The union Democrat., 1869-08-21


good keeping of California where IL is per- |
icctly safe, and puts 1t into the hands of
Congress where il Is most unsafe for
nothing in the future Is more certain than
that Congress will establish Chinese suf
trage at the very first opportunity. All
this makes the sincerity and honesty of the
Radical platform AS clear As the sun at
noon.
They are against Chinese suffrage, but
they are equally or more against dong the
one thing in the world that is certain to
prevent it-that Is, leaving it where il now
Is in the control of this State. They are
opposed TO Chinese voting. but they are for
the Fifteenth Amendment which ties your
hands and their own, and throws down the /
only sure barrier against IL. Was premedi- |
tated bad faith ever more glaring?
Is there anything in such professions
Who trusts them? The man who does de- 1
serves 10 be deceived, and most assuredly |
he Will be deceived. GCheers.l Gentlemen.
there is no reliance 10 be placed on the
pledges or the promises Of this party. Our |
only security is in keeping the subject OF
suffrage where il ought TO be. and where 1t
is now, within the control OF the State, and
80 far as the vote Of this State is concerned
feel the utmost confidence that il will be so
kept there. 4 voice, "lou bet your life. |
Applause.1 Gentlemen, ! have known what
it was 10 follow a losing banner. | have
known what il was TO make fight against
certain adverse result but never will give
up a contest for a sound principle because |
fear for the result. | trust that the Demo
cratic party of this State are all of that way
of thinking Iapplausel, ], and whatever conf
dent assertions may be made by our oppo-
nents that the Amendment is rs good as rati-
fled, am sure that this State none the less
Just as largely, just as powerfully and over
whelmngly viii cast her vote against il.
(ChGers.l II IS well enough that we should
understand the facts, however. So TAR as |
have been able to ascertain, and | have
given some attention TO the subject, the total
number of States which have legally ratified
the amendment up to this time does not
reach twenty. Our opponents count III Kan
sas and Missouri, for instance. The rattca
tious Of both of which were undoubtedly.s so
defective IA to be void. And they count in
the State of Indiana, a State whose Constitu
ton requires the presence Of three tfths or
two-thirds of the members TO make legisla-
tive BODY and State where they pretend
TO have ratified this amendment by 4 number
ofmembers much less than that. Upon quib-
Bile Of that sort they propose to overthrow
the Constitution of the United States. To
overthrow it, say, because in my Judgment
this Fifteenth Amendment is a subverson OF
the Constitution. Applause It's no amend
ment: IL is changing of the Constitution
in vital part it is revolution. [Cheers.l
IL Is IN abuse of terms to call it an amend
ment. An amendment Is n change in the
details of provision or substitution of one
provision for another, both being in harmony
with the general scope OF the Constitution,
especially in the controlling feature of the
reservation of the rights of the States. This
is so adverse to the rights of the States in
their relations to the Federal Government
and to each other, and to the people within
their borders that am justified in saying.
so far from being an amendment, it is u sub
version of the Constitution, and therefore an
attempt at revolution under the form of law.
ICheers and applause The whole number
of States, | repeat which have ratified it,
according to any law which has ever been
thought applicable, is less than twenty.
Many more are required. Whether they can
he obtained or not, the future alone can
show. For my part, hope they never will
he able to obtain them. They surely never
would be- but for the characteristic device
denounced by their best men in the Senate as
an act of bad faith. for extorting from the
captive States of Virginia, Texas and Missis.
sippi the ratification of this amendment as
the price of realmission into the Union
Applause But for that there would be nc
human probability of the adoption of thi.
pernicious amendment. Whatever other
States may do, under coertion or otherwise
let this Young State of ours the Queen of the
Pacific coast, do her duty TO herself. ant
keep her honor bright by rejecting the
amendment. GChcersl One of the fine
things have known i'll my own time in poll
tics. was the vote of an old Commonwe ealtl
in the East which wish had won for herself
rs high fame for devotion to the lberte.
of the Constitution III this great downfall o
them. as she did in the darkest DAYS of the
Revolution for her devotion TO the liberties OF
the people. before there was n Constitution
mean the State of Massachusetts,.
In the Presidential contest of lS44, all the
States had voted hut Massachusetts. She
f.l 1u,. ,,f,, NJ, L
after the contest had been decided for the
Democratic party by the vote of that Empire
State. II was impossible not TO admire the
courage and devotion to principle with which
Massachusetts marched up to certain defeat
and gave her vote by nearly her usual de-
cisive majority for the man of her choice,
Henry Clay. lCheers.l Can we not do as
well aS that in California if we shall be called
ony rive will :" Applause.l But what
ever the result may be, and nothing can be
known until long after we vote here in Sep
tcmber, We will do what is right and leave
the result TO Providence. [Cheers.l
Upon this subject OF the Fifteenth
Amendment the Democratic platform OF
the State Is distinct and emphatic 1t is a
manly declaration OF opposition to it, and
10 ali its consequences-a declaration of
which We may all he proud. This Amend
ment, like the Fourteenth, enlarges the
power of Congress over matters of
purely State concern; yet, already, the
strides made by Congress towards absorb
ing to itself all the rights OF the States,
would be past belief, had wenot seen them
before our eyes. 1t has taken upon
itself Jurisdiction over matters in the
States ot purely local control, to an extent
which disables II from discharging its le-
gitimate constitutional duties. What is
the tacts In the great growth of this
country and its population, in the exten-
infpTnSf2 ~ - 10 tor
government, Congress Is overwhelmed
with business. The army of appointments
dispatched by the Senate, at Its first ses-
sion, upon the accession of General Grant,
was something bewilder;ng. The result is
that asmall, remote State, like Calitornia,
is governed at Washington, in respect to
appointments, very much in the spirit in
which old Rome, in her decline, might
govern distant province by pro-consul.
Take the recent case in point, when il was
proposed 10 turn out the chief officers of
the Mint in this city, and put in their places
three new men. l say nothing as the choice
between those two sets of men. They
were all Republicans, and, 50 far as | am
concerned, and so far as the Democratic
party was concerned, we had no interest
in that feature ofthe controversy (L9ugh-
teri This city, at that time was laboriug
under severe financial pressure Your
best informed men believed that TO change
those ofllcers-as it would necessarily close
up the Mint fora long time-must serious.
ly increase the financial pressure, by di-
minishiog the supply OF coin, They rose up
As one man, and, on this public ground,
they sent such storm of remonstrances
and complaints, by telegraph ard by letter,
against the proposed change as had never
been known in Washington before. This
opposition was respectful but lost earnest,
sud il united all the leading business men
OF this city, without distinction of party.
An array OF names OF such power aud iu-
tuepce combined upon such question
has seldom, if ever, been seen.