Grant son By John P. Swift GRANT & WILSON. Speech of the Hon. John F. Swift, Delivered at Platl's Hall, July 9th, 1872. [From the Daily AI/TA, July 10th.] The first regular campaign speech In favor of the elec- tion of Grant and Wilson to the offices of President and Vice-President of the United States was made last even- Ing In Plan's Hall. The Interest and enthusiasm mani- fested on the occasion well showed that the Republican party Is not only still alive bnt strong in its power. The principles on which it in based are deeply rooted, and the people cannot fall to recognize them as sound and invin- cible. The hall last evening was densely filled In every pdrt. In the gallery were many ladies with escorts. The band played stirring music, and the multitude looked np with expectant faces, anticipating an oratorical treat and feast of reason that was sure to follow. There is a peculiar significance in the fact that such men as the Hon. John F. Swift are taking the lead in ex- pressing popular sentiment in times of great political agitation. It is a significant fact that men of sound prin- ciples and high intellectual culture, based on their own individual efforts for self-improvement and their ambi- tion to be men of influence and character, should forego the luxury of ease and retirement for the sake of public cplrit and to satisfy a burning zeal to accomplish a public good. Such men, as the exponents and guiding influences of a party, indicate the strength and intrinsic worth that bring them to the surface of public opinion, and seem to fix our confidence in the ultimate results of our political overnment. The tone of a party is even far more influ- ential and Indicative of its real character than the specific Iterances of its platforms and professed principles. Mr. Swift is a representative American, self-made and of great culture and experience. As such, with progressive Ideas based on a platform of sound, social and political principles, he is a worthy exponent of the Republican party. At a quarter past eight o'clock the meeting was called to order by Marcus D. Boruck, Esq., who nominated Hon. J. B. Southard as President of the evening. This announcement was erected with applause, and the nomi- matkm was accepted unanimously. Taking the stand, ike President t poke In a very animated manner as follows: Introductory Remark*. FELLOW CITIZENS: The time is approaching when the people of this country will be called upon to select In- cumbents for the two highest offices in the gift of the people. Recently, at Philadelphia, with an unanimity almost unparalleled, the representatives of the great Re- publican party of the United States, placed in nomina- tion General Grant [great applause] and Henry Wilson of Massachusetts, [renewed and prolonged applause.] That nomination has been endorsed by the Republicans throughout the length and breadth of the land. [Ap- plause.] We stand to-day united and determined that success shall crown that grand old party and the grand old leaders we have presented for your ap- proval. [Applause.] But I must not trench upon the time devoted to the hearing of the issues of the campaign, discussed by the eloquent and able gentleman who is about to address you; he who has at all tlms been found up at work and in earnest, in order that the principles of our great party should be firmly established. There need be no fear. Never were the prospects of this party so auspicious as at the present hour. [Ap- plause.] Why, fellow citizens, is it expected that the Republicans will be so mean and despicable as to turn their backs [cries of "Never!"] upon the hero that saved the country and then the party to which they belong? [Cries of "Never!" "Never!" "Never!" and applause.] The Savior of the country: General Grant! [Great applause and cheering.] The Savior of the Repub- lican party: General Grant! [Renewed applause.] Four years ago, you will bear me witness, from the pretudlces existing in the minds of the people of the United States against negro suffrage, nothing but his great name, nothing but the great victories and the laurels that he had achieved could carry the Republican party through and drag negro suffrage with it. [Cries of " That's so,"' and applause.] What do you owe to him? I need not rehearse the history of the campaigns through which he has passed. The first victories for the Union in the Retxjllion, and the last one at Richmond, crown him to-day cblef In the hearts of the American people. [Tremendous and prolonged applause.] Fellow citizens: I will not detain yon longer. I have the honor excuse me, If there IB any other proposition. Mr. Marcus D. Bonick came forward and nominated the following list of Vice- Presidents and Secretaries, who were elected by the unanimous voice of the meeting: VICE-PRESIDENTS. Hon. Frank Soulg, Ralph 0. Harrison, D. B. Northrop, Captain James Wells, J. W. Foard, W. J. Wler, W. A. Macondray, D. B. Arrowsmith, Robert White, 0. H. West, Dr. J. E. Kunckler, J. T. Flnney, John L. Prior, George Shwartz, J. L. Howell, T. J. L. Smiley, L. M. Manzer, I. D. Barnard, WIHUhn A. Jones, Robert Irwin, R. J. Canfleld, Samuel H. Jones, H. W. Bylngton, R. A. James, Hon. William ri. Sears, C. Wit- tram, A. 8. Wentworth, William H. Mitchell, Captain R. C. Macy, J. P. Dyer, Timothy Sargent, D. Marcuccl, William N. Smith, H. J. Graham, Major Harvey Lake, Abraham Warner. Fred. Siebe, James H. Withington, William Robinson, Alexander Buswell, D. B. Brown, W. C. Dougherty, George C. Parkinson, Robert Silvey, William Robinson, Richard Harrold, J. C. Sargent, Richard Anthony, R. F. Bunker, Hon. W. E. Lovett. SECRETARIES. Edward Fitzgerald, William Bailsman. Mr. Southard I now have the honor of Introducing to you ladies and gentlemen, the Hon. John F. Swift, of San Francisco. Mr. Swift came forward amid great applause. SPEECH OF HON. JOHN F. SWIFT. MR. PRESIDENT AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: The most striking, and perhaps the most useful feature of modern governmental science is to be found In the ten- tendency of free States to come under the control of po- litical parties. Indeed it has come to be an axiom, that without the existence of such opposing organizations it is doubtful whether free government can long exist. Political Partle* Have come to be the imperial rulers of Republics; and lor a people to be secure in their rights there must be two of these as nearly equally balanced as possible In virtue, In patriotism, and in power. A greater number than two, they cease to be parties and degenerate Into mere factions as Is the case in France and In Spain, and anarchy it the almost inevitable result. Happy, indeed, la that nation, whose pros- perity is secured and whose liberties are guarded by the watchful lealousy and the sleepless vigilance of two nearly equally balanced antagonistic, high- spirited, unselfish and patriotic political parties. [Applause.] This was the fortunate condition of this country in a large portion of Its earlier history, and it is perhaps the fortunate condition of Great Britain to-day. It Is our misfortune Just at this particular Juncture of time that one of our political parties has, through Its own misconduct, lost the power of being of substantial ser- vice to the country; and it is by no means the smallest part of that misfortune, that having lost Its power of be- ing useful, having lost the confidence of the nation, it still clings to existence, and clogs and hampers the wheels of progress by Its worthless