate, relentless and desperate, and I +admit, for one, that I added to its bitterness and relentlessness. +I told, and frankly told, my real, honest opinion of the Democratic +party of the North. I told, and cheerfully told, my opinion of the +Democratic party of the South. And I have nothing to take back. +But, to show you that my heart is not altogether wicked; I am +willing to forgive and do forgive with all my heart, every person +and every party that I ever said anything against. I believe that +the campaign of 1876 was the turning-point, the midnight in the +history of the American Republic.</p> +<p>I believe, and firmly believe, that if the Democratic party had +swept into power, it would have been the end of progress, and the +end of what I consider human liberty, beneath our flag. I felt so, +and I went into the campaign simply because the rights of American +citizens in at least sixteen States of the Union were trampled +under foot. I did what little I could. I am glad I did it. We had, +as I say, a wonderful campaign, and each party said and did about +all that could be said and done. Everybody attended to politics. +Business was suspended. Everything was given over to processions +and torches, and flags and transparencies; and resolutions and +conventions and speeches and songs. Old arguments were revamped. +Old stories were pressed into service. The old story of the +Rebellion was told again and again. The memories of the war were +revived. The North was arrayed against the South as though upon the +field of battle. Party cries were heard on every hand. Each party +leaped like a tiger upon the reputation of the other, and tore with +tooth and claw, with might and main, to the very end of the +campaign.</p> +<p>I felt that it was necessary to arouse the North. I felt that it +was necessary to tell again the story of the Rebellion, from Bull +Run to Appomattox. I felt that it was necessary to describe what +the Southern people were doing with Union men, and with colored +men; and I felt it necessary so to describe it that the people of +the North could hear the whips, and could hear the drops of blood +as they fell upon the withered leaves. I did all I could to arouse +the people of the North. I did all I could to prevent the +Democratic party from getting into power. The first morning after +the election, the Democracy had a banquet of joy, but all through +the feast they saw sitting at the head of the table the dim outline +of the skeleton of defeat. And, when the tide turned, Republicans +rejoiced with a face ready at any moment to express the profoundest +grief. Then came despatches and rumors, and estimated majorities, +and vague talk about Returning Boards, and intimidating voters, and +stuffed ballot boxes, and fraudulent returns, and bribed clerks, +and injunctions, and contempts of courts, and telegrams in cipher, +and outrages, and octoroon balls in which reverend Senators were +whirled in love's voluptuous waltz. Everybody discussed the +qualifications of Electors and the value of Governors' +certificates, and how to get behind returns, and how to buy an +Elector, and who had the right to count; and persons expecting +offices of trust, honor and profit began to threaten war and +extermination, calls were made for a hundred thousand men, and +there were no end of meetings, and resolutions and denunciations, +and the downfall of the country was prophesied; and yet, +notwithstanding all this, the name of the person who really was +elected remained unknown. The last scene of this strange, eventful +history, so far as the election by the people was concerned, was +Cronin. I see him now as he leaves the land "where rolls the Oregon +and hears no sound save his own dashings." Cronin, the last +surviving veteran of the grand army of "honesty and reform." +Cronin, a quorum of one. Cronin, who elected the two others by a +plurality of his own vote.</p> +<p>I see him now, armed with Hoadley's opinion and Grover's +certificate, trudging wearily and drearily over the wide and wasted +saleratus deserts of the West, with a little card marked "S. J. T. +i5 G. P."</p> +<p>Then came the great question of who shall count the electoral +vote. The Vice-President being a Republican, it was generally +contended, at least by me, that he had a right to count that vote. +My doctrine was, if the Vice-President would count the vote right, +he had the right to count it.</p> +<p>The Vice-President not being a Democrat, the members of that +party claimed that the House could prevent the Vice-President from +counting it, and this was simply because the House was not +Republican. Nearly all decided according to their politics. The +Constitution is a little blind on this point, and where anything is +blind I always see it my way. It was about this time that some of +the Democrats began to talk about bringing one hundred thousand +unarmed men to Washington to superintend the count. Others, +however, got up a scheme to create, a court in the United States +where politics should have no earthly influence. Nothing could be +easier, they thought, after we had gone through such a hot and +exciting campaign, than to pick out men who have no prejudices +whatever on the subject. Finally a bill was passed creating a +tribunal to count the vote, if any, and hear testimony, if any, and +declare what man had been elected President, if any. This tribunal +consisted of fifteen men, ten being chosen on account of their +politics—five from the Senate and five from the +House,—and they chose four judges from purely geographical +considerations. I was there, and I know exactly how it was. Those +four men were picked with a map of the United States in front of +the pickers. The Democrats chose Justice Field, not because he was +a Democrat, but because he lived on the Pacific slope. They chose +Justice Clifford, not because he was a Democrat, but because he +lived on the Eastern slope; that was fair. Thereupon the +Republicans chose Justice Strong, not because he was a Republican, +but because he lived on the Eastern slope. You can see the point. +The Republicans chose Justice Miller, not because he was a +Republican, but because he represented the great West. They then +allowed these four to select a fifth man.</p> +<p>Well, it was impossible to select the fifth man from +geographical considerations, you can see that yourselves. There was +nothing left to choose between, you know, as far as geography was +concerned. They then agreed that they would not take a Justice from +any State in which the candidate for President lived. They left out +Justice Hunt, from New York, and Justice Swayne, from Ohio. They +knew of course that that would not influence them, but they did +that simply—well, they did not want them there; that was all, +and it would be unhandy to pick one man out of four. So they left +Swayne and Hunt out. And then they would pick one man as between +Justice Bradley and Justice Davis. Just at that time the people of +the State of Illinois happened to be out of a Senator, and Judge +Davis was there and expressed a willingness to go to the Senate. +And the people of the State of Illinois elected him, and therefore +there was nobody to choose from except Justice Bradley, and he was +a Republican.</p> +<p>Now, you know this runs in families. His record was +good—by marriage. He married a daughter of Chief Justice +Hornblower, of New Jersey. Now, Hornblower was what you might call +a partisan. Do you know they went to him—it was in the old +times, and he was a kind of Whig,—they went to him with a +petition, in the State of New Jersey, a petition addressed to the +Legislature for the abolition of capital punishment, and Hornblower +said, "I'll be damned if I sign it while there is a Democrat in the +State of New Jersey."</p> +<p>As a matter of fact, however, I believe that Justice Bradley and +all the other Justices, and all other persons on that tribunal +decided as they honestly thought was right.</p> +<p>Judge Davis is as broad mentally as he is physically; he has an +immensity of common sense, and as much judgment as any one man ever +needs to use, and, in my judgment, he would have come to the same +conclusion as Judge Bradley, precisely. These men were +appointed—it was a Democratic scheme, and I am glad they got +it up—and during that entire investigation, so much were the +members of that party controlled by old associations and habits, +and by partisan feeling that there was not a solitary one of the +seven Democrats that ever once voted on the Republican side. And, +as a necessity, the Republicans had to stand together. And so, +notwithstanding the seven Democrats voted constantly together, the +eight Republicans kept having a majority of one, until the last +disputed State was given against the great party of "honesty and +reform." And, finally, when they found they were defeated, they +made up their minds to prevent the counting of the vote. They made +up their minds to wear out the session and prevent the election of +a President. Just at that point, for a wonder, (nothing ever +astonished me more), the members from the South said: "We do not +want any more war; we have had war enough and we say that a +President shall be peacefully elected, and that he shall be +peacefully inaugurated!" As soon as I heard that I felt under a +little obligation to the Democracy of the South, and when they +stood in the gap and prevented the Democracy of the North from +plunging this Government into the hell of civil war, I felt like +taking them by the hand and saying, "We have beaten the enemy once, +let us keep on. Let us join hands." I felt like saying to the +Democracy of the South, "You never will have a day's prosperity in +the South until you join the great, free, progressive party of the +North—never!" And they never will.</p> +<p>Now, I say, I felt as though I were under a certain obligation +to these people. They prevented this thing, and they made it +possible for the Vice-President to declare Rutherford B. Hayes +President of the United States. Now, right here, I want you to +observe that this shows the real defects in our system of +government. In the first place, our Government is being governed by +fraud. If the very fountain of power is poisoned by fraud, then the +whole Government is impure. We must find out some way to prevent +fraudulent voting in the United States or our Government is a +failure. Great cities were the mothers of election frauds. They +inaugurated violence and intimidation. They produced the repeaters +and the false boxes. They invented fan-tail tickets and pasters, +and gradually these delightful and patriotic arts and practices +have spread over almost the entire country.</p> +<p>Unless something is done to preserve the purity of the +ballot-box our form of government must cease. The fountain of power +is poisoned. The sovereignty of the people is stolen and destroyed. +The Government becomes organized fraud, and all respect will soon +be lost for the laws and decisions of the courts. The legislators +are elected in many instances by fraud. The judges are in many +instances chosen by fraud. Every department of the Government +becomes tainted and corrupt. It is no longer a Republic, unless +something can be devised to ascertain with certainty the really +honest will of the sovereign people.</p> +<p>For the accomplishment of this object the good and patriotic men +of all parties should most heartily unite. To cast an illegal vote +should be considered by all as a crime. We must if possible get rid +of the mob—the vagrants, the vagabonds who have no home and +who take no interest in the cities where they vote. We must get rid +of the rich mob too; and by the rich mob I mean the men who buy up +these vagabonds. Various States have passed laws for the +registration of voters; but they all leave wide open all the doors +of fraud. Men are allowed to vote if they have been for one year in +the State, and thirty or sixty days in the ward or precinct; and +when they have failed to have their names registered before the day +of election, they can avoid the effect of this neglect by making a +few affidavits, certified to by reputable householders. Of course +all necessary affidavits are made, with hundreds and thousands to +spare. My idea is that the period of registration, in the first +place, is too short, and, in the second place, no way should be +given by which they can vote unless they have been properly +registered, affidavit or no affidavit. Every man, when he goes into +a ward or precinct, should be registered. It should be his duty to +see that he is registered. Officers should be kept for that +purpose, and he should never be allowed to cast a vote until he has +been registered at least one year. Sixty days, say, or thirty +days—sixty would be better—sixty days before the +election the registry lists should be corrected, and every citizen +should have the right to enter a complaint or objection as against +any name found upon that list. Thirty days, or twenty days before +the election, that list should be published and should be exposed +in several public places in each ward and each precinct, and upon +the day of election no man should be allowed to vote whose name was +not upon the registry list. Our wards and precincts should be made +smaller, so that people can vote without violence, without wasting +an entire day, so that the honest business man that wishes to cast +his ballot for the Government of his choice can walk to the polls +like a gentleman and deposit his vote and go about his affairs. +Allow me to say that unless some such plan is adopted in the United +States, there never will be another fair election in this country. +During the last campaign all the arts and artifices of the city, +all the arts and artifices of the lowest wards were spread over +this entire country, and unless something is done to preserve the +purity of the ballot-box, and guard the sovereign will of the +people, we will cease to be a Republican Government.</p> +<p>Another thing—and I cannot say it too often—fraud at +the ballot-box undermines all respect in the minds of the people +for the Government. When they are satisfied that the election is a +fraud they despise the officers elected. When they are satisfied it +is a fraud, they despise the law made by the legislators. When they +are satisfied it is a fraud, they hold in utter contempt the +decisions of our highest and most august tribunals.</p> +<p>Another trouble in this country is that our terms of office are +too short. Our elections are too frequent. They interfere with the +business of our country. When elections are so frequent, men make a +business of politics. If they fail to get one office they +immediately run for another, and they keep running until the people +elect them for the simple purpose of getting rid of the annoyance. +Lengthen the terms, purify the ballot, and the present scramble for +office will become contests for principles. A man who cannot get a +living—unless he has been disabled in the service of his +country or from some other cause—without holding office, is +not fit for an office.</p> +<p>A professional office-seeker is one of the meanest, and lowest, +and basest of human beings—a little higher than the lower +animals and a little lower than man. He has no earthly or heavenly +independence; not a particle; not a particle. A successful +office-seeker is like the center of the earth; he weighs nothing +himself, and draws all things towards the office he wants. He has +not even a temper. You cannot insult him. Shut the door in his +face, and, so far as he is concerned, it is left wide open, and you +are standing on the threshold with a smile, extending the hand of +welcome. He crawls and cringes and flatters and lies and swaggers +and brags and tells of the influence he has in the ward he lives +in. We cannot too often repeat that splendid saying, "The office +should seek the man, not man the office." If you will lengthen the +term of office it will be so long between meals that he will have +to do something else or starve. Adopt the system of registration, +as I have suggested; have small and convenient election districts, +so that, as I said before, the honest, law-abiding, and peaceable +citizen can attend the polls; so that he will not be compelled to +risk his life to deposit his ballot that will be stolen or thrown +out, or forced to keep the company of ballots caused by fraudulent +violence. Lengthen the term of office, drive the professional +hunter and seeker of office from the field, and you will go far +toward strengthening and vivifying and preserving the fabric of the +Constitution. That is the kind of civil service reform I am in +favor of, and as I am on that subject, I will say a word about it. +There is but one vital question—but one question of real +importance—in fact I might say in the whole world, and that +is the great question of Civil Service Reform. There may be some +others indirectly affecting the human race, and in which some +people take a languid kind of interest, but the only question worth +discussing and comprehending in all its phases is the one I have +mentioned. This great question is in its infancy still. The +doctrine as yet has been applied only to politics.*</p> +<pre> + * Colonel Ingersoll then read the following letter, of which + he was the author. +</pre> +<p>My Dear Sir:—In the olden times, during the purer days of +the Republic, the motto was, "To the victors belong the spoils." +The great object of civil service reform is to reverse this motto. +Our people are thoroughly disgusted with machine politics, and +demand politics without any machine.</p> +<p>In every precinct and ward there are persons going about lauding +one party and crying down the other. They make it their business to +attend to the affairs of the Nation. They call conventions, pass +resolutions; they put notices in papers of the times and places of +meetings; they select candidates for office, and then insist upon +having them elected; they distribute papers and political +documents; they crowd the mails with newspapers, platforms, +resolutions, facts and figures, and with everything calculated to +help their party and hurt the other. In short, they are the +disturbers of the public peace.</p> +<p>They keep the community in a perpetual excitement. In the last +campaign, wherever they were was turmoil. They fired cannon, +carried flags, torches and transparencies; they subsidized brass +bands, and shouted and hurrahed as though the world had gone +insane. They were induced to do these things by the hope of success +and office. Take away this hope and there will be peace once more. +This thing is unendurable. The staid, the quiet and respectable +people, the moderate and conservative men who always have an idea +of joining the other side just to show their candor, are heartily +tired of the entire performance. These gentlemen demand a rest. +They are not adventurers; they have incomes; they belong to +families; they have monograms and liveries. They have succeeded, +and they want quiet. Growth makes a noise; development, as they +call it, is nothing but disturbance. We want stability, we want +political petrifaction, and we therefore demand that these meetings +shall be dismissed, that these processions shall halt, that these +flags shall be furled. But these things never will be stopped until +we stop paying men with office for making these disturbances. You +know that it has been the habit for men elected to bestow political +favors upon the men who elected them. This is a crying shame. It is +a kind of bribery and corruption. Men should not work with the +expectation of reward and success. The frightful consequences of +rewarding one's friends cannot be contemplated by a true patriot +without a shudder. Exactly the opposite course is demanded by the +great principle of civil service reform. There is no patriotism in +working for place, for power and success. The true lover of his +country is stimulated to action by the hope of defeat, and the +prospect of office for his opponent. To such an extent has the +pernicious system of rewarding friends for political services gone +in this country, that until very lately it was difficult for a +member of the defeated party to obtain a respectable office.</p> +<p>The result of all this is, that the country is divided, that +these divisions are kept alive by these speakers, writers and +convention callers. The great mission of civil service reform is +not to do away with parties, but with conflicting opinion, by +taking from all politicians the hope of reward. There is no other +hope for peace. What do the people know about the wants of the +nation? There are in every community a few quiet and respectable +men, who know all about the wants of the people—gentlemen who +have retired from business, who take no part in discussion and who +are therefore free from prejudice. Let these men attend to our +politics. They will not call conventions, except in the parlors of +hotels. They will not put out our eyes with flaring torches. They +will not deafen us with speeches. They will carry on a campaign +without producing opposition. They will have elections but no +contests. All the offices will be given to the defeated party. This +of itself will insure tranquillity at the polls. No one will be +deprived of the privilege of casting a ballot. When campaigns are +conducted in this manner a gentleman can engage in politics with a +feeling that he is protected by the great principle of civil +service reform. But just so long as men persist in rewarding their +friends, as they call them, just so long will our country be cursed +with political parties. Nothing can be better calculated to +preserve the peace than the great principle of rewarding those who +have confidence enough in our institutions to keep silent while +peace will sit with folded wings upon the moss-covered political +stump of a ruder age. I am satisfied that to civil service reform +the Republican party is indebted for the last great victory. Upon +this question the enthusiasm of the people was simply unbounded. In +the harvest field, the shop, the counting-room, in the church, in +the saloon, in, the palace and in the hut, nothing was heard and +nothing discussed except the great principle of civil service +reform.</p> +<p>Among the most touching incidents of the campaign was to see a +few old soldiers, sacred with scars, sit down, and while battles +and hair-breadth escapes, and prisons of want, were utterly +forgotten, discuss with tremulous lips and tearful eyes the great +question of civil service reform.</p> +<p>During the great political contest I addressed several quite +large and intelligent audiences, and no one who did not has or can +have the slightest idea of the hold that civil service reform had +upon the very souls of our people. Upon all other subjects the +indifference was marked. I dwelt upon the glittering achievements +of my party, but they were indifferent. I pictured outrages +perpetrated upon our citizens, but they did not care. All this went +idly by, but when I touched upon civil service reform, old men, +gray-haired and strong, broke down utterly—tears fell like +rain. The faces of women grew ashen with the intensity of anguish, +and even little children sobbed as though their hearts would break. +To one who has witnessed these affecting scenes, civil service +reform is almost a sacred thing. Even the speeches delivered upon +this subject in German affected to tears thousands of persons +wholly unacquainted with that language. In some instances those who +did not understand a word were affected even more than those who +did. Surely there must be something in the subject itself, apart +from the words used to explain it, that can under such +circumstances lead captive the hearts of men. During the entire +campaign the cry of civil service reform was heard from one end of +our land to the other. The sailor nailed those words to the mast. +The miner repeated them between the strokes of the pick. Mothers +explained them to their children. Emigrants painted them upon their +wagons. They were mingled with the reaper's song and the shout of +the pioneer. Adopt this great principle and we can have quiet and +lady-like campaigns, a few articles in monthly magazines, a leader +or two in the "Nation," in the pictorial papers wood-cuts of the +residences of the respective candidates and now and then a letter +from an old Whig would constitute all the aggressive agencies of +the contest. I am satisfied that this great principle secured us +our victories in Florida and Louisiana, and its effect on the High +Joint Commission was greater than is generally supposed. It was +this that finally decided the action of the returning boards.</p> +<p>Cronin is the only man upon whom this great principle was an +utter failure. Let it be understood that friends are not to be +rewarded. Let it be settled that political services are a barrier +to political preferment, and my word for it, machine politics will +never be heard of again.</p> +<p>Yours truly,——</p> +<p>I do not believe in carrying civil service reform to the extent +that you will not allow an officer to resign. I do not believe that +that principle should be insisted upon to that degree that there +would only be two ways left to get out of office—death or +suicide. I believe, other things being equal, any party having any +office within its gift will give that office to the man that really +believes in the principles of that party, and who has worked to +give those principles ultimate victory. That is human nature. The +man that plows, the man that sows, and the man that cultivates, +ought to be the man that reaps. But we have in this country a +multitude of little places, a multitude of clerkships in +Washington; and the question is whether on the incoming of a new +administration, these men shall all be turned out. In the first +place, they are on starvation salaries, just barely enough to keep +soul and body together, and respectability on the outside; and if +there is a young man in this audience, I beg of him:</p> +<p>Never accept a clerkship from this Government. Do not live on a +little salary; do not let your mind be narrowed; do not sell all +the splendid possibilities of the future; do not learn to cringe +and fawn and crawl.</p> +<p>I would rather have forty acres of land, with a log cabin on it +and the woman I love in the cabin—with a little grassy +winding path leading down to the spring where the water gurgles +from the lips of earth whispering day and night to the white +pebbles a perpetual poem—with holly-hocks growing at the +corner of the house, and morning-glories blooming over the low +latched door—with lattice work over the window so that the +sunlight would fall checkered on the dimpled babe in the cradle, +and birds—like songs with wings hovering in the summer +air—than be the clerk of any government on earth.</p> +<p>Now, I say, let us lengthen the term of office—I do not +care much how long—send a man to Congress at least for five +years. And it would be a great blessing if there were not half as +many of them sent.</p> +<p>We have too many legislators and too much legislation; too +little about important matters, and too much about unimportant +matters. Lengthen the term of office so that the man can turn his +attention to something else when he gets in besides looking after +his re-election. There is another defect we must remedy in our +Constitution, in my judgment, and that is as to the mode of +electing a President. I believe it of the greatest importance that +the Executive should be entirely independent of the legislative and +judicial departments of the country. I do not believe that Congress +should have the right to create a vacancy which it can fill. I do +not believe that the Senate of the United States, or the lower +house of Congress, by a simple objection, should have the right to +deprive any State of its electoral vote. Our Constitution now +provides that the electors chosen in each State shall meet in their +respective States upon a certain day and there cast their votes for +President and Vice-President of the United States. They shall +properly certify to the votes which are cast, and shall transmit +lists of them, together with the proper certificates, to the +Vice-President of the United States. And it is then declared that +upon a certain day in the presence of both houses of Congress, the +Vice-President shall open the certificates and the votes shall then +be counted. It does not exactly say who shall count these votes. It +does not in so many words say the Vice-President shall do it, or +may do it, or that both houses of Congress shall do it, or may do +it, or that either house can prevent a count of the votes. It +leaves us in the dark, and, to a certain degree, in blindness. I +believe there is a way, and a very easy way, out of the entire +trouble, and it is this: I do not care whether the electors first +meet in their respective States or not, but I want the Constitution +so amended that the electors of all the States shall meet on a +certain day in the city of Washington, and count the votes +themselves; to allow that body to be the judge of who are electors, +to allow it to choose a chairman, and to allow the person so chosen +to declare who is the President, and who is the Vice-President of +the United States. The Executive is then entirely free and +independent of the legislative department of Government. The +Executive is then entirely free from the judicial department, and I +tell you, it is a public calamity to have the ermine of the Supreme +Court of the United States touched or stained by a political +suspicion. In my judgment, this country can never stand such a +strain again as it has now.</p> +<p>Now, my friends, all these questions are upon us and they have +to be settled. We cannot go on as we have been going. We cannot +afford to live as we have lived—one section running against +the other. We cannot go along that way. It must be settled, either +peaceably or there must again be a resort to the boisterous sword +of civil war.</p> +<p>The people of the South must stop trampling on the rights of the +colored men. It must not be a crime in any State of this Union to +be a lover of this country. I have seen it stated in several papers +lately that it is the duty of each State to protect its own +citizens. Well, I know that. Suppose that the State does not do it; +what then I say? Well, then, say these people, the Governor of the +State has the right to call on the General Government for +assistance. But suppose the Governor will not call for assistance, +what then? Then, they tell us, the Legislature can do so by a joint +resolution. But suppose the Legislature will not do it, what then? +Then, say these people, it is a defect in the Constitution. In my +judgment, that is the absurdest kind of secession. If the State of +Illinois must protect me, if I have no right to call for the +protection of the General Government, all I have to say is that my +allegiance must belong to the Government that protects me. If +Illinois protects me, and the General Government has not the power, +then my first allegiance is due to Illinois; and should Illinois +unsheathe the sword of civil war, I must stand by my State, if that +doctrine is true. I say, my first allegiance is due to the General +Government, and not to the State of Illinois, and if the State of +Illinois goes out of the Union, I swear to you that I will not. +What does the General Government propose to give me in exchange for +my allegiance? The General Government has a right to take my +property. The General Government has a right to take my body in its +necessary defence. What does that Government propose to give in +exchange for that right? Protection, or else our Government is a +fraud. Who has a right to call for the protection of the United +States? I say, the citizen who needs it. Can our Government obtain +information only through the official sources? Must our Government +wait until the Government asks the proofs, while the State tramples +upon the rights of the citizens? Must it wait until the Legislature +calls for assistance to help it stop robbing and plundering +citizens of the United States? Is that the doctrine and the idea of +the Northern Democratic party? It is not mine. A Government that +will not protect its citizens is a disgrace to humanity. A +Government that waits until a Governor calls—a Government +that cannot hear the cry of the meanest citizen under its flag when +his rights are being trampled upon, even by citizens of a Southern +State—has no right to exist.</p> +<p>It is the duty of the American citizen to see to it that every +State has a Government, not only republican in form, but it is the +duty of the United States to see to it that life, liberty and +property are protected in each State. If they are not protected, it +is the duty of the United States to protect them, if it takes all +her military force both upon land and upon the sea. The people +whose Government cannot always hear the faintest wail of the +meanest man beneath its flag have no right to call themselves a +nation. The flag that will not protect its protectors and defend +its defenders is a rag that is not worth the air in which it +waves.</p> +<p>How are we going to do it? Do it by kindness if you can; by +conciliation if you can, but the Government is bound to try every +way until it succeeds. Now, Rutherford B. Hayes was elected +President. The Democracy will say, of course, that he never was +elected, but that does not make any difference. He is President +to-day, and all these things are about him to be settled.</p> +<p>What shall we do? What can we do? There are two Governors in +South Carolina and two Legislatures and not one cent of taxes has +been collected by either. A dual government would seem to be the +most economical in the world. Now, the question for us to decide, +the question to be decided by this administration is, how are we to +ascertain which is the legal Government of the State, and what +department of the Government has a right to ascertain that fact? +Must it be left to Congress? Has the Senate alone the right to +determine it? Can it be left in any way to the Supreme Court, or +shall the Executive decide it himself? I do not say that the +Executive has the power to decide that question for himself. I do +not say he has not, but I do not say he has. The question, so far +as Louisiana and South Carolina are concerned—that question +is now in the Senate of the United States. Governor Kellogg is +asking for admission as a Senator from the State of Louisiana, and +the question is to be decided by the Senate first, whether he is +entitled to his seat, and that question of course, rests upon the +one fact—was the Legislature that elected him the legal +Legislature of the State of Louisiana? It seems to me that when +that question is pending in the Senate of the United States the +President has not the right, or at least it would be improper for +him to decide it on his own motion, and say this or that Government +is the real and legal Government of the State of Louisiana. But +some mode must be adopted, some way must be discovered to settle +this question, and to settle it peacefully. We are an enlightened +people. Force is the last thing that civilized men should resort +to. As long as courts can be created, as long as courts of +arbitration can be selected, as long as we can reason and think, +and urge all the considerations of humanity upon each other, there +should be no appeal to arms in the United States upon any question +whatever. What should the President do? He could only spare +twenty-five hundred men from the Indian war—that is the same +army that has so long been trampling on the rights of the South, +the same army that the Democratic Congress wished to reduce, and +that army of twenty-five hundred men is all he has to spare to +protect American citizens in the Southern States. Is there any +sentiment in the North that would uphold the Executive in calling +for volunteers? Is there any sentiment here that would respond to a +call for twenty, fifty, or a hundred thousand men? Is there any +Congress to pass the necessary act to pay them if there was?</p> +<p>And so the President of the United States appreciated the +situation, and the people of the South came to him and said, "We +have had war enough, we have had trouble enough, our country +languishes, we have no trade, our pockets are empty, something must +be done for us, we are utterly and perfectly disgusted with the +leadership of the Democratic party of the North. Now, will you let +us be your friends?" And he had the sense to say, "Yes." The +President took the right hand of the North, and put it into the +right hand of the South and said "Let us be friends. We parted at +the cannon's mouth; we were divided by the edge of the glittering +sword; we must become acquainted again. We are equals. We are all +fellow-citizens. In a Government of the people, by the people and +for the people, there shall not be an outcast class, whether white +or black. To this feast, every child of the Republic shall be +invited and welcomed." It was a grand thing grandly done. If the +President succeeds in his policy, it will be an immense compliment +to his brain. If he fails, it will be an equal compliment to his +heart. He has opened the door; he has advanced; he has extended his +hand, he has broken the silence of hatred with the words of +welcome. Actuated by this broad and catholic spirit he has selected +his constitutional advisors, and allow me to say right here, the +President has the right to select his constitutional advisors to +suit himself, and the idea of men endeavoring to force themselves +or others into the Cabinet of the President, against, as it were, +his will, why I would as soon think of circulating a petition to +compel some woman to marry me.</p> +<p>He has gathered around him the men he considers the wisest and +the best, and I say, let us give them a fair chance. I say, let us +be honest with the President of the United States and his Cabinet, +and give his policy a fair and honest chance. In order to show his +good faith with the South he chose as a member of his Cabinet an +ex-rebel from Tennessee. I confess, when I heard of it I did not +like it. It did not seem to be exactly what I had been making all +this fuss about. But I thought I would be honest about it, and I +went and called on Mr. Key, and really he begins already to look a +good deal like a Republican. A real honest looking man. And then I +said to myself that he had not done much more harm than as though +he had been a Democrat at the North during those four years, and +had cursed and swore instead of fought about it. And so I told him +"I am glad you are appointed."</p> +<p>And I am. Give him a chance, and so far as the whole Cabinet is +concerned—I have not the time to go over them one by one now, +it is perfectly satisfactory to me. The President made up his mind +that to appoint that man would be to say to the South: "I do not +look upon you as pariahs in this Government. I look upon you as +fellow-citizens; I want you to wipe forever the color line, or the +Union line, from the records of this Government on account of what +has been done heretofore." What are you now? is the only question +that should be asked. It was a strange thing for the President to +appoint that man. It was an experiment. It is an experiment. It has +not yet been decided, but I believe it will simply be a proof of +the President's wisdom. I can stand that experiment taken in +connection with the appointment of Frederick Douglass as Marshal of +the District of Columbia. I was glad to see that man's appointment. +He is a good, patient, stern man. He has been fighting for the +liberty of his race, and at the same time for our liberty. This man +has done something for the freedom of my race as well as his own. +This is no time for war. War settles nothing except the mere +question of strength. That is all war ever did settle. You cannot +shoot ideas into a man with a musket, or with cannon into one of +those old Bourbon Democrats of the North. You cannot let prejudices +out of a man with a sword.</p> +<p>This is the time for reason, for discussion, for compromise. +This is the time to repair, to rebuild, to preserve. War destroys. +Peace creates. War is decay and death. Peace is growth and +life,—sunlight and air. War kills men. Peace maintains them. +Artillery does not reason; it asserts. A bayonet has point enough, +but no logic. When the sword is drawn, reason remains in the +scabbard. It is not enough to win upon the field of battle, you +must be victor within the realm of thought. There must be peace +between the North and South some time; not a conquered peace, but a +peace that conquers. The question is, can you and I forget the +past? Can we forget everything except the heroic sacrifices of the +men who saved this Government? Can we say to the South, "Let us be +brothers"? Can we? I am willing to do it because, in the first +place, it is right, and in the second place, it will pay if it can +be carried out. We have fought and hated long enough. Our country +is prostrate. Labor is in rags. Energy has empty hands. Industry +has empty pockets. The wheels of the factory are still. In the safe +of prudence money lies idle, locked by the key of fear. Confidence +is what we need—confidence in each other; confidence in our +institutions; confidence in our form of government; in the great +future; confidence in law, confidence in liberty, confidence in +progress, and in the grand destiny of the Great Republic. Now, do +not imagine that I think this policy will please every body. Of +course there are men South and North who can never be conciliated. +They are the Implacables in the South—the Bourbons in the +North.</p> +<p>Nothing will ever satisfy them. The Implacables want to own +negroes and whip them; the Bourbons never will be satisfied until +they can help catch one. The Implacables with violent hands drive +emigration from their shores. They are poisoning the springs and +sources of prosperity. They dine on hatred and sup on regret. They +mourn over the lost cause and partake of the communion of revenge. +They strike down the liberties of their fellow-citizens and refuse +to enjoy their own. They remember nothing but wrongs, and they +forget nothing but benefits. Their bosoms are filled with the +serpents of hate. No one can compromise with them. Nothing can +change them. They must be left to the softening influence of time +and death. The Bourbons are the allies of the Implacables. A +Bourbon in the majority is an Implacable in the minority. An +Implacable in the minority is a Bourbon. We do not appeal to, but +from these men. But there are in the South thousands of men who +have accepted in good faith the results of the war; men who love +and wish to preserve this nation, men tired of strife—men +longing for a real Union based upon mutual respect and confidence. +These men are willing that the colored man shall be +free—willing that he shall vote, and vote for the Government +of his choice—willing that his children shall be +educated—willing that he shall have all the rights of an +American citizen. These men are tired of the Implacables and +disgusted with the Bourbons. These men wish to unite with the +patriotic men of the North in the great work of reestablishing a +government of law. For my part, call me of what party you please, I +am willing to join hands with these men, without regard to race, +color or previous condition.</p> +<p>With a knowledge of our wants—with a clear perception of +our difficulties, Rutherford B. Hayes became President.</p> +<p>Nations have been saved by the grandeur of one man. Above all +things a President should be a patriot. Party at best is only a +means—the good of the country, the happiness of the people, +the only end.</p> +<p>Now, I appeal to you Democrats here—not a great many, I +suppose—do not oppose this policy because you think it is +going to increase the Republican strength. If it strengthens the +Government, no matter whether it is Republican or Democratic, it is +for the common good.</p> +<p>And you Republicans, you who have had all these feelings of +patriotism and glory, I ask you to wait and let this experiment be +tried. Do not prophesy failure for it and then work to fulfill the +prophecy. Give the President a chance. I tell you to-night that he +is as good a Republican as there is in the United States; and I +tell you that if this policy is not responded to by the South, +Rutherford B. Hayes will change it, just as soon and as often as is +necessary to accomplish the end. The President has offered the +Southern people the olive branch of peace, and so far as I am +concerned, I implore both the Southern people and the Northern +people to accept it. I extend to you each and all the olive branch +of peace. Fellow-citizens of the South, I beseech you to take it. +By the memory of those who died for naught; by the charred remains +of your remembered homes; by the ashes of your statesman dead; for +the sake of your sons and your daughters and their fair children +yet to be, I implore you to take it with loving and with loyal +hands. It will cultivate your wasted fields. It will rebuild your +towns and cities. It will fill your coffers with gold. It will +educate your children. It will swell the sails of your commerce. It +will cause the roses of joy to clamber and climb over the broken +cannon of war. It will flood the cabins of the freedman with light, +and clothe the weak in more than coat of mail, and wrap the poor +and lowly in "measureless content." Take it. The North will forgive +if the South will forget. Take it! The negro will wipe from the +tablet of memory the strokes and scars of two hundred years, and +blur with happy tears the record of his wrongs. Take it! It will +unite our nation. It will make us brothers once again. Take it! And +justice will sit in your courts under the outspread wings of Peace. +Take it! And the brain and lips of the future will be free. Take +it! It will bud and blossom in your hands and fill your land with +fragrance and with joy.</p> +<a name="link0009" id="link0009"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>HARD TIMES AND THE WAY OUT.</h2> +<pre> + * Boston, October 20, 1878. +</pre> +<p>LADIES and Gentlemen:—The lovers of the human race, the +philanthropists, the dreamers of grand dreams, all predicted and +all believed that when man should have the right to govern himself, +when every human being should be equal before the law, pauperism, +crime, and want would exist only in the history of the past. They +accounted for misery in their time by the rapacity of kings and the +cruelty of priests. Here, in the United States, man at last is +free. Here, man makes the laws, and all have an equal voice. The +rich cannot oppress the poor, because the poor are in a majority. +The laboring men, those who in some way work for their living, can +elect every Congressman and every judge; they can make and +interpret the laws, and if labor is oppressed in the United States +by capital, labor has simply itself to blame. The cry is now raised +that capital in some mysterious way oppresses industry; that the +capitalist is the enemy of the man who labors. What is a +capitalist? Every man who has good health; every man with good +sense; every one who has had his dinner, and has enough left for +supper, is, to that extent, a capitalist. Every man with a good +character, who has the credit to borrow a dollar or to buy a meal, +is a capitalist; and nine out of ten of the great capitalists in +the United States are simply successful workingmen. There is no +conflict, and can be no conflict, in the United States between +capital and labor; and the men who endeavor to excite the envy of +the unfortunate and the malice of the poor are the enemies of law +and order.</p> +<p>As a rule, wealth is the result of industry, economy, attention +to business; and as a rule, poverty is the result of idleness, +extravagance, and inattention to business, though to these rules +there are thousands of exceptions. The man who has wasted his time, +who has thrown away his opportunities, is apt to envy the man who +has not. For instance, there are six shoemakers working in one +shop. One of them attends to his business. You can hear the music +of his hammer late and early. He is in love with some girl on the +next street. He has made up his mind to be a man; to succeed; to +make somebody else happy; to have a home; and while he is working, +in his imagination he can see his own fireside, with the firelight +falling upon the faces of wife and child. The other five gentlemen +work as little as they can, spend Sunday in dissipation, have the +headache Monday, and, as a result, never advance. The industrious +one, the one in love, gains the confidence of his employer, and in +a little while he cuts out work for the others. The first thing you +know he has a shop of his own, the next a store; because the man of +reputation, the man of character, the man of known integrity, can +buy all he wishes in the United States upon a credit. The next +thing you know he is married, and he has built him a house, and he +is happy, and his dream has been realized. After awhile the same +five shoemakers, having pursued the old course, stand on the corner +some Sunday when he rides by. He has a carriage, his wife sits by +his side, her face covered with smiles, and they have two children, +their eyes beaming with joy, and the blue ribbons are fluttering in +the wind. And thereupon, these five shoemakers adjourn to some +neighboring saloon and pass a resolution that there is an +irrepressible conflict between capital and labor.</p> +<p>There is, in fact, no such conflict, and the laboring men of the +United States have the power to protect themselves. In the +ballot-box the vote of Lazarus is on an equality with the vote of +Dives; the vote of a wandering pauper counts the same as that of a +millionaire. In a land where the poor, where the laboring men have +the right and have the power to make the laws, and do, in fact, +make the laws, certainly there should be no complaint. In our +country the people hold the power, and if any corporation in any +State is devouring the substance of the people, every State has +retained the power of eminent domain, under which it can confiscate +the property and franchise of any corporation by simply paying to +that corporation what such property is worth. And yet thousands of +people are talking as though the rich combined for the express +purpose of destroying the poor, are talking as though there existed +a widespread conspiracy against industry, against honest toil; and +thousands and thousands of speeches have been made and numberless +articles have been written to fill the breasts of the unfortunate +with hatred.</p> +<p>We have passed through a period of wonderful and unprecedented +inflation. For years we enjoyed the luxury of going into debt, the +felicity of living upon credit. We have in the United States about +eighty thousand miles of railway, more than enough to make a treble +track around the globe. Most of these miles were built in a period +of twenty-five years, and at a cost of at least five thousand +millions of dollars. Think of the ore that had to be dug, of the +iron that was melted; think of the thousands employed in cutting +bridge timber and ties, and giving to the wintry air the music of +the axe; think of the thousands and thousands employed in making +cars, in making locomotives, those horses of progress with nerves +of steel and breath of flame; think of the thousands and thousands +of workers in brass and steel and iron; think of the numberless +industries that thrived in the construction of eighty thousand +miles of railway, of the streams bridged, of the mountains +tunneled, of the plains crossed; and think of the towns and cities +that sprang up, as if by magic, along these highways of iron.</p> +<p>During the same time we had a war in which we expended thousands +of millions of dollars, not to create, not to construct, but to +destroy. All this money was spent in the work of demolition, and +every shot and every shell and every musket and every cannon was +used to destroy. All the time of every soldier was lost. An amount +of property inconceivable was destroyed, and some of the best and +bravest were sacrificed. During these years the productive power of +the North was strained to the utmost; every wheel was in motion; +there was employment for every kind and description of labor, and +for every mechanic. There was a constantly rising +market—speculation was rife, and it seemed almost impossible +to lose. As a consequence, the men who had been toiling upon the +farm became tired. It was too slow a way to get rich. They heard of +their neighbor, of their brother, who had gone to the city and had +suddenly become a millionaire. They became tired with the slow +methods of agriculture. The young men of intelligence, of vim, of +nerve became disgusted with the farms. On every hand fortunes were +being made. A wave of wealth swept over the United States; huts +became houses; houses became palaces with carpeted floors and +pictured walls; tatters became garments; rags became robes; and for +the first time in the history of the world, the poor tasted of the +luxuries of wealth. We wondered how our fathers could have endured +their poor and barren lives.