The Van Buren press., 1866-09-14
The Presidents Speech In N ew York


The following Is the concluding portion of
President JohnSOn's speech ut the banquet at
Dclmonicos on the night of the 10Th. He
said:
Il am for the Union. and am against all
those who are opposed to the Union. am for
the whole Union and nothing but the Union.
helped my distinguished friend on the right.
General Grant to fight the rebellion at the
south. You all remember his peculiar re-
mark. that he was going 10 fight it out on
that line. was with him and did all that
could. We whipped them ut that end of the
line, and want to say to you here that am
now fighting at the other end; anr if he is
not in the field. now. in the military sense. he
l. where he does good service.
1t is a struggle for the Union in which we
are engaged. The Uuion is essential to us.
The north cannot get along without the south
nor the south without the north. But men
say, do you want to be controlled by rebels 2
answer no. We want to let loyal men in,
and none but loyal men; and | ask here, to-
night upon what reasonable ground rests the
fear tiIat men coming into Congress from the
South would control the country to its de-
StructOn. Take the entire deleSation-tiftv-
eight ~cnta;iycs-compared with two
hundred and cighty-two. You fear that fifty
eight men will control all the rest.
Men say tliat they will rcdudiatc our pub
lie debt. Now, place these men in the most
powerful opposition that YOU possibly can.
and YOU have one hundred and fifty or one
hundred and cighty-;,n overwhelming ma
jority against them; surely enough to keep
them from doing amy serious harm. Are we
Il great people: Are we all cowarl,: Did
they control You before the rebellion com
mcnccd, and will they have any more power
now than they had before?
Il am no prophet but l. predicted some
things at the beginning OF this rebellion that
have literally come to pass. told the South
crn people. years ago. that whenever they
would attempt to dissolve the Union. the in
Stitutlon of slavery was gone. You. sir. (tur-
ming to Mr.. SeWard) know that ! made the
argument to jeff. Davis. You were i'm the
Senate and YOU will bear witness to the DO
sltion then occupied. told them that the
Institution of slavery had little or no protcc-
ton outside of the Union. They thought dit
lerently they put up the stake. you AL know
how great That stake was-and they lost il
completely. The Constitution still exists and
the Union l. still prgscryc,l--and they did not
succeed m escaping from it-and the institute
tion of slavery is destroyed.
"Since It's dcStruction. the Southern States
have come up magnanmou>lv and arknowl-
edged the fact, and have gone into their State
conventions and ratified it, abolition. 100.
"1hcrc Is another thing. You have about
three thousand millions of dollars IN bonds.
How are You going to preserve the credit of
them! viii YOU tell me how the security.
how the ultimate payment of the interest and
principal OF these bonds Is to be secured! Is
1t ny continuing this Government, disrupted
a. Is! By crippling our energies and diyi-
oiiig Us INTO half dozen petty States!
let me tell you, and mark what tell YOU.
that there is no way by which these bonds can
be III ltimately paid interest and principal than
by the consolidation OF our natonality-thc
pcrpctuity and completeness of the Union of
thc States. Pardon me. when say uudrr-
stand this question, ami | tell YOU that YOU
play false part now, and play into the hand,
oiyour enemies and the enemies OF your colin
Try, when you aid those who would keep the
Government disrupted
Let us unite all portions of the country
/ together. and you will have more capital than
YOU hecu. You have eNiccd II good will. The
OilloWs begin to hcavc, and tell those Der
sons that are croaking and seeking individual
aggmndizemtnt. or the pcrpctuty of a party.
that they had better stand out of lhGway the
country Is coming together again, and they
cannot prevent 1t,
"tor myself, am content to be guided by
WY NN"hl'iN VI NV 'NlN lbWT III ulinklntl. III
have paiuoncd many. 1t was because thought
1t was for the best interests of the country,
having found them rcpentant and anXioil,
to be p,roncd.
"Gcntlemcn, your country Is i'm your hands
the Issue Is before you. stand here. to-ngh,
not us the President of the United States. bu,
rather as citizen, advocating the restoration
of the Union
since have been the Chief Executive of
Il In t..,.
t,ie nation have tried to discharge my du.
ties IN the way which | believed woull
most surely tend to bring back harmony TO
al sections OF the country. What have 1 to
gam by amy other course. have filled eve
~ olllce under this Governments You may
taik about me rs You will. Men may lra,hcc
anu WHY me. McndaciouS ana unIrincinlod
writers may attack me rs they van, but ali OF
mem cannot driNrmc from Nha, rry,jSliuht.
WHAT hNc 70 gaiNI From Tire lavc.t once