Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-07-21
ST. LOUIS RATIFICATION.
Speech of Col. BrOckmeyer.


Tuesday night was an immense affair
Several very able addresses were
made, from which we republish the fol
lowing from Col. Brockmeyer, because i,
shows completely, and with signal abil
ity, the determined, patriotic and righ,
ground, on which our Northern friends
have now firmly planted themselves. II
strikes the keynote of the coming strug
gle. With such facts, such issues, an d
such arguments addressed to the free
American people, to doubt their verdict
would be to doubt their intelligence, and
malign the public virtue, on which the
last hope of liberty rests:
FRIENDS AND FELLOW CITIZENS: hope
you will grant me your kind indulgence
if in discussing the issues of the day
confne myself more to facts than to
fauces, more to deeds than to promises,
more to the laws enacted for the govern
ment of the citizens than to partisan
platforms enacted to catch popular ap-
plause. "By their deeds ye shall know
them" And since two-thirds majority
in Congress elevated the party in power
far above all successful opposition, it
also stripped them of every apology for
the performance of duty. What
can they promise for the future that they
might not have done in the past? Their
power was unlimited, the occasion most
propitious. Justly, therefore, we lent
our ears to promises and pledges for the
future until we have tested their conduct
by their deeds in the past.
The anxiety of the nation to guard
against the recurrence of calamities such
as it had suffered during the five eveIftful
years, from 1860 to 1865, furnished the
occasion for the exercise of power
placed in the hands of the dominant
party. Implicitly the nation relied upon
this party, its honor, its integrity, its wis
dom to create guarantees for the future
safety of the Republic. And day the
people inquire how have you exercised
the power intrusted, how have you de-
served the confidence reposed, what are
the measures enacted to guard against
the calamities feared what the guarantees
reserved to relieve the anxiety suffered :?
What is the triumphant policy inaugu-
rated by your wisdom to insure the per-
petuity of our Government and the in
tegrity of its territorial dominion ? What
are the changes in the law statutory and
organic enacted to render future resist
ance to the authority of our Government
impossible, not merely in the South, but
also in the North, in the East and in the
West, anywhere and from any source?
The answers to these questions we find
recorded in the acts of Congress. They
exhaust all the political and economical
measures enacted during the last three
wears. And the general familiarity with
the object and purport of the first class
of these measures renders detailed
statement of other provisions necessary.
1t is known to you all that the Congress
of the United States, in order to guaran-
tee the future safety of the Republic, de-
maud il necessary to disfranchise what
are called the rebels, and enfranchiss
the negroes of the South. This is the
object, meaning and purport Of what are
known as the reconstruction measures;
and whatever provisions they contain
have for their purpose only the accom-
plishment of this design. This IS the trl'
umphant policy inaugurated by their
wisdom, to assure the perpetuity OF our
Government, not the integrity of its terri
torial dominion.
1t is our duty, therefore, TO consider
this guarantee; and passing in silence
all questions as to the mode and manner
in which alone it could have been rem
derei available, without the greatest vio-
lation Of the organic law of the land, we
will confne our attentions to its value.
la how far is it calculated to allay our
fears and give us hope and assurance of
safety in the future2 To guide us in our
conclusions it may not be amiss if we re-
fresh our memories as to the opinions
entertained by the fathers of the Repub-
lie, as to what, in their judgement, con-
siituted the great guarantee Of the safety
Of the Government they founded, and the
mere mentioning Of this viii at once re-
call 10 your minds that 1t was held by
them; that the success Of their underiak-
ing to found q republic for their posterity
depended upon the intelligence and
moral reciiiude Of the eitizsns II was
regarded BY them as q truism, beyond all
ouestion, that no republic could exisinn-
less the citizens possessed high degree
of intelligence and moral excellence.
+ When the war, therefore broke out, Il was