The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1866-09-11
VOICE or WISDOM AND SENSE
Speech of Richard O'Gorman, Esq.
Of New York, ut New Rochelle,
westchester County, on Mon
day, September 3.

m00u tonight, anu yeG COuleSS tnilh
| have been slightly taken in by your
worthy chairman. had sort OF taclt
understanding with him that l was not
to be called to N axe speech Tonight,
and that l might present to you, as 1t
were, in undress, such thoughts as came
uppermost in my mind. confess, much
as I admire the hereditary fidelity of the
good county of Westchester, and the
good town of New Rochelle, was un
prepared for SO grand meeting as see
before me tonight; but, as it is, you
must take me as 1 am, and you must bear
with me, when l say to you frankly,
plainly, and without any varnlsh, as be-
comes friend talking to friends, such
thoughts as occur to me upon the
crisis of this day.
Citizens, am beginning to lose conf
dence very much in what are called elo-
uuent speeches and eloquent leading
articles. For the most part they tend to
silence reason, and excite passions. They
of5en darken counsel by words without
knowledge; and l am coming to think
that the instructive craftsmanship OF the
people is worth all the eloQuence OF ora
| tors, aud all the1guidancsship of leaders,;
|
people; they may err, they may be de-
ceiYed, but they are never dishonest, and
thew never deceive. Political leaders
cry war, and talk about war; the people
think war, aud hey fight, and die in the
war; one is talk, the other is earnest; one
is mere words on the part of the leaders,
the other is the eternal fidelity OF the
people; and now, citizens your time has
| l, Of nv
enough of anger, enough Of prejudice,
enough of passions, enough OF blood
the war is over. For four years the cry
of war has echoed through the land, and
the North determined to fight the quar-
rel out, and it has fought the quarrel out;
it has won the fight. The South lies at
its feet conquered, wounded, faint and
feeble, almost hopeless OF prosperity, or
even of life, unless i'll the justice and in
| the magnanimity and wisdom OF the
! Northern people. Citizens, the power OF
the people in these United States is Lot
in its mere physical force; it is not in the
bullet or Dayonet, but it is i'll iudepend,
ent thought and in the ballot.
The time has come for you, the peo-
PIE, to take your servants to task to
pass their conduct In review before you,
and to say whether you are satisfied
with the past, and what kind of ideas
and what sort of men you desire To
govern this nation in the future Now,
how do we stand, We have had four
years of war; we have spent inCa!cuia-
bic thousands; we have spent thousands
and hundreds of va liable liyss We sub
mitted to part with what was oc'uer to
US than treasure or life; we bo.c To- see
even our liberties for q time Invaded,
because we hoped that by allOwrrg that
to happen for time We would secure
them forever All this we bore. Iii this
fol what In order To ecure b" eteru-
ity at this liuiOn that the fathers of the
Am, rIcan Republic Oequeathed I" us
| DID We 20 INTO That war for the purpose
Ot conquest? No, citizens, DID we go
INTO it for the purpose of subdulng the
South aud trampling their rights under
foot Not SO, citizens. The Congress
of he United States proclaimed this to
you, and on the faith of that promise
You left the plow and the anvil and
the desk, and took up arms and went
TO the war, ana shed your lives III the
war, and now you have won the tight.
The two issues that were before the ma,
ton prior to the war have been settled.
Secession never can be more Hundreds
of thousands of men have shed their
blood to prove such thing impossible.
Slavery has passed from the earth; it
can be no more renewed than the life of
the mastodon, or any other monster of
the antediluviau world. The two is.
sues have been decided; the great trial
# arms has been had these Things are
done and passed forever, and the Ques.
ton is: What policy is necessary 10
be adopted to govern the nation for the
future. There Is party Iii the United
States, and that party unfortunately is
in the majority IN Congress. Ispeall of
what is called the Radical party III the
United States, and they say in effect that,
notwithstanding the war, notwithstaud-
ing the final settlement of these great
questions; the Union shall not be re es-
tablished, but the gulf which civil war
has dug between the North and south
shall remain open and Enclosed fulever
know well that if the people once
could see the real question at issue, they
would deal with il sensibly and wisely.
There is an effort made 10 throw fog
about it; there is AN effort made to de
lude you, aud TO spread false issues be-
fore you. Bat, citizens, the one real
question is, shall we have Union aud the
Constitution, or disunion, subjugatioD,
Capitalization, and the loss of the Re-
public The majority in Congress say
that the Representatives from the South
shall not be admitted into the council of
the United States. Why not2 Because
the South has not been sufficiently pun.
lshedf Great God, WhatIpunishment
more can be inflicted on the South
nave not they lost their pride ? Have
not they lost their property9 Have not
they lost the dearest of their household
Where do you look for the fathers. hus
bands, sons, and brothers of the South.