The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1868-08-15
~ ID E L Q II
OF
HON. DAN. W. VOORHEES,
At New Albany, Indiana.
THE CHICAGO PLATFORM DISSECTED
A sK1LLFUL OPERATION

After being introduced by Mr.. Jason
Brown, amid loud applause, Mr.. Voorhees,
said:
| LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, AND FEL-
Low CITIZENS OF INDIANA-The first
emotion that arises in my heart, on ap-
pearing before you, is one of gratitude
for the uniform and universal kindness
with which the people of Indiana have
always treated mo, aud received mo wher-
ever | have gone / como before you
to. day to repay, to slight extent, my
many obligations, by presenting, plainly
and simply, as they occur to me, those
principles upon which | conceive the
prosperity aud future glory of this coun'
try depend.
CHAOTIC CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY.
1t will occur to every persons mind
at this time that We are in n state Of un-
certainty in regard to public affairs
! There is looking forward and wondering
what is to come next. The current. oil
Legislation is not Of Of that healthy and
certain kind which once characterized
the proceedings of the Congress of the
United States 4 congress is at the
time at the head of affairs noted for its
violence, noted for the abruptness with
which it passes from one proposition to
another, noted for startling the country
with new and unheard.of experiments
upon our form of government. And
looking over the country at this time,
the plain minds of the farmers, the Ia.
borers, the men who. have the substantial
interests of the country at heart, arc at O
loss to know what lies beyond in the im.
! mediate future. Aud l share in that
feeling to great extent and, in my re.
marks TO you here to-day, shall labor
under the same disadvantage that you
do in foreshadowing the future, for the
country is in that unsettled condition
partially in chaotic condition-that il
would require prophets divining rod Ia
tell exactly what is to como from il. Why
is this There is no reason at this time
why there should be a more unsettled con
dition of your aiFsirs than hitherto You
say We have had great civil war; but
then, we have had great peace for the
last three years. We have had war fol
four years and peace for three years
We accomplished great deal during the
period of war. How much more we have
accomplished during the period Of peace
/ shall attempt to picture TO your minds
or, rather, how little We have accom-
plished toward the preservation of the
c ,untry.
THE PARTY or DESTRUCTION.
There is another thought that occurs tc
me in regard TO the party that takes
charge of public affairs. In all ages OF the
world, there have been politicle partie,
whose principal was to destroy the existing
state of things-not to build up, but to
tear down. 1t was so thousands Of years
Iago, when agitators rose in the old republic,
mot TO build up, but TO destroy. 1t was Sc
in the days of the jueobins of France
They knew how to tear down a govern
ment, but they didn't know how to builC
up government upon its ruins. 1t has
been time and again in England, wher
men rallied under the name and cry Of re
form. This reformation didn't mean re
, formation ; it simply meant destruction
And when obstruction followed the ruiz
which they made, they did not know how
! to rear another fabric. We are duplicating
we are repeating what the history Of tn,
r past has shown upon that subject. W.
have party in our own midst that hai
been powerful to destroy, but has showI
: its utter incompetency to build up and
g rear anew. 1t is that party foreseen b,
Henry Clay, when standing in the senat'
and foreseeing with prophets eye tn,
destruction of the federal union, he ex
claimed "Who will rebuild it = wht
will anew rear its mighty columns? {? wh'
will build up states once discovered anC
destroyed ?" Ho could see that mer
! could tear down and destroy your country
but the kind of agitators that callet
themselves reformers, but were simpl,
destructionists, had no power in his eyes
T and they have none in reality, to build VI
the country again and when men com
nit their fortunes to the Buffers, th'
John W. Forneys, the Thaddeus Ste
Yenses, and that class of men, they ma,
except a heap of ruins, bat they will finC
no new growth for their country.
REVIEW OF RATIONAL POLITICS.
Let us illustrate this question by re
view Of our national politics. As | hav
remarked, three years of peace have fol
lowed four years of war. During thi
time, what has this party that claims tn,
: ascendency, and is.contesting power will
you for four years more, done towart
building up the ruins of our country p
What is it they are demonstrating2 Du
ring the war there were two antagonisti
principles-one was that states had
right to leave the federal union upon thei
own motion tho other was that states
had no such right. Upon that point th'
. war was waged. When the war closed
the side that said that states had no pow
er to leave the federal union had tri
umphed, and you supposed that tha
question was settled in favor of the exist
ence of the union, and the perpetuity
the everlasting existence, of the states
that compose the union.
Where arms left off, however, this par
ty, calling itself the party of destruction
stepped in and commenced its mischieyou
and destructive legislation; and wha
have they demonstrated to this country
They have demonstrated first, if words
are things and figures cannot lie, tina
your union was dissolved, not during ths
war, for that your soldiers and your ar