The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1868-10-10
1)olitiral.s
PROM EARLvILLE.

evening of September Goth. The hall, which
will comfortably seat three hundred, was well
filed with men and women, drawn thither from
both great political parties. The audience GER
tainly was composed of people of more than Or
binary Intelligence. Burton c. Cook has been
regarded here as a man of moderate Intellectual
powers But many of our citizens in fact, most
of our citizens irrespective OF parties have been
inclined to accord to him sincerity of purpose,
honest convictions of duty, and respectable roa-
soning powers. At any rate no one has regarded
him as either knave or a fool. Possessed, as he
has been supposed to be, of well ordered pri-
vate life and exemplary christian character, his
speeches here, have, heretofore, carried with
them more weight among democrats than they
would otherwise be entitled to. Cooks rhetoric
never was gorgeous, nor was ever his logic on
fire; but he has been noted for plainness of
speech and fairness of argument. On account of
Mr.. Cooks private worth in these days of alarm
ing prohigacy and wild recklsssness, Ihave cher
ished for him very high regard, which had
well nigh ripened int warm personal friendship.
To many democrats of Earlville, who claimed to
know Cook better, because they had known him
longer than had, my occasional fattsring COM
pliments had become exceedingly distasteful ;
while, by myself, these little compliments to his
supposed personal wish, were regarded as only
Just and meritcd, and therefore never in bad
taste, though applied to political enemy. Cook
may have desired to incur the contempt of all
democrats while here, regarding their respect or
prejudicial to him among the republicans of this
town. At any rate, whatever claim Cook ever
had to the respect of conservative men of this
town, he certainly forfeited it all in his speech
of the Doth of September. There may be situa-
tions in ife wherein one may be justified in tell
ing occasionally ono of Miss Amelia Optics
'schie Aes' but Cook is not situated in district
seemingly, where it is necessary for him to sol.
EMMY utter a dI0ck and taM Ie in every propo.
sition he lays down.
But he lied and continued to lie from one end
OF his speech to the other. | desire here to saw
that | hold no man or body of men respon-
sble for what may here write except myself,
and what say of Cook and his speech here shall
be written not in malice, but more in sorrow than
anger | owe it to myself irrespective of politics
to characterize his whole speech as a tissue of
lies and deliberate libel upon the great demo-
cratic party OF which | claim to be an humble
member | will do as Cook did, divide his speech
and speak of it under the two heads, to wit:
reconstruction and financial. In this article |
will only examine some of the propositions laid
down by Cook on reconstruction.
Mr.. Cook opened his speech by saying that he
would only say what he knew; that he had now
spent four years upon the subject of which he
proposed to speak, and had done nothing else
and that he ought TO know what he might sayto
be true; and ii he told them anything not true
then he wllfully lied to them; "and that it would
be uniu st and unfair to judge anybody or any
party by the usual state and national platforms
for the reason that these platforms were inter-
preted in different states differently. It
would be impossible to judge a party by their
platform, but that the party ought to be Judged
by its acts, and It's acts alone" quote his words
exactly as taken down at the time by myself
Now, democrats have been in the habit of be-
ieving that the platforms of great national
party, laid down at its quadrsnnial conventions
were to guide their party if successful in elect
ing it's servants to Office during its four years of
administration. Yet they we'll know that the re-
publican party have asupreme contempt for plat
forms after closing the presidential campaign
if successful; and also, an equal contempt for all
the restraints checks and balances of the consti-
tuition whenever in the way of its revolutionary
here, then, gave Cook credit for only uttsring
what he deemed to be true and what really Is
true with the party to which he belongs, in tho
exordium of his speech. Cook shall not be
charged with lying thus far. After thus speaking
with an assumed fairness, Cook struck off into q
loose eulogy of the Amercan Union, and its hap
py condition up to the rebellion. While Cook
was thus towering, it seemed to me that I was
in the midst of a 4th of July celebration With
out any stretch of the imagination, could see
the American eagles thick as snow feas build
ing their nests away up among the splinterea
crags where "leapt the live thunder" while in
contrast, would look across the ocean amid the
light of Cooks brilliant intellectual powers in
contempt and pity, down upon the old world
with its diapidated cities and ruined monu-
mental piles, where the she wolf hides hor whelps
and the serpent Kisses amid the tall grass 1t
really seemed to my poor, prosaic mind, while
taking notes. az if the American eagle and Cook
were getting better acquainted than they were
when Cook and his party used to trail the old
flag in the dusty streets of Ottawa. looked ut
Cook and then at the audience, and in the audi
ence could be seen two or three tanners, evil
IDENTITY the relics of the Lincoln wide awakss
with eyes protruding as if in the last stages of
asphyxia, with fingers in their mouths looking as
silly as little dog sitting on briar. ,rr
Cook now took Ia sails and announced the won
derful idea that the democratic party died and
left a. legacy to the republican party n four
years war !; national debt of two and a half
billions; disunion of the states and the fresh
made graves OF a million men and that the par.
ty was thirty years deliberately at work to pro.
duce this result. FL
Now, when life long democrats of this county
can sit quietly under such wholesale ISLANDERS
from Cook, knowing well has political history