The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1862-08-09
WAR FOR THE UNION
LAST SPEECH OF STEPHEN
A. DOUGLAS,
Deliverd i'm the National Repub.
licam Wigwam, Chicago, May
4, 1861, I'm Presence Of 10, 900
People.
Fellow Citizens of Chicago !;


will aot do you nor myself the injustice I
suppose for moment that this ovation !
intended as mere personal homage to my
SELF rejoice in the knowledge that It is {
1forcible embodiment and expression Of you
tdevotion to the constitution, the Union, ant
the flag of the country. will not concea
my qualification at the incontrovertible testi
mony which this vast assemblage presents
that however differences Of opinion on po
litical topics and partizan questions may
have divided US, yet you all have convic
ton That when the country would be in dan
ger my loyalty may be relied upon.
That the danger to this country Is now
imminent, no man can conceal from hi.
thoughts, no matter how. much he may de
sire to avert the evil If war must come, i
the bayonet must be used to maintain so:ia
order and constitutional liberty, I can only
say before God that I feel my conscience is
clear Of all responsibility for the consequen.
ces that may follow. | have struggled as
long as there was hope, and even after hope
had almost disappeared, for the peaceful so.
luton of all these difficulties. have not
only rendered to these discontented States
full and ample justice, but have gone fur
ther to the utmost extremity Of magnanimity
and generosity. The return that we have
received, is war upon the government, the
marching Of hostile armies, to reduce our
national capital, the destruction Of our COM
merce on the great father of, waters, and
issuing Of letters Of marque, to pirates, to
commit depredations on our commerce on
the high seas, and a concerted m ovement to
blot out the United States of America from
the map of the world. The simple qustion
is whether we will maintain the government t
established by our fathers, or allow it to be
stricken down by those who, when they
can no longer govern, endeavor to destroy It.
What is the cause of all this great calamity
now being inflicted upon us What excuse
do these disunionists give for breaking up
the best government that the sun of heaven
ever shed Its beams upon ? They are dis
satisfied with the result Of pre- sidential
election. Did they never get beaten beforea
Are we to tolerate the idea that defeated
party in national election may resort to
the sword, when defeated by the popular
will understand it to be fundamental
and indispensable principle of constitutional
liberty that the voice ofthe people expressed
according to the forms of the constitution,
must command the implicit obedience of
every good citizen. They choose to assume
that the election of a particular candidate
carries the presumption that their rights are
not safe in the Union What evidence is
there to sustain that presumption /? defy
any man on earth to show me any one act
done, of which they can complain, as placing
their rights in jeopardy. What one act has
been omitted to be done of which they can
complaint proclaim to these assembled
thousands, that, so far as the constitutional
rights of the Southern States are concerned
80 far as the rights of shareholders are
concerned--no one act has been done, no
duty has been omitted to be done, under this
administration, of which they can complain.
There has not been day from the time
when George Washington was inaugurated
as the first president of the United States
down to this moment, when the rights of
the Southern States stood firmer under the
laws of the land than they do to-day. There
has never been time when those states
have not had MS good cause for disunion as
they have to-day. What specific cause can
they assign as existing now, which has not
under every administration from the days of
Washington to this moments y
Ifyou refer to the territorial question, II
so happens as an extraordinary fact that for
the first time, there is not an act of Congress
prohibiting slavery anywhere.
Ify you refer to the enforcement Of the
laws, the only complaint made has been,
there has been rather too much energy and
vigor employed in tho Enforcement of the
fugitive slave law. ask what excuse ear
these disunionists of the South urge for their
scheme to break up this government The
slavery question is a mere excuse The
election of Mr.. Lincoln is mere pretext.~
The present secession movement is the re-
suit of . tremendous, enormous conspiracy
formed more than . year ago. This con-
spiracy to break up this Union was formed
by the leaders in the Southern Confederacy
more than twelve months ago. They use
the slavery question as means to accom-.
plish their desired ends. They desired q
northern man to be elected president by
sectional vote in order to consider that as
evidence that the two sections could not
live in peace, and so they might break up
the Union. Whenever the history of the
last two years shall be written, whenever the
history Of this country from the time that
the Lecompton constitution was originated
down to the last presidential election shall
be written, II will appear that the scheme
was formed to break up this Union. They
desired to break it up, using the slavery
question as pretext, to elect the rcpubli-
can candidate by purely northern vote,
against q united south, and then assign that
fact ~ reason why we could not live to-
gether. The schewe agreed upon in Wash
ington last May was for the disunion candi.
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