The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1866-09-08

GKORdE tROok:F tAf'F
'aaass OAKLAND, MDs August ~, lS0e
Colonel !. CfeightdR and other members of
the Committee of IhoitdtioA.
GENTLEMEN Please accept my thanks
for your complimentary invitation 10 cpl-
dress the mass meeting OF Tho soldiers and
sailors of the late war, TO be held at Union
Square, New York City, August 81. 1866.
regret that III health win prevent my
being present In New York City on the
day specified 4
Very respectfully, n,.u
Your obedicnt servant,
a.t.. ,GEoRGE CROOK.
Then speeches were made by other par
ties. We copy the excellent speech Of
General SflSoIA, Which We conmcial to
our readers: urI
sPERcH or GEN. sPISOLA.
Gen. SplnOla was received with loud ap-
plause. which, having subsidized, he said: !
am very happy to have the privilege OF
standing before the defenders OF our conn
try upon this occasiOn-standing before
men who leit their homes. their Gmilics,
and everything which Is near and dear to
them In life, and march To the front aud
stood eye to eye with the foe, In order to
preserve the Constitution of your country,
protect its Government, aud hand 1t down
to your children IA unimpaired and pure rs
you received 1t from your fathers. loud
cheers.l There are no men IN the country
more entitled to the gratitude of the nation
than are the men who for four long years
spent their days and nights upon tie tented
field. and there are no men better calcnla-
ted in this crisis OF your country's affairs
10 assemble in council and consult ~ To
what your duty Is at the present time.
[Cheers.l Fiveyears ago last April ,met
the citizens of New York In this place,
where we assembled. and expressed onr
full determination to stand by the Presi-
dent In the struggle then before us. and
right well did you do your duty from that
time afterward. Gentlemen, it Il owing to
your darlng and IIpdaupted efforts. and to
your patriOtlsm that the nation lives to-
night. [Applause.l Had yon been rccrc-
ant to your duty mt that time, | have my
doubts as to whether You would have
been allowed the privilege OF meeting
here Tonight to express your senti-
ments in favor of sustaining the eNecu-
tive of the nation and dupllolding the laws of
your country. The extreme men of the
nation, both North and South, plunged MS
into war. such rs history tloesnot record,
which was without parallel in liercenqss
and determination and the glorious NietO-
nv that has been achieved enables You to
hand down to yOur children the COmstitll-
tion as you received it from your fathers.
tApplause. l-NOrF have come here to-Right
to say to the Presidcntof the United States,
as officers and men Of the army and navy,
that you approve of his course since the
rebellion has ceased and weluay rs well ut
tho commencement of the crisis through
which we are TO pass meet the issues that
are to be presented to us. in the same man
ner as you met the enemy on SO. mauy bat
tle-liclds. The whole sum and substance
of the question which Is now dividing Che
country, and which hasseparatcd Congress
from the PRESIDENT Of the United States, is
but oHecorner stone. IL has but one basis
to rest upon. If what the Congress of the
United States desires can be granted, then
they will admit the Southern States to-
morrow without hcsitation, because it
would give them, as ! believe, political
power in the future. The corner stone of
the issues through which we are TO pass Is
based upon the rights of the negro to bc
allowed to 90 to the balot-boX With Your
selves, and every man in this land WHO'S in
favor of bringing the colored man up 10
himself belongs TO the Radical section of
the country. Every man who is opposed
to negro suffrage, and who rejects the ne
gro rs his equal belongs to the Conserva-
tive masses OF the nation, aud that man
will sustain the President = in the coming
crisis. Cheers. For the lust forty years
the citizens of this State have held out eve
~ inducement to raise and educate the
colored man. They have done everything
that humane community could do TO pro-
mote their interest and in what condition
do we find thom to-day in our
midst? Why, they have improved but very
little during that-slOng period; aud they
stand very nearly rs they did forty years
ago. Yet, with these living examples be-
fore us. the Radical men in Congress are
determined 10 force upon the South the
throwing open of the ballot-boX to 1000
000of negroes, and.a the same time TO dis
franchise every white man in the Southern
country. [Cries Of '.Shame; they shall new
er do it, wish it to he understood that,
while the war lasted, there was no bit-
terer foe on the face of the earth to the
South than Irwas. No man would have
gone further to have put them down than
! would. No man would have resortcd to
more desperate measures than would have
done, and no one would have gone further
TO have punished them than myself, be-
cause mt that time they were at war with
the Government Of my country The war
has ceased, and by the power of the sword
II has been declared that the inhabitants OF
the whole United States hcnceforth are to
live together as brethren. Loud cheers.
l say, fellow-citizens, that the negro shall
not come in whether he wants IL or not
lGreat applause.l I most earnestly appeal
| to YOU, fell0w-citizens, to sustain the pol
ley of the President from this time forth
by every legitimate means, and TO regard
those as enemies who seek to disrupt the
Union, that glorious heritage bequeathed
70 us by our Fathers. Immense ehecs.l
At the conclusion of the meeting three
cheers were given for JoHNsoN, GRANT
SHERMAN aud FARRAGUr, and three groans
L.. -