Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1870-01-13

our government; since then 1t has been
its basis in fact.
To-day equal and complete justice I'M
der the law is the inheritance OF every
American Henceforth the government
il pledged to uphold this fundamental
principle and to adhere to it. 1t must not
be compromised. A test of this principle
comes from the west-it is the problem OF
the Chinaman. The Chinaman comes to
our shores with the desire to become
Americanized, and with no purpose of
making it his permanent abiding place.
He comes welded to his country and his
religion, but in such numbers az will nee
essarily revolutionize labor. The problem,
what are we to do with respect to them,
was one which those who had once saved
the republic are called upon to aid in soly-
ing 1t must be remembered that this
child of the Occident comes to US on the
same terms as the immigrant of the ORR
ent. The antagonism between them will
doubtless overturn and create anew polit-
ical parties. In this political chaos the
army may, if they will, hold the balance
of power, and again preserve the republic
by being true to the fundamental princi-
pies of Justice and equality.
The war has compelled recognition
abroad of our national character it has
demonstrated, too, that in Government
of the people revolution by force is un-
necessary and indefensible. The remedy
for political wrong is in the bollot. Ii
this fails, there can be little hope in the
bayonet, as the same majority in the one
instance is likely to arise in the other. Ii
there is no fallacy in this idea it is all
important it should be understood and &C.
cepted. The first eloquent pulpit in
America denies that this is correct theo-
ry, saying that if years hence the South
thinks it for her best interest to separate,
the issue would be very different from
what it was in the struggle for slavery ;
that separation will not be fatal. Such
teachings produce distrust in our form of
government and tendency toward CEN
tralization, against which the citizen sol.
der should array himself. Here he has
a duty to perform not surpassed by his
obligations when rebels leveled their can
non against Sumter.
The speaker dwelt at some length on
the evil tendencies of Capitalization of
power and of wealth. He also deprecated
the tendency to make permanent the
ministerial offices of the government, as a
trespass upon our theory of government,
and calculated to create an acristocracy of
the office-holders. The importance of a
military education, as a means of preserV-
ing our institutions, was also urged. Re-
form at West Point was demanded. Its
doors should be open to every boy in the
land, and let him enter who can best
stand the test of competitive examination.
Hitherto its main object had been to afford
M. C.'s cheap method of paying off poll
ticians for their support by placing their
sons in the institution. He would have
several institutions similar to West Point,
so that the country might be supplied
with militarily educated men, ready for
the emergency of war. He would make
the duty of education compulsory, if nee
essary, ON the part of the government
Prussia has demonstrated the practicable
ity of such legislation.
The suffrage question was next touched
upon, the speaker taking the ground that
no inherent right to the ballot exists but
that it is simply a duty imposed, and
hence that women cannot properly claim
the privilege as a right, but only on the
ground of expediency. The value and
NlILu6 VI buG pd1lOI
extended or restricted, upon the educa-
ton and intelligence back of it. Without
intelligence, voting might as well be
done by machinery as by men.
In the opinion of the speaker, our
oitizen-soldiers should, for the remainder
of the century, control the decision of all
questions affecting the prosperity of the
Republic. They should be independent
in the expression of opinion, the contrary
tendency being one of our national faults.
The address closed with an eloquent
exhortation for the army to cherish and
keep alive the spirit of patriotism and
loyalty that sustained it through the four
years of war.
The proceedings at the hall closed with
music. From thence the veterans, with
their ladies, marched to the Doric hall of
the State House and inspected the regi-
mental flags, and then dispersed, to as
semble at the ball in the evening.