American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1872-08-31
Speech by Mr.. Greeley.

| AT his reception at Portland, Maine,
on the 18th, Horace Greeley spoke as fol-
| lows:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: 1t is certain that
| throughout the course of my life, far as /
| have been connected with public affairs, i
| have struggled, with such capacity as God
| has given me, for, first, impartial and uni
| versal liberty; second, for the unity and
| greatness of our common country; third,
\ and by means least, when the former end
was attained, for early and hearty reconcile
| alton and peace among our countrymen.
| For these great ends have struggled and
hope the issue of the third is not doubtful.
l Thoroughly comprehend that no personal
| consideration has drawn this vast assembly
| together. Other higher and grander consid-
| erations have collected you around me. 1t
| is part of the unwritten law of our coun-
| try, that candidate for President may
| not make speeches in vindication and com
mendation of the principles whereupon he is
| supported, or of the measures which his
| election is intended to promote; though
candidate for Vice-President is under no
such inhibition. not merely ac-
| quiesce in this restriction. | recognize
| and affirm its propriety. The temp
| tation to misreport and misreprescnt
| candidate for the higher post is so
great, the means of circulating suchperver
| siOns among people who will never see
| word of their refutation are so vast, that
candidate has no moral right to subject his
friends to the perils he must brave, il not in
vite, by taking part in the canvass. Yet
there is Il truth TO be uttered in behalf OF
those who have placed me before the Ameri-
can people in my present attitude, which
does them such honor that claim
the privilege of stating, it here
No person has ever made the fact
that he proposed to support, or
| actually did support, my nomination, wheth-
er at Cincinnati, at Baltimore, or in the ac-
ton which resulted in sending delegates to
either Convention, the basis of claim to
office at my hands. No one who favored my
| na finuh afpr aif her ion or at
either Convention, has sought office at
my hands, either for himself any one
else, nor has any one suggested to me that l
might strengthen myself as candidate by
| promising to appoint any one to any i'm
| portant office whatever. In very few in
stances, less than dozen, l am sure, certain
| of the smaller fry of politicians have, since
my double nomination, limited to me by let
| ter that l might increase my chance of cleo
| ton by promising postoflice, or some other
| place, to my volunteer correspondents, re-
| spectively. 1 have not usually answered
| these overtures, but 1 now give general
notice that, should be elected, l will con-
slider the claims of these untimely aspirants
| after those of the more modest and reticent,
have been fully satisfied. In two or three in
stances, | have been asked to say
| whether l would or would not, if
elected, continc my appointments to Repub-
| licans. L answer these by pointing to that
plank of the Cincinnati platform wherein all
who concur in the principles therein set forth
are cordially invited to participate in their
| establishment and vindication- l never yet
| heard of a man who invited his neghbors to
\ help him raise a house, and proceeded
| to kick them out of it as soon the
| roof was fairly over his head. For my
part, l recognize every ,l honest man nan
| brother, and as such fully entitled to my
confidence and friendly regard.
| One other point demands word. Those
| adverse to me, ask what pledges l have
given to those lately hostile to the Union to
secure their favor and support. l answer,
no man or woman in all the South ever asked
of me, either directly or through another, any
other pledge than is given in all my acts
and words. From the hour of Lees surrender
| down to this moment, no Southern man ever
limited to me an expectation, hope, wish
| that the rebel debt, whether Confederate
State, should be assumed or paid by the
Union, and no Southern man who could be
| elected to a Legislature or made Colonel of a
| militia regiment, ever suggested the pension
ing of rebel soldiers, or any of them, even as
a remote possibility. All who nominated
me were perfectly aware that had upheld and
justified Federal legislation to suppress the
ku-klux conspiracy and outrages, though l
had long ago insisted as strenuously as now
do that complete amnesty and a genuine obliv-
ion of the bloody, hateful past would do
more for the suppression and utter extinc-
ton of such outrages than all the force bills
and suspensions of habeds corpus ever devised
| by men. Wrong and crime must be sup
pressed and punished, but far wiser and
uooiSi 10 thC icSieiaticH, tHC POhSy,
by which they are prevented. From
| those who support me in the South l have
| heard but one demand, Justice y but one
desire, Reconciliation" They wish to be
| heartily reunited, and at peace with the
North any terms which do not involve
a surrender of their manhood. They ask
that they should be regarded and treated by
| the Federal authorities as citizens, not
| culprits, so long they obey and uphold
| every law consistent with equality and right
| They desire rule which, alike for white and
| black, shall encourage industry and thrift,
| and discourage rapacity and villainy. They
| cherish joyful hope, in which fully con
| cur, that between the 9Th of November and
| the 4th of March next, quite a NUMBER of
Governors and other dignitaries who, in the
abused names of Republcanism and LOYALTY
| have for years been piling debts and taxes
| upon their war-wasted States, will follow
| the wholesome example of Bullock, of
| Georgia, and seek the shades of private life.
| The darker and denser those shades the fbet-
| ter for themselves, and for mankind; and the
| hope that my election may hasten the much
| desired hegira of thieving carpet-baggers has
| reconciled to the necessity of supporting me
| many who would otherwise have hesitated
and probably refused
| Fellow-citizens, the deposed and partially
exiled Tammany Ring has stolen about $50
| 100000 from the City of New York. This
was a most gigantic robbery, and hurled its
| contrivers and abettors from power and
| splendor to impotency and infamy; but the
| thieying carpet baggers have stolen at least
| three times that amount-stolen it from the
already impoverished and needy, and they
| still Haunt their prosperous villainy in the
| high places of the land, and are addressed
as Honorable and Excellency. / think
| l hear voice from the honest people
of all the States declaring that this iniquity
shall be gainful and insoent no longer, at
| farthest, than till the 4th of March next. BY
! that time these criminals will have heard
National verdict pronounced that will cause
them to fold their tents like the Arabs, and
silently steal away" and that, trust, will
| be the end of their stealing at the cost of the
good name of our country and the wellbeing
of her people.
At the conclusion, Mr.. Greeley sat
| down amidst "A storm of cheers, such as
has never been heard before inside the
walls of the City Hall of Portland. He
was warmly greeted by the citizens who
sat behind him, and the audience in front
at once scaled the platform, and put him