Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-12-30

lQu hIu prosperous II Is Budiue. 1 Suhl- 1 '
lenge the Major General to show me in B
the whole record of nations any people the S
masses of whom were educated, unless by 5
the use Of the ballot, they had mortgsged I
the selfshness of the upper classes to edu-
cate them. Switzerland, the freest country
in Europe, Just touches the verge Of edu-
cation. Prussia has its outside shell, and
Austria the like; England, like France,
has immersed her laboring classes in CHM
meriRn darkness; there is no country In
the world where the lsboring masses are
educated as they are here. You cannot
make the benevolence Of the upper classes
educate the lower. You can never educate
four millions of blacks until you make the
whites tremble aJ their power, by giving
them the ballot.
WHY THE WORK SHOULD BE DONE WELL
NOW.
Let me remind you of another reason
why you should decide and act now. You
know that nations have alternate periods
of activity and repose. After a time of
agitation and convulsion comes quiet and
material progress. There are certain spas
modic intellectual growths, and then re-
lspse. In the third place, take England
the nearest approach to it we have to-day
outside Of ourselves. In all free Govern
ments, an agitation like this war drsgs
nation a hands breadth or vast stride.
When it stops, the nation settles there for
ten or fifteen years. That generation has |
done its work. Wesried, if you please,
satisfied, at any rate, with what it has |
done, it refuses future agitation. In Eng |
land, sfter 1881, which carried the reform /
bill, YOU could not make one man In the |
nation listen to any project Of reform for |
ten years. So it will be when this war |
closes. When peace is sealed at Wash |
ington, there will he hand laid upon all 1
sIII;tr O. uIId5rtHke to Hgi-
tate for an idea. ALI your money, all that |
your sons blood has gained, when Grants |
cannon comes home, is all you will see for |
fifteen or twenty years. Make mistake
now and you will stereotype it; the nation
will not hear of reform or reformers; 1t
will want nothing but material prosperity
and comfort. France, after her convulsioD,
lapsed into a mere nation Of pedlsrs in the
hands of Louis Philippe, and let him do
what he pleased. She rose again, tore his
throne to pieces, and struggled to realize
an idea. Napoleon conquered 1t, and she
lapsed again, contented huckster, giving
up ideas altogether, asking only as the
Roman did, pa71inI ct tItiLLtssen1e, "bread
and amusement" Delude not yourselves
with the idea that if we gain half, we
agitaie immediately for the other half.
Not bit of it. Neither you nor shall
have an opportunity to do that work. 1t
will be adiourned-how long, we do not
know-until events precipitate it upon us.
So much the more consequence, therefore,
that before the door closes, before Grants
cannon comes home, before the approach
ment is signed and sealed, we make the
nation comprehend all it needs, and get 1t.
if possible. Applsuso. Now, gentle
men, said nationality necessitated one
ides. The idea is democratic Institutions;
man as man, without regard to caste, to
color, to education, 10 wealth, or to nation
atty. That is the primal, central idea
thAt has made the North. 1t is the aglta-
ton Of that idea that made 1861 possible.
Now that idea has kissed the gulf before
; we have nation.
THE BATTLE BETWEEN STEVENS AND
DAVIS.
At present our military horizon is so
: bright that we have every reason to sup
I pose that the next question forced upon us
e will be reconstruction. If Sherman has
Q not taken tho whole Southern Oonfederacy
/ | in his right hand he will take the rest in
: his left, If Grant has not yet taken Rich
| mond, it is only because he Is keeping it as
New Years gift for the President.
4 Laugh er and applause. But there is q
! iercer battle gong on in the Oonfederscy
8 than Sherman is wsging at Savannah or
j Grant at Petersburgh, and that is battle
htfsfhfSf tshfS5f Brown and vice PRESIDENT Stephens
7 and President Davis. 1t is plot to unseat
t | Davis from his sRd:le. Now that plot Is a
a division of sentiment In this wise; Brown
u and Stephens are men who have fought
It this battle brAvely, and, you may say
II granting their idea, nObly; but they are
: willing TO acknowledge failure to mske a
:, bargain to come back into the United
2 States Senate. They are willing to ac-
Z knowledge American supremacy, and take
: their places rs citizens Behind them is 8
n set Of men loss worthy and less honorable
], sure that unless some such bargain is made
o they must skedaddle from this continent
L and eat dry bread in como Italian town as
l., thew deserve. That is one party. An
I other is Davis and Robert +. Lee, men
= who are playing no such game, men WhosC
n lives have been devoted to one purpose
a men who arc playing for empire or grave
n Davis wants no seat in tie United states
d Senate and wants no exile in Italy. Ht
70 wants no finger pointed at him in Europe
% as O discomfitted rebel. Davis and Lee
,e have surrendered home, family, wealth
a everything for their idea Davis wants an
( empire on this continent, of six teet By
7 two. Lee wants the same. Such meI
d will clean the South like the palm Of my
4. hand before they submit. Give the blacki
q freedoml Why, Davis would give every
e; black maU patent of nobility before ht
,e would make peace with "the Yankees.
Like Napoleon, he knows that once sue
cessfuI, he can make that empire to sui
o. himself, and therefore, race, wealth, instl
ic tutions slaves and property, must I'LL the
,e gulf TO make pathway to success. If oul
ot success continues, however, we may eX
I pect to hear from Georgia sometime with
10 in twelve months an offer like this: Sub
~ mission to the flag, yes; every black mar
m under arms free; every man, woman anC
n. child, vino has actually embraced the otel
n Of the Proclamation, free; but for thu
he three millions outside of your picket lines
. emancipation in twenty years; emancipa
ID ton for every man born after next FOurtl
ig of July, when he shall arrive at the age o
Il twenty; that is emancipation In q quartz,
n of a century, or thereAbouts' SuppOs
n that offer made now to Congress, whu
n would be the consequence Remembe
le what the Republican party is made up Of
er II has received into its ranks the hslfcon
nj yerted War Democrats-the Bell -Everetts
of honorable men, honest men, as honest a
n YOU or I, but like Major General Banks
IN seeing men like trees walking, crsmme,
e. bY few days OF weeks study, having in
of distinct definite ideas or principles upol
il the subject. am satisfied that il such al
~ ofFar vyere made now, tWo-thirds of the Re