The Cleveland leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1865-1865, 1865-09-07
JUDGE RANNEY'S SPEECH,
A Response tO7fhe Speech II Hon. r.
p. Kanney Before the State Demo
cratic Convention ~

crnfre Convention -
EDITORS LEADER: Dear Sirs In his
late speech IS President of the Democratic
Convention at Columbus Judge Rufus P.
Rsnney is reported to have said some
things which should not pass u%nsupple-
mented by the facts in the case.
In his effort to make it appear that the
party which has ssucceededin overthrow
ips the Democratic party, is alone respon-
sibla for the war of the rebellion and Its
evil consequences, the speaker INDUCES IN
some aglitsering generalities . concerning
athe inspiring influence Of Democratic
pripciples,n and athose great principles OF
Democratic. faith which look to the good Oh
the masses, ? regardless of the fact thai ours
is Republican form of government, anu
that the people in q perfectly constitutions
manner elected u late lsmenteo o.
dent and thus demonstrated tnst
Dnbl;csn party was legitimately the parry
r rower. as was the Democratic parry NJ
Che time Of Mr.. Buchanan's election. Nov
the party defeated in 1856, like al pIeOsa-
inc m;norities in our Presidential elections
acouiasoed in the expressed will OF the
msiority, and thus the puDnc arAn4 ~
vss msintained. But how was it WIZ 'ns
constitutiouslly defeated party in l0Oo
Did lis members aequissce in the expressed
will of the msjOrity, and, like good citizens
Ofthe Republic, labOrtO preserve Its peace
No. wa know too well how insanely they
overleaped all ~precsdents in our national
history and what woes they Drougn' 1pOa
nd We're not those msdmen who nfeo
tbe erst cum of the rebellion laboring IN
der athe inspiring influence Of Democrats
pripciples," as we'll as the DemOcrAs:O
p,ss;dant who winked at and sbetteo 'nen
evil devices2 ..h v.o a
rsectionar candidate; for in exscuy 'ne
same sense has every one OF res'-
da0ts bean s sectional candidate. 1t was
from the beginning of our Government
inevitable that just such a state OF things
wouId arise as resulted in the election Of
Abraham Lincoln, and that too under the
normal working of the Constitution. For
the whole spirit of our noble Constitution
= totally adverse to slavery, which Its
or;ginstors chose to tolerate IN some OF tne
Stafao rather than lose the greater good
no" 1;tslv tn result from its adoption as
thew framed 1t. AndI say it was newt
aha from the beginning, that the christian
c;yilizstion which our Constitution encour-
soas and fosters, should bring forth q party
To- powerful for the advocates OF slavery,
wbetber it would be at the n OF eight
decades or of eighty.
Rnt What shall be said Of the bad faith Of
a party that can be loyal only when II
happens to be in the majority, sndi 9
defeated, violates the great principle OF a
republican form of government by not &C
cepting the will of the constitutional ma
iority IS law2 No words can adequately
describe such perfdy.
After depicting our happy condition oe-
fore the war and asserting that the Repub-
lican party has changed "wholly the entire
face of the country and its affairs" the
Honorable President OF the Convention
goes on to say that 1--WE have presented IN
the last four years, q pitiable spects-
Gle. rent by faction snd disunlon
that have torn Us ssunder, and rendered
us utterly absurd and disgraced in the eyes
of foreign Countries Doubtless we have
presented a very bad spectacle to the
world. But which party al the North has
shown itself "absurd" during this struggle?
the party that worked with the Govern
ment, or the party that opposed it and
sympathized with the enemy2 Would
not the period of our absurdity and dis
grace have been much less than four years
had the Democratic party at the North
heartily espoused the cause of the Govern
ment, and withheld its sympathy from the
foe 2 How quickly would the anite1
North have ended the rebellion; how
much treasure would have been saved, and
how many lives
Surely our Judicial orator would not con-
tend that this nation is disgraced in
the eyes Of foreign nations to-day. He
would not like to say to our returning
braves: fGo to your homes, soldiers /; you
have disgrsced your country by going
forth to fight those who trampled on her
flag. We should have had peace if you
had remained at home and suffered our
southern brothers to do as they pleased.
And what q charming spectacle we should
have presented to foreign countries n
To my fancy it is no evidence of national
disgrace that our Government is dismissing
her armies from the field, opening her ports
to the world, raising funds to make her
payments as they fall due, asserting and
maintaining her rights upon land and sea,
executing speedy Justice upon the con-
spirators in the great assassination, holding |
her arch foe for the verdict of the proper
tribunal, and c%herishing the arts of peace
throughout her borders.
1t is not a little surprising that Mr..
Ranney's general love for truth did not
prevent him from using the following Ian.
guage: During the past four years all our
guarantees of liberty have been broken
down, the writ of hGbeGs 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
Can it be that the speaker uttered these
mis-statements in 8 spirit of ob~sequiousness
to the badly notorious Vallandigham ?
What guarantees Of liberty have been
broken down, except of liberty to rebel or
aid rebellion When has the privilege
the writ of ha6eGs corpus been suspend
d, and the public safety did not require it
When has the right to entertain your own
opinions and express them been called In
question lfyou did not express REASONABLE
'plnlons What freedom of the press has
9esn stricken down and trsmpled in the
lust except the freedom to give aid and
comfort to the enemy2 COZ
such fallacious reasoning may pass for
u argument with the great mass of the
Democratic party, but men of good UNDER
landing are not to be deceived by these
lslngenuous efforts TO cast the burden of
ne rebellion upon the party which has
lDdued it and maintained the integrity
supremacy of the Government.
ENGBLADUs.