Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-09-23
COLUMBUS, O., WEDNESDAY, MORNING,

cause of Constitutional liberty sdi ~
is eminently fitting and properathat
you are here on this occasion; because,
it was the combined efforts of yourself
and the men who now stand before you,
that made Lawrence the7banner county
of Ohio. ] am instructed to express to
you, so far as lmyIpower oyerIwordsr will
permit, the sense Of gratitude which the
Democracy, feel for the allh powerful aid
which your zeal and quick discerning
Judgment gave them in the canvass of
1867. nd ,o3fo mfd b7Esd svEh - 10
When the campaign opened, our cause
did not seem very prosperous The
most sanguine, among us did not hope
for that entire success which crowned
your and their efforts. The Democracy
had behind them ten dark and dreary
years of defeat, with .majorities against
them' ranging from one to two thousand
each year. with frequent scenes of, Yio-
lence and terror; such as overwhelming
and unscrupulous majorities alone can
inspire. The, Democracy then, as now,
had no press, while the Radicals then
had, as they now have, two papers pub
lished here and of general circulation
among the people. Then as now, the
mining. manufacturing, mercantile and
banking business were controlled by
Republicans, and they had all the county
i Offices. o-'F
Of You, who then stood at the head of
the organization in the State, seemed to
comprehend the situation Of our county,
You inquired of us what you could do to
aid the cause here; we answered, send US
documents and good speakers, and at the
same time notified you that Lawrence
was missionary territory. In response
to this you sent Geo. W. McCook and
Oscar F. Moore, who opened the cam
paign on Symmes Greek. The clear,
truthful, and statesmanlike utterances of
those gallant soldiers, at once awakened
spirit of investigation and inquiry
among the candid Republicans, who
then, perhaps for the first time, scrutin-
lied the conduct of their leaders and
weighed and balanced in their own
minds, the tendency of the measures of
policy which the conspirators at Wash
ington, styled Congress, were pressing.
You, also, in obedience to the request
of your friends here, sent us shipment
after shipment of missionary tracts,
printed at the expsnse of the society,"
: In these tracts were found the clear
statement of facts, the massive logic
: and unanswerable arguments of Ranney,
Thurman, Jewett, Pugh, Pendleton,
Reemelin, Morgan, Van Trump, Durbin
Ward, and their co laborers in the great
E cause. These tracts were as welcome
to our people as was the gospel of the
New Testament to the early christians.
,, They did not go forth uoid;; they accom-
pIished that aolereunto they acre sent
They laid bare the crimes, corruption,
extravaganza, and folly of the Radical
leaders, so that the wayfaring man might
read and draw his own conclusion. Du.
ring the campaign there was no demon
stration of enthusiasm or of joy. The
people comported themselves like those
deeply concerned for their country, as
for the welfare of themselves and their
families. Even now they are taking
E counsel one of another, how. their coun-
try shall be saved from, impending dis
honor and ruin, produced by Radical
rule. f5 fae afl iD uui 7di
;, During the dark and dreary years Of
1868 and 1864, when we stood here un-
der the gloom and shadow of swords the
Democrats moved among their fellows
like men in handouts and in chains
, They had seen the Judge of our court,
the sheriff and counsel put under arrest,
and the door of the court house closed
hr TO-. e. ! L.
judge had issued a writ of Aabeds corpus
, to enquire whether boy of the age Of
seventeen years was lawful soldier in
the Federal army. They had seen Gov
ernor Bramlette, the gallant General
E Lindsay, and Laban t. Moore, mobbed
out of the Union Hall of this city, and
the meeting, which was largely composed
of ladies, dispersed. - -.
They had seen sober ndindustrious
mechanic, with family of grown up
children, one who had lost. his only son
in the Union army, shot at and drawn
from the polls and compelled to leave
the place. On the same day they had
seen a soldier, who had just been dis
charged from three years service in
the Seventh Ohio Cavalry, knocked
f down, stripped of his clothing, cut and
bruised, for offering to vote for his ia
! vorite, Gen. Geo. B. Mcclellan. Peace
t full and law abiding men in various parts
, of this county, were dragged from their
, homes and families at midnight, and
threatened with Imprisonment or the
gallows. .. ..., ...' +.
, These outrages were not the work OF
soldiers at home on furlough," they
, were planned and instigated by the men
of "high moral ideas," who were gene
; rally on hand to see to it that theiI
, henchmen did the work well. make
these unpleasant allusions to the past
not for the purpose of showing that the
5 Democracy here have been prosecuted
for our condition was no more than that
, of other communities, where the Radicals
had their large majorities. But now
t how changed; "the second, sober thought
of the people"-how efficient in the
, corrective of abuses2 1 feel like ex.
claiming: ....-E
"Now Joy and thanks forevermore,
The gloomy night is past,
The %Sdg slu@beES err oft of the people Ger.
If political party would have a
healthy vitality and long ascendancy,
its moderation and its justice must be
, equal to its power. ...
When the Democracy again take con-
troll of political affairs, so long as they
shall rule with justice and moderation.
, will, the people sustain them. But
!, should they ever come to legislate "out-
side of the Constitution" then there will
al L. - Go,oo. Al