</p> +<p>Every business was pressed to the snow line. Old life insurance +associations had been successful; new ones sprang up on every hand. +The agents filled every town. These agents were given a portion of +the premium. You could hardly go out of your house without being +told of the uncertainty of life and the certainty of death. You +were shown pictures of life insurance agents emptying vast bags of +gold at the feet of a disconsolate widow. You saw in imagination +your own fatherless children wiping away the tears of grief and +smiling with joy.</p> +<p>These agents insured everybody and everything. They would have +insured a hospital or consumption in its last hemorrhage.</p> +<p>Fire insurance was managed in precisely the same way. The agents +received a part of the premium, and they insured anything and +everything, no matter what its danger might be. They would have +insured powder in perdition, or icebergs under the torrid zone with +the same alacrity. And then there were accident companies, and you +could not go to the station to buy your ticket without being shown +a picture of disaster. You would see there four horses running away +with a stage, and old ladies and children being thrown out; you +would see a steamer being blown up on the Mississippi, legs one way +and arms the other, heads one side and hats the other; locomotives +going through bridges, good Samaritans carrying off the wounded on +stretchers.</p> +<p>The merchants, too, were not satisfied to do business in the old +way. It was too slow; they could not wait for customers. They +filled the country with drummers, and these drummers convinced all +the country merchants that they needed about twice as many goods as +they could possibly sell, and they took their notes on sixty and +ninety days, and renewed them whenever desired, provided the +parties renewing the notes would take more goods. And these country +merchants pressed the goods upon their customers in the same +manner. Everybody was selling, everybody was buying, and nearly all +was done upon a credit. No one believed the day of settlement ever +would or ever could come. Towns must continue to grow, and in the +imagination of speculators there were hundreds of cities numbering +their millions of inhabitants. Land, miles and miles from the city, +was laid out in blocks and squares and parks; land that will not be +occupied for residences probably for hundreds of years to come, and +these lots were sold, not by the acre, not by the square mile, but +by so much per foot. They were sold on credit, with a partial +payment down and the balance secured by a mortgage.</p> +<p>These values, of course, existed simply in the imagination; and +a deed of trust upon a cloud or a mortgage upon a last year's fog +would have been just as valuable. Everybody advertised, and those +who were not selling goods and real estate were in the medicine +line, and every rock beneath our flag was covered with advice to +the unfortunate; and I have often thought that if some sincere +Christian had made a pilgrimage to Sinai and climbed its venerable +crags, and in a moment of devotion dropped upon his knees and +raised his eyes toward heaven, the first thing that would have met +his astonished gaze would in all probability have been:</p> +<pre> + "St. 1860 X Plantation Bitters." +</pre> +<p>Suddenly there came a crash. Jay Cooke failed, and I have heard +thousands of men account for the subsequent hard times from the +fact that Cooke did fail. As well might you account for the +smallpox by saying that the first pustule was the cause of the +disease. The failure of Jay Cooke & Co. was simply a symptom of +a disease universal.</p> +<p>No language can describe the agonies that have been endured +since 1873. No language can tell the sufferings of the men that +have wandered over the dreary and desolate desert of bankruptcy. +Thousands and thousands supposed that they had enough, enough for +their declining years, enough for wife and children, and suddenly +found themselves paupers and vagrants.</p> +<p>During all these years the bankruptcy law was in force, and +whoever failed to keep his promise had simply to take the benefit +of this law. As a consequence, there could be no real, solid +foundation for business. Property commenced to decline; that is to +say, it commenced to resume; that is to say, it began to be rated +at its real instead of at its speculative value.</p> +<p>Land is worth what it will produce, and no more. It may have +speculative value, and, if the prophecy is fulfilled, the man who +buys it may become rich, and if the prophecy is not fulfilled, then +the land is simply worth what it will produce. Lots worth from five +to ten thousand dollars apiece suddenly vanished into farms worth +twenty-five dollars per acre. These lots resumed. The farms that +before that time had been considered worth one hundred dollars per +acre, and are now worth twenty or thirty, have simply resumed. +Magnificent residences supposed to be worth one hundred thousand +dollars, that can now be purchased for twenty-five thousand, they +have simply resumed. The property in the United States has not +fallen in value, but its real value has been ascertained. The land +will produce as much as it ever would, and is as valuable to-day as +it ever was; and every improvement, every invention that adds to +the productiveness of the soil or to the facilities for getting +that product to market, adds to the wealth of the nation.</p> +<p>As a matter of fact, the property kept pace with what we were +pleased to call our money. As the money depreciated, property +appreciated; as the money appreciated, property depreciated. The +moment property began to fall speculation ceased. There is but +little speculation upon a falling market. The stocks and bonds, +based simply upon ideas, became worthless, the collaterals became +dust and ashes.</p> +<p>At the close of the war, when the Government ceased to be such a +vast purchaser and consumer, many of the factories had to stop. +When the crash came the men stopped digging ore; they stopped +felling the forest; the fires died out in the furnaces; the men who +had stood in the glare of the forge were in the gloom of want. +There was no employment for them. The employer could not sell his +product; business stood still, and then came what we call the hard +times. Our wealth was a delusion and illusion, and we simply came +back to reality. Too many men were doing nothing, too many men were +traders, brokers, speculators. There were not enough producers of +the things needed; there were too many producers of the things no +one wished. There needed to be a re-distribution of men.</p> +<p>Many remedies have been proposed, and chief among these is the +remedy of fiat money. Probably no subject in the world is less +generally understood than that of money. So many false definitions +have been given, so many strange, conflicting theories have been +advanced, that it is not at all surprising that men have come to +imagine that money is something that can be created by law. The +definitions given by the hard-money men themselves have been used +as arguments by those who believe in the power of Congress to +create wealth. We are told that gold is an instrumentality or a +device to facilitate exchanges. We are told that gold is a measure +of value. Let us examine these definitions.</p> +<p>"<i>Gold is an instrumentality or device to facilitate +exchanges.</i>"</p> +<p>That sounds well, but I do not believe it. Gold and silver are +commodities. They are the products of labor. They are not +instrumentalities; they are not devices to facilitate exchanges; +they are the things exchanged for something else; and other things +are exchanged for them. The only device about it to facilitate +exchanges is the coining of these metals. Whenever the Government +or any government certifies that in a certain piece of gold or +silver there are a certain number of grains of a certain fineness, +then he who gives it knows that he is not giving too much, and he +who receives, that he is receiving enough, so that I will change +the definition to this:</p> +<p>The <i>coining</i> of the precious metals is a device to +facilitate exchanges.</p> +<p>The precious metals themselves are property; they are +merchandise; they are commodities, and whenever one commodity is +exchanged for another it is barter, and gold is the last refinement +of barter.</p> +<p>The second definition is:</p> +<p>"<i>Gold is the measure of value</i>."</p> +<p>We are told by those who believe in fiat money that gold is a +measure of value just the same as a half bushel or a yardstick.</p> +<p>I deny that gold is a measure of value. The yardstick is not a +measure of value; it is simply a measure of quantity. It measures +cloth worth fifty dollars a yard precisely as it does calico worth +four cents. It is, therefore, not a measure of value, but of +quantities. The same with the half bushel. The half bushel measures +wheat precisely the same, whether that wheat is worth three dollars +or one dollar. It simply measures quantity; not quality, or value. +The yardstick, the half bushel, and the coining of money are all +devices to facilitate exchanges. The yardstick assures the man who +sells that he has not sold too much; it assures the man who buys +that he has received enough; and in that way it facilitates +exchanges. The coining of money facilitates exchange, for the +reason that were it not coined, each man who did any business would +have to carry a pair of scales and be a chemist.</p> +<p>It matters not whether the yardstick or half bushel are of gold, +silver, or wood, for the reason that the yardstick and half bushel +are not the things bought. We buy not them, but the things they +measure.</p> +<p>If gold and silver are not the measure of value, what is? I +answer—intelligent labor. Gold gets its value from labor. Of +course, I cannot account for the fact that mankind have a certain +fancy for gold or for diamonds, neither can I account for the fact +that we like certain things better than others to eat. These are +simply facts in nature, and they are facts, whether they can be +explained or not. The dollar in gold represents, on the average, +the labor that it took to dig and mint it, together with all the +time of the men who looked for it without finding it. That dollar +in gold, on the average, will buy the product of the same amount of +labor in any other direction.</p> +<p>Nothing ever has been money, from the most barbarous to the most +civilized times, unless it was a product of nature, and a something +to which the people among whom it passed as money attached a +certain value, a value not dependent upon law, not dependent upon +"fiat" in any degree.</p> +<p>Nothing has ever been considered money that man could +produce.</p> +<p>A bank bill is not money, neither is a check nor a draft. These +are all devices simply to facilitate business, but in or of +themselves they have no value.</p> +<p>We are told, however, that the Government can create money. This +I deny. The Government produces nothing; it raises no wheat, no +corn; it digs no gold, no silver. It is not a producer, it is a +consumer.</p> +<p>The Government cannot by law create wealth. And right here I +wish to ask one question, and I would like to have it answered some +time. If the Government can make money, if it can create money, if +by putting its sovereignty upon a piece of paper it can create +absolute money, why should the Government collect taxes? We have in +every district assessors and collectors; we have at every port +customhouses, and we are collecting taxes day and night for the +support of this Government. Now, if the Government can make money +itself, why should it collect taxes from the poor? Here is a man +cultivating a farm—he is working among the stones and roots, +and digging day and night; why should the Government go to that man +and make him pay twenty or thirty or forty dollars taxes when the +Government, according to the theory of these gentlemen, could make +a thousand-dollar fiat bill quicker than that man could wink? Why +impose upon industry in that manner? Why should the sun borrow a +candle?</p> +<p>And if the Government can create money, how much should it +create, and if it should create it who will get it? Money has a +great liking for money. A single dollar in the pocket of a poor man +is lonesome; it never is satisfied until it has found its +companions. Money gravitates towards money, and issue as much as +you may, as much as you will, the time will come when that money +will be in the hands of the industrious, in the hands of the +economical, in the hands of the shrewd, in the hands of the +cunning; in other words, in the hands of the successful.</p> +<p>The other day I had a conversation with one of the principal +gentlemen upon that side, and I told him, "Whenever you can +successfully palm off on a man a bill of fare for a dinner, I shall +believe in your doctrine; and when I can satisfy the pangs of +hunger by reading a cook-book, I shall join your party." Only that +is money which stands for labor. Only that is money which will buy, +on the average, in all other directions the result of the same +labor expended in its production. As a matter of fact, there is +money enough in the country to transact the business. Never before +in the history of our Government was money so cheap; that is to +say, was interest so low; never. There is plenty of money, and we +could borrow all we wished had we the collaterals. We could borrow +all we wish if there was some business in which we could embark +that promised a sure and reasonable return. If we should come to a +man who kept a ferry, and find his boat on a sandbar and the river +dry, what would he think of us should we tell him he had not enough +boat? He would probably reply that he had plenty of boat, but not +enough water. We have plenty of money, but not enough business. The +reason we have not enough business is, we have not enough +confidence, and the reason we have not confidence is because the +market is slowly falling, and the reason it is slowly falling is +that things have not yet quite resumed; that we have not quite +touched the absolute bedrock of valuation. Another reason is +because those that left the cultivation of the soil have not yet +all returned, and they are living, some upon their wits, some upon +their relatives, some upon charity, and some upon crime.</p> +<p>The next question is: Suppose the Government should issue a +thousand millions of fiat money, how would it regulate the value +thereof? Every creditor could be forced to take it, but nobody +else. If a man was in debt one dollar for a bushel of wheat, he +could compel the creditor to take the fiat money; but if he wished +to buy the wheat, then the owner could say, "I will take one dollar +in gold or fifty dollars in fiat money, or I will not sell it for +fiat money at any price." What will Congress do then? In order to +make this fiat money good it will have to fix the price of every +conceivable commodity; the price of painting a picture, of trying a +lawsuit, of chiseling a statue, the price of a day's work; in +short, the price of every conceivable thing. This even will not be +sufficient. It will be necessary, then, to provide by law that the +prices fixed shall be received, and that no man shall be allowed to +give more for anything than the price fixed by Congress. Now, I do +not believe that any Congress has sufficient wisdom to tell +beforehand what will be the relative value of all the products of +labor.</p> +<p>When the volume of currency is inflated it is at the expense of +the creditor class; when it is contracted it is contracted at the +expense of the debtor class. In other words, inflation means going +into debt; contraction means the payment of the debt.</p> +<p>A gold dollar is a dollar's worth of gold.</p> +<p>A real paper dollar is a dollar's worth of paper.</p> +<p>Another remedy has been suggested by the same persons who +advocate fiat money. With a consistency perfectly charming, they +say it would have been much better had we allowed the Treasury +notes to fade out. Why allow fiat money to fade out when a simple +act of Congress can make it as good as gold? When greenbacks fade +out the loss falls upon the chance holder, upon the poor, the +industrious, and the unfortunate. The rich, the cunning, the +well-informed manage to get rid of what they happen to hold. When, +however, the bills are redeemed, they are paid by the wealth and +property of the whole country. To allow them to fade out is +universal robbery; to pay them is universal justice. The greenback +should not be allowed to fade away in the pocket of the soldier or +in the hands of his widow and children. It is said that; the +Continental money faded away. It was and is a disgrace to our +forefathers. When the greenback fades away there will fade with it +honor from the American heart, brain from the American head, and +our flag from the air of heaven.</p> +<p>A great cry has been raised against the holders of bonds. They +have been denounced by every epithet that malignity can coin. +During the war our bonds were offered for sale and they brought all +that they then appeared to be worth. They had to be sold or the +Rebellion would have been a success. To the bond we are indebted as +much as to the greenback. The fact is, however, we are indebted to +neither; we are indebted to the soldiers. But every man who took a +greenback at less than gold committed the same crime, and no other, +as he who bought the bonds at less than par in gold. These bonds +have changed hands thousands of times. They have been paid for in +gold again and again. They have been bought at prices far above +par; they have been laid away by loving husbands for wives, by +toiling fathers for children; and the man who seeks to repudiate +them now, or to pay them in fiat rags, is unspeakably cruel and +dishonest. If the Government has made a bad bargain it must live up +to it. If it has made a foolish promise the only way is to fulfill +it.</p> +<p>A dishonest government can exist only among dishonest +people.</p> +<p>When our money is below par we feel below par.</p> +<p>We cannot bring prosperity by cheapening money; we cannot +increase our wealth by adding to the volume of a depreciated +currency. If the prosperity of a country depends upon the volume of +its currency, and if anything is money that people can be made to +think is money, then the successful counterfeiter is a public +benefactor. The counterfeiter increases the volume of currency; he +stimulates business, and the money issued by him will not be +hoarded and taken from the channels of trade.</p> +<p>During the war, during the inflation—that is to say, +during the years that we were going into debt—fortunes were +made so easily that people left the farms, crowded to the towns and +cities. Thousands became speculators, traders, and merchants; +thousands embarked in every possible and conceivable scheme. They +produced nothing; they simply preyed upon labor and dealt with +imaginary values. These men must go back; they must become +producers, and every producer is a paying consumer. Thousands and +thousands of them are unable to go back. To a man who begs of you a +breakfast you cannot say, "Why don't you get a farm?" You might as +well say, "Why don't you start a line of steamships?" To him both +are impossibilities. They must be helped.</p> +<p>We should all remember that society must support all of its +members, all of its robbers, thieves, and paupers. Every vagabond +and vagrant has to be fed and clothed, and society must support in +some way all of its members. It can support them in jails, in +asylums, in hospitals, in penitentiaries; but it is a very costly +way. We have to employ judges to try them, juries to sit upon their +cases, sheriffs, marshals, and constables to arrest them, policemen +to watch them, and it may be, at last, a standing army to put them +down. It would be far cheaper, probably, to support them all at +some first-class hotel. We must either support them or help them +support themselves. They let us go upon the one hand simply to take +us by the other, and we can take care of them as paupers and +criminals, or, by wise statesmanship, help them to be honest and +useful men. Of all the criminals transported by England to +Australia and Tasmania, the records show that a very large per +cent.—something over ninety—became useful and decent +people. In Australia they found homes; hope again spread its wings +in their breasts. They had different ambitions; they were removed +from vile and vicious associations. They had new surroundings; and, +as a rule, man does not morally improve without a corresponding +improvement in his physical condition. One biscuit, with plenty of +butter, is worth all the tracts ever distributed.</p> +<p>Thousands must be taken from the crowded streets and stifling +dens, away from the influences of filth and want, to the fields and +forests of the West and South. They must be helped to help +themselves.</p> +<p>While the Government cannot create gold and silver, while it +cannot by its fiat make money, it can furnish facilities for the +creation of wealth. It can aid in the distribution of products, and +in the distribution of men; it can aid in the opening of new +territories; it can aid great and vast enterprises that cannot be +accomplished by individual effort. The Government should see to it +that every facility is offered to honorable adventure, enterprise +and industry. Our ships ought to be upon every sea; our flag ought +to be flying in every port. Our rivers and harbors ought to be +improved. The usefulness of the Mississippi should be increased, +its banks strengthened, and its channel deepened. At no distant day +it will bear the commerce of a hundred millions of people. That +grand river is the great guaranty of territorial integrity; it is +the protest of nature against disunion, and from its source to the +sea it will forever flow beneath one flag.</p> +<p>The Northern Pacific Railway should be pushed to completion. In +this way labor would be immediately given to many thousands of men. +Along the line of that thoroughfare would spring up towns and +cities; new communities with new surroundings; and where now is the +wilderness there would be thousands and thousands of happy +homes.</p> +<p>The Texas Pacific should also be completed. A vast agricultural +and mineral region would be opened to the enterprise and adventure +of the American people. Probably Arizona holds within the miserly +clutches of her rocks greater wealth than any other State or +territory of the world. The construction of that road would put +life and activity into a hundred industries. It would give +employment to many thousands of people, and homes at last to many +millions. It would cause the building of thousands of miles of +branches to open, not only new territory, but to connect with roads +already built. It would double the products of gold and silver, +open new fields to trade, create new industries, and make it +possible for us to supply eight millions of people in the Republic +of Mexico with our products. The construction of this great highway +will enable the Government to dispense with from ten to fifteen +regiments of infantry and cavalry now stationed along the border. +People enough will settle along this line to protect themselves. It +will permanently settle the Indian question, saving the people +millions each year. It will effectually destroy the present +monopoly, and in this way greatly increase production and +consumption. It will double our trade with China and Japan, and +with the Pacific States as well. It will settle the Southern +question by filling the Southern States with immigrants, +diversifying the industries of that section, changing and +rebuilding the commercial and social fabric; it will do away with +the conservatism of regret and the prejudice born of isolation. It +will transmute to wealth the unemployed muscle of the country. It +will rescue California from the control of a single corporation, +from the government of an oligarchy united, watchful, despotic, and +vindictive. It will liberate the farmers, the merchants, and even +the politicians of the Pacific coast. Besides, it must not be +forgotten so to frame the laws and charters that Congress shall +forever have the control of fares and freights. In this way the +public will be perfectly protected and the Government perfectly +secured.</p> +<p>Look at the map, and you will see the immense advantages its +construction will give to the entire country, not only to the +South, but to the East and West as well. It is one hundred and +fifty miles nearer from Chicago to San Diego than to San Francisco. +You will see that the whole of Texas, a State containing two +hundred and ten thousand square miles; a State four times as large +as Illinois, five times as large as New York, capable of supporting +a population of twenty millions of people, is put in direct and +immediate communication with the whole country. Territory to the +extent of nearly a million square miles will be given to +agriculture, trade, commerce, and mining, by the construction of +this line.</p> +<p>Let this road be built, and we shall feel again the enthusiasm +born of enterprise. In the vast stagnation there will be at last a +current. Something besides waiting is necessary to secure, or to +even hasten, the return of prosperity. Secure the completion of +this line and extend the time for building the Northern Pacific, +and confidence and employment will return together.</p> +<p>More men must cultivate the soil. In the older States lands are +too high. It requires too much capital to commence. There are so +many failures in business; so many merchants, traders, and +manufacturers have been wrecked and stranded upon the barren shores +of bankruptcy, that the people are beginning to prefer the small +but certain profits of agriculture to the false and splendid +promises of speculation. We must open new territories; we must give +the mechanics now out of employment an opportunity to cultivate the +soil—not as day-laborers but as owners; not as tenants, but +as farmers. Something must be done to develop the resources of this +country. With the best lands of the world; with a population +intellectual, energetic, and ingenious far beyond the average of +mankind; with the richest mines of the globe; with plenty of +capital; with a surplus of labor; with thousands of arms folded in +enforced idleness; with billions of gold asking to be dug; with +millions of acres waiting for the plow, thousands upon thousands +are in absolute want.</p> +<p>New avenues must be opened. All our territory must be given to +immigration. Greater facilities must be offered. Obstacles that +cannot be overcome by individual enterprise must be conquered by +the Government for the good of all. Every man out of employment is +impoverishing the country. Labor transmutes muscle into wealth. +Idleness is a rust that devours even gold. For five years we have +been wasting the labor of millions—wasting it for lack of +something to do. Prosperity has been changed to want and +discontent. On every hand the poor are asking for work. That is a +wretched government where the honest and industrious beg, +unsuccessfully, for the right to toil; where those who are willing, +anxious, and able to work, cannot get bread. If everything is to be +left to the blind and heartless working of the laws of supply and +demand, why have governments? If the nation leaves the poor to +starve, and the weak and unfortunate to perish, it is hard to see +for what purpose the nation should be preserved. If our statesmen +are not wise enough to foster great enterprises, and to adopt a +policy that will give us prosperity, it may be that the laboring +classes, driven to frenzy by hunger, the bitterness of which will +be increased by seeing others in the midst of plenty, will seek a +remedy in destruction.</p> +<p>The transcontinental commerce of this country should not be in +the clutch and grasp of one corporation. All sections of the Union +should, as far as possible, be benefited. Cheap rates will come, +and can be maintained only by competition. We should cultivate +commercial relations with China and Japan. Six hundred millions of +people are slowly awaking from a lethargy of six thousand years. In +a little while they will have the wants of civilized men, and +America will furnish a large proportion of the articles demanded by +these people. In a few years there will be as many ships upon the +Pacific as upon the Atlantic. In a few years our trade with China +will be far greater than with Europe. In a few years we will +sustain the same relation to the far East that Europe once +sustained to us. America for centuries to come will supply six +hundred millions of people with the luxuries of life. A country +that expects to control the trade of other countries must develop +its own resources to the utmost. We have pursued a small, a mean, +and a penurious course. Demagogues have ridden into office and +power upon the cry of economy, by opposing every measure looking to +the improvement of the country, by endeavoring to see how cheaply +nothing could be done. A government, like an individual, should +live up to its privileges; it should husband its resources, simply +that it may use them. A nation that expects to control the commerce +of half a world must have its money equal with gold and silver. It +must have the money of the world.</p> +<p>Whenever the laboring men are out of employment they begin to +hate the rich. They feel that the dwellers in palaces, the riders +in carriages, the wearers of broadcloth, silk, and velvet have in +some way been robbing them. As a matter of fact, the palace +builders are the friends of labor. The best form of charity is +extravagance. When you give a man money, when you toss him a +dollar, although you get nothing, the man loses his manhood. To +help others help themselves is the only real charity. There is no +use in boosting a man who is not climbing. Whenever I see a +splendid home, a palace, a magnificent block, I think of the +thousands who were fed—of the women and children clothed, of +the firesides made happy.</p> +<p>A rich man living up to his privileges, having the best house, +the best furniture, the best horses, the finest grounds, the most +beautiful flowers, the best clothes, the best food, the best +pictures, and all the books that he can afford, is a perpetual +blessing.</p> +<p>The prodigality of the rich is the providence of the poor.</p> +<p>The extravagance of wealth makes it possible for the poor to +save.</p> +<p>The rich man who lives according to his means, who is +extravagant in the best and highest sense, is not the enemy of +labor. The miser, who lives in a hovel, wears rags, and hoards his +gold, is a perpetual curse. He is like one who dams a river at its +source.</p> +<p>The moment hard times come the cry of economy is raised. The +press, the platform, and the pulpit unite in recommending economy +to the rich. In consequence of this cry, the man of wealth +discharges servants, sells horses, allows his carriage to become a +hen-roost, and after taking employment and food from as many as he +can, congratulates himself that he has done his part toward +restoring prosperity to the country.</p> +<p>In that country where the poor are extravagant and the rich +economical will be found pauperism and crime; but where the poor +are economical and the rich are extravagant, that country is filled +with prosperity.</p> +<p>The man who wants others to work to such an extent that their +lives are burdens, is utterly heartless. The toil of the world +should continually decrease. Of what use are your inventions if no +burdens are lifted from industry—if no additional comforts +find their way to the home of labor; why should labor fill the +world with wealth and live in want?</p> +<p>Every labor-saving machine should help the whole world. Every +one should tend to shorten the hours of labor.</p> +<p>Reasonable labor is a source of joy. To work for wife and child, +to toil for those you love, is happiness; provided you can make +them happy. But to work like a slave, to see your wife and children +in rags, to sit at a table where food is coarse and scarce, to rise +at four in the morning, to work all day and throw your tired bones +upon a miserable bed at night, to live without leisure, without +rest, without making those you love comfortable and +happy—this is not living—it is dying—a slow, +lingering crucifixion.</p> +<p>The hours of labor should be shortened. With the vast and +wonderful improvements of the nineteenth century there should be +not only the necessaries of life for those who toil, but comforts +and luxuries as well.</p> +<p>What is a reasonable price for labor? I answer: Such a price as +will enable the man to live; to have the comforts of life; to lay +by a little something for his declining years, so that he can have +his own home, his own fireside; so that he can preserve the +feelings of a man.</p> +<p>Every man ought to be willing to pay for what he gets. He ought +to desire to give full value received. The man who wants two +dollars' worth of work for one is not an honest man.</p> +<p>I sympathize with every honest effort made by the children of +labor to improve their condition. That is a poorly governed country +in which those who do the most have the least. There is something +wrong when men are obliged to beg for leave to toil. We are not yet +a civilized people; when we are, pauperism and crime will vanish +from our land.</p> +<p>There is one thing, however, of which I am glad and proud, and +that is, that society is not, in our country, petrified; that the +poor are not always poor.</p> +<p>The children of the poor of this generation may, and probably +will, be the rich of the next. The sons of the rich of this +generation may be the poor of the next; so that after all, the rich +fear and the poor hope.</p> +<p>I sympathize with the wanderers, with the vagrants out of +employment; with the sad and weary men who are seeking for work. +When I see one of these men, poor and friendless—no matter +how bad he is—I think that somebody loved him once; that he +was once held in the arms of a mother; that he slept beneath her +loving eyes, and wakened in the light of her smile. I see him in +the cradle, listening to lullabies sung soft and low, and his +little face is dimpled as though touched by the rosy fingers of +Joy.</p> +<p>And then I think of the strange and winding paths, the weary +roads he has traveled from that mother's arms to vagrancy and +want.</p> +<p>There should be labor and food for all. We invent; we take +advantage of the forces of nature; we enslave the winds and waves; +we put shackles upon the unseen powers and chain the energy that +wheels the world. These slaves should release from bondage all the +children of men.</p> +<p>By invention, by labor—that is to say, by working and +thinking—we shall compel prosperity to dwell with us.</p> +<p>Do not imagine that wealth can be created by law; do not for a +moment believe that paper can be changed to gold by the fiat of +Congress.</p> +<p>Do not preach the heresy that you can keep a promise by making +another in its place that is never to be kept. Do not teach the +poor that the rich have conspired to trample them into the +dust.</p> +<p>Tell the workingmen that they are in the majority; that they can +make and execute the laws.</p> +<p>Tell them that since 1873 the employers have suffered about as +much as the employed.</p> +<p>Tell them that the people who have the power to make the laws +should never resort to violence. Tell them never to envy the +successful. Tell the rich to be extravagant and the poor to be +economical.</p> +<p>Tell every man to use his best efforts to get him a home. +Without a home, without some one to love, life and country are +meaningless words. Upon the face of the patriot must have fallen +the firelight of home.</p> +<p>Tell the people that they must have honest money, so that when a +man has a little laid by for wife and child, it will comfort him +even in death; so that he will feel that he leaves something for +bread, something that, in some faint degree, will take his place; +that he has left the coined toil of his hands to work for the loved +when he is dust.</p> +<p>Tell your representatives in Congress to improve our rivers and +harbors; to release our transcontinental commerce from the grasp of +monopoly; to open all our territories, and to build up our trade +with the whole world.</p> +<p>Tell them not to issue a dollar of fiat paper, but to redeem +every promise the nation has made.</p> +<p>If fiat money is ever issued it will be worthless, for the folly +that would issue has not the honor to pay when the experiment +fails.</p> +<p>Tell them to put their trust in work. Debts can be created by +law, but they must be paid by labor.</p> +<p>Tell them that "fiat money" is madness and repudiation is +death.</p> +<a name="link0010" id="link0010"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>SUFFRAGE ADDRESS.</h2> +<pre> + * This address was delivered at a Suffrage Meeting in + Washington, D. C., January 24,1880 +</pre> +<center>1880.</center> +<p>LADIES and Gentlemen: I believe the people to be the only +rightful source of political power, and that any community, no +matter where, in which any citizen is not allowed to have his voice +in the making of the laws he must obey, that community is a +tyranny. It is a matter of astonishment to me that a meeting like +this is necessary in the Capital of the United States. If the +citizens of the District of Columbia are not permitted to vote, if +they are not allowed to govern themselves, and if there is no sound +reason why they are not allowed to govern themselves, then the +American idea of government is a failure. I do not believe that +only the rich should vote, or that only the whites should vote, or +that only the blacks should vote. I do not believe that right +depends upon wealth, upon education, or upon color. It depends +absolutely upon humanity. I have the right to vote because I am a +man, because I am an American citizen, and that right I should and +am willing to share equally with every human being. There has been +a great deal said in this country of late in regard to giving the +right of suffrage to women. So far as I am concerned I am willing +that every woman in the nation who desires that privilege and honor +shall vote. If any woman wants to vote I am too much of a gentleman +to say she shall not. She gets her right, if she has it, from +precisely the same source that I get mine, and there are many +questions upon which I would deem it desirable that women should +vote, especially upon the question of peace or war. If a woman has +a child to be offered upon the altar of that Moloch, a husband +liable to be drafted, and who loves a heart that can be entered by +the iron arrow of death, she surely has as much right to vote for +peace as some thrice-besotted sot who reels to the ballot-box and +deposits a vote for war. I believe, and always have, that there is +only one objection to a woman voting, and that is, the men are not +sufficiently civilized for her to associate with them, and for +several years I have been doing what little I can to civilize them. +The only question before this meeting, as I understand it, is, +Shall the people of this District manage their own +affairs—whether they shall vote their own taxes and select +their own officers who are to execute the laws they make? and for +one, I say there is no human being with ingenuity enough to frame +an argument against this question. It is all very well to say that +Congress will do this, but Congress has a great deal to do besides. +There is enough before that body coming from all the States and +Territories of the Union, and the numberless questions arising in +the conduct of the General Government. I am opposed to a government +where the few govern the many. I am opposed to a government that +depends upon suppers, and upon flattery; upon crooking the hinges +of the knee; upon favors, upon subterfuges. We want to be manly men +in this District. We must direct and control our own affairs, and +if we are not capable of doing it, there is no part of the Union +where they are capable. It is said there is a vast amount of +ignorance here. That is true; but that is also true of every +section of the United States. There is too much ignorance and there +will continue to be until the people become great enough, generous +enough, and splendid enough to see that no child shall grow up in +their midst without a good, common-school education. The people of +this District are capable of managing their educational affairs if +they are allowed to do so. The fact is, a man now living in the +District lives under a perpetual flag of truce. He is nobody. He +counts for nothing. He is not noticed except as a suppliant. +Nothing as a citizen. That day should pass away. It will be a +perpetual education for this people to govern themselves, and until +they do they cannot be manly men. They say, though, that there is a +vast rabble here. Very well. Make your election laws so as to +exclude the vast rabble. Let it be understood that no man shall +vote who has not lived here at least one year.</p> +<p>Let your registration laws prohibit any man from voting unless +he has been registered at least six months. We do not want to be +governed by people who have no abode here—who are political +Bedouins of the desert. We want to be governed by people who live +with us—who live somewhere among us, and whom somebody knows, +and if a law is properly framed there will be no trouble about +self-government in the District of Columbia. Let the experiment be +tried here of a perfect, complete and honest registration; let +every man, no matter who he is or where he comes from, vote only by +strict compliance with a good registry law. We can have a fair +election, and wherever there is a fair election there will be good +government. Our Government depends for its stability upon honest +elections. The great principle underlying our system of government +is that the people have the virtue and the patriotism to govern +themselves. That is the foundation stone, the corner and the base +of our edifice, and upon it our Government is on trial to-day. And +until a man is considered infamous who casts an illegal vote, our +Government will not be safe. Whoever casts an illegal vote +knowingly is a traitor to the principle upon which our Government +is founded. And whoever deprives a citizen of his right to vote is +also a traitor to our Government. When these things are understood; +when the finger of public scorn shall be pointed at every man who +votes illegally, or unlawfully prevents an honest vote, then you +will have a splendid Government. It is humiliating for one hundred +and seventy-five thousand people to depend simply upon the right of +petition. The few will disregard the petition of the many.</p> +<p>I have not one word to say against the officers of the District. +Not a word. But let them do as well as they can; that is no +justification. It is no justification of a monarchy that the king +is a good man; it is no justification of a tyranny that the despot +does justice. There may come another who will do injustice; and a +free people like ours should not be satisfied to be governed by +strangers. They would better have bad men of their own choosing +than to have good men forced upon them. You have property here, and +you have a right to protect it, and a right to improve it. You have +life and liberty and the right to protect it. You have a right to +say what money shall be assessed and collected and paid for that +protection. You have laws and you have a right to have them +executed by officers of your own selection, and by nobody else. In +my judgment, all that is necessary to have these things done is to +have the subject properly laid before Congress, and let that body +thoroughly and perfectly understand the situation. There is no +member there, who rightly understanding our wishes, will dare +continue this disfranchisement of the people. We have the same +right to vote that their constituents have, precisely—no more +and no less.</p> +<p>This District ought to have one representative in Congress, a +representative with a right to speak—not a tongueless dummy. +The idea of electing a delegate who has simply the privilege of +standing around! We ought to have a representative who has not only +the right to talk, but who will talk. This District has the right +to a vote in the committees of Congress, and not simply the +privilege of receiving a little advice. And more than that, this +District ought to have at least one electoral vote in a selection +of a President of the United States. A smaller population than +yours is represented not only in Congress, but in the Electoral +College. If it is necessary to amend the Constitution to secure +these rights let us try and have it amended; and when that question +is put to the people of the whole country they will be precisely as +willing that the people of the District of Columbia shall have an +equal voice as that they themselves should have a voice.</p> +<p>Let us stop at no half-way ground, but claim, and keep claiming +all our rights until somebody says we shall have them. And let me +tell you another thing: Once have the right of self-government +recognized here, have a delegate in Congress, and an electoral vote +for President, and thousands will be willing to come here and +become citizens of the District. As it is, the moment a man settles +here his American citizenship falls from him like dead leaves from +a tree. From that moment he is nobody. Every American citizen wants +a little political power—wants to cast his vote for the +rulers of the nation. He wants to have something to say about the +laws he has to obey, and they are not willing to come here and +disfranchise themselves. The moment it is known that a man is from +the District he has no influence, and no one cares what his +political opinions may be. Now, let us have it so that we can vote +and be on an equality with the rest of the voters of the United +States. This Government was founded upon the idea that the only +source of power is the people. Let us show at the Capital that we +have confidence in that principle; that every man should have a +vote and voice in the South, in the North, everywhere, no matter +how low his condition, no matter that he was a slave, no matter +what his color is, or whether he can read or write, he is clothed +with the right to name those who make the laws he is to obey. While +the lowest and most degraded in every State in this Union have that +right, the best and most intelligent in the District have not that +right. It will not do. There is no sense in it—there is no +justice in it—nothing American in it. If this were the case +in some of the capitals of Europe we would not be surprised; but +here in the United States, where we have so much to say about the +right of self-government, that two hundred thousand people should +not have the right to say who shall make, and who shall execute the +laws is at least an anomaly and a contradiction of our theory of +government, and for one, I propose to do what little I can to +correct it. It has been said that you had once here the right of +self-government. If I understand it, the right you had was to elect +somebody to some office, and all the other officers were appointed. +You had no control over your Legislature; you had very little +control over your other officers, and the people of the District +were held responsible for what was actually done by the appointing +power. We want no appointing power. If it is necessary to have a +police magistrate, I say the people are competent to elect that +magistrate; and if he is not a good man they are qualified to +select another in his place. You ought to elect your judges. I do +not want the office of the Judiciary so far from the people that it +may feel entirely independent. I want every officer in this +District held-accountable to the people, and, unless he discharges +his duties faithfully, the people will put him out, and select +another in his stead.</p> +<p>I want it understood that no American citizen can be forced to +pay a dollar in a State or in the district where he lives who is +not represented, and where he has not the right to vote. It is all +tyranny, and all infamous. The people of the United States wonder +to-day that you have submitted to this outrage as long as you +have.</p> +<p>Neither do I believe that only the rich should have the right to +vote; that only they should govern; or that only the educated +should govern. I have noticed among educated men many who did not +know enough to govern themselves. I have known many wealthy men who +did not believe in liberty, in giving the people the same rights +they claimed for themselves. I believe in that government where the +ballot of Lazarus counts as much as the vote of Dives. Let the +rich, let the educated, govern the people by moral suasion and by +example and by kindness, and not by brute force. And in a community +like this, where the avenues to distinction are open alike to all, +there will be many more reasons for acting like men. When you can +hold any position, when every citizen can have conferred upon him +honor and responsibility, there is some stimulus to be a man. But +in a community where but the few are clothed with power by +appointment, no incentive exists among the people. If the avenues +to distinction and honor are open to all, such a government is +beneficial on every hand, and the poorest man in the community may +say to himself, "If I pursue the right course the very highest +place is open to me." And the poorest man, with his little +tow-headed boy on his knee, can say, "John, all the avenues are +open to you; although I am poor, you may be rich, and while I am +obscure, you may become distinguished."</p> +<p>That idea sweetens every hour of toil and renders holy every +drop of sweat that rolls down the face of labor. I hate tyranny in +every form. I despise it, and I execrate a tyrant wherever he may +be, and in every country where the people are struggling for the +right of self-government I sympathize with them in their struggle. +Wherever the sword of rebellion is drawn in favor of human rights I +am a rebel. I sympathize with all the people in Europe who are +endeavoring to push kings from thrones and struggling for the right +to govern themselves. America ought to send greeting to every part +of the world where such a struggle is pending, and we of the +District of Columbia ought to be able to join in the greeting, but +we never shall be until we have the right of self-government +ourselves. No man who is a good citizen can have any objection to +self-government here. No man can be opposed to it who believes that +our people have enough wisdom, enough virtue, enough patriotism to +govern themselves. The man who doubts the right of the people to +govern themselves casts a little doubt upon the question, simply +because he is not man enough himself to believe in liberty. I would +trust the poor of this country with our liberties as soon as I +would the rich. I will trust the huts and hovels, just as soon as I +will the mansions and palaces. I will trust those who work by the +day in the street as soon as I will the bankers of the United +States. I will trust the ignorant—even the ignorant. Why? +Because they want education, and no people in this country are so +anxious to have their children educated as those who are not +educated themselves. I will trust the ignorant with the liberties +of this country quicker than I would some of the educated who doubt +the principles upon which our Government is founded. But let the +intelligent do what they can to instruct the ignorant. Let the +wealthy do what they can to give the blessings of liberty to the +poor, and then this Government will remain forever. The time is +passing away when any man of genius can be respected who will not +use that genius in elevating his fellow-man. The time is passing +away when men, however wealthy, can be respected unless they use +their millions for the elevation of mankind. The time is coming +when no man will be called an honest man who is not willing to give +to every other man, be he white or black, every right that he asks +for himself.</p> +<p>For my part, I am willing to live under a government where all +govern, and am not willing to live under any other. I am willing to +live where I am on an equality with other men, where they have +precisely my rights, and no more; and I despise any government that +is not based upon this principle of human equality. Now, let us go +just for that one thing, that we have the same right as any other +people in the United States—that is, to govern this District +ourselves. Let us be represented in the lawmaking power, and let us +advocate a change in the fundamental law so that the people of this +District shall be entitled to one vote as to who shall be President +of the United States. And when that is done and our people are +clothed with the panoply of citizenship, you will find this +District growing not to two hundred thousand, but in a little while +one million of people will live here. Now, for one, I have not the +slightest feeling against members of Congress for what has been +done. I believe when this matter is laid before them fully and +properly you will find few men in that august body who will vote +against the proposition. They have had trouble enough. They do not +understand our affairs. They never did, never will, never can. No +one who does not live here will. The public interests are so many +and so conflicting, and touch the sides of so many, that the people +must attend to this matter themselves. They know when they want a +market, a judge, or a collector of taxes, and nobody else does and +nobody else has a right to.