and superfluous carcass. [Applause.] It Is a mournful and melancholy tact in the history of this nation, that the Democratic party, after having substantially ruled the destinies of this nation for half a century, after having thoroughly Identified itself with the rise and progress of the first free State of modern times, was at last seized upon by a fit of uncontrollable and almost unaccountable frenzy and turned against its own name and principles, like Satnrn, devouring his children, becoming a party to an avowed conspiracy, having for its object the dismemberment of the nation, the destruction of the Republic and the establishment of a slave empire upon its ruins. This treason of the Democratic party is a disaster from which the nation cannot recover while that organization continues to ex- ist; for by that act it not only deprived the nation of the benefit and nervices of one of Hi political rulers, bnt cast upon the Republican party the perilous trust of absotaU power. The country needs the emulation of two nearly equally balanced parties; and this it cannot have while one of these parties stands before the great mass of th nation discredited, condemned and disgraced. To be of substantial benefit to the country the competition between them should be for preeminence in patriotism, in vlrtne, in breadth and comprehensiveness of views, and not a mean and narrow squabble over offices and power, or a sullen, opposition to every measure coming from the other side without justice and without Judgment. This, sir, is the function of a great political party. The Democratic party has lost the nower of performing It. And it follows from this as a consequence, that when that decayed and worthless organization passes away from earth and ceases to exist, that new parties may be formed upon issues that wl'.l be of genuine and substantial ser- vice to the nation and to mankind at large. And every act that tends In the slightest degree to postpone that period for so much as a single day, Is noth- ing short of absolute national disaster. Every year since the war was finished yes, every day since the war was terminated this nation has repeated its final decree that never again would It put confidence in that party which has been false to its trust. [Cries of "Hear!" "Hear!" and applause.] A thousand, millions I might almost say, of intelligent and patriotic thinkers, have counted upon each election as being the last struggle they w mid be called upon to make with their old enemy. And yet It has so fallen out that upon every occasion something has occurred to postpone the expected result for another year, always, I think to the disaster of the country, always to its injury; because we can have no real or general prosperity, politi- cally, at least, until the country is divided into two par- ties, each of which can be safely entrusted with the des- tinies of this republic, and each of which will have the con- fidence of men who love their country. [Applause.] In the present instance, the ambition of a few men, perhaps the ambition of one man, has been enough to bring about this misfortune again ; and still the party that has been faithful finds it is obliged to occupy the field alone, finding no party confronting it which can be safely intrusted with the affairs of the nation. A Certain Number of tieatlt- men, Of more or less standing In the party, acting upon the ground of a real or pretended personal dislike to General Grant, and without awaiting the action of the National Convention of the party, have conspired with our opponents once more and have put into the field a ticket for President and Vice-President which they hope to see elected, and which, if It be elected, must be made successful by the help of a small and insignifi- cant minority of disaffected Republicans Joined to the great mass of the Democrat*. These gentlemen avow and declare that for the object of wreaking their vengeance upon General Grant, they are willing to accept the consequences of endowing with life and of galvan- izing this corpse of the Democratic party once more into existence. Because any reasonable man knows that while Greeley and Brown are being elected, although they may call themselves Republicans and of their Republi- canism I have here no word of comment yet at the very same election, and by the very same act every sensible man knows full well that the Governors of States, the Members of Congress, the Senators of the United States, and in fact all the officers, general and municipal, tbroughont the land, mnst pass Into the hands of the Democratic party. Therefore I assume that these men know full well that if they are successful In Kheir efforts, we shall have most substantially turned over this country to the control and domination of the Demo- cratic party once more. This, perhaps, Is the first Presi- dential election in the whole history of the country that has been carried on npon the One Single Ine of Personal Hostility. To one man. In such a contest it follows that all ordi- nary arguments are lost sight of. For, where men have from the first resolved, at all hazards, to rule or ruin, reason is put quite out of the question, and facts and arguments are thrown aside as Inconvenient. Woald these dissatisfied gentlemen llstem to DM, I ceuH fc C. -: vt V bring to their view a record of achievements during the last eleven years of Republican rule, and especially dur- ing the last three years of General Grant's administra- tion, of which any political party In the world might be Justly proud. Would they listen to me, sir, I could show them the glorious achievements of the Republi- can party. I could show them how in the dark and terrible hour of disaster, brought on by the con- spiracies of the Democracy, this party which we represent stepped forward, as has been said truthfully, at Philadelphia, with lofty courage, and accepted the duties of the time. For all these things ar true. We Have SnppreMed a Gigantic Rebellion. We have emancipated four million slaves. [Great applause.] We have decreed the equal citizenship of all; and we have established universal suffrage, [great applause] with a standard of magnanimity never before exhibited In the whole history of human achievements. No man has been punished, capitallv, for a political fffence, while all are warmly welcomed who are able to demonstrate their loyalty by fair dealing toward their neighbors and obedience to the laws. It has put down with a firm and vigorous hand the re- sulting disorders growing out of a great war; and at the same time it has instituted a wise and peaceful policy, based upon Christian charity and human kindness to- ward the Indian tribes. It has fulfilled its pledges made to the country by causing the construction of the great Pacific Railroad in the most speedy manner possible. It has enacted and carried out a noble American homestead system, by giving away the public lands to actual sel- lers, without money and without price. [Applause]. It has encouraged and protected immigration, and it has demanded of the European powers the fullest and the most complete recognition of the right of every man to choose his owa nationality, and select his own home. [Applause] . During the three years of General Grant'* Administration, The National credit has been thoroughly sustained; In- dustry and commerce have been revived in every depart- ment throughout the land; and while taxation has been materially diminished, the National debt has been re- duced