Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1868-03-19
GoV.SeynOlr's Speecl
Hon. MoratiO Seymour be-
fore the New York
Democratic State
Convention,
March. III.


he country Sor 70 wears with tbs results
In seven wears Of policy of hate. The war
il ended. but peace has not returned. Con-
gress has done more to destroy the union,
by its system Of tyranny and corruption,
than was ever aimed at by the rebellion.
lie alluded to its inconsistent and imbscils
policy holding, first, that the southern
states could not be out Of the Union, ard,
after they had laid down their arms, that
they were not states in the Union. They
were told that il they would abolish slavery
they would have their place in the Union
again and when slavery was abolished BY
their action, they were told that they were
no states at oil, but unlAwful combinations.
Having abolished the back man and made
him white man, BY oct Of leg islation, con-
gress hoped for rest in ito efforts 10 weave
rope Of sand which was TO blind the men
togsthse but the constitution Of Alabama
was rejected. The people would no! vote
for u, whereupon Senator Sherman, in full
view Of the fact that the President was
menaced with impeachment if he violated
the reconstruction net. moved that Con-
gress itself violate this same measure, by
admitting Alabama under . constitution OF
its own rejected. I,s action upon tariffs
aud business has been equally tludsring,
inconsistent and imbscile. 1t keeps our
mer chants aud fnanufAct urers ia q condi-
/ on of uncertainty, and all agree that u
perpetual Congress 10 . perpetual curse.
Within the past two years it has made
nearly monthly changes in the tariffs. 1t
binders labef and enterprise By heavy bur.
dens, and hunts down merchants and man
ufaGsussss with an army Of eficIal spies
and lnlosmess, and IL gives these the power
to ruin men Of limited mems, by false char
ges. kpet orr govsrnmsns not only IN I
light Thai ID hatsful, but shat 10 mere dan
gsrous. Il make II pitiabls. II our young
men wish to engage in business, or to ssel
homes in che west, and they ask from thos,
| who have money - lend. the aid which hs'
heretofore been given for these purchases
they are told that che government, which
ought 10 DO patsrnai, viii pay higher IN
tcrsst than the law will let the citizens give
or that they can afford TO give, and, also
beyond this will exempt tasm from taxa
ton. Congress paralyzes In this way the
Industry Of the land. Whichever way you
look. you sec That the party in power 10 q
blight upon the honor, happiness and in.
| dustrial pursuits Of our people. Our car
/ rying trade upon tho ocean is destroyed
our shipya are idle, our manufactured
complain that taxation outwsighs tho pro-
lection Of the tariff and our farmers arc in.
| dignant with unequal and insulting OK
| emption from the COST Of local, State, and
national government. Upon ono poin
Gully has Il boon firm and undying
In order to help . foul speculation, it
put . tax Of 800 per cent. upon slcohol
which the experience OF the world and oul
own experience shows cannot be collected
It retains it with perfect knowledge tha,
It merely ministers to public AMI otiicla
corruption. The officers of the law and thu
vlolaters have, under its provisions, taker
more from tho people than the interest o
the public debt up to this time In thcil
strength they control the acti, Of the gov
ernment, and this great stream of corrup
ton is now the life blood of u party helc
| together by the cohesive power Of public
plumber.
Mr.. Seymour then passed to tho conside
| Grafton Of questions OF finance, debt and
taxation. that Lirass the Union with their
trains OF spies aud informers. After alud.
ing to the division Of tho States into debtor
| and creditor States. he said: Let the Civ,
| one instance to show under what rule the
spoils Of victory and the burdens Of war
we're distributed. The State Of Massachu
sets has Of the banking privilege $50, 600,
600; Illinois 81, 900, 600; yet Illinois is The
most populous State, and, to send its prod
uce to market nseda more currency thar
any State in tho Union but then each Stat.
must give its quota now we have ever had
plain rule TO get ct the Just share Of take,
and burdens. Taxation and representation
must go together. But new system wa,
| gotten up for tho quota. 1t was based up
on the enrolment Of ablc-bodied men. I'm
der this rule, there were endless questions
as to liability TO DO enrolled, and construc
tions Of law. Orders, counter orders, ant
| exY !anatory orders were put forth by tn,
Provost Marshal General, until every on,
/ WAS bewlldered But under all this ther,
we're quiet manipulatons which made tn,
| following result In the democratic dis
tricis in this State the men were held to b,
vigorous and robust, and fit to bear arms
IN republican districts they were loyal, bu
weakly. In Massachusetts, the men, ms .
class, were so feeble that a congressiona
district could only send 2,l67 in Illinoi,
for the burdens. How WAS the spoil divid-
eds We find that bank stock was given to
Massachusetts at the rate of $52 to each in
habitaht, and 10 Illinois At the rate Of Sc to
each. This sectional division Of our
country into debtor and creditor Ststes
has caused much anxiety in the minds
Of thoughtful men, lest il should dis.
tract the counscls Of our party. While,
on the one hand, the oppressive lcgisla.
ton which burdens the West with high
tariffs. together with tho fact that tbs
revenue drawn upon all sections Or.
mainly paid out to one, sxcites deep feel
ing; on the other hand, the bonds q
unwisely and wastefully issued, hav,
gone into the hauds Of innocent soldier,
who, to vast amount, are compulsory
holders. 1t 10 a mistake to suppose thai
they are mostly held by capitalists. Large
sums, belonging to children and windows
under the order Of courts, Or the trustssa
have been invested in government bonds
The vast amounts held by life or insurance
companies and savings banks are. in fact
held in trust Tor and are the reliance of thu
great body Of active business and laborins
men or women. or Of widows and orphans.
The savings banks Of this State, which arc
the de,ositoriss Of the poor, or Of persons
Of limited means, hold short Of 600. 900, 600
Of govcrnment bonds. The whole amoSnt
held in the State Of New York in the ".
rious forms Of trust will not fall below
5000, O00, 900. II We look into othes States
We shall ses that oaly small share q thess
bondo 10 held BY men Who are known q
capioAlises; but they belong IN fact, IL not
in form, 10 the busins9, the active, and the
laboring members Of society. The dsstruo-
ton ofthese securities wesld make vide.
spread ruin asd disersss. which would reach
into every workshop and every home, how
ever humble. There isa perfect accord, in
the Democratic ranks, as to the policy and
the need Of honesty and economy; but
there is some difference Of opinion ~ TO the
Of the contract with the public
creditors. Some hold that il is right, and
that L is due to the tax-paysrs, that Ne
should save what we can BY paying the
principal Of the debt in currency but they
underrate the force of their argument. 1t
10 mistake 10 suppose that the interests Of
the bondholders and the tax payers are an
Iagonistic. The fact 10 overlooked that, in
order to make any saving BY giving che
4 debased OF worthless paper,
We must bring upon ourselves disastcr and