Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1860-10-26
SPEECH OF HON. JOHN COyODE.

he 18th Ward, n Y. city, on Monday
vening last. His speech is reported as fol-
ows in the N. Y. Tribune:
''Mr. Covode began by saying that he was
not talking but working man, and had |
been working man all his life and while |
engaged at his labors he had made the dis
covery that this administration was corrupt |
and rotten to the core. What interest could
we have in the general Government unless 1t
promoted the general good? What motive
could there be to follow an administration
farther than 1t was right? Why allow its
leading agents to defraud the Government by
such schemes as the sale of Fort Smelling,
the Pennsylvania fraud, &c? There was no
other reason than that Of party ties. As the
honest old sailor would sometimes stick to
the old ship, even after it had been eaten
away by rats and with hulk almost rotten,
so 1t might be IN party. Sometimes an old
cask that had once held genuine article, is
filed up with drugged and internal COM
pound, and passed off on the strength OF Its
old stamp SO the Administration had at
tempted to pass of various schemes Of Usur-
patton and corruption for the pure article OF
Democracy Of the old Jeffersonian brand
Think of Jefferson attempting to force
Slave Constitution on an unwilling people,
and when force had failed, OF his Offering
brides; think Of Jefferson allowing the Su-
preme Court, with Mr. fancy at its head, to
frame for him his political opinions, and OF
his swearing to them in advance. Think OF
Jefferson calling the laboring class the mud
sills Of society. The vagares Of the acute
intellect Of John c. Calhoun had been adop-
ted in place of the doctrines of Jefferson by
the Dcmocracy-that was what was now
left of that party, except the Custom House
certificates.
1t was upon the plausible doctrine Of Pop
ullr Sovereignty, proclaiming that the peo-
ple of Kansas should be allowed to regulate
their affairs in their own way, that Mr.. Bu-
chanan was elected. This political bantllng,
born IN 1852, was only two years old when
1t was committed to its bachelor nurse. 1t
was handed over TO the Supreme Court,
where it remained until Judge Douglas, Its
putative father, could not identify its re-
mains. To what do these high-sounding
terms Of Popular Sovereignty, . the right
of the people to rule, &c, reduce them
selves? Why, that the people Of a Terrific
~ may exclude Slavery but how? Why,
by buying the slaves that are brought among
them, thus making abolition a necessity in
new State. When brought to the point Of
the controversy touching the rights Of free
white men in the Western Territories. they
answer that they are as much opposed to
Slavery as we are, and yet they will blindly
adhere to this party whose object is to OK
tend Slavery.
Mr. Coyode referred TO the corrupt appli-
ances used by the executive to fasten upon
the people Of Kansas the Lecompton Consti
tuition. At the time the measure came up
in Congress, the House stood o. Republi-
cans, - anti Lecompton Democrats all the
others were National Democrats. ltwas ne
cessarv. in order to carry the measure thro'
Congress, that they should buy up Republis
cans or Douglas Democrats. Men were be
ING constantly lost from the anti-Lecompton
side But who were bought? During the
whole struggle they were never able to cor
rupt a single Republican The Republicans
went in with 90 and they came out with %,
while there were II lost out of the % Doug
las Democrats Mr. Haskin stated that the
President had approached him with bride.
Mr.. Adr;lin of New Jersey, was offered a four
years foreign mission. They tried but could
not purchase John Hickman.
Mr.. Covode then passed in review the va
rious stratagems resorted to by the Slave
Power to keep control OF the General Gov
eminent. Up to the passage OF the Nebras-
ka bill, they had always been able to DO 50.
They resorted then to force. They sent the
army to Kansas But the free people Of
Kansas, aided by their brethren in the Free
States, were too strong for them. Next,
they undertook to make Kansas Slave State
by fraudulent election returns. Their next
was to fit up the LecomptOn Constitution
and they were to surround Lecompton and
intimidate free men until they should pass it.
Buchanan sends in a message that the people
of Kansas had adopted the Constitution
The next thing was to go TO work and buy
up Northern Members of Congress. 1t was
known to the whole country that the Ad-
ministration had rewarded with places in
the Custom Houses, Foreign Missions, &c,
those who could be brought into the ring to
pass the iniquity. The difficulty was to
prove that they had purchased members d.
roctly with money. When it had been as
certained that Wendell kept his accounts
with the Bank Of the Metropolis, they sub
penaed the cashier. Mr. CoYods took a
phonographer aud went to the Bank, ran
through the books for period of fifteen
months, and ascertained that all corrupt
checks were paid under fictitious names. We
would take up n check and ask "What Is
this what does this mean - And the
vague reply would be given, ''Well, that is
the kind you want" Those to IS. u
that was one Of our kind. What does it
mean ?" "Why to save the Union. -
Why, continued MIR. Covode, you and |,
fellow citizens, have been taught to believe
that the stability of the Union depends upon
the virtue Of the people. We next come to
"Pay Kansas $4,000" We understood it
all. We were able to track themen we lost
They had been paid the kansas $4,000. =
There was one of the Sth April, 1858, with
no name to it, The bankers clerk was
called, and said that Mr. Bean presented it.
y detective was dispatched for Mr.. Bean
Before he could come TO Washington Mr..
Bean had very important business to tran
sact with Judge Hall. The account was
shown to Bean. He said that if lie gave
testimony on the matter he should be
ruined. He received the check for Kan
sas' to pass the Lecompton bill Bean sent
a messenger for the journal of the House
Three days after the check was divided
81 goo and 81 600. Three days after we
had lost Judge Hall. Wendell had told
Bean that a bushel of gold was of no conse-
quence in passing that bill. When Wendell
was questioned whether he had any particu-
lar men in view, he replied that If he had he
should undertake to forget them as soon as
possible He said he paid the money, and
got the votes. His testimony showed that
in three years he had used 100000 to buy
up corrupt men from the North.
Covode referred to the witness Patrick
Lafferty, an officer in the Custom House at
Philadelphia. They got no testimony ont
of him for nearly week. 1t was determined
to put him in jail He went up
to Mr.. Covode and said, Il am told
that the Jail is an awful place"
hyatt Is there, said Mr. Covode The |
lrlShman said he would give little testi-
mony rather than be imprisoned. Laffertv |
said that as member Of the COMMITTEE -
canvass the State, he had made use of tbreo
thousand fraudulent naturalization papers in
the State of Pennsylvania and he knew
that over 6,000 were used in one year. Mr.. |
Coyode exhibited an original. "By what
vote did you carry the State that year?''
Laferty gave the number. "Well, i: ap-
pears if you had not gwen those, you would
have lost the State ?'' 'Why,
anY man can reckon that I'm ;,