Bloomsburg democrat. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1867-1869, 1868-09-16
SPEECH OF
HON. C. r. BUCKALEW
At Mc Court House, IN bloomsbury, on
Mon2ay Eccniug, Sept. I, 1865.
REPORTED by D. +. MURPHY.

REPORTED by D. T. MURPHY.
--.O:-
Fello,u. Citizens of Columbia County,
1t is sometimes said in pleasant or humor-
GUS manner that this is great country"
1t is certainly so in geographical extent
Our territory abuts upon the two main
oceans Of the globe. Its northern border
passes now into region of extreme cold,
while its southern parts are washed by the
warm waters Of the Mexican Gulf Won
derful in extent, infinitely varied in scenery
and character is that country which we in
habit and which we are proud to call our
own. This country has been settled and IS
inhabited by various sorts of populations
Various races and stocks of mankind have
contributed to that mass of humanity which |
now constitutes the American people. Here
is the native Indian, imperiectIy united with !
us, to be sure, and yet constituting an inter |
esting part OF what in 4 general sense may |
be described as the people Of the United
States Here is the negro, brought by the
hand of violence and force from his native
deserts and his native wilds in Africa and
placed as n laborcr in the Southern States Of
our Union. Here amongst lis are emigrants
from every nation Of Europe, and most
of us are the descendants Of former
emigrants from those nations and already
upon the Pacific coast are seen visitors from
the Asiatc countries, from China and from
Japan, who come there seeking employment,
seeking profit, seeking to enjoy, to some ex'
tent those advantages which all over the
world it is understood that American insti
tutions confer upon the man Of labor and OF
toll.
If we pass from considering our territory,
its extent, our population, its various sorts
and the dvcrsitics which characterize it, TO
consider the productions of our country and
its material interests, our minds are again
excited and expanded in the contemplation
of what we see. Here is the cotton plant
in the South, the cultivation Of which al
iorls clothing to millions in all parts Of the
earth There, too, can be grown the sugar
cane, side by side with the beautiful plan
tain and she orange tree, willie here in the
North thousands of farms, ba>king beneath
the summers sun, are rich and golden with
the ripening grain, which contributes,
whenever the necessity exists, to the sup
port of the man Of hunger and the man Of
labor in foreign lands, and to supply in
abundancein mall parts ofourown country that
cheap and nutritious bread which has come
to be thought necessity Of human cxis-
tence. Again, we see in Pennsylvania great
mineral interests wonderful regions, com
parativcly sterile upon the surface, but
which arc rich beneath, where have been
stored up, through countless ages, that fuel
which will warm and cheer the workshops
of art and the homes of the poor And
our people have found other minerals in
newer regions wcst-gold and silver and
copper, and lead; and they are bringing
them out from the depths of the earth and
casting them into the channels of commerce.
They enter into the general mass of labor
productions for the advantage of our own
country and Of all other countries. Here
along the Atlantic coast is Il shipping inter
est engaged in commerce, formerly very i'm
portant in the aggregate Of our national in
dustries, now dwinded and shrunk into inf
ntely small limits, partly on account of the
recent war, which changed the direction and
movements of commerce, and partly by i'm
provident and unwlse government.
NATURE OF OUR GOVERNMENT.
Now, then, gentlemen, when you come
to consider our country in all these respects,
what is a natural conclusion to which you
may chine? Why, that government in the
United States must be extremely compiled.
ted and difficult 1t has been found in 9TH
er countries and in former times, that when
government extended it, action very far from
the point where it was located and ad-
ministered it became either feeble or
despotic; it was either insufficient to
preserve order and promote the interests of
the country over which it was placed, or it
resorted to force, to all the arts of despotic
government to maintain itself and to accom-.
plish those purposes of order for which in
great part governments are instituted
among men. Complication and difficulty