New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-07-20

which stretches from ocean to ocean: that
oppression which build our railroads, and
places upon them "models of beauty and
monuments to the skill of man." that
oppression which has awakened the glad
some voice of the loom, and tuned the songs
of industry; that oppression which has
planted the budding cotton, the rustling
cane and the golden corn; that oppression
which has placed upon our broad sayannahs
the lowing cattle, and upon our sweeping
rivers the Floating palaces" of the West;
| that oppression which has given a new i'm
pulse to commerce and agriculture, and fos-
tered civilization and education that
oppression which has made the ''earth seem
brighter, its foliage richer, the birds song
| sweeter, its plumage more gaudy. the cOlOrs
of the flower more brilliant" that oppression
which ''sOothes sorrow, tempers the asperi-
ties of disposition, mends the broken threads
of life smoothes the rough places in the
mind and heart, and sOftens our pathway
to the tomb
That fearful movement toward central
ization of power-that alarming invasion of
our dearest rights and h0liest trusts-has
| brought forth its fruit limitation of our
| States indebtedness, bloOdless exercise of
the elective franchise, and the protection
| extended our public funds, are among the
| results of that increase OF executive power
! which had been stigmatiZed as an encroach-
| Grafton of our national temples an inroad
upon the freedom of our government and
| the libe1 ties of our people, the foundation
| of a system of corruption and spolation
which should end with a bankrupt State,
| beggared people, and a country deprived
of every popular institution, robbed of
| every interest, until desolation, ruin,
misery and want should be sown broadcast
throughout the land.
There are times when a nation has
reached the crisis of it's political existence.
There are times when the administration of
governments should be placed in the ablest
and fittest hands. There are times of dark
ness, of difficulty and of danger. There are
times when the entire system of a govern
ment is upheaved, when party distinctions,
precedents and lines of demarkation are as
barriers of straw. There are times when
measures, no matter how prudent or pure,
become dead and powerless. There are
times when the masses are driven on to re-
volt and desperation. There are times
when the salvation of the State-aye, the
very existence of the government itself
depends upon the genius, the character
and the tact of a single man; there are
times when none but that one great. COM
manding spirit can control the storm and
bring back the blessings OF peace and
plenty
Ours is progressive people, and this is
progressive age. No class of men can long
remain stationary in an enlightened nation:
no system, however arbitrary or despOtic.
can secure to them the power to enjoy sue
cessfully the right to rule and domineer.
The necessity of reform is plainly legible in
the history of our own republic. 1t is
written in the history of kingdoms and of
empires in every age and in every cline.
1t has been well said that the existing gen.
GRAFTON rests upon the shoulders of its pre-
decessors. / believe that in the records of
the past are traced the salutary lessons
which should guide our course in the future
| believe that from those errors which have
wrecked the brightest nations of antiquity,
we should draw wholesome wisdom But,
sir, l also believe that we are denied the
right of rejecting the experience of the
world, and of sacrificing the labors and
blessings of our past to vain desire for in
novation and change.
We may have recovered from the evil
effects of war brought on by such mis-
guided impulses, but we have not forgotten
Its horrors, its sutterings and it's bitter
teachings: We have not forgotten the
brutality and fanaticism written upon its
blOodiest pages; We have not forgotten that
frenzy which trampled upon every restraint,
legal, moral and social, which raised the |
hand OF brother against brother of father
against son; we have not forgotten that |
warm hfe-blood that poured like water |
upon our desOlate fields; we can never for |
get that contest in which our success would |
have sapped the very foundations of our |
government, and caused the brightest insti-
tutiOns of our land to totter and crumble |
iutO ruins.
We have seen a people oppressed and |
laden with burdensOme taxation: we have |
seen the value of property reduced to its |
lowest point of depression; we have seen |
commerce and agriculture at its final ebb;
we have seen corporation driven, in vain |
attempts to meet its liabilities to the very
verge OF reputation and public dishonor
we have seen the genius OF a single mind
grasplng the eXigencies of the moment and
cropping through the darkness into the
bright sunlight of prosperity: we have seen
new systems and new policy established;
we have seen renewed vigor and life poured
into the channels of trade, cultivation fos-
tered, our debt secured, our cities and our
villages expanded. our resources increased,
and every section of our State rejoicing
in the midst of peace and plenty.
Such has been the conduct of Governor
Warmoth from the commencement of his
until the present time; such
has been the irreproachable character of
policy we have supported and defended in
the past. And, If it has been SO moderate
and so prOpitiOus; if it has been accompa-
MED by noble daring, heroic vaior and phil
anthroplc selt-sacritice; if it has restored
Louisiana to her former position among the
States OF the Union, let us gather around
him who has transformed our condition from
gloom and distress to brightness and pros
oerlty; let us thank him for his labors in the
past let us extend to him our sanction, our
and our support in the days
10 come.
Then, looking out into the future, we
shall ind him laboring to preserve the
purity OF government, the best the world |
las ever produced; laboring to guard that
precious liberty, in the sunshine and
warmth of which we love to move and to
Ict; laborlng to secure to us the enjoyment
II those boasted favOrs rendered dearer to
is by the memory of our warriors and our
ages; favOrs hallowed by the blood of those
ainted patriots and martyrs who have
fered up in sacrifice their lives, their for
unes and their sacred honor to the living
'rlnclples Of liberty and of truth, and
vhose names, " "outliving the wreck of !
hrones and of dynasties," shall continue
resh IN memory to the last syllable of re- !
orded time.
The words of the youthful orator fell on !
ood soil, and he was repeatedly cheered l
nth hearty applause 1t is to the credit !
I our schools that the speaker is gradu-
te OF one of them. His delivery is far ]
boVe the ordinary, and his reasoning
peaks Tor itsef-powerful and truthful in I
ne extreme. At times, he was not only >
Ioquent but singularly poetical. More, it t
plain that he has read history to some C
urpose. and knows how 20 apply his s
nowledge. If the speaker proposes to v
nter the broad arena of politics, we pre- t
let bright and successful future for him, '