The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1866-09-12
Able Speech from Gen. Phelps.
He Exposes the Radical Party and
its Caucus Hof
lie Shows that ,JOhnson's Policy
was LincOln's Policy.

| y
Conservative men which re-nominatcd him
for Congress recently upon the pbiadel-
phia Platform contrary to his desire.
General PHELPS was the candidate of the
Republican party in 1854 upon the ticket
with LINCOLN and JoHSsoN and was
then nominated as the friend of LINCOLN
over HENRY WINTER DAVIS. who.
with WADE and others, then enter
tained the views of reconstruction now
contended for by the Radicals. IF.
We ask a careful persual Of this doom
ment: ffaHH IIt..
-Afr. President, Gentlemen Of The Union Com
uentton Of the Ihird District aud Fello,o
Citizens:
My first duty, gentlemen, in accepting the
denomination upon the platform or me
National Union party adopted al FhiiadcIrGig.
IS To express my unfeignea thanks for tn g
honor your confidence has thus conferred
and my just pride that The earnest detrrm
ination Of the people of this district tn
sustain the course Of their representative
IN congress IN support Of the Adminstra-
ton policy of restoration. has prevailed
over my own personal inclination to with
draw entirely from the political arena.
lIhe speaker here gave III GillIiis reasons
Tor coming forward aIter having declined
to do so, lie referred to the split In the
hepuDllean party. and contended that tho
conservatives still hold the same principles
held formerly by the Republican party. aud
which are repudiated by the Radicals. lie
contended that the policy u President
johnson is identical with that OF President
Lincoln, and denied that State could
legally secede. In this connection he saws 4
When we voted for our candidate for the
wee presidency, we congratulated our
gnIHng "a ON .nrf,,, q IN
nizidg In the most significant manner, in n
way that should have removed beyond ali
possibility of controversy the constitutional
| relations to the l nion Of one those STATES
which had Illegally attempted secession.
Every vote cast for Andrew johnson of
tennessee was a pote that Ienncssee seceded
Tennessee, tcds stW q State in he Federal
Union. Under the Constellation of the
United States the qualifications for the
Office ofPresident and Vice President are
the same
II the State Of Tennessee, Confederate
state, was, Notwithstanding her invalid act
Of secession, and Notwithstanding her bel
ligerent attitude consequent upon that void
act. still a State in the Federal Union, COM
potent to represent that Union among the
kingdomS, empires and potentatcs of the
earth bya President of the United States In
the person Of one of her citizens, then, as
the greater includes the less she was com
PV"I' ", i'IiestHt ueTheII Dy ner own ciii-
Zens freely chosen and lawfully qualified in
the legislature of the Union, III citizen
OF Tennessee Could represent not only his
own State, but every State, in the EXccu-
tive Department Of the Government then
citizens of TenuessCe could aud should law
fully represent that State in the Lrgisla-
tive Department Of die Government. There
IS no escai e from that conclusion. There
Is no answer ;p that aIEumept. II has
never been nnsW cred. Ii never can hc an
swcred. Not radical speech uut of the
tons upon tons of Congressional uratory
under which the mai!sanl thepublir treas
ury have g:oaned for the last eight months.
ma mas met answered or attempted TO answer
this position, During that period Of time
there has been sitting at Washington a cor
oner's inquest upon the bodies of eleven
dead States,n with Thaddeus Stevens AS its
foreman. That inquest is technically known
as the Joint Select Committee on Recon-
struction.
! happen to know something of the man
ncr In which that committee was ordered
20 be appointed. On the Saturday night
before the Monday on which the present
Congress met, | attended. IN pursuance of
notification. secret caucus Of "Inion
members" Of the House Of Representatives.
Although held in secret there was no in
junction to withhold its proceedings from
the public. and IL there had been should
have scorned to obey such an Injunction.
l had innocently supposed that caucus was
called for the customary purpose of arrang-
ing the programme of officers of the House.
10 he elected by the party majority. That
secret caucus feilow-citizens, shaped the
History Of this country for the merit ten wears.
and shaped Il ~ less than zen mi1htes'
Whether rightly or wrongly shaped, wheth-
or for the peace, prosperity and happiness
of the country or not may be a matter of
opinion ON which sane men may honestly
differ, but there is one fact upon which
there can be no difference, and that is that
the history OF TINS great country for the
next ten, and perhaps fifty years, was seized
upon aud wrenched by trick, often prac-
ticed before by political gamblers in county
and ward meetings, but never
before In any instance within my recolIec-
tion for such heavy stakes.
You all know that, in order To analvye
these tricks, of whatever kind. successfully.
you must begin at the end by showing In
the first place, the particular object OF the
deception sought TO be Accomplished nv
Them. And here it will be necessary 10
lake up the thread of the argumentan in
lerwsave II with the subtle intricacies of
his dark Congressional plot.
| dropped Il at the point where had not
attempted 10 prove, but demonstrated be-
YOnd all attempt at controversy, the fol-
owing proposition: that every vote given
20 Andrew johnson was vote that Ten
lessee was State entitled to Representa-
ion In Congress by lawful representative.
awhIlly chosen. Mark YOU, thai / 10 moi
lain yet to have established the inlepend-
mt proposition that Tennessee was entitled
o representation, What ] claim 20 have
ettied Is this, and repeat defy contra
lietion, that every vote given for Andrew
ohnson, both In the Convention of the
National nion party at Baltimore which
nominated him as their candidate for the
Ice Presidency, and every vote cast into
very baliot-boX in every State of this
lnion for Andrew johnson as Vice Pres-
ent Of the United States was a vote that
was a Constitutional State, of
nd IN the Union. competent 10 represent
he whole Union, herself included, al home
nd abroad, by President Of the United
tates In the person OF one OF her citizens.
mi Therefore cQmpetent 10 represent her
elf IN the union IN the PERSONS OF others
{ her citizens, freely chosen and lawfully
ualifled. ..
But Tennessee was only one of the cley-
q Confederate States, an of whom occi,-
led precisely the same position. The 9th
: ten had done no more towards sunder-
~ the Constitutional relations with the
mon, or, In other words, towards taxing