The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1869-07-02
81.
SPEE ECH
OF
GOVERNOR HAYES.


he was notified Of his nomination:
Mr.. President AND G GENTLEMEN
The honor conferred upon me by tn
( Convention, and the very eenerou
and hearty way in which it has bee
done, demand IRON me most crate
ffnl and sincere Acknowledgment. Fh,
approval Of my efforts to discharg'
my official duty implied in your ten
der Of denomination, is exceedingly
welcome 10 nay fellings, aud IS accept
ed, assure you, with the deepes
gratitude.
The circumstances of this occasion
do not permit me to enter upon any
extended discussion Of the topics be-
longing to the canvass for which We
are preparing / will, however, occu'
pY afew minutes Of your time in pre-
seutilg some considerations which il
/ is my purpose 10 discuss before the
people with more ample details Of facts
and figures during the progress of the
contest.
Twice since the organization of ex-
isting political parties the people Of
Ohio have trusted the law-making
power Of the State into the hands OF
the Democratic party. They first
tried the experiment twelve years ago
and such were the results that ten
years elapsed before they ventured up
on a repetition of il. Two years ago,
in time of reaction, which was gen.
eral throughout the country, the
Democratic party, by a minority OF
the popular vote, having large adEan-
tages in the apportionment, obtained
complete control Of the Legislature in
both its branches. They came into
power proclaiming that the past ought
to be forgotten; that old issues and
divisions should be laid aside; that
new ideas and measures required at
tention; and they were particularly
emphatic and earnest in declaring that
the enormous burdens of debt and
taxation, under which the peopl le
were struggling, made retrenchment
and economy the supreme duty of the
hour.
These were their promises, and the
manner in which they were kept is now
before the people for their judgment
Disregarding the well known and SOL
emnly expressed will of Ohio, they
began the businessIof their first ses-
sion by passing fruitless resolutions
to rescind the ratification of the Four
teenth Amendment to the CUustitu
ton of the United States.
They placed on the statute book
visible a1mixture bills to deprive cit
izens of the right of suffrage con-
stitutional right long enjoyed and
tpsrfeetly.weu settled by repeated de-
eisiops Of the highest Court having
jurisdictiono of the question.
They repealed the law allowing,
after the usual residence, the disabled
veterans of the Union army to vote in
the township in which the National
Soldiers Home is situated, and en-
acted a law designed to deprive of the
right of suffrage a large number of
young men engaged in acquiring an
education "at any school, seminary,
academy, college, university, or other
institution of learning" To preveat
citizens who were deprived of their
constitutional rights by these acts
from obtaining prompt relief in the
Supreme Court, they passed a law
prohibiting that Court from taking
up causes on its own docket accord
ing to its own judgment of what was
demanded by public justice in any case
"except where the person seeking re-
lief had beeen convicted Of murder in
the first degree, or of a crime the pun
ishment of which was confinement in
the penitentiary."
| believe it Is the general judgment
of the People Of Ohio that the passage
of these measures, unconstitutional as
some of them are, and unjust as they
all are, was mainly due to the fact
that the classes of citizens disfran-
chised by them do not commonly vote
with the Democratic party. The Re-
publican party condemns all such leg.
islation and demands its repeal.
On the important subject Of suff
rage, General Grant, in his inaugural
message, expresses the convictions o.
the Republican party. He says: 'ThC
question of suffrage is Que which is
likely to agitate the public so long a:
a portion of the citizens of the nation
are excluded from its privileges il
any State. 1t seems to me very de.
sirable that this question should b.
settled now, and entertain the hope
and express the desire that it may be
blythe ratification of the Fifteenth
Amendment to the Constitution"
! During the canvass which resulted
in the election of the late Democratic
legislature, the Republicans were
charged with having used s800,000
raised for the relief of the soldiers
families, to pay the State debt, and
this charge vas insisted upon, not.
withstanding a majority of the Demo
cratic members had supported the
measure. The idea was everywhere
held out that if the Democratic party
were successful, this money would bC
restored to the relief fund and ex
pended for the benefit of the soldiers
The failure to reaeem shis pledge
is aggravated by the fact that thu
Legislature, by strictly party vott
in the Senate, refused to provide fol-
the support Of soldiers destitute or
ohans at homes to be established
without expense to the State, by thu
voluntary contributions of patriotic
and charitable people.
%But of all the pledges upon which
the De mocratic party obtained power
in the last Legislature, the most i'm
portant, and those in regard to whicl
the just expectations of the people
have been most signally disappointed
are their pledges in relation to fnan.
cial affairs-to expenditure, to debt
and to taxation. Upon this subjec
the people are compelled to feel a yer!
deep interest. The flush times of tht
war have been followed by fnancia
reaction, and for the last three or fou
years the country has been on tn
verge of financial crisis. The bur
dens of taxation bear heavily upor
labor and upon capital. The Demo
cratic party, prOfuse alike of accusa
tious against their adyersaries and O