</p> +<p>And instead of going up to Congress and standing around some +committee-room with a long petition in your hands, begging somebody +to wait just one moment, it will be far better that you should go +to the polls and elect your representative, who can attend to your +interests in Congress. But above all things, I want to warn you, +charge you, beseech you, that in any legislation upon this subject +you must secure a registration law that will prevent the casting of +an illegal vote. Do this before it is known whether the District is +Republican or Democratic. I do not care. No matter how much of a +Republican I am, absolutely, I would rather be governed by +Democrats who live here than by Republicans who do not. And now, +while it is not known whether this is a Democratic or Republican +community, let us get up a registration that no one can violate; +because the moment you have an election, and it is ascertained to +be either Democratic or Republican, the victorious party may be +opposed to any registration or any legislation that will put in +jeopardy their power. I have lived long enough to be satisfied that +any State in this Union, no matter whether Democratic or +Republican, will be safe as long as the people have the right to +vote, and to see that the ballots will be counted. This country is +now upon trial. In nearly every State in this Union there is liable +to happen just the same thing that only the other day happened in +Maine.</p> +<p>In every State there can be two legislatures, one in the +State-house and the other on the fence. Let us in this District so +guard the right to vote and the counting of the ballots, that we +shall know after the election who has been elected and know with +certainty the men who have been elected by the legal voters of the +District.</p> +<p>It becomes us all, whether Republicans or Democrats, to unite in +securing such a law. Let us act together, Democrats and +Republicans, black and white, rich and poor, educated and +ignorant—let us all unite upon the principle that we have the +right to govern ourselves. Then it will make no difference whether +the District of Columbia shall be Democratic or Republican, +provided it is the will of a legal majority of her people.</p> +<p>Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you.</p> +<a name="link0011" id="link0011"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>WALL STREET SPEECH.</h2> +<pre> + * A political demonstration was made in Wall Street + yesterday afternoon that stands without a rival among the + many out-door meetings in that place, which for years have + been memorable features of Presidential campaigns. + + Bankers and brokers, members of the Produce Exchange, and + dry goods merchants assembled at their respective rendezvous + and marched in Imposing processions to the open space in + front of the Sub-Treasury building, from the steps of which + Col. Ingersoll delivered an address. Written words are + entirely inadequate to describe this demonstration of Wall + Street business men. It never was equaled in point of + numbers, respectability or enthusiasm, even during the + excitement caused by the outbreak of the Rebellion. + Throughout the day the business houses, banking offices and + public buildings down town were gay with flags and bunting. + Business was practically suspended all day, and the + principal topic of conversation on the Exchanges and m + offices and stores was the coming meeting. Long before the + hour set, well-dressed people began to gather near the Sub- + Treasury Building and by two o'clock Wall Street, from Broad + and Nassau half way down to William, was passable only with + difficulty. While the crowd was fast gathering on every + hand, Graiulla's band, stationed upon the corner buttress + near the Sub-Treasury, struck up a patriotic air, and in a + few minutes the throngs had swelled to such proportions that + the police had all they could do to maintain a thoroughfare. + A few minutes more ana the distant strains of another band + attracted all eyes toward Broadway, where the head of the + procession was seen turning into Wall Street. Ten abreast + and every man a gentleman, they marched by. At this time + Wall street from half way to William Street to half way to + Broadway, Nassau Street half way to Pine, and Broad Street + as far as the eye could reach, were densely packed with + people from side to side. Everything else, except the + telegraph-poles and the tops of the lamp-posts, was hidden + from view. Every window, roof, stoop, and projecting point + was covered. The Produce Exchange men finding Broad Street + impassable made a detour to the east and marched up Wall + Street, filling that thoroughfare to William. It was a + tremendous crowd In point of numbers, and its composition + was entirely of gentlemen—men with refined, intelligent + faces—bankers, brokers, merchants of all kinds—real + business men. Thousands of millions of dollars were + represented in It. On the left of the Sub-Treasury steps a + platform had been erected, with a sounding board covering + the rear and top. A national flag floated from its roof, and + its railing was draped with other flags. After the arrival + of the several organizations the banners they bore were hung + at the sides by way of further ornamentation. Mr. Jackson S. + Schultz then introduced Col. Ingersoll, the speaker of the + day. The cheering was terrific for several minutes. Raising + his hand for silence, Col. Ingersoll then delivered his + address.—New York Times, October 29th, 1880. +</pre> +<center>N.Y. CITY.</center> +<p>(Garfield Campaign.)</p> +<center>1880.</center> +<p>FELLOW-CITIZENS of the Great City of New York: This is the +grandest audience I ever saw. This audience certifies that General +James A. Garfield is to be the next President of the United States. +This audience certifies that a Republican is to be the next mayor +of the city of New York. This audience certifies that the business +men of New York understand their interests, and that the business +men of New York are not going to let this country be controlled by +the rebel South and the rebel North. In 1860 the Democratic party +appealed to force; now it appeals to fraud. In 1860 the Democratic +party appealed to the sword; now it appeals to the pen. It was +treason then, it is forgery now. The Democratic party cannot be +trusted with the property or with the honor of the people of the +United States.</p> +<p>The city of New York owes a great debt to the country. Every man +that has cleared a farm has helped to build New York; every man +that helped to build a railway helped to build up the palaces of +this city. Where I am now speaking are the termini of all the +railways in the United States. They all come here. New York has +been built up by the labor of the country, and New York owes it to +the country to protect the best interests of the country.</p> +<p>The farmers of Illinois depend upon the merchants, the brokers +and the bankers, upon the gentlemen of New York, to beat the rabble +of New York. You owe to yourselves; you owe to the great Re public; +and this city that does the business of a hemisphere—this +city that will in ten years be the financial centre of this +world—owes it to itself, to be true to the great principles +that have allowed it to exist and flourish.</p> +<p>The Republicans of New York ought to say that this shall forever +be a free country. The Republicans of New York ought to say that +free speech shall forever be held sacred in the United States. The +Republicans of New York ought to see that the party that defended +the Nation shall still remain in power. The Republicans of New York +should see that the flag is safely held by the hands that defended +it in war. The Republicans of New York know that the prosperity of +the country depends upon good government, and they also know that +good government means protection to the people—rich and poor, +black and white. The Republicans of New York know that a black +friend is better than a white enemy. They know that a negro while +fighting for the Government, is better than any white man who will +fight against it.</p> +<p>The Republicans of New York know that the colored party in the +South which allows every man to vote as he pleases, is better than +any white man who is opposed to allowing a negro to cast his honest +vote. A black man in favor of liberty is better than a white man in +favor of slavery. The Republicans of New York must be true to their +friends. This Government means to protect all its citizens, at home +and abroad, or it becomes a byword in the mouths of the nations of +the world.</p> +<p>Now, what do we want to do? We are going to have an election +next Tuesday, and every Republican knows why he is going to vote +the Republican ticket; while every Democrat votes his without +knowing why. A Republican is a Republican because he loves +something; a Democrat is a Democrat because he hates something. A +Republican believes in progress; a Democrat in retrogression. A +Democrat is a "has been." He is a "used to be." The Republican +party lives on hope; the Democratic on memory. The Democrat keeps +his back to the sun and imagines himself a great man because he +casts a great shadow. Now, there are certain things we want to +preserve—that the business men of New York want to +preserve—and, in the first place, we want an honest ballot. +And where the Democratic party has power there never has been an +honest ballot. You take the worst ward in this city, and there is +where you will find the greatest Democratic majority. You know it, +and so do I.</p> +<p>There is not a university in the North, East or West that has +not in it a Republican majority. There is not a penitentiary in the +United States that has not in it a Democratic majority—and +they know it. Two years ago, about two hundred and eighty-three +convicts were in the penitentiary of Maine. Out of that whole +number there was one Republican, and only one. [A voice—"Who +was the man?"] Well, I do not know, but he broke out. He said that +he did not mind being in the penitentiary, but the company was a +little more than he could stand.</p> +<p>You cannot rely upon that party for an honest ballot. Every law +that has been passed in this country in the last twenty years, to +throw a safeguard around the ballot-box, has been passed by the +Republican party. Every law that has been defeated has been +defeated by the Democratic party. And you know it. Unless we have +an honest ballot the days of the Republic are numbered; and the +only way to get an honest ballot is to beat the Democratic party +forever. And that is what we are going to do. That party can never +carry its record; that party is loaded down with the infamies of +twenty years; yes, that party is loaded down with the infamies of +fifty years. It will never elect a President in this world. I give +notice to the Democratic party to-day that it will have to change +its name before the people of the United States will change the +administration. You will have to change your natures; you will have +to change your personnel, and you will have to get enough +Republicans to join you and tell you how to run a campaign. If you +want an honest ballot—and every honest man does—then +you will vote to keep the Republican party in power. What else do +you want? You want honest money, and I say to the merchants and to +the bankers and to the brokers, the only party that will give you +honest money is the party that resumed specie payments. The only +party that will give you honest money is the party that said a +greenback is a broken promise until it is redeemed with gold. You +can only trust the party that has been honest in disaster. From +1863 to 1879—sixteen long years—the Republican party +was the party of honor and principle, and the Republican party +saved the honor of the United States. And you know it.</p> +<p>During that time the Democratic party did what it could to +destroy our credit at home and abroad.</p> +<p>We are not only in favor of free speech, and an honest ballot +and honest money, but we are for law and order. What part of this +country believes in free speech—the South or the North? The +South would never give free speech to the country; there was no +free speech in the city of New York until the Republican party came +into power. The Democratic party has not intelligence enough to +know that free speech is the germ of this Republic. The Democratic +party cares little for free speech because it has no argument to +make—no reasons to offer. Its entire argument is summed up +and ended in three words—"Hurrah for Hancock!" The Republican +party believes in free speech because it has something to say; +because it believes in argument; because it believes in moral +suasion; because it believes in education. Any man that does not +believe in free speech is a barbarian. Any State that does not +support it is not a civilized State.</p> +<p>I have a right to express my opinion, in common with every other +human being, and I am willing to give to every other human being +the right that I claim for myself. Republicanism means justice in +politics. Republicanism means progress in civilization. +Republicanism means that every man shall be an educated patriot and +a gentleman. I want to say to you to-day that it is an honor to +belong to the Republican party. It is an honor to have belonged to +it for twenty years; it is an honor to belong to the party that +elected Abraham Lincoln President. And let me say to you that +Lincoln was the greatest, the best, the purest, the kindest man +that has ever sat in the presidential chair. It is an honor to +belong to the Republican party that gave four millions of men the +rights of freemen; it is an honor to belong to the party that broke +the shackles from four millions of men, women and children. It is +an honor to belong to the party that declared that bloodhounds were +not the missionaries of civilization. It is an honor to belong to +the party that said it was a crime to steal a babe from its +mother's breast. It is an honor to belong to the party that swore +that this is a Nation forever, one and indivisible. It is an honor +to belong to the party that elected U. S. Grant President of the +United States. It is an honor to belong to the party that issued +thousands and thousands of millions of dollars in +promises—that issued promises until they became as thick as +the withered leaves of winter; an honor to belong to the party that +issued them to put down a rebellion; an honor to belong to the +party that put it down; an honor to belong to the party that had +the moral courage and honesty to make every one of the promises +made in war, as good as shining, glittering gold in peace. And I +tell you that if there is another life, and if there is a day of +judgment, all you need say upon that solemn occasion is, "I was in +life and in my death a good square Republican."</p> +<p>I hate the doctrine of State Sovereignty because it fostered +State pride; because it fostered the idea that it is more to be a +citizen of a State than a citizen of this glorious country. I love +the whole country. I like New York because it is a part of the +country, and I like the country because it has New York in it. I am +not standing here to-day because the flag of New York floats over +my head, but because that flag for which more heroic blood has been +shed than for any other flag that is kissed by the air of heaven, +waves forever over my head. That is the reason I am here.</p> +<p>The doctrine of State Sovereignty was appealed to in defence of +the slave-trade; the next time in defence of the slave trade as +between the States; the next time in defence of the Fugitive Slave +Law; and if there is a Democrat in favor of the Fugitive Slave Law +he should be ashamed—if not of himself—of the ignorance +of the time in which he lived.</p> +<p>That Fugitive Slave Law was a compromise so that we might be +friends of the South. They said in 1850-52: "If you catch the slave +we will be your friend;" and they tell us now: "If you let us +trample upon the rights of the black man in the South, we will be +your friend." I do not want their friendship upon such terms. I am +a friend of my friend, and an enemy of my enemy. That is my +doctrine. We might as well be honest about it. Under that doctrine +of State Rights, such men as I see before me—bankers, +brokers, merchants, gentlemen—were expected to turn +themselves into hounds and chase a poor fugitive that had been +lured by the love of liberty and guided by the glittering North +Star.</p> +<p>The Democratic party wanted you to keep your trade with the +South, no matter to what depths of degradation you had to sink, and +the Democratic party to-day says if you want to sell your goods to +the Southern people, you must throw your honor and manhood into the +streets. The patronage of the splendid North is enough to support +the city of New York.</p> +<p>There is another thing: Why is this city filled with palaces, +covered with wealth? Because American labor has been protected. I +am in favor of protection to American labor, everywhere. I am in +favor of protecting American brain and muscle; I am in favor of +giving scope to American ingenuity and American skill. We want a +market at home, and the only way to have it is to have mechanics at +home; and the only way to have mechanics is to have protection; and +the only way to have protection is to vote the Republican ticket. +You, business men of New York, know that General Garfield +understands the best interests not only of New York, but of the +entire country. And you want to stand by the men who will stand by +you. What does a simple soldier know about the wants of the city of +New York? What does he know about the wants of this great and +splendid country? If he does not know more about it than he knows +about the tariff he does not know much. I do not like to hit the +dead. My hatred stops with the grave, and I tell you we are going +to bury the Democratic party next Tuesday. The pulse is feeble now, +and if that party proposes to take advantage of the last hour, it +is time it should go into the repenting business. Nothing pleases +me better than to see the condition of that party to-day. What do +the Democrats know on the subject of the tariff? They are +frightened; they are rattled.</p> +<p>They swear their plank and platform meant nothing. They say in +effect: "When we put that in we lied; and now having made that +confession we hope you will have perfect confidence in us from this +out." Hancock says that the object of the party is to get the +tariff out of politics. That is the reason, I suppose, why they put +that plank in the platform. I presume he regards the tariff as a +little local issue, but I tell you to-day that the great question +of protecting American labor never will be taken out of politics. +As long as men work, as long as the laboring man has a wife and +family to support, just so long will he vote for the man that will +protect his wages.</p> +<p>And you can no more take it out of politics than you can take +the question of Government out of politics. I do not want any +question taken out of politics. I want the people to settle these +questions for themselves, and the people of this country are +capable of doing it. If you do not believe it, read the returns +from Ohio and Indiana. There are other persons who would take the +question of office out of politics. Well, when we get the tariff +and office both out of politics, then, I presume, we will see two +parties on the same side. It will not do.</p> +<p>David A. Wells has come to the rescue of the Democratic party on +the tariff, and shed a few pathetic tears over scrap iron. But it +will not do. You cannot run this country on scraps.</p> +<p>We believe in the tariff because it gives skilled labor good +pay. We believe in the tariff because it allows the laboring man to +have something to eat. We believe in the tariff because it keeps +the hands of the producer close to the mouth of the devourer. We +believe in the tariff because it developed American brain; because +it builds up our towns and cities; because it makes Americans +self-supporting; because it makes us an independent Nation. And we +believe in the tariff because the Democratic party does not.</p> +<p>That plank in the Democratic party was intended for a dagger to +assassinate the prosperity of the North. The Northern people have +become aroused and that is the plank that is broken in the +Democratic platform; and that plank was wide enough when it broke +to let even Hancock through.</p> +<p>Gentlemen, they are gone. They are gone—honor bright. Look +at the desperate means that have been resorted to by the Democratic +party, driven to the madness of desperation. Not satisfied with +having worn the tongue of slander to the very tonsils, not +satisfied with attacking the private reputation of a splendid man, +not satisfied with that, they have appealed to a crime; a +deliberate and infamous forgery has been committed. That forgery +has been upheld by some of the leaders of the Democratic party; +that forgery has been defended by men calling themselves +respectable. Leaders of the Democratic party have stood by and said +that they were acquainted with the handwriting of James A. +Garfield; and that the handwriting in the forged letter was his, +when they knew that it was absolutely unlike his. They knew it, and +no man has certified that that was the writing of James A. Garfield +who did not know that in his throat of throats he told a +falsehood.</p> +<p>Every honest man in the city of New York ought to leave such a +party if he belongs to it. Every honest man ought to refuse to +belong to the party that did such an infamous crime.</p> +<p>Senator Barnum, chairman of the Democratic Committee, has lost +control. He is gone, and I will tell you what he puts me in mind +of. There was an old fellow used to come into town every Saturday +and get drunk. He had a little yoke of oxen, and the boys out of +pity used to throw him into the wagon and start the oxen for home. +Just before he got home they had to go down a long hill, and the +oxen, when they got to the brow of it, commenced to run. Now and +then the wagon struck a stone and gave the old fellow an awful +jolt, and that would wake him up. After he had looked up and had +one glance at the cattle he would fall helplessly back to the +bottom, and always say, "Gee a little, if anything." And that is +the only order Barnum has been able to give for the last two +weeks—"Gee a little, if anything." I tell you now that +forgery makes doubly sure the election of James A. Garfield. The +people of the North believe in honest dealing; the people of the +North believe in free speech and an honest ballot. The people of +the North believe that this is a Nation; the people of the North +hate treason; the people of the North hate forgery; the people of +the North hate slander. The people of the North have made up their +minds to give to General Garfield a vindication of which any +American may be forever proud.</p> +<p>James A. Garfield is to-day a poor man, and you know that there +is not money enough in this magnificent street to buy the honor and +manhood of James A. Garfield. Money cannot make such a man, and I +will swear to you that money cannot buy him. James A. Garfield +to-day wears the glorious robe of honest poverty. He is a poor man; +I like to say it here in Wall Street; I like to say it surrounded +by the millions of America; I like to say it in the midst of banks +and bonds and stocks; I love to say it where gold is +piled—that although a poor man, he is rich in honor; in +integrity he is wealthy, and in brain he is a millionaire. I know +him, and I like him. So do you all, gentlemen. Garfield was a poor +boy, he is a certificate of the splendid form of our Government. +Most of these magnificent buildings have been built by poor boys; +most of the success of New York began almost in poverty. You know +it. The kings of this street were once poor, and they may be poor +again; and if they are fools enough to vote for Hancock they ought +to be. Garfield is a certificate of the splendor of our Government, +that says to every poor boy, "All the avenues of honor are open to +you." I know him, and I like him. He is a scholar; he is a +statesman; he is a soldier; he is a patriot; and above all, he is a +magnificent man; and if every man in New York knew him as well as I +do, Garfield would not lose a hundred votes in this city.</p> +<p>Compare him with Hancock, and then compare General Arthur with +William H. English. If there ever was a pure Republican in this +world, General Arthur is one.</p> +<p>You know in Wall Street, there are some men always prophesying +disaster, there are some men always selling "short." That is what +the Democratic party is doing to-day. You know as well as I do that +if the Democratic party succeeds, every kind of property in the +United States will depreciate. You know it. There is not a man on +the street, who if he knew Hancock was to be elected would not sell +the stocks and bonds of every railroad in the United States +"short." I dare any broker here to deny it. There is not a man in +Wall or Broad Street, or in New York, but what knows the election +of Hancock will depreciate every share of railroad stock, every +railroad bond, every Government bond, in the United States of +America. And if you know that, I say it is a crime to vote for +Hancock and English.</p> +<p>I belong to the party that is prosperous when the country is +prosperous. I belong to the party that believes in good crops; that +is glad when a fellow finds a gold mine; that rejoices when there +are forty bushels of wheat to the acre; that laughs when every +railroad declares dividends, that claps both its hands when every +investment pays; when the rain falls for the farmer, when the dew +lies lovingly on the grass. I belong to the party that is happy +when the people are happy; when the laboring man gets three dollars +a day; when he has roast beef on his table; when he has a carpet on +the floor; when he has a picture of Garfield on the wall. I belong +to the party that is happy when everybody smiles, when we have +plenty of money, good horses, good carriages; when our wives are +happy and our children feel glad. I belong to the party whose +banner floats side by side with the great flag of the country; that +does not grow fat on defeat.</p> +<p>The Democratic party is a party of famine; it is a good friend +of an early frost, it believes in the Colorado beetle and the +weevil. When the crops are bad the Democratic mouth opens from ear +to ear with smiles of joy; it is in partnership with bad luck; a +friend of empty pockets; rags help it. I am on the other side. The +Democratic party is the party of darkness. I believe in the party +of sunshine; and in the party that even in darkness believes that +the stars are shining and waiting for us.</p> +<p>Now, gentlemen, I have endeavored to give you a few reasons for +voting the Republican ticket; and I have given enough to satisfy +any reasonable man. And you know it. Do not go with the Democratic +party, young man. You have a character to make.</p> +<p>You cannot make it, as the Democratic party does, by passing a +resolution.</p> +<p>If your father voted the Democratic ticket, that is disgrace +enough for one family. Tell the old man you can stand it no longer. +Tell the old gentleman that you have made up your mind to stand +with the party of human progress; and if he asks you why you cannot +vote the Democratic ticket you tell him: "Every man that tried to +destroy the Government, every man that shot at the holy flag in +heaven, every man that starved our soldiers, every keeper of Libby, +Andersonville and Salisbury, every man that wanted to burn the +negro, every one that wanted to scatter yellow fever in the North, +every man that opposed human liberty, that regarded the +auction-block as an altar and the howling of the bloodhound as the +music of the Union, every man who wept over the corpse of slavery, +that thought lashes on the naked back were a legal tender for labor +performed, every one willing to rob a mother of her +child—every solitary one was a Democrat."</p> +<p>Tell him you cannot stand that party. Tell him you have to go +with the Republican party, and if he asks you why, tell him it +destroyed slavery, it preserved the Union, it paid the national +debt; it made our credit as good as that of any nation on the +earth.</p> +<p>Tell him it makes every dollar in a four per cent, bond worth a +dollar and ten cents; that it satisfies the demands of the highest +civilization. Tell the old man that the Republican party preserved +the honor of the Nation; that it believes in education; that it +looks upon the schoolhouse as a cathedral. Tell him that the +Republican party believes in absolute intellectual liberty; in +absolute religious freedom; in human rights, and that human rights +rise above States. Tell him that the Republican party believes in +humanity, justice, human equality, and that the Republican party +believes this is a Nation and will be forever and ever; that an +honest ballot is the breath of the Republic's life; that honest +money is the blood of the Republic; and that nationality is the +great throbbing beat of the heart of the Republic. Tell him that. +And tell him that you are going to stand by the flag that the +patriots of the North carried upon the battle-field of death. Tell +him you are going to be true to the martyred dead; that you are +going to vote exactly as Lincoln would have voted were he living. +Tell him that if every traitor dead were living now, there would +issue from his lips of dust, "Hurrah for Hancock!" that could every +patriot rise, he would cry for Garfield and liberty; for union and +for human progress everywhere. Tell him that the South seeks to +secure by the ballot what it lost by the bayonet; to whip by the +ballot those who fought it in the field. But we saved the country; +and we have the heart and brains to take care of it. I will tell +you what we are going to do. We are going to treat them in the +South just as well as we treat the people in the North. Victors +cannot afford to have malice. The North is too magnanimous to have +hatred. We will treat the South precisely as we treat the North. +There are thousands of good people there. Let us give them money to +improve their rivers and harbors; I want to see the sails of their +commerce filled with the breezes of prosperity; their fences +rebuilt; their houses painted. I want to see their towns +prosperous; I want to see schoolhouses in every town; I want to see +books in the hands of every child, and papers and magazines in +every house; I want to see all the rays of light, of civilization +of the nineteenth century, enter every home of the South; and in a +little while you will see that country full of good Republicans. We +can afford to be kind; we cannot afford to be unkind.</p> +<p>I will shake hands cordially with every believer in human +liberty; I will shake hands with every believer in Nationality; I +will shake hands with every man who is the friend of the human +race. That is my doctrine. I believe in the great Republic; in this +magnificent country of ours. I believe in the great people of the +United States. I believe in the muscle and brain of America, in the +prairies and forests. I believe in New York. I believe in the +brains of your city. I believe that you know enough to vote the +Republican ticket. I believe that you are grand enough to stand by +the country that has stood by you. But whatever you do, I never +shall cease to thank you for the great honor you have conferred +upon me this day.</p> +<pre> + Note.—This being a newspaper report it is necessarily + incomplete. +</pre> +<a name="link0012" id="link0012"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>BROOKLYN SPEECH.</h2> +<pre> + * The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher and Colonel Robert G. + Ingersoll spoke from the same platform last night, and the + great preacher introduced the great orator and free-thinker + to the grandest political audience that was ever assembled + in Brooklyn. The reverend gentleman presided over the + Republican mass meeting held in the Academy of Music. When + he introduced Ingersoll he did it with a warmth and + earnestness of compliment that brought the six thousand + lookers-on to their feet to applaud. When the expounder of + the Gospel of Christ took the famous atheist by the hand, + and shook it fervently, saying that while he respected and + honored him for the honesty of his convictions and his + splendid labors for patriotism and the country, the + enthusiasm knew no bounds, and the great building trembled + and vibrated with the storm of applause. With such a scene + to harmonize the multitude at the outstart it is not strange + that the meeting continued to the end such a one as has no + parallel even in these days of feverish political excitement + and turmoil. The orator spoke in his best vein and his + audience was responsive to the wonderful magical spell of + his eloquence. And when his last glowing utterance had lost + its echo in the wild storm of applause that rewarded him at + the close, Mr. Beecher again stepped forward and, as if to + emphasize the earnestness of his previous compliments, + proposed a vote of thanks to the distinguished speaker. The + vote was a roar of affirmation, whose voice was not stronger + when Mr. Ingersoll in turn called upon the audience to give + three cheers for the great preacher. They were given, and + repeated three times over. Men waved their ats and + umbrellas, ladies, of whom there were many hundreds present, + waved their handkerchiefs, and men, strangers to each other, + shook hands with the fervency of brotherhood. It was indeed + a strange scene, and the principal actors in it seemed not + less than the most wildly excited man there to appreciate + its peculiar import and significance. Standing at the front + of the stage, underneath a canopy of nags, at either side + great baskets of flowers, they clasped each other's hands, + and stood thus for several minutes, while the excited + thousands cheered themselves hoarse and applauded wildly. + + As Mr. Beecher began to speak, however, the applause that + broke out was deafening. + + In substance Mr. Beecher spoke as follows:—"I am not + accustomed to preside at meetings like this; only the + exigency of the times could induce me to do It. I am not + here either to make a speech, but more especially to + introduce the eminent orator of the evening. * * * I stand + not as a minister, but as a man among men, pleading the + cause of fellowship and equal rights. We are not here as + mechanics, as artists, merchants, or professional men, but + as fellow-citizens. The gentleman who will speak to-night is + in no Conventicle or Church. He is to speak to a great body + of citizens, and I take the liberty of saying that I respect + him as the man that for a full score and more of years has + worked for the right in the great, broad field of humanity, + and for the cause of human rights. I consider it an honor to + extend to him, as I do now, the warm, earnest, right hand of + fellowship." (As Mr. Beecher said this he turned to Mr. + Ingersoll and extended his hand. The palms of the two men + met with a clasp that was heard all over the house, and was + the signal for tumultuous cheering and applause, which + continued for several minutes.) + + "I now introduce to you," continued Mr. Beecher, leading Mr. + Ingersoll forward, "a man who—and I say it not + flatteringly—is the most brilliant speaker of the English + tongue of all men on this globe. But as under the brilliancy + of the blaze or light we find the living coals of fire, + under the lambent flow of his wit and magnificent antithesis + we find the glorious flame of genius and honest thought. + Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Ingersoll."—New York Herald, + October 81st, 1880. +</pre> +<p>(Garfield Campaign.)</p> +<center>1880.</center> +<p>LADIES and Gentlemen: Years ago I made up my mind that there was +no particular argument in slander. I made up my mind that for +parties, as well as for individuals, honesty in the long-run is the +best policy. I made up my mind that the people were entitled to +know a man's honest thoughts, and I propose to-night to tell you +exactly what I think. And it may be well enough, in the first +place, for me to say that no party has a mortgage on me. I am the +sole proprietor of myself. No party, no organization, has any deed +of trust on what little brains I have, and as long as I can get my +part of the common air I am going to tell my honest thoughts. One +man in the right will finally get to be a majority. I am not going +to say a word to-night that every Democrat here will not know is +true, and, whatever he may say, I will compel him in his heart to +give three cheers.</p> +<p>In the first place, I wish to admit that during the war there +were hundreds of thousands of patriotic Democrats. I wish to admit +that if it had not been for the War Democrats of the North, we +never would have put down the Rebellion. Let us be honest. I +further admit that had it not been for other than War Democrats +there never would have been a rebellion to put down. War +Democrats!</p> +<p>Why did we call them War Democrats? Did you ever hear anybody +talk about a War Republican? We spoke of War Democrats to +distinguish them from those Democrats who were in favor of peace +upon any terms.</p> +<p>I also wish to admit that the Republican party is not absolutely +perfect. While I believe that it is the best party that ever +existed, while I believe it has, within its organization, more +heart, more brain, more patriotism than any other organization that +ever existed beneath the sun, I still admit that it is not entirely +perfect. I admit, in its great things, in its splendid efforts to +preserve this nation, in its grand effort to keep our flag in +heaven, in its magnificent effort to free four millions of slaves, +in its great and sublime effort to save the financial honor of this +Nation, I admit that it has made some mistakes. In its great effort +to do right it has sometimes by mistake done wrong. And I also wish +to admit that the great Democratic party, in its effort to get +office has sometimes by mistake done right. You see that I am +inclined to be perfectly fair.</p> +<p>I am going with the Republican party because it is going my way; +but if it ever turns to the right or left, I intend to go straight +ahead.</p> +<p>In every government there is something that ought to be +preserved, in every government there are many things that ought to +be destroyed. Every good man, every patriot, every lover of the +human race, wishes to preserve the good and destroy the bad; and +every one in this audience who wishes to preserve the good will go +with that section of our common country—with that party in +our country that he honestly believes will preserve the good and +destroy the bad. It takes a great deal of trouble to raise a good +Republican. It is a vast deal of labor. The Republican party is the +fruit of all ages—of self-sacrifice and devotion. The +Republican party is born of every good thing that was ever done in +this world. The Republican party is the result of all martyrdom, of +all heroic blood shed for the right. It is the blossom and fruit of +the great world's best endeavor. In order to make a Republican you +have to have schoolhouses. You have to have newspapers and +magazines. A good Republican is the best fruit of civilization, of +all there is of intelligence, of art, of music and of song. If you +want to make Democrats, let them alone. The Democratic party is the +settlings of this country. Nobody hoes weeds. Nobody takes especial +pains to raise dog-fennel, and yet it grows under the very hoof of +travel, The seeds are sown by accident and gathered by chance. But +if you want to raise wheat and corn you must plough the ground. You +must defend and you must harvest the crop with infinite patience +and toil. It is precisely that way—if you want to raise a +good Republican you must work. If you wish to raise a Democrat give +him wholesome neglect. The Democratic party flatters the vices of +mankind. That party says to the ignorant man, "You know enough." It +says to the vicious man, "You are good enough."</p> +<p>The Republican party says, "You must be better next year than +you are this." A Republican takes a man by the collar and says, +"You must do your best, you must climb the infinite hill of human +progress as long as you live." Now and then one gets tired. He +says, "I have climbed enough and so much better than I expected to +do that I do not wish to travel any farther." Now and then one gets +tired and lets go all hold, and he rolls down to the very bottom, +and as he strikes the mud he springs upon his feet transfigured, +and says: "Hurrah for Hancock!"</p> +<p>There are things in this Government that I wish to preserve, and +there are things that I wish to destroy; and in order to convince +you that you ought to go the way that I am going: it is only fair +that I give to you my reasons. This is a Republic founded upon +intelligence and the patriotism of the people, and in every +Republic it is absolutely necessary that there should be free +speech. Free speech is the gem of the human soul. Words are the +bodies of thought, and liberty gives to those words wings, and the +whole intellectual heavens are filled with light. In a Republic +every individual tongue has a right to the general ear. In a +Republic every man has the right to give his reasons for the course +he pursues to all his fellow-citizens, and when you say that a man +shall not speak, you also say that others shall not hear. When you +say a man shall not express his honest thought you say his +fellow-citizens shall be deprived of honest thoughts; for of what +use is it to allow the attorney for the defendant to address the +jury if the jury has been bought? Of what use is it to allow the +jury to bring in a verdict of "not guilty," if the defendant is to +be hung by a mob? I ask you to-night, is not every solitary man +here in favor of free speech? Is there a solitary Democrat here who +dares say he is not in favor of free speech? In which part of this +country are the lips of thought free—in the South or in the +North? Which section of our country can you trust the inestimable +gem of free speech with? Can you trust it to the gentlemen of +Mississippi or to the gentlemen of Massachusetts? Can you trust it +to Alabama or to New York? Can you trust it to the South or can you +trust it to the great and splendid North? Honor bright—honor +bright, is there any freedom of speech in the South? There never +was and there is none to-night—and let me tell you why.</p> +<p>They had the institution of human slavery in the South, which +could not be defended at the bar of public reason. It was an +institution that could not be defended in the high forum of human +conscience. No man could stand there and defend the right to rob +the cradle—none to defend the right to sell the babe from the +breast of the agonized mother—none to defend the claim that +lashes on a bare back are a legal tender for labor performed. Every +man that lived upon the unpaid labor of another knew in his heart +that he was a thief. And for that reason he did not wish to discuss +that question. Thereupon the institution of slavery said, "You +shall not speak; you shall not reason," and the lips of free +thought were manacled. You know it. Every one of you. Every +Democrat knows it as well as every Republican. There never was free +speech in the South.</p> +<p>And what has been the result? And allow me to admit right here, +because I want to be fair, there are thousands and thousands of +most excellent people in the South—thousands of them. There +are hundreds and hundreds of thousands there who would like to vote +the Republican ticket. And whenever there is free speech there and +whenever there is a free ballot there, they will vote the +Republican ticket. I say again, there are hundreds of thousands of +good people in the South; but the institution of human slavery +prevented free speech, and it is a splendid fact in nature that you +cannot put chains upon the limbs of others without putting +corresponding manacles upon your own brain. When the South enslaved +the negro, it also enslaved itself, and the result was an +intellectual desert. No book has been produced, with one exception, +that has added to the knowledge of mankind; no paper, no magazine, +no poet, no philosopher, no philanthropist, was ever raised in that +desert. Now and then some one protested against that infamous +institution, and he came as near being a philosopher as the society +in which he lived permitted. Why is it that New England, a +rock-clad land, blossoms like a rose? Why is it that New York is +the Empire State of the great Union? I will tell you. Because you +have been permitted to trade in ideas. Because the lips of speech +have been absolutely free for twenty years.</p> +<p>We never had free speech in any State in this Union until the +Republican party was born. That party was rocked in the cradle of +intellectual liberty, and that is the reason I say it is the best +party that ever existed in the wide, wide world. I want to preserve +free speech, and, as an honest man, I look about me and I say, "How +can I best preserve it?" By giving it to the South or North; to the +Democracy or to the Republican party? And I am bound, as an honest +man, to say free speech is safest with its earliest defenders. +Where is there such a thing as a Republican mob to prevent the +expression of an honest thought? Where? The people of the South are +allowed to come to the North; they are allowed to express their +sentiments upon every stump in the great East, the great West, and +in the great Middle States; they go to Maine, to Vermont, and to +all our States, and they are allowed to speak, and we give them a +respectful hearing, and the meanest thing we do is to answer their +arguments.</p> +<p>I say to-night that we ought to have the same liberty to discuss +these questions in the South that Southerners have in the North. +And I say more than that, the Democrats of the North ought to +compel the Democrats of the South to treat the Republicans of the +South as well as the Republicans of the North treat them. We treat +the Democrats well in the North; we treat them like gentlemen in +the North; and yet they go into partnership with the Democracy of +the South, knowing that the Democracy of the South will not treat +Republicans in that section with fairness. A Democrat ought to be +ashamed of that.</p> +<p>If my friends will not treat other people as well as the friends +of the other people treat me, I'll swap friends.</p> +<p>First, then, I am in favor of free speech, and I am going with +that section of my country that believes in free speech; I am going +with that party that has always upheld that sacred right. When you +stop free speech, when you say that a thought shall die in the womb +of the brain,—why, it would have the same effect upon the +intellectual world that to stop springs at their sources would have +upon the physical world. Stop the springs at their sources and they +cease to gurgle, the streams cease to murmur, and the great rivers +cease rushing to the embrace of the sea. So you stop thought. Stop +thought in the brain in which it is born, and theory dies; and the +great ocean of knowledge to which all should be permitted to +contribute, and from which all should be allowed to draw, becomes a +vast desert of ignorance.</p> +<p>I have always said, and I say again, that the more liberty there +is given away, the more you have. I endeavor to be consistent in my +life and action. I am a believer in intellectual liberty, and +wherever the torch of knowledge burns the whole horizon is filled +with a glorious halo. I am a free man. I would be less than a man +if I did not wish to hand this flame to my child with the flame +increased rather than diminished.</p> +<p>Whom will we trust to take care of free speech? Let us consider +and be honest with one another. The gem of the brain is the +innocence of the soul.</p> +<p>I am not only in favor of free speech, but I am also in favor of +an absolutely honest ballot. There is only one emperor in this +country; there is one czar; only one supreme crown and king, and +that is the will, the legally expressed will of the majority. Every +American citizen is a sovereign. The poorest and humblest may wear +that crown, the beggar holds in his hand that sceptre equally with +the proudest and richest, and so far as his sovereignty is +concerned, the poorest American, he who earns but one dollar a day, +has the same voice in controlling the destiny of the United States +as the millionaire. The man who casts an illegal vote, the man who +refuses to count a legal vote, poisons the fountain of power, +poisons the springs of justice, and is a traitor to the only king +in this land. The Government is upon the edge of Mexicanization +through fraudulent voting. The ballot-box is the throne of America; +the ballot-box is the ark of the covenant. Unless we see to it that +every man who has a right to vote, votes, and unless we see to it +that every honest vote is counted, the days of this Republic are +numbered.</p> +<p>When you suspect that a Congressman is not elected; when you +suspect that a judge upon the bench holds his place by fraud, then +the people will hold the law in contempt and will laugh at the +decisions of courts, and then come revolution and chaos.</p> +<p>It is the duty of every good man to see to it that the +ballot-box is kept absolutely pure. It is the duty of every +patriot, whether he is a Democrat or Republican—and I want +further to admit that I believe a large majority of Democrats are +honest in their opinions, and I know that all Republicans +<i>must</i> be honest in their opinions. It is the duty, then, of +all honest men of both parties to see to it that only honest votes +are cast and counted. Now, honor bright, which section of this +Union can you trust the ballot-box with?</p> +<p>Do you wish to trust Louisiana, or do you wish to trust Alabama +that gave, in 1872, thirty-four thousand eight hundred and +eighty-eight Republican majority and now gives ninety-two thousand +Democratic majority? And of that ninety-two thousand majority, +every one is a lie! A contemptible, infamous lie! Because if every +voter had been allowed to vote, there would have been forty +thousand Republican majority. Honor bright, can you trust it with +the masked murderers who rode in the darkness of night to the hut +of the freedman and shot him down, notwithstanding the supplication +of his wife and the tears of his babe? Can you trust it to the men +who since the close of our war have killed more men, simply because +those men wished to vote, simply because they wished to exercise a +right with which they had been clothed by the sublime heroism of +the North—who have killed more men than were killed on both +sides in the Revolutionary war; than were killed on both sides +during the War of 1812; than were killed on both sides in both +wars? Can you trust them? Can you trust the gentlemen who invented +the tissue ballot? Do you wish to put the ballot-box in the keeping +of the shot-gun, of the White-Liners, of the Ku Klux? Do you wish +to put the ballot-box in the keeping of men who openly swear that +they will not be ruled by a majority of American citizens if a +portion of that majority is made of black men? And I want to tell +you right here, I like a black man who loves this country better +than I do a white man who hates it. I think more of a black man who +fought for our flag than for any white man who endeavored to tear +it out of heaven!</p> +<p>I say, can you trust the ballot-box to the Democratic party? +Read the history of the State of New York. Read the history of this +great and magnificent city—the Queen of the +Atlantic—read her history and tell us whether you can +implicitly trust Democratic returns? Honor bright!</p> +<p>I am not only, then, for free speech, but I am for an honest +ballot; and in order that you may have no doubt left upon your +minds as to which party is in favor of an honest vote, I will call +your attention to this striking fact. Every law that has been +passed in every State of this Union for twenty long years, the +object of which was to guard the American ballot-box, has been +passed by the Republican party, and in every State where the +Republican party has introduced such a bill for the purpose of +making it a law; in every State where such a bill has been +defeated, it has been defeated by the Democratic party. That ought +to satisfy any reasonable man to satiety.</p> +<p>I am not only in favor of free speech and an honest ballot, but +I am in favor of collecting and disbursing the revenues of the +United States. I want plenty of money to collect and pay the +interest on our debt. I want plenty of money to pay our debt and to +preserve the financial honor of the United States. I want money +enough to be collected to pay pensions to widows and orphans and to +wounded soldiers. And the question is, which section in this +country can you trust to collect and disburse that revenue? Let us +be honest about it. Which section can you trust? In the last four +years we have collected four hundred and sixty-eight million +dollars of the internal revenue taxes. We have collected +principally from taxes upon high wines and tobacco, four hundred +and sixty-eight million dollars, and in those four years we have +seized, libeled and destroyed in the Southern States three thousand +eight hundred and seventy-four illicit distilleries. And during the +same time the Southern people have shot to death twenty-five +revenue officers and wounded fifty-five others, and the only +offence that the wounded and dead committed was an honest effort to +collect the revenues of this country. Recollect it—don't you +forget it. And in several Southern States to-day every revenue +collector or officer connected with the revenue is furnished by the +Internal Revenue Department with a breech-loading rifle and a pair +of revolvers, simply for the purpose of collecting the revenue.