at the steady and enormous rate of over one hundred millions of dollars during every year of General Grant's administration, and at the same time a great financial crisis has been avoided, while peace and plenty have pre- vailed throughout the land. And while all of these things have been in course of accomplishment, our foreign difficulties have been peacefully and honorably harmonized, and the power and prestige and Influ- ence of the Union maintained at a lofty standard all around the globe. [Applause.] All of these things could I bring to the notice of these dissatisfied gentlemen; and could prove them, because they are true. But they don't want to hear them. And, sir, they don't want to hear them simply because they redound to the credit of a man against whom they have already resolved to bring to bear every force that malice can suggest or malignancy devise. "Anybody to beat Grant!" Any story to injure him; any libel to damage him; any subterfuge to thrust him aside. This is not a new cry. It is only new in the mouths of the men who now use it. We have heard it years ago. We heard It from Donelson, when Floyd was beleaguered by the army of Grant. [Applause.] We heard it again at Vicksburg and Chlckamanga. And from Richmond, a thousand times, came the cry : "Anybody to beat Grant !" Now, sir, we hear it for the first time from those men who at that time Joined really or under some sort of pretence in action or sympathy with him. I do not know how to explain it or to account for It. How successful or how unsuccessful this movement may prove, sir, I do not pretend to predict. I Am Not a Prophet And do not hazard any prediction whatever. It is enough for me to say, as my solemn and honest conviction, that a bad cause Is not redeemed or made better, but is Imply made more diabolically wicked, by the fact that It succeeds. [Applause.] And as one word of warning to these gentlemen , let me say that they must et latter themselves with the idea that they can, as Republicans, succeed In this monstrous conspiracy against their party and still remain Republicans: for in that they will surely fall. [Applause.] Mr. Greeley May Entertain the Idea That he can gain the tremendous pinnacle of his lofty ambitions and there rule a fit and just successor of Abraham Lincoln, and govern this land as a Republican President, elected by Republican votes, urging Republican ideas, executing and enforcing Re- publican measures and laws, and drawing about himself, in association and In counsel, men who believe In the justice of those measures. But he, likewise, 1. most surely doomed to disappointment. Sir, the day of his Inauguration If by any misfortune to this land he should be elected will date the commencement of hU leadership of the Democratic party, and his association and companionship with Democrats, and with Democrats alone. We are told that the grandest scheme of ambition on the part of the Evil One was to make his way out 01 the place of torment assigned to him by the Most High to search up and down through the boundless realms of space to seek out the newly-created world to enter into the Garden of Eden and pull down and destroy the human family. And Milton Tells TTs, After having accomplished this, after having seduced man to his ruin, Satan returned back again Into hell, and regntering his splendid palace of Pandemonium, mounted his lofty and regal throne of state, there to receive the applause and congratulations of the subject fallen angels upon the successful result of his enterprise. But to his amazement, Instead of applause there came to hla ears no sound save that of hisses alone. He looked about him for a time to learn the cause; but It scon be- came apparent. The truth was that the curse of God had fallen upon him and them, at that Instant of his triumph, and all the vast and brilliant assembly, including the enthroned Prince of Darkness himself, fell down, hissing serpents, and crawled about the floor of Hell In squirming heaps. [Applause.] Sir, let not Mr. Greeley entertain the idea that he can step down and grasp this moribund Democracy, this expiring party of madness, of malice and reaction, groping as it is In the murky atmosphere of self-delusion, or gasping iu the fumes of bigotry and prejudice, and lift It up Into the free and pure empyrean of patriotism and Republican love of country: for in that he will surely fail. So far from being able to elevate their new associates to the lofty zenith of Republican purity, these gentlemen will find themselves pulled down from their high estate, changed in nature and mixed In form, and crawling about the dark and slimy pit of the Democratic limbo, In wriggling, writhing and unrecognizable colls. [Pro- longed applause.] Sir, after careful and mature reflec- tion I can see nothing In this movement but A Mean and Selfish Squabble for rlace and Power; A grasping after spoils wholly unworthy of the grand history and noble traditions of the party to which we be- long. The Republican party, sir, was called Into exist- ence for a higher purpose tnan that of putting any man or set of men Into office; and we owe It to ourselves and to the Republican party to carry out Its higher purposes and designs. We owe it to the Republican party, we owe It to our beloved country, that has received and still needs the strength and support of this great party of freedom, that we stand firmly by Us principles and prevent the organi- zation from being destroyed In the Interest of individual selfishness or personal desire for gain. I cannot under- take to answer the objections of these gentlemen who have resolved from the first to carp and object and to cavil to the final end without reason and without sincerity; and I shall not try. I shall devote myself while talking with you this evening to the task, not of answer- Ing the objections, but of re-stating the case as It stand* before the country to-day. I propose to go over the ground again, lest tbse men mislead you with false Issues, lest the ancient land-mark- of right and wrong be shifted away in the night time and yon be deceived as to how they stood. I propose to examine 37G580 Thl Democratic Party, It HUtory and lt Policy. This Democratic party which the Liberal Republicans In the abounding plenitude of their liberality desire to again bring forward and entrust with the destinies of this na- tion its liberties and its honor. And I propose to inquire into the Justness of this act, and the appropriateness of it by contrasting Its history with that of our own, and by contrasting It with that which It should have been. There was a time in the history of this nation when the Democratic party and African slavery were not political partners. But that tiiae, sir, is so long gone that it antedates the recollection of any of us, and it Is only by historical research that we ascertain the fact They have been bound together by the same um- bilical cord, like another pair of political Siamese Twins, as long as any of us have known them. But a little re- search into the archives of the political past elicits the fact that they are twins only by adoption; It elicits the fact that they entered Into a voluntary copartnership for mutual advantage and benefit, the object on one side being that of power, and upon the other that of plunder. Tammany Hall Sold the Democrat* to the Sonth, And the transaction was a most beneficial one to both parties- for each one obtained that which it most needed. The South obtained all it bargained for in