The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1868-02-03

icals, which brought on this rebellion, that q
state NAV secede from the union, nor ADMIT
that other doctrine of the northern radicals,
| no less revolution, that congress may exciaue
or disfranchise any ten states from the on-
| ian. are now coming together upon the plat.
form of the fathers of the constitution, and
| in the same fraternal spirit in which 1t was
formed, and BY which alone it can De mans
| tanned.
Sir. there are times when public opinion
| ;s like placid stream flowing within ITS
banks, when slight obstacles may for the time
arrest, or change, or Divert ITS course: linen,
It NAV be said. the voice of the people is the
voice of politicians the voice of the people
is the will of the party. But there are other
times when the heavens are overcast, the
rains have descended, and the floods have
come that its majestic current rolls on, en-
blem of wrath and power, when resistance
maddens its fury and increases its strength.
Then it overaows its banks. The barriers
of party caucusses and politicians are all
swept away, and become mere fiood-wood on
the surface of the troubled waters. The voice
of the people then is no longer the voice of
politicians; then it is that the voice of the
people is the voice of God
We have passed through such crises in our
day. You well remember when u feeble
minority in this body raised its voice against
that overbearlng majority which, under the
dictation of southern radicals, sought to force
state government with negro slavery upon
the people of Kansas against their will.
That moustrous wrong stirred the hearts of
the people to their very depths, and party
lines and party names were forgotten. Par
ty ties were sundered like fax at the touch
of fire. You remember that, sir.
Again, when these same radicals of the
south, because the people of the north indig-
nantly refused to sanction the subjugation
of Kansas, rose in arms to destroy the Union
and the constitution, what became of party
then? The people rose as one man. Large
masses of the democratic party gave their
political support to the administration of Mr..
Lincoln, forming the union republican party;
and to their eternal honor be 1t said that
the great mass of the democratic party, with
some exceptions gave to his war measures
hearty and unfinching support. Without
that support, the war would have been a
failure.
In the actual prosecution of the war, in
the camp and on the field of battle, in the
rank and file, as well as in command, we
found no distinction whatever. Shoulder to
shoulder democrats and republicans stood
together like brothers on every battle field
from the beginning to the end of the rebel
ion To defend the Union and the constitu-
ton against overthrow by southern radical
ism, in arms against them, they braved ev-
ery danger and endured every hardship.
Together they stood in the day of the
conflict, freely barred their bosoms in
each others defence; together often
their life's blood gushed and mingled,
| aud side by side they now sleep their las;
sleep in their honored graves. There they
will sleep together till heaven calls them TO
their reward.
And now, sir, what do we behold? A
dominant majority in this senate and in con
gress, under the lead ofnorthern radicalism
at the point of the bayonet forcing negro
suffrage and negro governments upon ten
states of the Union and six millions of PEG
pie against their will. What was the out
rage of Kansas compared to that? We see
them practically dissolving the Union by ex-
GLIDING ten states from the Union, thus do
ing what the rebellion could never do. and
what we spent $4,000, 000,0 00 and 500, 200
lives of our best and bravest to prevent. For
long months we have seen them encroaching
steadily and persistently upon the just
rights of the executive =; and now, TO rivet
their chains upon US, and to crown the whole
of their usurpations, they propose to subju-
gate the supreme court to overturn justice
in her sacred seat in this tribunal of last re
sort. They would compel the court whose
office 1t is to hold an even balance between
the states on the one hand, and the federal
government on the other. and also between
the several departments of the government,
To ,loaa col vua,rb,o IN la halannaS Ghar
would make the weight of the opinions OF
three judges in favor Of the usurpations OF
congress more than equal to the weight Of
the opinions OF five judges in favor of the
rights of other departments, the rights of the
states, and the liberties of the people.
Sir We are in the midst Of q new rebellion,
bloodless as yet, but which threatens to de-
stroy the constitution, and with it the last
hope of civil liberty for the world. But LET
us not despair. Let us not surrender our
faith in the people or our faith in republican
institutions. The people everywhere are
coming to the rescue. They are again ris-
ing above party and the clamors and denun-
Citations of partisans. Hundreds and thou
sands of the earnest republicans who support
ed Mr.. Lincoln administration have already
severed their relations to this revolutionary
party. Hundreds of thousands more are
ready to do so, and to strike hands with ths
great mass of the democratic party to rescue
the constitution from this new rebellion
against it,
They are organizing erywhere, from
Maine to California. not upon the dead is
sues of the past, for inglorious defeat. There
is too much at stake, and they are too terri
bly, in earnest for that. But with living
men, upon the living issues of the present,
they will organize for a victory so complete
and overwhelmingly that the votes of the ne
gro states of the south cannot hold the bal
ance of power and decide the election against
them. The same patriotism which led hun
dreds of thousands OF democrats TO sustain
the republican party in putting down the re-
bellion of the southern radicals will now lead
hundreds of thousands of republicans to act
with the democratic party to overcome the
no less dangerous doctrines of the radicals
of the north. They are fighting in the same
cause of the Union and the constitution,
and for the spirit which gives them life.