The Republican journal., 1871-12-07
SPEECH OF
HON. HORATIO SEYMOUR
AT UTICA, NEW YORK,

The aspects of our country at this time; the
frightfu calamities which have fallen upon
many of its cities and towns; the crimes which
mark our social condition, and the topics of
political discussion are all of nature TO make
men serious and thoughtful. We now see more
clearly than we have done, the effects of the
military and financial excitement through which
we have passed upon the morals and habits of
our people. I do not mean on this occasion to
discuss the errors of policy which have increas-
ed the unavoidable evils of great civil war.
When passion and prejudice have died away
these will be clearly seen, aud a right Judgment
be pronounced upon them by the American peo-
pie. Our duty now is to do all we can to avert
or to mitigate these evils. Frauds. robberies
and detalcations have divided the public atten-
ton with the swift destruction of a great citv
and the awful deaths of thousands in the buril-
ing forests of the Northwest. The last have
called out the best and most cheering disrlavs
of public charity and liberalty. Let us see TO
it that the former shall draw from the public
the most indignant exhibitions Of public virtue
and morality. In a patriotic spirit let us not
only punish wrong doers, but let US also patient
ly search out the causes Of the widespread i'm
moralitles which afflict our country. Unless
we do this we may mistake and underrate the
dangers which menace us, ! will try to speak
upon these points i'll fair and dispaSsionate
spirit. | Will try to rise aDoye the influence of
my strong attachment to the Democratic party
and my devotion to its principles, and l shall
Danish from my mind the recollection of the
harshaess and injustice of political opponents.
Bold and bad men have robbed the treasures
of our cities, of our States and most frequently
of all, the Treasury of the Nation. As each
day brings some new development of crime,
the public Indignation is excited and there is Il
demand for punishment. Let it be administer
ed firmly and tearlessly but let us not fall into
the error that the conduct OF these men is the
sum of the evil, that they are causes of public
corruption. They are but its incidents. We
must grapple with the great underlying causes
of their crimes. We must meet the question in
a large way Punish these criminals in spirit
of Justice, tenounce them in terms so clear and
strong that the public shall be aroused to
sense of the public danger and that all parties
shall unite in efforts to restore the virtue of our
people and bring back all branches of munich
phl State and general government to their tOr-
mer simplicity, economy and integrity. 7 will
use for my purpose illustrations of the frauds in
the city of New York, because they are tlagrant
and were committed by men of our own party.
As honest men We must hegir bv nnren9 orr
own ranks These guilty men did not make
orruption-cor:uption made them. It's tide
rushing into the great commercial centre rom
all parts of the continent suddenly tloated them
into wealth and power. The local office which
they had held for a long time without giving
them financial or political power, suddenly be-
came sources of bounIleSS wealth and patron
age. They were lifted up us any other like
number OF men would have been who held the
offices they happened to fill. They We're intOXi-
Gated, as ADLER and better men might have been
by wealth and power TO which they We're nm
accustomed They learned to look upon the
pubic property rs their own and they laid their
hands upon all within their reach. Alas, when
they looked around them they saw in every de-
partment of our complex system Of govern
mcnt, i'll every part Of our land, hosts of men
who We're committing the same crimes. They
We're taught by the examples of others that
such things were the ends aimed ut by political
power, that these practices We're the perfection
OF political strategy. Unfortunately the spirit
of corruption il not confined to political ranks.
1t peryades the financial circles; it whispers to
the judiciary; it creeps into legislative halls.
The men in New York who are justly assaied
As corrupt have found others of all these classes
and Of all shades of politics ready and anxious
to share with them the Spos OF robbery. Nay,
more, they saw some Of those who are now fail
of vrtuous Indignation against them, c0uspir-
ing in Wall street to make money plenty or
scarce, playing with the sacred interests of toll
and labor, tritiing with the industrial pursuits
Of the country and the happiness of all the
homes of the land, if by so doing they could
make small per centage in the stock operation.
Again, they We're fortified in their belief that
they were rs honest AS others when they saw
the most proillgate men seize by fraud great
corporations, and hold them by the aid Of the
courts against suffering stoc lhDder>. Did time
permit, might show the traces of jhe spirit of
loose morality in business atfiirs, not only in
pubic ana private corporations, but also its IN
hucnce upon the young men. Parents and en-
poyerS find it hard to impress upon their minis
the duties Of steady industry and patient labor
They see wealth gained by speculation or by
means OF questionable morality, and that this
wealth gives social position and they are i'm
patient of the prudence and economies praclic-
ell by their fathers. The state Of public and
private morals growing out of the financial
condition Of our country fills the minds ot
thoughtful men with alarm The floodtde d,
speculative excitement now begins to cbb, IN
as the sands are laid bare we begin to see the
wrecks OF Wild scheueS and fraudulent con-
spiracies. In this state of affairs the politic.I
parties present their candidates and ask for the
votes OF the people. Unusual responsibilities
rest upon voters. Every man is bound to see
for himself which result of the contest will
most promote political reform and the correr-
ton of those evils which attlct society. This
brings us to the consideration of the attitude
and aspects of parties. The Republicans clam
that our candidates should be rejected because
Of the frauds in New York. and we can in
justice ask by what right the pIundercrs of a
nation denounee the robbers of a city. When
Democrats claim that they Will il placed in
power bring back an honest administration Of
national affairs, they are tainted With the man
agement of city affairs by their opponents.
Now these thrust- and parries are well enough.
They bring to light the miSdecdS Of public men
and they serve to check abuses. But political
minds OF honest men Il either party. They DIP
not want merely comparative honesty IN the
leaders, they demand positive honesty. II our
discussions only show the abuses by each on
SANITATION and go no farther, they demoraliIe
the pubic by teaching 1t that there Is no such
thing as honesty and honor IN public life, and
when TINS is generally believed there VIII he no
such thlng as honor or honesty there. After
fair discussion of public evils, the question
comes M what proofs do these parties give OF
their ability and purpose to correct these abuses
in their own organization? The answer to that
question ought to decide the way to give yuur
votes at the election
Let US look At the proof In the first place
that party Is most to be trusted which shows
purpose TO punish wrong doerS in its own
ranks. which lays bare the frauds of its own
partisanS, rs well as those of its opponents.
vociterouS repentance of the sins OF others i, no
more savin" grace in politics than it is in re-
iSion. 1t gives no proof OF reformation. Meu
have right to deniunce the wrong doingS of
their adverSaries, but if they do so to that eX-
tent they turn away public attention from the
abuses of their partisanS, they become the shield
of the corrupt and dishonest. When they seek
to bind the public eyes to frauds in their own
party, they make themselves the guilty part
ners OF criminals.
The question then with all honest men vii he
which OF the two parties speak out most plainly
about wrong doings in their own ranks We