Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-08-05

given TO il far more than was ever in-
tendcd-supervision over the daily life
of the citiEen--and yet once in four
years not only the policy Of its adminis-
traiion but the very character and organ.
ization OF the government are submitted
tothe decision Of the people. We are
now at such period. l come to take
part in that great discussion. l come to
arraign before you that large body Of
our people known as the Republican
party.
come to arraign them before them
selves, and to try their party policy
before their reason, and Judgment, and
patriotism. / shall not forget they are
all my counirymen and many Of them
my personal friends. shall not impugn
their motives, nor question their integ-.
rity, nor doubt their patriotism. i shall
not deal with them as individuals nor
with their acts separately. ! shall deaf
with their party as an organization, and
their measures as parts of policy.
We are so accustomed to discuss meas
ures as isolated acts, and the character
of individuals who may be their authors,
that we forget that underneath great par
ties lies a great philosophy; and that
their policies have logical sequence
without which they could not command
unity of sentiment or of action from their
members.
Iarraign the Republican party for high
crimes-crimes against the Constitution,
crimes against the Union, crimes against
the citizen, crimes against liberty. l
charge it with this; that it has had pos
session of absolute power for nearly eight
years, and that it has done all that a
party could do to destroy our govern
ment and bankrupt our people. Pro-
longed applause
The Democratic party stands colos--
sal figure in our history. 1t was formed
during the administration ofJohn Adams
TO resist the attacks which were then
made upon the Constitution. 1t is
founded upon the Constitution. 1t is
based on its principles. 1t adheres to
their original Interpretation. Its policy
may change as circumstances require
its principles never change. 1t has re-
tanned its character, almost its name ever
since. Other parties have sprung up and
grown strong. Factions have sloughed
off from it and given them temporary as
tendency. They endured for while,
but when the winds blew and the rains
descended, they fell-and their members
sought to build up another organization
under new name to meet again with a
like fate.
The Republican party is a new organ.
ization. Built upon the ruins of the old
Wing party, it took to itself the maj ority
of the members of that party; not those
who had been imbued with the principles
and philosophy of Clay and Webster /;
not those who followed the lead of Win
fhrop and Fillmore; not perhaps ma
jority in Kentucky and some other States
which might mention, but still a ma
jority of that organization; all who were
bigoted, all who we're sectional, all who
hated the Constitution, all who hated the
Union. 1t took also the dissatisfied
Democrats.
It's infancy was marked by the bloody
troubles in Kansas and the insurrection
of John Brown in Virginia. Its advent
to power was signalized by the destruc-
ton of fraternal harmony, the hostility
of the States, the disruption of the Union,
and the greatest civil war which history
records. 1t was great in the character
of the com mbatants, great in the magnl-
tude of the efforts which were made, great
in the number of lives which were lost,
great in its consequences upon the char
acter of our Government and people, for
upon them it has cut so deep the burrows
of its chariot wheels that a century will
not efface them.
The war ended; we were told We would
have peace and union. Gen. Sherman
would have had it so. His pacification
would have secured them. 1t would in
stantly have restored the Union, and LETT
the States untouched.
The President and the party which
elected him rejected it, and proposed their
plan of restoration. The Congress re-
jected this plan after it was adopted, and
in turn presented the Fourteenth Consti.
tutional Amendment
The Radicals secuted this as contain
ing proper terms Of reunion, and passed
the reconstruction acts of February,
1867. Congress was called together
in March and again in July, and new and
stringent provisions wers added to those
laws.
The President was thought to be unfa-
vorable to their rigid execution, and he
was deprived of his constitutional and
accustomed powers, and they were lodged
in the hands of the General, and finally
the President was impeached. The Su-
preme Court was thought TO be ready to
declare them unconstitutional. Ii was
forbidden to take cognizsnce of cases
under them.
The patronage of the President was
thought to be used adversely, aud there
upon the tenure-of Office bill was passed,
and appointments of the most respecta--
BILE kind we're rejected for purely political
and partisan reasons.
Four years of war have passed away
three years of profound peace have fol-
lowed. Eighteen months Of military
despotism and Congressional reconstruc-
ton have drawn out their weary length,
and at the end of all we are confronted
with this fact that on the eve of a Presi-
dental election seven States have been
admitted to representation in Congress
and to the right of voting for President,
with constitutions which they hate, with
institutions which they abhor. Those
constitutions were forced upon their ac-
ceptance by the military despotism which
have described or are imposed upon
them now by the power Of the Federal
Government. They are auti-republican
in form. They are based upon the exclu-
sion from suffrage Of the resident white
population, and the admission to abso-
lutte power Of the emancipated slave, aud
that meanest of all mean things-which
had no ancestor TO send to Noah's ark,
which it was reserved for the slime and
filth Of this revolution to feed-the car
pet-bskger Of the South. Laughter aud