The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1866-09-05

flags and banners. A theatrical troupe is
expected soon, and some other novelties in
the way of amusement. Hoping you are
not over-much wearied with my letter,
and that you may, as Carlyle says, "fnd it
comfortable in some measure"
am, sincerely, c. l. P.
New Version OF DIX by Moses.
eff any man hauls down the American
Flag, pardon him on the spot.''-Nonpa-
reH.
On taking the chair, temporarily, of the
g NJ es Observation-Disclosures conven-
tion,;' as the radicals are pleased to call it,
which met in Philadelphia on the l4th,
for the sole purpose Of bringing about a
state of peace and harmony to distracted
country, and thereby securing to the peo-
pie the supremacy Of the constitution and
the laws which congress, aided by the 9TH
er unprincipled seekers Of power and place,
have been trying to destroy. and thus
crafty the wishes of those who, for l9
and more years have been seeking to ,.s
'Tear down the polluted rag"
Gen. Dix said:
1t may be truly said, that no body of
men have met on this continent to consider
events SO momentous and so important
since the year l776-[applause] the year
when our ancestors assembled in this city to
form better government for the states than
that which composed the old confederation.
"A government which has been confirmed
and made more endearing, as we trust, by
the fearful trials and perils which it has
encountered and overcome. Applause.
The constitution which they came here
to frame, we are here to vindicate and re-
store. Applause. We are here to as
sert the supremacy of representative gov
crnment, we, all, who are within the con-
fines of the union. Applause. A gov
ernment which cannot, without a violation
of its fundamental principles, be extended
over any but those who are represented in
it. Applause. Over those who by vir-
tue of that representation, are entitled to a
voice in the administration of public affairs
1Applause.
1t was such a government that our fa-
theirs framed and put in operation. 1t is
such government that we are bound by ev-
cry principle of fidelity and justice and
good faith to defend and maintain. Ap-
plause. r..
Gentlemen, we are now living under
such government, Applause SO states
have for months been governed by 25 states,
applausel; IL states have been wholly
without representation in the legislative
bodies of the nation. The numerical pro-
portion of the represented and unrepresen-
ted states has Just been changed by the ad-
mission of the delegation from Tennessee.
A unit taken from the smaller, has been
put to the larger number. But 10 states
are still denied representation in congress,
to which they are entitled under the con-
stitution. f9a
The president, not in pursuance of any
constitutional power, called on the Confed-
| crate states to accept conditions for their
admission to the exercises of their legiti-
mate functions as members of the union.
The ratification of the amendment to the
constitution abolishing slavery, and the
reputation of debts contracted to over
throw the government, were these condi-
tons. They were met and accepted. The
The exaction of new conditions is unjust,
and violation of the faith of the govern
ment, subversive of the purposes of our po-
litical system, and dangerous to the public
prosperity and peace Applause,
Each house of congress may, as the
Judge of the qualification of its own mem
bers, reject individuals for just cause, but
the two bodies acting conformity, cannot
exclude an entire delegation, without an
unwarrantable assumption of power
Applause.
Congress has not only done this, but it
has gone further. 1t has incorporated new
conditions with amendments to the consti-
tuition, and submitted them for the ratif-
cation of the states. There is no proba-
bility that these amendments will be rati-
fed by three-fourths of the states of this
union. Applause. To insist on the con-
ditions they contain is to prolong indef-
nitely the exclusion of more than ono
fourth of the states from their right to be
represented in the legislative bodies
They had the right under the constitution;
they had the right under the resolutions
passed in both houses of congress in 1861.
Applause. These resolutions We're not
concurrent but they were substantially
Identical Moreover, they were entitled to
be represented on other grounds of fair
ness and good faith. 1t was this wrong
which we have come here to protest against
and, as far as in us lies, redress it. APP
plause When the president of the Uni
ted States declared that armed resistance
to the authority of the union was over, all
the states had right to representation in
congress. Applause. Is this the gov
ernmcnt our fathers fought to establish ?
Loud cries of "No." Is this the gov
ernment we have been fighting to preserve
[''No, no.
The president has done all in his power
to correct the wrong. Applause. lie
has done all i'm his power to restore the
rights of the states in the legislature of the
country, by giving to each section its full
status. Legislation without representa-
ton is an anomaly in our political system.
Under any other form of government il
would be but another name for usurpa-
ton and misrule.
l believe that public opinion is ripe, and
that it is only necessary to present. to the
people clearly the issues between us and
the other party which controls the actor
of congress; and, gentlemen, is not thu
object for which We are contending con
sumation worthy of our highest and on
most devoted efforts [applause] to brin
back the republic, purified and strengthen
ed by the fiery ordeal through which it ha
passed, to its ancient prosperity and pow
er, to present to the world an exampl
worthy of imitation? No ""Utopian'' vi
; ion Of good government, but the grand ol