Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-04-16

come 20 examine them and understanI
Rhat government is, let me tell you tina
to concentrate all power in q body O
men Is the most rigorous OF despotisms
fer more despotic than any one man. 4
body, la the Shape OF b Congress o
legislature, to whom this power !
gIVen, would enact laws and usurp pow
srs that one man would shrink from AM
shudder at. By association counte
nance, friction Of persons, they dsre d
as a body things that n man Woui'
shudder at. Hence, when it comes TO
Congress or Legislature, with no Exeeu
tive or Judicisry to restrain them, 81
power centralized in them, l wOul'
,such prefer d wiser Judiciary and jus
Prince. Such q b-dy, to use the Ian
guage Of Jefferson, the apostle OF coasti
tutiOnal liberty, is the perfect dehnltl0I
Of despotic power, and more to b
dreaded and feared than any one-msI
power. Under pretencs oflsw, It s0soros
ASSUMES and usurps TO itself all power
! and goes forward and wipes out the othel
branches of the Government. Il is thu
design Of some persons to change tht
character OF our Government TO this,
They are forming the change IL various
ways, and 1 tell you that the
i ehsrsesar OF cur Government is
more in jeopardy than WheH
two armies were in the field.
There are st this time some persona
now designing the change. When we
examine We see the outcFOppings OF the
cbeme, Various schemes have peen
suggested to consolidate the Gov
eminent in Washington-eisher IN Con-
gress or q dictator.
What do we Bee in confirmation OF this
design in the Congress of the United
States? I hold in my hand a copy OF a
paper recently established and now pno-
iished in New YORK entitled The Empire
and it hes for a heading The Empire
is peace-let US have peace" Sensation
and laughter.) IA voice, 1.-The best IN
the worldly The Empire is pesce-let
us have peace! Breads from the En-
pirel:
The conductors Of this journal believe
Democracy TO De a failure. Though the
oTetiesi!y plausible, IN its practical work
.ngs it hiss bsen found totally inadequate
to the wants OF the American peOp.e.
We believe thst the national faith,
il left in the Keeping Of the pOpulace,
will be sdllied by the sure reputation of
the National Dent, and that al Imperial
wv Ss- @AS- 80 20
Of national creditors.
We believe that sA Imperial Govern
ment, ia its pateFnal relation to the peO-
pie, viii care equally for all citizens,
and, while guaranteeing security to the
rights Of capital, will jealousy protect
the interests OF the industrial classes"
See what al Indication is here it is a
mere outcropping Of this fixed design.
Again:
We believe that the Republic means
lewlessness, corruption, insecurity to per-
son and property, robbery Of the public
creditors, and civil war thst the Empire
means Law, order, security, public faith
aud psace."
The history Of the world teaches US
a nation, harsssed by war, its re-
sources exhausted, when an ambitious
comes along, is ready to submit to
anything for the sake of peac..
We nope" continues this paper,
4" that il will not be g o with our beloved
America, and that, in the broad blszs~of
the light of the nineteenth century, our
fellO W-citizsns will not allow blind
PREJUDICE and Inherited political OPP
Ihalmia to prevent them from read
lag the signs OF the times"
W. 80 AAaNA CAA . u aaAA -
1prightness and personal patriotism, bat
sven then we might have read 8 lesson
IN The fscJ that our first revolution was
a dismal failure until our fathers made
an aulocrst Of George Washington, for
AID during that emEgency, Some few
men did receive q gtimmer of light when
all the people rallied so enthusiastically
around the self-declsred dictatorship Of
Andrew Jackson but il was left for the
revolution through which we have Just
passed, TO Opes the yes of hundreds of
thousands who never saw before. The
war was a failure until we made Abra-
nam Lincoln almost an absolute auto
crat, with more power thsu any other
sOvereg On en- earth. We mite him such,
all the people said 'AmenI IL is
necessary. The Republic Is well enough
IN peace, but it Is not the thing to ride
cut = storm in And many were content
10 stop here, re 1sag to see that The very
weakness whic6-As unable to manage
the war had made the war pJssib!e-DRy,
bad made IL inevitable. l. is with an
iudicTOus uncOnsciousness o. their
Inconsistency that 50 many good citizens
0ase thei- present hopes Of peace, not or
the " sd0u sud power Of their "Fepre-
in Congress assembled, but
upon the fact that 3 man is in the Presi-
ient's chair, from whom they may ex-
pect some signs Of autoeratic hTmness'
AMI executive consistency
Now see what is there plainly indica-
ted. This thing is thrown out as a feeleT
by an ambitious Congress, ready to come
iUrwaId 10 usuFp our libsrties-s feeler
to see i we are ready for & dictator. The
people are no longer 10 be trusted with
the national honor and credit, and this
plan assume 20 come forward 10 estsb-
lish q secure Government, and cur the
payment Of the national debt, To con-
And we find moreover, that other
nations see our weakness, and, for all
our wealth, dare not trust 81 frail q con.
Germ as ours, SO that we pay for our in-
i~ebteduess double the interest demand
ed Of the decayed despotisms Of tbs Old
"This is the ninth year since the be-
ginning OF our recent troubles, and the
since the nominal close CT our
war, aud are we yet at pesce?' II so,
may be the meaning OF our Presi-
DENTS most popular aspiration, and why
does it have more meaning to the gene
raj ear, coming rom his mouth, than it
ever did in ths Voluminous enactments
Of the peoples representatives 2
with rbGt, permit US TO ask, Is any
one so wilIfully blind as to overlook tbs
fact that no man any longer considers
himself entitled or in duty bound to Sc
cure 8 representation on the floor OF Con-
Is it not patent that, so far a
: representation gees, three-quartsTs Of
our people have forgotten ever the doc
tribes, and that an immense part of
them have long since ceased wen to care
who rules them? We have to preserve
but a system Of juggling appliances,
moral aud legal trap doors y false en-
frances, by which demagogues obtain
power anu robbe rs sit ia hish places"
Let us rsassure the tImid Autoeraey,
10 such q system as it Is nov possible to
establish il, shuts out the idea Of despot-
ism-nor would tyranny ever be possible
among such 3 people as ours or in such a
continsnt as this. Instead Of g thousand
masters, there you'd be but one-sud all
tina. any man would lose would be his
forty miilionth chance Of turning up as
President"
OPPOSED TO CHANGE.
My cOuatrymsn the time has come to
rscur to drst principles. l have nothing
to ask Of you. My race is run, but l
eneAk In van "A il Won were q part of my