The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1867-07-05

trampleu on; 1t re)olced aloud wheI
our brave men were defeated; an6
] when the Republic, in her sores
! need, called on her children for help
this party hid in swamps, or fled ovel
the border, or, worse yet, organized
secret associations, that met at mid
night and plotted treason that wa:
harmless only because they lack thu
courage to put that treason into exc
cution. / will not say that all Dem
ocrats are mean men, as our Senator
4 Morton does, but l will say, withou
fear of successful contradiction, tina
all mean men are Democrats. Find
4 q Democrat; find one lacking in pat.
riotism, and you have a Democrat
hunt out the dishonest man, and un
less he is one we have intrusted witt
a moneyed office, and, God help MS
1 fear the majority is with us there
and you behold Democrat. IL :
loss of virtue is a loss of life, if lscl
of principle is want Of politica
breath, the brave old Democracy o.
the days of Jefferson is dead. Lee
US freely engrave its good deeds OF
its tomb, let us droOp over it its well
worn and time -honored banner Of
equal rights, and go our ways, for il
is dead and buried.
Partisans, my fellow citizens, are
created not so much by opinion as by
feeling, and when these feelings cornt
Of our better instincts, and not 10 "
unmeaning prejudice, the party Is
honorable, and its end means right
From the nature of our government
and the character of our people, we
may always expect two great parties
to be in the field struggling for the
control of our government The one
is an ultra, progressive or radical
party, and the other a conservative
one. When a man is born into this
world with nothing provided for him
to eat or wear, with no place to sii
upon, with nothing but his naked
hands and brain to provide him 8
living with, he naturally regards with
Jealousy all vested rights that pro.
vide better for others and he is ultra
and aggressive in his demands fol
human rights. On the other hand,
q man born to comfort and ease re-
CARDS with anxiety all vested rights,
The one is radical, the other conser-
vative. j do not mean TO say that
all poor men are radicals, or all
wealthy men conservatives, but dc
mean to say that, in this distinction,
you will find the origin of the two
great political Organizations of our
country. We find exceptions, ol
course. The poor man struggles on;
grows rich in the worlds goods; gets
old, and becomes conservative. On
the other hand, many well born and
wealthy obey their generous impulses
and rank themselves among those
fighting for fair play and equal rights.
But in the main you will find in the
distlnction,I have drawn, the marked
line Of demarkation between the two
parties.
1t is popular error then that as
serts that certain principles or opin.
ions, or, if you will, convictions, per.
tain necessarily to u party A polit.
ical organization may divest itself oi
every shsdow of its old distinguish
ing opinions and yet remain a party,
and without sense or propriety re.
tain its old name. Thus the Old
Democracy that at one time advo-
Gated q specie currency, an economi
cal administration of the Govern
ment, opposed internal improvement
on the part Of the federal center, and
all class legislation now as it rests to
day casts all these aside and well
comes to its ranks oil shades of opin-
ion on these important questions. II
has attained such drill and discipline
that it can change its base and '"--et'
at will On efther hank. Its members
follows their leaders with the blind
docility Of sheep. You of an agri-
cultural experience have seen a flock
passing q pair of bars, if the bar is
up the bell. wether leaps and the sheep
leap after him. Now, if the farmer
will simply remove the bar, the re.
mainder of the flock will go on jump.
ing all the same. Many, if not all,
the bars that once called for such
intense activity, have been removed,
and yet the Democratic sheep GO
lesping with surprising agility.
We have pertinent illustration OF
what ! seek to say in our own organ
ization. On the dissolution of the
old Wing party, the larger part OF
that conservative element of the land
came to us. We are radical, ultra,
and progressive, and it is amusing to
see the venerable heavy sides Of for
mer days trying to keep step with the
music of our union. Alternating be-
tween hope and fear, they hurry on
or fall backbone day full of high
courage they rush to the front-the
next, filled with despair, they fall to
the rear. They succeed in giving an
appearance OF vacillation to our par
ty that is anything but pleasant.
And so we stand to-day. Our par
ty is the Radical party, progressive
party, bent upon reinstating the
right and restraining the wrong. AL
though the organization seemed born
| in a night, it had been developed for
thirty years. 1t was in fact, organ
lied long before it took the field
When two men think and feel alike
on any political question there is an
organization, and the South was
fighting an unseen foe years,and years
before any political party appeared
at the polls. 1t fought statistics that
showed their region to be falling into
decay, while that of freedom was fill
ing with prosperity: it fought public
sentiment born to human sympathy,
that quietly condemned its horrible
system of human servitude; it fought
Christian civilization and made bit
ter war on books and school masters;
and all the while it seemed beating
the air, until it stepped over the
boundary of slavedom into the free
territory Of Kansas. and then the
great republican organization sud-
denly appeared at the polls. and when
the fret gun was heard at Sumter,
the Republican party met the Amer
ican people. and when Edwin NJ.
Stanton took upon his shoulders the
administration of Mr.. Lincoln, at the
moment when the dishonest imbecil-
ity of Seward and Cameron had near
ly destroyed it, our party executed
u.oat oa,nnainn, rnnnht hnna Lat