</p> +<p>I don't feel like trusting such people to collect the revenue of +my Government.</p> +<p>During the same four years we have arrested and have indicted +seven thousand and eighty-four Southern Democrats for endeavoring +to defraud the revenue of the United States. Recollect—three +thousand eight hundred and seventy-four distilleries seized. +Twenty-five revenue officers killed, fifty-five wounded, and seven +thousand and eighty-four Democrats arrested. Can we trust them?</p> +<p>The State of Alabama in its last Democratic convention passed a +resolution that no man should be tried in a Federal Court for a +violation of the revenue laws—that he should be tried in a +State Court. Think of it—he should be tried in a State Court! +Let me tell you how it will come out if we trust the Southern +States to collect this revenue. A couple of Methodist ministers had +been holding a revival for a week, and at the end of the week one +said to the other that he thought it time to take up a collection. +When the hat was returned he found in it pieces of slate-pencils +and nails and buttons, but not a single solitary cent—not +one—and his brother minister got up and looked at the +contribution, and said, "Let us thank God!" And the owner of the +hat said, "What for?" And the brother replied, "Because you got +your hat back." If we trust the South we shan't get our hats +back.</p> +<p>I am next in favor of honest money. I am in favor of gold and +silver, and paper with gold and silver behind it. I believe in +silver, because it is one of the greatest of American products, and +I am in favor of anything that will add to the value of an American +product. But I want a silver dollar worth a gold dollar, even if +you make it or have to make it four feet in diameter. No government +can afford to be a clipper of coin. A great Republic cannot afford +to stamp a lie upon silver or gold. Honest money, an honest people, +an honest Nation. When our money is only worth eighty cents on the +dollar, we feel twenty per cent, below par. When our money is good +we feel good. When our money is at par, that is where we are. I am +a profound believer in the doctrine that for nations as well as +men, honesty is the best policy, always, everywhere, and +forever.</p> +<p>What section of this country, what party, will give us honest +money—honor bright—honor bright? I have been told that +during the war, we had plenty of money. I never saw it. I lived +years without seeing a dollar. I saw promises for dollars, but not +dollars. And the greenback, unless you have the gold behind it, is +no more a dollar than a bill of fare is a dinner. You cannot make a +paper dollar without taking a dollar's worth of paper. We must have +paper that represents money. I want it issued by the Government, +and I want behind every one of these dollars either a gold or +silver dollar, so that every greenback under the flag can lift up +its hand and swear, "I know that my redeemer liveth."</p> +<p>When we were running into debt, thousands of people mistook that +for prosperity, and when we began paying they regarded it as +adversity. Of course we had plenty when we bought on credit. No man +has ever starved when his credit was good, if there were no famine +in that country. As long as we buy on credit we shall have enough. +The trouble commences when the pay-day arrives. And I do not wonder +that after the war thousands of people said, "Let us have another +inflation." Which party said, "No, we must pay the promise made in +war"? Honor bright! The Democratic party had once been a hard money +party, but it drifted from its metallic moorings and floated off in +the ocean of inflation, and you know it. They said, "Give us more +money;" and every man that had bought on credit and owed a little +something on what he had purchased, when the property went down +commenced crying, or many of them did, for inflation. I understand +it.</p> +<p>A man, say, bought a piece of land for six thousand dollars; +paid five thousand dollars on it; gave a mortgage for one thousand +dollars, and suddenly, in 1873, found that the land would not pay +the other thousand. The land had resumed, and then he said, looking +lugubriously at his note and mortgage, "I want another inflation." +And I never heard a man call for it that did not also say, "If it +ever comes, and I don't unload, you may shoot me."</p> +<p>It was very much as it is sometimes in playing poker, and I make +this comparison knowing that hardly a person here will understand +it. I have been told that along toward morning the man that is +ahead suddenly says, "I have got to go home. The fact is, my wife +is not well." And the fellow who is behind says, "Let us have +another deal; I have my opinion of the fellow that will jump a +game." And so it was in the hard times of 1873. They said: "Give us +another deal; let us get our driftwood back into the centre of the +stream." And they cried out for more money. But the Republican +party said: "We do want more money, but not more promises. We have +got to pay this first, and if we start out again upon that wide sea +of promise we may never touch the shore." A thousand theories were +born of want; a thousand theories were born of the fertile brain of +trouble; and these people said, "After all, what is money? Why, it +is nothing but a measure of value, just the same as a half bushel +or yardstick." True; and consequently it makes no difference +whether your half bushel is of wood or gold or silver or paper; and +it makes no difference whether your yardstick is gold or paper. But +the trouble about that statement is this: A half bushel is not a +measure of value; it is a measure of quantity, and it measures +rubies, diamonds and pearls precisely the same as corn and wheat. +The yardstick is not a measure of value; it is a measure of length, +and it measures lace worth one hundred dollars a yard precisely as +it does cent tape. And another reason why it makes no difference to +the purchaser whether the half bushel is gold or silver, or whether +the yardstick is gold or paper, you do not buy the yardstick; you +do not get the half bushel in the trade. And if it were so with +money—if the people that had the money at the start of the +trade, kept it after the consummation of the bargain—then it +would not make any difference what you made your money of. But the +trouble is the money changes hands. And let me say to-night, money +is a thing—it is a product of nature—and you can no +more make a "fiat" dollar than you can make a fiat star. I am in +favor of honest money. Free speech is the brain of the Republic; an +honest ballot is the breath of its life, and honest money is the +blood that courses through its veins.</p> +<p>If I am fortunate enough to leave a dollar when I die, I want it +to be a good one. I do not wish to have it turn to ashes in the +hands of widowhood, or become a Democratic broken promise in the +pocket of the orphan; I want it money. I want money that will +outlive the Democratic party. They told us—and they were +honest about it—they said, "When we have plenty of money, we +are prosperous." And I said, "When we are prosperous, we have +plenty of money." When we are prosperous, then we have credit, and +credit inflates the currency. Whenever a man buys a pound of sugar +and says, "Charge it," he inflates the currency; whenever he gives +his note, he inflates the currency; whenever his word takes the +place of money, he inflates the currency. The consequence is that +when we are prosperous, credit takes the place of money, and we +have what we call "plenty."</p> +<p>But you cannot increase prosperity simply by using promises to +pay. Suppose you should come to a river that was about dry, so dry +that the turtle had to help the catfish over the shoals, and there +you would see the ferryboat, and the gentleman who kept the ferry, +up on the sand, high and dry, and the cracks all opening in the +sun, filled with loose oakum, looking like an average Democratic +mouth listening to a constitutional argument, and you should say to +him, "How is business?" And he would say, "Dull." And then you +would say to him, "Now, what you want is more boat." He would +probably answer, "If I had a little more water I could get along +with this one."</p> +<p>Suppose I next came to a man running a railroad, complaining of +hard times. "Why," said he, "I did a million dollars' worth of +business the first year and used five hundred thousand dollars' +worth of grease. The second year I did five hundred thousand +dollars' worth of business and used four hundred thousand dollars' +worth of grease." "Well," said I, "the reason your road fell off +was because you did not use enough grease."</p> +<p>But I want to be fair, and I wish to-night to return my thanks +to the Democratic party. You did a great and splendid work. You +went all over the United States and you said upon every stump that +a greenback was better than gold. You said, "We have at last found +the money of the poor man. Gold loves the rich; gold haunts banks +and safes and vaults; but we have money that will go around +inquiring for a man that is dead broke. We have finally found money +that will stay in a pocket with holes in it." But, after all, do +you know that money is the most social thing in this world? If a +fellow has one dollar in his pocket, and he meets another with two, +do you know that dollar is absolutely homesick until it gets where +the other two are? And yet the Greenbackers told us that they had +finally invented money that would be the poor mans friend. They +said, "It is better than gold, better than silver," and they got so +many men to believe it that when we resumed and said, "Here is your +gold for your greenback," the fellows who had the greenback said, +"We don't want it. The greenbacks are good enough for us." Do you +know, if they had wanted it we could not have given it to them? And +so I return my thanks to the Greenback party. But allow me to say +in this connection, the days of their usefulness have passed +forever.</p> +<p>Now, I am not foolish enough to claim that the Republican party +resumed. I am not silly enough to say that John Sherman resumed. +But I will tell you what I do say. I say that every man who raised +a bushel of corn or a bushel of wheat or a pound of beef or pork +for sale helped to resume. I say that the gentle rain and the +loving dew helped to resume. The soil of the United States +impregnated by the loving sun helped to resume. The men that dug +the coal and the iron and the silver and the copper and the gold +helped to resume. And the men upon whose foreheads fell the light +of furnaces helped to resume. And the sailors who fought with the +waves of the seas helped to resume.</p> +<p>I admit to-night that the Democrats earned their share of the +money to resume with. All I claim is that the Republican party +furnished the honesty to pay it over. That is what I claim; and the +Republican party set the day, and the Republican party worked to +the promise. That is what I say. And had it not been for the +Republican party this Nation would have been financially +dishonored. I am for honest money, and I am for the payment of +every dollar of our debt, and so is every Democrat now, I take it. +But what did you say a little while ago? Did you say we could +resume? No; you swore we could not, and you swore our bonds would +be worthless as the withered leaves of winter. And now when a +Democrat goes to England and sees an American four per cent, quoted +at one hundred and ten he kind of swells up, and says: "That's the +kind of man I am." In that country he pretends he was a Republican +in this. And I do not blame him. I do not begrudge him enjoying +respectability when away from home. The Republican party is +entitled to the credit for keeping this Nation grandly and +splendidly honest. I say, the Republican party is entitled to the +credit of preserving the honor of this Nation.</p> +<p>In 1873 came the crash, and all the languages of the world +cannot describe the agonies suffered by the American people from +1873 to 1879. A man who thought he was a millionaire came to +poverty; he found his stocks and bonds ashes in the paralytic hand +of old age. Men who expected to live all their lives in the +sunshine of joy found themselves beggars and paupers. The great +factories were closed, the workmen were demoralized, and the roads +of the United States were filled with tramps. In the hovel of the +poor and the palace of the rich came the serpent of temptation and +whispered in the American ear the terrible word "Repudiation." But +the Republican party said, "No; we will pay every dollar. No; we +have started toward the shining goal of resumption and we never +will turn back." And the Republican party struggled until it had +the happiness of seeing upon the broad shining forehead of American +labor the words "Financial Honor."</p> +<p>The Republican party struggled until every paper promise was as +good as gold. And the moment we got back to gold then we commenced +to rise again. We could not jump until our feet touched something +that they could be pressed against. And from that moment to this we +have been going, going, going higher and higher, more prosperous +every hour. And now they say, "Let us have a change." When I am +sick I want a change; when I am poor I want a change; and if I were +a Democrat I would have a personal change. We are prosperous +to-day, and must keep so. We are back to gold and silver. Let us +stay there; and let us stay with the party that brought us +there.</p> +<p>Now, I am not only in favor of free speech and an honest +ballot-box and an honest collection of the revenue of the United +States, and an honest money, but I am in favor of the idea, of the +great and splendid truth, that this is a Nation one and +indivisible. I deny that we are a confederacy bound together with +ropes of cloud and chains of mist. This is a Nation, and every man +in it owes his first allegiance to the grand old flag for which +more brave blood was shed than for any other flag that waves in the +sight of heaven. There is another thing; we all want to live in a +land where the law is supreme. We desire to live beneath a flag +that will protect every citizen beneath its folds. We desire to be +citizens of a Government so great and so grand that it will command +the respect of the civilized world. Most of us are convinced that +our Government is the best upon this earth. It is the only +Government where manhood, and manhood alone, is not made simply a +condition of citizenship, but where manhood, and manhood alone, +permits its possessor to have his equal share in control of the +Government. It is the only Government in the world where poverty is +upon an exact equality with wealth, so far as controlling the +destiny of the Republic is concerned. It is the only Nation where +the man clothed in rags stands upon an equality with the one +wearing purple. It is the only country in the world where, +politically, the hut is upon an equality with the palace.</p> +<p>For that reason every poor man should stand by this Government, +and every poor man who does not is a traitor to the best interests +of his children; every poor man who does not is willing his +children should bear the badge of political inferiority; and the +only way to make this Government a complete and perfect success is +for the poorest man to think as much of his manhood as the +millionaire does of his wealth. A man does not vote in this country +simply because he is rich; he does not vote in this country simply +because he has an education; he does not vote simply because he has +talent or genius; we say that he votes because he is a man, and +that he has his manhood to support; and we admit in this country +that nothing can be more valuable to any human being than his +manhood, and for that reason we put poverty on an equality with +wealth. We say in this country manhood is worth more than gold. We +say in this country that without Liberty the Nation is not worth +preserving. Now, I appeal to-day to every poor man; I appeal to-day +to every laboring man, and I ask him, is there another country on +this globe where you can have equal rights with others? There is +another thing; do you want a Government of law or of brute force? +In which part of this country do you find law supreme? In which +part of this country can a man find justice in the courts; in the +North or in the South? Where is crime punished? Where is innocence +protected, in the North or in the South? Which section of this +country will you trust?</p> +<p>You can tell what a man is by the way he treats persons in his +power, and the man that will sneak and crawl in the presence of +greatness, will trample the weak when he gets them in his power. +What class of people does the State have in its power? Criminals +and creditors; and you can judge of a State by the way it treats +its criminals and creditors. Georgia is the best State in the +South. They have a penitentiary system by which they hire out their +convict labor. Only two years ago the whole thing was examined by a +friend of mine, Col. Allston. He had been in the rebel army and was +my good friend. He used to come to my house day after day to see +me. He got converted and had the grit to say so. Being a member of +the Legislature, he had a committee of investigation appointed. +Now, in order that you may understand the difference, you must know +that in the Northern penitentiaries the average annual death rate +is one per cent.; that is, of one thousand convicts, ten will die +in a year, on the average. That low death rate is because we are +civilized, because we do not kill; but in the Georgia penitentiary +it was as high as fifteen, twenty-seven and forty-seven per cent., +at a time when there was no typhoid or yellow fever, or epidemic of +any kind. They died for four months at a rate of ten per cent, per +month. They crowded the convicts in together, regardless of sex. +They treated them precisely as wild beasts, and many of them were +shot down. Persons high in authority, Senators of the United +States, held interests in those contracts, and Robert Allston +denounced them. When on a visit he said, "I believe when I get home +I shall be killed." I told him not to go back to Georgia, but to +stay in the civilized North; but no, he would go back, and on the +very day of his arrival he was murdered in cold blood. Do you want +to trust such men? * * *</p> +<p>The Southern people say this is a Confederacy and they are +honest in it. They fought for it, they believed it. They believe in +the doctrine of State Sovereignty, and many Democrats of the North +believe in the same doctrine. No less a man than Horatio +Seymour—standing it may be at the head of Democratic +statesmen—said, if he has been correctly reported, only the +other day, that he despised the word "Nation." I bless that word. I +owe my first allegiance to this Nation, and it owes its first +protection to me. I am talking here to-night, not because I am +protected by the flag of New York. I would not know that flag if I +should see it. I am talking here, and have the right to talk here, +because the flag of my country is above us. I have the same right +as though I had been born upon this very platform. I am proud of +New York because it is a part of my country. I am proud of my +country because it has such a State as New York in it, and I will +be prouder of New York on a week from next Tuesday than ever before +in my life. I despise the doctrine of State Sovereignty. I believe +in the rights of the States, but not in the sovereignty of the +States. States are political conveniences. Rising above States, as +the Alps above valleys, are the rights of man. Rising above the +rights of the Government, even in this Nation, are the sublime +rights of the people. Governments are good only so long as they +protect human rights. But the rights of a man never should be +sacrificed upon the altar of the State, or upon the altar of the +Nation.</p> +<p>Let me tell you a few objections that I have to State +Sovereignty. That doctrine has never been appealed to for any good. +The first time it was appealed to was when our Constitution was +made. And the object then was to keep the slave-trade open until +the year 1808. The object then was to make the sea the highway of +piracy—the object then was to allow American citizens to go +into the business of selling men and women and children, and feed +their cargo to the sharks of the sea, and the sharks of the sea +were as merciful as they. That was the first time that the appeal +to the doctrine of State Sovereignty was made, and the next time +was for the purpose of keeping alive the interstate slave-trade, so +that a gentleman in Virginia could sell the slave who had nursed +him, and rob the cradles of their babes. Think of it! It was made +so they could rob the cradle in the name of law. Think of it! Think +of it! And the next time they appealed to the doctrine of State +Sovereignty was in favor of the Fugitive Slave Law—a law that +made a bloodhound of every Northern man; that made charity a crime; +a law that made love a state-prison offence; that branded the +forehead of charity as if it were a felon. Think of it!</p> +<p>It is a part of my honor to hate such principles. I have no +respect for any man who is so mean, cruel and wicked, as to allow +himself to be transformed into a bloodhound to bay upon the tracks +of innocent human prey. I will follow my logic, no matter where it +goes, after it has consulted with my heart. If you ever come to a +conclusion without calling the heart in, you will come to a bad +conclusion.</p> +<p>A good man is pretty apt to be right; a perfectly honest man is +like the surface of the stainless mirror, that gives back by simply +looking at him, the image of the one who looks.</p> +<p>The next time they appealed to the doctrine of State Sovereignty +was to increase the area of human slavery, so that the bloodhound, +with clots of blood dropping from his loose and hanging jaws, might +traverse the billowy plains of Kansas. Think of it!</p> +<p>The Democratic party then said the Federal Government had a +right to cross the State line. And the next time they appealed to +that infamous doctrine was in defence of secession and treason; a +doctrine that cost us six thousand millions of dollars; a doctrine +that cost four hundred thousand lives; a doctrine that filled our +country with widows, our homes with orphans. And I tell you, the +doctrine of State Sovereignty is the viper in the bosom of this +Republic, and if we do not kill that viper it will kill us.</p> +<p>The Democrats tell us that in the olden time the Federal +Government had a right to cross a State line to put shackles upon +the limbs of men. It had the right to cross a State line to trample +upon the rights of human beings, but now it has no right to cross +those lines upon an errand of mercy or justice. We are told that +now, when the Federal Government wishes to protect a citizen, a +State line rises like a Chinese wall, and the sword of Federal +power turns to air the moment it touches one of those lines. I deny +it and I despise, abhor and execrate the doctrine of State +Sovereignty. The Democrats tell us if we wish to be protected by +the Federal Government we must leave home. I wish they would try it +for about ten days. They say the Federal Government can defend a +citizen in England, France, Spain or Germany, but cannot defend a +child of the Republic sitting around the family hearth. I deny it. +A Government that cannot protect its citizens at home is unfit to +be called a Government. I want a Government with an ear so good +that it can hear the faintest cry of the oppressed wherever its +flag floats. I want a Government with an arm long enough and a +sword sharp enough to cut down treason wherever it may raise its +serpent head. I want a Government that will protect a freedman, +standing by his little log hut, with the same alacrity and with the +same efficiency that it would protect Vanderbilt, living in a +palace of marble and gold. Humanity is a sacred thing, and manhood +is a thing to be preserved. Let us look at it. For instance, here +is a war, and the Federal Government says to a man, "We want you," +and he says, "No, I don't want to go," and then they put a lot of +pieces of paper in a wheel and on one of those pieces is his name, +and another man turns the crank, and then they pull it out and +there is his name, and they say, "Come," and so he goes. And they +stand him in front of the brazen-throated guns; they make him fight +for his native land, and when the war is over he goes home and he +finds the war has been unpopular in his neighborhood, and they +trample on his rights, and he says to the Federal Government, +"Protect me." And he says to the Government, "I owe my allegiance +to you. You must protect me." What will you say of that Government +if it says to him, "You must look to your State for protection"? +"Ah, but," he says, "my State is the very power trampling upon me," +and, of course, the robber is not going to send for the police, It +is the duty of the Government to defend even its drafted men; and +if that is the duty of the Government, what shall I say of the +volunteer, who for one moment holds his wife in a tremulous and +agonized embrace, kisses his children, shoulders his musket, goes +to the field and says, "Here I am, ready to die for my native +land"? A Nation that will not defend its volunteer defenders is a +disgrace to the map of this world. This is a Nation. Free speech is +the brain of the Republic; an honest ballot is the breath of its +life; honest money is the blood of its veins; and the idea of +nationality is its great, beating, throbbing heart. I am for a +Nation. And yet the Democrats tell me that it is dangerous to have +centralized power. How would you have it? I believe in the +localization of power; I believe in having enough of it localized +in one place to be effectively used; I believe in a localization of +brain. I suppose Democrats would like to have it spread all over +your body, and they act as though theirs was.</p> +<p>There is another thing in which I believe: I believe in the +protection of American labor. The hand that holds Aladdin's lamp +must be the hand of toil. This Nation rests upon the shoulders of +its workers, and I want the American laboring man to have enough to +wear; I want him to have enough to eat:</p> +<p>I want him to have something for the ordinary misfortunes of +life; I want him to have the pleasure of seeing his wife +well-dressed; I want him to see a few blue ribbons fluttering about +his children; I want him to see the flags of health flying in their +beautiful cheeks; I want him to feel that this is his country, and +the shield of protection is above his labor.</p> +<p>And I will tell you why I am for protection, too. If we were all +farmers we would be stupid. If we were all shoemakers we would be +stupid. If we all followed one business, no matter what it was, we +would become stupid. Protection to American labor diversifies +American industry, and to have it diversified touches and develops +every part of the human brain. Protection protects ingenuity; it +protects intelligence; and protection raises sense; and by +protection we have greater men, better looking women and healthier +children. Free trade means that our laborer is upon an equality +with the poorest paid labor of this world. And allow me to tell you +that for an empty stomach, "Hurrah for Hancock!" is a poor +consolation. I do not think much of a Government where the people +do not have enough to eat. I am a materialist to that extent; I +want something to eat. I have been in countries where the laboring +man had meat once a year; sometimes twice—Christmas and +Easter. And I have seen women carrying upon their heads a burden +that no man in this audience could carry, and at the same time +knitting busily with both hands, and those women lived without +meat; and when I thought of the American laborer, I said to myself, +"After all, my country is the best in the world." And when I came +back to the sea and saw the old flag flying, it seemed to me as +though the air from pure joy had burst into blossom.</p> +<p>Labor has more to eat and more to wear in the United States than +in any other land of this earth. I want America to produce +everything that Americans need. I want it so that if the whole +world should declare war against us, if we were surrounded by walls +of cannon and bayonets and swords, we could supply all our material +wants in and of ourselves. I want to live to see the American woman +dressed in American silk; the American man in everything, from hat +to boots, produced in America by the cunning hand of American toil. +I want to see the workingman have a good house, painted white, +grass in the front yard, carpets on the floor, pictures on the +wall. I want to see him a man, feeling that he is a king by the +divine right of living in the Republic. And every man here is just +a little bit a king, you know. Every man here is a part of the +sovereign power. Every man wears a little of purple; every man has +a little of crown and a little of sceptre; and every man that will +sell his vote for money or be ruled by prejudice is unfit to be an +American citizen.</p> +<p>I believe in American labor, and I will tell you why. The other +day a man told me that we had produced in the United States of +America one million tons of steel rails. How much are they worth? +Sixty dollars a ton. In other words, the million tons are worth +sixty million dollars. How much is a ton of iron worth in the +ground? Twenty-five cents. American labor takes twenty-five cents +worth of iron in the ground and adds to it fifty-nine dollars and +seventy-five cents. One million tons of rails, and the raw material +not worth twenty-four thousand dollars! We build a ship in the +United States worth five hundred thousand dollars, and the value of +the ore in the earth, of the trees in the great forest, of all that +enters into the composition of that ship bringing five hundred +thousand dollars in gold is only twenty thousand dollars; four +hundred and eighty thousand dollars by American labor, American +muscle, coined into gold; American brains made a legal tender the +world round.</p> +<p>I propose to stand by the Nation. I want the furnaces kept hot. +I want the sky to be filled with the smoke of American industry, +and upon that cloud of smoke will rest forever the bow of perpetual +promise. That is what I am for. Where did this doctrine of a tariff +for revenue only come from? From the South. The South would like to +stab the prosperity of the North. They would rather trade with Old +England than with New England. They would rather trade with the +people who were willing to help them in war than with those who +conquered the Rebellion. They knew what gave us our strength in +war. They knew that all the brooks and creeks and rivers of New +England were putting down the Rebellion. They knew that every wheel +that turned, every spindle that revolved, was a soldier in the army +of human progress. It won't do! They were so lured by the greed of +office that they were willing to trade upon the misfortunes of a +Nation. It won't do! I do not wish to belong to a party that +succeeds only when my country fails. I do not wish to belong to a +party whose banner went up with the banner of rebellion. I do not +wish to belong to a party that was in partnership with defeat and +disaster. I do not. And there is not a Democrat here who does not +know that a failure of the crops this year would have helped his +party. You know that an early frost would have been a godsend to +them. You know that the potato-bug could have done them more good +than all their speakers.</p> +<p>I wish to belong to that party which is prosperous when the +country is prosperous. I belong to that party which is not poor +when the golden billows are running over the seas of wheat. I +belong to that party which is prosperous when there are oceans of +corn, and when the cattle are upon the thousand hills. I belong to +that party which is prosperous when the furnaces are aflame, and +when you dig coal and iron and silver; when everybody has enough to +eat; when everybody is happy; when the children are all going to +school, and when joy covers my Nation as with a garment. That party +which is prosperous then, is my party.</p> +<p>Now, then, I have been telling you what I am for. I am for free +speech, and so ought you to be. I am for an honest ballot, and if +you are not you ought to be. I am for the collection of the +revenue. I am for honest money. I am for the idea that this is a +Nation forever. I believe in protecting American labor. I want the +shield of my country above every anvil, above every furnace, above +every cunning head and above every deft hand of American labor.</p> +<p>Now, then, which section of this country will be the more apt to +carry these ideas into execution? Which party will be the more apt +to achieve these grand and splendid things? Honor bright? Now we +have not only to choose between sections of the country; we have to +choose between parties. Here is the Democratic party, and I admit +there are thousands of good Democrats who went to the war, and some +of those that stayed at home were good men; and I want to ask you, +and I want you to tell me in reply what that party did during the +war when the War Democrats were away from home. What did they do? +That is the question. I say to you, that every man who tried to +tear our flag out of heaven was a Democrat. The men who wrote the +ordinances of secession, who fired upon Fort Sumter; the men who +starved our soldiers, who fed them with the crumbs that the worms +had devoured before, they were Democrats. The keepers of Libby, the +keepers of Andersonville, were Democrats—Libby and +Andersonville, the two mighty wings that will bear the memory of +the Confederacy to eternal infamy! The men who wished to scatter +yellow fever in the North and who tried to fire the great cities of +the North—they were all Democrats. He who said that the +greenback would never be paid and he who slandered sixty cents out +of every dollar of the Nation's promises were Democrats. Who were +joyful when your brothers and your sons and your fathers lay dead +on a field of battle that the country had lost? They were +Democrats. The men who wept when the old banner floated in triumph +above the ramparts of rebellion—they were Democrats. You know +it. The men who wept when slavery was destroyed, who believed +slavery to be a divine institution, who regarded bloodhounds as +apostles and missionaries, and who wept at the funeral of that +infernal institution—they were Democrats. Bad +company—bad company!</p> +<p>And let me implore all the young men here not to join that +party. Do not give new blood to that institution. The Democratic +party has a yellow passport. On one side it says "dangerous." They +imagine they have not changed, and that is because they have not +intellectual growth. That party was once the enemy of my country, +was once the enemy of our flag, and more than that, it was once the +enemy of human liberty, and that party to-night is not willing that +the citizens of the Republic should exercise all their rights +irrespective of their color. And allow me to say right here that I +am opposed to that party.</p> +<p>We have not only to choose between parties, but to choose +between candidates. The Democracy have put forward as the bearers +of their standard General Hancock and William H. English. The +Democrats have at last nominated a Union soldier. They nominated +George B. McClellan once, because he failed to whip the South; they +nominated Mr. Greeley, when they despised him, and now they have +nominated General Hancock. Do they think the South loves him? At +Gettysburg they say he fought against them, and that is one great +reason why he should be President—that he shot rebels. Do the +men that fought at Gettysburg still believe in State Sovereignty? +Wade Hampton says, "We must vote as Lee and Jackson fought." They +fought for State Sovereignty. Has the South changed? Hancock went +to kill them then; they want to vote for him now. Who has changed? +[A voice: "Hancock."] I think so. They are using him as a +figure-head. They have dressed him in the noble blue, with the +patriotic coat and Union buttons, and they do not like him any +better than they did at Gettysburg. It would be just as consistent +for the Republicans to have nominated Wade Hampton. Did General +Hancock believe in State Sovereignty when he was at Gettysburg? If +he did, he was a murderer, and not a Union soldier—he was +killing men he believed to be in the right, and a man cannot fight +unless his conscience approves of what his sword does, and if he +was honest at that time, he did not believe in State Sovereignty, +and it seems to me he would hate to have the men who tried to +destroy this Government cheering him. All the glory he ever got was +in the service of the Republican party, and if he does not look out +he will lose it all in the service of the Democratic party. He had +a conversation with General Grant. It was a time when he had been +appointed at the head of the Department of the Gulf. In that +conversation he stated to General Grant that he was opposed to +"nigger domination." Grant said to him, "We must obey the laws of +Congress. We are soldiers." And that meant, the military is not +above the civil authority. And I tell you to-night, that the army +and the navy are the right and left hands of the civil power. Grant +said to him: "Three or four million ex-slaves, without property and +without education, cannot dominate over thirty or forty millions of +white people, with education and property." General Hancock replied +to that: "I am opposed to 'nigger domination.'" Allow me to say +that I do not believe any man fit for the presidency of the great +Republic, who is capable of insulting a down-trodden race. I never +meet a negro that I do not feel like asking his forgiveness for the +wrongs that my race has inflicted on his. I remember that from the +white man he received for two hundred years agony and tears; I +remember that my race sold a child from the agonized breast of a +mother; I remember that my race trampled with the feet of greed +upon all the holy relations of life; and I do not feel like +insulting the colored man; I feel rather like asking the +forgiveness of his race for the crimes that my race have put upon +him. "Nigger domination!" What a fine scabbard that makes for the +sword of Gettysburg! It won't do!</p> +<p>What is General Hancock for, besides the presidency? How does he +stand upon the great questions affecting American prosperity? He +told us the other day that the tariff is a local question. The +tariff affects every man and woman, live they in hut, hovel or +palace; it affects every man that has a back to be covered or a +stomach to be filled, and yet he says it is a local question. So is +death. He also told us that he heard that question discussed once, +in Pennsylvania. He must have been eavesdropping. And he tells us +that his doctrine of the tariff will continue as long as Nature +lasts. Then Senator Randolph wrote him a letter. I do not know +whether Senator Randolph answered it or not; but that answer was +worse than the first interview; and I understand now that another +letter is going through a period of incubation at Governor's +Island, upon the great subject of the tariff. It won't do!</p> +<p>They say one thing they are sure of, he is opposed to paying +Southern pensions and Southern claims. He says that a man that +fought against this Government has no right to a pension. Good! I +say a man that fought against this Government has no right to +office. If a man cannot earn a pension by tearing our flag out of +the sky, he cannot earn power. [A Voice—"How about +Longstreet?"] Longstreet has repented of what he did. Longstreet +admits that he was wrong. And there was no braver officer in the +Southern Confederacy. Every man of the South who will say, "I made +a mistake"—I do not want him to say that he knew he was +wrong—all I ask him to say is that he now thinks he was +wrong; and every man of the South to-day who says he was wrong, and +who says from this day forward, henceforth and forever, he is for +this being a Nation.</p> +<p>I will take him by the hand. But while he is attempting to do at +the ballot-box what he failed to accomplish upon the field of +battle, I am against him; while he uses a Northern general to bait +a Southern trap, I won't bite. I will forgive men when they deserve +to be forgiven; but while they insist that they were right, while +they insist that State Sovereignty is the proper doctrine, I am +opposed to their climbing into power.</p> +<p>Hancock says that he will not pay these claims; he agrees to +veto a bill that his party may pass; he agrees in advance that he +will defeat a party that he expects will elect him; he, in effect, +says to the people, "You can not trust that party, but you can +trust me." He says, "Look at them; I admit they are a hungry lot; I +admit that they haven't had a bite in twenty years; I admit that an +ordinary famine is satiety compared to the hunger they feel. But +between that vast appetite known as the Democratic party, and the +public treasury, I will throw the shield of my veto." No man has a +right to say in advance what he will veto, any more than a judge +has a right to say in advance how he will decide a case. The veto +power is a distinction with which the Constitution has clothed the +Executive, and no President has a right to say that he will veto +until he has heard both sides of the question. But he agrees in +advance.</p> +<p>I would rather trust a party than a man. Death may veto Hancock, +and Death has not been a successful politician in the United +States. Tyler, Fillmore, Andy Johnson—I do not wish Death to +elect any more Presidents; and if he does, and if Hancock is +elected, William H. English becomes President of the United States. +No, no, no! All I need to say about him is simply to pronounce his +name; that is all. You do not want him. Whether the many stories +that have been told about him are true or not I do not know, and I +will not give currency to a solitary word against the reputation of +an American citizen unless I know it to be true. What I have +against him is what he has done in public life. When Charles +Sumner, that great and splendid publicist—Charles Sumner, the +philanthropist, one who spoke to the conscience of his time and to +the history of the future—when he stood up in the United +States Senate and made a great and glorious plea for human liberty, +there crept into the Senate a villain and struck him down as though +he had been a wild beast. That man was a member of Congress, and +when a resolution was introduced in the House, to expel that man, +William H. English voted "No." All the stories in the world could +not add to the infamy of that public act. That is enough for me, +and whatever his private life may be, let it be that of an angel, +never, never, never would I vote for a man that would defend the +assassin of free speech. General Hancock, they tell me, is a +statesman; that what little time he has had to spare from war he +has given to the tariff, and what little time he could spare from +the tariff he has given to the Constitution of his country; showing +under what circumstances a Major-General can put at defiance the +Congress of the United States. It won't do!</p> +<p>But while I am upon that subject it may be well for me to state +that he never will be President of the United States. Now, I say +that a man who in time of peace prefers peace, and prefers the +avocations of peace; a man who in the time of peace would rather +look at the corn in the air of June, rather listen to the hum of +bees, rather sit by his door with his wife and children; the man +who in time of peace loves peace, and yet when the blast of war +blows in his ears, shoulders a musket and goes to the field of war +to defend his country, and when the war is over goes home and again +pursues the avocations of peace—that man is just as good, to +say the least of it, as a man who in a time of profound peace makes +up his mind that he would like to make his living killing other +folks. To say the least of it, he is as good.</p> +<p>The Republicans have named as their standard bearers James A. +Garfield and Chester A. Arthur. James A. Garfield was a volunteer +soldier, and he took away from the field of Chickamauga as much +glory as any one man could carry. He is not only a +soldier—7-he is a statesman. He has studied and discussed all +the great questions that affect the prosperity and well-being of +the American people. His opinions are well known, and I say to you +tonight that there is not in this Nation, there is not in this +Republic a man with greater brain and greater heart than James A. +Garfield. I know him and I like him. I know him as well as any +other public man, and I like him. The Democratic party say that he +is not honest. I have been reading some Democratic papers to-day, +and you would say that every one of their editors had a private +sewer of his own into which has been emptied for a hundred years +the slops of hell. They tell me that James A. Garfield is not +honest. Are you a Democrat? Your party tried to steal nearly half +of this country. Your party stole the armament of a nation. Your +party was willing to live upon the unpaid labor of four millions of +people. You have no right to the floor for the purpose of making a +motion of honesty. James A. Garfield has been at the head of the +most important committees of Congress; he is a member of the most +important one of the whole House. He has no peer in the Congress of +the United States. And you know it. He is the leader of the House. +With one wave of his hand he can take millions from the pocket of +one industry and put it into the pocket of another; with a motion +of his hand he could have made himself a man of wealth, but he is +to-night a poor man. I know him and I like him. He is as genial as +May and he is as generous as Autumn. And the men for whom he has +done unnumbered favors, the men whom he had pity enough not to +destroy with an argument, the men who, with his great generosity, +he has allowed, intellectually, to live, are now throwing filth at +the reputation of that great and splendid man.</p> +<p>Several ladies and gentlemen were passing a muddy place around +which were gathered ragged and wretched urchins. And these little +wretches began to throw mud at them; and one gentleman said, "If +you don't stop I will throw it back at you." And a little fellow +said, "You can't do it without dirtying your hands, and it doesn't +hurt us anyway."</p> +<p>I never was more profoundly happy than on the night of that 12th +day of October when I found that between an honest and a kingly man +and his maligners, two great States had thrown their shining +shields. When Ohio said, "Garfield is my greatest son, and there +never has been raised in the cabins of Ohio a grander +man"—and when Indiana held up her hands and said, "Allow me +to indorse that verdict," I was profoundly happy, because that said +to me, "Garfield will carry every Northern State;" that said to me, +"The Solid South will be confronted by a great and splendid +North."</p> +<p>I know Garfield—I like him. Some people have said, "How is +it that you support Garfield, when he was a minister?" "How is it +that you support Garfield when he is a Christian?" I will tell you. +There are two reasons. The first is I am not a bigot; and secondly, +James A. Garfield is not a bigot. He believes in giving to every +other human being every right he claims for himself. He believes in +freedom of speech and freedom of thought; untrammeled conscience +and upright manhood. He believes in an absolute divorce between +church and state. He believes that every religion should rest upon +its morality, upon its reason, upon its persuasion, upon its +goodness, upon its charity, and that love should never appeal to +the sword of civil power. He disagrees with me in many things; but +in the one thing, that the air is free for all, we do agree. I want +to do equal and exact justice everywhere.</p> +<p>I want the world of thought to be without a chain, without a +wall, and I wish to say to you, [turning toward Mr. Beecher and +directly addressing him] that I thank you for what you have said +to-night, and to congratulate the people of this city and country +that you have intellectual horizon enough, intellectual sky enough +to take the hand of a man, howsoever much he may disagree in some +things with you, on the grand platform and broad principle of +citizenship. James A. Garfield, believing with me as he does, +disagreeing with me as he does, is perfectly satisfactory to me. I +know him, and I like him.</p> +<p>Men are to-day blackening his reputation, who are not fit to +blacken his shoes. He is a man of brain. Since his nomination he +must have made forty or fifty speeches, and every one has been full +of manhood and genius. He has not said a word that has not +strengthened him with the American people. He is the first +candidate who has been free to express himself and who has never +made a mistake. I will tell you why he does not make a mistake; +because he spoke from the inside out. Because he was guided by the +glittering Northern Star of principle. Lie after lie has been told +about him. Slander after slander has been hatched and put in the +air, with its little short wings, to fly its day, and the last lie +is a forgery.</p> +<p>I saw to-day the fac-simile of a letter that they pretend he +wrote upon the Chinese question. I know his writing; I know his +signature; I am well acquainted with his writing. I know +handwriting, and I tell you to-night, that letter and that +signature are forgeries. A forgery for the benefit of the Pacific +States; a forgery for the purpose of convincing the American +workingman that Garfield is without heart. I tell you, my +fellow-citizens, that cannot take from him a vote. But Ohio pierced +their centre and Indiana rolled up both flanks and the rebel line +cannot re-form with a forgery for a standard. They are gone!</p> +<p>Now, some people say to me, "How long are you going to preach +the doctrine of hate?" I never did preach it. In many States of +this Union it is a crime to be a Republican. I am going to preach +my doctrine until every American citizen is permitted to express +his opinion and vote as he may desire in every State of this Union. +I am going to preach my doctrine until this is a civilized country. +That is all.</p> +<p>I will treat the gentlemen of the South precisely as we do the +gentlemen of the North. I want to treat every section of the +country precisely as we do ours-. I want to improve their rivers +and their harbors; I want to fill their land with commerce; I want +them to prosper; I want them to build schoolhouses; I want them to +open the lands to immigration to all people who desire to settle +upon their soil. I want to be friends with them; I want to let the +past be buried forever; I want to let bygones be bygones, but only +upon the basis that we are now in favor of absolute liberty and +eternal justice. I am not willing to bury nationality or free +speech in the grave for the purpose of being friends. Let us stand +by our colors; let the old Republican party that has made this a +Nation—the old Republican party that has saved the financial +honor of this country—let that party stand by its colors.</p> +<p>Let that party say, "Free speech forever!" Let that party say, +"An honest ballot forever!" Let that party say, "Honest money +forever! the Nation and the flag forever!" And let that party stand +by the great men carrying her banner, James A. Garfield and Chester +A. Arthur. I would rather trust a party than a man. If General +Garfield dies, the Republican party lives; if General Garfield +dies, General Arthur will take his place—a brave, honest, and +intelligent gentleman, upon whom every Republican can rely. And if +he dies, the Republican party lives, and as long as the Republican +party does not die, the great Republic will live. As long as the +Republican party lives, this will be the asylum of the world. Let +me tell you, Mr. Irishman, this is the only country on the earth +where Irishmen have had enough to eat. Let me tell you, Mr. German, +that you have more liberty here than you had in the Fatherland. Let +me tell you, all men, that this is the land of humanity.</p> +<p>Oh! I love the old Republic, bounded by the seas, walled by the +wide air, domed by heaven's blue, and lit with the eternal stars. I +love the Republic; I love it because I love liberty. Liberty is my +religion, and at its altar I worship, and will worship.</p> +<a name="link0013" id="link0013"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>ADDRESS TO THE 86TH ILLINOIS REGIMENT.