Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1864-09-08
SPEECH OF SECRETARY sEwARDAr
AUBURN, n Y.

SPEECH OF SECRETARY sEwARDAr
AUBURN, n Y.
on saturday last the people Of Auburn, N.
H t.ne nome OF Secretary Seward), reyoiced
over the victories at Mobile and Atlanta. and
the Secretary OF State being a. home an i'm
mense concourse Of people, headed nv a hand.
paid him visit and called him out n, a
speech. he gave them one full Of no yer ana
eloquence, and referred most hapnilv 2, tns
Victories at Atlanta and Mobile, aad enlosised
F6fragut and Sherman as they deserved
With regard to Atlanta Mr.. Seward said
"The victory at Atlanta comes at the rtsht
place. The rebellious district is in the shape
whole surface. But If you could break the
shell at either Of the two ends. Richmond and
Atlanta, the whole must crumble to pieces.
While sherman, under Grant, has been strik.
striking jnst as hard blows upon Inc lesser
end. The whole shell will now be easily
ernsned, for 1t has grown brittle with the ex-
May not add that this victory at Atlanta
comes In good time, as the victory in MobiIe
Bay does, to vindicate the wisdom and the
fleet did not make itself, nor did he make IL
1t was prepared by the Secretary OF the Navy.
and ne that shall record the history Of this
war truthfully and impartially will write that
since the days OF Carnot no man has organized
war with ability equal to that OF Stanton,
lCheers for Stanton and for the Secretary OF
MI seward then referred to the fact that
party divisions had taken place. and many
good men had become dissatisfied because GER.
tain favorites had not been nominated. Re.
ferring to this division Of sentiment, he said:
but why should party spirit, especially at
this juncture, divide the American peoplel
And why should l, member of the Executive
Administration, allude to it on such an occa-
sion as this? The answer is at hand. The
Constitution OF our country commands that
Administration to surrender its powers TO the
people, and the people to designate agents to
assume and exercise them four years. You
receive the Executive Government in a con-
dition very different and highly improved. We
found 1t practically expelled from the whole
country south OF the Delaware, the Ohio, and
the Missouri, with the most Of the army and
navy betrayed or fallen into the hands ef the
insurgents, and q new and reasonable Con.
federacy, with the indirect but effective CO. op-
on the Gulf of Mexico We cheerfully give
the Government back to you, with large and
conquering armies and q triumphant navy,
with the hateful Confederacy falling into
pieces, and the rebellious States one after an
other returning to their allegiance"
Mr.. Seward then proceeded to argue that Mr..
Lincoln was OF right entitled to the Presidency
for the next four years He was constitutionally
elected In 1860, as President OF the whole United
States, and his prerogative TO rule over the
whole country had been usurped from him.
"The war is maintained ON our side TO sup
press the usurper, and TO bring the insurgent
States back under the authority OF the consti-
tutional President The war is at a crisis. It
is clear, therefore, that we are fighting to make
Abraham Lincoln President Of the whole
United States, under the election of 1860, TO
continue until the 4th Of March, 1865. In
we wisely or safely vote out the identical per-
son whom with force and arms we are fighting
into the Presidency! mo- no!l
"You justly say "no." 1t would be nothing
less than to give up the very object of the war
at the ballot-box. The moral strength which
makes our loyal position impregnable would
pass from us, and when that moral strength
has passed away material forces are no longer
effective or even available. By such proceed
ing we shall have agreed with the enemy, and
shall have given him the victory"
the United States and tseir a eonstitutiona @
President, or the SO. called Confederate States
and their usurping President, must rule with
IN the limits OF this Republic. l therefore re-
yolying the question whether hereafter we
shall have Constitution and a country left
us. HOW snail we vote, then, TO save our
country from this fearful de nger? Gvote Lin
coin in again. "a
You have hit it exactly my friend We must
vote Lincoln in again and fight him in at the
same time. If we do this the rebellion will
perish, and leave no root. II we do otherwise
we have only the alternatives Of acquiescenoe
in a perpetual usurpation, or Of entering an
endless succession OF civil and social wars.
Upon these grounds, entirely irrespective of
platform and candidate, consider the recon-
mendations Of the Convention at Chicago as
that's a factl 1t will seem hard thing when
imply ttat party like the Democratic party
can either mediate or blindly adopt measures
to overthrow the Republic. All experience,
however, shows that 1t is by the malice or the
madness of great parties that Free States have
been brought down to destruction. You often
near alarms that party in power is subvert-
ing the State, and it sometimes happens so.
But nine times out OF ten il is q party out Of
power that, in its inpatence or It's ambition,
oyerthrows Republic s-t.
MT Seward then urged upon all to vote con-
scientiously for such party as would do most
for the reconstruction Of the Union, and he be.
Heved that OF right MIR. Lincoln should be con.
tinued in power until he could rule over the
coin and his acts, he said al will not dwell
long on the complaints which misguided but
not Intentionally perverse men bring against
the Administration OF Abraham Lincoln. They
complain Of military arrests of spies and lurk.
ing traitors in the loyal States, as If the Gov.
ernment could justify itself for waiting, with.
invaded or to be carried off into secession.
They complain that when we call for yolun-
teere we present the alternative Of draft, as
II when the ship had been scuttled the captain
oughtto leave the sleeping passengers to go to
the bottom without calling upon them to take
their turn st the pump. They are not content
win plotting sedition In secret places, but they
60 up and down the public streets uttering
treason, vainly seeking to provoke arrest In
order that they may complain OF a denial or
the liberty Of speech. The impuniry they ev-
ryWnere ENJOY, unoer tne prOtecuou OF cen.
stitutionai debate, shows at one and the same
time that their complaints are groundless and
that the Union, in the element Of moral stabil-
ity, is stronger than they know.
"The chief complaint against the President
is that he will not accept peace on the basis OF
the integrity Of the Union without having also
the abandonment ofslavery. When and where
have the insurgents offered him peace on the
basis OF the integrity of the Union? Nobody
has offered 1t. The rebels never will offer II.
Nobody on their behalf can offer IT, They are
and pledged TO rule this Republic or
ruin it. told you here year ago that prac-
ticaliy slavery was no longer In question-that
1t was perishing under the operation OF the war.
That assertion has been confirmed. The Union
men in all the Slave States that we ha We deliy.
cred are even more anxious than we are to
abolish slavery. Witness Western Virginia,
Missouri, Louisiana, Tennessee, and
Arkansas. Jefferson Davis tells You In effect
The same thing. He says that 1t is not slavery.
but independence and sovereignty for which
he is contending. There is good reason for this.
A hundred dollars in gold Is only years pur-
chase Of the labor Of the WORKING man In eyery
part Of the United States At less than half that
price you could buy all the slaves in the coui-
ry." sl4i--s : lfd ,'ss--l I1I-1- : Tf--IF