the way of an enormous amount of political power; and Tammany got all It wanted in the way of official and financial plunder, r Applause.] But, sir, whatever may have been the facts of the transaction whatever may have been the motive in which the negotiations were conducted, we know as a fact and that is within the memory of the most of us here present that the inordinate Pretenlon of Slavery Dated from Its alliance and its copartnership with the Democracy. Until it obtaine'd the aid and continuance and the support of the Democratic party, African slavery was modest and unassuming enough. It had few partisans. Indeed, the men among whom it existed confessed It to be an evil, and no man had the hardihood to claim for it anything more than the barest of tolera- tion. But under and by virtue of this conspiracy, of its copartnership with the Democracy, it was enabled, as I say to gain all It bargained for In that abominable com- pact and to seize in a very short time the reins of Government. It made Northern-born Presidents become its veriest tools and instruments; it made the National Congress fall down before It, with face in the dust, and worship By virtue of that contract, it dragged its vic- tims back to the torture, from the free land beyond the Ohio and the Hudson. New England heard the crack of the slave-drivers' whip, while the farmer upan the peaceful shores of Lake Ontario was startled from his slumbers at night by the hurried footsteps of the fugi- tive flying before the vindictive minions of the law. But this was not all. By that compact made with the Democracy, slavery was enabled to seize upon that tri- bunal which, from its lofty position, had ever been deemed the last and the secure refuge of the citizen in a struggle for his personal rights and liberty. It invaded the Supreme Court of the United States, and there, from the sacred seat of Marshall, cast over the minds and con- sciences of the people The Horrible Incantation of a Pretended lie gallty, Which, if it had been permitted to stand, would have crushed out and destroyed the last vestige of the lib- erty for which our forefathers fought and died. [Great applause.] You may well say that the Democratic party did perform its part of the contract, for by its act the soil of this land was devoted to slavery almost from end to end There was scarcely any spot left to freedom In the place dearest to liberty, where the soil is stll reeking with patriot's gore, even "at the base of Bunker Hill Monument will I call the roll of my slaves, and the Constitution of the United States shall be my warrant of authority." This, sir, was the arrogant boast of one of freedom's foes; and It is a melancholy fact that he could have don* It. And It is indisputable that slavery did bid defiance alike to the sentiments and the statutes of reedom, when only by virtue of its conspiracy and 1U bond with the Democratic party it could have been safely done. Sir, the Democratic party took control of the des- ,lnles of this nation at a moment when all the world be- side was making a forward movement In the direction of a larger and broader civil and political liberty. It held control until slavery had been made the corner-stone of our national structure, the be all and end all of American aspirations, until the Supreme Court of the United States lad declared from the bench that four millions of men and women born upon the soil were mere personal chattels ike beasts of the plow, and that the other twenty mll- ions of people under its Jurisdiction could stand by and hear without a blush of shame, the abomlnabla decree. It took ofllce at a time when the principles of universal education were making a step forward in th North, in England, in Prussia, and all over the civilized portion of the world; and It held on until twenty States of this Union there were no common schools, and until within fifteen of them It was a crime, punishable by imprisonment and degradation, to teach .ittle children the letters of the alphabet. Democracy the Governing Power. For fifty years prior to 1860 the Democratic party was the supreme governing power of this land. This great Republic was Its realm and dominion as abso- lutely and entirely as the empire of Russia is the realm of the Czar. No party in a free land was evtr so trusted no party ever proved so false to its trust. And yet, aftei all, as I said before, It was true to Its compact with slavery. Had the Democratic party been as faithful to the whole Republic as it was faithful to a portion of it, had it been as true to the Union as it was to the South, it would have deserved to have had its name graven on plates of brass. [Applause. [ But the slave power declared war upon the Republic, and put forth all of Its forces to dismember the Union, to break up the Government, and at the command of its masters The Democratic Party Marched Into Trea. son'* Camp And reported Itself for service. It is true that while It brought with It all the party banners and field machinery, and all the pomp and circum- stance of party warfare, it did not bring with it all of its forces, for this it could not do. There were many good and true men, many patriots, many men who loved their country, still in the Democratic party; and before the organization could be made to march to the music of treason, these men had to ba sloughed out altogether. And on the firing of the first gun at the old flag, at Fort Sumter, a great host of the Democratic party scorned to follow such treasonable leadership, broke ranks and marched into the Republican camp. [Great applause.] The Republican party drew to itself all of the healthy blood which was animated by The Spirit of Patriotism and national AfTee- tlon Which was in the Democratic party; and it needed it all to enable it to combat the poisonous virus that was left behind. For the work that lay before th< Republican party was the most tremendous In character that ever met a new party at the threshold of duty. It had to undo all that had been done by the Democratic party for a quarter of a century. A great and civilized nation was Drifting Into BarbarUm. Free institutions, which had been the pride and hope of liberty-lovers throughout the earth, were degenerating into a slave oligarchy; and this drift had to be checked, and the course turned In an opposite direction. A band of wanton conspirators had substantially dissolved th Union and set up a hostile Government within its limlti. This latter had to be pulled down and the authority ot the laws restored. And deeper than all of this, sir; th causes which had led to this disaster had to be searched for with care, and eradicated with firmness and vigor. And all of this had to be done in the fae of tremen- doos armed opposition In the teeth of a mighty military establishment, led by the beat talent and most thorough scholarship of West Point, while In the rear the Demo- cratic party lay In ambush, ready (or secret thrust and covert stab. But, sir, the Republican party, as I said before, accepted with grand and lofty courage this solemn duty and entered hopefully and cheerfully upon the task. The Democratic position was as speedily chosen, and worked up to with equal zeal and tenacity of purpose. That party declared In secret session and In open convention, for that matter held In every capital and in every county seat throughout the land, substantially, that it would maintain its ancient rule, that it would stand by the South In its pretended right to break up the