</h2> +<pre> + * This is only a fragment of a speech made by Col. Ingersoll + at Peoria, 111., in 1866, to the 86th Illinois Regiment, at + their anniversary meeting. +</pre> +<center>PEORIA, ILLS.</center> +<center>1865.</center> +<p>THE history of the past four years seems to me like a terrible +dream. It seems almost impossible that the events that have now +passed into history ever happened. That hundreds of thousands of +men, born and reared under one flag, with the same history, the +same future, and, in truth, the same interests, should have met +upon the terrible field of death, and for four long years should +have fought with a bitterness and determination never excelled; +that they should have filled our land with orphans and widows, and +made our country hollow with graves, is indeed wonderful; but that +the people of the South should have thus fought—thus +attempted to destroy and overthrow the Government founded by the +heroes of the Revolution—merely for the sake of perpetuating +the infamous institution of slavery, is wonderful almost beyond +belief.</p> +<p>Strange that people should be found in this, the nineteenth +century, to fight against freedom and to die for slavery! It is +most wonderful that the terrible war ceased as suddenly as it did, +and that the soldiers of the Republic, the moment that the angel of +peace spread her white wings over our country, dropped from their +hands the instruments of war and eagerly went back to the plough, +the shop and the office, and are to-day, with the same +determination that characterized them in battle, engaged in +effacing every vestige of the desolation and destruction of war. +But the progress we have made as a people is if possible still more +astonishing. We pretended to be the lovers of freedom, yet we +defended slavery. We quoted the Declaration of Independence and +voted for the compromise of 1850.</p> +<p>From servility and slavishness we have marched to heroism. We +were tyrants. We are liberators. We were slave-catchers. We are now +the chivalrous breakers of chains.</p> +<p>From slavery, over a bloody and terrible path, we have marched +to freedom. Hirelings of oppression, we have become the champions +of justice—the defenders of the right—the pillar upon +which rests the hope of the world. To whom are we indebted for this +wonderful change? Most of all to you, the soldiers of the great +Republic. We thank you that the hands of time were not turned back +a thousand years—that the Dark Ages did not again come upon +the world—that Prometheus was not again chained—that +the river of progress was not stopped or stayed—that the dear +blood shed during all the past was not rendered vain—that the +sublime faith of all the grand and good did not become a bitter +dream, but a reality more glorious than ever entered into the +imagination of the rapt heroes of the past. Soldiers of the +Eighty-sixth Illinois, we thank you, and through you all the +defenders of the Republic, living and dead. We thank you that the +deluge of blood has subsided, that the ark of our national safety +is at rest, that the dove has returned with the olive branch of +peace, and that the dark clouds of war are in the far distance, +covered with the beautiful bow.</p> +<p>In the name of humanity, in the name of progress, in the name of +freedom, in the name of America, in the name of the oppressed of +the whole world, we thank you again and again. We thank you, that +in the darkest hour you never despaired of the Republic, that you +were not dismayed, that through disaster and defeat, through +cruelty and famine, through the serried ranks of the enemy, in +spite of false friends, you marched resolutely, unflinchingly and +bravely forward. Forward through shot and shell! Forward through +fire and sword! Forward past the corpses of your brave comrades, +buried in shallow graves by the hurried hands of heroes! Forward +past the scattered bones of starved captives! Forward through the +glittering bayonet lines, and past the brazen throats of the guns! +Forward through the din and roar and smoke and hell of war! Onward +through blood and fire to the shining, glittering mount of perfect +and complete victory, and from the top your august hands unfurled +to the winds the old banner of the stars, and it waves in triumph +now, and shall forever, from the St. Lawrence to the Rio Grande, +and from the Atlantic to the Pacific!</p> +<p>We thank you that our waving fields of golden wheat and rustling +corn are not trodden down beneath the bloody feet of +invasion—that our homes are not ashes—that our +hearthstones are not desolate—that our towns and cities still +stand, that our temples and institutions of learning are secure, +that prosperity covers us as with a mantle, and, more than all, we +thank you that the Republic still lives; that law and order reign +supreme; that the Constitution is still sacred; that a republican +government has ceased to be only an experiment, and has become a +certainty for all time; that we have by your heroism established +the sublime and shining truth that a government by the people, for +the people, can and will stand until governments cease among men; +that you have given the lie to the impudent and infamous prophecy +of tyranny, and that you have firmly established the Republic upon +the great ideas of National Unity and Human Liberty.</p> +<p>We thank you for our commerce on the high seas, upon our lakes +and beautiful rivers, for the credit of our nation, for the value +of our money, and for the grand position that we now occupy among +the nations of the earth. We thank you for every State redeemed, +for every star brought back to glitter again upon the old flag, and +we thank you for the grand future that you have opened for us and +for our children through all the ages yet to come; and, not only +for us and our children, but for mankind.</p> +<p>Thanks to your efforts our country is still an asylum for the +oppressed of the Old World; the arms of our charity are still open, +we still beckon them across the sea, and they come in +multitudes,'leaving home, the graves of their sires, and the dear +memories of the heart, and with their wives and little ones come to +this, the only free land upon which the sun shines—and with +their countless hands of labor add to the wealth, the permanence +and the glory of our country. And let them come from the land of +Luther, of Hampden and Emmett. Whoever is for freedom and the +sacred rights of man is a true American, and as such, we welcome +them all. We thank you to-day in the name of four millions of +people, whose shackles you have so nobly and generously broken, and +who, from the condition of beasts of burden, have by your efforts +become men. We thank you in the name of this poor and hitherto +despised and insulted race, and say that their emancipation was, +and is, the crowning glory of this most terrible war. Peace without +liberty could have been only a bloody delusion and a snare. Freedom +is peace; Slavery is war.</p> +<p>We must act justly and honorably with these emancipated men, +knowing that the eyes of the civilized world are upon us. We must +do what is best for both races. We must not be controlled merely by +party.</p> +<p>If the Government is founded upon principle, it will stand +against the shock of revolution and foreign war as long as liberty +is sacred, the rights of man respected, and honor dwells in the +hearts of men.</p> +<p>We thank you for the lesson that has been taught the Old World +by your patriotism and valor; believing that when the people shall +have learned that sublime and divine lesson, thrones will become +kingless, kings crownless, royalty an epitaph, the purple of power +the shroud of death, the chains of tyranny will fall from the +bodies of men, the shackles of superstition from the souls of the +people, the spirit of persecution will fly from the earth, and the +banner of Universal Freedom, with the words "Civil and Religious +Liberty for the World" written upon every fold, blazing from every +star, will float over every land and sea under the whole +heavens.</p> +<p>We thank you for the glorious past, for the still more glorious +future, and will continue to thank you while our hearts are warm +with life. We will gather around you in the hour of your death and +soothe your last moments with our gratitude. We will follow you +tearfully to the narrow house of the dead, and over your sacred +remains erect the whitest and purest marble. The hands of love will +adorn your last abode, and the chisel will record that beneath +rests the sacred dust of the Heroic Saviors of the Great Republic. +Such ground will be holy, and future generations will draw +inspiration from your tombs, courage from your heroic examples, +patience and fortitude from your sufferings, and strength eternal +from your success.</p> +<p>I cannot stop without speaking of the heroic dead. It seems to +me as though their spirits ought to hover over you +to-day—that they might join with us in giving thanks for the +great victory,—that their faces might grow radiant to think +that their blood was not shed in vain,—that the living are +worthy to reap the benefits of their sacrifices, their sufferings +and death, and it almost seems as if their sightless eyes are +suffused with tears. Then we think of the dear mothers waiting for +their sons, of the devoted wives waiting for their husbands, of the +orphans asking for fathers whose returning footsteps they can never +hear; that while they can say "my country," they cannot say "my +son," "my husband," or "my father."</p> +<p>My heart goes out to all the slain, to those heroic corpses +sleeping far away from home and kindred in unknown and lonely +graves, to those poor pieces of dear, bleeding earth that won for +me the blessings I enjoy to-day.</p> +<p>Shall I recount their sufferings? They were starved day by day +with a systematic and calculating cruelty never equaled by the most +savage tribes. They were confined in dens as though they had been +beasts, and then they slowly faded and wasted from life. Some were +released from their sufferings by blessed insanity, until their +parched and fevered lips, their hollow and glittering eyes, were +forever closed by the angel of death. And thus they died, with the +voices of loved ones in their ears; the faces of the dear absent +hovering over them; around them their dying comrades, and the +fiendish slaves of slavery.</p> +<p>And what shall I say more of the regiment before me? It is +enough that you were a part of the great army that accomplished so +much for America and mankind.</p> +<p>It is but just, however, to say that you were at the bloody +field of Perryville, that you stood with Thomas at Chickamauga and +kept at bay the rebel host, that you marched to the relief of +Knoxville through bitter cold, hunger and privations, and had the +honor of relieving that heroic garrison.</p> +<p>It is but just to say that you were with Sherman in his +wonderful march through the heart of the Confederacy; that you were +in the terrible charge at Kenesaw Mountain, and held your ground +for days within a few steps of the rebel fortifications; that you +were at Atlanta and took part in the terrible conflict before that +city and marched victoriously through her streets; that you were at +Savannah; that you had the honor of being present when Johnson +surrendered, and his ragged rebel horde laid down their arms; that +from there you marched to Washington and beneath the shadow of the +glorious dome of our Capitol, that lifts from the earth as though +jealous of the stars, received the grandest national ovation +recorded in the annals of the world.</p> +<a name="link0014" id="link0014"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>DECORATION DAY ORATION.</h2> +<pre> + * At the Memorial Celebration of the Grand Army of the + Republic last evening the Academy of Music was filled to + overflowing, within a few minutes after the opening of the + doors. + + Gen. Hancock was the first arrival of importance. The + Governor's Island band accepted this as a signal for the + overture. The Academy was tastefully decorated. The three + balconies were covered, the first with blue cloth, the + second with white and national bunting, studded with the + insignia of the original thirteen States, and the family + circle with red. Over the centre of the stage the national + flag and device hung suspended, and was held In its place by + flying streamers extending to the boxes. The latter were + draped with flags, relieved by antique armor and weapons— + shields, casques and battle axes and crossed swords and + pikes. + + At 8.05 the curtain slowly rose, and discovered to the view + of the audience, a second audience reaching back to the + farthest depths of the scenes. These were the fortunate + holders of stage tickets, and comprised a great number of + distinguished men. + + Among them were noticed Gen. Horace Porter, Gen. Lloyd + Aspinwall, Gen. Daniel Butterfield, Gen. D. D. Wylie, Gen. + Charles Roome, Gen. W. Palmer, Gen. John Cochrane, Gen. H. + G. Tremaine, the Hon. Edward Pierrepont, Dep't. Commander + James M. Fraser, the Hon. Carl Schurz, August Belmont, Henry + Clews, Dr. Lewis A. Sayre, Charles Scribner, Jesse Seligman, + William Dowa, Henry Bergh and George William Curtis. Gen. + Bamum came upon the stage followed by President Arthur, + Gen's. Grant and Hancock, Secretaries Folger and Brewster, + ex-Senator Roscoe Conkling, Mayor Grace and the Rev. J. P. + Newman. Gen. Hancock's brilliant uniform made him a very + conspicuous figure, and he served as a foil to the plain + evening dress of Gen. Grant, who was separated from him by + the portly form of the President. + + Gen. James McQuade, the President of the day, rose and + uncovering a flag which draped a sort of patriotic altar in + front of him, announced that It was the genuine flag upon + which was written the famous order, "If any man pull down + the American flag, shoot him on the spot.' * This was the + signal for round after round of applause, while Gen. McQuade + waved this precious relic of the past. The time had now come + for the introduction of the orator of the evening, Col. + Robert G. Ingersoll. Col. Ingersoll stepped across the stage + to the reading desk, and was received with an ovation of + cheering and waving of handkerchiefs. + + After the enthusiasm had somewhat abated, a gentleman in one + of the boxes shouted: "Three-cheers for Ingersoll." + These were given with a will, the excitement quieted down + and the orator spoke as follows '.—The New York Times. May + 31st, 1883. +</pre> +<p>New York City.</p> +<center>1882.</center> +<p>THIS day is sacred to our heroes dead. Upon their tombs we have +lovingly laid the wealth of Spring.</p> +<p>This is a day for memory and tears. A mighty Nation bends above +its honored graves, and pays to noble dust the tribute of its +love.</p> +<p>Gratitude is the fairest flower that sheds its perfume in the +heart.</p> +<p>To-day we tell the history of our country's life—recount +the lofty deeds of vanished years—the toil and suffering, the +defeats and victories of heroic men,—of men who made our +Nation great and free.</p> +<p>We see the first ships whose prows were gilded by the western +sun. We feel the thrill of discovery when the New World was found. +We see the oppressed, the serf, the peasant and the slave, men +whose flesh had known the chill of chains—the adventurous, +the proud, the brave, sailing an unknown sea, seeking homes in +unknown lands. We see the settlements, the little clearings, the +blockhouse and the fort, the rude and lonely huts. Brave men, true +women, builders of homes, fellers of forests, founders of +States.</p> +<p>Separated from the Old World,—away from the heartless +distinctions of caste,—away from sceptres and titles and +crowns, they governed themselves. They defended their homes; they +earned their bread. Each citizen had a voice, and the little +villages became republics. Slowly the savage was driven back. The +days and nights were filled with fear, and the slow years with +massacre and war, and cabins' earthen floors were wet with blood of +mothers and their babes.</p> +<p>But the savages of the New World were kinder than the kings and +nobles of the Old; and so the human tide kept coming, and the +places of the dead were filled. Amid common dangers and common +hopes, the prejudiced and feuds of Europe faded slowly from their +hearts. From every land, of every speech, driven by want and lured +by hope, exiles and emigrants sought the mysterious Continent of +the West.</p> +<p>Year after year the colonists fought and toiled and suffered and +increased. They began to talk about liberty—to reason of the +rights of man. They * t asked no help from distant kings, and they +began to doubt the use of paying tribute to the useless. They lost +respect for dukes and lords, and held in high esteem all honest +men. There was the dawn of a new day. They began to dream of +independence. They found that they could make and execute the laws. +They had tried the experiment of self-government. They had +succeeded. The Old World wished to dominate the New. In the care +and keeping of the colonists was the destiny of this +Continent—of half the world.</p> +<p>On this day the story of the great struggle between colonists +and kings should be told. We should tell our children of the +contest—first for justice, then for freedom. We should tell +them the history of the Declaration of Independence—the chart +and compass of all human rights:—All men are equal, and have +the right to life, to liberty and joy.</p> +<p>This Declaration uncrowned kings, and wrested from the hands of +titled tyranny the sceptre of usurped and arbitrary power. It +superseded royal grants, and repealed the cruel statutes of a +thousand years. It gave the peasant a career; it knighted all the +sons of toil; it opened all the paths to fame, and put the star of +hope above the cradle of the poor man's babe.</p> +<p>England was then the mightiest of nations—mistress of +every sea—and yet our fathers, poor and few, defied her +power.</p> +<p>To-day we remember the defeats, the victories, the disasters, +the weary marches, the poverty, the hunger, the sufferings, the +agonies, and above all, the glories of the Revolution. We remember +all—from Lexington to Valley Forge, and from that midnight of +despair to Yorktown's cloudless day. We remember the soldiers and +thinkers—the heroes of the sword and pen. They had the brain +and heart, the wisdom and courage to utter and defend these words: +"Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the +governed." In defence of this sublime and self-evident truth the +war was waged and won.</p> +<p>To-day we remember all the heroes, all the generous and +chivalric men who came from other lands to make ours free. Of the +many thousands who shared the gloom and glory of the seven sacred +years, not one remains. The last has mingled with the earth, and +nearly all are sleeping now in unmarked graves, and some beneath +the leaning, crumbling stones from which their names have been +effaced by Time's irreverent and relentless hands. But the Nation +they founded remains. The United States are still free and +independent. The "government derives its just power from the +consent of the governed," and fifty millions of free people +remember with gratitude the heroes of the Revolution.</p> +<p>Let us be truthful; let us be kind. When peace came, when the +independence of a new Nation was acknowledged, the great truth for +which our fathers fought was half denied, and the Constitution was +inconsistent with the Declaration. The war was waged for liberty, +and yet the victors forged new fetters for their fellow-men. The +chains our fathers broke were put by them upon the limbs of others. +"Freedom for All" was the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by +night, through seven years of want and war. In peace the cloud was +forgotten and the pillar blazed unseen.</p> +<p>Let us be truthful; all our fathers were not true to themselves. +In war they had been generous, noble and self-sacrificing; with +peace came selfishness and greed. They were not great enough to +appreciate the grandeur of the principles for which they fought. +They ceased to regard the great truths as having universal +application. "Liberty for All" included only themselves. They +qualified the Declaration. They interpolated the word "white." They +obliterated the word "All."</p> +<p>Let us be kind. We will remember the age in which they lived. We +will compare them with the citizens of other nations. They made +merchandise of men. They legalized a crime. They sowed the seeds of +war. But they founded this Nation.</p> +<p>Let us gratefully remember.</p> +<p>Let us gratefully forget.</p> +<p>To-day we remember the heroes of the second war with England, in +which our fathers fought for the freedom of the seas—for the +rights of the American sailor. We remember with pride the splendid +victories of Erie and Champlain and the wondrous achievements upon +the sea—achievements that covered our navy with a glory that +neither the victories nor defeats of the future can dim. We +remember the heroic services and sufferings of those who fought the +merciless savage of the frontier. We see the midnight massacre, and +hear the war-cries of the allies of England. We see the flames +climb around the happy homes, and in the charred and blackened +ruins the mutilated bodies of wives and children. Peace came at +last, crowned with the victory of New Orleans—a victory that +"did redeem all sorrows" and all defeats.</p> +<p>The Revolution gave our fathers a free land—the War of +1812 a free sea.</p> +<p>To-day we remember the gallant men who bore our flag in triumph +from the Rio Grande to the heights of Chapultepec.</p> +<p>Leaving out of question the justice of our cause—the +necessity for war—we are yet compelled to applaud the +marvelous courage of our troops. A handful of men, brave, +impetuous, determined, irresistible, conquered a nation. Our +history has no record of more daring deeds.</p> +<p>Again peace came, and the Nation hoped and thought that strife +was at an end. We had grown too powerful to be attacked. Our +resources were boundless, and the future seemed secure. The hardy +pioneers moved to the great West. Beneath their ringing strokes the +forests disappeared, and on the prairies waved the billowed seas of +wheat and corn. The great plains were crossed, the mountains were +conquered, and the foot of victorious adventure pressed the shore +of the Pacific. In the great North all the streams went singing to +the sea, turning wheels and spindles, and casting shuttles back and +forth. Inventions were springing like magic from a thousand brains. +From Labor's holy altars rose and leaped the smoke and flame, and +from the countless forges ran the chant of rhythmic stroke.</p> +<p>But in the South, the negro toiled unpaid, and mothers wept +while babes were sold, and at the auction-block husbands and wives +speechlessly looked the last good-bye. Fugitives, lighted by the +Northern Star, sought liberty on English soil, and were, by +Northern men, thrust back to whip and chain. The great statesmen, +the successful politicians, announced that law had compromised with +crime, that justice had been bribed, and that time had barred +appeal. A race was left without a right, without a hope. The future +had no dawn, no star—nothing but ignorance and fear, nothing +but work and want. This, was the conclusion of the statesmen, the +philosophy of the politicians—of constitutional +expounders:—this was decided by courts and ratified by the +Nation.</p> +<p>We had been successful in three wars. We had wrested thirteen +colonies from Great Britain. We had conquered our place upon the +high seas. We had added more than two millions of square miles to +the national domain. We had increased in population from three to +thirty-one millions. We were in the midst of plenty. We were rich +and free. Ours appeared to be the most prosperous of Nations. But +it was only appearance. The statesmen and the politicians were +deceived. Real victories can be won only for the Right. The triumph +of Justice is the only Peace. Such is the nature of things. He who +enslaves another cannot be free. He who attacks the right, assaults +himself. The mistake our fathers made had not been corrected. The +foundations of the Republic were insecure. The great dome of the +temple was clad in the light of prosperity, but the corner-stones +were crumbling. Four millions of human beings were enslaved. Party +cries had been mistaken for principles—partisanship for +patriotism—success for justice.</p> +<p>But Pity pointed to the scarred and bleeding backs of slaves; +Mercy heard the sobs of mothers reft of babes, and Justice held +aloft the scales, in which one drop of blood shed by a master's +lash, outweighed a Nation's gold. There were a few men, a few +women, who had the courage to attack this monstrous crime. They +found it entrenched in constitutions, statutes, and +decisions—barricaded and bastioned by every department and by +every party. Politicians were its servants, statesmen its +attorneys, judges its menials, presidents its puppets, and upon its +cruel altar had been sacrificed our country's honor. It was the +crime of the Nation—of the whole country—North and +South responsible alike.</p> +<p>To-day we reverently thank the abolitionists. Earth has no +grander men—no nobler women. They were the real +philanthropists, the true patriots. When the will defies fear, when +the heart applauds the brain, when duty throws the gauntlet down to +fate, when honor scorns to compromise with death,—this is +heroism. The abolitionists were heroes. He loves his country best +who strives to make it best. The bravest men are those who have the +greatest fear of doing wrong. Mere politicians wish the country to +do something for them. True patriots desire to do something for +their country. Courage without conscience is a wild beast. +Patriotism without principle is the prejudice of birth, the animal +attachment to place. These men, these women, had courage and +conscience, patriotism and principle, heart and brain.</p> +<p>The South relied upon the bond,—upon a barbarous clause +that stained, disfigured and defiled the Federal pact, and made the +monstrous claim that slavery was the Nation's ward. The spot of +shame grew red in Northern cheeks, and Northern men declared that +slavery had poisoned, cursed and blighted soul and soil enough, and +that the Territories must be free. The radicals of the South cried: +"No Union without Slavery!" The radicals of the North replied: "No +Union without Liberty!" The Northern radicals were right. Upon the +great issue of free homes for free men, a President was elected by +the free States. The South appealed to the sword, and raised the +standard of revolt. For the first time in history the oppressors +rebelled.</p> +<p>But let us to-day be great enough to forget +individuals,—great enough to know that slavery was treason, +that slavery was rebellion, that slavery fired upon our flag and +sought to wreck and strand the mighty ship that bears the hope and +fortune of this world. The first shot liberated the North. +Constitution, statutes and decisions, compromises, platforms, and +resolutions made, passed, and ratified in the interest of slavery +became mere legal lies, base and baseless. Parchment and paper +could no longer stop or stay the onward march of man. The North was +free. Millions instantly resolved that the Nation should not +die—that Freedom should not perish, and that Slavery should +not live.</p> +<p>Millions of our brothers, our sons, our fathers, our husbands, +answered to the Nation's call.</p> +<p>The great armies have desolated the earth. The greatest soldiers +have been ambition's dupes. They waged war for the sake of place +and pillage, pomp and power,—for the ignorant applause of +vulgar millions,—for the flattery of parasites, and the +adulation of sycophants and slaves.</p> +<p>Let us proudly remember that in our time the greatest, the +grandest, the noblest army of the world fought, not to enslave, but +to free; not to destroy, but to save; not for conquest, but for +conscience; not only for us, but for every land and every race.</p> +<p>With courage, with enthusiasm, with a devotion' never excelled, +with an exaltation and purity of purpose never equaled, this grand +army fought the battles of the Republic. For the preservation of +this Nation, for the destruction of slavery, these soldiers, these +sailors, on land and sea, disheartened by no defeat, discouraged by +no obstacle, appalled by no danger, neither paused nor swerved +until a stainless flag, without a rival, floated over all our wide +domain, and until every human being beneath its folds was +absolutely free.</p> +<p>The great victory for human rights—the greatest of all the +years—had been won; won by the Union men of the North, by the +Union men of the South, and by those who had been slaves. Liberty +was national, Slavery was dead.</p> +<p>The flag for which the heroes fought, for which they died, is +the symbol of all we are, of all we hope to be.</p> +<p>It is the emblem of equal rights.</p> +<p>It means free hands, free lips, self-government and the +sovereignty of the individual.</p> +<p>It means that this continent has been dedicated to freedom.</p> +<p>It means universal education,—light for every mind, +knowledge for every child.</p> +<p>It means that the schoolhouse is the fortress of Liberty.</p> +<p>It means that "Governments derive their just powers from the +consent of the governed;" that each man is accountable to and for +the Government; that responsibility goes hand in hand with +liberty.</p> +<p>It means that it is the duty of every citizen to bear his share +of the public burden,—to take part in the affairs of his +town, his county, his State and his country.</p> +<p>It means that the ballot-box is the Ark of the Covenant; that +the source of authority must not be poisoned.</p> +<p>It means the perpetual right of peaceful revolution. It means +that every citizen of the Republic—native or +naturalized—must be protected; at home, in every +State,—abroad, in every land, on every sea.</p> +<p>It means that all distinctions based on birth or blood, have +perished from our laws; that our Government shall stand between +labor and capital, between the weak and the strong, between the +individual and the corporation, between want and wealth, and give +the guarantee of simple justice to each and all.</p> +<p>It means that there shall be a legal remedy for every wrong.</p> +<p>It means national hospitality,—that we must welcome to our +shores the exiles of the world, and that we may not drive them +back. Some may be deformed by labor, dwarfed by hunger, broken in +spirit, victims of tyranny and caste,—in whose sad faces may +be read the touching record of a weary life; and yet their +children, born of liberty and love, will be symmetrical and fair, +intelligent and free.</p> +<p>That flag is the emblem of a supreme will—of a Nation's +power. Beneath its folds the weakest must be protected and the +strongest must obey. It shields and canopies alike the loftiest +mansion and the rudest hut. That flag was given to the air in the +Revolution's darkest days. It represents the sufferings of the +past, the glories yet to be; and like the bow of heaven, it is the +child of storm and sun.</p> +<p>This day is sacred to the great heroic host who kept this flag +above our heads,—sacred to the living and the +dead—sacred to the scarred and maimed,—sacred to the +wives who gave their husbands, to the mothers who gave their +sons.</p> +<p>Here in this peaceful land of ours,—here where the sun +shines, where flowers grow, where children play, millions of armed +men battled for the right and breasted on a thousand fields the +iron storms of war.</p> +<p>These brave, these incomparable men, founded the first Republic. +They fulfilled the prophecies; they brought to pass the dreams; +they realized the hopes, that all the great and good and wise and +just have made and had since man was man.</p> +<p>But what of those who fell? There is no language to express the +debt we owe, the love we bear, to all the dead who died for us. +Words are but barren sounds. We can but stand beside their graves +and in the hush and silence feel what speech has never told.</p> +<p>They fought, they died; and for the first time since man has +kept a record of events, the heavens bent above and domed a land +without a serf, a servant or a slave.</p> +<a name="link0015" id="link0015"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>DECORATION DAY ADDRESS.</h2> +<pre> + * Empty sleeves worn by veterans with scanty locks and + grizzled mustaches graced the Metropolitan Opera House last + night. On the breasts of their faded uniforms glittered the + badges of the legions in which they had fought and suffered, + and beside them sat the wives and daughters, whose hearts + had ached at home while they served their country at the + front. + + Every seat in the great Opera House was filled, and hundreds + stood, glad to And any place where they could see and hear. + And the gathering and the proceedings were worthy of the + occasion. + + Mr. Depew upon taking the chair said that he had the chief + treat of the evening to present to the audience, and that + was Robert G. Ingersoll, the greatest living orator, and one + of the great controversialists of the age. + + Then came the orator of the occasion Col. Ingersoll, whose + speech is printed herewith. + + Enthusiastic cheers greeted all his points, and his audience + simply went wild at the end. It was a grand oration, and it + was listened to by enthusiastic and appreciative hearers, + upon whom not a single word was lost, and in whose hearts + every word awoke a responsive echo. + + Nor did the enthusiasm which Col. Ingersoll created end + until the very last, when the whole assemblage arose and + sang "America" in a way which will never be forgotten by any + one present. It was a great ending of a great evening.—The + New York Times, May 31st, 1888. +</pre> +<p>New York City.</p> +<center>1888.</center> +<p>THIS is a sacred day—a day for gratitude and love.</p> +<p>To-day we commemorate more than independence, more than the +birth of a nation, more than the fruits of the Revolution, more +than physical progress, more than the accumulation of wealth, more +than national prestige and power.</p> +<p>We commemorate the great and blessed victory over +ourselves—the triumph of civilization, the reformation of a +people, the establishment of a government consecrated to the +preservation of liberty and the equal rights of man.</p> +<p>Nations can win success, can be rich and powerful, can cover the +earth with their armies, the seas with their fleets, and yet be +selfish, small and mean. Physical progress means opportunity for +doing good. It means responsibility. Wealth is the end of the +despicable, victory the purpose of brutality.</p> +<p>But there is something nobler than all these—something +that rises above wealth and power—something above lands and +palaces—something above raiment and gold—it is the love +of right, the cultivation of the moral nature, the desire to do +justice, the inextinguishable love of human liberty.</p> +<p>Nothing can be nobler than a nation governed by conscience, +nothing more infamous than power without pity, wealth without honor +and without the sense of justice.</p> +<p>Only by the soldiers of the right can the laurel be won or +worn.</p> +<p>On this day we honor the heroes who fought to make our Nation +just and free—who broke the shackles of the slave, who freed +the masters of the South and their allies of the North. We honor +chivalric men who made America the hope and beacon of the human +race—the foremost Nation of the world.</p> +<p>These heroes established the first republic, and demonstrated +that a government in which the legally expressed will of the people +is sovereign and supreme is the safest, strongest, securest, +noblest and the best.</p> +<p>They demonstrated the human right of the people, and of all the +people, to make and execute the laws—that authority does not +come from the clouds, or from ancestry, or from the crowned and +titled, or from constitutions and compacts, laws and +customs—not from the admissions of the great, or the +concessions of the powerful and victorious—not from graves, +or consecrated dust—not from treaties made between successful +robbers—not from the decisions of corrupt and menial +courts—not from the dead, but from the living—not from +the past but from the present, from the people of to-day—from +the brain, from the heart and from the conscience of those who live +and love and labor.</p> +<p>The history of this world for the most part is the history of +conflict and war, of invasion, of conquest, of victorious wrong, of +the many enslaved by the few.</p> +<p>Millions have fought for kings, for the destruction and +enslavement of their fellow-men. Millions have battled for empire, +and great armies have been inspired by the hope of pillage; but for +the first time in the history of this world millions of men battled +for the right, fought to free not themselves, but others, not for +prejudice, but for principle, not for conquest, but for +conscience.</p> +<p>The men whom we honor were the liberators of a Nation, of a +whole country, North and South—of two races. They freed the +body and the brain, gave liberty to master and to slave. They +opened all the highways of thought, and gave to fifty millions of +people the inestimable legacy of free speech.</p> +<p>They established the free exchange of thought. They gave to the +air a flag without a stain, and they gave to their country a +Constitution that honest men can reverently obey. They destroyed +the hateful, the egotistic and provincial—they established a +Nation, a national spirit, a national pride and a patriotism as +broad as the great Republic.</p> +<p>They did away with that ignorant and cruel prejudice that human +rights depend on race or color, and that the superior race has the +right to oppress the inferior. They established the sublime truth +that the superior are the just, the kind, the generous, and +merciful—that the really superior are the protectors, the +defenders, and the saviors of the oppressed, of the fallen, the +unfortunate, the weak and helpless. They established that greatest +of all truths that nothing is nobler than to labor and suffer for +others.</p> +<p>If we wish to know the extent of our debt to these heroes, these +soldiers of the right, we must know what we were and what we are. A +few years ago we talked about liberty, about the freedom of the +world, and while so talking we enslaved our fellow-men. We were the +stealers of babes and the whippers of women. We were in partnership +with bloodhounds. We lived on unpaid labor. We held manhood in +contempt. Honest toil was disgraceful—sympathy was a +crime—pity was unconstitutional—humanity contrary to +law, and charity was treason. Men were imprisoned for pointing out +in heaven's dome the Northern Star—for giving food to the +hungry, water to the parched lips of thirst, shelter to the hunted, +succor to the oppressed. In those days criminals and courts, +pirates and pulpits were in partnership—liberty was only a +word standing for the equal rights of robbers.</p> +<p>For many years we insisted that our fathers had founded a free +Government, that they were the lovers of liberty, believers in +equal rights. We were mistaken. The colonists did not believe in +the freedom of to-day. Their laws were filled with intolerance, +with slavery and the infamous spirit of caste. They persecuted and +enslaved. Most of them were narrow, ignorant and cruel. For the +most part, their laws were more brutal than those of the nations +from which they came. They branded the forehead of intelligence, +bored with hot irons the tongue of truth. They persecuted the good +and enslaved the helpless. They were believers in pillories and +whipping-posts for honest, thoughtful men.</p> +<p>When their independence was secured they adopted a Constitution +that legalized slavery, and they passed laws making it the duty of +free men to prevent others from becoming free. They followed the +example of kings and nobles. They knew that monarchs had been +interested in the slave trade, and that the first English commander +of a slave-ship divided his profits with a queen.</p> +<p>They forgot all the splendid things they had said—the +great principles they had so proudly and eloquently announced. The +sublime truths faded from their hearts. The spirit of trade, the +greed for office, took possession of their souls. The lessons of +history were forgotten. The voices coming from all the wrecks of +kingdoms, empires and republics on the shores of the great river +were unheeded and unheard.</p> +<p>If the foundation is not justice, the dome cannot be high +enough, or splendid enough, to save the temple.</p> +<p>But above everything in the minds of our fathers was the desire +for union—to create a Nation, to become a Power.</p> +<p>Our fathers compromised.</p> +<p>A compromise is a bargain in which each party defrauds the +other, and himself.</p> +<p>The compromise our fathers made was the coffin of honor and the +cradle of war.</p> +<p>A brazen falsehood and a timid truth are the parents of +compromise.</p> +<p>But some—the greatest and the best—believed in +liberty for all. They repeated the splendid sayings of the Roman: +"By the law of nature all men are free;"—of the French King: +"Men are born free and equal;"—of the sublime Zeno: "All men +are by nature equal, and virtue alone establishes a difference +between them."</p> +<p>In the year preceding the Declaration of Independence, a society +for the abolition of slavery was formed in Pennsylvania and its +first President was one of the wisest and greatest of +men—Benjamin Franklin. A society of the same character was +established in New York in 1785; its first President was John +Jay—the second, Alexander Hamilton.</p> +<p>But in a few years these great men were forgotten. Parties +rivaled each other in the defence of wrong. Politicians cared only +for place and power. In the clamor of the heartless, the voice of +the generous was lost. Slavery became supreme. It dominated +legislatures, courts and parties; it rewarded the faithless and +little; it degraded the honest and great.</p> +<p>And yet, through all these hateful years, thousands and +thousands of noble men and women denounced the degradation and the +crime. Most of their names are unknown. They have given a glory to +obscurity. They have filled oblivion with honor.</p> +<p>In the presence of death it has been the custom to speak of the +worthlessness, and the vanity, of life. I prefer to speak of its +value, of its importance, of its nobility and glory.</p> +<p>Life is not merely a floating shadow, a momentary spark, a dream +that vanishes. Nothing can be grander than a life filled with great +and noble thoughts—with brave and honest deeds. Such a life +sheds light, and the seeds of truth sown by great and loyal men +bear fruit through all the years to be. To have lived and labored +and died for the right—nothing can be sublimer.</p> +<p>History is but the merest outline of the exceptional—of a +few great crimes, calamities, wars, mistakes and dramatic virtues. +A few mountain peaks are touched, while all the valleys of human +life, where countless victories are won, where labor wrought with +love—are left in the eternal shadow.</p> +<p>But these peaks are not the foundation of nations. The forgotten +words, the unrecorded deeds, the unknown sacrifices, the heroism, +the industry, the patience, the love and labor of the nameless good +and great have for the most part founded, guided and defended +States. The world has been civilized by the unregarded poor, by the +untitled nobles, by the uncrowned kings who sleep in unknown graves +mingled with the common dust.</p> +<p>They have thought and wrought, have borne the burdens of the +world. The pain and labor have been theirs—the glory has been +given to the few.</p> +<p>The conflict came. The South unsheathed the sword. Then rose the +embattled North, and these men who sleep to-night beneath the +flowers of half the world, gave all for us.</p> +<p>They gave us a Nation—a republic without a slave—a +republic that is sovereign, and to whose will every citizen and +every State must bow. They gave us a Constitution for all—one +that can be read without shame and defended without dishonor. They +freed the brain, the lips and hands of men.</p> +<p>All that could be done by force was done. All that could be +accomplished by the adoption of constitutions was done. The rest is +left to education—the innumerable influences of +civilization—to the development of the intellect, to the +cultivation of the heart and the imagination.</p> +<p>The past is now a hideous dream.</p> +<p>The present is filled with pride, with gratitude, and hope.</p> +<p>Liberty is the condition of real progress. The free man works +for wife and child—the slave toils from fear. Liberty gives +leisure and leisure refines, beautifies and ennobles. Slavery gives +idleness and idleness degrades, deforms and brutalizes.</p> +<p>Liberty and slavery—the right and wrong—the joy and +grief—the day and night—the glory and the gloom of all +the years.</p> +<p>Liberty is the word that all the good have spoken.</p> +<p>It is the hope of every loving heart—the spark and flame +in every noble breast—the gem in every splendid +soul—the many-colored dream in every honest brain.</p> +<p>This word has filled the dungeon with its holy light,—has +put the halo round the martyr's head,—has raised the convict +far above the king, and clad even the scaffold with a glory that +dimmed and darkened every throne.</p> +<p>To the wise man, to the wise nation, the mistakes of the past +are the torches of the present. The war is over. The institution +that caused it has perished. The prejudices that fanned the flames +are only ashes now. We are one people. We will stand or fall +together. At last, with clear eyes we see that the triumph of right +was a triumph for all. Together we reap the fruits of the great +victory. We are all conquerors. Around the graves of the +heroes—North and South, white and colored—together we +stand and with uncovered heads reverently thank the saviors of our +native land.</p> +<p>We are now far enough away from the conflict—from its +hatreds, its passions, its follies and its glories, to fairly and +philosophically examine the causes and in some measure at least to +appreciate the results.</p> +<p>States and nations, like individuals, do as they must. Back of +revolution, of rebellion, of slavery and freedom, are the efficient +causes. Knowing this, we occupy that serene height from which it is +possible to calmly pronounce a judgment upon the past.</p> +<p>We know now that the seeds of our war were sown hundreds and +thousands of years ago—sown by the vicious and the just, by +prince and peasant, by king and slave, by all the virtues and by +all the vices, by all the victories and all the defeats, by all the +labor and the love, the loss and gain, by all the evil and the +good, and by all the heroes of the world.</p> +<p>Of the great conflict we remember only its glory and its +lessons. We remember only the heroes who made the Republic the +first of nations, and who laid the foundation for the freedom of +mankind.</p> +<p>This will be known as the century of freedom. Slowly the hosts +of darkness have been driven back.</p> +<p>In 1808 England and the United States united for the suppression +of the slave-trade. The Netherlands joined in this holy work in +1818. France lent her aid in 1819 and Spain in 1820. In the same +year the United States declared the traffic to be piracy, and in +1825 the same law was enacted by Great Britain. In 1826 Brazil +agreed to suppress the traffic in human flesh. In 1833 England +abolished slavery in the West Indies, and in 1843 in her East +Indian possessions, giving liberty to more than twelve millions of +slaves. In 1846 Sweden abolished slavery, and in 1848 it was +abolished in the colonies of Denmark and France. In 1861 Alexander +II., Czar of all the Russias, emancipated the serfs, and on the +first day of January, 1863, the shackles fell from millions of the +citizens of this Republic. This was accomplished by the heroes we +remember to-day—this, in accordance with the Proclamation of +Emancipation signed by Lincoln,—greatest of our mighty +dead—Lincoln the gentle and the just—and whose name +will be known and honored to "the last syllable of recorded time." +And this year, 1888, has been made blessed and memorable +forever—in the vast empire of Brazil there stands no +slave.</p> +<p>Let us hope that when the next century looks from the sacred +portals of the East, its light will only fall upon the faces of the +free.</p> +<pre> + * By request, Col. Ingersoll closed this address with his + "Vision of War," to which he added "A Vision of the + Future." This accounts for its repetition in this volume. +</pre> +<p>The past rises before me like a dream. Again we are in the great +struggle for national life. We hear the sounds of +preparation—the music of boisterous drums—the silver +voices of heroic bugles. We see thousands of assemblages, and hear +the appeals of orators. We see the pale cheeks of women, and the +flushed faces of men; and in those assemblages we see all the dead +whose dust we have covered with flowers. We lose sight of them no +more. We are with them when they enlist in the great army of +freedom. We see them part with those they love. Some are walking +for the last time in quiet, woody places, with the maidens they +adore. We hear the whisperings and the sweet vows of eternal love +as they lingeringly part forever. Others are bending over cradles, +kissing babes that are asleep. Some are receiving the blessings of +old men. Some are parting with mothers who hold them and press them +to their hearts again and again, and say nothing. Kisses and tears, +tears and kisses—divine mingling of agony and love! And some +are talking with wives, and endeavoring with brave words, spoken in +the old tones, to drive from their hearts the awful fear. We see +them part. We see the wife standing in the door with the babe in +her arms—standing in the sunlight sobbing. At the turn of the +road a hand waves—she answers by holding high in her loving +arms the child. He is gone, and forever.</p> +<p>We see them all as they march proudly away under the flaunting +flags, keeping time to the grand, wild music of +war—marching-down the streets of the great +cities—through the towns and across the prairies—down +to the fields of glory, to do and to die for the eternal right.</p> +<p>We go with them, one and all. We are by their side on all the +gory fields—in all the hospitals of pain—on all the +weary marches. We stand guard with them in the wild storm and under +the quiet stars. We are with them in ravines running with +blood—in the furrows of old fields. We are with them between +contending hosts, unable to move, wild with thirst, the life ebbing +slowly away among the withered leaves. We see them pierced by balls +and torn with shells, in the trenches, by forts, and in the +whirlwind of the charge, where men become iron, with nerves of +steel.</p> +<p>We are with them in the prisons of hatred and famine; but human +speech can never tell what they endured.</p> +<p>We are at home when the news comes that they are dead. We see +the maiden in the shadow of her first sorrow. We see the silvered +head of the old man bowed with the last grief.</p> +<p>The past rises before us, and we see four millions of human +beings governed by the lash—we see them bound hand and +foot—we hear the strokes of cruel whips—we see the +hounds tracking women through tangled swamps. We see babes sold +from the breasts of mothers. Cruelty unspeakable! Outrage +infinite!</p> +<p>Four million bodies in chains—four million souls in +fetters. All the sacred relations of wife, mother, father and child +trampled beneath the brutal feet of might. And all this was done +under our own beautiful banner of the free.</p> +<p>The past rises before us. We hear the roar and shriek of the +bursting shell. The broken fetters fall. These heroes died. We +look. Instead of slaves we see men and women and children. The wand +of progress touches the auction block, the slave pen, the whipping +post, and we see homes and firesides and school-houses and books, +and where all was want and crime and cruelty and fear, we see the +faces of the free.</p> +<p>These heroes are dead. They died for liberty—they died for +us. They are at rest. They sleep in the land they made free, under +the flag they rendered stainless, under the solemn pines, the sad +hemlocks, the tearful willows, and the embracing vines.</p> +<p>They sleep beneath the shadows of the clouds, careless alike of +sunshine or of storm, each in the windowless Palace of Rest. Earth +may run red with other wars—they are at peace. In the midst +of battle, in the roar of conflict, they found the serenity of +death. I have one sentiment for soldiers living and dead: Cheers +for the living; tears for the dead.</p> +<p>A vision of the future rises:</p> +<p>I see our country filled with happy homes, with firesides of +content,—the foremost land of all the earth.</p> +<p>I see a world where thrones have crumbled and where kings are +dust. The aristocracy of idleness has perished from the earth.</p> +<p>I see a world without a slave. Man at last is free. Nature's +forces have by Science been enslaved. Lightning and light, wind and +wave, frost and flame, and all the secret, subtle powers of earth +and air are the tireless toilers for the human race.