The Placer herald., 1868-10-03
Forest Hill Correspondence.
FOREST HILL, Sept 3Oth.

FOREST HILL, Sept 30th
Editor Placer Herald Notwithstanding
the posters came late for general notice vel
the Democracy of this place assembled 10
goodly numbers on Saturday evening last
The meeting was briefly addressed by its
chairman, Sudge Fi,zsimmons, who made
some telling points against the foolish notion
Of self governing people owing loyalty to
their servants in Office" Loyalty. in Re.
publican government was meaningless term
or used as a cover to exact obedience to an as
sumption Of power not found in the Consti'
tuition" Loyalty had nothing to do with
pa,riotism-love of country-but was a word
closely allied to servity, and peculiarly ex
pressve of the most cherished exactious O.
monarchs, despots and tyrauts." Gas The
word is defined by Webster it peculiarly
means fidelity to Prince, or to superior,
and in our country the People know Of nc
superiors, or Princes or potentates, and
should acknowledge nothing but the work
Of their own bsnds-the ever glorious Con.
stitution to which the Democracy will ever
cling as the only charter of individual liber
ty." l have rendered the Judges remarks
l believe, in substance as understood BY me,
aud feel truly grateful for SO sensible a
definition Of word, only proper in The
mouth OF an obsequious serf.
The Judge was followed by Hon. John R
Mcconnell 10 an address which fully sustaiue
the opinion that he is certainly one of the
finest minds upon this coast.
Without eulogizing Seymour, without con
demning Grant, he entered at once upon the
real issues OF the canvass. He explained
that /" Congressional reconstruction presup
poses our Government to have originated in
Congressional construction and having shown
the redl origin to have arisen from conven.
ton Of delegates of the people Of each of the
old Confederate States assembled in Phla
lphia in 1857, be proceeded to prove that
Congress had no sort Of power to perform al
work of reconstruction all which was clearly
unconstitutional and fully admitted to be SO
by Thad. Stevens and other Radical leaders.
"Amoug other Radical inqui.ies, was thai
Of taxation, which, according to every Consti
tuition OF the several States, should be unitorns
while, as now existing, the great wealth Of
the country was Lot only exempt by Act OF
Congress, but the sinews of the laborer was
made 10 pay interest upon the actual invest
ment 10 bonds of not less than tauelve per
cent. per annum.
When leguI tenders were issued 10 enor.
nous sums the Government, as then admins.
tered, made these very legal tenders an offss.
to the payment of all past, present, and flu.
lure Indebtedness, thus impairDg existing
contracts. This currency being worth but
forty to sixty cents in gold, about sixteen
hundred millions were sod-the Government
realizing but half that sum, while the entire
sixteen hundred miIlions-in 6vetwenties,
must be paid in gold with six per cent. inter-
est, thus allowing the original bond-purcbaser
to realize twelve per cent. for his actual
Governmental aid, by reason of the Govern
mental debasement Of its own coinage"
Mr.. Mcconnell then proceeded to ven,ila,e
the negro suffrage Act, showing up its in
famous inequality and the distinction made
between the several States Of the South even
and its absolutdeffect upon the people of the
North. The establishment Of the Freedmen &
Bureau, and its continuance as a partisan
measure most odious to the people Of the
North " was handled in a mastery manner.
lie illustrated the Radical cry OF "let US have
peace by the "cry of midnight robbers af
ter having robbed the people Of all they hold
valuable upon earth, and the civil auth critics
Qhe Democracy were on hand to arrest
them" lie referred to the second resolution
Of the Radical platform to show show EN-
pbalically lhe man voting for Grant WAS cast
ing his cote for negro suffrage, and the dis
tranchisement Of the Southern a0hite men,
He explained how, under these reconstruction
measures !" the white men of the North were
just equal to the oneth third part OF Southern
field Niger, and that emigrating to South
erp State be. must take an oath never to modest
the fourteenth amendment equality of the
races, or in fact what amounts to negro su
premacy 10 some of those States" With a
legal ability, SO solid in argument as to be
indistructable, be demolished the feeble ef.
forts Of Gorham and Edgerton to prove :ha,
their followers were not supporting negro
suffrage in the coming election"
Mr. Editor, feel it impossible to convey
in this rambling sketch, anything like per
feet idea of speech the most compact and
argumentative have listened to in years.
only hope to have given some notion Of the
important subjects reviewed by the speaker
who closed with Encouragement Of Sydney
Smiths catalogue of taxation as the result Of
war for glory-Edinburgh Review 1920
When three rousing cheers were given for
our candidates aud the speaker.
Ell REKAB.