union of States and would stand by and sustain the Institution of lavery. The loyal element of the country, now thoroughly and completely united in the Republican party, had but little time Indeed to consider over its course. The Horrid Howl of War Was at our very doors and the Government had to meet and to put It down. The traitors of the Democratic administration had scattered the little Army of th<; Repub- lic to the remotest parts, far away from the scenes of Intended operation. The guns and ammunition, and as far as possible, all the apparatus of war belonging to the Government had been sent away to the South. New armies had to be organized created, for that matter. And these armies lacked the weapons and stores of warfare, so that new implement* had to be purchased or manufactured, and Immense supplies had to b gathered for the contest. And for this purpose vast sums of money had to be raised nobody knew where. To do these things became the Herculean task of the Republican party. To prevent their being done was the mischievous work of the Democracy. T save the country, its honor, its liberty, 1U glorious traditions, occupied the attention of Republican states- men by day and by night. To save slavery and aid the Rebellion became the mischievous rOle of the Democracy. Kepabllean Leaders Hackled On the Sword And went forth to battle for their country, while promi- nent Democrats resigned their places, wherever they held them, and went South to join the armies of the Rebellion. Senators and Congressmen were alone the exception to this rule. These men stayed, well knowing that they eould do more to aid the Rebellion by staying behind to hamper the efforts of loyal representatives, and tie the hands of the Government, than they could accomplish by joining the Army of the Confederacy, and shooting their countrymen In the open field. California Secesdonlttt. Of the Democratic administration In power In Califor- nia at the time the war broke out, almost every man, I believe I may almost say every man, contributed in some way toward aiding the Rebellion. The Chief Justice of the State, who had recently resigned for the purpose of shooting a loyal Senator, went away and became a Briga- dier in the Rebel Army. The Controller of our State re- signed, and went and fought, I have no doubt valiantly enough In the South. The Survey or- General became * rebel Colonel, and I believe was made pris- oner with Morgan in the State of Ohio. The Speaker of the Assembly took up arms and foueht for the South. The man who had represented the people of this State In the Congress of the United States as Senator almost from the time of Its admission Into the Union, be- ing too old and decrepld to bear arms, set about the more congenial occupation of a secret diplomatist with the pur- pose of embroiling us in a war with foreign powers. And that venerable gentleman, I have no doubt, is to-night baking Hand. Aero** the Bloody Chasm With Horace Greeley. [Laughter and applause.] As he snrely ought to be so occupied, as a fair repre- sentative of that party. He, in company with the great Majority of these gallant and warlike gentlemen, returned to our coast and State as soon as their beloved cause was lost; and as a rule, I believe, they have been rewarded for their unquestioned loyalty to their party by being again placed la office. Governor Halght hag appointed them by scores; Mid 1 Believe a very con- siderable number of them to-day hold offices In the vari- ous municipal departments of the government of our city and county. I do not say that these gentleman do not make good officers; I do not say that they do not make the very best of officers. And I do not wish to be now understood as complaining because they hold offices, or making an attack on that account upon those who have appointed them to fill these offices. It appears to me entirely logical and correct and reasonable that this party should put these men ID office who have shown their faith by their works. [Applause and laugh- ter.] I only point to the fact for the purpose of demon- strating to you as clearly as possible what was the position of the Democratic party during the war, and that it has ever been In sympathy with disunion and tha Southern cause. And when that cause was lost, that party still remained true to Its ancient faith and pledges. This war was a long and bloody one, as yon all recollect, and at times the result was doubtful. But the doubtful character of the result was rendered so by the conduct of the Democratic party alone. It was the Democracy, It was Copperheadlsm, as we then called it, that encouraged the South to maintain the struggle for two whole years after It was plainly lost, In the opinion of the rest of the world. It Was That Same Copperheadlsm That throughout the war exulted over rebel victories and mourned over rebel disasters. It was that same Copperheadlsm that Instigated murderous riots and put the torch in the hands ot a New York mob. It was that name Copperheadlsm that Inspired Brick Pomeroy to heap contumely and the foulest abuse upon the best and purest of our statesmen, only because they were engaged In defending their country. It was that same Copper- headism that deluged the land with the most absurd and monstrous inventions about unconstitutional acts and arbitrary arrests. Sir, the fifteen hundred millions of dollars expended, and the one hundred and fifty thousand lives sacrificed during the last two years of the war every dollar of that money and every drop of that blood can be traced directly to the door of that miserable fag end of the Democracy that stayed at home, misleading the Seuth by means of pre- tended and vain hopes that never could be fulfilled tying the hands of the Government, crippling its actions, and stabbing our soldiers in the back. There is another part of Democratic history into the details of which I would fain go more at length than I shall be able to to-night. I refer to the special and peculiar details of The Civil Straggle That for four terrible years surged over this land, deluging its soil with blood and charging the air with the despairing wall of widows and orphans. That war waa the direct and natural consequence of Democratic policy. And Its discussion is entirely appropriate in any discourse pretending to criticise the history of that organization. It might be claimed that out of consideration (or the naturally tender-heartedness of their newly found Repub- lican allies, this portion of the record might be omitted from our view. These Zaberal Kepabllean* Have probably not yet got accustomed to the associations of their recently made political acquaintances and friend*. I Another year, and I have no doubt they will stand up and take punishment Just like old buffers. I do not consider it necessary to go very deeply Into this portion of the record. For I have demonstrated, if I have demonstrated anything, that during the war that party conducted itself In a manner unworthy the name of a great national organ- ization. By Its treason t Justice and right it encouraged the South to bring on the struggle, and then Joined with It In its effort to destroy the Union. And I propose now, In conclusion, to Inquire what It has done since that majestic uprising of the people in support of the Republi- can administration of Abraham Lincoln to put down a wicked conspiracy? [Applause.] I propose to Inquire How They Have t'nductd ThemselTesf Has that party done anything since that time to entitle it to