</p> +<p>I see a world at peace, adorned with every form of art, with +music's myriad voices thrilled, while lips are rich with words of +love and truth; a world in which no exile sighs, no prisoner +mourns; a world on which the gibbet's shadow does not fall; a world +where labor reaps its full reward, where work and worth go hand in +hand, where the poor girl trying to win bread with the +needle—the needle that has been called "the asp for the +breast of the poor,"—is not driven to the desperate choice of +crime or death, of suicide or shame.</p> +<p>I see a world without the beggar's outstretched palm, the +miser's heartless, stony stare, the piteous wail of want, the livid +lips of lies, the cruel eyes of scorn.</p> +<p>I see a race without disease of flesh or brain,—shapely +and fair,—the married harmony of form and +function,—and, as I look, life lengthens, joy deepens, love +canopies the earth; and over all, in the great dome, shines the +eternal star of human hope.</p> +<a name="link0016" id="link0016"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>RATIFICATION SPEECH.</h2> +<pre> + * Delivered at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, June + 29,1688. +</pre> +<p>Harrison and Morton.</p> +<center>1888.</center> +<p>FELLOW-CITIZENS, Ladies and Gentlemen—The speaker who is +perfectly candid, who tells his honest thought, not only honors +himself, but compliments his audience. It is only to the candid +that man can afford to absolutely open his heart. Most people, +whenever a man is nominated for the presidency, claim that they +were for him from the very start—as a rule, claim that they +discovered him. They are so anxious to be with the procession, so +afraid of being left, that they insist that they got exactly the +man they wanted.</p> +<p>I will be frank enough with you to say that the convention did +not nominate my choice. I was for the nomination of General +Gresham, believing that, all things considered, he was the best and +most available man—a just judge, a soldier, a statesman. But +there is something in the American blood that bows to the will of +the majority. There is that splendid fealty and loyalty to the +great principle upon which our Government rests; so that when the +convention reached its conclusion, every Republican was for the +nominee. There were good men from which to select this ticket. I +made my selection, and did the best I could to induce the +convention to make the same. Some people think, or say they think, +that I made a mistake in telling the name of the man whom I was +for. But I always know whom I am for, I always know what I am for, +and I know the reasons why I am for the thing or for the man.</p> +<p>And it never once occurred to me that we could get a man +nominated, or elected, and keep his name a secret. When I am for a +man I like to stand by him, even while others leave, no matter if +at last I stand alone. I believe in doing things above board, in +the light, in the wide air. No snake ever yet had a skin brilliant +enough, no snake ever crawled through the grass secretly enough, +silently or cunningly enough, to excite my admiration. My +admiration is for the eagle, the monarch of the empyrean, who, +poised on outstretched pinions, challenges the gaze of all the +world. Take your position in the sunlight; tell your neighbors and +your friends what you are for, and give your reasons for your +position; and if that is a mistake, I expect to live making only +mistakes. I do not like the secret way, but the plain, open way; +and I was for one man, not because I had anything against the +others, who were all noble, splendid men, worthy to be Presidents +of the United States.</p> +<p>Now, then, leaving that subject, two parties again confront each +other. With parties as with persons goes what we call character. +They have built up in the nation in which they live reputation, and +the reputation of a party should be taken into consideration as +well as the reputation of a man. What is this party? What has it +done? What has it endeavored to do? What are the ideas in its +brain? What are the hopes, the emotions and the loves in its heart? +Does it wish to make the world grander and better and freer? Has it +a high ideal? Does it believe in sunrise, or does it keep its back +to the sacred east of eternal progress? These are the questions +that every American should ask. Every man should take pride in this +great Nation—America, with a star of glory in her +forehead!—and every man should say, "I hope when I lie down +in death I shall leave a greater and grander country than when I +was born."</p> +<p>This is the country of humanity. This is the Government of the +poor. This is where man has an even chance with his fellow-man. In +this country the poorest man holds in his hand at the day of +election the same unit, the same amount, of political power as the +owner of a hundred millions. That is the glory of the United +States.</p> +<p>A few days ago our party met in convention. Now, let us see who +we are. Let us see what the Republican party is. Let us see what is +the spirit that animates this great and splendid organization.</p> +<p>And I want you to think one moment, just one moment: What was +this country when the first Republican President was elected? Under +the law then, every Northern man was a bloodhound, pledged to catch +human beings, who, led by the light of the Northern Star, were +escaping to free soil. Remember that. And remember, too, that when +our first President was elected we found a treasury empty, the +United States without credit, the great Republic unable to borrow +money from day to day to pay its current expenses. Remember that. +Think of the glory and grandeur of the Republican party that took +the country with an empty exchequer, and then think of what the +Democratic party says to-day of the pain and anguish it has +suffered administering the Government with a surplus!</p> +<p>We must remember what the Republican party has done—what +it has accomplished for nationality, for liberty, for education and +for the civilization of our race. We must remember its courage in +war, its honesty in peace. Civil war tests to a certain degree the +strength, the stability and the patriotism of a country. After the +war comes a greater strain. It is a great thing to die for a cause, +but it is a greater thing to live for it. We must remember that the +Republican party not only put down a rebellion, not only created a +debt of thousands and thousands of millions, but that it had the +industry and the intelligence to pay that debt, and to give to the +United States the best financial standing of any nation.</p> +<p>When this great party came together in Chicago what was the +first thing the convention did? What was the first idea in its +mind? It was to honor the memory of the greatest and grandest men +the Republic has produced. The first name that trembled upon the +lips of the convention was that of Abraham Lincoln—Abraham +Lincoln, one of the greatest and grandest men who ever lived, and, +in my judgment, the greatest man that ever sat in the presidential +chair. And why the greatest? Because the kindest, because he had +more mercy and love in his heart than were in the heart of any +other President. And so the convention paid its tribute to the +great soldier, to the man who led, in company with others, the +great army of freedom to victory, until the old flag floated over +every inch of American soil and every foot of that territory was +dedicated to the eternal freedom of mankind.</p> +<p>And what next did this convention do? The next thing was to send +fraternal greetings to the Americans of Brazil. Why? Because Brazil +had freed every slave, and because that act left the New World, +this hemisphere, without a slave—left two continents +dedicated to the freedom of man—so that with that act of +Brazil the New World, discovered only a few years ago, takes the +lead in the great march of human progress and liberty. That is the +second thing the convention did. Only a little while ago the +minister to this country from Brazil, acting under instructions +from his government, notified the President of the United States +that this sublime act had been accomplished—notified him that +from the bodies of millions of men the chains of slavery had +fallen—an act great enough to make the dull sky of half the +world glow as though another morning had risen upon another +day.</p> +<p>And what did our President say? Was he filled with enthusiasm? +Did his heart beat quicker? Did the blood rush to his cheek? He +simply said, as it is reported, "that he hoped time would justify +the wisdom of the measure." It is precisely the same as though a +man should quit a life of crime, as though some gentleman in the +burglar business should finally announce to his friends: "I have +made up my mind never to break into another house," and the friend +should reply: "I hope that time will justify the propriety of that +resolution."</p> +<p>That was the first thing, with regard to the condition of the +world, that came into the mind of the Republican convention. And +why was that? Because the Republican party has fought for liberty +from the day of its birth to the present moment.</p> +<p>And what was the next? The next resolution passed by the +convention was, "that we earnestly hope, we shall soon congratulate +our fellow-citizens of Irish birth upon the peaceful recovery of +home rule in Ireland."</p> +<p>Wherever a human being wears a chain, there you will find the +sympathy of the Republican party. Wherever one languishes in a +dungeon for having raised the standard of revolt in favor of human +freedom, there you will find the sympathy of the Republican party. +I believe in liberty for Ireland, not because it is Ireland, but +because they are human beings, and I am for liberty, not as a +prejudice, but as a principle.</p> +<p>The man rightfully in jail who wants to get out is a believer in +liberty as a prejudice; but when a man out of jail sees a man +wrongfully in jail and is willing to risk his life to give liberty +to the man who ought to have it, that is being in favor of liberty +as a principle. So I am in favor of liberty everywhere, all over +the world, and wherever one man tries to govern another simply +because he has been born a lord or a duke or a king, or wherever +one governs another simply by brute force, I say that that is +oppression, and it is the business of Americans to do all they can +to give liberty to the oppressed everywhere.</p> +<p>Ireland should govern herself. Those who till the soil should +own the soil, or have an opportunity at least of becoming the +owners. A few landlords should not live in extravagance and luxury +while those who toil live on the leavings, on parings, on crumbs +and crusts. The treatment of Ireland by England has been one +continuous crime. There is no meaner page in history.</p> +<p>What is the next thing in this platform? And if there is +anything in it that anybody can object to, we will find it out +to-night. The next thing is the supremacy of the Nation.-Why, even +the Democrats now believe in that, and in their own platform are +willing to commence that word with a capital N. They tell us that +they are in favor of an indissoluble Union—just as I presume +they always have been. But they now believe in a Union. So does the +Republican party. What else? The Republican party believes, not in +State Sovereignty, but in the preservation of all the rights +reserved to the States by the Constitution.</p> +<p>Let me show you the difference: For instance, you make a +contract with your neighbor who lives next door—equal +partners—and at the bottom of the contract you put the +following addition: "If there is any dispute as to the meaning of +this contract, my neighbor shall settle it, and any settlement he +shall make shall be final." Is there any use of talking about being +equal partners any longer? Any use of your talking about being a +sovereign partner? So, the Constitution of the United States says: +"If any question arises between any State and the Federal +Government it shall be decided by a Federal Court." That is the end +of what they call State Sovereignty.</p> +<p>Think of a sovereign State that can make no treaty, that cannot +levy war, that cannot coin money. But we believe in maintaining the +rights of the States absolutely in their integrity, because we +believe in local self-government. We deny, however, that a State +has any right to deprive a citizen of his vote. We deny that the +State has any right to violate the Federal law, and we go further +and we say that it is the duty of the General Government to see to +it that every citizen in every State shall have the right to +exercise all of his privileges as a citizen of the United +States—"the right of every lawful citizen," says our +platform, "native or foreign, white or black, to cast a free +ballot."</p> +<p>Let me say one word about that.</p> +<p>The ballot is the king, the emperor, the ruler of America; it is +the only rightful sovereign of the Republic; and whoever refuses to +count an honest vote, or whoever casts a dishonest vote, is a +traitor to the great principle upon which our Government is +founded. The man poisons, or endeavors to poison, the springs of +authority, the fountains of justice, of rightful dominion and +power; and until every citizen can cast his vote everywhere in this +land and have that vote counted, we are not a republican people, we +are not a civilized nation. The Republican party will not have +finished its mission until this country is civilized. That is its +business. It was born of a protest against barbarism.</p> +<p>The Republican party was the organized conscience of the United +States. It had the courage to stand by what it believed to be +right. There is something better even than success in this world; +or in other words, there is only one kind of success, and that is +to be for the right. Then whatever happens, you have succeeded.</p> +<p>Now, comes the next question. The Republican party not only +wants to protect every citizen in his liberty, in his right to +vote, but it wants to have that vote counted. And what else?</p> +<p>The next thing in this platform is protection for American +labor.</p> +<p>I am going to tell you in a very brief way why I am in favor of +protection. First, I want this Republic substantially independent +of the rest of the world. You must remember that while people are +civilized—some of them—so that when they have a quarrel +they leave it to the courts to decide, nations still occupy the +position of savages toward each other. There is no national court +to decide a question, consequently the question is decided by the +nations themselves, and you know what selfishness and greed and +power and the ideas of false glory will do and have done. So that +this Nation is not safe one moment from war. I want the Republic so +that it can live although at war with all the world.</p> +<p>We have every kind of climate that is worth having. Our country +embraces the marriage of the pine and palm; we have all there is of +worth; it is the finest soil in the world and the most ingenious +people that ever contrived to make the forces of nature do their +work. I want this Nation substantially independent, so that if +every port were blockaded we would be covered with prosperity as +with a mantle. Then, too, the Nation that cannot take care of +itself in war is always at a disadvantage in peace. That is one +reason. Let me give you the next.</p> +<p>The next reason is that whoever raises raw material and sells it +will be eternally poor. There is no State in this Union where the +farmer raises wheat and sells it, that the farmer is not poor. Why? +He only makes one profit, and, as a rule, that is a loss. The +farmer that raises corn does better, because he can sell, not corn, +but pork and beef and horses. In other words, he can make the +second or third profit, and those farmers get rich. There is a vast +difference between the labor necessary to raise raw material and +the labor necessary to make the fabrics used by civilized men. +Remember that; and if you are confined simply to raw material your +labor will be unskilled; unskilled labor will be cheap, the raw +material will be cheap, and the result is that your country will +grow poorer and poorer, while the country that buys your raw +material, makes it into fabrics and sells it back to you, will grow +intelligent and rich. I want you to remember this, because it lies +at the foundation of this whole subject. Most people who talk on +this point bring forward column after column of figures, and a man +to understand it would have to be a walking table of logarithms. I +do not care to discuss it that way. I want to get at the foundation +principles, so that you can give a reason, as well as myself, why +you are in favor of protection.</p> +<p>Let us take another step. We will take a locomotive—a +wonderful thing—that horse of progress, with its flesh of +iron and steel and breath of flame—a wonderful thing. Let us +see how it is made. Did you ever think of the deft and cunning +hands, of the wonderfully accurate brains, that can make a thing +like that? Did you ever think about it? How much do you suppose the +raw material lying in the earth was worth that was changed into +that locomotive? A locomotive that is worth, we will say, twelve +thousand dollars; how much was the raw material worth lying in the +earth, deposited there millions of years ago? Not as much as one +dollar. Let us, just for the sake of argument, say five dollars. +What, then, has labor added to the twelve thousand dollar +locomotive? Eleven thousand nine hundred and ninety-five dollars. +Now, why? Because, just to the extent that thought is mingled with +labor, wages increase; just to the extent you mix mind with muscle, +you give value to labor; just to the extent that the labor is +skilled, deft, apt, just to that extent or in that proportion, is +the product valuable. Think about it. Raw material! There is a +piece of canvas five feet one way, three the other. Raw material +would be to get a man to whitewash it; that is raw material. Let a +man of genius paint a picture upon it; let him put in that picture +the emotions of his heart, the landscapes that have made poetry in +his brain, the recollection of the ones he loves, the prattle of +children, a mother's tear, the sunshine of her smile, and all the +sweet and sacred memories of his life, and it is worth five +thousand dollars—ten thousand dollars.</p> +<p>Noise is raw material, but the great opera of "Tristan and +Isolde" is the result of skilled labor. There is the same +difference between simple brute strength and skilled labor that +there is between noise and the symphonies of Beethoven. I want you +to get this in your minds.</p> +<p>Now, then, whoever sells raw material gives away the great +profit. You raise cotton and sell it; and just as long as the South +does it and does nothing more the South will be poor, the South +will be ignorant, and it will be solidly Democratic.</p> +<p>Now, do not imagine that I am saying anything against the +Democratic party. I believe the Democratic party is doing the best +it can under the circumstances. You know my philosophy makes me +very charitable. You find out all about a man, all about his +ancestors, and you can account for his vote always. Why? Because +there are causes and effects in nature. There are sometimes +antecedents and subsequents that have no relation to each other, +but at the same time, all through the web and woof of events, you +find these causes and effects, and if you only look far enough, you +will know why a man does as he does.</p> +<p>I have nothing to say against the Democratic party. I want to +talk against ideas, not against people. I do not care anything +about their candidates, whether they are good, bad or indifferent. +What, gentlemen, are your ideas? What do you propose to do? What is +your policy? That is what I want to know, and I am willing to meet +them upon the field of intellectual combat. They are in possession; +they are in the rifle pits of office; we are in the open field, but +we will plant our standard, the flag that we love, without a stain, +and under that banner, upon which so many dying men have looked in +the last hour when they thought of home and country—under +that flag we will carry the Democratic fortifications.</p> +<p>Another thing; we want to get at this business so that we will +understand what we are doing. I do not believe in protecting +American industry for the sake of the capitalist, or for the sake +of any class, but for the sake of the whole Nation. And if I did +not believe that it was for the best interests of the whole Nation +I should be opposed to it.</p> +<p>Let us take this next step. Everybody, of course, cannot be a +farmer. Everybody cannot be a mechanic. All the people in the world +cannot go at one business. We must have a diversity of industry. I +say, the greater that diversity, the greater the development of +brain in the country. We then have what you might call a mental +exchange; men are then pursuing every possible direction in which +the mind can go, and the brain is being developed upon all sides; +whereas, if you all simply cultivated the soil, you would finally +become stupid. If you all did only one business you would become +ignorant; but by pursuing all possible avocations that call for +taste, genius, calculation, discovery, ingenuity, +invention—by having all these industries open to the American +people, we will be able to raise great men and great women; and I +am for protection, because it will enable us to raise greater men +and greater women. Not only because it will make more money in less +time, but because I would rather have greater folks and less +money.</p> +<p>One man of genius makes a continent sublime. Take all the men of +wealth from Scotland—who would know it? Wipe their names from +the pages of history, and who would miss them? Nobody. Blot out one +name, Robert Burns, and how dim and dark would be the star of +Scotland. The great thing is to raise great folks. That is what we +want to do, and we want to diversify all the industries and protect +them all. How much? Simply enough to prevent the foreign article +from destroying the domestic. But they say, then the manufacturers +will form a trust and put the prices up. If we depend upon the +foreign manufacturers will they not form trusts? We can depend on +competition. What do the Democrats want to do? They want to do away +with the tariff, so as to do away with the surplus. They want to +put down the tariff to do away with the surplus. If you put down +the tariff a small per cent, so that the foreign article comes to +America, instead of decreasing, you will increase the surplus. +Where you get a dollar now, you will get five then. If you want to +stop getting anything from imports, you want to put the tariff +higher, my friend.</p> +<p>Let every Democrat understand this, and let him also understand +that I feel and know that he has the same interest in this great +country that I have, and let me be frank enough and candid enough +and honest enough to say that I believe the Democratic party +advocates the policy it does because it believes it will be the +best for the country. But we differ upon a question of policy, and +the only way to argue it is to keep cool. If a man simply shouts +for his side, or gets mad, he is a long way from any intellectual +improvement.</p> +<p>If I am wrong in this, I want to be set right. If it is not to +the interest of America that the shuttle shall keep flying, that +wheels shall keep turning, that cloth shall be woven, that the +forges shall flame and that the smoke shall rise from the +numberless chimneys—if that is not to the interest of +America, I want to know it. But I believe that upon the great cloud +of smoke rising from the chimneys of the manufactories of this +country, every man who will think can see the bow of national +promise.</p> +<p>"Oh, but," they say, "you put the prices so high." Let me give +you two or three facts: Only a few years ago I know that we paid +one hundred and twenty-five dollars a ton for Bessemer steel. At +that time the tariff was twenty-eight dollars a ton, I believe. I +am not much on figures. I generally let them add it up, and I pay +it and go on about my business. With the tariff at twenty-eight +dollars a ton, that being a sufficient protection against Great +Britain, the ingenuity of America went to work. Capital had the +courage to try the experiment, and the result was that, instead of +buying thousands and thousands and thousands and tens of thousands +and hundreds of thousands and millions of tons of steel from Great +Britain, we made it here in our own country, and it went down as +low as thirty dollars a ton. Under this "rascally protection" it +went down to one-fourth of what free trade England was selling it +to us for.</p> +<p>And so I might go on all night with a thousand other articles; +all I want to show you is that we want these industries here, and +we want them protected just as long as they need protection. We +want to rock the cradle just as long as there is a child in it. +When the child gets to be seven or eight feet high, and wears +number twelve boots, we will say: "Now you will have to shift for +yourself." What we want is not simply for the capitalist, not +simply for the workingmen, but for the whole country.</p> +<p>If there is any object worthy the attention of this or any other +government, it is the condition of the workingmen. What do they do? +They do all that is done. They are the Atlases upon whose mighty +shoulders rests the fabric of American civilization. The men of +leisure are simply the vines that run round this great sturdy oak +of labor. If there is anything noble enough, and splendid enough to +claim the attention of a nation, it is this question, and I hope +the time will come when labor will receive far more than it does +to-day. I want you all to think of it—how little, after all, +the laboring man, even in America, receives.</p> +<p>[A voice: "Under protection."]</p> +<p>Yes, sir, even under protection. Take away that protection, and +he is instantly on a level with the European serf. And let me ask +that good, honest gentleman one question. If the laborer is better +off in other countries, why does not the American laborer emigrate +to Europe?</p> +<p>There is no place in the wide world where, in my judgment, labor +reaps its true reward. There never has been. But I hope the time +will come when the American laborer will not only make a living for +himself, for his wife and children, but lay aside something to keep +the roof above his head when the winter of age may come. My +sympathies are all with them, and I would rather see thousands +of... '' palaces of millionaires unroofed than to see desolation in +the cabins of the poor. I know that this world has been made +beautiful by those who have labored and those who have suffered. I +know that we owe to them the conveniences of life, and I have more +conveniences, I live a more luxurious life, than any monarch ever +lived one hundred years ago. I have more conveniences than any +emperor could have purchased with the revenue of his empire one +hundred years ago. It is worth something to live in this age of the +world.</p> +<p>And what has made us such a great and splendid and progressive +and sensible people?</p> +<p>[A voice: "Free thought."]</p> +<p>Free thought, of course. Back of every invention is free +thought. Why does a man invent? Slavery never invents; freedom +invents. A slave working for his master tries to do the least work +in the longest space of time, but a free man, working for wife and +children, tries to do the most work in the shortest possible time. +He is in love with what he is doing, consequently his head and his +hands go in partnership; muscle and brain unite, and the result is +that the head invents something to help the hands, and out of the +brain leaps an invention that makes a slave of the forces of +nature—those forces that have no backs to be whipped, those +forces that shed no tears, those forces that are destined to work +forever for the happiness of the human race.</p> +<p>Consequently I am for the protection of American labor, American +genius, American thought. I do not want to put our workingmen on a +level with the citizens of despotisms. Why do not the Democrats and +others want the Chinese to come here? Are they in favor of being +protected? Why is it that the Democrats and others object to +penitentiary labor? I will tell you. They say that a man in the +penitentiary can produce cheaper. He has no family to support, he +has no children to look after; and they say, it is hardly fair to +make the father of a family and an honest man compete with a +criminal within the walls of a penitentiary. So they ask to be +protected.</p> +<p>What is the difference whether a man is in the penitentiary, or +whether he is in the despotism of some European state? "Ah, but," +they say, "you let the laborer of Europe come here himself." Yes, +and I am in favor of it always. Why? This world belongs to the +human race. And when they come here, in a little while they have +our wants, and if they do not their children do, and you will find +the second generation of Irishmen or Germans or of any other +nationality just as patriotic as the tenth generation from the +first immigrant. I want them to come. Then they get our habits.</p> +<p>Who wants free trade? Only those who want us for their +customers, who would like to sell us everything that we +use—England, Germany, all those countries. And why? Because +one American will buy more than one thousand, yes, five thousand +Asiatics. America consumes more to-day than China and India, more +than ten billion would of semi-civilized and barbarous peoples. +What do they buy—what does England sell? A little powder, a +little whiskey, cheap calico, some blankets—a few things of +that kind. What does the American purchase? Everything that +civilized man uses or that civilized man can want.</p> +<p>England wants this market. Give her free trade, and she will +become the most powerful, the richest nation that ever had her +territories marked upon the map of the world. And what do we +become? Nobodies. Poor. Invention will be lost, our minds will grow +clumsy, the wondrous, deft hand of the mechanic paralyzed—a +great raw material producing country—ignorant, poor, +barbaric. I want the cotton that is raised in this country to be +spun here, to be woven into cloth. I want everything that we use to +be made by Americans. We can make the cloth, we can raise the food +to feed and to clothe this Nation, and the Nation is now only in +its infancy.</p> +<p>Somehow people do not understand this. They really think we are +getting filled up. Look at the map of this country. See the valley +of the Mississippi. Put your hand on it. Trace the rivers coming +from the Rocky Mountains and the Alleghanies, and sweeping down to +the Gulf, and know that in the valley of the Mississippi, with its +wondrous tributaries, there can live and there can be civilized and +educated five hundred millions of human beings.</p> +<p>Let us have some sense. I want to show you how far this goes +beyond the intellectual horizon of some people who hold office. For +instance: We have a tariff on lead, and by virtue of that tariff on +lead nearly every silver mine is worked in this country. Take the +tariff from lead and there would remain in the clutch of the rocks, +of the quartz misers, for all time, millions and millions of +silver; but when that is put with lead, and lead runs with silver, +they can make enough on lead and silver to pay for the mining, and +the result is that millions and millions are added every year to +the wealth of the United States.</p> +<p>Let me tell you another thing: There is not a State in the Union +but has something it wants protected. And Louisiana—a +Democratic State, and will be just as long as Democrats count the +votes—Louisiana has the impudence to talk about free trade +and yet it wants its sugar protected. Kentucky says free trade, +except hemp; and if anything needs protection it is hemp. Missouri +says hemp and lead. Colorado, lead and wool; and so you can make +the tour of the States and every one is for free trade with an +exception—that exception being to the advantage of that +State, and when you put the exceptions together you have protected +the industries of all the States.</p> +<p>Now, if the Democratic party is in favor of anything, it is in +favor of free trade. If President Clevelands message means anything +it means free trade. And why? Because it says to every man that +gets protection: If you will look about you, you will find that you +pay for something else that is protected more than you receive in +benefits for what is protected of yours; consequently the logic of +that is free trade. They believe in it I have no doubt. When the +whole world is civilized, when men are everywhere free, when they +all have something like the same tastes and ambitions, when they +love their families and their children, when they want the same +kind of food and roofs above them—if that day shall ever +come—the world can afford to have its trade free, but do not +put the labor of America on a par with the labor of the Old +World.</p> +<p>Now, about taxes—internal revenue. That was resorted to in +time of war. The Democratic party made it necessary. We had to tax +everything to beat back the Democratic hosts, North and South. Now, +understand me. I know that thousands and hundreds of thousands of +individual Democrats were for this country, and were as pure +patriots as ever marched beneath the flag. I know +that—hundreds of thousands of them. I am speaking of the +party organization that staid at home and passed resolutions that +every time the Union forces won a victory the Constitution had been +violated. I understand that. Those taxes were put on in time of +war, because it was necessary. Direct taxation is always odious. A +government dislikes, to be represented among all the people by a +tax gatherer, by an official who visits homes carrying +consternation and grief wherever he goes. Everybody, from the most +ancient times of which I have ever read, until the present moment, +dislikes a tax gatherer. I have never yet seen in any cemetery a +monument with this inscription: "Sacred to the memory of the man +who loved to pay his taxes." It is far better if we can collect the +needed revenue of this Government indirectly. But, they say, you +must not take the taxes off tobacco; you must not take the taxes +off alcohol or spirits or whiskey. Why? Because it is immoral to +take off the taxes. Do you believe that there was, on the average, +any more drunkenness in this country before the tax was put on than +there is now? I do not. I believe there is as much liquor drank +to-day, per capita, as there ever was in the United States. I will +not blame the Democratic party. I do not care what they drink. What +they think is what I have to do with. I will be plain with them, +because I know lots of fellows in the Democratic party, and that is +the only bad thing about them—splendid fellows. And I know a +good many Republicans, and I am willing to take my oath that that +is the only good thing about them. So, let us all be fair.</p> +<p>I want the taxes taken from tobacco and whiskey; and why? +Because it is a war measure that should not be carried on in peace; +and in the second place, I do not want that system inaugurated in +this country, unless there is an absolute necessity for it, and the +moment the necessity is gone, stop it.</p> +<p>The moral side of this question? Only a couple of years ago, I +think it was, the Prohibitionists said that they wanted this tax +taken from alcohol. Why? Because as long as the Government +licensed, as long as the Government taxed and received sixty +millions of dollars in revenue, just so long the Government would +make this business respectable, just so long the Government would +be in partnership with this liquor crime. That is what they said +then. Now we say take the tax off, and they say it is immoral. Now, +I have a little philosophy about this. I may be entirely wrong, but +I am going to give it to you. You never can make great men and +great women, by keeping them out of the way of temptation. You have +to educate them to withstand temptation. It is all nonsense to tie +a man's hands behind him and then praise him for not picking +pockets. I believe that temperance walks hand in hand with liberty. +Just as life becomes valuable, people take care of it. Just as life +is great, and splendid and noble, as long as the future is a kind +of gallery filled with the ideal, just so long will we take care of +ourselves and avoid dissipation of every kind. Do you know, I +believe, as much as I believe that I am living, that if the +Mississippi itself were pure whiskey and its banks loaf sugar, and +all the flats covered with mint, and all the bushes grew teaspoons +and tumblers, there would not be any more drunkenness than there is +now!</p> +<p>As long as you say to your neighbor "you must not" there is +something in that neighbor that says, "Well I will determine that +for myself, and you just say that again and I will take a drink if +it kills me." There is no moral question involved in it, except +this: Let the burden of government rest as lightly as possible upon +the shoulders of the people, and let it cause as little irritation +as possible. Give liberty to the people. I am willing that the +women who wear silks, satins and diamonds; that the gentlemen who +smoke Havana cigars and drink champagne and Chateau Yquem; I am +perfectly willing that they shall pay my taxes and support this +Government, and I am willing that the man who does not do that, but +is willing to take the domestic article, should go tax free.</p> +<p>Temperance walks hand in hand with liberty. You recollect that +little old story about a couple of men who were having a discussion +on this prohibition question, and the man on the other side said to +the Prohibitionist: "How would you like to live in a community +where every body attended to his own business, where every body +went to bed regularly at night, got up regularly in the morning; +where every man, woman and child was usefully employed during the +day; no backbiting, no drinking of whiskey, no cigars, and where +they all attended divine services on Sunday, and where no profane +language was used?" "Why," said he, "such a place would be a +paradise, or heaven; but there is no such place." "Oh," said the +other man, "every well regulated penitentiary is that way." So much +for the moral side of the question.</p> +<p>Another point that the Republican party calls the attention of +the country to is the use that has been made of the public land. +Oh, say the Democratic party, see what States, what empires have +been given away by the Republican party—and see what the +Republican party did with it. Road after road built to the great +Pacific. Our country unified—the two oceans, for all +practical purposes, washing one shore. That is what it did, and +what else? It has given homes to millions of people in a civilized +land, where they can get all the conveniences of civilization. And +what else? Fifty million acres have been taken back by the +Government. How was this done? It was by virtue of the provisions +put in the original grants by the Republican party.</p> +<p>There is another thing to which the Republican party has called +the attention of the country, and that is the admission of new +States where there are people enough to form a State. Now, with a +solid South, with the assistance of a few Democrats from the North, +comes a State, North Dakota, with plenty of population, a +magnificent State, filled with intelligence and prosperity. It +knocks at the door for admission, and what is the question asked by +this administration? Not "Have you the land, have you the wealth, +have you the men and women?" but "Are you Democratic or +Republican?" And being intelligent people, they answer: "We are +Republicans." And the solid South, assisted by the Democrats of the +North, says to that people: "The door is shut; we will not have +you." Why? "Because you would add two to the Republican majority in +the Senate." Is that the spirit in which a nation like this should +be governed? When a State asks for admission, no matter what the +politics of its people may be, I say, admit that State; put a star +on the flag that will glitter for her.</p> +<p>The next thing the Republican party says is, gold and silver +shall both be money. You cannot make every thing payable in +gold—that would be unfair to the poor man. You shall not make +every thing payable in silver—that would be unfair to the +capitalist; but it shall be payable in gold and silver. And why +ought we to be in favor of silver? Because we are the greatest +silver producing nation in the world; and the value of a thing, +other things being equal, depends on its uses, and being used as +money adds to the value of silver. And why should we depreciate one +of our own products by saying that we will not take it as money? I +believe in bimetalism, gold and silver, and you cannot have too +much of either or both. No nation ever died of a surplus, and in +all the national cemeteries of the earth you will find no monument +erected to a nation that died from having too much silver. Give me +all the silver I want and I am happy.</p> +<p>The Republican party has always been sound on finance. It always +knew you could not pay a promise with a promise. The Republican +party always had sense enough to know that money could not be +created by word of mouth, that you could not make it by a statute, +or by passing resolutions in a convention. It always knew that you +had to dig it out of the ground by good, honest work. The +Republican party always knew that money is a commodity, +exchangeable for all other commodities, but a commodity just as +much as wheat or corn, and you can no more make money by law than +you can make wheat or corn by law. You can by law, make a promise +that will to a certain extent take the place of money until the +promise is paid. It seems to me that any man who can even +understand the meaning of the word democratic can understand that +theory of money.</p> +<p>Another thing right in this platform. Free schools for the +education of all the children in the land. The Republican party +believes in looking out for the children. It knows that the a, b, +c's are the breastworks of human liberty. They know that every +schoolhouse is an arsenal, a fort, where missiles are made to hurl +against the ignorance and prejudice of mankind; so they are for the +free school.</p> +<p>And what else? They are for reducing the postage one-half. Why? +Simply for the diffusion of intelligence. What effect will that +have? It will make us more and more one people. The oftener we +communicate with each other the more homogeneous we become. The +more we study the same books and read the same papers the more we +swap ideas, the more we become true Americans, with the same spirit +in favor of liberty, progress and the happiness of the human +race.</p> +<p>What next? The Republican party says, let us build ships for +America—for American sailors. Let our fleets cover the seas, +and let our men-of-war protect the commerce of the +Republic—not that we can wrong some weak nation, but so that +we can keep the world from doing wrong to us. This is all. I have +infinite contempt for civilized people who have guns carrying balls +weighing several hundred pounds, who go and fight poor, naked +savages that can only throw boomerangs and stones.</p> +<p>I hold such a nation in infinite contempt.</p> +<p>What else is in this platform? You have no idea of the number of +things in it till you look them over. It wants to cultivate +friendly feelings with all the governments in North, Central and +South America, so that the great continents can be +one—instigated, moved, pervaded, inspired by the same great +thoughts. In other words, we want to civilize this continent and +the continent of South America. And what else? This great platform +is in favor of paying—not giving, but paying—pensions +to every man who suffered in the great war. What would we have said +at the time? What, if the North could have spoken, would it have +said to the heroes of Gettysburg on the third day? "Stand firm! We +will empty the treasures of the Nation at your feet." They had the +courage and the heroism to keep the hosts of rebellion back without +that promise, and is there an American to-day that can find it in +his heart to begrudge one solitary dollar that has found its way +into the pocket of a maimed soldier, or into the hands of his widow +or his orphan?</p> +<p>What would we have offered to the sailors under Farragut on +condition that they would pass Forts St. Phillip and Jackson? What +would we have offered to the soldiers under Grant in the +Wilderness? What to the followers of Sherman and Sheridan? Do you +know, I can hardly conceive of a spirit contemptible +enough—and I am not now alluding to the President of the +United States—I can hardly conceive of a spirit contemptible +enough to really desire to keep a maimed soldier from the bounty of +this Nation. It would be a disgrace and a dishonor if we allowed +them to die in poorhouses, to drop by life's highway and to see +their children mourning over their poor bodies, glorious with +scars, maimed into immortality. I may do a great many bad things +before I die, but I give you my word that so long as I live I will +never vote for any President that vetoed a pension bill unless upon +its face it was clear that the man was not a wounded soldier.</p> +<p>What next in this platform? For the protection of American +homes. I am a believer in the home. I have said, and I say +again—the hearthstone is the foundation of the great temple; +the fireside is the altar where the true American worships. I +believe that the home, the family, is the unit of good government, +and I want to see the aegis of the great Republic over millions of +happy homes.</p> +<p>That is all there is in this world worth living for. Honor, +place, fame, glory, riches—they are ashes, smoke, dust, +disappointment, unless there is somebody in the world you love, +somebody who loves you; unless there is some place that you can +call home, some place where you can feel the arms of children +around your neck, some place that is made absolutely sacred by the +love of others.</p> +<p>So I am for this platform. I am for the election of Harrison and +Morton, and although I did nothing toward having that ticket +nominated, because, I tell you, I was for Gresham, yet I will do as +much toward electing the candidates, within my power, as any man +who did vote on the winning side.</p> +<p>We have a good ticket, a noble, gallant soldier at the head; +that is enough for me. He is in favor of liberty and progress. And +you have for Vice-President a man that you all know better than I +do, but a good, square, intelligent, generous man. That is enough +for me. And these men are standing on the best platform that was +ever adopted by the Republican party—a platform that stands +for education, liberty, the free ballot, American industry; for the +American policy that has made us the richest and greatest Nation of +the globe.</p> +<a name="link0017" id="link0017"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>REUNION ADDRESS.</h2> +<pre> + * The Elmwood Reunion, participated in by six regiments, + came to a glorious close last evening. There were thousands + of people present. The city was gayly decorated with flags + and hunting, while pictures and busts of Col. Ingersoll were + in every show window. From early in the morning until noon, + delegations kept coming in, A special train arrived from + Peoria at 10.50 o'clock, bearing a large delegation of old + soldiers together with Col. Ingersoll and his daughter Maud. + He was met by the reception committee, and marched up the + street escorted by an army of veterans. When he arrived on + the west side of the public square, the lines were opened, + and he marched between, in review of his old friends and + comrades. The parade started as soon as it could be formed, + after the arrival of the special train. + + Col. Ingersoll was greeted by a salute of thirteen guns from + Peoria's historic cannon, as he was escorted to the grand + stand by Spencer's band and the Peoria Veterans. + + The reviewing stand was on the west side of the park. Here + the parade was seen by Col. Ingersoll and the other + distinguished guests, among whom were Congressmen Graff and + Prince, Mayor Day, Judges N. E. Worthington and I. C. + Pinkney, and the Hon. Clark E. Carr, who also made a speech + saying that the people cannot estimate the majesty of the + eloquence of Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, keeping alive the + flame of patriotism from 1860 to the present time. . + + The parade was an imposing one, there were fully two + thousand five hundred old veterans in line who passed In + review before Col. Ingersoll, each one doffing his hat as he + marched by. The most pleasing feature of the exercises of + the day was the representation of the Living Flag by one + hundred and fifty little girls of Elmwood, at ten o' clock + under the direction of Col. Lem. H. Wiley, of Peoria. The + flag was presented on a large Inclined amphitheatre at the + left of the grand stand, and was the finest thing ever + witnessed lu this part of the country. + + Following the presentation of the Living Flag, Chairman + Brown called the Reunion to order, and Col. Lem. H. Wiley, + National Bugler gave the assembly call. + + Following the assembly call a male chorus rendered a song, + "Ring O Bells." The song was composed for the occasion by + Mr. E. R. Brown and was as follows: + + "Welcome now that leader fearless, + Free of thought and grand of brain, + King of hearts and speaker peerless, + Hail our Ingersoll again." *** + + Then Chairman, E. R. Brown, took charge of the meeting and + introduced Col. Ingersoll as the greatest of living orators, + referring to the time that the Colonel declared, a quarter + of a century ago, in Rouse's Hall, Peoria, that from that + time forth there would be one free man in Illinois, and + expressing Indebtedness to him for what had been done since + for the freedom and happiness of mankind, by his mighty + brain, his great spirit and his gentle heart. + + He then spoke of Col. Ingersoll's residence in Peoria + county, paying an eloquent tribute to him, and concluded by + leading the distinguished gentleman to the front of the + stand. The appearance of Col. Ingersoll was a signal for a + mighty shout, which was heartily joined in by everybody + present, even the little girls composing the living flag, + cheering and waving their banners. + + It was fully ten minutes before the cheering had subsided, + and when Col. Ingersoll commenced to speak it was renewed + and he was forced to wait for several minutes more. When + quiet was restored, he opened his address, and for an hour + and a half he held the vast audience spell-bound with his + eloquence and wit. + + After Col. Ingersoll's speech the veterans crowded around + the stand to meet and grasp the hand of their comrade, and + the boys of the Eleventh Illinois Cavalry, his old regiment, + were especially profuse in their congratulations and thanks + for the splendid address he had delivered. His speeeh was + off-hand, only occasional reference being made to his short + notes. The Colonel then left the Park amid the yells of + delight of the old soldiers, every man of whom endeavored to + grasp his hand. + + In the afternoon the veterans assembled in Liberty Hall by + themselves, the room being filled. Col. Ingersoll appeared + and was greeted with such cheers as he had not received + during the entire day. He then said good-bye to his old + comrades.—Chicago Inter-ocean and Peoria papers, Sept. 6th, + 1896. +</pre> +<p>Elmwood, Ills.</p> +<center>1895.</center> +<p>LADIES and Gentlemen, Fellow-citizens, Old Friends and +Comrades:</p> +<p>It gives me the greatest pleasure to meet again those with whom +I became acquainted in the morning of my life. It is now afternoon. +The sun of life is slowly sinking in the west, and, as the evening +comes, nothing can be more delightful than to see again the faces +that I knew in youth.</p> +<p>When first I knew you the hair was brown; it is now white. The +lines were not quite so deep, and the eyes were not quite so dim. +Mingled with this pleasure is sadness,—sadness for those who +have passed away—for the dead.</p> +<p>And yet I am not sure that we ought to mourn for the dead. I do +not know which is better—life or death. It may be that death +is the greatest gift that ever came from nature's open hands. We do +not know.</p> +<p>There is one thing of which I am certain, and that is, that if +we could live forever here, we would care nothing for each other. +The fact that we must die, the fact that the feast must end, brings +our souls together, and treads the weeds from out the paths between +our hearts.</p> +<p>And so it may be, after all, that love is a little flower that +grows on the crumbling edge of the grave. So it may be, that were +it not for death there would be no love, and without love all life +would be a curse.</p> +<p>I say it gives me great pleasure to meet you once again; great +pleasure to congratulate you on your good fortune—the good +fortune of being a citizen of the first and grandest republic ever +established upon the face of the earth.