Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1868-03-10
SEXES GhR VOL. %, NO. 81.
Horace Greedy on the Political situa-
tion-speech Before the Republican
State Convention, Feb. 26th, '68.
Reported for the wis State JOural.

| intensified the conviction which | die
not think was as generally shared a
il should be, as It was "a few month
ago | have long believed that til,
Pres;dental election before Us is /,
be "a very arduous, very bitter, ant
a very excited one. But though
! do not believe its result is really
doubtful, yet ! have believed thai
too great confidence and overween-
ing conviction that danger could n0r
be incurred, is in itself great cause Of
alarm. | have seen in my own state
and | have seen in other states, in tho
last year. results attained which could
not have been ioreseen, aud which
were attained mainly because the
dominant party believed il could at
ford to quarrel aud be idle TO graft
fy all manner Of personal aspersions
because gifts overwhelming strength
Now, here the fact remains, that the
decision of the tremendous issues tc
be settled next fall is to be made by
individuals who to-daysar not zeal>
Gus on either side. We lost the state
of New J ork last fall by very large
majority. Thousands of men thought
it was no sort of consequence wheth>
err or not they went to the polls, and
our people generally believed that it
was not necessary to make persistent,
systematic and ar-reachine effort on
every side to preserve tue ascendan>
cy they bad gained They argued.
the people have not changed. they
will vote to day as they did in 1864,
and, therefore, we will let things take
their course. Aud when the cleo
tions came ON thousands had gone to
Europe-gone to the We7t--or gone
some where out Of the state. Some
stayed away from the polls, cold, in
different and sour, and SO the state
was lost. That put the country into
new attitude; and this necessary
process OF putting the President de
facto of the Union on his trial is like.
~ to embitter party feeling. 1t will
do so. 1t will arouse intense hoslili>
ty and unless we can 90 before the
country as we should 90, not merely
in the great centers of the nation,
but every WI here with the facts and
arguments which Justify this pro
ceeding. there will be thousands eli
thcr turned against us. or-what is
in eff CT the same thing-rendered
dubious, or silent and passive. We
hink, in the year now opening, that
We shall not be beaten on account of
our strength but it is idle to say,
therefore, that we cannot be beaten.
lake my state Of New York. We
can poll in that state four hundred
thousand votes for the Republican
ticket if We individually make Il
slong resolve that We will poll large
vote But If the elections il Octo-
her should 90 against us-and trust
they will motif those states that
are always recognized as doubtful
states, such as Indiana and Pensyl-
vania should 20 against us, it would
be exceedingly difficult to carry New
York.
The doubtful and wavering class
of voters would b. turned against us.
Now | hear men talking OF twenty
thousand majority in the state Of
Wisconsin next fall. | hope you will
get il, but | tell you you will not IN
less sy stem0tic and vigorous efforts
are mado to enlist the people under
our banners at the coming election.
The dark places, and the by places
aid be reached, and efforts made
to commensurate with the greatness
and importance Of the stake; efforts
made to reach your population Of
Germans. Scandinavians, and others
OF foreign origin, as we'll as the ma
tue born. You are liable TO be be-
trayed as our friends in Pennsylva
MIA were last year. lsshave no doubt
that we polled ten thousand majority
Of all the legal notes cast in that
state last year, but they were overs
whelmed by an immense fraudulent
vote. | verify believe in our state
we had nearly twenty-five thousand
illegal votes cast against us last fall /;
and we are absolutely unable to pre-,
vent them. 1t is true we have reg
istry law, but it does not prevent a
dozen men registering from each 9th
ers houses as well as their own, by
consent; they can also register in
each others words and so vote in dif>
terent places, and it will be mistake
for the Republicans in this election
do as the W higs did in "A. | thought
that Mr.. Clay conld not be defeated.
aud tho Wing party were confident
of success and on the strength OF
that conviction they were defeated
and defeated because they did not
make the effort to eniighten the PEG.
pie in the early part OF the struggle
that was need TO be made; and not
having made it, when the trial came
they were found wanting | have ne
| doubt thai Mr.. Clay had hundred
thousand majority of all the. lega
votes cast but there were over NOR,
than n hundi ed thousand OF ilIcga
votes east against BIN, and they bea
INN. You will have this to NEE
| hare in Wisconsin. in counties Tx,
Was hington AMI Ozaukee, wher,
they arc Al! against you. [Laushte
,ud applause. speak from knowl
dye; / speak from what Is taking
place under my own eyes, within
ght OF my own Gfiee and | tel
| yuu that IL the city q New Yorl
we cannot help there being twenty
thousand votes polled against MS ty
men who have not been Two years il
be country, and what can take piac,
here can take piece in similar dis
trictS in your state, and in all state
whore elections are now coming on
1t seems to me that the approach rs
elections, if rightly determined. vii
settle finally aud conclusively, aud
think ut once, the great issue which
po,a hrpuUht upOn us hv the .,rao