the confidence of the people T Hare they seem UM rr of their ways ? Have they; repented of the Ur- rlble mischief they brought upon thli land ? [A voice jj n H M the party most responsible In the con- iplracy been brought to a comprehensive view of Its ^ They *have fought step by step every effort made to Vlace the organic law of this land upon a broad and firm republican basis. They have fought every Inch of pro- gress In this direction. And they are now engaged In a era sade against education, which they will keep np until It destroys and annihilates them. During the course of that war, there was perhaps no 4,114 point that Indicated so fully the complete Democrat as the disposition to traduce, to vllllfy, to libel every man engaged In putting down the rebellion In the most remote degree. In fact, you could always know a Democrat by his opinion of iuch men as '.Lincoln, 1 those engaged with him In the glorious work There was no language too coarse, no Ideas too harsh, no criticism too cutting for a Democrat to heap pon the hero and martyr, Abraham Lincoln. Sir, has that spirit changed? Has there any change come over Uat organization in this respect? If it is so, I have not discovered it. The same spirit that enabled Brick Pome- roy to amass a fortune of half a million of dollars by heaping his abominable libels upon the head of Abraham Lincoln, the best and purest of Presidents, because he did his duty, still exists to-day, and evinces Itself by ilmllar efforts to destroy the standing and poison the reputation of that other man who has struck the cohorts of treason such telling blows so often, a man who stood next to Lincoln, and whose name Is TJlysees 8. Grant. Sir they hated Grant, and they hate him still. They hate him as they hated Lincoln. They hate him worse than they hated Lincoln because he has struck them fcarder blows. [Applause.] 1'hey hated him for Fort Donelson. They hate him for Ylcksburg. They hate him for Chlckamanga and Klchmond and Appomattox Court House. They hate him with a concentrated hatred They Hate Kim Vor his triumphs over Lee, and Stonewall Jackson and the Rebel army. And this hatred Is a legitimate part of the emotions and sentiments of the old Democratic party. And they have sworn vengeanc on the man who beat them in the field, and by the strength of his influence and popularity at the ballot-box. The Democratic party lives for vengeance and plunder for vengeance upon Grant, who beat tham, and plunder upon the American neople, who refuse to sympathise with them. Bat the sentiments and designs and efforts of the Democratic narty would have little promise of dangerous exhibition to a party success If it were not for the assured alliance of what are now known as Liberal Kepubllcans. I find amongst these gentlemen who claim that they are going to vote for Greeley A. Great Iverlty of Opinion On the grounds upon which they intend to take their action Quite a number of them believe, or affect to be- lieve that there should be a change of administration for the purpose of bringing about certain improvements In the Government. These gentlemen say that they are in favor of Civil Service Reform. They would have hon- est men in office; and for the purpose of bringing that about, they think that this small baud of disaffected Bepubllcans who go with the backers and friends and confederates of Tammany Hall, who can alone put this reform into operation. They would have an Improved revenue system, and they think the decayed and starved out officials of the Buchanan Administra- tion are the men to put that going. They would have the finances of the country put on a healthy basis, as they say and they would invoke the aid of Belmont, the corruptionlst, and Pendleton, the repudlator, for the purpose. No, gentlemen. You Liberal Republicans will be misled if you fellow in this wake. You will find that your leaders prove to be different from their professions. You will find that they have been using the language of professed reform for their own benefit; and you will discover, perhaps too late, that you have been atlng for the benefit of a band of desperate adventurers, who can no other mode of acquiring and holding tgltt tfcan through U Kh*m which they now har in hand and to which they ask you to contribute. The case of Mr. Carl Schurt Is one which comes to my mind at this moment. Mr. Carl Schurx is a Senator from the State of Missouri; and of course his term of offlc drawing to a close. You must know that the most abso- olute Democratic State In the Union Is Missouri. [Ap- plause.] Price's boys hold the balance of power In Mis sour! And In order to hold his office in the Senate, Carl Schurz must get their votes; and yon, gentlemen, an asked to come and help him do it gracefully. Sir, agalnsi this I protest with all the power of my nature, because Missouri, with her horde of unreconstructed Rebels, ha* become hopelessly Democratic Mr. Schurz is to b allowed to break up the party that has brought him into renown and given him high place and honors, and so b saved the disgrace of openly deserting it. Now in th name of all that is grand and glorious in the records of th party, I protest against this proposition. In the name ol the dead Lincoln and in the name of the noble army of martyrs who have watered the soli of every Southern State with their blood, I protest against this movement as a base and cowardly subterfuge unworthy or honorable men. If Mr. Schurz wants the votes of the Democratic party in order to keep his position in the United States Senate, as no doubt he does, he should adopt the course pursued by his colleague, Mr. Blair. Let him do it like a gentleman, and not defile the bed In which he has been so long sleeping. [Laughter and ' P I flnT'another class of these gentlemen who have a great deal to say about bridging over the bloody chasm. They want a restoration of good fellowship. They want a revival of good feeling throughout the land. They want The Dead font to be Bead and Gone. Now that is all very well, and I believe as much In it as these gentlemen can. I am as willing to bridge over the bloody chasm as anybody, but I am very particular as to who shall cross over that bridge; whether we shall go over to them or they shall come over to u. That makes a great deal of difference. I find many of these gentlemen, however, who, in their anxiety to bring about a reconciliation, habitually pass high encomiums upon the Rebel leaders, especially upon General Lee and Stone- wall Jackson, for their bravery in the field, and their virtues in their private life. And some of them, I k take great credit to themselves from the fact that they are fellow countrymen with these worthies, and, there- fore to a certain extent sharers In their glory. Now, while I have no fault to find with this, and while I c fess it Is desirable on every account to bring about a reconciliation, yet, in my Judgment under these cir- cumstances, this is calculated to do harm in creating a confused idea as to the right and wrong of the case. I am willing to have a reconciliation; but not by having the right bow down to the wrong, but by having the wrong come forward and confess to the right. [Ap- plause.] The View* of the Speaker on the Subject. And right here briefly I propose to state my views upon this case; and I state them as a representative Re- Bublican, and I have no doubt that every Republican here will agree with me that I state fairly the position of the party upon this question. I have never been