Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1871-02-25
John Quincy Adams On the Re-
publican Party;

publican Party;
The subjoined extract from q recent
speech Of this distinguished Statesman who
seems to possess the intellectual vigor of
bis ancestors, will Be read with profit by
all:
Look again at Missouri. This is an
honest division Of opinion among honored
and eminent leaders of the Republican
party on . question Of principle. Mr..
Gratz Brown aud Senator Shurs maintain.
ed that it is a parody on equal right to
give votes to every black man in the State
aud to refuse to give votes at the same
to time fifty thousand white men. And so I
think, and so you think, and so thinks the
honest half Of the Republican party. And
yet President Grant meets this debate
how : By argument3 He cannot speak.
By ideasf He has none. BY persua-
sion ? 'Tis of such kind as he knows and
the only kind his party misrepresentation.
force, war power" He turns out of of.
fice all who differ from him. I tell you,
my friends, the fault Isl the whole grand,
systematic, combined aud consolidated
paraphrenalia Of autocracy, denomiuated
the Republican party.
From its Pharisaical thankings of God,
that it is so much more moral than other
parties are through the hypocritical hum.
bug which processes to cite the Declaration
of Independence, with its assertion that
Governments derive their power from
the consent of the governed" its defense
of reconstruction" down to the fragrant
fraud which protests that it protects equal
ly by tariff, which allows the employer
to charge monopoly prices, whilst the en-
ployed must starvc on Chinese wages, from
top to bottom, from end to end-the thing
is rotten and corrupt oligarch Of money.
And now, fellow-citizens, you may fairly
ask what We have to propose, if you give
the power to the Democratic party. I
will tell you, and it is easy to tell for l have
no new thing to discover. -t
The principles Of Democracy are as old
as the Government itself, and they are
IS plain as the sun at MONDAY. The doc.
trine is the same that it was seventy years
ago, and will be seventy years hence. De-
mocracy, in a word, begins at the ether
end altogether. It takes the individual as
the starting point, and says that he is the
important matter, aud your Government is
only the incident and creature of his con.
venience. 1t laughs at your preposterous
idea that Government is wiser and better
than the people. 1t is aristocracy which
assumes superior merit to direct and ad.
wise its subjects. 1t is monarchy by grace
of God which pretends to this power of
cossetting and dangling its children. 1t
is imperialism which conquers and ad-
ministers abject and subject provinces.
Democracy leaves each man free to seek |
his own happiness, provided be does not
injure his neighbor. Why. my friends,
even the language of the Radical newspa-
pers and stump smells of the obesequious
spirit which bows to an aristocracy Of spec |
ulatcrs and money changers and shop |
keepers. What is this their favorite |
charge against all who differ from them
".,They are disloyal" What is that ? |
Well, 1 will tell you. loyalty is a word
derived from old feudual times, and ex.
presses the relation Of slave to his mas
ter; the subsection Of q serf to his lord;
the regard Of the vassal for his king. The |
citizen is free, the subject is loyal. 10y
atty is no new thing. 1t was rampant here |
before the battle of Bunker's Hill.
Then. as now, the rich and high were
the most "loyal" Tic "loyalists," how
ever, dislikod the climate after the Dec |
laration." They are remembered as Tories |
now. Generals Warren and Putnam we're
rebels" about the same time. Let the
negro, if he likes, be loyal to the carpet |
bagger, aud the Office holder to bis patron. |
and the politician to his "governuient,"
but as for MS, We will be content with the |
oId.fashioned ways Of our fathers, and
swear With them "to the best of our
ability, to preserve, protect aud defend
the Constitution Of the United States"