Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1867-08-01
SP EECH OF

HON. MONTGOMERY BLAIR,
AT THE ROCKBRIDGE ALUM SPRINGS.
Ton The Goth of July Hon. Montgomery Blair
Of Maryland delivered an address at The Rock
bridge Alum Springs, which was reported for
The Richmond Dispatch. After reviewing the
results of the war, and referring to he at
tempts of the Radicals to control the actions
Of the President, he spoke as follows
Under cover of these passionate appeals
they have proceeded to depose the Presi-
dent from offlce-or rather they have sub
stantially abolished the Office of President
and if they leave him the name and the
salary, it is only because he is really pow
erless: or. as Mr.. Pike of Maine expresses
it, being dead in fact as President, 1t IS
not decent to nemtlate the corpse.
was everywhere met by the inquiry
during my canva ssing tours at the North
last year and the year before, why the
President gave the aid Of his Executive
power to this decapitation of himself2 It
was as manifest then as now that the pab-
ulum Of the corruptionists, by which the
Radical organization was effected and main
tanned, came from the Executive Depart
ment, and that his Cabinet in fact took the
lead in organizing Congress against him !;
that he was surrounded by traitors and
spies, who, as the success of their treache-
ry was developed, would make merit of
having betrayed him.
[ had to confess there, as [ do here, my
inability to account for the Presidents for
bearanee. His generous nature was pro-
badly successfully practiced upon by their
duplicity. But, whatever the cause, it is
undeniable the defeat of the opposition to
Radiealism is mainly due to the disorgani-
cation and generalization caused by the
war upon the masses Of the party by the
Administration which they supported
The Democracy Of the North, in their vote
for Douglas in 1860, showed that they had
no sympathy with secession Multitudes
Of their men fought through the war, and
the money they furnished shows that the
war increased rather than diminished
their antipathy to it, They furnished
furnished more than their full share Of the
men and at least their quota Of the money.
And yet, when the war was over, and they
sought to sustain the President in securing
for the southern States their constitutional
rights as States in the Union, they were
not permitted to do so-the whole weight
of the Administration, from the President
down, was thrown in the scale against
them. And so earnest was the Premier
to defeat the Democracy, with the gallant
Slocum at their head in the State of New
York, that he took the stump in person to
denounce them as disloyal party. And
when the election was over he showered
the Executive patronage upon Logan, Kill
patrick, and other Radical demagogues
who had signalized themselves by their
unmeasured abuse Of the New York Demo-
cracy.
And this is substantially the relation Of
the Administration to the party which sup
port it to this day; for whilst it is true
that Mr. Seward and the corporal's guard
which remains to him appeared to support
the Democratic candidate at the last cleo
ton, this was after the Union party had
been consolidated by the President against
his own action, and the Congress enabled
to abolish the power of the President.
! take no pleasure in recurring to these