in favor of having anybody punished for any part in the late Re- bellion I have never been in favor of punishing any- body for the Rebellion; I have never thought that any- body ought to have been punished for it. Not only am I opposed to hanging Jeff Davis, but I have said a thousand times that I would not hold him prisoner or harm a hair of his head. I would have them all live for a century, if such a thing were possible, for 1 think it would be punishment enough for them to wl ness the growing scorn and condemnation that must come upon Jeff. Davit* and every one of them, as fresh generations of freemen rise and develop a higher and nobler civilization than that which they were willing to have imposed upon the country by a cruel and unneces- sary war. That war was perhaps the natural result of the Irreconcilable conflict between the hostile States f freedom and slavery. And of the existence of slavery as a syium the whole eouMtry is equally U UaM*-ih Verth M well M tbe South. It wai tbe union and con- ettrrenoe of a darg-selllnR North and Blare-buying (tenth that fastened tbe custom of slave-dealing and th existence of slavery as an Institution upon tbe South. And all you can say about It is that one was not i much worse than the other, and that both were bad, : selfish and wicked. The South has taught Itself to be- I Here, and has been taught by as until It has come to i believe, as fully as a man can believe In anything so j abinrd, that slavery Is right. And sir. If slavery wa* right, then the South was right; but, sir, slavery was | not right, and it cannot be made right. It was the sum of all human sins. It was the Crime of Crime*, For it involved In itself the acme of all other crimes; Just as in mathematics the greater contains the lesser. It was a crime against truth. It was a crime against right. It was a crime against religion. It was a crime against manhood and against civilization. It divided so- ciety in the middle, and drove one class to an abject, groveling and beastly servitude, and the other to a supremacy and dominance which Inevitably tended to cruelty and bloodshed. It degraded and depraved both master and servant. And to-day it is impossible to tell, after years of reflection, which race -was the greater loser by this monstrous and soul-destroying system. I can see a thousand reasons why Jefferson Davis should not have been made the scapegoat of the nation; and while Generals Lee and Stonewall Jackson took the field and led armies against human rights, yet in excuse f them it can truly be said that they were the victims of influences for which twenty millions of their country- men were as much to blame as any one of them. But, sir, when It comes to apotheosislng these men and translating them to the pantheon of heroes, when it comes to teaching our American youths to associate their names with the great and good, the virtuous, the noble of all times, then for one I do protest that you are going too far. I do protest that yon are going to construct and set this bridge over the bloody chasm at too great an expense. [Applause.] I have heard some of these gentlemen, who are IB the habit ef saying that the Republican Party, Having Performed It* Wort, Having done all that was given it to do, having accomplished its mission so they put it should now pass away and cease to exist. But it seems strange to us that men can so argue upon such slight grounds. Let us reason upon It. For a great political party to pass away and give up its organization, there must be a cause ; and the causes capable of producing such a result will be found, upon investigation, to resolve themselves into two one or the other must be the true one. Either the principles upon which the party was called into | existence must have been proven to be wrong and false ; and dangerous to the public welfare, so that honest men, ; upon sober, second thought, would abandon It. Or upon \ the other hand, they must have been provrn to b right, i to be Just, to be beneficial, so as to draw to the party the great mass of the nation, and, as it were, drown and I submerge it in a vast deluge of universal concurrence. Where all men see but one way, there can be no parties, and all political organizations must fall to the earth when there is nothing more to dispute about. I must be allowed to assume that there is no Republican here who claims that the principles of the Republican party are bad and wrong and vicious and dangerous to the public welfare. And I will, therefore, address myself to the other side of the question, and see if It be true that all men are of one way of thinking upon these points, and if the Republican principles are so universally acquiesced in as some men would have us believe. The Republican party was called into existence as yon all know by the hostile atti- tude and the menacing spirit of African slavery, which threatened to break up and destroy the last vestige of equality between citizens, and to build up a most hateful caste, distinction and despotism. It threatened to overturn the very principles upon which the Govern- ment of this nation is founded. The spread of African slavery all over the country was absolutely threatened y th South. The Eepnbliean party took iU itud in hostility to the ilare InUrett, and all JU Mf ** auxiliaries IU bigotry, its prejudice, its enmity U edu- cation. The principles of the Republican party BUT * named In three word*: Justice, Education and Parity. Now, sir, I confess that if there be any Bepnb- liean present who, after sixteen years of reflec- tion, has come to the honest conviction that these principles of republicanism are wrong, and bad, and vicious, and dangerous to the public welfare, he la en- tirely right In saying that the Republican party ought to pass away and be no more; Indeed, sir, he would be nearer right if he would say it never ought to have com- menced. But I shall not undertake to demonstrate the advantages of Justice, education and purity; I will simply inquire, as I said before, whether they have been uni- versally conceded. That is the point here; that must be shown before the Bepublican party can yield and pass away. Now I confess that slavery has been nominally abolished by a Constitutional amendment to that effect. And I confess that it is perhaps true although of that I am not quite so confident that no Democrat of national reputation has denounced that amendment, or threatened to take up arms and resist its enforcement for now nearly a whole year. [Great laughter and applause.] Bit, sir, can you conscientiously say that all parties In this land, with one common and universal accord, agree ! extending to every citizen, whether white or black, the rights of a man ? You know they do not agree to any such thing, nor to anything like it. Very far from it, Indeed. Is there not at this very moment a secret organ- ization of barbarous conspirators, who prowl about por- tions of this Republic in tbe night-time, their beastly faces disguised with still more hideous masks, their bloodstained hands armed with bowie-knives, with blud- geons and revolvers ? Who go about dragging peaceful men and women from their beds, Dealing them with clubs and wounding them with knives, terrifying them into abandoning their civil rights, and even compelling them to ratify and legalize the abominable out- rage by voting the Democratic ticket ? Sir, la it not true that at this moment it employs a larger force of the troops of this Republic to protect the colored