</p> +<p>That is a royal fortune. To be an heir of all the great and +brave men of this land, of all the good, loving and patient women; +to be in possession of the blessings that they have given, should +make every healthy citizen of the United States feel like a +millionaire.</p> +<p>This, to-day, is the most prosperous country on the globe; and +it is something to be a citizen of this country.</p> +<p>It is well, too, whenever we meet, to draw attention to what has +been done by our ancestors. It is well to think of them and to +thank them for all their work, for all their courage, for all their +toil.</p> +<p>Three hundred years ago our country was a vast wilderness, +inhabited by a few savages. Three hundred years ago—how short +a time; hardly a tick of the great clock of eternity—three +hundred years; not a second in the life even of this +planet—three hundred years ago, a wilderness; three hundred +years ago, inhabited by a few savages; three hundred years ago a +few men in the Old World, dissatisfied, brave and adventurous, +trusted their lives to the sea and came to this land.</p> +<p>In 1776 there were only three millions of people all told. These +men settled on the shores of the sea. These men, by experience, +learned to govern themselves. These men, by experience, found that +a man should be respected in the proportion that he was useful. +They found, by experience, that titles were of no importance; that +the real thing was the man, and that the real things in the man +were heart and brain. They found, by experience, how to govern +themselves, because there was nobody else here when they came. The +gentlemen who had been in the habit of governing their fellow-men +staid at home, and the men who had been in the habit of being +governed came here, and, consequently, they had to govern +themselves.</p> +<p>And finally, educated by experience, by the rivers and forests, +by the grandeur and splendor of nature, they began to think that +this continent should not belong to any other; that it was great +enough to count one, and that they had the intelligence and manhood +to lay the foundations of a nation.</p> +<p>It would be impossible to pay too great and splendid a tribute +to the great and magnificent souls of that day. They saw the +future. They saw this country as it is now, and they endeavored to +lay the foundation deep; they endeavored to reach the bed-rock of +human rights, the bed-rock of justice. And thereupon they declared +that all men were born equal; that all the children of nature had +at birth the same rights, and that all men had the right to pursue +the only good,—happiness.</p> +<p>And what did they say? They said that men should govern men; +that the power to govern should come from the consent of the +governed, not from the clouds, not from some winged phantom of the +air, not from the aristocracy of ether. They said that this power +should come from men; that the men living in this world should +govern it, and that the gentlemen who were dead should keep +still.</p> +<p>They took another step, and said that church and state should +forever be divorced. That is no harm to real religion. It never +was, because real religion means the doing of justice; real +religion means the giving to others every right you claim for +yourself; real religion consists in duties of man to man, in +feeding the hungry, in clothing the naked, in defending the +innocent, and in saying what you believe to be true.</p> +<p>Our fathers had enough sense to say that, and a man to do that +in 1776 had to be a pretty big fellow. It is not so much to say it +now, because they set the example; and, upon these principles of +which I have spoken, they fought the war of the Revolution.</p> +<p>At no time, probably, were the majority of our forefathers in +favor of independence, but enough of them were on the right side, +and they finally won a victory. And after the victory, those that +had not been even in favor of independence became, under the +majority rule, more powerful than the heroes of the Revolution.</p> +<p>Then it was that our fathers made a mistake. We have got to +praise them for what they did that was good, and we will mention +what they did that was wrong.</p> +<p>They forgot the principles for which they fought. They forgot +the sacredness of human liberty, and, in the name of freedom, they +made a mistake and put chains on the limbs of others.</p> +<p>That was their error; that was the poison that entered the +American blood; that was the corrupting influence that demoralized +presidents and priests; that was the influence that corrupted the +United States of America.</p> +<p>That mistake, of course, had to be paid for, as all mistakes in +nature have to be paid for. And not only do you pay for your +mistake itself, but you pay at least ten per cent, compound +interest. Whenever you do wrong, and nobody finds it out, do not +imagine you have gotten over it; you have not. Nature knows it.</p> +<p>The consequences of every bad act are the invisible police that +no prayers can soften, and no gold can bribe.</p> +<p>Recollect that. Recollect, that for every bad act, there will be +laid upon your shoulder the arresting hand of the consequences; and +it is precisely the same with a nation as it is with an individual. +You have got to pay for all of your mistakes, and you have got to +pay to the uttermost farthing. That is the only forgiveness known +in nature. Nature never settles unless she can give a receipt in +full.</p> +<p>I know a great many men differ with me, and have all sorts of +bankruptcy systems, but Nature is not built that way.</p> +<p>Finally, slavery took possession of the Government. Every man +who wanted an office had to be willing to step between a fugitive +slave and his liberty.</p> +<p>Slavery corrupted the courts, and made judges decide that the +child born in the State of Pennsylvania, whose mother had been a +slave, could not be free.</p> +<p>That was as infamous a decision as was ever rendered, and yet +the people, in the name of the law, did this thing, and the Supreme +Court of the United States did not know right from wrong.</p> +<p>These dignified gentlemen thought that labor could be paid by +lashes on the back—which was a kind of legal tender—and +finally an effort was made to subject the new territory—the +Nation—to the institution of slavery.</p> +<p>Then we had a war with Mexico, in which we got a good deal of +glory and one million square miles of land, but little honor. I +will admit that we got but little honor out of that war. That +territory they wanted to give to the slaveholder.</p> +<p>In 1803 we purchased from Napoleon the Great, one million square +miles of land, and then, in 1821, we bought Florida from Spain. So +that, when the war came, we had about three million square miles of +new land. The object was to subject all this territory to +slavery.</p> +<p>The idea was to go on and sell the babes from their mothers +until time should be no more. The idea was to go on with the +branding-iron and the whip. The idea was to make it a crime to +teach men, human beings, to read and write; to make every Northern +man believe that he was a bulldog, a bloodhound to track down men +and women, who, with the light of the North Star in their eyes, +were seeking the free soil of Great Britain.</p> +<p>Yes, in these times we had lots of mean folks. Let us remember +that.</p> +<p>And all at once, under the forms of law, under the forms of our +Government, the greatest man under the flag was elected President. +That man was Abraham Lincoln. And then it was that those gentlemen +of the South said: "We will not be governed by the majority; we +will be a law unto ourselves."</p> +<p>And let me tell you here to-day—I am somewhat older than I +used to be; I have a little philosophy now that I had not at the +nine o'clock in the morning portion of my life—and I do not +blame anybody. I do not blame the South; I do not blame the +Confederate soldier.</p> +<p>She—the South—was the fruit of conditions. She was +born to circumstances stronger than herself; and do you know, +according to my philosophy, (which is not quite orthodox), every +man and woman in the whole world are what conditions have made +them.</p> +<p>So let us have some sense. The South said, "We will not submit; +this is not a nation, but a partnership of States." I am willing to +go so far as to admit that the South expressed the original idea of +the Government.</p> +<p>But now the question was, to whom did the newly acquired +property belong? New States had been carved out of that territory; +the soil of these States had been purchased with the money of the +Republic, and had the South the right to take these States out of +the Republic? That was the question.</p> +<p>The great West had another interest, and that was that no enemy, +no other nation, should control the mouth of the Mississippi. I +regard the Mississippi River as Nature's protest against secession. +The old Mississippi River says, and swears to it, that this country +shall be one, now and forever.</p> +<p>What was to be done? The South said, "We will never remain," and +the North said, "You shall not go." It was a little slow about +saying it, it is true. Some of the best Republicans in the North +said, "Let it go." But the second, sober thought of the great North +said, "No, this is our country and we are going to keep it on the +map of the world."</p> +<p>And some who had been Democrats wheeled into line, and hundreds +and thousands said, "This is our country," and finally, when the +Government called for volunteers, hundreds and thousands came +forward to offer their services. Nothing more sublime was ever seen +in the history of this world.</p> +<p>I congratulate you to-day that you live in a country that +furnished the greatest army that ever fought for human liberty in +any country round the world. I want you to know that. I want you to +know that the North, East and West furnished the greatest army that +ever fought for human liberty. I want you to know that Gen. Grant +commanded more men, men fighting for the right, not for conquest, +than any other general who ever marshaled the hosts of war.</p> +<p>Let us remember that, and let us be proud of it. The millions +who poured from the North for the defence of the flag—the +story of their heroism has been told to you again and again. I have +told it myself many times. It is known to every intelligent man and +woman in the world. Everybody knows how much we suffered. Everybody +knows how we poured out money like water; how we spent it like +leaves of the forest. Everybody knows how the brave blood was shed. +Everybody knows the story of the great, the heroic struggle, and +everybody knows that at last victory came to our side, and how the +last sword of the Rebellion was handed to Gen. Grant. There is no +need to tell that story again.</p> +<p>But the question now, as we look back, is, was this country +worth saving? Was the blood shed in vain? Were the lives given for +naught? That is the question.</p> +<p>This country, according to my idea, is the one success of the +world. Men here have more to eat, more to wear, better houses, and, +on the average, a better education than those of any other nation +now living, or any that has passed away.</p> +<p>Was the country worth saving?</p> +<p>See what we have done in this country since 1860. We were not +much of a people then, to be honor bright about it. We were +carrying, in the great race of national life, the weight of +slavery, and it poisoned us; it paralyzed our best energies; it +took from our politics the best minds; it kept from the bench the +greatest brains.</p> +<p>But what have we done since 1860, since we really became a free +people, since we came to our senses, since we have been willing to +allow a man to express his honest thoughts on every subject?</p> +<p>Do you know how much good we did? The war brought men together +from every part of the country and gave them an opportunity to +compare their foolishness. It gave them an opportunity to throw +away their prejudices, to find that a man who differed with them on +every subject might be the very best of fellows. That is what the +war did. We have been broadening ever since.</p> +<p>I sometimes have thought it did men good to make the trip to +California in 1849. As they went over the plains they dropped their +prejudices on the way. I think they did, and that's what killed the +grass.</p> +<p>But to come back to my question, what have we done since +1860?</p> +<p>From 1860 to 1880, in spite of the waste of war, in spite of all +the property destroyed by flame, in spite of all the waste, our +profits were one billion three hundred and seventy-four million +dollars. Think of it! From 1860 to 1880! That is a vast sum.</p> +<p>From 1880 to 1890 our profits were two billion one hundred and +thirty-nine million dollars.</p> +<p>Men may talk against wealth as much as they please; they may +talk about money being the root of all evil, but there is little +real happiness in this world without some of it. It is very handy +when staying at home and it is almost indispensable when you travel +abroad. Money is a good thing. It makes others happy; it makes +those happy whom you love, and if a man can get a little together, +when the night of death drops the curtain upon him, he is satisfied +that he has left a little to keep the wolf from the door of those +who, in life, were dear to him. Yes, money is a good thing, +especially since special providence has gone out of business.</p> +<p>I can see to-day something beyond the wildest dream of any +patriot who lived fifty years ago. The United States to-day is the +richest nation on the face of the earth. The old nations of the +world, Egypt, India, Greece, Rome, every one of them, when compared +with this great Republic, must be regarded as paupers.</p> +<p>How much do you suppose this Nation is worth to-day? I am +talking about land and cattle, products, manufactured articles and +railways. Over seventy thousand million dollars. Just think of +it.</p> +<p>Take a thousand dollars and then take nine hundred and +ninety-nine thousand; so you will have one thousand piles of one +thousand each. That makes only a million, and yet the United States +today is worth seventy thousand millions. This is thirty-five +percent, more than Great Britain is worth.</p> +<p>We are a great Nation. We have got the land. This land was being +made for many millions of years. Its soil was being made by the +great lakes and rivers, and being brought down from the mountains +for countless ages.</p> +<p>This continent was standing like a vast pan of milk, with the +cream rising for millions of years, and we were the chaps that got +there when the skimming commenced.</p> +<p>We are rich, and we ought to be rich. It is our own fault if we +are not. In every department of human endeavor, along every path +and highway, the progress of the Republic has been marvelous, +beyond the power of language to express.</p> +<p>Let me show you: In 1860 the horse-power of all the engines, the +locomotives and the steamboats that traversed the lakes and +rivers—the entire power—was three million five hundred +thousand. In 1890 the horse-power of engines and locomotives and +steamboats was over seventeen million.</p> +<p>Think of that and what it means! Think of the forces at work for +the benefit of the United States, the machines doing the work of +thousands and millions of men!</p> +<p>And remember that every engine that puffs is puffing for you; +every road that runs is running for you. I want you to know that +the average man and woman in the United States to-day has more of +the conveniences of life than kings and queens had one hundred +years ago.</p> +<p>Yes, we are getting along.</p> +<p>In 1860 we used one billion eight hundred million dollars' worth +of products, of things manufactured and grown, and we sent to other +countries two hundred and fifty million dollars' worth.</p> +<p>In 1893 we used three billion eighty-nine million dollars' +worth, and we sent to other countries six hundred and fifty-four +million dollars' worth.</p> +<p>You see, these vast sums are almost inconceivable. There is not +a man to-day with brains large enough to understand these figures; +to understand how many cars this money put upon the tracks, how +much coal was devoured by the locomotives, how many men plowed and +worked in the fields, how many sails were given to the wind, how +many ships crossed the sea.</p> +<p>I tell you, there is no man able to think of the ships that were +built, the cars that were made, the mines that were opened, the +trees that were felled—no man has imagination enough to grasp +the meaning of it all. No man has any conception of the sea till he +crosses it. I knew nothing of how broad this country is until I +went over it in a slow train.</p> +<p>Since 1860 the productive power of the United States has more +than trebled.</p> +<p>I like to talk about these things, because they mean good +houses, carpets on the floors, pictures on the walls, some books on +the shelves. They mean children going to school with their stomachs +full of good food, prosperous men and proud mothers.</p> +<p>All my life I have taken a much deeper interest in what men +produce than in what nature does. I would rather see the prairies, +with the oats and the wheat and the waving corn, and the +schoolhouse, and hear the thrush sing amid the happy homes of +prosperous men and women—I would rather see these things than +any range of mountains in the world. Take it as you will, a +mountain is of no great value.</p> +<p>In 1860 our land was worth four billion five hundred million +dollars; in 1890 it was worth fourteen billion dollars.</p> +<p>In 1860 all the railroads in the United States were worth four +hundred million dollars, now they are worth a little less than ten +thousand million dollars.</p> +<p>I want you to understand what these figures mean.</p> +<p>For thirty years we spent, on an average, one million dollars a +day in building railroads.—I want you to think what that +means. All that money had to be dug out of the ground. It had to be +made by raising something or manufacturing something. We did not +get it by writing essays on finance, or discussing the silver +question. It had to be made with the ax, the plow, the reaper, the +mower; in every form of industry; all to produce these splendid +results.</p> +<p>We have railroads enough now to make seven tracks around the +great globe, and enough left for side tracks. That is what we have +done here, in what the European nations are pleased to call "the +new world."</p> +<p>I am telling you these things because you may not know them, and +I did not know them myself until a few days ago. I am anxious to +give away information, for it is only by giving it away that you +can keep it. When you have told it, you remember it. It is with +information as it is with liberty, the only way to be dead sure of +it is to give it to other people.</p> +<p>In 1860 the houses in the United States, the cabins on the +frontier, the buildings in the cities, were worth six thousand +million dollars. Now they are worth over twenty-two thousand +million dollars. To talk about figures like these is enough to make +a man dizzy.</p> +<p>In 1860 our animals of all kinds, including the Illinois +deer—commonly called swine—the oxen and horses, and all +others, were worth about one thousand million dollars; now they are +worth about four thousand million dollars.</p> +<p>Are we not getting rich? Our national debt today is nothing. It +is like a man who owes a cent and has a dollar.</p> +<p>Since 1860 we have been industrious. We have created two million +five hundred thousand new farms. Since 1860 we have done a good +deal of plowing; there have been a good many tired legs. I have +been that way myself. Since 1860 we have put in cultivation two +hundred million acres of land. Illinois, the best State in the +Union, has thirty-five million acres of land, and yet, since 1860, +we have put in cultivation enough land to make six States of the +size of Illinois. That will give you some idea of the quantity of +work we have done. I will admit I have not done much of it myself, +but I am proud of it.</p> +<p>In 1860 we had four million five hundred and sixty-five thousand +farmers in this country, whose land and implements were worth over +sixteen thousand million dollars. The farmers of this country, on +an average, are worth five thousand dollars, and the peasants of +the Old World, who cultivate the soil, are not worth, on an +average, ten dollars beyond the wants of the moment. The farmers of +our country produce, on an average, about one million four hundred +thousand dollars' worth of stuff a day.</p> +<p>What else? Have we in other directions kept pace with our +physical development? Have we developed the mind? Have we +endeavored to develop the brain? Have we endeavored to civilize the +heart? I think we have.</p> +<p>We spend more for schools per head than any nation in the world. +And the common school is the breath of life.</p> +<p>Great Britain spends one dollar and thirty cents per head on the +common schools; France spends eighty cents; Austria, thirty cents; +Germany, fifty cents; Italy, twenty-five cents, and the United +States over two dollars and fifty cents.</p> +<p>I tell you the schoolhouse is the fortress of liberty. Every +schoolhouse is an arsenal, filled with weapons and ammunition to +destroy the monsters of ignorance and fear.</p> +<p>As I have said ten thousand times, the school-house is my +cathedral. The teacher is my preacher.</p> +<p>Eighty-seven per cent, of all the people of the United States, +over ten years of age, can read and write. There is no parallel for +this in the history of the wide world.</p> +<p>Over forty-two millions of educated citizens, to whom are opened +all the treasures of literature!</p> +<p>Forty-two millions of people, able to read and write! I say, +there is no parallel for this. The nations of antiquity were very +ignorant when compared with this great Republic of ours. There is +no other nation in the world that can show a record like ours. We +ought to be proud of it. We ought to build more schools, and build +them better. Our teachers ought to be paid more, and everything +ought to be taught in the public school that is worth knowing.</p> +<p>I believe that the children of the Republic, no matter whether +their fathers are rich or poor, ought to be allowed to drink at the +fountain of education, and it does not cost more to teach +everything in the free schools than it does teaching reading and +writing and ciphering.</p> +<p>Have we kept up in other ways? The post office tells a wonderful +story. In Switzerland, going through the post office in each year, +are letters, etc., in the proportion of seventy-four to each +inhabitant. In England the number is sixty; in Germany, +fifty-three; in France, thirty-nine; in Austria, twenty-four; in +Italy, sixteen, and in the United States, our own home, one hundred +and ten. Think of it. In Italy only twenty-five cents paid per head +for the support of the public schools and only sixteen letters. And +this is the place where God's agent lives. I would rather have one +good schoolmaster than two such agents.</p> +<p>There is another thing. A great deal has been said, from time to +time, about the workingman. I have as much sympathy with the +workingman as anybody on the earth—who does not work. There +has always been a desire in this world to let somebody else do the +work, nearly everybody having the modesty to stand back whenever +there is anything to be done. In savage countries they make the +women do the work, so that the weak people have always the bulk of +the burdens. In civilized communities the poor are the ones, of +course, that work, and probably they are never fully paid. It is +pretty hard for a manufacturer to tell how much he can pay until he +sells the stuff which he manufactures. Every man who manufactures +is not rich. I know plenty of poor corporations; I know tramp +railroads that have not a dollar. And you will find some of them as +anarchistic as you will find their men. What a man can pay, depends +upon how much he can get for what he has produced. What the farmer +can pay his help depends upon the price he receives for his stock, +his corn and his wheat.</p> +<p>But wages in this country are getting better day by day. We are +getting a little nearer to being civilized day by day, and when I +want to make up my mind on a subject I try to get a broad view of +it, and not decide it on one case.</p> +<p>In 1860 the average wages of the workingman were, per year, two +hundred and eighty-nine dollars. In 1890 the average was four +hundred and eighty-five. Thus the average has almost doubled in +thirty years. The necessaries of life are far cheaper than they +were in 1860. Now, to my mind, that is a hopeful sign. And when I +am asked how can the dispute between employer and employee be +settled, I answer, it will be settled when both parties become +civilized.</p> +<p>It takes a long time to educate a man up to the point where he +does not want something for nothing. Yet, when a man is civilized, +he does not.</p> +<p>He wants for a thing just what it is worth; he wants to give +labor its legitimate reward, and when he has something to sell he +never wants more than it is worth. I do not claim to be civilized +myself; but all these questions between capital and labor will be +settled by civilization.</p> +<p>We are to-day accumulating wealth at the rate of more than seven +million dollars a day. Is not this perfectly splendid?</p> +<p>And in the midst of prosperity let us never forget the men who +helped to save our country, the men whose heroism gave us the +prosperity we now enjoy.</p> +<p>We have one-seventh of the good land of this world. You see +there is a great deal of poor land in the world. I know the first +time I went to California, I went to the Sink of the Humboldt, and +what a forsaken look it had. There was nothing there but mines of +brimstone. On the train, going over, there was a fellow who got +into a dispute with a minister about the first chapter of Genesis. +And when they got along to the Sink of the Humboldt the fellow says +to the minister:</p> +<p>"Do you tell me that God made the world in six days, and then +rested on the seventh?"</p> +<p>He said, "I do."</p> +<p>"Well," said the fellow, "don't you think he could have put in +another day here to devilish good advantage?"</p> +<p>But, as I have said, we have got about one-seventh of the good +land of the world. I often hear people say that we have too many +folks here; that we ought to stop immigration; that we have no more +room. The people who say this know nothing of their country. They +are ignorant of their native land. I tell you that the valley of +the Mississippi and the valleys of its tributaries can support a +population of five hundred millions of men, women, and children. +Don't talk of our being overpopulated; we have only just +started.</p> +<p>Here, in this land of ours, five hundred million men and women +and children can be supported and educated without trouble. We can +afford to double two or three times more. But what have we got to +do? We have got to educate them when they come. That is to say, we +have got to educate their children, and in a few generations we +will have them splendid American citizens, proud of the +Republic.</p> +<p>We have no more patriotic men under the flag than the men who +came from other lands, the hundreds and thousands of those who +fought to preserve this country. And I think just as much of them +as I would if they had been born on American soil. What matters it +where a man was born? It is what is inside of him you have to look +at—what kind of a heart he has, and what kind of a head. I do +not care where he was born; I simply ask, Is he a man? Is he +willing to give to others what he claims for himself? That is the +supreme test.</p> +<p>Now, I have got a hobby. I do not suppose any of you have heard +of it. I think the greatest thing for a country is for all of its +citizens to have a home. I think it is around the fireside of home +that the virtues grow, including patriotism. We want homes.</p> +<p>Until a few years ago it was the custom to put men in prison for +debt. The authorities threw a man into jail when he owed something +which he could not pay, and by throwing him into jail they deprived +him of an opportunity to earn what would pay it. After a little +time they got sense enough to know that they could not collect a +debt in this way, and that it was better to give him his freedom +and allow him to earn something, if he could. Therefore, +imprisonment for debt was done away with.</p> +<p>At another time, when a man owed anything, if he was a +carpenter, a blacksmith or a shoemaker, and not able to pay it, +they took his tools, on a writ of sale and execution, and thus +incapacitated him so that he could do nothing. Finally they got +sense enough to abolish that law, to leave the mechanic his tools +and the farmer his plows, horses and wagons, and after this, debts +were paid better than ever they were before.</p> +<p>Then we thought of protecting the home-builder, and we said: "We +will have a homestead exemption. We will put a roof over wife and +child, which shall be exempt from execution and sale," and so we +preserved hundreds of thousands and millions of homes, while debts +were paid just as well as ever they were paid before.</p> +<p>Now, I want to take a step further. I want, the rich people of +this country to support it. I want the people who are well off to +pay the taxes. I want the law to exempt a homestead of a certain +value, say from two thousand dollars to two thousand five hundred, +and to exempt it, not only from sale on judgment and execution, but +to exempt it from taxes of all sorts and kinds. I want to keep the +roof over the heads of children when the man himself is gone. I +want that homestead to belong not only to the man, but to wife and +children. I would like to live to see a roof over the heads of all +the families of the Republic. I tell you, it does a man good to +have a home. You are in partnership with nature when you plant a +hill of corn. When you set out a tree you have a new interest in +this world. When you own a little tract of land you feel as if you +and the earth were partners. All these things dignify human +nature.</p> +<p>Bad as I am, I have another hobby. There are thousands and +thousands of criminals in our country. I told you a little while +ago I did not blame the South, because of the conditions which +prevailed in the South. The people of the South did as they must. I +am the same about the criminal. He does as he must.</p> +<p>If you want to stop crime you must treat it properly. The +conditions of society must not be such as to produce criminals.</p> +<p>When a man steals and is sent to the penitentiary he ought to be +sent there to be reformed and not to be brutalized; to be made a +better man, not to be robbed.</p> +<p>I am in favor, when you put a man in the penitentiary, of making +him work, and I am in favor of paying him what his work is worth, +so that in five years, when he leaves the prison cell, he will have +from two hundred dollars to three hundred dollars as a breastwork +between him and temptation, and something for a foundation upon +which to build a nobler life.</p> +<p>Now he is turned out and before long he is driven back. Nobody +will employ him, nobody will take him, and, the night following the +day of his release he is without a roof over his head and goes back +to his old ways. I would allow him to change his name, to go to +another State with a few hundred dollars in his pocket and begin +the world again.</p> +<p>We must recollect that it is the misfortune of a man to become a +criminal.</p> +<p>I have hobbies and plenty of them.</p> +<p>I want to see five hundred millions of people living here in +peace. If we want them to live in peace, we must develop the brain, +civilize the heart, and above all things, must not forget +education. Nothing should be taught in the school that somebody +does not know.</p> +<p>When I look about me to-day, when I think of the advance of my +country, then I think of the work that has been done.</p> +<p>Think of the millions who crossed the mysterious sea, of the +thousands and thousands of ships with their brave prows towards the +West.</p> +<p>Think of the little settlements on the shores of the ocean, on +the banks of rivers, on the edges of forests.</p> +<p>Think of the countless conflicts with savages—of the +midnight attacks—of the cabin floors wet with the blood of +dead fathers, mothers and babes.</p> +<p>Think of the winters of want, of the days of toil, of the nights +of fear, of the hunger and hope.</p> +<p>Think of the courage, the sufferings and hardships.</p> +<p>Think of the homesickness, the disease and death.</p> +<p>Think of the labor; of the millions and millions of trees that +were felled, while the aisles of the great forests were filled with +the echoes of the ax; of the many millions of miles of furrows +turned by the plow; of the millions of miles of fences built; of +the countless logs changed to lumber by the saw—of the +millions of huts, cabins and houses.</p> +<p>Think of the work. Listen, and you will hear the hum of wheels, +the wheels with which our mothers spun the flax and wool. Listen, +and you will hear the looms and flying shuttles with which they +wove the cloth.</p> +<p>Think of the thousands still pressing toward the West, of the +roads they made, of the bridges they built; of the homes, where the +sunlight fell, where the bees hummed, the birds sang and the +children laughed; of the little towns with mill and shop, with inn +and schoolhouse; of the old stages, of the crack of the whips and +the drivers' horns; of the canals they dug.</p> +<p>Think of the many thousands still pressing toward the West, +passing over the Alleghanies to the shores of the Ohio and the +great lakes—still onward to the Mississippi—the +Missouri.</p> +<p>See the endless processions of covered wagons drawn by horses, +by oxen,—men and boys and girls on foot, mothers and babes +inside. See the glimmering camp fires at night; see the thousands +up with the sun and away, leaving the perfume of coffee on the +morning air, and sometimes leaving the new-made grave of wife or +child. Listen, and you will hear the cry of "Gold!" and you will +see many thousands crossing the great plains, climbing the +mountains and pressing on to the Pacific.</p> +<p>Think of the toil, the courage it has taken to possess this +land!</p> +<p>Think of the ore that was dug, the furnaces that lit the nights +with flame; of the factories and mills by the rushing streams.</p> +<p>Think of the inventions that went hand in hand with the work; of +the flails that were changed to threshers; of the sickles that +became cradles, and the cradles that were changed to reapers and +headers—of the wooden plows that became iron and steel; of +the spinning wheel that became the jennie, and the old looms +transformed to machines that almost think—of the steamboats +that traversed the rivers, making the towns that were far apart +neighbors and friends; of the stages that became cars, of the +horses changed to locomotives with breath of flame, and the roads +of dust and mud to highways of steel, of the rivers spanned and the +mountains tunneled.</p> +<p>Think of the inventions, the improvements that changed the hut +to the cabin, the cabin to the house, the house to the palace, the +earthen floors and bare walls to carpets and pictures—that +changed famine to feast—toil to happy labor and poverty to +wealth.</p> +<p>Think of the cost.</p> +<p>Think of the separation of families—of boys and girls +leaving the old home—taking with them the blessings and +kisses of fathers and mothers. Think of the homesickness, of the +tears shed by the mothers left by the daughters gone. Think of the +millions of brave men deformed by labor now sleeping in their +honored graves.</p> +<p>Think of all that has been wrought, endured and accomplished for +our good, and let us remember with gratitude, with love and tears +the brave men, the patient loving women who subdued this land for +us.</p> +<p>Then think of the heroes who served this country; who gave us +this glorious present and hope of a still more glorious future; +think of the men who really made us free, who secured the blessings +of liberty, not only to us, but to billions yet unborn.</p> +<p>This country will be covered with happy homes and free men and +free women.</p> +<p>To-day we remember the heroic dead, those whose blood reddens +the paths and highways of honor; those who died upon the field, in +the charge, in prison-pens, or in famine's clutch; those who gave +their lives that liberty should not perish from the earth. And +to-day we remember the great leaders who have passed to the realm +of silence, to the land of shadow. Thomas, the rock of Chickamauga, +self-poised, firm, brave, faithful; Sherman, the reckless, the +daring, the prudent and the victorious; Sheridan, a soldier fit to +have stood by Julius Cæsar and to have uttered the words of +command; and Grant, the silent, the invincible, the unconquered; +and rising above them all, Lincoln, the wise, the patient, the +merciful, the grandest figure in the Western world. We remember +them all today and hundreds of thousands who are not mentioned, but +who are equally worthy, hundreds of thousands of privates, +deserving of equal honor with the plumed leaders of the host.</p> +<p>And what shall I say to you, survivors of the death-filled days? +To you, my comrades, to you whom I have known in the great days, in +the time when the heart beat fast and the blood flowed strong; in +the days of high hope—what shall I say? All I can say is that +my heart goes out to you, one and all. To you who bared your bosoms +to the storms of war; to you who left loved ones to die, if need +be, for the sacred cause. May you live long in the land you helped +to save; may the winter of your age be as green as spring, as full +of blossoms as summer, as generous as autumn, and may you, +surrounded by plenty, with your wives at your sides and your +grandchildren on your knees, live long. And when at last the fires +of life burn low; when you enter the deepening dusk of the last of +many, many happy days; when your brave hearts beat weak and slow, +may the memory of your splendid deeds; deeds that freed your +fellow-men; deeds that kept your country on the map of the world; +deeds that kept the flag of the Republic in the air—may the +memory of these deeds fill your souls with peace and perfect joy. +Let it console you to know that you are not to be forgotten. +Centuries hence your story will be told in art and song, and upon +your honored graves flowers will be lovingly laid by millions' of +men and women now unborn.</p> +<p>Again expressing the joy that I feel in having met you, and +again saying farewell to one and all, and wishing you all the +blessings of life, I bid you goodbye.*</p> +<pre> + * At the last reunion of the Eleventh Illinois Cavalry, the + Colonel's old regiment, and the soldiers of Peoria county, + which Mr. Ingersoll attended, a little incident happened + which let us into the inner circle of his life. The meeting + was held at Elmwood. While the soldier were passing in + review the citizens and young people filled all the seats in + the park and crowded around the speaker's stand, so as to + occupy all available space. When the soldiers had finished + their parade and returned to the park, they found it + impossible to get near the speaker. Of course we were all + disappointed, but were forced to stand on the outskirts of + the vast throng. + + As soon as he ceased speaking, Mr. Ingersoll said to a + soldier that he would like to meet his comrades in the hall + at a certain hour in the afternoon. The word spread quickly, + and at the appointed hour the hall was crowded with + soldiers. The guard stationed at tue door was ordered to let + none but soldiers pass into the hall. Some of the comrades, + however, brought their wives. The guards, true to their + orders, refused to let the ladies pass. Just as Mr. + Ingersoll was ready to speak, word came to him that some of + the comrades' wives were outside and wanted permission to + pass the guard. The hall was full, but Mr. Ingersoll + requested all comrades whose wives were within reach to go + and get them. When his order had been complied with even + standing room was at a premium. When Mr. Ingersoll arose to + speak to that great assemblage of white-haired veterans and + their aged companions his voice was unusually tender, and the + wave of emotion that passed through the hall cannot be told + in words. Tears and cheers blended as Mr. Ingersoll arose + and began his speech with the statement that all present + were nearing the setting sun of life, and in all probability + that was the last opportunity many of them would have of + taking each other by the hand. + + In this half-hour impromptu speech the great-hearted man, + Robert G. Ingersoll, was seen at his best. It was not a + clash of opinions over party or creed, but it was a meeting + of hearts and communion together In the holy of holies of + human life. The address was a series of word-pictures that + still hang on the walls of memory. The speaker, in his most + sympathetic mood, drew a picture of the service of the G. A. + R., of the women of the republic, and then paid a beautiful + tribute to home and invoked the kindest and greatest + influence to guard his comrades and their companions during + the remainder of life's journey. + + We got very close to the man that day, where we could see + the heart of Mr. Ingersoll. I have often wished that a + reporter could have been present to preserve the address. + Imagine four beautiful word-paintings entitled, "The Service + of the G. A. R.," "The Influence of Noble Womanhood," "The + Sacredness of Home," and "The Pilgrimage of Life." Imagine + these word-paintings as drawn by Mr. Ingersoll under the + most favorable circumstances, and you have an idea of that + address. Mr. Ingersoll the Agnostic is a very different man + from Mr. Ingersoll the man and patriot. I cannot share the + doubts of this Agnostic. I cannot help admiring the man and + patriot.—The Rev. Frank McAlpine, Peoria Star, August 1, + 1895. +</pre> +<a name="link0018" id="link0018"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +<h2>THE CHICAGO AND NEW YORK GOLD SPEECH.</h2> +<pre> + * "This world will see but one Ingersoll." + + Such was the terse, laconic, yet potent utterance that came + spontaneously from a celebrated statesman whose head is now + pillowed in the dust of death, as he stood in the lobby of + the old Burnet House in Cincinnati after the famous + Republican Convention in that city in 1876, at which Colonel + Robert G. Ingersoll made that powerful speech nominating + Blaine for the Presidency, one which is read and reread to- + day, and will be read in the future, as an example of the + highest art of the platform. + + That same sentiment in thought, emotion or vocal expression + emanated from upward of twenty thousand citizens last night + who heard the eloquent and magic Ingersoll in the great + tent stretched near the corner of Sacramento avenue and Lake + street as he expounded the living gospel of true + Republicanism. + + The old warhorse, silvered by long years of faithful service + to his country, aroused the same all-pervading enthusiasm as + he did in the campaigns of Grant and Hayes and Garfield. + + He has lost not one whit, not one iota of his striking + physical presence, his profound reasoning, his convincing + logic, his rollicking wit, grandiloquence—in fine, all the + graces of the orator of old, reenforced by increased + patriotism and the ardor of the call to battle for his + country, are still his in the fullest measure. + + Ingersoll in his powerful speech at Cincinnati, spoke in + behalf of a friend; last night he plead for his country. In + 1876 he eulogized a man; last night, twenty years afterward, + he upheld the principles of democratic government. Such was + the difference in his theme; the logic, the eloquence of his + utterances was the more profound In the same ratio. + + He came to the ground floor of human existence and talked as + man to man. His patriotism, be it religion, sentiment, or + that lofty spirit inseparable from man's soul, is his life. + Last night he sought to inspire those who heard him with the + same loyalty, and he succeeded. + + Those passionate outbursts of eloquence, the wit that fairly + scintillated, the logic as Inexorable as heaven's decrees, + his rich rhetoric and immutable facts driven straight to his + hearers with the strength of bullets, aroused applause that + came as spontaneous as sunlight. + + Now eliciting laughter, now silence, now cheers, the great + orator, with the singular charm of presence, manner and + voice, swayed his immense audience at his own volition. + Packed with potency was every sentence, each word a living + thing, and with them he flayed financial heresy, laid bare + the dire results of free trade, and exposed the dangers of + Populism. + + It was an immense audience that greeted him. The huge tent + was packed from center-pole to circumference, and thousands + went away because they could not gain entrance. The houses + in the vicinity were beautifully illuminated decorated. + + The Chairman, Wm. P. McCabe, in a brief but forcible speech, + presented Colonel Ingersoll to the vast audience. As the old + veteran of rebellion days arose from his seat, one + prolonged, tremendous cheer broke forth from the twenty + thousand throats. And it was fully fifteen minutes before + the great orator could begin to deliver his address. + + In his introductory speech Mr. McCabe said: + + "Friends and Fellow-Citizens: I have no set speech to make + to-night. My duty Is to introduce to you one whose big heart + and big brain is filled with love and patriotic care for the + things that concern the country he fought for and loved so + well. I now have the honor of introducing to you Hon. Robert + G. Ingersoll."—The Intrr-Ocean, Chicago, 111., October 9th, + 1895. +</pre> +<center>1896.</center> +<p>LADIES and Gentlemen: This is our country.</p> +<p>The legally expressed will of the majority is the supreme law of +the land. We are responsible for what our Government does. We +cannot excuse ourselves because of the act of some king, or the +opinions of nobles. We are the kings. We are the nobles. We are the +aristocracy of America, and when our Government does right we are +honored, and when our Government does wrong the brand of shame is +on the American brow.</p> +<p>Again we are on the field of battle, where thought contends with +thought, the field of battle where facts are bullets and arguments +are swords.</p> +<p>To-day there is in the United States a vast congress consisting +of the people, and in that congress every man has a voice, and it +is the duty of every man to inquire into all questions presented, +to the end that he may vote as a man and as a patriot should.</p> +<p>No American should be dominated by prejudice. No man standing +under our flag should follow after the fife and drum of a party. He +should say to himself: "I am a free man, and I will discharge the +obligations of an American citizen with all the intelligence I +possess."</p> +<p>I love this country because the people are free; and if they are +not free it is their own fault.</p> +<p>To-night I am not going to appeal to your prejudices, if you +have any. I am going to talk to the sense that you have. I am going +to address myself to your brain and to your heart. I want nothing +of you except that you will preserve the institutions of the +Republic; that you will maintain her honor unstained. That is all I +ask.</p> +<p>I admit that all the parties who disagree with me are honest. +Large masses of mankind are always honest, the leader not always, +but the mass of people do what they believe to be right. +Consequently there is no argument in abuse, nothing calculated to +convince in calumny. To be kind, to be candid, is far nobler, far +better, and far more American. We live in a Democracy, and we admit +that every other human being has the same right to think, the same +right to express his thought, the same right to vote that we have, +and I want every one who hears me to vote in exact accord with his +sense, to cast his vote in accordance with his conscience. I want +every one to do the best he can for the great Republic, and no +matter how he votes, if he is honest, I shall find no fault.</p> +<p>But the great thing is to understand what you are going to do; +the great thing is to use the little sense that we have. In most of +us the capital is small, and it ought to be turned often. We ought +to pay attention, we ought to listen to what is said and then +think, think for ourselves.</p> +<p>Several questions have been presented to the American people for +their solution, and I propose to speak a little about those +questions, and I do not want you to pretend to agree with me. I +want no applause unless you honestly believe I am right.</p> +<p>Three great questions are presented: First, as to money; second, +as to the tariff, and third, whether this Government has the right +of self-defence. Whether this is a Government of law, or whether +there shall be an appeal from the Supreme Court to a mob. These are +the three questions to be answered next Tuesday by the American +people.</p> +<p>First, let us take up this money question. Thousands and +thousands of speeches have been made on the subject. Pamphlets +thick as the leaves of autumn have been scattered from one end of +the Republic to the other, all about money, as if it were an +exceedingly metaphysical question, as though there were something +magical about it.</p> +<p>What is money? Money is a product of nature. Money is a part of +nature. Money is something that man cannot create. All the +legislatures and congresses of the world cannot by any possibility +create one dollar, any more than they could suspend the attraction +of gravitation or hurl a new constellation into the concave sky. +Money is not made. It has to be found. It is dug from the crevices +of rocks, washed from the sands of streams, from the gravel of +ancient valleys; but it is not made. It cannot be created. Money is +something that does not have to be redeemed. Money is the redeemer. +And yet we have a man running for the presidency on three platforms +with two Vice-Presidents, who says that money is the creature of +law. It may be that law sometimes is the creature of money, but +money was never the creature of law.</p> +<p>A nation can no more create money by law than it can create corn +and wheat and barley by law, and the promise to pay money is no +nearer money than a warehouse receipt is grain, or a bill of fare +is a dinner. If you can make money by law, why should any nation be +poor?</p> +<p>The supply of law is practically unlimited. Suppose one hundred +people should settle on an island, form a government, elect a +legislature. They would have the power to make law, and if law can +make money, if money is the creature of law, why should not these +one hundred people on the island be as wealthy as Great Britain? +What is to hinder? And yet we are told that money is the creature +of law. In the financial world that is as absurd as perpetual +motion in mechanics; it is as absurd as the fountain of eternal +youth, the philosopher's stone, or the transmutation of metals.</p> +<p>What is a dollar? People imagine that a piece of paper with +pictures on it, with signatures, is money. The greenback is not +money—never was; never will be. It is a promise to pay money; +not money. The note of the nation is no nearer money than the note +of an individual. A bank note is not money. It is a promise to pay +money; that is all.</p> +<p>Well, what is a dollar? In the civilized world it is +twenty-three grains and twenty-two one hundredths of pure gold. +That is a dollar. Well, cannot we make dollars out of silver? Yes, +I admit it, but in order to make a silver dollar you have got to +put a dollars worth of silver in the silver dollar, and you have to +put as much silver in it as you can buy for twenty-three grains and +twenty-two one-hundredths' of a grain of pure gold. It takes a +dollar's worth of silver to make a dollar. It takes a dollar's +worth of paper to make a paper dollar. It takes a dollar's worth of +iron to make an iron dollar; and there is no way of making a dollar +without the value.</p> +<p>And let me tell you another thing. You do not add to the value +of gold by coining it any more than you add to the value of wheat +by measuring it; any more than you add to the value of coal by +weighing it. Why do you coin gold? Because every man cannot take a +chemist's outfit with him. He cannot carry a crucible and retort, +scales and acids, and so the Government coins it, simply to certify +how much gold there is in the piece.</p> +<p>Ah, but, says this same gentleman, what gives our +money—our silver—its value? It is because it is a legal +tender, he says. Nonsense; nonsense. Gold was not given value by +being made a legal tender, but being valuable it was made a legal +tender. And gold gets no value to-day from being a legal tender. I +not only say that, but I will prove it; and I will not only prove +it, but I will demonstrate it. Take a twenty dollar gold piece, +hammer it out of shape, mar the Goddess of Liberty, pound out the +United States of America and batter the eagle, and after you get it +pounded how much is it worth?