The Cadiz sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1864-1911, 1865-09-06
speech of Hon. II. p. Ranney.


turn to you Ny sincere and heartfelt thanks
for this undeserved expression Of your con-
fdence in me- Bringing to the discharge Of
the duties of the chair no experience, un-
der some circumstances | should distrust my
ability to conduct the proceedings of this
| Convention as they ought to be; but, know
ing, as | do, that the gentlemen of the
Convention are here for one single uhdivid-
ed purpose of accomplishing, deecntly and
in order, the business for which they have
assembled, do not Anticipate that any par
ticular ability will be required on the part of
the chair. And while / return my thanks
gentlemen of the Convention, for the honor
you have conferred upon me, allow me, for
a single moment, to congratulate you, and
through you, the Democracy of Ohio, 70 :
your present position, perfect organization,
and great strength. (Applause.
1t is now many years since | have been
acquainted with the assemblages of the De-
mocracy of this State in Convention. For
the last four years. need not say to any
body-through which we have passed. what
frey ordeal the Democracy of this State
have encountered; and the astonishing fact
stands out prominently that, notwithstand-
ing all The prosecutions, and all the assaults
to which the Democracy of this State have,
during that unfortunate period, been sub
jected, still each returning year has shown
| that the body was growing-eaeh returning
Of the votes, as they came in, showed that,
instead of persecution running YOU down,
and diminishing your strength, end decreas
ing your numbers, they are all the time ele
yating them. Why is this? No sociation
of men-no party gathered together for
mere sinister or Temporary, or selfish pur-
| nbn,, ,uo,,ll boo
broken into atoms with the amount OF per
countercd. 1t is because, fellow-citizeDs-
and we should always bear this in mind
because there lies right at the foundation of
Democratic faith--the sacred trust of pre-
serving the great and essential rights of the
great mass of the people.
That is the secret and the whole of it,
And let me give you this one encouraging
word, that just as long as you are true to
yourselves, and true to the great interests Of
the people, you are invincible (Applause)
The world, the flesh and the devil may COM
bne against you, but without effect. ZAP
plause.) And now. gentlemen, without
, undertaking to .detain you any length of
time, for am wholly unpreparel to speak
to you as | would have done-without un-
dertaking to detain you for any length Of
time to 90 over the various topics that now
agitate the public mind, and upon which
4 you are called to act, let me for single
moment takea glance at the past, in order
the better to assure ourselves OF our present
position and our present duties
Down to the advent OF the present party
in power-a little over four years ago--no
country on the face Of the earth presented
such attractions as this beloved and happy
country of ours. In no country on the face
Of the earth, were all mems rights SO well
Il and so perfectly respected. From thirteen
1 shall colonies upun the Atlantic seaburd
we had seen grow up, under the inspiring
influence of Democratic principles, popu-
lation of over thirty millions of people, and
more than thirty States Instead of being
hcn,mcd in substantially by the Allegheny
mountains, as we were at the outset, we
had spread from ocean to ocean, until our
flag foatcd on both shores of the continent.
That was our condition four years ago, and
it was due, under God and with God bless
ing, to those great principles of Democratic
faith that look TO the good Of the masses
those principles that were formed at an early
period BY the great patriots and statesmen
who were the founders of our organization.
From this pleasing state of facts, let us
look to what exists at present. But four
years of time have been necessary for the
party who have succeeded in ovcrthroWing
the Democratic party to change wholly the
entire face OF the country and its affairs. =
Instead of that absolute security of person
and property which we realized before who
does not look back upon this sad period ant
see what has been done. Instead Of uni
ted country extending from ocean to ocean,
the map has been torn asunder and bathed
in blood. Instead Of united and free peo-
ple standing as the representatives of re-
publican government in the Western hemis-
phcre to the rest of the world We have
presented, in the last four years, faction and
disunion that have torn us assundcr, and
rendered us utterly absurd and disgraced in
the eyes of foreign countries. Instead Of
that absolute security we enjoyed before the
accession Of these men to power, what have
We witnessed? During the past four years
all our guarantees Of liberty have been bro
ken down, the writ OF hobcas corpus, the
right to entertain your own opinions and
express them, and the freedom Of the press,
have all been stricken down and trampled in
the dust. With this look at the past let us
adopt the language of the immortal Jetfer-
son in his first inaugural address:
| W HCu III iuOtueItS Vi CTTOI anu didTIu.
we have departed from the paths that lead
to happiness and safety, let us retrace our
steps and 20 back to the consideration of
those great principles upon which our faith
ers have founded the Government.
That is our duty to-day. We are not
here to create, or to recommend creation. -
We are not here to build up better sys-
tenn than Our fathers Of the revolutionary
# mo aIo fsIr hip0 NJ tho bind
1t is simple effort to 90 back again to the
chart OF our principles as recorded by our
fathers, and place ourselves upon the ground
occupied, and all will be well. -......
But, gentlemen Of the Convention, what
a bercuIcan task is before us al 1t need
not Leen supposed that we are to have no
lot or part in the matter. Who are we?-
We represent more than 200, 900 of the cleo
Etors of this great and powerful State We
represent more than 900, 900 of the popu-
lation of the State. That population is
looking to you to-day, with anxious solici-
tude that you shall do for them, aud for the
cause of truth and righteousness, just what
is necessary TO restore to them the blessings
which they enjoyed prior TO the advent of
the new party that has cone into power.
! That is what they ask you to do
And now, gentleman, what is the first
thing to be done? The first thing is to
bring our great and glorious country to-
gether again. The first thing to which We
must direct our attention as free men, leav-
| ing the past to take care OF itself, and look
ing now to the discharge OF our high duties
for the future, is to cooperate manfully,
resolutey and deteiminedly, in restoring our
country, until We see the happy spectacle of
thirty odd States again In peace, represent
ed in the National Council. lAIplapse,