citlzena of the South in their legal rights, imperfectly as it doea protect them, than it does to keep Black Kettle, Spotted Tall, and Red Cloud in order, or Cochlse and his mur- derous Apaches from scalping the women and children of Arizona? And yet they talk about the .Republican Part having Finished Its Work. Why, how long is it since a Democratic Governor of Cali- fornia informed tbe people of this State, in an official document, that he would take up arms and resist the en- forcement of any law in which black men had so much a part as even voting for the Representatives who made It. And he came within three thousand votes of being re- elected in this State. So much for the still living spirit of slavery. How does it stand with education ? Has it been uni- versally conceded that every citizen of this land ia en- titled to an education and must have it ? And has that principle become so thoroughly established in the hearts of the people that the Republican party need no longer watch over It T Why, sir, whatever educational means exist in this land and God knows they are weak enough exist by and through tbe Republican party, and In spite of the Democratic party. [Applause.] The Bepublican party is the mother of com- mon schools ; and for it to leave them would be like the abandonment of a newly-born babe. [Applause.] Only fancy the Democratic party having charge of our public school system, even in the capacity of a step-mother! [Laughter.] Why, it would be like putting a young lamb to suckle with a she wolf. [Laughter.] They would not wait for it to starve to death in a natural way; they would devour it on the spot. [Laughter and ap- plause.] Sir, education is the nightmare of the Democ- racy, and they never will consent to IU existence, for they know it means their destruction. [Applause.] Who of you has forgotten the Compulsory Education bill last Winter in the Senate of California; beaten, as it waa, by a strict party vte nt eoe Bepublican vUag ag alart It, 3705HO not M Pwuowat T.UDI for itT [Applause.] dan ther* k a clearer test case made than that? Surely there Mot. Kw I come to the last of the Republican principles: Parity. Gentlemen, I am not her* for the purpose of assuring yon that the Republican party is absolutely pure. For the thing is Impossible, until society improves and be- comes better than it is. When I speak of the purity of the Republican party, I only speak of its relative purity. I only speak of the purity of that party which contains within its ranks the better class, the purer, the higher minded, the more patriotic portion of the community, as against those who are the most corrupt and the most unpatriotic. [Applause.] I speak of the relative purity of tbat party. And, sir, the Republican party, by the side of the Demo- cratic party, is as pure as the unsullied mantle of snow that lies upon the Sierras, spotless and untarnished. [Tremenduous applause.] Has hostility to dishonesty become so universal that we can again call the Democratic ,party to power? that we can entrust that organization with the custody of the Treasuries they have so often robbed? Has Tammany Hall and its baleful, corrupt Influences Inen over- thrown so long or so effectually that we can again invite to power the party that enabled Tweed and Sweeney to plunder by the tens of millions T Is the party that gave the keys of the Treasury of the City of New York to those gentlemen and held the candle for them or stood guard outside at the corner, to give warning in case of approach, to be now placed In custody of the funds of the Government of the United States, so that instead of local thieves they may become national ? Do the bribers of New York Judges, the steal- ers of New York railroads, the corruptors of the New York City government, so thoroughly acquiesce in the teachings of education, Justice and purity, that all the Judges, all the railroads, all the governments, general and local, throughout the land, must be turned over to them ? How long an abstinence from the devouring of lambs must be practiced by the most bloodthirsty of wolves to enable them to demand that the shepherds be taken away from the flocks, and they put in possession of the fold ? Surely the hungriest of wolves, ghould he be applying for the position of shepherd, ought to produce a certificate that he has not put teeth in mut- ton for over a year ought he not ? And yet in less than a year Boss Tweed, the Prince of Democ- racy, the grandest of them all, luxuriously rolled and wallowed through the metropolis of this nation, too pros- perous to be ill-natured, too well-fed to be cynical, the type and model of his class, secure in the knowledge that be was backed np by that grand Democratic party, of which h was tk chieftain leader and representative man. He made and unmade Governor!, Senators, Judges and Congressmen, and all the municipal officers from Sheriff down to Constable. And when his houses lined every street, when his equipages rolled through every square, when the plunder, of a city was filling his chest* and his vaults, when corruption was dripping from his dishonest hands, and the public, in alarm for the very beds under them, thinking the roofs were being re- moved from their houses, began to make some sort of inquiry, this man turned upon them, shoved his face In theirs with a leer which showed what opinion he held of a people who would be ruled by him, and said "What ar you going to do about It, then, s-a-y ? [Laughter.] And nobody has answered the inquiry so made yet. Xfobody Ancwera What they are going to do about it, say ? [Laughter.] Some of these gentlemen come up and tell you, "Why, Tweed has been indicted. He is going to be punished. They are going to try them." Do they know who they are talking about ? Do they know who this Tweed is tbat they talk about punishing 7 Do they know that his flunkeys are Governors; that his servants are Judges; that his tools are Common Council men? Do they talk about punishing him? Why there is only one mystery in hit whole life that I know of, and that is why he allowed old Greeley to have this nomination, and did not take it him- self. [Great laughter and applause.] I suppose ha thought he would rather be Secretary of the Treasury [laughter], and I do not know but he is right. r I do not pretend to say that the Republican party must last always, for this I know it cannot do. IB the TnllneM of Tim*: It Mast Fan A way As all things must. All matters of this world, all human creations are finite. Everything that man does must end, and so must'the Republican party. But not yet. [Ap- plause.] It will not end while the band of noble heart* who called it into existence continue to inhabit the earth. It will not end until the American people forget the lessons of patriotism that have been transmitted to them by generations of freemen. It will not be until they cease to deserve the noble inheritance that came to them through the example of heroes and by the blood of martyrs, from the deeds of Washington and the death of Lincoln. Three Times Three Were given with a hearty good will, as the speaker took his seat, and then three more were mado to echo from the walls for the success of the candidates Grant and Wilson. The multitude dispersed with enthusiastic spirits and confidence in the result for which all were working. V "f AT LUS A LIBRARY Stockton, Calif. PAT. IAN 21, 1908 3 1158 00817 2420 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. - URL ' OKI 5 71 10m-7,'70 (N8464s8)-Z-53