</p> +<p>It is worth exactly twenty dollars. Is it a legal tender? No. +Has its value been changed? No. Take a silver dollar. It is a legal +tender; now pound it into a cube, and how much is it worth? A +little less than fifty cents. What gives it the value of a dollar? +The fact that it is a legal tender? No; but the promise of the +Government to keep it on an equality with gold. I will not only say +this, but I will demonstrate it. I do not ask you to take my word; +just use the sense you have.</p> +<p>The Mexican silver dollar has a little more silver in it than +one of our dollars, and the Mexican silver dollar is a legal tender +in Mexico. If there is any magic about legal tender it ought to +work as well in Mexico as in the United States. I take an American +silver dollar and I go to Mexico. I buy a dinner for a dollar and I +give to the Mexican the American dollar and he gives me a Mexican +dollar in change. Yet both of the dollars are legal tender. Why is +it that the Mexican dollar is worth only fifty cents? Because the +Mexican Government has not agreed to keep it equal with gold; that +is all, that is all.</p> +<p>We want the money of the civilized world, and I will tell you +now that in the procession of nations every silver nation lags +behind—every one. There is not a silver nation on the globe +where decent wages are paid for human labor—not one. The +American laborer gets ten times as much here in gold as a laborer +gets in China in silver, twenty times as much as a laborer does in +India, four times as much as a laborer gets in Russia; and yet we +are told that the man who will "follow England" with the gold +standard lacks patriotism and manhood. What then shall we say of +the man that follows China, that follows India in the silver +standard?</p> +<p>Does that require patriotism?</p> +<p>It certainly requires self-denial.</p> +<p>And yet these gentlemen say that our money is too good. They +might as well say the air is too pure; they might as well say the +soil is too rich. How can money be too good? Mr. Bryan says that it +is so good, people hoard it; and let me tell him they always will. +Mr. Bryan wants money so poor that everybody will be anxious to +spend it. He wants money so poor that the rich will not have it. +Then he thinks the poor can get it. We are willing to toil for good +money. Good money means the comforts and luxuries of life. Real +money is always good. Paper promises and silver substitutes may be +poor; words and pictures may be cheap and may fade to +worthlessness—but gold shines on.</p> +<p>In Chicago, many years ago, there was an old colored man at the +Grand Pacific. I met him one morning, and he looked very sad, and I +said to him, "Uncle, what is the matter?" "Well," he said, "my wife +ran away last night. Pretty good looking woman; a good deal younger +than I am; but she has run off." And he says: "Colonel, I want to +give you my idea about marriage. If a man wants to marry a woman +and have a good time, and be satisfied and secure in his mind, he +wants to marry some woman that no other man on God's earth would +have."</p> +<p>That is the kind of money these gentlemen want in the United +States. Cheap money. Do you know that the words cheap money are a +contradiction in terms? Cheap money is always discounted when +people find out that it is cheap. We want good money, and I do not +care how much we get. But we want good money. Men are willing to +toil for good money; willing to work in the mines; willing to work +in the heat and glare of the furnace; willing to go to the top of +the mast on the wild sea; willing to work in tenements; women are +willing to sew with their eyes filled with tears for the sake of +good money. And if anything is to be paid in good money, labor is +that thing. If any man is entitled to pure gold, it is the man who +labors. Let the big fellows take cheap money. Let the men living +next the soil be paid in gold. But I want the money of this country +as good as that of any other country.</p> +<p>When our money is below par we feel below par. I want our money, +no matter how it is payable, to have the gold behind it. That is +the money I want in the United States.</p> +<p>I want to teach the people of the world that a Democracy is +honest. I want to teach the people of the world that America is not +only capable of self-government, but that it has the self-denial, +the courage, the honor, to pay its debts to the last farthing.</p> +<p>Mr. Bryan tells the farmers who are in debt that they want cheap +money. What for? To pay their debts. And he thinks that is a +compliment to the tillers of the soil. The statement is an insult +to the farmers, and the farmers of Maine and Vermont have answered +him.</p> +<p>And if the farmers of those States with their soil can be +honest, I think a farmer in Illinois has no excuse for being a +rascal. I regard the farmers as honest men, and when the sun shines +and the rains fall and the frosts wait, they will pay their debts. +They are good men, and I want to tell you to-night that all the +stories that have been told about farmers being Populists are not +true.</p> +<p>You will find the Populists in the towns, in the great cities, +in the villages. All the failures, no matter for what reason, are +on the Populist's side. They want to get rich by law. They are +tired of work.</p> +<p>And yet Mr. Bryan says vote for cheap money so that you can pay +your debts in fifty cent dollars. Will an honest man do it?</p> +<p>Suppose a man has borrowed a thousand bushels of wheat of his +neighbor, of sixty pounds to the bushel, and then Congress should +pass a law making thirty pounds of wheat a bushel. Would that +farmer pay his debt with five hundred bushels and consider himself +an honest man?</p> +<p>Mr. Bryan says, "Vote for cheap money to pay your debts," and +thereupon the creditor says, "What is to become of me?" Mr. Bryan +says, "We will make it one dollar and twenty-nine cents an ounce, +and make it of the ratio of sixteen to one, make it as good as +gold." And thereupon the poor debtor says, "How is that going to +help me?" And in nearly all the speeches that this man has made he +has taken the two positions, first, that we want cheap money to pay +debts, and second, that the money would be just as good as gold for +creditors.</p> +<p>Now, the question is: Can Congress make fifty cents' worth of +silver worth one dollar? That is the question, and if Congress can, +then I oppose the scheme on account of its extravagance. What is +the use of wasting all that silver? Think about it. If Congress can +make fifty cents' worth of silver worth a dollar by law, why can it +not make one cent's worth of silver worth a dollar by law. Let us +save the silver and use it for forks and spoons. The supply even of +silver is limited—the supply of law is inexhaustible. Do not +waste silver, use more law. You cannot fix values by law any more +than you can make cooler summers by shortening thermometers.</p> +<p>There is another trouble. If Congress, by the free coinage of +silver, can double its value, why should we allow an Englishman +with a million dollars' worth of silver bullion at the market +price, to bring it to America, have it coined free of charge, and +make it exactly double the value? Why should we put a million +dollars in his pocket? That is too generous. Why not buy the silver +from him in the open market and let the Government make the million +dollars? Nothing is more absurd; nothing is more idiotic. I admit +that Mr. Bryan is honest. I admit it. If he were not honest his +intellectual pride would not allow him to make these +statements.</p> +<p>Well, another thing says our friend, "Gold has been cornered"; +and thousands of people believe it.</p> +<p>You have no idea of the credulity of some folks. I say that it +has not been cornered, and I will not only prove it, I will +demonstrate it. Whenever the Stock Exchange or some of the members +have a corner on stocks, that stock goes up, and if it does not, +that corner bursts. Whenever gentlemen in Chicago get up a corner +on wheat in the Produce Exchange, wheat goes up or the corner +bursts. And yet they tell me there has been a corner in gold for +all these years, yet since 1873 to the present time the rate of +interest has steadily gone down.</p> +<p>If there had been a corner the rate of interest would have +steadily advanced. There is a demonstration. But let me ask, for my +own information, if they corner gold what will prevent their +cornering silver? Or are you going to have it so poor that it will +not be worth cornering?</p> +<p>Then they say another thing, and that is that the demonetization +of silver is responsible for all the hardships we have endured, for +all the bankruptcy, for all the panics. That is not true, and I +will not only prove it, but I will demonstrate it. The poison of +demonetization entered the American veins, as they tell us, in +1873, and has been busy in its hellish work from that time to this; +and yet, nineteen years after we were vaccinated, 1892, was the +most prosperous year ever known by this Republic. All the wheels +turning, all the furnaces aflame, work at good wages, everybody +prosperous. How, Mr. Bryanite, how do you account for that? Just be +honest a minute and think about it.</p> +<p>Then there is another thing. In 1816 Great Britain demonetized +silver, and that wretched old government has had nothing but gold +from that day to this as a standard. And to show you the frightful +results of that demonetization, that government does not own now +above one-third of the globe, and all the winds are busy floating +her flags. There is a demonstration.</p> +<p>Mr. Bryan tells us that free coinage will bring silver 16 to 1. +What is the use of stopping there? Why not make it 1 to 1? Why not +make it equal with gold and be done with it? And why should it stop +at exactly one dollar and twenty-nine cents? I do not know. I am +not well acquainted with all the facts that enter into the question +of value, but why should it stop at exactly one dollar and +twenty-nine cents? I do not know. And I guess if he were +cross-examined along toward the close of the trial he would admit +that he did not know.</p> +<p>And yet this statesman calls this silver the money of our +fathers. Well, let us see. Our fathers did some good things. In +1792 they made gold and silver the standards, and at a ratio of 15 +to 1. But where you have two metals and endeavor to make a double +standard it is very hard to keep them even. They vary, and, as old +Dogberry says, "An two men ride of a horse, one must ride behind." +They made the ratio 15 to 1, and who did it? Thomas Jefferson and +Alexander Hamilton. Jefferson, the greatest man, with one +exception, that ever sat in the presidential chair. With one +exception. [A voice: "Who was that?"] Abraham Lincoln. Alexander +Hamilton, with more executive ability than any other man that ever +stood under the flag. And how did they fix the ratio? They found +the commercial value in the market; that is how they did it. And +they went on and issued American dollars 15 to 1; and in 1806, when +Jefferson was President, the coinage was stopped. Why? There was +too much silver in the dollars, and people instead of passing them +around put them aside and sold them to the silversmiths.</p> +<p>Then in 1834 the ratios changed; not quite sixteen to one. That +was based again on the commercial value, and instead of sixteen to +one they went into the thousands in decimals. It was not quite +sixteen to one. They wanted to fix it absolutely on the commercial +value. Then a few more dollars were coined; and our fathers coined +of these sacred dollars up to 1873, eight millions, and seven +millions had been melted.</p> +<p>In 1853 the gold standard was in fact adopted, and, as I have +told you, from 1792 to 1873 only eight millions of silver had been +coined.</p> +<p>What have the "enemies of silver" done since that time? Under +the act of 1878 we have coined over four hundred and thirty +millions of these blessed dollars. We bought four million ounces of +silver in the open market every month, and in spite of the vast +purchases silver continued to go down. We are coining about two +millions a month now, and silver is still going down. Even the +expectation of the election of Bryan cannot add the tenth of one +per cent, to the value of silver bullion. It is going down day by +day.</p> +<p>But what I want to say to-night is, if you want silver money, +measure it by the gold standard.</p> +<p>I wish every one here would read the speech of Senator Sherman, +delivered at Columbus a little while ago, in which he gives the +history of American coinage, and every man who will read it will +find that silver was not demonetized in 1873. You will find that it +was demonetized in 1853, and if he will read back he will find that +the apostles of silver now were in favor of the gold standard in +1873. Senator Jones of Nevada in 1873 voted for the law of 1873. He +said from his seat in the Senate, that God had made gold the +standard. He said that gold was the mother of civilization. Whether +he has heard from God since or not I do not know. But now he is on +the other side. Senator Stewart of Nevada was there at the time; he +voted for the act of 1873, and said that gold was the only +standard. He has changed his mind. So they have said of me that I +used to talk another way, and they have published little portions +of speeches, without publishing all that was said. I want to tell +you to-night that I have never changed on the money question.</p> +<p>On many subjects I have changed. I am very glad to feel that I +have grown a little in the last forty or fifty years. And a man +should allow himself to grow, to bud and blossom and bear new +fruit, and not be satisfied with the rotten apples under the +tree.</p> +<p>But on the money question I have not changed. Sixteen years ago +in this city at Cooper Union, in 1880, in discussing this precise +question, I said that I wanted gold and silver and paper; that I +wanted the paper issued by the General Government, and back of +every paper dollar I wanted a gold dollar or a silver dollar worth +a dollar in gold. I said then, "I want that silver dollar worth a +dollar in gold if you have to make it four feet in diameter." I +said then, "I want our paper so perfectly secure that when the +savage in Central Africa looks upon a Government bill of the United +States his eyes will gleam as though he looked at shining gold." I +said then, "I want every paper dollar of the Union to be able to +hold up its hand and swear, 'I know that my Redeemer liveth.'" I +said then, "The Republic cannot afford to debase money; cannot +afford to be a clipper of coin; an honest nation, honest money; for +nations as well as individuals, honesty is the best policy +everywhere and forever." I have not changed on that subject. As I +told a gentleman the other day, "I am more for silver than you are +because I want twice as much of it in a dollar as you do."</p> +<p>Ah, but they say, "free coinage would bring prosperity." I do +not believe it, and I will tell you why. Elect Bryan, come to the +silver standard, and what would happen? We have in the United +States about six hundred million dollars in gold. Every dollar +would instantly go out of circulation. Why? No man will use the +best money when he can use cheaper. Remember that. No carpenter +will use mahogany when his contract allows pine. Gold will go out +of circulation, and what next would happen? All the greenbacks +would fall to fifty cents on the dollar. The only reason they are +worth a dollar now is because the Government has agreed to pay them +in gold. When you come to a silver basis they fall to fifty cents. +What next? All the national bank notes would be cut square in two. +Why? Because they are secured by United States bonds, and when we +come to a silver basis, United States bonds would be paid in +silver, fifty cents on the dollar. And what else would happen? What +else? These sacred silver dollars would instantly become fifty cent +pieces, because they would no longer be redeemable in gold; because +the Government would no longer be under obligation to keep them on +a parity with gold. And how much currency and specie would that +leave for us in the United States? In value three hundred and fifty +million dollars. That is five dollars per capita. We have twenty +dollars per capita now, and yet they want to go to five dollars for +the purpose of producing prosperous times!</p> +<p>What else would happen? Every human being living on an income +would lose just one-half. Every soldiers' pension would be cut in +two. Every human being who has a credit in the savings bank would +lose just one-half. All the life insurance companies would pay just +one-half. All the fire insurance companies would pay just one-half, +and leave you the ashes for the balance. That is what they call +prosperity.</p> +<p>And what else? The Republic would be dishonored. The believers +in monarchy—in the divine right of kings—the +aristocracies of the Old World—would say, "Democracy is a +failure, freedom is a fraud, and liberty is a liar;" and we would +be compelled to admit the truth. No; we want good, honest money. We +want money that will be good when we are dead. We want money that +will keep the wolf from the door, no matter what Congress does. We +want money that no law can create; that is what we want. There was +a time when Rome was mistress of the world, and there was a time +when the arch of the empire fell, and the empire was buried in the +dust of oblivion; and before those days the Roman people coined +gold, and one of those coins is as good to-night as when Julius +Cæsar rode at the head of his legions. That is the money we +want. We want money that is honest.</p> +<p>But Mr. Bryan hates the bondholders. Who are the bondholders? +Let us be honest; let us have some sense. When this Government was +in the flame of civil war it was compelled to sell bonds, and +everybody who bought a bond bought it because he believed the great +Republic would triumph at last. Every man who bought a bond was our +friend, and every bond that he purchased added to the chances of +our success. They were our friends, and I respect them all. Most of +them are dead, and the bonds they bought have been sold and resold +maybe hundreds of times, and the men who have them now paid a +hundred and twenty in gold, and why should they not be paid in +gold? Can any human being think of any reason? And yet Mr. Bryan +says that the debt is so great that it cannot be paid in gold. How +much is the Republic worth? Let me tell you? This Republic +to-day—its lands in cultivation, its houses, railways, +canals, and money—is worth seventy thousand million dollars. +And what do we owe? One billion five hundred million dollars, and +what is the condition of the country? It is the condition of a man +who has seventy dollars and owes one dollar and a half. This is the +richest country on the globe. Have we any excuse for being thieves? +Have we any excuse for failing to pay the debt? No, sir; no, sir. +Mr. Bryan hates the bondholders of the railways. Why? I do not +know. What did those wretches do? They furnished the money to build +the one hundred and eighty thousand miles of railway in the United +States; that is what they did.</p> +<p>They paid the money that threw up the road-bed, that shoveled +the gravel; they paid the men that turned the ore into steel and +put it in form for use; they paid the men that cut down the trees +and made the ties, that manufactured the locomotives and the cars. +That is what they did. No wonder that a presidential failure hates +them.</p> +<p>So this man hates bankers. Now, what is a banker? Here is a +little town of five thousand people, and some of them have a little +money. They do not want to keep it in the house because some Bryan +man might find it; I mean if it were silver. So one citizen buys a +safe and rents a room and tells all the people, "You deposit the +overplus with me to hold it subject to your order upon your orders +signed as checks;" and so they do, and in a little while he finds +that he has on hand continually about one hundred thousand dollars +more than is called for, and thereupon he loans it to the fellow +who started the livery stable and to the chap that opened the +grocery and to the fellow with the store, and he makes this idle +money work for the good and prosperity of that town. And that is +all he does. And these bankers now, if Mr. Bryan becomes President, +can pay the depositors in fifty cent dollars; and yet they are such +rascally wretches that they say, "We prefer to pay back gold." You +can see how mean they are.</p> +<p>Mr. Bryan hates the rich. Would he like to be rich? He hates the +bondholders. Would he like to have a million? He hates the +successful man. Does he want to be a failure? If he does, let him +wait until the third day of November. We want honest money because +we are honest people; and there never was any real prosperity for a +nation or an individual without honesty, without integrity, and it +is our duty to preserve the reputation of the great Republic.</p> +<p>Better be an honest bankrupt than a rich thief. Poverty can hold +in its hand the jewel, honor—a jewel that outshines all other +gems. A thousand times better be poor and noble than rich and +fraudulent.</p> +<p>Then there is another question—the question of the tariff. +I admit that there are a great many arguments in favor of free +trade, but I assert that all the facts are the other way. I want +American people as far as possible to manufacture everything that +Americans use.</p> +<p>The more industries we have the more we will develop the +American brain, and the best crop you can raise in every country is +a crop of good men and good women—of intelligent people. And +another thing, I want to keep this market for ourselves. A nation +that sells raw material will grow ignorant and poor; a nation that +manufactures will grow intelligent and rich. It only takes muscle +to dig ore. It takes mind to manufacture a locomotive, and only +that labor is profitable that is mixed with thought. Muscle must be +in partnership with brain. I am in favor of keeping this market for +ourselves, and yet some people say: "Give us the market of the +world." Well, why don't you take it? There is no export duty on +anything. You can get things out of this country cheaper than from +any other country in the world. Iron is as cheap here in the +ground, so are coal and stone, as any place on earth. The timber is +as cheap in the forest. Why don't you make things and sell them in +Central Africa, in China and Japan? Why don't you do it? I will +tell you why. It is because labor is too high; that is all. Almost +the entire value is labor. You make a ton of steel rails worth +twenty-five dollars; the ore in the ground is worth only a few +cents, the coal in the earth only a few cents, the lime in the +cliff only a few cents—altogether not one dollar and fifty +cents; but the ton is worth twenty-five dollars; twenty-three +dollars and fifty cents labor! That is the trouble. The steamship +is worth five hundred thousand dollars, but the raw material is not +worth ten thousand dollars. The rest is labor. Why is labor higher +here than in Europe? Protection. And why do these gentlemen ask for +the trade of the world? Why do they ask for free trade? Because +they want cheaper labor. That is all; cheaper labor. The markets of +the world! We want our own markets. I would rather have the market +of Illinois than all of China with her four hundred millions. I +would rather have the market of one good county in New York than +all of Mexico. What do they want in Mexico? A little red calico, a +few sombreros and some spurs. They make their own liquor and they +live on red pepper and beans. What do you want of their markets? We +want to keep our own. In other words, we want to pursue the policy +that has given us prosperity in the past. We tried a little bit of +free trade in 1892 when we were all prosperous. I said then: "If +Grover Cleveland is elected it will cost the people five hundred +million dollars." I am no prophet, nor the son of a prophet, nor a +profitable son, but I placed the figure too low. His election has +cost a thousand million dollars. There is an old song, "You Put the +Wrong Man off at Buffalo;" we took the wrong man on at Buffalo. We +tried just a little of it, not much. We tried the Wilson +bill—a bill, according to Mr. Cleveland, born of perfidy and +dishonor—a bill that he was not quite foolish enough to sign +and not brave enough to veto. We tried it and we are tired of it, +and if experience is a teacher the American people know a little +more than they did. We want to do our own work, and we want to +mingle our thought with our labor. We are the most inventive of all +the peoples. We sustain the same relation to invention that the +ancient Greeks did to sculpture. We want to develop the brain; we +want to cultivate the imagination, and we want to cover our land +with happy homes. A thing is worth sometimes the thought that is in +it, sometimes the genius. Here is a man buys a little piece of +linen for twenty-five cents, he buys a few paints for fifteen +cents, and a few brushes, and he paints a picture; just a little +one; a picture, maybe, of a cottage with a dear old woman, white +hair, serene forehead and satisfied eyes; at the corner a few +hollyhocks in bloom—may be a tree in blossom, and as you +listen you seem to hear the songs of birds—the hum of bees, +and your childhood all comes back to you as you look. You feel the +dewy grass beneath your bare feet once again, and you go back in +your mind until the dear old woman on the porch is once more young +and fair. There is a soul there. Genius has done its work. And the +little picture is worth five, ten, may be fifty thousand dollars. +All the result of labor and genius.</p> +<p>And another thing we want is to produce great men and great +women here in our own country; then again we want business. Talk +about charity, talk about the few dollars that fall unconsciously +from the hand of wealth, talk about your poorhouses and your sewing +societies and your poor little efforts in the missionary line in +the worst part of your town! Ah, there is no charity like business. +Business gives work to labor's countless hands; business wipes the +tears from the eyes of widows and orphans; business dimples with +joy the cheek of sorrow; business puts a roof above the heads of +the homeless; business covers the land with happy homes.</p> +<p>We do not want any populistic philanthropy. We want no fiat +philosophy. We want no silver swindles. We want business. Wind and +wave are our servants; let them work. Steam and electricity are our +slaves; let them toil. Let all the wheels whirl; let all the +shuttles fly. Fill the air with the echoes of hammer and saw. Fill +the furnace with flame; the moulds with liquid iron. Let them +glow.</p> +<p>Build homes and palaces of trade. Plow the fields, reap the +waving grain. Create all things that man can use. Business will +feed the hungry, clothe the naked, educate the ignorant, enrich the +world with art—fill the air with song. Give us Protection and +Prosperity. Do not cheat us with free trade dreams. Do not deceive +us with debased coin. Give us good money—the life blood of +business—and let it flow through the veins and arteries of +commerce.</p> +<p>And let me tell you to-night the smoke arising from the +factories' great plants forms the only cloud on which has ever been +seen the glittering bow of American promise. We want work, and I +tell you to-night that my sympathies are with the men who work, +with the women who weep. I know that labor is the Atlas on whose +shoulders rests the great superstructure of civilization and the +great dome of science adorned with all there is of art. Labor is +the great oak, labor is the great column, and labor, with its deft +and cunning hands, has created the countless things of art and +beauty. I want to see labor paid. I want to see capital civilized +until it will be willing to give labor its share, and I want labor +intelligent enough to settle all these questions in the high court +of reason. And let me tell the workingman to-night: You will never +help your self by destroying your employer. You have work to sell. +Somebody has to buy it, if it is bought, and somebody has to buy it +that has the money. Who is going to manufacture something that will +not sell. Nobody is going into the manufacturing business through +philanthropy, and unless your employer makes a profit, the mill +will be shut down and you will be out of work. The interest of the +employer and the employed should be one. Whenever the employers of +the continent are successful, then the workingman is better paid, +and you know it. I have some hope in the future for the workingman. +I know what it is to work. I do not think my natural disposition +runs in that direction, but I know what it is to work, and I have +worked with all my might at one dollar and a half a week. I did the +work of a man for fifty cents a day, and I was not sorry for it. In +the horizon of my future burned and gleamed the perpetual star of +hope. I said to myself: I live in a free country, and I have a +chance; I live in a free country, and I have as much liberty as any +other man beneath the flag, and I have enjoyed it.</p> +<p>Something has been done for labor. Only a few years ago a man +worked fifteen or sixteen hours a day, but the hours have been +reduced to at least ten and are on the way to still further +reduction. And while the hours have been decreased the wages have +as certainly been increased. In forty years—in less—the +wages of American workingmen have doubled. A little while ago you +received an average of two hundred and eighty-five dollars a year; +now you receive an average of more than four hundred and ninety +dollars; there is the difference. So it seems to me that the star +of hope is still in the sky for every workingman. Then there is +another thing: every workingman in this country can take his little +boy on his knee and say, "John, all the avenues to distinction, +wealth, and glory are open to you. There is the free school; take +your chances with the rest." And it seems to me that that thought +ought to sweeten every drop of sweat that trickles down the honest +brow of toil.</p> +<p>So let us have protection! How much? Enough, so that our income +at least will equal our outgo. That is a good way to keep house. I +am tired of depression and deficit. I do not like to see a +President pawning bonds to raise money to pay his own salary. I do +not like to see the great Republic at the mercy of anybody, so let +us stand by protection.</p> +<p>There is another trouble. The gentleman now running for the +presidency—a tireless talker—oh, if he had a brain +equal to his vocal chords, what a man! And yet when I read his +speeches it seems to me as though he stood on his head and thought +with his feet. This man is endeavoring to excite class against +class, to excite the poor against the rich. Let me tell you +something. We have no classes in the United States. There are no +permanent classes here. The millionaire may be a mendicant, the +mendicant may be a millionaire. The man now working for the +millionaire may employ that millionaire's sons to work for him. +There is a chance for us all. Sometimes a numskull is born in the +mansion, and a genius rises from the gutter. Old Mother Nature has +a queer way of taking care of her children. You cannot tell. You +cannot tell. Here we have a free open field of competition, and if +a man passes me in the race I say: "Good luck. Get ahead of me if +you can, you are welcome."</p> +<p>And why should I hate the rich? Why should I make my heart a den +of writhing, hissing snakes of envy? Get rich. I do not care. I am +glad I live in a country where somebody can get rich. It is a spur +in the flank of ambition. Let them get rich. I have known good men +that were quite rich, and I have known some mean men who were in +straitened circumstances. So I have known as good men as ever +breathed the air, who were poor. We must respect the man; what is +inside, not what is outside.</p> +<p>That is why I like this country. That is why I do not want it +dishonored. I want no class feeling. The citizens of America should +be friends. Where capital is just and labor intelligent, happiness +dwells. Fortunate that country where the rich are extravagant and +the poor economical. Miserable that country where the rich are +economical and the poor are extravagant. A rich spendthrift is a +blessing. A rich miser is a curse. Extravagance is a splendid form +of charity. Let the rich spend, let them build, let them give work +to their fellow-men, and I will find no fault with their wealth, +provided they obtained it honestly.</p> +<p>There was an old fellow by the name of Socrates. He happened to +be civilized, living in a barbarous time, and he was tried for his +life. And in his speech in which he defended himself is a paragraph +that ought to remain in the memory of the human race forever.</p> +<p>He said to those judges, "During my life I have not sought +ambition, wealth. I have not sought to adorn my body, but I have +endeavored to adorn my soul with the jewels of patience and +justice, and above all, with the love of liberty." Such a man rises +above all wealth.</p> +<p>Why should we envy the rich? Why envy a man who has no earthly +needs? Why envy a man that carries a hundred canes? Why envy a man +who has that which he cannot use? I know a great many rich men and +I have read about a great many others, and I do not envy them. They +are no happier than I am. You see, after all, few rich men own +their property. The property owns them. It gets them up early in +the morning. It will not let them sleep; it makes them suspect +their friends. Sometimes they think their children would like to +attend a first-class funeral. Why should we envy the rich? They +have fear; we have hope. They are on the top of the ladder; we are +close to the ground. They are afraid of falling, and we hope to +rise.</p> +<p>Why should we envy the rich? They never drank any colder water +than I have. They never ate any lighter biscuits or any better corn +bread. They never drank any better Illinois wine, or felt better +after drinking it, than I have; than you have. They never saw any +more glorious sunsets with the great palaces of amethyst and gold, +and they never saw the heavens thicker with constellations; they +never read better poetry. They know no more about the ecstasies of +love than we do. They never got any more pleasure out of courting +than I did. Why should we envy the rich? I know as much about the +ecstasies of love of wife and child and friends as they. They never +had any better weather in June than I have, or you have. They can +buy splendid pictures. I can look at them. And who owns a great +picture or a great statue? The man who bought it? Possibly, and +possibly not. The man who really owns it, is the man who +understands it, that appreciates it, the man into whose heart its +beauty and genius come, the man who is ennobled and refined and +glorified by it.</p> +<p>They have never heard any better music than I have.</p> +<p>When the great notes, winged like eagles, soar to the great dome +of sound, I have felt just as good as though I had a hundred +million dollars.</p> +<p>Do not try to divide this country into classes. The rich man +that endeavors to help his fellow-man deserves the honor and +respect of the great Republic. I have nothing against the man that +got rich in the free and open field of competition. Where they +combine to rob their fellow-men, then I want the laws enforced. +That is all. Let them play fair and they are welcome to all they +get.</p> +<p>And why should we hate the successful? Why? We cannot all be +first. The race is a vast procession; a great many hundred millions +are back of the center, and in front there is only one human being; +that is all. Shall we wait for the other fellows to catch up? Shall +the procession stop? I say, help the fallen, assist the weak, help +the poor, bind up the wounds, but do not stop the procession.</p> +<p>Why should we envy the successful? Why should we hate them? And +why should we array class against class? It is all wrong. For +instance, here is a young man, and he is industrious. He is in love +with a girl around the corner. She is in his brain all day—in +his heart all night, and while he is working he is thinking. He +gets a little ahead, they get married. He is an honest man, he gets +credit, and the first thing you know he has a good business of his +own and he gets rich; educates his children, and his old age is +filled with content and love. Good! His companions bask in the +sunshine of idleness. They have wasted their time, wasted their +wages in dissipation, and when the winter of life comes, when the +snow falls on the barren fields of the wasted days, then shivering +with cold, pinched with hunger, they curse the man who has +succeeded. Thereupon they all vote for Bryan.</p> +<p>Then there is another question, and that is whether the +Government has a right to protect itself? And that is whether the +employees of railways shall have a right to stop the trains, a +right to prevent interstate commerce, a right to burn bridges and +shoot engineers? Has the United States the right to protect +commerce between the States? I say, yes.</p> +<p>It is the duty of the President to lay the mailed hand of the +Republic upon the mob. We want no mobs in this country. This is a +Government of the people and by the people, a Government of law, +and these laws should be interpreted by the courts in judicial +calm. We have a supreme tribunal. Undoubtedly it has made some bad +decisions, but it has made a vast number of good ones. The judges +do the best they can. Of course they are not like Mr. Bryan, +infallible. But they are doing the best they can, and when they +make a decision that is wrong it will be attacked by reason, it +will be attacked by argument, and in time it will be reversed, but +I do not believe in attacking it with a torch or by a mob. I hate +the mob spirit. Civilized men obey the law. Civilized men believe +in order. Civilized men believe that a man that makes property by +industry and economy has the right to keep it. Civilized men +believe that that man has the right to use it as he desires, and +they will judge of his character by the manner in which he uses it. +If he endeavors to assist his fellow-man he will have the respect +and admiration of his fellow-men. But we want a Government of law. +We do not want labor questions settled by violence and blood.</p> +<p>I want to civilize the capitalist so that he will be willing to +give what labor is worth. I want to educate the workingman so that +he will be willing to receive what labor is worth. I want to +civilize them both to that degree that they can settle all their +disputes in the high court of reason.</p> +<p>But when you tell me that they can stop the commerce of the +Nation, then you preach the gospel of the bludgeon, the gospel of +torch and bomb. I do not believe in that religion. I believe in a +religion of kindness, reason and law. The law is the supreme will +of the supreme people, and we must obey it or we go back to +savagery and black night. I stand by the courts. I stand by the +President who endeavors to preserve the peace. I am against mobs; I +am against lynchings, and I believe it is the duty of the Federal +Government to protect all of its citizens at home and abroad; and I +want a Government powerful enough to say to the Governor of any +State where they are murdering American citizens without process of +law—I want the Federal Government to say to the Governor of +that State: "Stop; stop shedding the blood of American citizens. +And if you cannot stop it, we can." I believe in a Government that +will protect the lowest, the poorest and weakest as promptly as the +mightiest and strongest. That is my Government. This old doctrine +of State Sovereignty perished in the flame of civil war, and I tell +you to-night that that infamous lie was surrendered to Grant with +Lee's sword at Appomattox.</p> +<p>I believe in a strong Government, not in a Government that can +make money, but in a strong Government.</p> +<p>Oh, I forgot to ask the question, "If the Government can make +money why should it collect taxes?"</p> +<p>Let us be honest. Here is a poor man with a little yoke of +cattle, cultivating forty acres of stony ground, working like a +slave in the heat of summer, in the cold blasts of winter, and the +Government makes him pay ten dollars taxes, when, according to +these gentlemen, it could issue a one hundred thousand dollar bill +in a second. Issue the bill and give the fellow with the cattle a +rest. Is it possible for the mind to conceive anything more absurd +than that the Government can create money?</p> +<p>Now, the next question is, or the next thing is, you have to +choose between men. Shall Mr. Bryan be the next President or shall +McKinley occupy that chair? Who is Mr. Bryan? He is not a tried +man. If he had the capacity to reason, if he had logic, if he could +spread the wings of imagination, if there were in his heart the +divine flower called pity, he might be an orator, but lacking all +these, he is as he is.</p> +<p>When Major McKinley was fighting under the flag, Bryan was in +his mother's arms, and judging from his speeches he ought to be +there still. What is he? He is a Populist. He voted for General +Weaver.</p> +<p>Only a little while ago he denied being a Democrat. His mind is +filled with vagaries. A fiat money man. His brain is an insane +asylum without a keeper.</p> +<p>Imagine that man President. Whom would he call about him? Upon +whom would he rely? Probably for Secretary of State he would choose +Ignatius Donnelly of Minnesota; for Secretary of the Interior, +Henry George; for Secretary of War, Tillman with his pitchforks; +for Postmaster-General, Peffer of Kansas. Once somebody said: "If +you believe in fiat money, why don't you believe in fiat hay, and +you can make enough hay out of Peffer's whiskers to feed all the +cattle in the country." For Secretary of the Treasury, Coin Harvey. +For Secretary of the Navy, Coxey, and then he could keep off the +grass. And then would come the millennium. The great cryptogram and +the Bacon cipher; the single tax, State saloons, fiat money, free +silver, destruction of banks and credit, bondholders and creditors +mobbed, courts closed, debts repudiated and the rest of the folks +made rich by law.</p> +<p>And suppose Bryan should die, and then think, think of Thomas +Watson sitting in the chair of Abraham Lincoln. That is enough to +give a patriot political nightmare.</p> +<p>If McKinley dies there is an honest capable man to take his +place. A man who believes in business, in prosperity. A man who +knows what money is. A man who would never permit the laying of a +land warrant on a cloud. A man of good sense, a man of level head. +A man that loves his country, a man that will protect its +honor.</p> +<p>And is McKinley a tried man? Honest, candid, level-headed, +putting on no airs, saying not what he thinks somebody else thinks, +but what he thinks, and saying it in his own honest, forcible way. +He has made hundreds of speeches during this campaign, not to +people whom he ran after, but to people who came to see him. Not +from the tail end of cars, but from the doorstep of his home, and +every speech has been calculated to make votes. Every speech has +increased the respect of the American people for him, every one. He +has never slopped over. Four years ago I read a speech made by him +at Cleveland, on the tariff. I tell you to-night that he is the +best posted man on the tariff under the flag. I tell you that he +knows the road to prosperity. I read that speech. It had +foundation, proportion, dome, and he handled his facts as +skillfully as Caesar marshaled his hosts on the fields of war, and +ever since I read it I have had profound respect for the +intelligence and statesmanship of William McKinley.</p> +<p>He will call about him the best, the wisest, and the most +patriotic men, and his cabinet will respect the highest and +loftiest interests and aspirations of the American people.</p> +<p>Then you have to make another choice. You have to choose between +parties, between the new Democratic and the old Republican. And I +want to tell you the new Democratic is worse than the old, and that +is a good deal for me to say. In 1861 hundreds and hundreds of +thousands of Democrats thought more of country than of party. +Hundreds and hundreds of thousands shouldered their muskets, rushed +to the rescue of the Republic, and sustained the administration of +Abraham Lincoln. With their help the Rebellion was crushed, and now +hundreds and hundreds of thousands of Democrats will hold country +above party and will join with the Republicans in saving the honor, +the reputation, of the United States; and I want to say to all the +National Democrats who feel that they cannot vote for Bryan, I want +to say to you, vote for McKinley. This is no war for blank +cartridges. Your gun makes as much noise, but it does not do as +much execution.</p> +<p>If you vote for Palmer it is not to elect him, it is simply to +defeat Bryan, and the sure way to defeat Bryan is to vote for +McKinley. You have to choose between parties. The new Democratic +party, with its allies, the Populists and Socialists and Free +Silverites, represents the follies, the mistakes, and the +absurdities of a thousand years. They are in favor of everything +that cannot be done. Whatever is, is wrong. They think creditors +are swindlers, and debtors who refuse to pay their debts are honest +men. Good money is bad and poor money is good. A promise is better +than a performance. They desire to abolish facts, punish success, +and reward failure. They are worse than the old. And yet I want to +be honest. I am like the old Dutchman who made a speech in +Arkansas. He said: "Ladies and Gentlemen, I must tell you the +truth. There are good and bad in all parties except the Democratic +party, and in the Democratic party there are bad and worse." The +new Democratic party, a party that believes in repudiation, a party +that would put the stain of dishonesty on every American brow and +that would make this Government subject to the mob.</p> +<p>You have to make your choice. I have made mine. I go with the +party that is traveling my way.</p> +<p>I do not pretend to belong to anything or that anything belongs +to me. When a party goes my way I go with that party and I stick to +it as long as it is traveling my road. And let me tell you +something. The history of the Republican party is the glory of the +United States. The Republican party has the enthusiasm of youth and +the wisdom of old age. The Republican party has the genius of +administration. The Republican party knows the wants of the people. +The Republican party kept this country on the map of the world and +kept our flag in the air. The Republican party made our country +free, and that one fact fills all the heavens with light. The +Republican party is the pioneer of progress; the grandest +organization that has ever existed among men. The Republican party +is the conscience of the nineteenth century. I am proud to belong +to it. Vote the Republican ticket and you will be happy here, and +if there is another life you will be happy there.</p> +<p>I had an old friend down in Woodford County, Charley Mulidore. +He won a coffin on Lincoln's election. He took it home and every +birthday he called in his friends. They had a little game of +"sixty-six" on the coffin lid. When the game was over they opened +the coffin and took out the things to eat and drink and had a +festival, and the minister in the little town, hearing of it, was +scandalized, and he went to Charley Mulidore and he said: "Mr. +Mulidore, how can you make light of such awful things?" "What +things?" "Why," he said, "Mr. Mulidore, what did you do with that +coffin? In a little while you die, and then you come to the day of +judgment." "Well, Mr. Preacher, when I come to that day of judgment +they will say, 'What is your name?' I will tell them, 'Charley +Mulidore.' And they will say, 'Mr. Mulidore, are you a Christian?' +'No, sir, I was a Republican, and the coffin I got out of this +morning I won on Abraham Lincoln's election.' And then they will +say, 'Walk in, Mr. Mulidore, walk in, walk in; here is your halo +and there is your harp.'"</p> +<p>If you want to live in good company vote the Republican ticket. +Vote for Black for Governor of the State of New York—a man in +favor of protection and honest money; a man that believes in the +preservation of the honor of the Nation. Vote for members of +Congress that are true to the great principles of the Republican +party. Vote for every Republican candidate from the lowest to the +highest. This is a year when we mean business. Vote, as I tell you, +the Republican ticket if you want good company.</p> +<p>If you want to do some good to your fellow-men, if you want to +say when you die—when the curtain falls—when the music +of the orchestra grows dim—when the lights fade; if you want +to live so at that time you can say "the world is better because I +lived," vote the Republican ticket in 1896. Vote with the party of +Lincoln—greatest of our mighty dead; Lincoln the Merciful. +Vote with the party of Grant, the greatest soldier of his century; +a man worthy to have been matched against Cæsar for the +mastery of the world; as great a general as ever planted on the +field of war the torn and tattered flag of victory. Vote with the +party of Sherman and Sheridan and Thomas. But the time would fail +me to repeat even the names of the philosophers, the +philanthropists, the thinkers, the orators, the statesmen, and the +soldiers who made the Republican party glorious forever.</p> +<p>We love our country; dear to us for its reputation throughout +the world. We love our country for her credit in all the marts of +the world. We love our country, because under her flag we are free. +It is our duty to hand down the American institutions to our +children unstained, unimpaired. It is our duty to preserve them for +ourselves, for our children, and for their fair children yet to +be.</p> +<p>This is the last speech that I shall make in this campaign, and +to-night there comes upon me the spirit of prophecy. On November +4th you will find that by the largest majorities in our history, +William McKinley has been elected President of the United +States.*</p> +<pre> + * The final rally of the McKinley League for the present + campaign, was held last night in Carnegie Music Hall, ana + the orator chosen to present the doctrines of the + Republican party was Robert G. Ingersoll. The meeting will + remain notable for the high character of the audience. The + great hall was filled to its utmost capacity. It was crowded + from the rear of the stage to the last row of seats in the + deep gallery. + + The boxes were occupied by brilliantly attired women, and + hundreds of other women vied with the sterner sex In the + applause that greeted the numerous telling points of the + speaker. The audience was a very fashionable and exclusive + one, for admission was only to be had by ticket, and tickets + were hard to get. + + On the stage a great company of men and women were gathered, + and over them waved rich masses of color, the American + colors, of course, predominating in the display Flags hung + from all the gallery rails, and the whole scheme of + decoration was consistent and beautiful. At 8.80 o'clock Mr. + John E. Milholland appeared upon the stage followed by Col. + Ingersoll. + + Without any delay Mr. Milholland was presented as the + chairman of the meeting. He spoke briefly of the purpose of + the party and then said; "There is no Intelligent audience + under the flag or in any civilized country to whom it would + be necessary for me to introduce Robert G. Ingersoll." And + the cheers with which the audience greeted the orator proved + the truth of his words. + + Col. Ingersoll rose impressively and advanced to the front + of the stage, from which the speaker's desk had been removed + in order to allow him full opportunity to indulge in his + habit of walking to and fro as he talked. He was greeted + with tremendous applause; the men cheered him and the women + waved their handkerchiefs and fans for several minutes. + + He was able to secure instant command of his audience, and + while the applause was wildest, he waved his hand, and the + gesture was followed by a silence that was oppressive. Still + the speaker waited. He did not intend to waste any of his + ammunition. Then, convinced that every eye was centred upon + him, he spoke, declaring "This is our country." The assembly + was his from that instant. He followed it up with a summary + of the issues of the campaign. They were "money, the tariff, + and whether this Government has the right of self-defence." + As he said later on in his address, the Colonel has changed + in a good many things, but he has not changed his politics, + and he has not altered one whit in his masterful command of + forceful sayings.—New York Tribune, October 80th, 1896. +</pre> +<pre> + Note:—This was Col. Ingersoll's last political address. +</pre> +<div style="height: 6em;"><br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<br /> +<table summary="" border="3" cellpadding="4"> +<tbody> +<tr> +<td><big><big><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38813/38813-h/38813-h.htm"> +TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR ALL 12 EBOOKS IN THIS SET</a></big></big></td> +<td></td> +</tr> +</tbody> +</table> +<br /> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /></div> +</body> +</html> |
