The Republican journal., 1871-04-06

deputy marshal. The plume OF the great
est hero will trail in the dust at the feet o
the bar-room and back-alley politician
dressed in authority by this wretched bill
William L. Sherman must obey; PHILLIP
Sheridan must obey: George H. Thomas
if alive, would have to obey; Winfield S
Hancock must bend his proud head tC
some poor, Shiny creature born in infamy
and reared in corruption, who, as a depu
ty, might see fit to call upon him for mill
tary assistance with which to carry IN
election by force. Gentlemen, if you can
stand that, we can. Little by little you
are giving US the advantage before the
country. Upon measures Of this kind you
are alternating your honest followers. 1t
was once said, "Oh, that mine enemy
would write bookn' We may we'll say,
"Oh, that our enemy will continue such
legislation as this, until the mighty and
colossal structure that once reared its in
solent head to the very heavens and over
shadowed all the land, known by the
name of the Republican party, shall tott +
to its fall, forever!" 1t is not for me to
complain, except in behalf of the public
good. | do not complain in the spirit of
party. My party rejoices and prospers in
your follies and your crimes. You cannot
undermine the strong battlements of your
party more effectually than by such gigan-
tic, needless, and unnecessary outrages
as are contemplated by this bill. The
people are resenting your lawlessness
day by day, and soon will turn and rend
your political fabric to pieces. 1t re-
quircs no eye of prophetic light to foresec
this doom, unless the downfall of liberty
itself is at hand.
When will the people awake to their
danger? How much longer will the de-
lusive cry of Gan is well" lull them into
false security? Must they behold the
cleaning bayonets at their throats on the
day of election before they will believe
in the open and shameless advances of
tyranny? Must they see the cannon
trained upon the ballot box before they
will rush to its rescue? Must shot and
shell lie piled up at the voting precincts
before the voter will recognize an assault
upon his freedom as an elector? All
these things are provided for in his bill
The regulation, small arms, the cartridge,
the bayonet, and cannon, the shot, the
shell, and the lighted brand are all in
this pregnant engine of destruction and
ruin. And all these dread implements of
horror are in the hands and under the
control, not of trained and tried men,
high in the confidence of the nation, but
most likely of vagabonds who earn a pre-
carious livelihood in the lowest regions of
partisan strife.
Gentlemen, make no mistakes. In my
Judgment and in my fond hope the time
is fast coming when the people will rise
up and cry out in behalf of the old land
marks of liberty, of justice, and OF right.
The lessons of history upon this great
subject are full of deep and painful in
struction. | look at questions in their
general import. By degrees, in all the
ages of the past, tyranny has encroached
upon popular right, The citadel of liber-
ty was never taken by sudden assault
without previous mining, battering and
The approaches have been
made by numerous measures Of a kindred
tendency. The progress to the strong
hold has been step by step. Good men
too, have often been the instruments OF
these encroachments. Plausible argu-
ments have likewise been made for them
The gentleman form Ohio, Mr.. Bng-
ham, no doubt, will rise here and tell us
that all the abominablc features Of this
measure are wise and good So, too, the
adherents of Caesar said at Rome, when
he was controlling the elections prior to
the Rubicon and usurping i'm
pcrial power. In spea King Of Cesar
says;
u, sod 1 l.;
sares; he made himself master Of all elections
and con>lllS, prntors, and tribuues purchased
their promotions at their own price"
Caesar made himself master OF all the
elections. This bill confers a like power
on the Executive of the United States
And yet its supporters will commend it in
the name of the public good The black
est crime ever seeks the brightest livery
of virtue to cloak its ipfamy. When
Satan himself came from the burning pit
below, when he lurked around the courts
of Eden, and finally, sealing the bright
ramparts, sat down to seduce Eve in those
green and ambrosial bowers, he led her
to her fall and all of us to our ruin bv dis
guising the hidcous lineaments of evil
under the skillful guise of good. SO the
advocates Of this bill will tell you it is all
for the best. | tell you it is all for the
worst. And feeble though my voice may
be, small though my intblence may be-
yet, in the straightforward performance
Of constitutional duty, with all my
strength, l warn my countrymcn against
4 measure traught with disaster and over
throw to the institutions Tor which their
fathers fought and bled on a hundred
fields of battle.
Some justification might be found for
legislation of this kind at one time in the
South; none to my mind; some to YOURS.
But how any sane man can justify the in
vasiOn Of every town, of every township,
Of every city, of every village, Of every
hamlet i'll ail the States Of this broad land,
north and south, east and west, from one
ocean to the other, by Federal power, for
the purpose of striking at the freedom of
the balIot-boX, is mystery which | can
not solve. | can conceive but one intel
igcnt motive, and that is the suppression
Of free elections and the substitution OF
arbitrary despotism This bill overruns
The land with armed troops; it sends in
to every section of the country informers,
pimps, and spies. clothed with Federal
In what age, where in all past history,
through all. the space of time, shall we
look tor Il proceeding like this? Here is
IN army of civil as we'll as military Off
eials. who are to settle down upon the
land, covering it all over as thick us the
Iocusts, and as mean, perhaps. as the lice
of Egypt. They are authorized to arrest
without warrant and imprison without
process. | may be their victim; so may
you. We are all at the mercy of this
more than imperial decree 1t levels
every right secured by centuries of wis
dom and valor into the dusk. One of the
terms in this bill is '.to
1t is an excellent term for
the purpose in view. These officials are
to supervise the conduct of the citizens at
The polls. Will this be endured? How
long can it last? You enter on this des-
potic policy for the purpose of controlling
the elections in the desolated South.
You did it to uphold colored suffrage
You thought it a part of your mission.
You have pursued it until you now dare
10 assail the great States of New York,
Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois,
Ind Missouri, and all the rest. Sir,
pledge the remnant of my life to this con-
Test. We will dispute every inch of
ground henceforth to the end. We will