The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1871-08-10
ABLE SPEEGeH OF GOT. MORTON AT
LOUISVILLE.


Senator Morton. Of Indiana, made a
r speech in Loyisyi;e, on the 2sth nit,
l that is rePlete with good things. We
make few extracts. After a short
introduction Mr. Morton said:
The first thing he would consider
) would be the attitude Of the democratic
} party of Kentucky in regard to recon-
struetiOn, Ofthe constitutional amend
: ments. Within ninety days the DEM
ocratic party north have pretended to
make complete sOmersault, 10y pre-
: tending To be in favor of the recon
structiOn Of the southern states, and
the lith and 18th amendments. II
tins new departure is sincere and
hearty, no man would rejoice more
than |. When these things are ac-
= eePted north and south, / shall con-
sIdeF my political work rs done. Is
{ this pretended revolution real or false?
. II have right to know. / do not in
tend to be cheated, nor do 1 intend
the republican party shall be cheated
When the situation is really accepted,
shall be among the firsttO announce
/ II, and the first 10 rejoice. And until
then / will do all 1 can to expose ali
cheats and swindles on the subject -
There are some individuals and a few
. newspapers in the democratic party
who are sincere in the acceptance OF
1T, among whom believe the Cour-
ier-JOurnal of this place is one, but /
!. am satisfied that with most OF the par
ty IL is pretended and insincere, and
is only simulated 10 gain power and
TO put the question of the amend
ments out of issue until the democrats
get control of the government. This
y clearly shown by resolutions of the
democracy in nthecnnyentiOns in Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Iowa and
Maine. In none of their resolutions
have they declared in unequivOcal
language the acceptance Of the IA h
aud 18th amendments. They have
used equigocal language, and have
dealt withthepeople in a double sense.
\ Fheir whole effort has been to cheat
the public. The same may he said Of
the address of the democratic senators
and members Of congress.
i Parties are not got up to order, nor
created by conventions or politicians.
They grow up out of the condition of
the country, or spring from great
events. They have \ corporate exist
ence, are composed Of many individ-
uals, and are the creatures of educa-
ton, tradition and prejudice. Men
may control their actions by their
wills, but they can not control beliefs
IN politics or anything else. The DEM
ocratic party has been, by its whole
education and history, committed 10
the doctrine of state rights and state
sOVereignity. The right of secession
! Is necessary OtlshOOt of democratic
! principles. 1t has arrayed itself IN
Justification and defense Of slavery
4 against emancipation Of the slaves,
and all its prejHdices are arrayed in
/ behalf that Institution. 1t now pre-
| tends that within ninety days IL has
utterly changed its principles. Before
| that time it declared the rcconstruc-
| ton measures unconstitutional; that
| the ratification of the 18th and 18th
amendments was procured by fraud
and duress, and We're. no part Of the
constitution. If they were in earnest
ninety days ago, they believe it yet.
IL they do not believe it now, they
were hypOcriticaI then. Their con
duct justifies in saying that their pre-
tended acceptance of these amend
ments was hypOcritical, and is only
simulated till they shall get into pow
er. They have said TO the south, "Let
us make the platform, and select the
candidate who viii carry out the cheat |
ing programme. Without power we
can do nothing. Trust us with the !
power, and then we will be true, as we |
have in the past, to the democracy of !
the southern states. The south must |
take us on trust" Thus do they pro- /
pose that the next canvass shall be /
made upon a false issue. While in |
sisting that they are in favor of
the new departure, they cling To |
the doctrine of state rights and
state sovereignty. The party now
repudiates tile doctrine of seceS- |
sion. If state rights is correct the |
right OF secession results from IL, and I
Buchanan was right when he said |
there was no power in the general gov |
ernment to cOerce \ state. Until this |
doctrine is repudiated it stands as a I
perpetual threat against the integrity 1
of the Union, and until that doctrine I
is dead the nation will always be in /
danger. Kentucky is the second child ]
of the union, and it is absurd To talk /
about the sovereignty of Kentucky as I
for a child TO claim TO be the twin l
brother OF its father. Kentucky was l
born with the constitution, and was |
made a state by the United StateS.-I
The leading idea of the republican par |
ty is that the nation is undivided and /
indivisible; that the nation is sOver-
eign and the states subordinate; that .
there is one sovereign, and not thirty
seven. There is no danger of central |
iZatiOn. For one / shall regard the 4
rights of the states rs zealOusly rs any
one, and there is no desire To override .
them; but do repudiate the idea Of
state sOvereignity, That the nation is
= compact of states, and that any state
has the right to withdraw from the
Union at pleasure. All the states have
rights, because the constitution con-
fers them upon them and guarantees
them 10 them.
The Kentucky resolutions OF l7gS
have been an inheritance Of woe and
4 curse 10 the state. Kentucky has
had three chief curses-slavery, resO-
lutiOns of '9S and the Democratic par
ty-and i leave you to say which is
the worst. The democrats are bitter
ly assaulting the ku-kluX bill, chaTg-
ing that it is in violation of the con-
stitutiOn, and that 10 places in the
Presidents hands 4 dangerous power.
| deny this. No law has ever done so
much good in the same time as this
1t has brought peace to the state, saw
ed hundreds OF lives, prevented iHnum-
cradle fortunes and Outragcs. The
general of the army has recently tes-
titled TO its efficiency. II hes given
peace to Kentucky,
where according To the statement Of
the governor in 4 message to the leg
islature, the civil authority was Who'll
ly Inadequate to suppress Violence
Crime was rampant, and he asked
military force to protect the lives and
property Of citizens. If any evidence /
is needed to establish what has been
the condition in Kentucky in this re-
spect, it can be found in the columns
of the leading democratic journals of
the state.
The argument against the ku-klUx
bill in the Senate broke down hat-a
complete failure of the opposition.
They magnified the importance of the
measure and fail to produce a single
good argument against it. There was
a constitutional provision that fugi-
tives from Justice should be delivered.
A small party cOntended that the gov
Lad no right to enforce this
that it was tine duty Of the state; but
the democratic party north and south
and the great wing party united in de-
claring that Congress must enforce it
That if left 10 the state it would be q
nullity. This view was accepted and
the infam Gus fugitive slave law-that
law was sustained, though it denied
the right of trial by jury and h0Jeas
corpus and allowed mans liberty 10
be sacrificed upon a mere er pGrfe az
fidavit- The nth and 18th amend
ments expressly provide that they
shall be enforced by appropriate legis-
latiOn and no one expected il to be left
to the states. No one can be ignO-
rant of the fact that this enforcement
was left to Congress. The Iith
declares that no state
shall deny the equal protection Of the
law to any citizen. Congress has no
power to act upon a state in its col
lective capacity. Nor has it ever been / !
able to compel a state as a state to do
anything. Federal power is executed
upon individuals within the states.
II a state refuses to protect persons in
the enjoyment Of equal protection Of
lnNp-e II IL. e 4