The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1854-09-13
THE CHEAT FUSION RALLY Ar
AsHLAND.-.HON. g.. p. CHASE ON
III STUMP.

THE CHEAT FUSION RALLY AT
AsHLAND---HON. 8. p. CHASE ON
U
Last Thursday was the day set apart
for the great Fusion Rally in this place.
No effort Yves spared to get out the peo-
pie. Large and flaming hand-bills had
been posted up in conspicuous places
throughout the county, announcing that
Hon. 8. P. CHASE, PHILEMoN Bliss, and
a host of lesser lights, would be present
and address the meeting. 1t would be
strangeifsueh an array Of notables would
not draw a crowd, from motives of mere
curiosity but it did not. The whole
thing was q most miserable farce-clear-
ly SO. Everybody was disappointed
FEsionists as we'll as Democrats. We
have no desire to m~issrepresent the facts,
and we think in all candor there
were not more than from three to four
hundred people present, outside of our
own town. We are perfectly within the
bounds of truth, when we say that at
least three-fourths of hat crowd were
Wings; not the Woodworking, honest
Wings of the rural districts, but the
ofice-seeking Whigs-Whigs who have
never let pass an opportunity to slaugh-
ter the Democratic party, without re-
gard to the means employed. The Off
GERS of the County Convention were
Wings. The nominees for all the fat
offices are Wings. The Marshalls of
the Day-Messrs. GooDFELLow and Nc
CoMBs-were Wings. Both of the Pres
idents, one of the Secretaries, and a large
proportion of the Vice Presidents of the
Mass Meeting were Wings. In short,
there was nothing to relieve the whole
thing from a regular, o~ld-fashioned,
Hard Cider Wing Rally, except a few
honest Free Sellers mixed in to give it
the proper color.
The meeting assembled in the Grove
west of town, and was organized, as we
said before, under Wing officers. Hon.
PHILEMON BLISS was first introduced.
We omit any notice of his remarks here,
and refer the reader to an article upon
the subject in another column. Suffice
it to say hat after he had concluded, he
left no doubt in the minds of his audi
ence of the truth of the old adage, that
20 ignorance is Bliss"
After Bliss came the Lion of the day
Hon. SALMON p. CHASE. Now, it was
generally known that the aforesaid SAL
MON was about as big a fish as was to be
found in the Free Soil waters, and it was
very naturally expected that he would
spout any amount of dirty water. Dem
-ocrats prepared themselves for annihili-
l~ation, and Wings expected to see the
t'fur fly" But SALMON disappointed
all of them His whole speech aspire
bombast and sophistry-as barren of ar
gument as Zahara is of vegetation We
listened ~intently to his whole speech,
and could discover but three points in
it, although he spoke nearly two hours.
First, the ratio of slave representation,
making five slaves equal to three white
voters. This he commented on extern
sively, but was careful not to mention
that it was a provision in the Constitu-
ton of the United States, and therefore
just as impossible to change it without a
change in the Constitution, as it would
be to suspend the laws of gravitaticn.
Second, he defined his position OIL Pop
ular Sovereignty. He was in favor of ev-
cry body yoting-Aliens, Natives, Ne
groes and Indians. In other words he
wanted nobody to vote, but to let Con-
gress legislate upon the subject of slave
ry in the Territories, with or without
the consent of the people.
He wound up by telling the people in
the third place how the Missouri Com
promise was to be re-enated. Elect a
House of Representatives opposed to
the bill. Let the House attach a repeal
ing clause to the Appropriation bill, and
force the Senate to agree to It'll To sue
coed they must elect a man so devoted
to his country, that he will go to Wash
-ington and sit there a whole session with
out a cent of pay for his services, run in
debt for his living, throw in his time for
the chance of doing SO, and stop the
wheels of government, unless the Senate
should agree. to re-enact the Missouri
Restriction Well, the scheme is GER
tainly a very PLAUSIBLE ~ one. Won
der if Mr.. Bliss is prepared to go the
whole figure, and to generously sacrifice
his eight dollars per day for the benefit
of his colored brethren? If what the
Wings say is true he'll do.it, but we
think they will find it exceedingly hard
to convince the people of it. Out upon
such silly twaddlel AMMAN who says
the Nebraska bill can be repealed by
such means is either a fool or a knave,
and is unworthy of the confidence of a
free people.
Aside from these positions. he said
nothing of any consequence. The speech
was a miserable, weak thing, and unwor-
thy of a man of Mr.. CHAsE's reputation.
1t was an insult to the intelligence Of
his audience, and was a perfect damper
upon the spirits of the Fusionists pres
ont Let the Fusionists hold a few more